w^ 


■■<:-i^iiM^;^^ 


UBRARYI 


presented  to  the 
UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIEGO 

by 

JUDGE  J.M.    CARTER 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www,arcliive.org/details/americanpoliticsOOcoopiala 


AMEEICAN  POLITICS 


(NON-PARTISAN) 


FROM  THE  BEGINNING  TO  DATE. 


EMBODYING 


A  HISTORY  OF  ALL  THE  POLITICAL  PARTIES, 


THEIR  VIEWS  AND  RECORDS  ON  ALL  IMPORTANT  QUESTIONS. 


GREAT  SPEECHES  ON  ALL  GREAT  ISSUES, 


TABULATED  HISTORY  AND  CHRONOLOGICAL  EVENTS. 


By  HON.  THOMAS  V.  COOPER, 

Member  Pennsylvania  House  of  Representatives,  1870-73.    Senate,  1874-84.      Chairman  Republican 
State  Committee  of  Pennsylvania,  1881-84-83-84-85-86-87, 

AND 

HECTOR  T.  FENTON,  Esq., 

Of  the  Philadelphia  Bar. 


FIFTEENTH    AND    REVISED    EDITION. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

FIRESIDE    PUBLISHING    COMPANY. 
1892. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1892,  by  the 

FIRESIDE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washiogtoo,  IX  U. 


ALTBMUS'   BOOK   BINDERY, 
PHILADBLPHIA. 


ttmMt  |.«  . 


PROPOSITION 

THAT  ALL  AMERICAN  CITIZENS  SHOULD  TAKE  AN 
INTEREST   IN   PUBLIC   AFFAIRS. 


PREFACE. 


The  writer  of  this  volume,  in  the  pursuit  of  his  profession 
as  an  editor,  and  throughout  an  active  political  life,  has  always 
felt  the  need  of  a  volume  from  which  any  important  fact,  theory 
or  record  could  he  found  at  a  moment's  glance,  and  without  a 
search  of  many  records.  He  has  also  remarked  the  singular 
fact  that  no  history  of  the  political  parties  of  the  country,  as 
they  have  faced  each  other  on  all  leading  issues,  has  ever  been 
published.  These  things  prompted  an  undertaking  of  the  work 
on  his  own  part,  and  it  is  herewith  presented  in  the  hope  that 
it  will  meet  the  wants  not  only  of  those  connected  with  politics, 
but  of  all  who  take  an  interest  in  public  affairs.  In  this  work 
very  material  aid  has  been  rendered  by  the  gentleman  whose 
unme  is  also  associated  with  its  publication,  and  by  many 
political  friends,  who  have  freely  responded  during  the  past 
year  to  the  calls  made  upon  them  for  records,  which  have  been 
liberally  employed  in  the  writing  and  compilation  of  this  work. 

THOS.  V.   COOPER.      ' 


til«(lilj|lf.jj;pjUjlil,l.UIIJIIIlll||l.,|^^^^^^^^^^ 


ili!SllBH"SH«P>!i»P«i 


Xi-V\-\*- 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


BOOK  I.— HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 


TMffB. 

CoijOnial  Parties — ^Whiq  akd  Tort 3 

Pi^BTICULARISTS  AND  StBONG  GoVEENMEKT  WhiQS *    •    •  ^ 

Fl'DERALS  AND   AnTI-FeDERALS 6 

blpublicans  and  federals 8 

Dow^nfall  of  the  Federals 12 

Democrats  and  Federals 17 

Jeii'ferson  Democrats 19 

Hartford  Convention 20 

Treaty  op  Ghent 20 

Congressional  Caucus 21 

Protective  Tariff 21 

ItloNROE  Doctrine 23 

Missouri  Compromise 24 

Tariff — American  System •  • 25 

Tenure  of  Office — Eligibility 27 

ITdllification — Democrats  and  Federals 29 

I.'kited  States  Bank 31 

Jackson's  Special  Message  on  the  United  States  Bank 33 

Conception  of  Slavery  Question 35 

Democrats  and  Whigs 37 

The.  Hour  Rule 39 

National  Bank  Bill — First.  . 41 

Second 43 

Oregon  Treaty  of  1846 47 

Treaty  op  Peace  with  Mexico o 49 

Clay's  Compromise  Resolutions 51 

Abolition  Party — Rise  and  Progress  op 53 

Kansas-Nebraska  Bill 55 

Ritual  of  the  American  Party 57 

Kansas  Struggle 71 

Lincoln  and  Douglas  Debate 73 

Charleston  Convention — Democratic,  1860 81 

Douglas   Convention,   1860,  Baltimore 86 

Breckinridge  Convention,  1860,  Baltimore 86 

Chicago  Republican  Conventioh,  1860 86 

American  Convention,  1860 87 

8xo£S8iOH — Frepabiso^  poe.  .•.••.... 87 

vu 


Viii  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

rAOB. 

Secessioh — ViBonnA  CouTENTioir,  1861 91 

"  Iktee-Statb  Commissioners 96 

"  Southern  Congress,  Proceedings  of 97 

"  Confederate  Constitution .    97 

"  Confederate  States 98 

Buchanan's  Views 99 

Crittenden  Compromise 104 

Peace  Convention 106 

Actual  Secession 109 

"  "         Transferring  Arms  to  the  South.     109 

Fernando  Wood's  Secession  Message 112 

Congress  on  the  Eve  of  the  Rebellion 113 

Lincoln's  Views 115 

Judge  Black's  Views 115 

Alexander  H.  Stephens'  Speech  oh  Secession 116 

Lincoln's  First  Administration 120 

Confederate  Military  Legislation 128 

Guerrillas 129 

Twenty-Negro  Exemption  Law 130 

DouGLMB  on  the  Rebellion 130 

Political  Legislation  Incident  to  the  Was. 130 

Thirty-Seventh  Congress 131 

Compensated  Emancipation 135 

Lincoln's  Appeal  to  the  Border  States 137 

Ee}>ly  of  the  Border  States .• 138 

Border  State  Slaves ■, 139 

Emancipation 141 

"  Preliminary  Proclamation  of 141 

"  Proclamation  of 143 

Loyal  Governors,  the  Address  of 144 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  Repeal  of 145 

Financial  Legislation 149 

Seward  as  Secretary  of  State 149 

Internal  Taxes 151 

0>nfederate  Debt 152 

Confederate  Taxes 153 

"West  Virginia — Admission  of 158 

Color  in  War  Politics 159 

Thirteenth  Amendment — Passage  of 167 

Louisiana — Admission  of  Representatives 168 

Reconstruction 169 

Arkansas — Admission  of 170 

Reconstruction  Measures— Text  of 171 

Fourteenth  Amendment 174 

McClellan's  Political  Letters     176 

Lincoln's  Second  Administration 177 

Andrew  Johnson  and  his  Policy 178 

"  "       — Impeachment  Trial • 179 

Grant 191 

Enforcement  Acts • 193 

Readmission  of  Rebellious  States 193 

Legal  Tender  Decision f 194 

Greenback  Party 194 

Prohibitory  Party ■. 196 

8ah  Domingo — Annexation  or 196 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS.  1^^ 

PAOB. 

Alabama  Clams  ....•••.......,,,,,,,,,,' 197 

FOECE    Bill jgy 

Civil  Sebvice — Oedeb  op  Pbesideitt  Hayes 198 

Amnestt , ^  299 

LiBEEAL   REPUBLICANa ,    .    .    .    .  199 

Refoem  in  THE  Civil  Seeviob 200 

Cbedit  Mobilieb 200 

Salabt  Gbab 214 

Retuening  Boaeds , 217 

Geanqees 218 

"       — Illinois  Railboad  Act  op  1873 218 

Civil  Rights  Bill — Scpplementaby 221  ♦ 

MoETON  Amendment , 222 

Whiskt  Ring 222 

Belknap  Impeaohbd 223 

White  League 223 

Wheeleb  Compbomise — Text  op , 226 

Election  or  Hates  and  Wheeleb 228 

Electoeal  Count 229 

Title  op  Pbisident  Hates 233 

Cipher  Despatches 234 

The  Hayes  Administbation , 239 

Neqeo  Exodus 240 

Campaign  op  1880 242 

Theee  Feb  Cent.  Funding  Bill 244 

HisTOBT  op  the  National  Loans 245 

Gabfibld  and  Abthub — Inauoubatiow  op 253 

Republican  Factions 253 

The  Caucus i>56 

Assassination  op  Qaepield 260 

Abthub,  Pbesident 261 

Boss  Rule 261 

Readjustees 263 

MoEMONiSM — Suppression  op ; 264 

"  Text  of  the  Bill 265 

South  Ameeican  Question , 269 

Stab  Route  Scandal , 277 

The  Coming  States * 278 

Chinese  Question 281 

"  "       — Speech  of  Senatob  Milleb  ov 281 

"  "       — Replt  op  Senator  Hoae 285 

Meechant  Maeinb 296 

Cubeent  Politics 298 

Political  Changes  in  1882,  1883,  1884 304-318 

Cleveland's  Administration    .    .  j 321 

Contests  of  1885,  1886,  1887 321 

The  Campaigns  of  1884, 1886,  1887,  1888 318-335 

The  National  Conventions  OF  1888 836 

The  Presidential  Election  op  1888 837 

President  Harbison's  Message  on  the  Chilean  Troubles, 339 

The  National  Conventions  of  1892, 347 

BOOK  II.— POLITICAL  PLATFORMS. 

Virginia  Resolutions,  1798 8 

Virginia  Resolutions,  1798— Answers  of  the  State  Legislatures    ....  6 

Resolutions  of  1798  and  1799 10 

AV^ashington's  Farewell  Address 14 


X  TABLE  OF    CONTENTS. 

Aix  Nationai.  Platforms  from  1800  to  1892, 21-79 

Comparison  of  Platform  Planks  on  Great  Questions, 79-104 

BOOK  III.— GREAT  SPEECHES  ON  GREAT  ISSUES. 


FAOE. 

James  Wilsok's  ViKDicATioir  or  the  Colonies 3 

PaTBICK   HeNET   BEFORE   ViEGINIA   DELEGATES 7 

John  Adams  on  the  Declaration 8 

Patrick  Henry  on  the  Federal  Constitution 10 

John  Randolph  against  Tariff 13 

Edward  Everett  on  the  Example  of  the  Noethbeh  to  the  Southekn  Republics  of 

America 18 

Daniel  Webster  on  the  Grsek  Question 19 

John  Randolph's  Reply  to  Webster 20 

•  Robert  Y.  Hayne  against  Tariff 21 

Henry  Clay  oh  his  Land  Bill 23 

John  C.  Calhoun's  Reply  to  Clay 24 

RoBT.  Y.  Hayne  on  Sales  of  Public  Land— the  Foote  Resolution 25 

Daniel  Webster's  Great  Reply  to  Hayne 48 

John  C.  Calhoun  on  the  Rights  of  the  States 80 

Heney  Clay  on  the  American   Protective  System 86 

James  Buchanan  on  an  Independent  Treasury 95 

Lewis  Cass  on  the  Missouri  Compromise 96 

Clement  L.  Vallandigham  on    Slavery •••....    97 

Horace    Greeley  on   Protection 99 

Henry  A.  Wise  Against  Know-Nothingism  ...••• 109 

Kenneth  Raynor  on  the  Fusion  of  Fremont  and  Fillmore  Forces 112 

Religious  Test-Debate  on  the  Article  in  the  Constitution  in  Regard  to  it  .  114 

Henry  Winter  Davis  on  the  American  Party 115 

Joshua  R.  Giddinqs  Against  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 116 

Robert  Toombs  in  Favor  of  Slavery •••117 

JuDAH   P.  Benjamin  on  Slave  Property ]19 

William  Lloyd  Garrison  on  the  Slavery  Question 120 

Theodore  Parker  Against  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  and  the  Return  of  Sims  .  121 

William  H.  Seward  on  the  Higher  Law 122 

Charles  Sumne^  on  the  Fallibility  of  Judicial  Tribunals 123 

Galusha  a.  Grow  on  his  Homestead  Bill 123 

Lincoln  and  Douglas  Debate— 

"  "  "  Douglas's  Speech 126 

"  "  "  Lincoln's    Reply 133 

"  "  "  Douglas's   Rejoinder 143 

Jefferson  Davis  on  Retiring  from  the  United  States  Senate 147 

Henry  Wilson  oh  the  Greeley  Canvass 149 

Oliver  P.  Morton  on  the  National  Idea 151 

J.  Proctor  Knott  on  "  Duluth," 154 

Henry  Carey  on  the  Rates  op  Interest 159 

Simon  Cameron  on  Internal  Improvements 163 

John  A.  Logan  on  Self-Government 165 

James  Q.  Blaine  on  the  **  False  Issue," .  171 

roscoe  conkling  on  the  extra  session  of  1879 176 

Lincoln's  Speech  at  Gettysburg 186 

John  M.  Broomall  on  Civil  Rights 188 

Charles  A.  Eldridge  against  Civil  Rights .189 

A.  K.  McClube  ON  "  What  of  the  Republic  ? " •   • 191 

Eobt.  G.  Inoebsoll  Nominating  Blaine 801 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  xl 

PAGE. 

BoscoE  CoKKLnro  NoMiKAxiifG  Grant 202 

James  A.  GAEriELD  Nominating  Sherman 203 

Daniel  Dougherty  Nominating  Hancock 205 

George  Gray  Nominating  Bayard 205 

William  P.  Frye  Nominating  Blaine  (at  Chicago)     206 

Senator  Hill's  Denunciation  of  Mahone 207 

Senator  Mahone's  Reply 217 

Justin  S.  Morrill  on  the  Tariff  Commission 223 

J.  Don  Cameron  on  Reduction  of  Revenue  as  Affecting  the  Tariff    ....  233 

Thomas  H.  Benton  on  the  Election  of  Presidents ' .  237 

James  G.  Blaine's  Eulogy  on  President  Garfield 240 

6.  H.  Pendleton  on  Civil  Service 251 

John  J.  Inqalls  Against  Civil  Sbrvick 262 

Samuel  J.  Randall  on  the  Tariff 274 

William  McKinley,  Jr.,  on  the  Tariff 277 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  Nominating  Harrison, 283 

Leon  Abbett  Nominating-  Cleveland, 285 


BOOK  lY.— PAELIAMENTARY   PRACTICE,  Etc. 


Declaration  of  Independence , 8 

Articles  of  Confederation 6 

Jefferson's  Manual 22 


BOOK  v.— TABULATED  HISTORY  AND  CHRONOLOGICAL 

POLITICS. 


Statistics  or  Generai,  Information, 1-24 

CheonologicaIi  Politics, • 25 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


BOOK  I. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITIOAX,  PAETIES 

OF  THE 

UNITED    STATES. 


AMERICA:^"  POLITICS. 


BOOK  I. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  POLITICAL  PAETIES 

OF  THE 

UNITED    STATES. 


Colonial  Parties— Wblg  and  Tory. 

The  parties  peculiar  to  our  Colonial 
times  hardly  have  a  place  in  American 
politics.  They  divided  people  in  senti- 
ment simply,  as  they  did  in  the  mother 
country,  but  here  there  was  little  or  no 
power  to  act,  and  were  to  gather  results 
from  party  victories.  Men  were  then 
Whigs  or  Tories  because  they  had  been 
prior  to  their  emigration  here,  or  because 
their  parents  had  been,  or  because  it  has 
ever  been  natural  to  show  division  in  in- 
dividual sentiment.  Political  contests, 
however,  were  unknown,  for  none  enjoyed 
the  pleasures  and  profits  of  power;  the 
crown  made  and  unmade  rulere.  The 
local  self-government  which  our  fore- 
fathers enjoyed,  were  secured  to  them  by 
their  charters,  and  these  were  held  to  be 
contracts  not  to  be  changed  without  the 
consent  of  both  parties.  All  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  colonies  claimed  and  were 
justly  entitled  to  the  rights  guaranteed  by 
the  Magna  Charta,  and  in  addition  to 
these  they  insisted  upon  the  supervision  of 
all  internal  interests  and  the  power  to  levy 
and  collect  taxes.  These  claims  were  con- 
ceded until  their  growing  prosperity  and 
England's  need  of  additional  revenues 
suggested  schemes  of  indirect  taxation. 
Against  these  the  colony  of  Plymouth  pro- 
tested as  early  as  1636,  and  spasmodic  pro- 
tests from  all  the  colonies  followed.  These 
increased  in  freouency  and  force  with  the 

f  rowing  demands  of  King  George  III.  In 
651  the  navigation  laws  imposed  upon  the 
colonies  required  both  exports  and  imports 
to  be  carried  in  British  ships,  and  all  who 


traded  were  compelled  to  do  it  with  Eng- 
land. In  1672  inter-colonial  duties  ^vere 
imposed,  and  when  manufacturing  sought 
to  flank  this  policy,  their  establishcienl 
was  forbidden  by  law. 

The  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1765 
caused  nigh  excitement,  and  for  the  first 
time  parties  began  to  take  definite  sIujk) 
and  manifest  open  antagonisms,  and  lie 
words  Whig  and  Tory  then  had  a  plaiaer 
meaning  in  America  than  in  England. 
The  Stamp  Act  waa  denounced  by  t,he 
Whigs  as  direct  taxation,  since  it  provided, 
that  stamps  previously  paid  for  should,  be 
affixed  to  all  legal  papers.  The  colonies 
resented,  and  so  general  were  the  protests 
that  for  a  time  it  seemed  that  only  those 
who  owed  their  livings  to  the  Crown,  or 
expected  aid  and  comfort  from  it,  re- 
mained with  the  Tories.  The  Whigs  were 
the  patriots.  The  war  for  the  rights  of 
the  colonies  began  in  1776,  and  it  was 
supported  by  majorities  in  all  of  the  Co- 
lonial Assemblies.  These  majorities  were 
as  carefully  organized  then  as  now  to  pro- 
mote a  popular  cause,  and  this  in  the  face 
of  adverse  action  on  the  part  of  the  sev- 
eral Colonial  Governors.  Thus  in  Vir- 
ginia, Lord  Dunmore  had  from  time  to 
time,  until  1773,  prorogued  the  Virginia 
Assembly,  when  it  seized  the  opportunity 
to  pass  resolves  instituting  a  committee  of 
correspondence,  and  recommending  joint 
action  by  the  legislatures  of  the  other 
colonies.  In  the  next  year,  the  same  body, 
under  the  lead  of  Henry,  Randolph,  I^ee, 
Washington,  Wythe  and  other  patriots, 
officially  deprecated    the    closing  of  '^« 

8 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


port  of  Boston,  and  set  apart  a  day  to  im- 
plore Divine  iuterposition  in  behalf  of  the 
colonies.  The  Governor  dissolved  the 
House  for  this  act,  and  the  delegates,  89  in 
number,  repaired  to  a  tavern,  organized 
themselves  into  a  committee,  signed  arti- 
cles of  association,  and  advised  with  other 
colonial  committees  the  expediency  of 
"  appointing  deputies  to  meet  m  a  general 
correspondence  — really  a  suggestion  for 
a  Congress,  The  idea  of  a  Congress,  how- 
ever, originated  with  Doctor  Franklin  the 
year  before,  and  it  had  then  been  approved 
by  town  meetings  in  Providence,  Boston 
and  New  York.  The  action  of  Virginia 
lifted  the  proposal  above  individual  advice 
and  the  action  of  town  meetings,  and 
called  to  it  the  attention  of  all  the  colo- 
nial legislatures.  It  was  indeed  fortunate 
in  the  mcipiency  of  these  political  move- 
ments, that  the  people  were  practically 
unanimous.  Only  the  far-seeing  realized 
the  drift  and  danger,  while  nearly  all  could 
join  their  voices  against  oppressive  taxes 
and  imposts. 

The  war  went  on  for  colonial  rights,  the 
Whigs  wisely  insisting  that  they  were  wil- 
ling to  remain  as  colonists  if  their  rights 
should  be  guaranteed  by  the  mother  coun- 
try ;  the  Tories,  chiefly  fed  by  the  Crown, 
■were  willing  to  remain  without  guarantee 
— a  negative  position,  and  one  which  in 
the  high  excitement  of  the  times  excited 
little  attention,  save  where  the  holders  of 
such  views  made  themselves  odious  by  the 
enjoyment  of  high  oflicial  position,  or  by 
harsh  criticism  upon,  or  treatment  of  the 
patriots. 

The  first  Continental  Congress  assembled 
in  Philadelphia  in  September,  1774,  and 
there  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Republic. 
While  its  assemblage  was  first  recom- 
mended by  home  meetings,  the  cause,  as 
already  shown,  was  taken  up  by  the  as- 
semblies of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia. 
Georgia  alone  was  not  represented.  The 
members  were  called  delegates,  who  de- 
clared in  their  official  papers  that  they 
were  "  appointed  by  the  good  people  of 
these  colonies."  It  was  called  the  revo- 
lutionary government,"  because  it  derived 
its  power  from  the  people,  and  not  from 
the  functionaries  of  any  existing  govern- 
ment. In  it  each  colony  was  allowed  but 
a  single  vot«,  regardless  of  the  number  of 
delegates,  and  here  began  not  only  the 
unit  rule,  but  the  practice  which  obtains 
in  the  election  of  a  President  when  the 
contest  reaches,  under  the  constitution  and 
law,  the  National  House  of  Representa- 
tives. The  original  object  was  to  give 
•quality  to  the  colonies  as  colonies. 

In  1776,  the  second  Continental  Con- 
gress assembled  at  Philadelphia,  all  the 
colonies  being  again  represented  sa.ve 
Ge<^)rgia.  The  delegates  were  chosen  prin- 
cipally   by    conventions   of   the   people, 


though  some  were  sent  by  the  popular 
branches  of  the  colonial  legislatures.  In 
July,  and  soon  after  the  commencement 
of  hostilities,  Georgia  entered  the  Con- 
federacy. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence,  passed 
in  1776,  drew  yet  plainer  lines  between  the 
Whigs  and  Tories.  A  gulf  of  hatred  sepa- 
rated the  opposing  parties,  and  the  Tory 
was  far  more  despised  than  the  open  foe, 
when  he  was  not  such,  and  was  the  first 
sought  when  he  was.  Men  who  contend 
for  liberty  ever  regard  those  who  are  not 
for  them  as  against  them — a  feeling  which 
led  to  the  expression  of  a  political  maxim 
of  apparent  undying  force,  for  it  has  since 
found  frequent  repetition  in  every  earnest 
campaign.  After  the  adoption  of  the  De- 
claration by  the  Continental  Congress,  the 
Whigs  favored  the  most  direct  and  abso- 
lute separation,  while  the  Tories  supported 
the  Crown.  On  the  7th  of  June,  177(5, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  movMl 
the  Declaration  in  these  words: 

"Resolved,  That  these  united  colonies  are, 
and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  indepen- 
dent states ;  that  they  are  absolved  from 
all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and 
that  all  political  connection  between  them 
and  the  State  of  Great  Britain  is,  and 
ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved." 

Then  followed  preparations  for  the  for- 
mal declaration,  which  was  adopted  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1776,  in  the  precise  language 
submitted  by  Thomas  Jefferson.  All  of 
the  state  papers  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress evince  the  highest  talent,  and  the 
evils  which  led  to  its  exhibition  must  have 
been  long  but  very  impatiently  endured  to 
impel  the  study  of  the  questions  involved. 
Possibly  only  the  best  lives  in  our  memory 
invite  our  perusal,  but  certain  it  is  that 
higher  capacity  was  never  called  to  the 
performance  of  graver  political  duties  in 
the  history  of  the  world. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Declaration  is 
in  imitation  of  that  published  by  the  Uni- 
ted Netherlands,  but  whether  this  be  true 
or  false,  the  liberty-loving  world  has  for 
more  than  a  century  accepted  it  as  the 
best  protest  against  oppression  known  to 
political  history.  A  great  occasion  con- 
spired with  a  great  author  to  make  it 
grandly  great. 

Dr.  Franklin,  as  early  as  Julv,  1775,  first 
prepared  a  sketch  of  articles  of  confedera- 
tion between  the  colonies,  to  continue  until 
their  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain, 
and  in  failure  thereof  to  be  perpetual. 
John  Quincy  Adams  says  this  plan  was 
never  discussed  in  Congress.  June  11, 
1776,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  pre- 
pare the  force  of  a  colonial  confederation, 
and  the  day  following  one  member  from 
each  colony  was  appointed  to  perform  the 
duty.  The  report  was  submitted,  laid 
aside  August  20,  1776,  taken  up  April  7, 


BOOK  I./       PARTICULARISTS— SIRONG   GOVERNMENT    WHIGS. 


1777,  and  debated  from  time  to  time  until 
November  15th,  of  the  same  year,  when 
the  report  was  agreed  to.  It  was  then 
submitted  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
states,  these  being  advised  to  authorize 
their  delegates  in  Congress  to  ratify  the 
same.  On  the  26th  of  June,  1778,  the  rat- 
ification was  ordered,  to  be  engrossed  and 
signed  by  the  delegates.  Those  of  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia  and  South  Carolina 
signed  July  9th,  1778  ;  those  of  North  Car- 
olina July '21st  ;  Georgia  July  24th ;  Jersey 
November  26th,  same  year;  Delaware 
February  22d  and  May  5th,  1779.  Mary- 
land refused  to  ratify  until  the  question  of 
the  conflicting  claims  of  the  Union  and 
of  the  separate  States  to  the  property  of 
the  crown-lands  should  be  adjustea.  This 
was  accomplished  by  the  cession  of  the 
lands  in  dispute  to  the  United  States,  and 
Maryland  signed  March  1st,  1781.  On 
the  2d  of  March,  Congress  assembled  un- 
der the  new  powers,  and  continued  to  act 
for  the  Confederacy  until  the  4th  of  March, 
1789,  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the 
government  under  the  Federal  constitu- 
tion. Our  political  life  has  therefore  three 
periods,  "  the  revolutionary  government," 

tlie  confederation,"  and  that  of  the  "  fed- 
eral constitution,"  which  still  obtains. 

The  federal  constitution  is  the  result  of 
the  labors  of  a  convention  called  at  Phila- 
delphia in  May,  1787,  at  a  time  when  it 
was  feared  by  many  that  the  Union  was 
in  the  greatest  danger,  from  inability  to 
pay  soldiers  who  had,  in  1783,  been  dis- 
banded on  a  declaration  of  peace  and  an 
acknowledgment  of  independence  ;  from 
prostration  of  the  public  credit  and  faith 
f  f  the  nation ;  from  the  neglect  to  provide 
Jor  the  payment  of  even  the  interest  on 
tLe  public  debt  ;  and  from  the  disappoint- 
ed hopes  of  many  who  thought  freedom 
did  not  need  to  face  responsibilities.  A 
lar^e  portion  of  the  convention  of  1787 
rtill  clung  to  the  confederacy  of  the  states, 
iind  advocated  as  a  substitute  for  the  con- 
stitution a  revival  of  the  old  articles  of 
confederation  with  additional  powers  to 
Congress.  A  long  discussion  followed, 
and  a  most  able  one,  but  a  constitution  for 
the  people,  embodying  a  division  of  legis- 
lative, judicial  and  executive  powers  pre- 
vailed, and  the  result  is  now  daily  wit- 
nessed in  the  federal  constitution.  While 
the  revolutionary  war  lasted  but  seven 
years,  the  political  revolution  incident  to, 
identified  with  and  directing  it,  lasted 
thirteen  vears.  This  was  completed  on 
the  30th 'of  April,  1789,  the  day  on  which 
Washington  was  inaugurated  as  the  first 
President  under  the  federal  constitution. 


The  PartlcnlarlRts. 

As  questions  of  goverament  were  evolved 


by  the  struggles  for  independence,  the 
Whigs,  who  of  course  greatly  outnumbered 
all  others  during  the  Revolution,  naturally 
divided  in  sentiment,  though  their  divf- 
sions  were  not  sufficiently  serious  to  excite 
the  establishment  of  rival  parties — some* 
thing  which  the  great  majority  of  our  fore- 
fathers were  too  wise  to  think  of  in  time  of 
war.  When  the  war  closed,  however,  and 
the  question  of  establishing  the  Union  was 
brought  clear  to  the  view  of  all,  one  class 
of  the  Whigs  believed  that  state  govern- 
ment should  be  supreme,  and  that  no  cen- 
tral power  should  have  sufficient  authority 
to  coerce  a  state,  or  keep  it  to  the  com- 
pact against  its  will.  All  accepted  the 
idea  of  a  central  government ;  all  realized 
the  necessity  of  union,  but  the  fear  that 
the  states  would  lose  their  power,  or  sur- 
render their  independence  was  very  great, 
and  this  fear  was  more  naturally  shown  by 
both  the  larger  and  the  smaller  states.  Thia 
class  of  thinkers  were  then  called  Partic- 
ularists.  Their  views  were  opposed  by 
the 


Strong  Government  'VI71»lgp8 

who  argued  that  local  self-govemraent  was 
inadequate  to  the  establishment  and  per- 
petuation of  political  freedom,  and  that  it 
afforded  little  or  no  power  to  successfully 
resist  foreign  invasion.  Some  of  these 
went  so  far  as  to  favor  a  government  pat- 
terned after  that  of  England,  save  that  it 
should  be  republican  in  name  and  spirit. 
The  essential  differences,  if  they  can  be  re- 
duced to  two  sentences,  were  these :  The 
Particularist  Whigs  desired  a  government 
republican  in  form  and  democratic  in 
spirit,  with  rights  of  local  self-government 
and  state  rights  ever  uppermost.  The 
Strong  Government  Whigs  desired  a  gov- 
ernment republican  in  form,  with  checki 
upon  the  impulses  or  passions  of  the  peo 
pie ;  liberty,  sternly  regulated  by,  law,  anO 
that  law  strengthened  and  confirmed  by 
central  authoriiy — ^the  authority  of  the  na- 
tional government  to  be  final  in  appeals. 
As  we  have  stated,  the  weakness  of  the 
confederation  was  acknowledged  by  many 
men,  and  the  majority,  as  it  proved*  to  be 
after  much  agitation  and  discussion 
thought  it  too  imperfect  to  amend.  The 
power  of  the  confederacy  was  not  acknow- 
edged  by  the  states,  its  congress  not  re- 
spected by  the  people.  Its  requisitions 
were  disregarded,  foreign  trade  could  not 
be  successfully  regulated ;  foreign  nations 
refused  to  bind  themselves  by  commercial 
treaties,  and  there  was  a  rapid  growth  of 
very  dangerous  business  rivalries  and 
jealousies  between  the  several  states, 
rhose  which  were  fortunate  enough,  in- 
dependent of  congress,  to  possess  or  se- 
cure ports  for  domestic  or  foreign  com- 
merce, taxed  the  imports  of  their  bister 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  r. 


Btates.  There  was  confusion  which  must 
soon  ■  have  approached  violence,  for  no 
authority  beyond  the  limits  of  the  state 
was  resjjeoted,  and  Congress  was  notably 
powerless  in  its  attempts  to  command  aid 
fnim  the  titates  to  meet  the  payment  of 
the  war  debt,  or  the  interest  thereon.  In- 
stead of  general  respect  for,  there  was  al- 
most general  disregard  of  law  on  the  part 
of  legislative  bodies,  and  the  people  were 
not  slow  in  imitating  their  representatives. 
Civil  strife  became  imminent,  and  Shay's 
Rebellion  in  Massachusetts  was  the  first 
•warlike  manifestation  of  the  spirit  which 
was  abroad  in  the  land. 

Alive  to  the  new  dangers,  the  Assembly 
of  Virginia  in  1786,  appointed  commis- 
sioners to  invite  all  the  states  to  take  part 
in  a  convention  for  the  consideration  of 
questions  of  commerce,  and  the  propriety 
of  altering  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 
This  convention  met  at  Annapolis,  Sept. 
11th,  1786.  But  five  states  sent  representa- 
tives, the  others  regarding  the  movement 
with  jealousy.  This  convention,  however, 
adapted  a  report  which  urged  the  appoint- 
metit  of  commissioners  by  all  the  states, 
"  to  devise  such  other  provisions  as  shall, 
to  them  seem  necessary  to  render  the  con- 
dition of  the  Federal  government  adequate 
to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union  ;  and  to  re- 
port such  an  act  for  that  purpose  to  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  as, 
when  agreed  to  by  them  and  after^vards 
confirmed  by  the  legislatures  of  everj'  state, 
will  effectually  j)rovide  for  the  same." 
Congress  approved  this  action,  and  passed 
resolutions  favoring  a  meeting  in  conven- 
tion for  the  "sole  and  express  purpose  of 
revising  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and 
report  to  Congress  and  the  State  legisla- 
tures." The  convention  met  in  Philadel- 
pLia  in  May,  1787,  and  continued  its  ses- 
sions until  ^)tember  17th,  of  the  same  year. 
The  Strong  Government  Whigs  had  previ- 
ously made  every  possible  eflbrt  for  a  full 
and  able  representation,  and  the  result  did 
not  disappoint  them,  for  instead  of  simply 
revising  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  the 
convention  framed  a  constitution,  and  sent 
it  to  Congress  to  be  submitted  to  that  body 
and  through  it  to  the  several  legislatures. 
The  act  submitting  it  provided  that,  if  it 
should  be  ratified  by  nine  of  the  thirteen 
Btates,  it  should  be  binding  upon  those 
ratifying  the  same.  Just  here  was  started 
the  custom  which  has  since  pas-sed  into 
law,  that  amendments  to  the  national  con- 
stitution shall  be  submitted  after  aj.proval 
by  Congress,  to  the  legislatures  of  the  sev- 
eral states,  and  after  approval  by  three- 
fourths  thereof,  it  shall  be  bindin^i  upon  all 
— a  very  proper  exercise  of  constitutional 
authority,  as  it  seems  now,  but  which 
would  not  have  won  popular  approval 
when  Virginia  proposed  the  Annapolis 
ix)uventiou  in  1786.    Indeed,  the  reader  of 


our  political  history  mast  ever  be  i  Jipressed 
with  the  fact  that  changes  and  reforms 
ever  moved  slowly,  and  that  those  of  slow- 
est growth  seem  to  abide  the  longest. 


The  Federal  and  Anti-Federal  Parties. 

The  Strong  Government  Whigs,  on  the 
submission  of  the  constitution  of  1787  to 
Congress  and  the  legislatures,  and  indi- 
rectly through  the  latter  to  the  people,  who 
elect  the  members  on  this  issue,  became 
the  Federal  party,  and  all  of  its  power  was 
used  to  promote  the  ratification  of  the  iu' 
strument.  Its  ablest  men,  headed  by 
Alexander  Hamilton  and  James  Madison, 
advocated  adoption  before  the  people,  and 
their  pens  supplied  much  of  the  current 
political  literature  of  that  day.  Eighty- 
five  essays,  still  noted  and  quoted  for  theii 
ability,  under  the  nom  deplume  of  "Pub- 
lius,"  were  published  in  "  The  Federalist." 
They  were  written  by  Hamilton,  Madison 
and  Jav,  and  with  irresistible  force  advo- 
cated the  Federal  constitution,  which  was 
ratified  by  the  nine  needed  states,  and 
Congress  was  officially  informed  of  the  fact 
July  2d,  1788,  and  the  first  Wednesday  in 
March,  1789,  was  fixed  as  the  time  "  for 
commencing  proceedings  under  the  con- 
stitution." 

This  struggle  for  the  first  time  gave  the 
Federalists  an  admitted  majority.  The 
complexion  of  the  State  legislature  prior 
to  it  showed  them  in  fact  to  be  in  a  mi- 
nority, and  the  Particularist  Whigs,  or 
Anti- Federals  opposed  every  preliminary 
step  looking  to  tne  abandonment  of  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  and  the  adoption 
of  a  Federal  constitution.  They  were 
called  Anti-Federals  because  they  opposed 
a  federal  government  and  constitution  and 
adhered  to  the  rights  of  the  States  and 
those  of  local  self-government.  Doubtlesi 
party  rancor,  then  as  now,  led  men  to  op- 
pose a  system  of  government  which  it 
seems  they  must  have  approved  after  fight- 
ing for  it,  but  the  earlier  jealousies  of  the 
States  and  the  prevailing  ideas  of  liberty 
certainly  gave  the  Anti-Federals  a  popu- 
larity which  onlv  a  test  so  sensible  as  that 
proposed  could  have  shaken.  They  were 
not  without  popular  orators  and  leaders. 
Patrick  Henry,  the  earliest  of  the  pa- 
triots, and "  the-old-man-eloquent,"  Samuel 
Adams,  took  special  pride  in  espousing 
their  cause.  Tne  war  questions  between 
Whig  and  Tory  must  have  passed  quickly 
away,  as  living  issues,  though  the  news- 
papers and  contemporaneous  history  show 
that  the  o'd  taunts  and  battle  cries  were 
applied  to  the  now  situation  with  a  plain- 
ness and  virulence  that  must  still  be  envied 
by  the  sensational  and  more  bitterly  parti- 
san journals  of  our  own  day.  To  read 
these  now,  and  some  of  our  facts  are  gath 


BOOK  I.] 


FEDERALS    AND    ANTI-FEDERALS. 


ered  from  such  sources,  is  to  account  for 
the  frequent  use  of  the  saying  touching 
"  the  ingratitude  of  republics,"  for  when 
partisan  hatred  could  deride  the  still  re- 
cent utterances  of  Henry  before  the  startled 
assembly  of  Virginians,  and  of  Adams  in 
advocating  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration, 
there  must  at  least  to  every  surface  view 
have  been  rank  ingratitude.  Their  good 
names,  however,  survived  the  struggle,  as 
good  names  in  our  republic  have  ever  sur- 
vived the  passions  of  the  law.  In  politics 
the  Americans  then  as  now,  hated  with 
promptness  and  forgave  with  generosity. 

The  Anti-Federals  denied  nearly  all  that 
the  Federals  asserted.  The  latter  had  for 
the  first  time  assumed  the  aggressive,  and 
had  the  advantage  of  position.  They 
showed  the  deplorable  condition  of  the 
country,  and  their  opponents  had  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  denial  at  a  time  when  nearly 
all  public  and  private  obligations  were  dis- 
honored ;  when  labor  was  poorly  paid,  work- 
men getting  but  twenty-five  cents  a  day,with 
little  to  do  at  that ;  when  even  the  rich  in 
lands  were  poor  in  purse,  and  when  com- 
merce on  the  seas  was  checked  by  the  cold- 
ness of  foreign  nations  and  restricted  by 
the  action  of  the  States  themselves  ;  when 
manufactures  were  without  protection  of 
any  kind,  and  when  the  people  thought 
their  struggle  for  freedom  was  about  to  end 
in  national  poverty.  Still  Henry,  and 
Adams  and  Hancock,  with  hosts  of  others, 
claimed  that  the  aspirations  of  the  Anti- 
Federals  were  the  freest,  that  they  pointed 
to  personal  liberty  and  local  sovereignty. 
Yfct  many  Anti-Federals  must  have  accept- 
ed the  views  of  the  Federals,  who  under 
tho  circumstances  must  have  presented  the 
better  reason,  and  the  result  was  as  stated, 
thj  ratification  of  the  Federal  constitution 
of  1787  by  three-fourths  of  the  States  of 
tX  e  Union.  After  this  the  Anti-Federalists 
w  ere  given  a  new  name,  that  of  "  Close 
Constructionists,"  because  they  naturally 
desired  to  interpret  the  new  instrument  in 
such  a  way  as  to  bend  it  to  their  views. 
The  Federalists  became  "  Broad  Construc- 
tionists," because  they  interpreted  the  con- 
stitution in  a  way  calculated  to  broaden 
the  power  of  the  national  government. 

The  Confederacy  once  dissolved,  the 
Federal  party  entered  upon  the  enjoy- 
ment of  full  political  power,  but  it  was  not 
without  its  responsibilities.  The  govern- 
ment had  to  be  organized  upon  the  basis 
of  the  new  constitution,  as  upon  the  suc- 
cess of  that  organization  would  depend  not 
alone  the  stability  of  the  government  and 
the  happiness  of  its  people,  but  the  repu- 
tation of  the  party  and  the  fame  of  its 
leaders  as  statesmen. 

Fortunately  for  all,  party  hostilities  were 
not  manifested  in  the  Presidential  election. 
All  bowed  to  the  popularity  of  Washing- 
ton, and  he  was  unanimously  nominated 


by  the  congressional  caucus  and  appointed 
by  the  electoral  college.  He  selected  his 
cabinet  from  the  leading  minds  of  both 
parties,  and  while  himself  a  recognized 
Federalist,  all  felt  that  he  was  acting  for 
the  good  of  all,  and  in  the  earlier  years  of 
his  administration,  none  disputed  this 
fact. 

As  the  new  measures  of  the  government 
advanced,  however,  the  anti-federalists  or- 
ganized an  opposition  to  the  party  in 
power.  Immediate  danger  had  passed. 
The  constitution  worked  well.  The  laws 
of  Congress  were  respected;  its  calls  foi 
revenue  honored,  and  Washington  de- 
voted much  of  his  first  and  second  mes- 
sages to  showing  the  growing  prosperity 
of  the  country,  and  the  respect  which  it 
was  beginning  to  excite  abroad.  But 
where  there  is  political  pow^er,  there  is 
opposition  in  a  free  land,  and  the  great 
leaders  of  that  day  neither  forfeited  their 
reputations  as  patriots,  or  their  characters 
as  statesmen  by  the  assertion  of  honest  dif- 
ferences of  opinion.  Washington,  Adams, 
and  Hamilton  were  the  recognized  leaders 
of  the  Federalists,  the  firm  friends  of  the 
constitution.  The  success  of  this  instru- 
ment modified  the  views  of  the  anti- 
Federalists,  and  Madison  of  Virginia,  its 
recognized  friend  when  it  was  in  prepara- 
tion, joined  with  others  who  had  been  its 
friends — notably,  *  Doctor  Williamson,  of 
North  Carolina,  and  Mr.  Langdon,  of 
Georgia,  in  opposing  the  administration, 
and  soon  became  recognized  leaders  of  the 
anti-Federalists.  Langdon  was  the  Presi- 
dent pro  tern,  of  the  Senate.  Jefferson  wa 
then  on  a  mission  to  France,  and  not  until 
some  years  thereafter  did  he  array  himself 
with  those  opposed  to  centralized  power  in 
the  nation.     He  returned  in  November, 

1789,  and  was  called  to  Washington's 
cabinet  as  Secretary  of  State  in  March, 

1790.  It  was  a  great  cabinet,  with  Jeffer- 
son as  its  premier  (if  this  term  is  suited  to 
a  time  when  English  political  nomenclature 
was  anything  but  popular  in  the  land;) 
Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
Knox,  Secretary  of  War,  and  Edmund 
Randolph,  Attorney-General.  There  was 
no  Secretary  of  the  Navy  until  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  elder  Adams,  and  no 
Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

The  first  session  of  Congress  under  the 
Federal  constitution,  held  in  New  York, 
sat  for  nearly  six  months,  the  adjournment 
taking  place  September  29th,  1789.  Nearly 
all  the  laws  framed  pointed  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  government,  and  the  discus- 
sions were  able  and  protracted.  Indeed, 
these  discussions  developed  opposing  views, 
which  could  easily  find  separation  on  much 
the  same  old  lines  as  those  which  separated 
the  founders  of  constitutional  government 

*  Edwin  M'UIianu  in  SUtesman'i  M*mi«l. 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I 


froni  those  who  favored  the  old  confederate 
methods.  The  Federalists,  on  pivotal 
questions,  at  this  session,  carried  their 
measures  only  by  small  majorities. 

Much  of  the  second  session  was  devoted 
to  the  discussion  of  the  able  reports  of 
Hamilton,  and  their  final  adoption  did 
much  to  build  up  the  credit  of  the  nation' 
and  to  promote  its  industries.  He  was 
the  author  of  the  protective  system,  and  at 
the  first  session  gave  definite  shape  to  his 
theories.  He  recommended  the  funding 
of  the  war  debt,  the  assumption  of  the 
state  war  debts  by  the  national  government, 
the  providing  of  a  system  of  revenue  from 
the  collection  of  duties  on  imports,  and  an 
internal  excise.  His  advocacy  of  a  pro- 
tective tariff  was  plain,  for  he  declared  it 
to  be  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  encouragemvnt  of  manu- 
factures that  duties  be  laid  on  goods,  wares, 
and  merchandise  imported. 

The  third  session  of  the  same  Congress 
was  held  at  Philadelphia,  though  the  seat 
of  the  national  government  had,  at  the 
previous  one,  been  fixed  on  the  Potomac 
instead  of  the  Susquehanna — this  after  a 
compromise  with  Southern  members,  who 
refused  to  vote  for  the  Assumption  Bill 
until  the  location  of  the  capital  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  had  been  agreed 
upon ;  by  the  way,  this  was  the  first  exhi- 
bition of  log-rolling  in  Congress.  To 
complete  Hamilton's  financial  system,  a 
national  bank  was  incorporated.  On  this 
pniject  both  the  members  of  Congress  and 
of  the  cabinet  were  divided,  but  it  passed, 
and  was  promptly  approved  by  Washing- 
ton. By  this  time  it  was  well  known  that 
Jefferson  and  Hamilton  held  opposing 
views  on  many  questions  of  government, 
and  these  found  their  way  into  and  influ- 
enced the  action  of  Congress,  and  passed 
naturally  from  thence  to  the  people,  who 
were  thus  early  believed  to  be  almost 
equally  divided  on  the  more  essential  po- 
litical issues.  Before  the  close  of  the  ses- 
sion, Vermont  and  Kentucky  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union.  Vermont  was  the 
first  state  admitted  in  addition  to  the 
original  thirteen.  True,  North  Carolina 
and  Rhode  Island  had  rejected  the  consti- 
tution, but  they  reconsidered  their  action 
and  came  in— the  former  in  November, 
1789,  and  the  latter  in  May,  1790. 

The  election  for  members  of  the  Second 
Congress  resulted  in  a  majority  in  both 
branches  favorable  to  the  administration. 
It  met  at  Philadelphia  in  October,  1791. 
The  exciting  measure  of  the  session  was 
the  excise  act,  somewhat  similar  to  that  of 
the  previous  year,  but  the  opposition 
wanted  an  issue  on  which  to  rally,  they 
accepted  this,  and  this  agitation  led  to  vio- 
lent and  in  one  instance  warlike  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  a  portion  of  the  people. 
Those  of  western   Pennsylvania,  largely 


interested  in  distilleries,  prepared  for 
armed  resistance  to  the  excise,  out  at  the 
same  session  a  national  militia  law  had 
been  passed,  and  Washington  took  ad- 
vantage of  this  to  suppress  the  "  Whisky 
Rebellion"  in  its  incipiency.  It  was  a 
hasty,  rash  undertaking,  yet  was  dealt  with 
so  firmly  that  the  action  of  the  authorities 
strengthened  the  law,  and  the  respect  for 
order.  The  four  counties  which  rebelled 
did  no  further  damage  than  to  tar  and 
feather  a  government  tax  collector  and  rob 
him  of  his  horse,  though  many  threats 
were  made  and  the  agitation  continued 
until  1794,  when  Washington's  threatened 
appearance  at  the  head  of  fifteen  thousand 
militia  settled  the  whole  question. 

The  first  session  of  the  Second  Congress 
also  passed  the  first  methodic  apportion- 
ment bill,  which  based  the  congressional 
representation  on  the  census  taken  in  1790, 
the  basis  being  33,000  inhabitants  for  each 
representative.  The  second  session  which 
sat  from  November,  1792,  to  March,  1793, 
was  mainly  occupied  in  a  discussion  of  the 
foreign  and  domestic  relations  of  the  coun- 
try.   No  important  measures  were  adopted. 


The  Republican  and  Federal  Parties. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  the  con- 
stitution before  its  ratification  was  the  ab- 
sence of  a  distinct  bill  of  rights,  which 
should  recognize  "the  equality  of  all 
men,  and  their  rights  to  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  and  at  the  first 
session  of  Congress  a  bill  was  framed  con- 
taining twelve  articles,  ten  of  which  were 
afterwards  ratified  as  amendments  to  the 
constitution.  Yet  state  sovereignty,  then 
imperfectly  defined,  was  the  prevailing 
idea  in  the  minds  of  the  Anti-Federalists, 
and  they  took  every  opportunity  to  oppose 
any  extended  delegation  of  authority  from 
the  states  of  the  Union.  They  contended 
that  the  power  of  the  state  should  be 
supreme,  and  charged  the  Federalists  with 
monarchical  tendencies.  They  opposed 
Hamilton's  national  bank  scheme,  and 
Jefferson  and  Randolph  plainly  expressed 
the  opinion  that  it  was  unconstitutional — 
that  a  bank  was  not  authorized  by  the 
constitution,  and  that  it  would  prevent  the 
states  from  maintaining  banks.  But  when 
the  Bill  of  Rights  had  been  incorporated 
in  and  attached  to  the  constitution  as 
amendments,  Jefferson  with  rare  political 
sagacity  withdrew  all  opposition  to  the  in- 
strument itself,  and  the  Anti-Federalists 
gladly  followed  his  lead,  for  they  felt  that 
they  had  labored  under  many  partisan  dis- 
advantages. The  constitution  was  from 
the  first  too  strong  for  successful  resistance, 
and  when  opposition  was  confessedly 
abandoned  the  party  name  was  changea, 
also  at  the  suggestion  of  Jefferson,  to  that 


BOOK  I.] 


REPUBLICANS  AND  FEDERALS. 


of  Republican.  The  Anti-Federalists  were 
at  first  disposed  to  call  their  party  the 
Democratic-Republicans,  but  finally  called 
it  simply  Republican,  to  avoid  the  opposite 
of  the  extreme  which  they  charged  against 
the  Federalists.  Each  party  had  its  taunts 
in  use,  the  Federalists  being  denounced  as 
monarchists,  the  Anti-Federalists  as  Dem- 
ocrats; the  one  presumed  to  be  looking 
forward  to  monarchy,  the  other  to  the  rule 
of  the  mob. 

By  1793  partisan  lines  under  the  names 
of  Federalists  and  Republicans,  were  plain- 
ly drawn,  and  the  schism  in  the  cabinet 
was  more  marked  than  ever.  Personal 
ambition  may  have  had  much  to  do  with 
it,  for  Washington  had  previously  shown 
his  desire  to  retire  to  private  life.  While 
he  remained  at  the  head  of  affairs  he  was 
unwilling  to  part  with  Jefferson  and  Ham- 
ilton, and  did  all  in  his  power  to  bring 
about  a  reconciliation,  but  without  suc- 
cess. Before  the  close  of  the  first  consti- 
tutional Presidency,  however,  Washington 
had  become  convinced  that  the  people  de- 
sired him  to  accept  a  re-election,  and  he 
was  accordingly  a  candidate  and  unani- 
mously chosen.  John  Adams  was  re-elect- 
ed Vice-President,  receiving  77  votes  to 
50  for  Geo.  Clinton,  (5  scattering)  the  Re- 
publican candidate.  Soon  after  the  inau- 
fui-ation  Citizen  Genet,  an  envoy  from  the 
'r(3nch  republic,  arrived  and  sought  to 
excite  the  sympathy  of  the  United  States 
and  involve  it  in  a  war  with  Great  Britain. 
Jelferson  and  his  Republican  party  warmly 
syrapathized  with  France,  and  insisted 
that  gratitude  for  revolutionary  favors 
coramanded  aid  to  France  in  her  struggles. 
The  Federalists,  under  Washington  and 
Hamilton,  favored  non-intervention,  and 
insisted  that  wc  should  maintain  friendly 
relations  with  Great  Britain.  Washington 
showed  his  usual  firmness,  and  before  the 
expiration  of  the  month,  in  which  Genet 
arrived,  had  issued  his  celebrated  procla- 
mation of  neutrality.  This  has  ever  since 
been  the  accepted  foreign  policy  of  the 
nation. 

Genet,  chagrined  at  the  issuance  of  this 
proclamation,  threatened  to  appeal  to  the 
people,  and  made  himself  so  obnoxious  to 
Washington  that  the  latter  demanded  his 
recall.  The  French  government  sent  M. 
Fauchet  as  his  successor,  but  Genet  con- 
tinued to  reside  in  the  United  States,  and 
under  his  inspiration  a  number  of  Demo- 
cratic Societies,  in  imitation  of  the  French 
Jacobin  clubs,  were  founded,  but  like  all 
such  organizations  in  this  country,  they 
were  short-lived.  Secret  political  societies 
thrive  only  under  despotisms.  In  Repub- 
lics like  ours  they  can  only  live  when  the 
treat  parties  are  in  confusion  and  greatly 
ivided.  They  disappear  with  the  union 
of  sentiment  into  two  great  parties.  If 
there  were  many  parties  and  factions,  as  in 


Mexico  and  some  of  the  South  American 
republics,  there  would  be  even  a  wider 
field  for  them  here  than  there. 

The  French  agitation  showed  its  impress 
upon  the  nation  as  late  as  1794,  when  a 
resolution  to  cut  ofi"  intercourse  with  Great 
Britain  passed  the  House,  and  was  de- 
feated in  the  Senate  only  by  the  casting 
vote  of  the  Vice-President.  Many  people 
favored  France,  and  to  such  silly  heights 
did  the  excitement  run  that  these  insisted 
on  wearing  a  national  cockade.  Jefiersou 
had  left  the  cabinet  the  December  pre- 
vious, and  had  retired  to  his  plantation  in 
Virginia,  where  he  spent  his  leisure  in 
writing  political  essays  and  organizing  the 
Republican  party,  of  which  he  was  the  ac- 
knowledged founder.  Here  he  escaped  the 
errors  of  his  party  in  Congress,  but  it  Avas 
a  potent  fact  that  his  friends  in  oflScial 
station  not  only  did  not  endorse  the  non- 
intervention policy  of  Washington,  but 
that  they  actively  antagonized  it  in  many 
ways.  The  Congressional  leader  in  these 
movements  was  Mr.  Madison.  The  policy 
of  Britain  fed  this  opposition.  The  forts 
on  Lake  Erie  were  still  occupied  by  the 
British  soldiery  in  defiance  of  the  treaty  of 
1783;  American  vessels  were  seized  on 
their  way  to  French  ports,  and  American 
citizens  were  impressed.  To  avoid  a  war, 
Washington  sent  John  Jay  as  special  en- 
voy to  England.  He  arrived  in  June, 
1794,  and  by  November  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing a  treaty.  It  was  ratified  in  June,  1795,  by 
the  Senate  by  the  constitutional  majority 
of  two-thirds,  though  there  was  much  de- 
clamatory opposition,  and  the  feeling  be- 
tween the  Federal  and  Republican  parties 
ran  higher  than  ever  before.  The  Republi- 
cans denounced  while  the  Federals  con- 
gratulated Washington,  Under  this  treaty 
the  British  surrendered  possession  of  all 
American  ports,  and  as  Gen'l  Wayne  dur- 
ing the  previous  summer  had  conquered 
the  war-tribes  and  completed  a  treaty  with 
them,  the  country  was  again  on  the  road 
to  prosperity. 

In  Washington's  message  of  1794,  he 
plainly  censured  all  "  self-created  political 
societies,"  meaning  the  democratic  so- 
cieties formed  by  Genet,  but  this  part  of 
the  message  the  House  refused  to  endorse, 
the  speaker  giving  the  casting  vote  in  the 
negative.  The  £>enate  was  in  harmony 
with  the  political  views  of  the  President. 
Party  spirit  had  by  this  time  measurably 
affectea  all  classes  of  the  people,  and  as 
subjects  for  agitation  here  multiplied,  the! 
opposition  no  longer  regarded  Washing- 
ton with  that  respect  and  decorum  which 
it  had  been  the  rule  to  manifest.  His  wis- 
dom as  President,  his  patriotism,  and  in- 
deed his  character  as  a  man,  were  all 
hotly  questioned  by  political  enemies.  He 
was  even  charged  with  corruption  in  ex- 
pending more  of  the  public  moneys  than 


10 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I 


had  been  appropriated — charges  which  were 
soon  shown  to  De  groundless. 

At  the  first  session  of  Congress  in  De- 
cember, 1795,  the  Senate's  administration 
majority  had  increased,  but  in  the  House 
the  opposing  Republicans  had  also  in- 
creased their  numbers.  The  Senate  by  14 
to  8  endorsed  the  message ;  the  House  at 
first  refused  but  finally  qualified  its  an- 
swers. 

I  In  March,  1796,  a  new  political  issue 
was  sprung  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Living- 
Btone  of  Isew  York,  who  offered  a  resolu- 
tion requesting  of  the  President  a  copy  of 
the  instructions  to  Mr.  Jay,  the  envoy  who 
made  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain.  After 
a  debate  of  several  days,  more  bitter  than 
any  which  had  preceded  it,  the  House 
passed  the  resolution  by  57  to  35,  the  Re- 
publicans voting  aye,  the  Federals  no. 
Washington  in  answer,  took  the  position 
that  the  House  of  Representatives  was  not 
part  of  the  treaty-making  power  of  the 
government,  and  could  not  therefore  be 
entitled  to  any  papers  relating  to  such 
treaties.  The  constitution  had  placed  this 
treaty  making  and  ratifying  power  in  the 
ha  ads  of  the  Senate,  the  Cabinet  and  the 
President. 

This  answer,  now  universally  accepted 
as  the  proper  one,  yet  excited  the  House 
and  increased  political  animosities.  The 
Republicans  cnarged  the  Federals  with 
being  the  "British  party,"  and  in  some 
instances  hinted  that  they  had  been  pur- 
chased with  British  gold.  Indignation 
meetings  were  called,  but  after  much 
sound  and  fuiy,  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
people  really  favored  abiding  by  the  treaty 
m  good  faith,  and  finally  the  House,  after 
more  calm  and  able  debates,  passed  the 
needed  legislation  to  carry  out  the  treaty 
by  a  vote  of  51  to  48. 

In  August,  1796,  prior  to  the  meeting 
of  the  Congressional  caucus  which  then 
placed  candidates  for  the  Presidency  in 
nomination,  Washington  issued  his  cele- 
brated Farewell  Address,  in  which  he  gave 
notice  that  he  would  retire  from  public 
life  at  the  expiration  of  his  term.  He  had 
been  solicited  to  be  a  candidate  for  re- 
election (a  third  term)  and  told  that  all 
the  people  could  unite  upon  him — a  state- 
ment which,  without  abating  one  jot,  our 
udmiration  for  the  man,  would  doubtless 
have  been  called  in  question  by  the  Re- 
publicanf,  who  had  oecome  implacably 
Hostile  to  his  political  views,  and  who  were 
encouraged  to  believe  they  could  win  con- 
trol of  the  Presidency,  by  their  rapidly  in- 
creasing power  in  the  House.  Yet  the  ad- 
dress was  everywhere  received  with  marks 
of  admiration.  Legislatures  commender" 
it  by  resolution  and  ordered  it  to  be  en 
grossed  upon  their  records;  ioumals 
praised  it,  and  upon  the  strength  of  its 
plain  doctrines  the  Federalists  took  new 


courage,  and  prepared  to  win  in  the  Presi- 
dential battle  which  followed.  Both  parties 
were  plainly  arrayed  and  confident,  and 
so  close  was  the  result  that  the  leaders  of 
both  were  elected — John  Adams,  the  nom- 
inee of  the  Federalists,  to  the  Presidency, 
and  Thomas  Jeflerson,  the  nominee  of  the 
Republicans,  to  the  Vice-Presidency.  The 
law  which  then  obtained  was  that  the 
candidate  who  received  the  highest  num- 
ber of  electoral  votes,  took  the  first  place, 
the  next  highest,  the  second.  Thomas 
Pinckney  of  South  Carolina  was  the  Fed- 
eral nominee  for  Vice-President,  and  Aaron 
Burr  of  the  Republicans.  Adams  received 
71  electoral  votes,  Jefferson  68,  Pinckney 
59,  Burr  30,  scattering  48.  Pinckney  had 
lost  12  votes,  while  Burr  lost  38 — a  loss  of 
popularity  which  the  latter  regained  four 
years  later.  The  first  impressions  which 
our  forefathers  had  of  this  man  were  the 
best. 

John  Adams  was  inaugurated  as  Pres- 
ident in  Philadelphia^  at  Congress  Hall, 
March  4th,  1797,  and  m  his  inaugural  was 
careftil  to  deny  the  charge  that  the  Fed- 
eral party  had  any  sympathy  for  England, 
but  reaffirmed  his  endorsement  of  the 
policy  of  Washington  as  to  strict  neutral- 
ity. To  this  extent  he  sought  to  soften  the 
asperities  of  the  parties,  and  measurably 
succeeded,  thou^  the  times  were  still 
stormy.  The  French  revolution  had 
reached  its  highest  point,  and  our  people 
still  took  sides.  Adams  found  he  would 
have  to  arm  to  preserve  neutrality  and  at 
the  same  time  punish  the  aggression  of 
either  of  the  combatants.  This  was  our 
first  exhibition  of  "armed  neutrality." 
An  American  navy  was  quickly  raised,  and 
every  preparation  made  for  defending  the 
rights  of  Americars.  An  alliance  with 
France  was  refused,  after  Mhich  the 
American  Minister  was  dismissed  and  the 
French  navy  began  to  cripple  our  trade. 
In  May,  1797,  President  Adams  felt  it  his 
duty  to  call  an  extra  session  of  Congress, 
which  closed  in  July.  The  Senate  ap- 
proved of  negotiations  for  reconciliation 
with  France.  They  were  attempted  bui. 
proved  fruitless;  in  May,  1798,  a  full  naval 
armament  was  authorized,  and  soon  several 
French  vessels  were  captured  before  there 
was  any  declaration  of  war.  Indeed,  neith- 
er power  declared  war,  and  as  soon  as 
France  discovered  how  earnest  the  Ameri- 
cans were  she  made  overtures  for  an  ad- 
justment of  difiiculties,  and  these  resulted 
"in  the  treaty  of  1800. 

The  Republicans,  though  warmly  favor- 
ing a  contest,  did  not  heartily  support  that 
inaugurated  bv  Adams,  and  contended 
)fter  this  that  the  militia  and  a  small  naval 
f'-rce  were  sufficient  for  internal  defense. 
They  denounced  the  position  of  the  Fed- 
erals, who  favored  the  enlargement  of  the 
army  and  navy,  as  measures  calculated  to 


BOOK  1.] 


REPUBLICANS  AND  FEDERALS. 


11 


overawe  public  sentiment  in  time  of  peace. 
The  Feaerals,  however,  through  their 
prompt  resentment  of  the  aggressions  of 
France,  had  many  adherents  to  their 
party.  They  organized  their  power  and 
sought  to  perpetuate  it  by  the  passage  of 
the  alien  and  sedition,  and  a  naturaliza- 
tion law. 

The  alien  and  sedition  law  gave  the 
President  authority  "to  order  all  such 
aliens  as  he  shall  judge  dangerous  to  the 
peace  and  safety  of  the  United  States,  or 
shall  have  reasonable  grounds  to  suspect 
are  concerned  in  any  treasonable  or  secret 
machinations  against  the  government 
thereof,  to  depart  out  of  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  within  such  time  as 
shall  be  expressed  in  such  order."  The 
provisions  which  followed  were  in  keeping 
with  that  quoted,  the  3d  section  command- 
ing every  master  of  a  ship  entering  a  port 
of  the  United  States,  immediately  on  his 
arrival,  to  make  report  in  writing  to  the 
collector  of  customs,  the  names  of  all  aliens 
on  board,  etc.  The  act  was  to  continue 
in  force  for  two  years  from  the  date  of  its 
passage,  and  it  was  approved  June  25th, 
17%. 

A  resolution  was  introduced  in  the  Sen- 
ate on  the  25th  of  April,  1798,  by  Mr. 
Hillhouse  of  Connecticut,  to  inquire  what 
provision  of  law  ought  to  be  made,  &c.,  as 
to  the  removal  of  such  aliens  as  may  be 
dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  country,  &c. 
This  resolution  was  adopted  the  next  day, 
and  Messrs.  Hillhouse,  Livermore  and 
Read  were  appointed  the  committee,  and 
subsequently  reported  the  bill.  It  passed 
the  Senate  by  16  to  7,  and  the  House  by 
46  to  40,  the  Republicans  in  the  latter 
l)ody  resisting  it  warmly.  The  leading 
opposing  idea  was  that  it  lodged  with  the 
Executive  too  much  power,  and  was  liable 
to  great  abuse.  It  has  frequently  since, 
ia  arguments  against  centralized  power, 
been  used  for  illustration  by  political 
speakers. 

The  Naturalization  law,  favored  by  the 
Federalists,  because  they  knew  they  could 
acquire  few  friends  either  from  newly  ar- 
rived English  or  French  aliens,  among 
other  re<^uirements  provided  that  an  alien 
must  reside  in  the  United  States  /bur^een 
years  before  he  could  vote.  The  Republi- 
cans denounced  this  law  as  calculated  to 
check  immigration,  and  dangerous  to  our 
country  in  the  fact  that  it  caused  too 
many  inhabitants  to  owe  no  allegiance. 
They  also  asserted,  as  did  those  who  op- 
posed Americanism  later  on  in  our  history, 
that  America  was  properly  an  asylum  for 
all  nations,  and  that  those  coming  to 
America  should  freely  share  all  the  privi- 
le^s  and  liberties  of  the  government. 

^hese  laws  and  the  political  resentments 
which  they  created  gave  a  new  and  what 
eventually  proved  a  dangerous  current  to 


politica.  thought  and  action.  They  were 
the  immediate  cause  of  the  Kentucky  and 
Virginia  resolutions  of  1798,  Jefferson  be- 
ing the  author  of  the  former  and  Madison 
of  the  latter. 

These  resolutions  were  full  of  political 
significance,  and  gave  tone  to  sectional  dis- 
cussion up  to  the  close  of  the  war  for  the 
Union.  They  first  promulgated  the  doc- 
trine of  nullification  or  secession,  and 
political  writers  mistake  who  point  to  Cal- 
houn as  the  father  of  that  doctrine.  It 
began  with  the  old  Republicans  under  the 
leadership  of  Jefferson  and  Madison,  and 
thpugh  directly  intended  as  protests  against 
the  alien  and  sedition,  and  the  naturaliza- 
tion laws  of  Congress,  they  kept  one  eye 
upon  the  question  of  slavery — rather  that 
interest  was  kept  in  view  in  their  declara- 
tions, and  yet  the  authors  of  both  were 
anything  but  warm  advocates  of  slavery. 
They  were  then  striving,  however,  to  rein- 
force the  opposition  to  the  Federal  party, 
which  the  administration  of  Adams  had 
thus  far  apparently  weakened,  and  they 
had  in  view  the  brief  agitation  which  had 
sprung  up  in  1793,  five  years  before,  on  the 
petition  to  Congress  of  a  Pennsylvania 
society  "  to  use  its  powers  to  stop  the  trafliic 
in  slaves."  On  the  question  of  referring 
this  petition  to  a  committee  there  arose  a 
sectional  debate.  Men  took  sides  not  be- 
cause of  the  party  to  which  they  belonged, 
but  the  section,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
North  and  South  were  arrayed  against  each 
other  on  a  question  not  then  treated  either  as 
partisan  or  political,  but  which  most  minds 
then  saw  must  soon  become  both  partisan 
and  sectional.  Some  of  the  Southern  de- 
baters, in  their  protests  against  interfer- 
ence, thus  early  threatened  civil  war.  With 
a  view  to  better  protect  their  rights  to  slave 
property,  they  then  advocated  and  suc- 
ceeded in  passing  the  first  fugitive  slave 
law.   This  was  approved  February'  12, 1793. 

The  resolutions  of  1798  will  be  found  in 
the  book  devoted  to  political  platforms. 
So  highly  were  these  esteemed  by  the  Re- 
publicans of  that  day,  and  by  the  interests 
whose  support  they  so  shrewdly  invited, 
that  they  more  than  counterbalanced  the 
popularity  acquired  by  the  Federals  in  their 
resistance  to  France,  and  by  1800  they 
caused  a  rupture  in  the  Cabinet  of  Adams. 

In  the  Presidential  election  of  ISOO  John 
Adams  was  the  nominee  for  President  and 
C.  C.  Pinckney  for  Vice-President.  A 
"  Congressional  Convention"  of  Republi- 
cans, held  in  Philade'ohia,  nominated 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aamn  Burr  as  can- 
didates for  these  offices.  On  the  election 
which  followed  the  Republican ■>  chose  73 
electors  and  the  Federalists  65.  Each 
elector  voted  for  two  persona,  and  the  Re- 

Sublicans  so  voted  that  they  unwisely  gave 
efferson  and  Burr  each  73  votes.    Neither 
being  highest,  it  was  not  legally  determined 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


which  should  be  President  or  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  the  election  had  to  go  to  the 
House.  The  Federalists  threw  65  votes  to 
Adams  and  64  to  Pinckney.  The  Repub- 
licans could  have  done  the  same,  but  Burr's 
intrigue  and  ambition  prevented  this,  and 
the  result  was  a  prttracted  contest  in 
the  House,  and  one  which  put  the  country 
in  great  peril,  but  which  plainljr  pointed 
out  some  of  the  imperfections  of  tne  elec- 
toral features  of  tlie  Constitution.  The 
Federalists  proposed  to  confess  the  inabil- 
ity of  the  House  to  agree  through  the  vote' 
by  States,  but  to  this  proposition  the  Re- 
publicans threatened  armed  resistance. 
The  Federalists  next  attempted  a  combina- 
tion with  the  friends  of  Aaron  Burr,  but 
this  specimen  of  bargaining  to  deprive  a 
nominee  of  the  place  to  which  it  was  the 
plain  intention  of  his  party  to  elect  him, 
really  contributed  to  Jeiferson's  popularity, 
if  not  in  that  Congress,  certainly  before  the 
people.    He  was  elected  on  the  36th  ballot. 

The  bitterness  of  this  strife,  and  the 
dangers  which  similar  ones  threatened,  led 
to  an  abandonment  of  the  system  of  each 
Elector  voting  for  two,  the  highest  to  be 
President,  the  next  highest  Vice-President, 
and  an  amendment  was  offered  to  the  Con- 
stitution, and  fully  ratified  by  September 
25,  1804,  requiring  the  electors  to  ballot 
separately  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

Jefferson  was  the  first  candidate  nomi- 
nated by  a  Congressional  caucus.  It  con- 
vened in  1800  at  Philadelphia,  and  nomi- 
nated Jefferson  for  President  and  Burr  for 
Vice-President.  Adams  and  Pinckney 
w^ere  not  nominated,  but  ran  and  were  ac- 
cepted as  natural  leaders  of  their  party, 
just  as  Washington  and  Adams  were  be- 
fore them. 


Doimfall  of  tbe  Federal  Partjr. 

'Phis  contest  broke  the  power  of  the 
Federal  party.  It  had  before  relied  upon 
the  rare  sagacity  and  ability  of  its  leaders, 
but  the  contest  in  the  House  developed 
sucu  attempts  at  intrigue  as  disgusted 
many  and  caused  all  to  quarrel,  Hamilton 
having  early  showed  his  dislike  to  Adams. 
As  a  party  the  Federal  had  been  peculiarly 
brave  at  times  when  high  bravery  was 
needed.  It  had  framed  the  Federal  Grov- 
emment  and  stood  by  the  powers  given  it 
until  they  were  too  firmly  planted  for  even 
newer  and  triumphant  partisans  to  reck- 
lessly trifle  with.  It  stood  for  non-inter- 
ference with  foreign  nations  against  the 
eloquence  of  adventurers,  the  mad  impulses 
of  mobs,  the  generosity  of  new-born  free- 
men, the  harangues  of  demagogues,  and 
best  of  all  against  those  who  sought  to  fan 
these  popular  breezra  to  their  own  comfort. 
It  provided  for  the  payment  of  the  debt, 
had  the  courage  to  raise  revenues  both 


from  internal  and  external  sources,  and  to 
increase  expenditures,  as  the  growth  of  the 
country  demanded.  Though  it  passed  out 
of  power  in  a  cloud  of  intrigue  and  in  a 
vain  grasp  at  the  "  flesh-pots,"  it  yet  had  a 
glorious  history,  and  one  which  none  un- 
tinctured  with  the  better  prejudices  of  that 
day,  can  avoid  admiring. 

The  defeat  of  Adams  was  not  unexpect- 
ed by  him,  yet  it  was  greatly  regretted  by 
his  friends,  for  he  was  justly  regarded  as 
second  to  no  other  civilian  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  liberties  of  the  colonies. 
He  was  eloquent  to  a  rare  degree,  possessed 
natural  eloquence,  and  made  the  most 
famous  speech  in  advocacy  of  the  Declara- 
tion. Though  the  proceedings  of  the 
Revolutionary  Congrfess  were  secret,  and 
what  was  said  never  printed,  yet  Webster 
gives  his  version  of  the  noted  speech  of 
Adams,  and  we  reproduce  it  in  Book  III. 
of  this  volume  as  one  of  the  great  speeches 
of  noted  American  orators. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  inaugurated  the  third 
President,  in  the  new  capitol  at  Washing- 
ton, on  the  4th  of  March,  1801,  and  Vice- 
President  Burr  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate 
the  same  day.  Though  Burr  distinctly  dis- 
avowed any  participancy  in  the  llouse 
contest,  he  was  distrusted  by  Jefferson's 
warm  friends,  and  jealousies  rapidly 
cropped  out.  Jefferson  endeavored  through 
his  inaugural  to  smooth  factious  and  party 
asperlties,and  so  well  were  his  words  chosen 
that  the  Federalists  indulged,  the  hope  that 
they  would  not  be  removed  from  office  be- 
cause of  their  political  views. 

Early  in  June,  however,  the  first  ques- 
tion of  civil  sersice  was  raised.  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son then  removed  Elizur  Groodrich,  a  Fed- 
eralist, from  the  Collectorship  of  New 
Haven,  and  appointed  Samuel  Bishop,  a 
Republican,  to  the  place.  Tha  citizens  re- 
monstrated, saying  that  Goodrich  was 
prompt,  reliable  and  able,  and  showed  that 
nis  successor  was  78  years  old,  and  too  in- 
firm for  the  duties  of  the  office.  To  these 
remonstrances  Mr.  Jeflerson,  under  date  of 
July  12th,  replied  in  language  which  did 
not  then,  as  he  did  later  on,  plainly  assert 
the  right  of  every  administration  to  have 
its  friends  in  office.  We  quote  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"Declarations  by  myself,  in  favor  of 
political  tolerance,  exhortations  to  har- 
mony and  affection  in  social  intercourse, 
and  respect  for  the  equal  rights  of  the 
minority,  have,  on  certain  occasions,  been 
quoted  and  misconstrued  into  assurances 
tnat  the  tenure  of  office  was  not  to  be  dis- 
turbed. But  could  candor  apply  such  a 
construction  ?  When  It  is  considered  that, 
during  the  late  administration,  those  who 
were  not  of  a  particular  sect  of  politics 
were  excluded  u-om  all  office ;  when,  by  a 
steady  pursuit  of  this  measure,  nearly  the 
whole  offices  of  the  United  States  were 


BOOK  I.] 


DOWNFALL   OF   THE   FEDERALS. 


13 


monopolized  by  that  sect ;  when  the  public 
eentiment  at  length  declared  itself,  and 
burst  open  the  doors  of  honor  and  confi- 
dence to  those  whose  opinions  they  ap- 
proved; was  it  to  be  imagined  that  this 
monopoly  of  office  was  to  be  continued  in 
the  hands  of  the  minority  ?  Does  it  violate 
their  equal  rights  to  assert  some  rights  in 
the  majority  also  ?  Is  it  politica.  intolerance 
to  claim  a  proportionate  share  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  public  affairs?  If  a  due  partici- 
pation of  office  is  a  matter  of  right,  how 
are  vacancies  to  be  obtained  ?  Those  by 
death  are  few,  by  resignation  none.  Can 
any  other  mode  than  that  of  removal  be 
proposed?  This  is  a  painful  office;  but  it 
is  made  my  duty,  anti  I  meet  it  as  such.  I 
proceed  in  the  operation  with  deliberation 
and  inquiry,  that  it  may  injure  the  best 
men  least,  and  effect  the  purposes  of  justice 
and  public  utility  with  the  least  private 
distress,  that  it  may  be  thrown  as  much  as 
possible  on  delinquency,  on  oppression,  on 
intolerance,  on  ante-revolutionary  adhe- 
rence to  our  enemies. 

"  I  lament  sincerely  that  unessential  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  should  ever  have  been 
deemed  sufficient  to  interdict  half  the 
society  from  the  rights  and  the  blessings 
of  self-government,  to  proscribe  them  as 
unworthy  of  every  trust.  It  would  have 
been  to  me  a  circumstance  of  great  relief, 
had  I  found  a  moderate  participation  of 
office  in  the  hands  of  the  majority.  I 
would  gladly  have  left  to  time  and  accident 
to  raise  them  to  their  just  share.  But  their 
total  exclusion  calls  for  prompter  correc- 
tions. I  shall  correct  the  procedure ;  but 
that  done,  return  with  joy  to  that  state  of 
things  when  the  only  questions  concerning 
a  candidate  shall  be :  Is  he  honest?  Is  he 
capable?  Ishe  faithful  to  the  constitution?" 

Mr.  Adams  had  made  few  removals,  and 
»ione  because  of  the  political  views  held 
by  the  incumbents,  nearly  all  of  whom 
had  been  appointed  by  Washington  and 
continued  through  good  behavior.  At  the 
date  of  the  appointment  of  most  of  them, 
Jefferson's  Republican  party  had  no  exist- 
ence; so  that  the  reasons  given  in  the 
quotation  do  not  comport  with  the  facta. 
Washington's  rule  was  integrity  and  ca- 
pacity, for  he  could  have  no  regard  for 
politics  where  political  lines  had  been  ob- 
literated in  his  Own  selection.  Doubtless 
these  office-holders  were  human,  and  ad- 
hered with  warmth  to  the  administration 
which  they  served,  and  this  fact,  and  this 
alone,  must  have  angered  the  Republicans 
and  furnished  them  with  arguments  for  a 
change. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  position,  however,  made 
his  later  conduct  natural.  He  was  the  ac- 
knowledged leader  of  his  party,  its  founder 
indeed,  and  that  party  had  carried  him 
into  power.  He  desired  to  keep  it  intact, 
to  strengthen  its  lines  with  whatever  pa- 


tronage he  had  at  his  disposal,  and  he  evi- 
dently regarded  the  cause  of  Adams  in  not 
rewarding  his  friends  as  a  mistake.  It 
Avas,  therefore,  Jefferson,  and  not  Jackson, 
who  was  the  author  of  the  theory  that  "  to 
the  victors  belong  the  spoils."  Jackson 
gave  it  a  sharp  and  perfectly  defined  shape 
by  the  use  of  these  words,  but  the  spirits 
and  principle  were  conceived  by  Jefferson, 
who  throughout  his  life  showed  far  greater 
originality  in  politics  than  any  of  the  early 
■patriots.  It  was  his  acute  sense  of  just 
what  was  right  for  a  growing  political 
party  to  do,  which  led  him  to  turn  the 
thoughts  of  his  followers  into  new  and 
popular  directions.  Seeing  that  they  were 
at  grave  disadvantage  when  opposing  the 
attitude  of  the  government  in  its  policy 
with  foreign  nations;  realizing  that  the 
work  of  the  Federalists  in  strengthening 
the  power  of  the  new  government,  in  pro- 
viding revenues  and  ways  and  means  fcr 
the  payment  of  the  debt,  were  good,  he 
changed  the  character  of  the  opposition 
by  selecting  only  notoriously  arbitmry 
measures  for  assault — and  changed  it  even 
more  radically  than  this.  He  early  saw 
that  simple  opposition  was  not  progress, 
and  that  it  was  both  wise  and  popular  to 
be  progressive,  and  in  all  his  later  politi- 
cal papers  he  sought  to  make  his  party  the 
party  favoring  personal  freedom,  the  one 
of  liberal  ideas,  the  one  whieh,  instead  of 
shirking,  should  anticipate  every  change 
calculated  to  enlarge  the  liberties  and  the 
opportunities  of,  citizens.  These  things 
were  not  inconsistent  with  his  strong  views 
in  favor  of  local  self-government ;  indeed, 
in  many  particulars  they  seemed  to  sup- 
port that  theory,  and  by  the  union  of 
the  two  ideas  he  shrewdly  arrayed  po- 
litical enthusiasm  by  the  side  of  politi- 
cal interest.  Political  sagacity  more  pro- 
found than  this  it  is  difficult  to  imagine. 
It  has  not  since  been  equalled  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  land,  nor  do  we  believe  in  the 
history  of  any  other. 

After  the  New  Haven  episode,  so  jealous 
was  Jefferson  of  his  good  name,  that  while 
he  confided  all  new  appointments  to  the 
hands  of  his  political  friends,  he  made  few 
removals,  and  these  for  apparent  cause. 
The  mere  statement  of  his  position  had 
proved  an  invitation  to  the  Federalists  in 
office  to  join  his  earlier  friends  in  the  sup- 
port of  his  administration.  Many  of  them 
did  it,  so  many  that  the  clamorings  of 
truer  friends  could  not  be  hushed.  With 
a  view  to  create  a  new  excuse,  Jefferson 
declared  that  all  appointments  made  by 
Adams  after  February  14th,  when  the 
House  began  its  ballotings  for  President, 
were  void,  these  appointments  belonging 
of  right  to  him,  and  from  this  act  of 
Adams  we  date  the  political  le^cies  wliich 
some  of  our  Presidents  have  since  han  ded 
down  to  their  successors.     One  of  the 


14 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  t 


magistrates  whose  commission  had  been 
made  out  under  Adams,  sought  to  compel 
Jefferson  to  sign  it  by  a  writ  of  mandamus 
before  the  Supreme  Court,  but  a  "  profound 
investigation  of  constitutional  law "  in- 
duced the  court  not  to  grant  the  motion. 
All  commissions  signed  by  Adams  after 
•the  date  named  were  suppressed. 

Jefferson's  apparent  bitterness  against 
the  Federalists  is  mainly  traceable  to  the 
contest  in  the  House,  and  his  belief  that 
at  one  time  they  sought  a  coalition  with- 
Burr.  This  coalition  he  regarded  as  a  vio- 
lation of  the  understanding  when  he  was 
nominated,  and  a  supposed  effort  to  ap- 
point a  provisional  office  he  regarded  aa  an 
usurpation  in  fact.  In  a  letter  to  James 
Monroe,  dated  February  15th,  speaking  of 
this  contest,  he  says : 

"  Four  days  of  balloting  have  produced 
not  a  single  change  of  a  vote.  Yet  it  is 
confidently  believed  that  to-morrow  there 
is  to  be  a  coalition.  I  know  of  no  founda- 
tion for  this  belief.  If  they  could  have 
been  permitted  to  pass  a  law  for  putting 
the  government  in  tne  hands  of  an  officer, 
they  would  certainly  have  prevented  an 
election.  But  we  thought  it  best  to  de- 
clare openly  and  firmly,  one  and  all,  that 
the  day  such  an  act  passed,  the  Middle 
States  would  arm,  and  that  no  such  usur- 
pation, even  for  a  single  day,  should  be 
submitted  to." 

It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  the  Federalists 
denied  all  such  intentions,  and  that  James 
A.  Bavard,  of  Delaware,  April  3,  1806, 
made  formal  oath  to  this  denial.  In  this 
he  says  that  three  States,  representing 
Federalist  votes,  offered  to  withdraw  their 
opposition  if  John  Nicholas,  of  Virginia, 
and  the  personal  friend  of  Jefferson,  would 
secure  pledges  that  the  public  credit  should 
be  supported,  the  navy  maintained,  and 
that  subordinate  public  officers,  employed 
only  in  the  execution  of  details,  established 
by  law,  should  not  be  removed  from  office 
on  the  ground  of  their  public  character, 
nor  without  complaint  against  their  con- 
duct. The  Federalists  then  went  so  far  as 
to  admit  that  officers  of  "  high  discretion 
and  confidence,"  such  as  members  of  the 
cabinet  and  foreign  ministers,  should  be 
known  friends  of  the  administration.  This 
proposition  goes  to  show  that  there  is  noth- 
ing very  new  in  what  are  called  our 
modern  politics ;  that  the  elder  Bayard,  as 
early  as  180(),  made  a  formal  proposal  to 
bargain.  Mr,  Nicholas  offered  his  assur- 
,  ance  that  these  things  would  prove  accep- 
table to  and  govern  the  conduct  of  Jeffer- 
son's administration,  but  he  declined  to  con- 
sult with  Jefferson  on  the  points.  General 
Smith  subsequently  engaged  to  do  it,  and 
Jefferson  replied  that  the  points  given 
corresponded  with  his  views  and  inten- 
tions, and  that  Mr,  Bayard  and  his  friends 
might  confide  in  him  accordingly.    The 


opposition  of  Vermont,  Maryland  and  De- 
laware was  then  immediately  withdrawn, 
and  Mr  Jefferson  was  made  President. 
Gen'l  Smith,  twelve  days  later,  made  an 
affidavit  which  substantially  confirmed 
that  of  Bayard.  Latimer,  the  collector  of 
the  port  of  Philadelphia,  and  M'Lane,  col- 
lector of  Wilmington,  (Bayard's  special 
friend)  were  retained  in  office.  He  had 
cited  these  two  as  examples  of  his  opposi- 
tion to  any  change,  and  Jefferson  seemed 
to  regard  the  pledges  as  not  sacred  beyond 
the  parties  actually  named  in  Bayard's  ne- 
gotiations with  Gen'l  Smith. 

This  misunderstanding  or  misconstruc- 
tion of  what  in  these  days  would  be  plain- 
ly called  a  bargain,  led  to  considerable 
political  criticism,  and  Jefferson  felt  it  ne- 
cessary to  defend  his  cause.  This  he  did 
in  letters  to  friends  which  both  then  and 
since  found  their  way  into  the  public 
prints.  One  of  these  letters,  written  to 
Col.  Monroe,  March  7th,  shows  in  ev<vy 
word  and  line  the  natural  politician.  I;a 
this  he  says : 

"Some  (removals)  I  know  must  be 
made.  They  must  be  as  few  as  possible, 
done  gradually,  and  bottomed  on  some 
malversation  or  inherent  disqualification. 
Where  we  shall  draw  the  line  between  all 
and  none,  is  not  yet  settled,  and  will  not 
be  till  we  get  our  administration  together ; 
and  perhaps  even  then  we  shall  proceed 
a  talons,  balancing  our  measures  according 
to  the  impression  we  perceive  them  to 
make.  Tnis  may  give  you  a  general 
view  of  our  plan," 

A  little  later  on,  March  28,  he  wrote  to 
Elbridge  Gerry: 

"  Officers  who  have  been  guilty  of  gross 
abuses  of  office,  such  as  marshals  pack mg 
juries,  etc.,  I  shall  now  remove,  as  my 
predecessor  ought  in  justice  to  have  done. 
The  instances  will  be  few,  and  governed 
by  strict  rule,  not  party  passion.  The 
right  of  opinion  shall  suffer  no  invasion 
from  me." 

Jefferson  evidently  tired  of  this  subject, 
and  ^adually  modified  his  views,  as  shown 
in  his  letter  to  Levi  Lincoln,  July  11, 
wherein  he  says : 

"  I  am  satisfied  that  the  heaping  of  abuse 
on  me  personally,  has  been  with  the  de- 
sign and  the  hope  of  provoking  me  to  make 
a  general  sweep  of  all  Federalists  out  of 
office.  But  as  I  have  carried  no  passion 
into  the  execution  of  this  disagreeable 
duty,  I  shall  suffer  none  to  be  excited.  The 
clamor  which  has  been  raised  will  not  pro  • 
voke  me  to  remove  one  more,  nor  cfeter 
me  from  removing  one  less,  than  if  not  a 
word  had  been  said  on  the  subject.  In  the 
course  of  the  summer,  all  which  is  neces- 
sary will  be  done ;  and  we  may  hope  that, 
this  cause  of  offence  being  at  an  end,  the 
measures  we  shall  pursue  and  propose  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  public  affairs,  will 


BOOK  1.] 


DOWNFALL    OF    THE    FEDERALS. 


15 


be  80  confessedly  salutary  as  to  unite  all 
men  not  monarchists  in  principle."  In 
the  same  letter  he  warmly  berates  the 
monarchical  federalists,  saying^  *'  they  are 
incurables,  to  be  taken  care  ot  in  a  mad- 
house if  necessary,  and  on  motives  of 
charity." 

The  seventh  Congress  assembled.  Po- 
litical parties  were  at  first  nearly  equally 
divided  in  the  Senate,  but  eventually 
there  was  a  majority  for  the  administration. 
Jefferson  then  discontinued  the  custom  es- 
tablished by  Washington  of  delivering  in 
person  his  message  to  Congress.  The 
change  was  greatly  for  the  better,  aa  it 
afforded  relief  from  the  requirement  of 
immediate  answers  on  the  subjects  con- 
tained in  the  message.  It  has  ever  since 
been  followed. 

The  seventh  session  of  Congress,  pursu- 
ant to  the  recommendation  of  President 
Jefferson,  established  a  uniform  system  of 
naturalization,  and  so  modified  the  law  as 
to  make  the  required  residence  of  aliens 
five  years,  instead  of  fourteen,  as  in  the  act 
of  1798,  and  to  permit  a  declaration  of  in- 
tention to  become  a  citizen  at  the  expiration 
of  three  years.  By  his  recommendation 
also  was  established  the  first  sinking  fiind 
for  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt.  It 
required  the  setting  apart  annually  for  this 

Eurpose  the  sum  of  seven  millions  and  three 
undred  thousand  dollars.  Other  mea- 
sures, more  partisan  in  their  character, 
were  proposed,  but  Congress  showed  an 
aversion  to  undoing  what  nad  been  wisely 
done.  A  favorite  law  of  the  Federalists 
establishing  circuit  courts  alone  was  re- 
pealed, and  this  only  after  a  sharp  debate, 
and  a  close  vote.  The  provisional  army 
had  been  disbanded  by  a  law  of  the  previ- 
ous Congress.  A  proposition  to  abolish  the 
naval  department  was  defeated,  as  was  that 
to  discontinue  the  mint  establishment. 

At  this  session  the  first  law  in  relation  to 
the  slave  trade  was  passed.  It  was  to  pre- 
vent the  importation  of  negroes,  mulattoes 
and  other  persons  of  color  into  any  port  of 
the  United  States  within  a  state  wnich  had 
prohibited  by  law  the  admission  of  any 
such  person.  The  penalty  was  one  thou- 
sand dollars  and  the  forfeiture  of  the  vessel. 
The  slave  trade  was  not  then  prohibited  by 
the  constitution,  nor  was  the  subject  then 
generally  agitated,  though  it  had  been  as 
early  as  1793,  when,  as  previously  stated, 
an  exciting  sectional  debate  followed  the 
presentation  of  a  petition  from  Pennsylva- 
nia to  abolish  the  slave  trade. 

Probably  the  most  important  occurrence 
under  the  first  administration  of  Jefferson 
was  that  relating  to  the  purchase  and  ad- 
mission of  Louisiana.  There  had  been 
apprehensions  of  a  war  with  Spain,  and  with 
a  view  to  be  ready  Congress  had  passed  an 
act  authorizing  the  President  to  call  upon 
the  executives  of  such  of  the  states  as  he 


might  deem  expedient,  for  detachments  of 
militia  not  exceeding  eighty  thousand,  or 
to  accept  the  services  of  volunteers  for  a 
term  of  twelve  months.  The  disagreement 
arose  over  the  south-western  boundary  line 
and  the  right  of  navigating  the  Mississippi. 
Our  government  learned  in  the  spring  of 
1802,  that  Spain  had  by  a  secret  treaty 
made  in  October,  1800,  actually  ceded 
Louisiana  to  France.  Our  government  had 
in  1795  made  a  treaty  with  Spain  which 
gave  us  the  right  of  deposite  at  New  Or- 
leans for  three  years,  but  in  October,  1802, 
the  Spanish  authorities  gave  notice  by, 
proclamation  that  this  right  was  withdrawn. 
Excitement  foliowed  all  along  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  it  was  increased  by 
the  belief  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  privi- 
lege was  made  at  the  suggestion  of  France, 
though  Spain  still  retained  the  territory,  as 
the  formalities  of  ceding  it  had  not  been 
gone  through  with.  Jefferson  promptly 
took  the  ground  that  if  France  took  pos- 
session of  New  Orleans,  the  United  States 
would  immediately  become  allies  of  Eng- 
land, but  suggested  to  Minister  Livingston 
at  Paris  that  France  might  be  induced  to 
cede  the  island  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
Floridas  to  the  United  States.  It  was  Lis 
belief,  though  a  mistaken  one,  that  France 
had  also  acquired  the  Floridas.  Louisiana 
then  comprised  much  of  the  territory  west 
of  the  Mississippi  and  south  of  the  Mis- 
souri. 

The  Federalists  in  Congress  seized  upon 
this  question  as  one  upon  which  they  could 
make  an  aggressive  war  against  Jefferson's 
administration,  and  resolutions  were  intro- 
duced asking  information  on  the  subject. 
Jefferson,  however,  wisely  avoided  all  en- 
tangling suggestions,  and  sent  Monroe  to 
aid  Livingston  in  effecting  a  purchase. 
The  treaty  was  formed  in  April,  1803,  and 
submitted  by  Jefferson  to  the  Senate  in 
October  following.  The  Republicans  ral- 
lied in  favor  of  this  scheme  of  annexation, 
and  claimed  that  it  was  a  constitutional 
right  in  the  government  to  acquire  territory 
— a  doctrine  widely  at  variance  with  their 
previous  position,  but  occasions  are  rare 
where  parties  quarrel  with  their  administra- 
tions on  pivotal  measures.  There  was  also 
some  latitude  here  for  endorsement,  as  the 
direct  question  of  territorial  acquisition  had 
not  before  been  presented,  but  only  hypo- 
thetically  stated  in  the  constitutional  dis- 
putations then  in  great  fashion.  Jefferson 
would  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  con- 
stitution warranted  the  acquisition  to  for- 
eign territory,  but  the  scheme  was  never- 
theless his,  and  he  stood  in  with  his  friends 
in  the  political  battle  which  followed. 

The  Federalists  claimed  that  we  had  no 
power  to  acquire  territory,  and  that  the 
acquirement  of  Louisiana  would  give  the 
South  a  preponderance  which  would  "  con- 
tinue for  ail  time  (poor  prophets  they .'), 


16 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[bookl 


since  southern  would  be  more  rapid  than 
northern  development ;  "  that  states  cre- 
ated west  of  the  Mississippi  would  injure 
the  commerce  of  New  England,  and  they 
even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  "  ad- 
mission of  the  Western  World  into  the 
Union  would  compel  the  Eastern  States  to 
establish  an  eastern  empire,"  Doubts 
were  also  raised  as  to  the  right  of  Louisi- 
anians,  when  admitted  to  citizenship  un- 
der our  laws,  as  their  lineage,  language 
and  religion  were  different  from  our  own. 
Its  inhabitants  were  French  and  descend- 
ants of  French,  with  some  Spanish  Cre- 
oles, Americans,  English  and  Germans — 
in  all  about  90,000,  including  40,000  slaves. 
There  were  many  Indians  of  course,  in  a 
territory  then  exceeding  a  million  of  square 
miles — a  territory  which,  in  the  language 
of  First  Consul  Napoleon,  "strengthens 
forever  the  power  of  the  United  States," 
and  which  will  give  to  England  a  mari- 
time rival  that  will  sooner  or  later  humble 
her  pride  " — a  military  view  of  the  change 
iully  justified  by  subsequent  history.  Na- 
poleon sold  because  of  needed  prepara- 
tions for  war  with  England,  and  while  he 
had  previously  expressed  a  willingness  to 
take  fifty  million  francs  for  it,  he  got  sixty 
through  the  shrewd  diplomacy  of  his  min- 
isters, who  hid  for  the  time  their  fear  of 
the  capture  of  the  port  of  New  Orleans  by 
the  English  navy. 

Little  chance  was  afforded  the  Federal- 
ists for  adverse  criticism  in  Congress,  for 
the  purchase  proved  so  popular  that  the 
people  greatly  increased  the  majority  in 
both  branches  of  the  eighth  Congress,  and 
Jefferson  called  it  together  earlier  for  the 

Surpose  of  ratification.  The  Senate  rati- 
ed  the  treaty  on  the  20th  of  October,  1803, 
by  a  vote  of  24  to  7,  while  the  House 
adopted  a  resolution  for  carrying  the  treaty 
into  effect  by  a  vote  of  90  to  25.  Eleven 
million  dollars  of  the  purchase  money  was 
appropriated,  the  remaining  four  millions 
being  reserved  for  the  indemnity  of  Amer- 
ican citizens  who  had  sustained  losses  by 
French  assaults  upon  our  commerce — from 
which  fact  subsequently  came  what  is 
known  as  the  French  Spoliation  Bill. 

Impeachment  trials  were  first  attempted 
before  the  eighth  Congress  in  1803.  Judge 
Pickering,  of  the  district  .  court  of  the 
United  States  for  New  Hampshire,  was 
impeached  for  occasional  drunkenness, 
and  dismissed  frcm  office.  Judge  Chase 
of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  and  Judge 
Peters  of  the  district  court  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, both  Federalists,  were  charged  b^  arti- 
cles proposed  in  the  House  with  illegal 
and  arbitrary  conduct  in  the  trial  of  par- 
ties charged  with  political  offenses.  The 
Federalists  took  alarm  at  these  proceed- 
ings, and  so  vehement  were  their  charges 
against  the  Eepublicaus  of  a  desire  to  ae« 


stroy  the  judiciary  that   their   impeach, 
ments  were  finally  abandoned. 

The  Eepublicans  closed  their  first  na- 
tional administration  with  high  prestige. 
They  had  met  several  .congressional  re- 
verses on  questions  where  defeat  proved 
good  fortune,  for  the  Federalists  kept  a 
watchful  defence,  and  were  not  always 
wrong.  The  latter  suffered  numerically, 
and  many  of  their  best  leaders  had  fallen 
in  the  congressional  contest  of  1800  and 
1802,  while  the  Republicans  maintained 
their  own  additions  m  talent  and  number. 

In  1804,  the  candidates  of  both  parties 
were  nominated  by  congressional  caucuses. 
Jefferson  and  Clinton  were  the  Republi- 
can nominees ;  Charles  C  Pinckney  and 
Rufiis  King,  the  nominees  of  the  Federal- 
ists, but  they  only  received  14  out  of  176 
electoral  votes. 

The  struggle  of  Napoleon  in  Europe 
with  the  allied  powers  now  gave  Jeffersoa 
an  opportunity  to  inaugurate  a  foreiga 
policy.  England  had  forbidden  all  trade 
with  the  French  and  their  allies,  and 
France  had  in  return  forbidden  all  com- 
merce with  England  and  her  colonies. 
Both  of  these  decrees  violated  our  neutral 
rights,  and  were  calculated  to  destroy  our 
commerce,  which  by  this  time  had  become 
quite  imposing. 

Congress  acted  promptly,  and  on  the  21  st 
of  December  passed  what  is  known  as  the 
Embargo  Act,  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Republican  party,  which  claimed  that  the 
only  choice  of  the  people  lay  between  the 
embargo  and  war,  and  that  there  was  no 
other  way  to  obtain  redress  from  England 
and  France.  But  the  promised  effects  of 
the  measure  were  not  realized,  and  so  soon 
as  any  dissatisfaction  was  manifested  by 
the  people,  the  Federalists  made  the  qOes- 
tion  a  political  issue.  They  declared  it 
unconstitutional  because  it  was  not  limited 
as  to  time;  that  it  helped  England  as 
against  France  (a  cunning  assertion  in 
view  of  the  early  love  of  the  Republicans 
for  the  cause  of  the  French),  and  that  it 
laid  violent  hands  on  our  home  commerce 
and  industries.  Political  agitation  in- 
creased the  discontent,  and  public  opinion 
at  one  time  turned  so  strongly  against  the 
law  that  it  was  openly  resisted  on  the 
eastern  coast,  and  treated  with  almost  as 
open  contempt  on  the  Canadian  border. 
The  bill  had  passed  the  House  by  87  to 
35,  the  Senate  bv  19  to  9.  In  January. 
1809,  the  then  closing  administration  oi 
Jefferson  had  to  change  front  on  the  ques- 
tion, and  the  law  was  repealed  on  the  18th 
of  March.  The  Republicans  when  they 
changed,  went  all  the  way  over,  and  advo- 
cated full  protection  by  the  use  of  a  navy, 
of  all  our  rights  on  the  high  seas.  If  the 
Federals  could  have  recalled  their  old 
leaders,  or  retained  even  a  considerable 
portion  of  their  power,  the  opportunity 


EOOK  1.3 


DEMOCRATS  AND  FEDERALS. 


17 


E resented  by  the  embargo  issue  could 
ave  brought  them  back  to  full  political 
power,  but  lacking  these  leaders,  the  op- 
portunity passed 


Democrats  and  Federals. 

During  the  ninth  Congress,  which  as- 
sembled on  the  second  of  December,  1805, 
the  Republicans  dropped  their  name  and 
accepted  that  of  "  Democrats,"  In  all 
their  earlier  strifes  they  had  been  charged 
by  their  opponents  with  desiring  to  run  to 
the  extremes  of  the  democratic  or  "  mob 
rule,"  and  fear  of  too  general  a  belief  in 
the  truth  of  the  charge  led  them  to  denials 
and  rejection  of  a  name  which  the  father 
of  their  party  had  ever  shown  a  fondness 
for.  The  earlier  dangers  which  had 
threatened  their  organization,  and  the  re- 
collection of  defeats  suffered  in  their  at- 
tempts to  establish  a  government  anti-fed- 
exal  and  confederate  in  their  composition, 
had  been  greatly  modified  by  later  suc- 
cesses, and  with  a  characteristic  cuteness 
peculiar  to  Americans  they  accepted  an 
epithet  and  sought  to  turn  it  to  the  best 
account.  In  this  they  imitated  the  patriots 
who  accepted  the  epithets  in  the  British 
satirical  song  of  "  Yankee  Doodle,"  and 
called  themselves  Yankees.  From  the 
ninth  Congress  the  Jeffersonian  Republi- 
cans called  themselves  Democrats,  and  the 
word  Republican  passed  into  disuse  until 
later  on  in  the  history  of  our  political 
parties,  the  opponents  of  the  Democracy 
accepted  it  as  a  name  which  well  filled  the 
meaning  of  their  attitude?  in  the  politics  of 
the  country. 

Mr.  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  made  the 
first  schism  in  the  Republican  party  under 
Jefferson,  when  he  and  three  of  his  friends 
voted  against  the  embargo  act.  He  resisted 
its  passage  with  his  usual  earnestness,  and 
all  attempts  at  reconciling  him  to  the  mea- 
sure were  unavailing.  Self-willed,' strong 
in  argument  and  sarcasm,  it  is  believed 
that  his  cause  made  it  even  more  desirable 
for  the  Republicans  to  change  name  in 
the  hope  of  recalling  some  of  the  more 
wayward  "  Democrats  "  who  had  advoca- 
ted Jacobin  democracy  in  the  years  gone 
by.  The  politicians  of  that  day  were 
never  short  of  expedients,  and  no  man  so 
abounded  in  them  as  Jefferson  himself. 

Randolph  improved  his  opportunities  by 
getting  most  or  the  Virginia  members  to 
act  with  him  against  the  foreign  policy  of 
the  administration,  but  he  was  careful  not 
to  join  the  Federalists,  and  quickly  denied 
any  leaning  that  way.  The  first  fruit  of 
I  is  faction  was  to  bring  forth  Monroe  as  a 
candidate  for  President  against  Madison — 
a  movement  which  proved  to  be  quite 
popular  in  Virginia,  but  which  Jefferson 
flanked  by  bringing  about  a  reconciliation 


between  Monroe  and  Madison.  The  now 
usual  Congressional  caucus  followed  at 
Washington,  and  although  the  Virginia 
Legislature  in  its  caucus  proviously  held 
had  been  unable  to  decide  between  Madi- 
son and  Monroe,  the  Congressional  body 
chose  Madison  by  83  to  11,  the  minority 
being  divided  between  Clinton  and  Mon- 
roe, though  the  latter  could  by  that  time 
hardly  be  considered  as  a  candidate.  This 
action  broke  up  Randolph's  faction  in 
Virginia,  but  left  so  much  bitterness  be- 
hind it  that  a  large  portion  attached  them- 
selves to  the  Federalists.  In  the  election 
which  followed  Madison  received  122  elec- 
toral votes  against  47  for  C,  C.  Pinckney, 
of  South  Carolina,  and  6  for  Geo.  Clinton 
of  New  York. 

Before  Jefferson's  administration  closed 
he  recommended  the  passage  of  an  act  to 
prohibit  the  African  slave  trade  after  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1808,  and  it  was  passed  accord- 
ingly.    He  had  also  rejected  the  form  of  a 
treaty  received  from  the  British  minister 
Erskine,  and  did  this  without  the  formality 
of  submitting  it  to  the  Senate— first,  be- 
cause it  contained  no  provision  on  the  ob- 
jectionable practice  of  impressing  our  sea- 
men ;  second,  *  because  it  was  accompanied 
by  a  note  from  the  British  ministers,  by 
which  the  British  government  reserved  to 
itself  the  right  of  rele&sing  itself  from  the 
stipulations  in  favor  of  neutral  rights,  if 
the  United  States  submitted  to  the  British 
decree,  or  other  invasion  of  those  rights  by 
France."    This  rejection  of  the  treaty  by 
Jefferson  caused  public  excitement,  and 
the  Federalists  sought  to  arouse  the  com- 
mercial community  against  his  action,  and 
cited  the  fact  that  his  OAvn  trusted  friends, 
Monroe  and  Pinckney  had  negotiated  it. 
The  President's  party  stood  by  him,  and 
they  agreed  that  submission  to  the  Senate 
was  immaterial,  as  its  advice  could  not 
bind  him.    This  refusal  to  consider  the 
treaty  was  the  first  step  leading  to  the  war 
of  1812,  for  embargoes  followed,  and  Britain 
openly  claimed  the  right  to  search  Amer- 
ican vessels  for  her  deserting  seamen.     In 
1807  this  question  was  brought  to  issue 
by  the  desertion  of  five  British  seamen 
from  the  Hal  fax,  and  their  enlistment  on 
the  U.  S.  frigate  Chesapeake.     Four  sepa- 
rate demands  were  made  for  these  men. 
but  all  of  the  commanders,  knowing  the 
firni  attitude  of  Jefferson's  administration 
against  the  practice,  refused,  as  did  the 
Secretary  of  State  refuse  a  fifth  demand 
on  the  part  of  the  British   minister.     On 
the    23a    of  June    following,    while  the 
Chesapeake  was  near  the  capes  of  Virginia, 
Capt.  Humphreys  of  the  British  ship  LeO' 
pard  attempted  to  search  her  for  deserters, 
Capt.  Barron  denied  the  right  of  search, 
but  on  being  fired  i»to,  lowered  his  flag, 

♦From  the  Statesman'    ilanual,  Vol.  1,  by  Bdwln 


18 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Humphreys  then  took  four  men  from  the 
Chesapeake,  three  of  whom  had  previously 
entered  the  British  service,  but  were 
Americana  by  birth,  and  had  been  form- 
ally demanded  by  Washington.  The  act 
was  a  direct  violation  of  the  international 
law,  for  a  nation's  ship  at  sea  like  its  ter- 
ritory is  inviolable.  The  British  govern- 
ment disavowed  the  act  of  its  officer  and 
offered  apology  and  reparation,  which 
were  accepted.  This  event,  however, 
strengthened  Jefferson's  rejection  of  the 
Monroe-Pinckney  treaty,  and  quickly  stop- 
ped adverse  political  criticism  at  home. 
Foreign  affairs  remained,  however,  in  a 
complicated  state,  owing  to  the  wars  be- 
tween England  and  the  then  successful 
Napoleon,  but  they  in  no  wise  shook  the 
firm  hold  which  Jefferson  had  upon  the 
people,  nor  the  prestige  of  his  party.  He 
stands  in  history  as  one  of  the  best  poli- 
ticians our  land  has  ever  seen,  and  then 
as  now  no  one  could  successfully  draw  the 
line  between  the  really  able  politician  and 
the  statesman.  He  was  accepted  as  both. 
His  administration  closed  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1809,  when  he  expressed  great 
gratification  at  being  able  to  retire  to  pri- 
vate life. 

Mr.  Madison  succeeded  at  a  time  when 
the  country,  through  fears  of  foreign  aggres- 
sion and  violence,  was  exceedingly  gloomy 
and  despondent — a  feeling  not  encouraged 
in  the  least  by  the  statements  of  the  Fed- 
eralists, some  of  whom  then  thought  politi- 
cal criticism  in  hours  of  danger  not  un- 
patriotic. They  described  our  agriculture 
as  discouraged,  our  fisheries  abandoned, 
our  commerce  restrained,  our  navy  dis- 
mantled, our  revenues  destroyed  at  a  time 
when  war  was  at  any  moment  probable 
with  either  France,  England  or  Spain. 

Madison,  representing  as  he  did  the  same 
party,  from  the  first  resolved  to  follow  the 
policy  of  Jefferson,  a  fact  about  which  there 
was  no  misunderstanding.  He  desired  to 
avert  war  as  long  as  possible  with  England, 
and  sought  by  skilftil  diplomacy  to  avert 
the  dangers  presented  by  DOth  France  and 
England  in  their  attitude  with  neutrals. 
England  had  declared  that  a  man  who 
was  once  a  subject  always  remained  a 
subject,  and  on  this  plea  based  her  deter- 
mination to  impress  again  into  her  service 
all  deserters  from  her  navy.  France,  be- 
cause of  refusal  to  accede  to  claims  equally 
at  war  with  our  rights,  had  authorized  the 
seizure  of  all  American  vessels  entering 
the  ports  of  France.  In  May,  1810,  when 
the  non-intercourse  act  had  expired,  Madi- 
son caused  proposals  to  be  made  to  both 
belligerents,  that  if  either  would  revoke  its 
hostile  edict,  the  non-intercourse  act  should 
be  revived  and  enforced  against  the  other 
nation.  This  act  had  been  passed  by  the 
tenth  Congress  as  a  substitute  for  the  em- 
bargo.  France  quickly  accepted  Madison's 


proposal,  and  received  the  benefits  of  the 
act,  and  the  direct  result  was  to  increase 
the  growing  hostility  of  England.  From 
this  time  forward  the  negotiations  had  more 
the  character  of  a  diplomatic  contest  than 
an  attempt  to  maintain  peace.  Both  coun- 
tries were  upon  their  mettle,  and  early  in 
1811,  Mr.  Pinckney,  the  American  minister 
to  Great  Britain,  was  recalled,  and  a  year 
later  a  formal  declaration  c^  war  was  made 
by  the  United  States. 

Just  prior  to  this  the  old  issue,  made  by 
the  Republicans  against  Hamilton's 
scheme  for  a  National  Bank,  was  revived 
by  the  fact  that  the  charter  of  the  bank 
ceased  on  the  4th  of  March,  1811,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  to  recharter  it.  A  bill 
for  this  purpose  was  introduced  into  Con- 
gress, but  on  the  11th  of  January,  1811,  it 
was  indefinitely  postponed  in  the  House, 
by  a  vote  of  65  to  64,  while  in  the  Senate 
it  was  rejected  by  the  casting  vote  of  the 
Vice-President,  Geo.  Clinton,  on  the  6th 
of  February,  1811 — this  notwithstanding 
its  provisions  had  been  framed  or  approved 
by  Gallatin ,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury'. 
The  Federalists  Avere  all  strong  advocates 
of  the  measure,  and  it  was  so  strong  that 
it  divided  some  of  the  Democrats  who  en- 
joyed a  loose  rein  in  the  contest  so  far  as 
the  administration  was  concerned,  the 
President  not  specially  caring  for  political 
quarrels  at  a  time  when  war  was  threatened 
with  a  powerful  foreign  nation.  The  views 
of  the  Federalists  on  this  question  descend- 
ed to  the  Whigs  some  years  later,  and  this 
fact  led  to  the  charges  that  the  Whigs 
were  but  Federalists  in  disguise. 

The  eleventh  Congress  continued  the 
large  Democratic  majority,  as  did  the 
twelfth,  which  met  on  the  4th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1811,  Plenry  Clay,  then  an  ardent 
supporter  of  the  policy  of  Madison,  suc- 
ceeding to  the  House  speakership.  He  had 
previously  served  two  short  sessions  in  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  and  had  already  acquired  a 
high  reputation  as  an  able  and  fluent  debat- 
er. He  preferred  the  House,  at  that  period 
of  life,  believing  his  powers  better  calcu- 
lated to  win  fame  in  the  more  popular  rep- 
resentative hall.  Calhoun  was  also  in  the 
House  at  this  time,  and  already  noted  for 
the  boldness  of  his  views  and  their  asser- 
tion. 

In  this  Congress  jealousies  arose  against 
the  political  power  of  Virginia,  whic^  had 
already  named  three  of  the  four  Presi- 
dents, each  for  two  terms,  and  De  Witt 
Clinton,  the  well-known  Governor  of  New 
York,  sought  through  these  jealousies  to 
create  a  division  which  would  carry  him 
into  the  Presidency.  His  efforts  were  for  a 
time  warmly  seconded  by  several  northern 
and  southern  states.  A  few  months  later 
the  Legislature  of  New  York  formally 
opened  the  ball  by  nominating  DeWitt 
Clinton  for  the  Presidency.    An  address 


BOOK  I.J 


THE  JEFFERSON  DEMOCRATS. 


1V» 


was  issued  by  his  friends,  August  17th,  1812, 
which  has  since  become  known  as  the  Clin- 
tonian  platform,  and  his  followers  were 
known  as  Clintonian  Democrats.  The  ad- 
dress contained  the  first  public  protest 
against  the  nomination  of  Presidential  can- 
didates by  Congressional  caucuses.  There 
was  likewise  declared  opposition  to  that 
"official  regency  which  prescribed  tenets  of 
political  faith."  The  efforts  of  particular 
states  to  monopolize  the  principal  offices 
was  denounced,  as  was  the  continuance  of 
public  men  for  long  periods  in  office. 

Madison  was  nominated  for  a  second 
term  by  a  Congressional  caucus  held  at 
Washington,  in  May,  1812.  John  Langdon 
was  nominated  for  Vice-President,  but  as 
he  declined  on  account  of  age,  Elbridge 
Gerry  of  Massachusetts,  took  his  place. 
In  September  of  the  same  year  a  conven- 
tion of  the  opposition,  representing  eleven 
states,  was  held  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
which  nominated  De  Witt  Clinton,  with 
Jared  IngersoU  for  Vice-President.  This 
was  the  first  national  convention,  partisan 
in  character,  and  the  Federalists  have  the 
credit  of  originating  and  carrying  out  the 
idea.  The  election  resulted  in  the  success 
of  Madison,  who  received  128  electoral 
votes  to  89  for  Clinton. 

Though  factious  strife  had  been  some- 
what rife,  less  attention  was  paid  to  poli- 
tics than  to  the  approaching  war.  There 
were  new  Democratic  leaders  in  the  lower 
House,  and  none  were  more  prominent 
than  Clay  of  Kentucky,  Calhoun,  Cheves 
and  Lowndes,  all  of  South  Carolina.  The 
policy  of  Jefferson  in  reducing  the  army 
and  navy  was  now  greatly  deplored,  and 
the  defenceless  condition  in  which  it  left 
the  country  was  the  partial  cause,  at  least  a 
stated  cause  of  the  factious  feuds  which  fol- 
lowed. Madison  sought  to  change  this 
policy,  and  he  did  it  at  the  earnest  solici- 
tation of  Clay,  Calhoun  and  Lowndes,  who 
were   the  recognized   leaders  of  the  war 

garty.  They  had  early  determined  that 
[adison  should  be  directly  identified 
with  them,  and  before  his  second  nomina- 
tion had  won  him  over  to  their  more  de- 
cided views  in  favor  of  war  with  England. 
He  had  held  back,  hoping  that  diplomacy 
might  avert  a  contest,  but  when  once  con- 
vinced that  war  Avas  inevitable  and  even 
desirable  under  the  circumstances,  his 
official  utterances  were  bold  and  free.  In 
the  June  following  the  caucus  which  re- 
nominated him,  he  declared  in  a  message 
that  our  flag  was  continually  insulted  on 
the  high  seas ;  that  the  right  of  searching 
American  vessels  for  British  seamen  was 
still  in  practice,  and  that  thousands  of 
American  citizens  had  in  this  way  been 
impressed  in  service  on  foreign  ships  ;  that 
peacful  efforts  at  adjustment  of  the  diffi- 
culties had  proved  abortive,  and  that  the 
British  ministry    and    British  emissaries 


hac"  actually  been  intriguing  for  the  dis- 
memberment of  the  Union. 

The  act  declaring  war  was  approved  bv 
the  President  on  the  18th  of  June,  1812, 
and  is  remarkably  short  and  comprehen- 
sive. It  was  drawn  by  the  attorney-general 
of  the  United  States,  William  Pinckney, 
and  is  in  the  words  following : — 

"An  act  declaring  tear  between  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland^  and 
the  dependencies  thereof,  and  the  United^ 
States  of  America  and  their  territories. 

"  Be  it  enacted,  &c.  That  war  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  exist  be- 
tween the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  and  the  dependencies  thereof, 
and  the  United  States  of  America,  and  their 
territories ;  and  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  is  hereby  authorized  to  use 
the  whole  land  and  naval  force  of  the 
United  States  to  carry  the  same  into  effect, 
and  to  issue  to  private  armed  vessels  of  the 
United  States  commissions,  or  letters  of 
marque  and  general  reprisal,  in  such  form 
as  he  shall  think  proper,  and  under  the  seal 
of  the  United  States,  against  the  vessels, 
goods,  and  effects,  of  the  government  of 
the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  and  the  subjects  thereof." 

This  was  a  soul-stirring  message,  but  it 
did  not  rally  all  the  people  as  it  should 
have  done.  Political  jealousies  were  very 
great,  and  the  frequent  defeats  of  the  Fed- 
eralists, while  they  tended  to  greatly  reduce 
their  numbers  and  weaken  their  power, 
seemed  to  strengthen  their  animosity,  and 
they  could  see  nothing  good  in  any  act  of 
the  administration.  They  held,  especially 
in  the  New  England  states,  that  the  war  had 
been  declared  by  a  political  party  simply, 
and  not  by  the  nation,  though  nearly  all  of 
the  Middle,  and  all  of  the  Southern  and 
Western  States,  warmly  supported  it. 
Clay  estimated  that  nine-tenths  of  the  peo- 
ple were  in  favor  of  the  war,  and  under  the 
inspiration  of  his  eloquence  and  the  strong 
state  papers  of  Madison,  they  doubtless 
were  at  first.  Throughout  they  felt  their 
political  strength,  and  they  just  as  heartily 
returned  the  bitterness  manifested  by  those 
of  the  Federalists  who  opposed  the  war, 
branding  them  as  enemies  of  the  republic, 
and  monarchists  who  preferred  the  reign  of 
Britain. 

Four  Federalist  representatives  in  Con- 
gress went  so  far  as  to  issue  an  address, 
opposing  the  war,  the  way  in  which  it  had 
been  declared,  and  denouncing  it  as  unjust. 
Some  of  the  New  England  states  refused 
the  order  of  the  President  to  support  it 
with  their  militia,  and  Massachusetts  sent 
peace  memorials  to  Congress. 

A  peace  party  was  formed  with  a  view  to 
array  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  coun- 
try against  the  war,  and  societies  with  sim- 
ilar objects  were  organized  by  the  more 
radical  of  the  Federalists.    To  such  an  ex- 


20 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


treme  was  this  opposition  carried,  that 
Aome  of  the  citizens  of  New  London,  Conn., 
made  a  practice  of  giving  information  to 
the  enemy,  by  means  of  blue  lights,  of  the 
departure  of  American  vessels. 


Tbe  Hartford  Convention. 

This  opposition  finally  culminated  in  the 
assembling  of  a  convention  at  Hartford,  at 
which  delegates  were  present  from  all  of  the 
New  England  states.  They  sat  for  three 
weeks  with  closed  doors,  and  issued  an  ad- 
dress which  will  be  found  in  this  volume 
in  the  book  devoted  to  political  platforms. 
It  was  charged  by  the  Democrats  that  the 
real  object  of  the  convention  was  to  nego- 
tiate a  separate  treaty  of  peace,  on  behalf 
of  New  England,  with  Great  Britain,  but 
this  charge  was  as  warmly  denied.  The 
exact  truth  has  not  since  been  discovered, 
the  fears  of  the  participants  of  threatened 
trials  for  treason,  closing  their  mouths,  if 
their  professions  were  false.  The  treaty  of 
Ghent,  which  was  concluded  on  December 
14th,  1814,  prevented  other  action  by  the 
Hartford  convention  than  that  stated.  It 
had  assembled  nine  days  before  the  treaty, 
which  is  as  follows : 


Treatjr  of  Gbent. 

This  treaty  was  negotiated  by  the  Right 
Honorable  James  Lord  Gambier,  Henry 
Goulburn,  Esq.,  and  William  Adams,  Esq., 
on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  John 
Quincy  Adams,  James  A.  Bayard,  Henry 
Clay,  "Jonathan  Russell,  and  Albert  Gal- 
latin, on  behalf  of  the  L^nited  States. 

The  treaty  can  be  found  on  p.  218,  vol. 
8,  of  Little  &  Brown's  Statutes  at  Large. 
The  first  article  provided  for  the  restora- 
tion of  all  archives,  records,  or  property 
taken  by  either  party  from  the  otner  dur- 
ing the  war.  This  article  expressly  pro- 
vides for  the  restoration  of  "  slaves  or  other 
private  property."  The  second  article  pro- 
vided for  the  cessation  of  hostilities  and 
limitation  of  time  of  capture.  The  third 
article  provided  for  the  restoration  of 
prisoners  of  war. 

The  fourth  article  defined  the  boundary 
established  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  and  pro- 
vided for  commissioners  to  mark  the  same. 

The  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
articles  estaolished  rules  to  govern  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  commissioners. 

The  ninth  article  bound  the  United 
States  and  His  Britannic  Majesty  to  end 
all  hostilities  with  Indian  tribes,  with  whom 
they  were  then  respectively  at  war. 

TTie  tenth  article  reads  as  follows; — 

*'  WTiereas  the  traffic  in  slaves  is  irrecon- 
cilable with  the  principles  of  humanity 
and  justice ;  and,  whereas,  both  His  Ma- 


jesty and  the  United  States  are  desirous  of 
continuing  their  efforts  to  promote  its  entire 
abolition,  it  is  herebv  agreed  that  both  the 
contracting  parties  .shall  use  their  best  en- 
deavors to  accomplish  so  desirable  an  ob- 
ject." 

The  eleventh  and  last  article  provides  for 
binding  effect  of  the  treaty,  upon  the  ex- 
change of  ratifications. 

The  position  of  New  England  in  the  war 
is  explained  somewhat  by  her  exposed  po- 
sition. Such  of  the  militia  as  served  en- 
dured great  hardships,  and  they  were  al- 
most constantly  called  from  their  homes  to 
meet  new  dangers.  Distrusting  their  loy- 
alty, the  general  government  had  with- 
held all  supplies  from  the  militia  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  for  the  year  1814, 
and  these  States  were  forced  to  bear  the 
burden  of  supportingthem,  at  the  same  time 
contributing  their  quota  of  taxes  to  the 
general  government — hardships,  by  the 
way,  not  greater  than  those  borne  by  Penn- 
sylvania and  Ohio  in  the  late  war  for  the 
Union,  nor  half  as  hard  as  those  borne  by 
the  border  States  at  the  same  time.  True, 
the  coast  towns  of  Massachusetts  were  sub- 
jected to  constant  assault  from  the  British 
navy,  and  the  people  of  these  felt  that  they 
were  defenceless.  It  was  on  their  petition 
that  the  legislatui-e  of  Massachusetts  final- 
ly, by  a  vote  of  226  to  67,  adopted  the  report 
favoring  the  calling  of  the  Hartford  Con- 
vention. A  circular  was  then  addressed  to 
the  Governors  of  the  other  States,  with  a 
request  that  it  be  laid  before  their  legisla- 
tures, inviting  them  to  appoint  delegates, 
and  stating  that  the  object  was  to  deliber- 
ate upon  the  dangers  to  which  the  eastern 
section  was  exposed,  "and  to  devise,  if 
practicable,  means  of  security  and  defence 
which  might  be  consistent  with  the  preser- 
vation of  their  resources  from  total  ruin, 
and  not  repugnant  to  their  obligations  as 
membei-s  of  the  Union.'^  The  italicized  por- 
tion shows  that  there  was  at  least  then  no 
design  of  forming  a  separate  treaty,  or  of 
promoting  disunion.  The  legislatures  of 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  endorsed 
the  call  and  sent  delegates.  Those  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Vermont  did  not,  but  de- 
legates were  sent  by  local  conventions. 
These  delegates,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
remark,  were  all  members  of  the  Federal 
party,  and  their  suspected  designs  and  ac- 
tion made  the  "  Hartford  Convention  "  a 
bye-word  and  reproach  in  the  mouths  of 
Democratic  orators  for  years  thereafter.  It 
gave  to  the  Democrats,  as  did  the  entire 
history  of  the  war,  the  prestige  of  superior 
patriotism,  and  they  profited  by  it  as  long 
as  the  memory  of  tne  war  of  1812  was 
fresh.  Indeed,  directly  after  the  war,  all 
men  seemed  to  keep  in  constant  view  the 
reluctance  of  the  Federalists  to  support  the 
war,  and  their  almost  open  hostility  to  it 
in  New  England.    Peace  brought  jros' 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CONGRESSIONAL    CAUCUS. 


21 


perity  and  plenty,  but  not  oblivion  of  the 
old  political   issues,  and  this  was  the  be- 

f  inning  of  the  end  of  the  Federal  party, 
ts  decay  thereafter  was  rapid  and  con- 
stant. 

The  eleventh,  twelfth  and  thirteenth  Con- 
fesses had  continued  Democratic.  The 
fourteenth  began  Dec.  4,  1815,  with  the 
Democratic  majority  in  the  House  increased 
to  30.  Clay  had  taken  part  in  negotiating 
the  treaty,  and  on  his  return  was  again 
elected  to  the  House,  and  was  for  the  third 
time  elected  speaker.  Though  65  Feder- 
alists had  been  elected,  but  10  were  given 
to  Federal  candidates  for  speaker,  this 
party  now  showing  a  strong,  and  under  the 
circumstances,  a  very  natural  desire  to 
rub  out  party  lines.  The  internal  taxes 
and  the  postage  rates  were  reduced. 


The  Protective  Tariff. 

President  Madison,  in  his  message,  had 
urged  upon  Congress  a  revision  of  the 
tariff,  and  pursuant  to  his  recommendation 
what  was  at  the  time  called  a  protective 
tariff  was  passed.  ■  Even  Calhoun  then 
supported  it,  Avhile  Clay  proclaimed  that 
protection  must  no  longer  be  secondary  to 
revenue,  but  of  primary  importance.  The 
rates  fixed,  however,  were  insufficient,  and 
many  American  manufactures  were  soon 
frustrated  by  excessive  importations  of  for- 
eign manufactures.  The  position  of  Cal- 
houn and  Lowndes,  well  known  leaders 
from  South  Carolina,  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  just  then  the  proposal  of  a  pro- 
tective tariff  was  popular  in  the  south,  in 
view  of  the  heavy  duties  upon  raw  cotton 
which  England  then  imposed.  The  Feder- 
alists in  weakness  changed  their  old  posi- 
tion when  they  found  the  Democrats  advo- 
cating a  tariff,  and  the  latter  quoted  and 
published  quite  extensively  Alexander 
Hamilton's  early  report  in  favor  of  it. 
Webster,  in  the  House  at  the  time  and  a 
leading  Federalist,  was  against  the  bill. 
The  parties  had  exchanged  positions  on 
the  question. 

Peace  brought  with  it  another  exchange 
of  positions.  President  Madison,  although 
he  had  vetoed  a  bill  to  establish  a  National 
Bank  in  1815,  was  now  (in  1816)  anxious 
for  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution. 
Clay  had  also  changed  his  views,  and 
claimed  that  the  experiences  of  the  war 
showed  the  necessity  for  a  national  curren- 
cy. The  bill  met  with  strong  opposition 
from  a  few  Democrats  and  nearly  all  of  the 
Federalists  (the  latter  having  changed  po- 
sition on  the  question  since  1811),  but  it 
passed  and  was  signed  by  the  President, 

A  bill  to  promote  internal  improvements, 
advocated  by  Clay,  was  at  first  favored  by 
Madison,  but  his  mind  changed  and  he  ve- 
toed the  measure — ^the  first  of  its  kind 
passed  by  Congress. 


The  Democratic  members  of  Congress, 
before  the  adjournment  of  the  first  session, 
held  a  caucus  for  the  nomination  of  can- 
didates to  succeed  Madison  and  Gerry. 
It  wiis  understood  that  the  retiring  oflicers 
and  their  confidential  friends  favored 
James  Monroe  of  Virginia.  Their  wishes 
were  carried  out,  but  not  without  a  strug- 
gle, Wm.  H.  Crawford  of  Georgia  receiv- 
ing 54  votes  against  65  for  Monroe.  The 
Democrats  opposed  to  Virginia's  domina- 
tion in  the  politics  of  the  country,  made  a 
second  effort,  and  directed  it  against  Monroe 
in  the  caucus.  Aaron  Burr  denounced 
him  as  an  improper  and  incompetent  can- 
didate, and  joined  in  the  protest  then  made 
against  any  nomination  by  a  Congressional 
caucus ;  he  succeeding  in  getting  nineteen 
Democrats  to  stay  out  of  the  caucus.  Later 
he  advised  renewed  attempts  to  break 
down  the  Congressional  caucus  system,  and 
before  the  nomination  favored  Andrew 
Jackson  as  a  means  to  that  end.  Daniel 
B.  Tompkins  was  nominated  by  the  Demo- 
crats for  Vice-President.  The  Federalista 
named  Rufus  King  of  New  York,  but  in 
the  election  which  followed  he  received 
but  24  out  of  217  electoral  votes.  The 
Federalists  divided  their  votes  for  Vice- 
President. 

Monroe  was  inaugurated  on  the  14th  of 
March,  1817,  the  oath  being  administered 
by  Chief  Justice  Marshall.  The  inaugural 
address  was  so  liberal  in  its  tone  that  ic 
seemed  to  give  satisfaction  to  men  of  all 
shades  of  political  opinion.  The  questions 
which  had  arisen  during  the  war  no  longer 
had  any  practical  significance,  while  the 
people  were  anxious  to  give  the  disturbing 
ones  which  ante-dated  at  least  a  season  of 
rest.  Two  great  and  opposing  policies  had 
previously  obtained,  and  singularly  enough 
each  seemed  exactly  adapted  to  the  times 
when  they  were  triumphant  The  Fed- 
eral power  had  been  asserted  in  a  govern- 
ment which  had  gathered  renewed  strength 
during  what  was  under  the  circumstances 
a  great  and  perilous  war,  and  the  exi- 
gencies of  that  Avar  in  many  instances 
compelled  the  Republicans  or  Democrats, 
or  the  Democratic-Republicans  as  some 
still  called  them,  to  concede  points  Avhich 
had  theretofore  been  in  sharp  dispute,  and 
they  did  it  with  that  facility  which  only 
Americans  can  command  in  emergencies : 
yet  as  a  party  they  kept  firm  hold  of  the 
desire  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  liberty  in  its 
application  to  the  citizens,  and  just  here 
kept  their  original  landmark. 

It  is  not  singular  then  that  the  adminis- 
tration of  Monroe  opened  what  has  ever 
since  been  known  in  politics  as  the  "  Era 
of  Good  Feeling."  Party  differences  ra- 
pidly subsided,  and  political  serenity  was 
the  order  of  the  day.  Monroe  made  a  tour 
of  the  States,  with  the  direct  object  of  in- 
specting fortifications  and  means  of  de' 


22 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


fence,  and  in  this  way  spread  the  good 
feeling,  without  seeming  to  huve  any  such 
object.  He  was  everj'where  favorably 
greeted  by  the  people,  and  received  by 
delegations  which  in  many  instances  were 
specially  made  up  of  all  shades  of  opinion. 

The  Cabinet  was  composed  of  men  of 
rare  political  distinction,  even  in  that  day 
of  great  men.  It  was  probably  easier  to 
be  great  then  than  now,  just  as  it  is  easier 
to  be  a  big  political  hero  in  the  little  State 
of  Delaware  than  it  is  in  the  bi^  States  of 
New  York  or  Pennsylvania.  Yet  these 
men  were  universally  accepted  as  great 
without  regard  to  their  localities.  All  were 
Republicans  or  Democrats,  with  John 
Quincy  Adams  as  Secretary  of  State,  Wm. 
H.  Crawford  (Monroe's  competitor  for  the 
nomination)  as  Secretarv  of  the  Treasury, 
John  C.  Calhoun  as  Secretary  of  War, 
William  Wirt  as  Attorney  General.  All 
of  these  united  with  the  President  in  the 
general  desire  to  call  a  halt  upon  the 
political  asperities  which  were  then  recog- 
nized as  a  public  evil.  On  one  occasion, 
during  his  tour,  the  citizens  of  Kennebunk 
and  its  vicinity,  in  Maine,  having  in  their 
address  aHuded  to  the  prospects  of  a  politi- 
cal union  among  the  people  in  support  of 
the  administration,  the  President  said  in 
reply : 

"  You  are  pleased  to  express  a  confident 
hope  that  a  spirit  of  mutual  conciliation 
may  be  one  of  the  blessings  which  may  re- 
sult from  my  administration.  This  in- 
deed would  be  an  eminent  blessing,  and  I 
pray  it  may  be  realized.  Nothing  but 
union  is  waiting  to  make  us  a  great  people. 
The  present  time  affords  the  happiest 
presage  that  this  union  is  fast  consumma- 
ting. It  cannot  be  otherwise  ;  I  daily  see 
greater  proofs  of  it.  The  further  I  ad- 
vance in  my  progress  in  the  country,  the 
more  I  perceive  that  we  are  all  Americans 
— that  we  compose  but  one  family — that 
our  republican  institutions  will  be  sup- 
ported and  perpetuated  by  the  united  zeal 
and  patriotism  of  all.  Nothing  could 
give  me  greater  satisfaction  than  to  behold 
a  perfect  union  among  ourselves — a  union 
which  is  necessary  to  restore  to  social  in- 
tercourse its  former  charms,  and  to  render 
our  happiness,  as  a  nation,  unmixed  and 
complete.  To  promote  this  desirable  re- 
sult requires  no  compromise  of  principle, 
and  I  promise  to  give  it  my  continued  at- 
.tention,  and  my  best  endeavors." 

Even  General  Jackson,  since  held  up  to 
public  view  by  historians  as  the  most 
austere  and  "  stalwart "  of  all  politicians, 
caught  the  sweet  infection  of  peace,  and 
thus  advised  President  Monroe : — 

"Now  is  the  time  to  exterminate  that 
monster,  called  party  spirit.  By  select- 
ing [for  cabinet  officers]  characters  most 
conspicuous  for  their  probity,  virtue, 
capacity,  and  firmness,  without  regard  to 


party,  you  will  go  far  to,  if  not  entirely, 
eradicate  those  feelings,  which,  on  former 
occasions,  threw  so  many  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  government.  The  chief  magis- 
trate of  a  great  and  powerful  nation  should 
never  indulge  in  party  feelings.  His  con- 
duct should  be  liberal  and  disinterested ; 
always  bearing  in  mind,  that  he  acts  for  the 
whole  and  not  a  part  of  the  community." 

This  advice  had  been  given  with  a  view 
to  influence  the  appointment  of  a  mixed 
political  Cabinet,  but  while  Monroe  pro- 
fessed to  believe  that  a  free  government 
could  exist  without  political  parties,  he 
nevertheless  sought  to  bring  all  of  the  peo- 
ple into  one  political  fold,  and  that  the 
Democratic.  Yet  he  certainly  and  plainly 
sought  to  allay  factions  in  his  own  party, 
and  with  this  view  selected  Crawford  for 
the  Treasury — the  gentleman  who  had 
been  so  warmly  supported  in  the  nomina- 
ting struggle  by  the  Clintonians  and  by  all 
who  objected  to  the  predominating  in- 
fluence of  Virginia  in  national  politics. 

Monroe,  like  his  immediate  predecessor, 
accepted  and  acted  upon  the  doctrines  of 
the  new  school  of  Kepublicans  as  repre- 
sented by  Clay  and  Calhoun,  both  of  whom 
still  favored  a  tariff,  while  Clay  had  be- 
come a  warm  advocate  of  a  national  sys- 
tem of  internal  improvements.  These  two 
statesmen  thus  early  differed  on  some 
questions,  but  they  were  justly  regarded  as 
the  leading  friends  and  advisers  of  the  ad- 
ministration, for  to  both  still  clung  the 
patriotic  recollections  of  the  war  which 
they  had  so  warmly  advocated  and  sup- 
jwrted,  and  the  issue  of  which  attested 
their  wisdom.  Clav  preferred  to  be  called 
a  Republican ;  Calhoun  preferred  to  be 
called  a  Democrat,  and  just  then  the  terms 
were  so  often  exchanged  and  mingled  that 
history  is  at  fault  in  the  exact  designation, 
while  tradition  is  colored  by  the  bias  of 
subsequent  events  and  lives. 

Monroe's  first  inaugural  leaned  toward 
Clay's  scheme  of  internal  improvements, 
but  questioned  its  constitutionality.  Clay 
was  nest  to  Jefferson  the  most  original  of 
all  our  statesmen  and  politicians.  He  was 
prolific  in  measures,  and  almost  resistless 
m  their  advocacy,  From  a  political  stand- 
point he  was  the  most  direct  author  of  the 
war  of  1812,  for  his  advocacy  mainly 
brought  it  to  the  is^ue  of  arms,  which 
through  him  and  Calhoun  were  substituted 
for  diplomacy.  And  Calhoun  then  stood 
in  broader  view  before  the  country  than 
since.  His  sectional  pride  and  bias  had 
been  rarely  aroused,  and  like  Clay  he 
seemed  to  act  for  the  countrj'  as  an  en- 
tirety. Subsequent  secticnal  issues  changed 
the  views  held  of  him  by  the  people  of 
both  the  North  and  South. 

We  have  said  that  Monroe  leaned 
toward  internal  improvements,  but  he 
thought  Congress  was  not  clothed  by  the 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    MONROE    DOCTRINE. 


23 


Constitution  with  the  power  to  authorize 
measures  supporting  it,  and  when  the  op- 
portunity was  presented  (May  4,  1822)  he 
vetoed  the  bill  "  for  the  preservation  and 
repair  of  the  Cumberland  road,"  and  ac- 
companied the  veto  with  a  most  elaborate 
message  in  which  he  discussed  the  consti- 
tutional aspects  of  the  question.  A  plain 
majority  of  the  friends  of  the  administra- 
tion, under  the  leadership  of  Clay,  sup- 
ported the  theory  of  internal  improve- 
ments from  the  time  the  administration 
began,  but  were  reluctant  to  permit  a  divi- 
sion of  the  party  on  the  question. 

Mississippi  and  Illinois  were  admitted 
to  the  Union  during  the  "  Era  of  Good 
Feeling,"  without  serious  political  disturb- 
ance, while  Alabama  was  authorized  to  form 
a  state  constitution  and  government,  and 
Arkansas  was  authorized  as  a  separate 
territorial  government  from  part  of  Mis- 
souri. In  1819  President  Monroe  made  a 
tour  through  the  Southern  States  to  ex- 
amine their  defenses  and  see  and  get  ac- 
quainted with  the  people.  From  the  first 
inauguration  of  Monroe  up  to  1819  party 
lines  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  existed, 
but  in  the  sixteenth  session  of  Congress, 
which  continued  until  May,  1820,  new 
questions  of  national  interest  arose,  pro- 
minent among  which  were  additional  pro- 
tective duties  for  our  manufactures ;  inter- 
nal improvements  by  the  government ; 
acknowledgments  of  the  independence  of 
the  South  American  States. 


The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

Upon  tne  question  of  recognizing  the  in- 
dependence of  the  South  American  States, 
the  President  made  a  record  which  has 
ever  since  been  quoted  and  denominated 
"  The  Monroe  Doctrine."  It  is  embodied 
in  the  following  abstract  of  his  seventh 
annual  message,  under  date  of  Dec.  2d, 
1823: 

"  It  was  stated,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  last  session,  that  a  great  effort  was  then 
making  in  Spain  and  Portugal  to  improve 
the  condition  of  the  people  of  those  coun- 
tries, and  that  it  appeared  to  be  conduct- 
ed with  extraordinary  moderation.  It 
need  scarcely  be  remarked  that  the  result 
has  been,  so  far,  very  different  from  what 
was  then  anticipated.  Of  events  in  that 
quarter  of  the  globe,  with  which  we  have 
so  much  intercourse,  and  from  which  we 
derive  our  origin,  we  have  always  been 
anxious  and  interested  spectators.  The 
citizens  of  the  United  States  cherish 
sentiments  the  most  friendly  in  favor  of  the 
liberty  and  happiness  of  their  fellow  men 
on  that  side  oi  the  Atlantic.  In  the  wars 
of  the  European  powers,  in  matters  relat- 
ing to  themselves,  we  have  never  taken  any 
part  Qor  does  it  comport  with  our  policy 


to  do  so.  It  is  only  when  rights  are  in- 
vaded or  seriously  menaced,  tliat  we  re- 
sent injuries,  or  make  preparation  for  our 
defense.  With  the  movements  in  this 
hemisphere  we  are  of  necessity  more  im- 
mediately connected,  and  by  causes  which 
must  be  obvious  to  all  enlightened  and 
impartial  observers.  The  political  system 
of  the  allied  powers  is  essentially  different 
in  this  respect  from  that  of  America.  This 
difference  proceeds  from  that  which  exists 
in  their  respective  governments.  And  to 
the  defense  of  our  own,  which  has  been 
achieved  by  the  loss  of  so  much  blood  and 
treasure,  and  matured  by  the  wisdom  of 
their  most  enlightened  citizens,  and  under 
which  we  have  enjoyed  unexampled  felici- 
ty, this  whole  nation  is  devoted.  We  owe 
it,  therefore,  to  candor,  and  to  the  amica- 
ble relations  existing  between  the  United 
States  and  those  powers,  to  declare,  that 
we  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their 
part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion 
of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our 
peace  and  safety.  With  the  existing  colo- 
nies or  dependencies  of  any  European 
power  we  have  not  interfered,  and  shall 
not  interfere.  But  with  the  governments 
who  have  declared  their  independence,  and 
maintained  it,  and  whose  independence  we 
have,  on  great  consideration,  and  on  just 
principles,  acknowledged,  we  could  not 
view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of 
oppressing  them,  or  controlling  in  any 
other  manner  their  destiny,  by  any  Euro- 
pean power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  the 
manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition 
toward  the  United  States.  In  the  war 
between  those  new  governments  and  Spain, 
we  declared  our  neutrality  at  the  time  of 
their  recognition,  and  to  this  we  have  ad- 
hered, and  shall  continue  to  adhere,  pro- 
vided no  change  shall  occur  which,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  competent  authorities  of 
this    government,  shall    make   a    corres- 

g ending  change  on  the  part  of  the  United 
tates  indispensable  to  their  security. 
The  late  events  in  Spain  and  Portugal 
show  that  Europe  is  still  unsettled.  Of 
this  important  fact  no  stronger  proof  can 
be  adduced,  than  that  the  allied  powers 
should  have  thought  it  proper,  on  a  prin- 
ciple satisfactory  to  themselves,  to  have 
interposed  by  force  in  the  internal  con- 
cerns of  Spain.  To  what  extent  such  in- 
terposition may  be  carried,  on  the  same 
principle,  is  a  question  to  which  all  inde- 
pendent powers,  whose  governments  differ 
from  theirs,  are  interested ;  even  those  most 
remote,  and  surely  none  more  so  than  the 
United  States.  Our  policy  in  regard  to 
Europe,  which  was  adopted  at  an  early 
stage  of  the  wars  which  have  so  long  agi- 
tated that  quarter  of  the  globe,  neverthe- 
less remains  the  same,  which  is,  not  to  in- 
terfere in  the  internal  concerns  of  any 
of  its  powers ;  to  consider  the  government, 


34 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


dc  facto,  as  the  legitimate  government  for 
us:  to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  it, 
and  to  preserve  those  relations  by  a  frank, 
firm,  and  manly  policy ;  meeting,  in  all 
instances,  the  just  claims  of  every  power, 
submitting  to  injuries  from  none.  But  in 
regard  to  these  continents,  circumstances 
are  eminently  and  conspicuously  diflerent. 
It  is  impossible  that  the  allied  powers 
should  extend  their  political  system  to  any 
portion  of  either  continent  without  endan- 
gering our  peace  and  happiness ;  nor  can 
any  one  believe,  that  our  southern  breth- 
ren, if  left  to  themselves,  would  adopt  it  of 
their  own  accord.  It  is  equally  impossible, 
therefore,  that  we  should  behold  such 
interposition,  in  any  form,  with  indiffer- 
ence. If  we  look  to  the  comparative 
strength  and  resources  of  Spain  and  those 
new  governments,  and  their  distance  from 
each  other,  it  must  be  obvious  that  she  can 
never  subdue  them.  It  is  still  the  true 
policy  of  the  United  States  to  leave  the 
parties  to  themselves,  in  the  hope  that 
other  powers  will  pui-suethe  same  course." 
The  second  election  of  Monroe,  in  1820, 
was  accomplished  without  a  contest.  Out 
of  231  electoral  votes,  but  one  was  cast 
against  him,  and  that  for  John  Quincy 
Adams.  Mr.  Tompkins,  the  candidate  for 
Vice-President,  was  only  a  little  less  for- 
tunate, there  being  14  scattering  votes 
against  him.  Neither  party,  if  indeed 
there  was  a  Federalist  party  left  made  any 
nominations. 


Tbe  Mlsaourl  Compromise. 

The  second  session  of  the  17th  Con- 
gress opened  on  the  4th  day  of  March, 
1820,  with  James  Monroe  at  the  head  of 
the  Executive  Department  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  Democratic  party  in  the 
majority  in  both  branches  of  the  Federal 
Legislature.  The  Cabinet  at  that  time 
was  composed  of  the  most  brilliant  minds 
of  the  country,  indeed  as  most  justly  re- 
marked by  Senator  Thomas  H.  Benton  in 
his  published  review  of  the  events  of  that 
period,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  any 
government,  in  any  country,  at  any  time, 
more  talent  and  experience,  more  dignity 
and  decorum,  more  purity  of  private  life,  a 
larger  mass  of  information,  and  more  ad- 
diction to  business,  than  was  comprised  in 
the  list  of  celebrated  names  then  consti- 
tuting the  executive  department  of  the 
government.  The  legislative  department 
was  eaually  impressive.  The  exciting  and 
agitating  question  then  pending  before 
Congress  was  on  the  admission  of  the 
State  of  Missouri  into  the  Federal  Union, 
the  subject  of  the  issue  being  the  attempted 
tacking  on  of  conditions  restricting  sla- 
very within  her  limits.  She  was  admitted 
without  conditions  under  the  so-called 
compromise,  which  aboUshed  it  in  certain 


portions  of  the  then  province  of  Louisiana, 
in  this  controversy,  the  compromise  was 
sustained  and  carried  entirely  by  the  Dem- 
ocratic Senators  and  members  from  the 
Southern  and  slave-holding  States  aided 
and  sanctioned  by  the  Executive,  and  it 
was  opposed  by  fifteen  Senators  from  non- 
slave-holding  States,  who  represented  tiie 
opposite  side  on  the  political  questions' of 
the  day.  It  passed  the  House  by  a  close  vote 
of  86  to  82.  It  has  been  seriously  ques- 
tioned since  whether  this  act  was  constitu- 
tional. The  real  struggle  was  political,  and 
for  the  balance  of  power.  For  a  while  it 
threatened  the  total  overthrow  of  all  po- 
litical parties  upon  principle,  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  geographical  parties  discrimi- 
nated by  the  slave  line,  and  thus  destroy- 
ing the  proper  action  of  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment, and  leading  to  a  separation  of 
the  States.  It  was  a  federal  movement,  ac- 
cruing to  the  benefit  of  that  party,  and  at 
first  carried  all  the  Northern  democracy  in 
its  current,  giving  the  supremacy  to  their 
adversaries.  When  this  effect  was  per- 
ceived, democrats  from  the  northern  non 
slave-holding  States  took  early  opportu- 
nity to  prevent  their  own  overthrow,  by 
voting  for  the  admission  of  the  States  on 
any  terms,  and  thus  prevent  the  eventual 
separation  of  the  States  in  the  establish- 
ment of  geographical  parties  divided  by  a 
slavery  and  anti-slavery  line. 

The  year  1820  marked  a  period  of  finan- 
cial  distress  in  the  country,  which  soon 
became  that  of  the  government.  The  army 
was  reduced,  and  the  general  expenses  of 
the  departments  cut  down,  despite  which 
measures  of  economy  the  Congress  deemed 
it  necessary  to  authorize  the  President  to 
contract  for  a  loan  of  five  million  dollars. 
Distress  was  the  cry  of  the  day  ;  relief  the 
general  demand,  the  chief  demand  com- 
ing from  debtors  to  the  Government  for 
public  lands  purchased  under  the  then 
credit  system,  this  debt  at  that  time  ag- 

fregating  twenty-three  millions  of  dollars, 
he  banks  failed,  money  vanished,  instal- 
ments were  coming  due  which  could  not 
be  met ;  and  the  opening  of  Congress  in 
November,  1820,  was  saluted  by  the  arrival 
of  memorials  from  all  the  new  States  pray- 
ing for  the  relief  to  the  purchaser  of  the 
piiblic  lands.  The  President  referred  to  it 
in  his  annual  message  of  that  year,  and 
Congress  passed  a  measure  of  relief  by 
changing  the  system  to  cash  sales  instead 
of  credit,  reducing  the  price  of  the  lands, 
and  allowing  present  debtors  to  apply  pay- 
ments already  made  to  portions  of  the 
land  purchased,  relinquishing  the  remain- 
der. Applications  were  made  at  that 
time  for  the  establishment  of  the  pre- 
emptive system,  but  without  effect ;  the 
new  States  continued  to  press  the  question 
and  finally  prevailed,  so  that  now  the  pre- 
emptive principle  has  become  a  fixed  part 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    TARIFF— AMERICAN    SYSTEM. 


25 


of  our  land  system,  permanently  incorpo- 
rated with  it,  and  to  the  equal  advantage 
of  the  settler  and  the  government. 

The  session  of  1820-21,  is  remarkable  as 
being  the  first  at  which  any  proposition 
was  made  in  Congress  for  the  occupation 
and  settlement  of  our  territory  on  the 
Columbia  river — the  only  part  then  owned 
by  the  United  States  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
It  was  made  by  Dr.  Floyd,  a  representa- 
tive from  Virginia,  who  argued  that  the 
establishment  of  a  civilized  power  on  the 
American  coast  of  the  Pacific  could  not 
fail  to  produce  great  and  wonderful  bene- 
fits not  only  to  our  own  country,  but  to 
the  people  of  Eastern  Asia,  China  and 
Japan  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  that  the  valley  of  the  Colum- 
bia might  become  the  granary  of  China 
and  Japan.  This  movement  suggested  to 
Senator  Benton,  to  move,  for  the  first  time 
publicly  in  the  United  States,  a  resolution 
to  send  ministers  to  the  Oriental  States. 

At  this  time  treaties  with  Mexico  and 
Spain  were  ratified,  by  which  the  United 
States  acquired  Florida  and  ceded  Texas  ; 
these  treaties,  together  with  the  Missouri 
compromise — a  measure  contemporaneous 
with  them — extinguished  slave  soil  in  all 
the  United  States  territory  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  except  in  that  portion  which 
was  to  constitute  the  State  of  Arkansas ; 
and,  including  the  extinction  in  Texas 
consequent  upon  its  cession  to  a  non-slave- 
holding  power,  constituted  the  largest  ter- 
ritorial abolition  of  slavery  that  was  ever 
up  to  that  period  effected  by  any  political 
power  of  any  nation. 

The  outside  view  of  the  slave  guestion  in 
the  United  States,  at  this  time,  is  that  the 
extension  of  slavery  was  then  arrested, 
circumscribed,  and  confined  within  narrow 
territorial  limits,  while  free  States  were 
permitted  an  almost  unlimited  expansion. 

In  1822  a  law  passed  Congress  abolish- 
ing the  Indian  factory  system,  which  had 
been  established  during  Washington's  ad- 
ministration, in  1796,  under  which  the 
Government  acted  as  a  factor  or  agent  for 
the  sale  of  supplies  to  the  Indians  and  the 
purchase  of  furs  from  them ;  this  branch  of 
the  service  then  belonged  to  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  abuses 
discovered  in  it  led  to  the  discontinuance 
of  that  system. 

The  Presidential  election  of  1824  was 
approaching,  the  candidates  were  in  the 
field,  their  respective  friends  active  and 
busy,  and  popular  topics  for  the  canvass  in 
earnest  requisition.  Congress  was  full  of 
projects  for  different  objects  of  internal 
improvement,  mainly  in  roads  and  canals, 
and  the  friends  of  each  candidate  exerted 
themselves  in  rivalry  of  each  other,  under 
the  supposition  that  their  opinions  would 
Btan"*  for  those  of  their  principals.  An  act 
for  the  preservation    of    the    Cumberland 


Iload,which  passed  both  houses  of  Congress, 
met  with  a  veto  from  President  Monroe, 
accompanied  by  a  state  paper  in  exposi- 
tion ot  his  opinions  upon  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  Federal  interference  in  matters  of 
inter  state  commerce  and  roads  and  canals. 
He  discussed  the  mea^sure  in  all  its  bear- 
ings, and  plainly  showed  it  to  be  uncon- 
stitutional. After  stating  the  question,  he 
examined  it  under  every  head  of  constitu- 
tional derivation  under  which  its  advo- 
cates claimed  the  power,  and  found  it  t« 
be  granted  by  no  one  of  them  and  virtually 
prohibited  by  some  of  them.  This  raa 
then  and  has  since  been  considered  to  be 
the  most  elaborate  and  thoroughly  con- 
sidered opinion  upon  the  general  question 
which  has  ever  been  delivered  by  any 
American  statesman.  This  great  state  pa- 
per, delivered  at  a  time  when  internal  im- 
provement by  the  federal  government  had 
become  an  issue  in  the  canvass  for  the 
Presidency  and  was  ardently  advocated  by 
three  of  the  candidates  and  qualified  by 
two  others,  had  an  immense  current  in  its 
power,  carrying  with  it  many  of  the  old 
strict  constructionists. 

The  revision  of  the  tariff,  with  a  view  to 
the  protection  of  home  industry,  and  to  the 
establishment  of  what  was  then  called 
"  The  American  System,"  was  one  of  the 
large  subjects  before  Congress  at  the  ses- 
sion of  1823-24,  and  was  the  regular  com- 
mencement of  the  heated  debates  on  that 
question  which  afterwards  ripened  into  a 
serious  difficulty  between  the  federal  gov- 
ernment and  some  of  the  Southern  States. 
The  presidential  election  being  then  de- 
pending, the  subject  became  tinctured  with 
party  politics,  in  which  so  far  as  that  in- 
gredient was  concerned,  and  wiis  not  con- 
trolled by  other  considerations,  members 
divided  pretty  much  on  the  line  which  al- 
ways divided  them  on  a  question  of  con- 
structive powers.  The  protection  of  do- 
mestic indiistry  not  being  among  the  pow- 
ers granted,  was  looked  for  in  the  inciden- 
tal ;  and  denied  by  the  strict  construction- 
ists to  be  a  substantive  term,  to  be  exer- 
cised for  the  direct  purpose  of  protection ; 
but  admitted  by  all  at  that  time  and  ever 
since  the  first  tariff  act  of  1789,  to  be  an 
incident  to  the  revenue  raising  power,  and 
an  incident  to  be  regarded  in  the  exercise 
of  that  power.  Revenue  the  object,  pro- 
tection the  incident,  had  been  the  rule  in 
the  earlier  tariffs ;  now  that  rule  was  sought 
to  be  reversed,  and  to  make  protection  the 
object  of  the  law,  and  revenue  the  inci- 
dent. Mr.  Henry  Clay  was  the  leader  in 
the  proposed  revision  and  the  champion  of 
the  American  system;  he  was  ably  sup- 
ported in  the  House  by  many  able  and 
effective  speakers ;  who  based  their  argu- 
ment on  the  general  distress  then  alleged  to 
be  prevalent  in  the  country.  Mr.  Daniel 
Webster  was  the  leading  speaker  on  th« 


26 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


other  side,  and  disputed  the  universality 
of  the  distress  which  had  been  described; 
and  contested  the  propriety  of  higli  or  pro- 
hibitory duties,  in  the  present  active  and 
intelligent  state  of  the  world,  to  stimulate 
industry  and  manufacturing  enterprise. 

The  bill  was  carried  by  a  close  vote  in 
both  Houses.  Though  brought  forward 
avowedly  for  the  protection  of  domestic 
manufactures,  it  was  not  entirely  supported 
on  that  ground ;  an  increase  of  revenue 
being  the  motive  with  some,  the  public 
debt  then  being  nearly  ninety  millions. 
An  increased  protection  to  the  products  of 
several  States,  as  lead  in  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois, hemp  in  Kentucky,  iron  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, wool  in  Ohio  and  New  York,  com- 
manded many  votes  for  the  bill ;  and  the 
impending  presidential  election  had  its  in- 
fluence in  its  favor. 

Two  of  the  candidates,  Messrs.  Adams 
and  Clay,  voted  for  and  avowedly  supported 
General  Jackson,  who  voted  for  the  bill, 
was  for  it,  as  tending  to  give  a  home  sup- 
ply of  the  articles  necessary  in  time  of  war, 
and  as  raising  revenue  to  pay  the  public 
debt ;  Mr.  Crawford  was  opposed  to  it,  and 
Mr.  Calhoun  had  withdrawn  as  a  Presiden- 
tial candidate.  The  Southern  planting 
States  were  dissatisfied,  believing  that  the 
new  burdens  upon  imports  which  it  im- 
posed, fell  upon  the  producers  of  the  ex- 
ports, and  tended  to  enrich  one  section  of 
the  Union  at  the  expense  of  another. 
The  attack  and  support  of  the  bill  took 
much  of  a  sectional  aspect;  Virginia,  the 
two  Carolinas,  Georgia,  and  some  others, 
being  unanimous  against  it.  Pennsylva- 
nia, New  York,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky  being 
unanimous  for  it.  Massachusetts,  which 
up  to  this  time  had  no  small  influence  in 
commerce,  voted,  with  all,  except  one 
member,  against  it.  With  this  sectional 
aspect,  a  tariff  for  protection,  also  began  to 
assume  a  political  aspect,  being  taken  un- 
der the  care  of  the  party,  afterwards  de- 
nominated as  Whig.  The  bill  was  ap- 
proved by  President  Monroe;  a  proof  that 
that  careful  and  strict  constructionist  of 
the  constitution  did  not  consider  it  as  de- 
prived of  its  revenue  character  by  the  de- 
gree of  protection  which  it  extended. 

A  subject  which  at  the  present  time  is 
exciting  much  criticism,  viz:  proposed 
amendments  to  the  constitution  relative  to 
the  election  of  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent, had  its  origin  in  movements  in  that 
direction  taken  by  leading  Democrats  dur- 
ing the  campaign  of  1824.  The  electoral 
college  has  never  been  since  the  early  elec- 
tions, an  independent  body  free  to  select 
a  President  and  Vice-President;  though 
in  theory  they  have  been  vested  with  such 
powers,  in  practice  they  have  no  such  prac- 
tical power  over  the  elections,  and  have 
had  none  since  their  institution.  In  every 
case  the  elector  has  been  an  instrument. 


bouiiJ  to  obey  a  particular  impulsion,  and 
disobedience  to  which  would  oe  attended 
with  infamy,  and  with  every  penalty  which 
public  indignation  could  inflict.  From  the 
Deginning  they  have  stood  pledged  to  vote 
for  the  candidate  indicated  by  the  public 
will ;  and  have  proved  not  only  to  be  use- 
less, but  an  inconvenient  intervention  be- 
tween the  people  and  the  object  of  their 
choice.  Mr.  McDuffie  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  Mr.  Benton  in  the 
Senate,  proposed  amendments;  the  mode 
of  taking  the  direct  vote  to  be  in  districts, 
and  the  persons  receiving  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  for  President  or  Vice- 
President  in  any  district,  to  count  one  vote 
for  such  office  respectively  which  is  noth- 
ing but  substituting  the  candidates  them- 
selves for  their  electoral  representative^ 

In  the  election  of  1824  four  candidates 
were  before  the  people  for  the  office  of 
President,  General  Jackson,  John  Quincy 
Adams,  William  H.  Crawford  and  Henry 
Clay.  None  of  them  received  a.  majority 
of  the  261  electoral  votes,  and  the  election 
devolved  upon  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. John  C.  Calhoun  had  a  majority  of 
the  electoral  votes  for  the  oflice  of  Vice- 
President,  and  was  elected.  Mr.  Adams 
was  elected  President  by  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives,  although  General  Jack- 
son was  the  choice  of  the  people,  having 
received  the  greatest  number  of  votes  at 
the  general  election.  The  election  of  Mr. 
Adams  was  perfectly  constitutional,  and  as 
such  fully  submitted  to  by  the  people ;  but 
it  was  a  violation  of  the  demos  krateo  prin- 
ciple ;  and  that  violation  was  equally  re- 
buked. All  the  representatives  who  voted 
against  the  will  of  their  constituents,  lost 
their  favor,  and  disappeared  from  public 
life.  The  representation  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  was  largely  changed  at 
the  first  general  election,  and  presented  a 
full  opposition  to  the  new  President.  Mr. 
Adams  himself  was  injured  by  it,  and  at 
the  ensuing  presidential  election  was  beat- 
en by  General  Jackson  more  than  two  to 
one. 

Mr.  Clay,  who  took  the  lead  in  the 
House  for  Mr.  Adams,  and  afterwards  took 
upon  himself  the  mission  of  reconciling  the 
people  to  his  election  in  a  series  of  public 
speeches,  was  himself  crippled  in  the 
effort,  lost  his  place  in  the  democratic  par- 
ty, and  joined  the  Whigs  (then  called  the 
national  republicans).  The  democratic 
principle  was  victor  over  the  theory  of  the 
Constitution,  and  beneficial  results  ensued. 
It  vindicated  the  people  in  their  right  and 
their  power.  It  re-established  parties 
upon  the  basis  of  principle,  and  drew  anew 
party  lines,  then  almost  obliterated  under 
the  fusion  of  parties  during  the  "  era  of 
good  feeling,"  and  the  efllbrts  of  leading 
men  to  make  personal  parties  for  them- 
selves.   It  showed  the  conservative  power 


BOOK  I.] 


TENURE    OF    OFFICE— ELIGIBILITY. 


27 


of  our  goverment  to  lie  in  the  people,  more 
than  in  its  constituted  authorities.  It 
showed  that  they  were  capable  of  exercis- 
ing the  function  of  self-government,  and 
lastly,  it  assumed  the  supremacy  of  the  de- 
mocracy for  a'  long  time,  and  until  lost  by 
causes  to  be  referred  to  hereafter.  The 
Presidential  election  of  1824  is  remarkable 
under  another  aspect — its  results  cautioned 
all  public  men  against  fuiure  attempts  to 
govern  presidential  elections  in  the  House 
of  Representatives ;  and  it  put  an  end  to 
the  practice  of  caucus  nominations  for  the 
Presidency  by  members  of  Congress.  This 
mode  of  concentrating  public  opinion  be- 
gan to  be  practiced  as  the  eminent  men  of 
the  Revolution,  to  whom  public  opinion 
awarded  a  preference,  were  passing  away, 
and  when  new  men,  of  m:)re  equal  preten- 
sions, were  coming  upon  the  stage.  It  was 
tried  several  times  with  success  and  general 
approbation,  because  public  sentiment  was 
followed — not  led — by  the  caucus.  It  was 
attempted,  in  182-t  and  failed ;  all  the  op- 
ponents of  Mr.  Crawford,  by  their  joint 
efforts,  succeeded,  and  justly  in  the  fact 
though  not  in  the  motive,  in  rendering 
these  Congress  caucus  nominations  odious 
to  the  people,  and  broke  them  down. 
They  were  dropped,  and  a  different  mode 
adopted  — that  of  party  nominations  by 
conventions  of  delegates  from  the  States. 

The  administration  of  Mr.  Adams  com- 
menced with  his  inaugural  address,  in 
which  the  chief  topic  was  that  of  internal 
national  imi)rovement  by  the  federal  gov  • 
ernment.  This  declared  policy  of  the  ad- 
ministration furnished  a  ground  of  opposi- 
tion against  Mr.  Adams,  and  went  to  the 
reconstruction  of  parties  on  the  old  line  of 
strict,  or  latitudinous,  construction  of  the 
Constitution.  It  was  clear  from  the  begin- 
ning that  the  new  administration  was  to 
have  a  settled  and  strong  opposition,  and 
that  founded  in  principles  of  government 
— the  same  principles,  under  different 
forms,  which  had  discriminated  parties  at 
the  commencement  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. Men  of  the  old  school — survivors 
of  the  contest  of  the  Adams  and  Jefferson 
times,  with  some  exceptions,  divided  ac- 
cordingly— the  federalists  going  for  Mr. 
Adams,  the  republicans  against  him,  with 
the  mass  of  the  younger  generation.  The 
Senate  by  a  decided  majority,  and  the 
House  by  a  strong  minority,  were  opposed 
to  the  policy  of  the  new  President. 

In  1826  occurred  the  famous  debates  in 
the  Senate  and  the  House,  on  the  proposed 
Congress  of  American  States,  to  contract 
alliances  to  guard  against  and  prevent  the 
estabjishment  of  any  future  European  co- 
lony within  its  borders.  The  mission 
though  sanctioned  was  never  acted  upon 
or  carried  out.  It  was  authorized  by  very 
nearly  a  party  vote,  the  democracy  as  a 
party  being  against  it  The  President,  Mr. 


Adams,  stated  the  objects  of  the  Congress 
to  be  as  follows :  "  An  agreement  between 
all  the  parties  represented  at  the  meeting, 
that  each  will  guard,  by  its  own  means, 
against  the  establishment  of  any  future 
European  colony  within  its  own  borders, 
may  be  advisable.  This  was,  more  than 
two  years  since,  announced  by  my  prede- 
cessor to  the  world,  as  a  principle  result- 
ing from  the  emancipation  of  both  the 
American  continents.  It  niay  be  so  de- 
veloped to  the  new  southern  nations,  that 
they  may  feel  it  as  an  essential  appendage 
to  their  independence." 

Mr.  Adams  had  been  a  member  of  Mr, 
Monroe's  cabinet,  filling  the  department 
from  which  the  doctrine  would  emanate. 
The  enunciation  by  him  as  above  of  this 
"  Monroe  Doctrine,"  as  it  is  called,  is  very 
different  from  what  it  has  of  late  been  sup- 
posed to  be,  as  binding  the  United  States 
to  guard  all  the  territory  of  the  New  World 
from  European  colonization.  The  mes- 
sage above  quoted  was  written  at  a  time 
when  the  doctrine  as  enunciated  by  the 
former  President  through  the  then  Secre- 
tary was  fresh  in  the  mind  of  the  latter, 
and  when  he  himself  in  a  communication 
to  the  American  Senate  was  laying  it  down 
for  the  adoption  of  all  the  American  na- 
tions in  a  general  congress  of  their  depu- 
ties. According  to  President  Adams,  this 
"  Monroe  Doctrine"  (according  to  which  it 
has  been  of  late  believed  that  the  United 
States  were  to  stand  guard  over  the  two 
Americas,  and  repulse  all  intrusive  colo- 
nists from  their  shores),  was  entirely  con- 
fined to  our  own  borders ;  that  it  was  only 
proposed  to  get  the  other  States  of  the  New 
World  to  agree  that,  each  for  itself,  and  by 
its  own  means,  should  guard  its  own  terri- 
tories ;  and,  consequently,  that  the  United 
States,  so  fiir  from  extending  gratuitous 
protection  to  the  territories  of  other  States, 
would  neither  give,  nor  receive,  aid  in  any 
such  enterprise,  but  that  each  skould  use 
its  own  means,  within  its  own  borders,  for 
its  own  exemption  from  European  colonial 
intrusion. 

No  question  in  its  day  excited  more  in- 
temperate discussion,  excitement,  and  feel- 
ing between  the  Executive  and  the  Senate, 
and  none  died  out  so  quickly,  than  this, 
relative  to  the  proposed  congress  of  Ameri- 
can nations.  The  chief  advantage  to  be 
derived  from  its  retrospect — and  it  is  a  real 
one — is  a  view  of  the  firmness  with  which 
the  minority  maintained  the  old  policy  of 
the  United  States,  to  avoid  entangling  al- 
liances and  interference  with  the  affairs  of 
other  nations ;  and  the  exposition,  by  one 
so  competent  as  Mr.  Adams,  of  the  true 
scope  and  meaning  of  the  Monroe  doc- 
trine. 

At  the  session  of  1825-26  attempt  was 
again  made  to  procure  an  amendment  to 
the  Constitution,  'a  relation  to  the  modd 


28 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


of  election  of  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent, so  as  to  do  away  with  all  intermedi- 
ate agencies,  and  give  the  election  to  the 
direct  vote  of  tlie  people.  In  the  Senate 
the  matter  was  referred  to  a  committee  who 
reported  amendments  dispensing  with 
electors,  providing  for  districts  equal  in 
number  to  the  whole  number  of  Senators 
and  Representatives  to  which  the  State 
was  entitled  in  Congress,  and  obviating  all 
excuses  for  caucuses  and  conventions  to 
concentrate  public  opinion  by  providing 
that  in  the  event  of  no  one  receiving  a  ma- 
jority of  the  whole  number  of  district  votes 
cast,  that  a  second  election  should  be  held 
limited  to  the  two  persons  receiving  the 
highest  number  of  votes;  and  in  case  of  an 
equal  division  of  votes  on  the  second  elec- 
tion then  the  House  of  Representatives 
shall  choose  one  of  them  for  President,  as 
is  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  The 
idea  being  that  the  first  election,  if  not  re- 
sulting in  any  candidate  receiving  a  ma- 
jority, should  stand  for  a  popular  nomina- 
tion— a  nomination  by  the  people  them- 
selves, out  of  which  the  election  is  almost 
sure  to  be  made  on  the  second  trial.  The 
same  plan  was  suggested  for  choosing  a 
Vice-President,  except  that  the  Senate  was 
to  finally  elect,  in  case  of  failure  to  choose 
at  first  and  second  elections.  The  amend- 
ments did  not  receive  the  requisite  support 
of  two-thirds  of  either  the  Senate  or  the 
House.  This  movement  was  not  of  a  par- 
tisan character ;  it  was  equally  supported 
and  opposed  respectively  by  Senators  and 
Representatives  of  both  parties.  Substan- 
tially the  same  plan  was  recommended  by 
President^  Jackson  in  his  first  annual  mes- 
sage to  Congress,  December  8,  1829. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  this  Ses- 
sion of  1825  and  26,  attempt  was  made  by 
the  Democrats  to  pass  a  tenure  of  office 
bill,  as  applicable  to  government  em- 
ployees and  office-holders;  it  provided 
that  iif  all  nominations  made  by  the 
President  to  the  Senate,  to  fill  vacancies 
occasioned  by  an  exercise  of  the  Presi- 
dent's power  to  remove  from  office,  the 
fact  of  the  removal  shall  be  stated  to  the 
Senate  at  the  same  time  that  the  nomina- 
tion is  made,  with  a  statement  of  the  rea- 
sons for  which  such  officer  may  have  been 
removed."  It  was  also  sought  at  the  same 
time  to  amend  the  Constitution  to  prohibit 
the  appointment  of  any  member  of  Con- 
press  to  any  federal  office  of  trust  or  profit, 
during  the  period  for  which  he  was  elec- 
ted ;  the  design  being  to  make  the  mem- 
bers wholly  independent  of  the  Executive, 
and  not  subservient  to  the  latter,  and  in- 
capable of  receiving  favors  in  the  form  of 
bestowals  of  official  patronage. 

The  tariff  of  1828  is  an  era  in  our  politi- 
cal legislation;  from  it  the  doctrine  of 
"nullification"  originated,  and  from  that 
dftte  began  a  serious  division  between  the 


North  and  the  South.  This  tariff  law  was 
projected  in  the  interest  of  the  woolen 
manufacturers,  but  ended  by  including  all 
manufacturing  interests.  The  passage  ol 
this  measure  was  brought  about  not  because 
it  was  favored  by  a  majority,  but  because 
of  political  exigencies.  In  the  then  ap- 
proaching presidential  election,  Mr. 
Adams,  who  was  in  favor  of  the  "  Ameri- 
can System,"  supported  by  Mr.  Clay  (his 
Secretary  of  State)  was  opposed  by  General 
Jackson.  This  tariff  was  made  an  admin- 
istration measure,  and  became  an  issue  in 
the  canvass.  The  New  England  States, 
which  had  formerly  favored  free  trade,  on 
account  of  their  commercial  interestSj 
changed  their  policy,  and,  led  by  Mr. 
Webster,  became  advocates  of  the  protec- 
tive system.  The  question  of  protective 
tariff  had  now  not  only  become  political, 
but  sectional.  The  Southern  States  as  a 
section,  were  arrayed  against  the  system, 
though  prior  to  1816  had  favored  it,  not 
merely  as  an  incident  to  revenue,  but  as  a 
substantive  object.  In  fact  these  tariff 
bills,  each  exceeding  the  other  in  its  de- 
gree of  protection,  had  become  a  regular 
appendage  of  our  presidential  elections — 
carrying  round  in  every  cycle  of  four  years, 
with  that  returning  event ;  starting  in  1816 
and  followed  up  in  1820-24,  and  now  in 
1828;  with  successive  augmentations  of 
duties ;  the  last  being  often  pushed  as  a 
party  measure,  and  with  the  visible  pur- 
pose of  influencing  the  presidential  elec- 
tion. General  Jackson  was  elected,  hav- 
ing received  178  electoral  votes  to  83  re- 
ceived bv  John  Quincy  Adams.  Mr. 
Richard  ilush,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was 
on  the  tjcket  with  Mr.  Adams,  was  de- 
feated for  the  office  of  Vice-President,  and 
John  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  was 
elected  to  that  office. 

The  election  of  General  Jackson  was  a 
triumph  of  democratic  principle,  and  an 
assertion  of  the  people's  right  to  govern 
themselves.  That  principle  had  been  vio- 
lated in  the  presidential  election  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  session  of 
1824-25;  and  the  sanction,  or  rebuke,  of 
that  violation  was  a  leading  question  in  the 
whole  canvass.  It  was  also  a  triumph 
over  the  high  protective  policy,  and  the 
federal  internal  improvement  policy,  and 
the  latitudinous  construction  of  the  Con- 
stitution ;  and  of  the  democracy  over  the 
federalists,  then  called  national  republi- 
cans ;  and  was  the  re-establishment  of  par- 
ties on  principle,  according  to  the  land- 
marks of  the  early  years  of  the  govern- 
ment. For  although  Mr.  Adams  had  re- 
ceived confidence  and  office  from  'Mr. 
Madison  and  Mr.  Monroe,  and  had  classed 
with  the  democratic  party  during  the  "  era 
of  good  feeling,"  yet  he  had  previously 
been  federal ;  and  on  the  re-estaDlishment 
of  old  party  lines  which  began  to  take  place 


BOOKi.]    NULLIFICATION— DEMOCRATS  AND  FEDERALS. 


29 


after  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  his  affinities 
and   policy  became  those  of  his   former 

Sarty  ;  and  as  a  party,  with  many  indivi- 
ual  exceptions,  they  became  his  suppor- 
ters and  his  strength.  General  Jackson, 
on  the  contrary,  had  always  been  demo- 
cratic, so  classing  when  he  was  a  Senator 
in  Congress  under  the  administration  of 
the  first  Mr.  Adams  ;  and  when  party  lines 
were  most  straightly  drawn,  and  upon  prin- 
ciple, and  as  such  now  receiving  the  support 
ot  men  and  States  which  took  this  political 
position  at  that  time,  and  maintained  it  for 
years  afterwards ;  among  the  latter,  notably 
the  States  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania. 

The  short  session  of  1829-30  was  ren- 
dered famous  by  the  long  and  earnest  de- 
bates in  the  Senate  on  the  doctrine  of  nul- 
lification, as  it  was  then  called.  It  started 
by  a  resolution  of  inquiry  introduced  by 
Mr.  Foot  of  Connecticut;  it  was  united 
with  a  proposition  to  limit  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands  to  those  then  in  the  market — 
to  suspend  the  surveys  of  the  public  lands 
— and  to  abolish  the  office  of  Surveyor- 
General.  The  effect  of  such  a  resolution, 
if  sanctioned  upon  inquiry  and  carried  into 
legislative  effect,  would  have  been  to  check 
emigration  to  the  new  States  in  the  West, 
and  to  check  the  growth  and  settlement  of 
these  States  and  Territories.  It  was  warmly 
opposed  by  Western  members.  The  de- 
bate spread  and  took  an  acrimonious  turn, 
and  sectional,  imputing  to  the  quarter  of 
the  Union  from  which  it  came  an  old  and 
early  policy  to  check  the  growth  of  the 
West  at  the  outset  by  proposing  to  limit 
the  sale  of  the  Western  lands,  by  selling 
no  tract  in  advance  until  all  in  the  rear 
was  sold  out ;  and  during  the  debate  Mr. 
Webster  referred  to  the  famous  ordinance 
of  1787  for  the  government  of  the  north- 
western territory,  and  especially  the  anti- 
slavery  clause  which  it  contained. 

Closely  connected  with  this  subject  to 
which  Mr.  Web<5ter's  remarks,  during  the 
debate,  related,  was  another  which  excited 
some  warm  discussion — the  topic  of  slavery 
— and  the  effect  of  its  existence  or  non- 
existence in  different  States.  Kentucky 
and  Ohio  were  taken  for  examples,  and 
the  superior  improvement  and  popula- 
tion of  Ohio  were  attributed  to  its  exemp- 
tion from  the  evils  of  slavery.  This  was 
an  excitable  subject,  and  the  more  so  be- 
cause the  wounds  of  the  Missouri  contro- 
versy in  which  the  North  was  the  undis- 
puted aggressor,  were  still  tender.  Mr. 
Hayne  from  South  Carolina  answered  with 
warmth  and  resented  as  a  reflection  upon 
the  Sieve  States  this  disadvantageous  com- 
parison. Mr.  Benton  of  Missouri  followed 
on  the  same  side,  and  in  the  cqjirse  of  his 
remarks  said,  "  I  regard  with  admiration, 
that  is  to  say,  with  wonder,  the  sublime 
morality  of  those  who  cannot  bear  the  aV»' 


stract  contemplation  of  slavery,  at  tne  dis- 
tance of  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  miles 
off."  This  allusion  to  the  Missouri  con- 
troversy, and  invective  against  the  free 
States  for  their  part  in  it,  by  Messrs. 
Hayne  and  Benton,  brought  a  reply  from 
Mr.  Webster,  showing  what  their  conduct 
had  been  at  the  first  introduction  of  the 
slavery  topic  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  they  totally  refused  to  in- 
terfere between  master  and  slave  in  any 
way  whatever.  But  the  topic  which  be- 
came the  leading  feature  of  the  whole  de- 
bate, and  gave  it  an  interest  which  cannot 
die,  was  that  of  nullification — the  assumed 
right  of  a  State  to  annul  an  act  of  Congress 
— then  first  broached  in  the  Senate — and 
in  the  discus&ion  of  which  "Mr.  Webster 
and  Mr.  Hayne  were  the  champion 
speakers  on  opposite  sides — the  latter 
voicing  the  sentiments  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Mr.  Calhoun.  This  turn  in  the  de- 
bate was  brought  about,  by  Mr.  Hayne 
having  made  allusion  to  the  course  of  New 
England  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  assemblage  known  as  the 
Hartford  Convention,  and  to  which  designs 
unfriendly  to  the  Union  had  been  at- 
tributed. This  gave  Mr.  Webster  an  op- 
portunity to  retaliate,  and  he  referred  to 
the  public  meetings  which  had  just  then 
taken  place  in  South  Carolina  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  tariff,  and  at  which  resolves 
were  passed,  and  propositions  adopted  sig- 
nificant of  resisistance  to  the  act ;  and  con- 
sequently of  disloyalty  to  the  Union.  He 
drew  Mr.  Hayne  into  their  defence  and 
into  an  avowal  of  what  has  since  obtained 
the  current  name  of  "  Nullification."  He 
said,  "  I  understand  the  honorable  gentle- 
man from  South  Carolina  to  maintain,  that 
it  is  a  right  of  the  State  Legislature  to  inter- 
fere, whenever,  in  their  judgment,  this 
government  transcends  its  constitutional 
limits,  and  to  arrest  the  operation  of  ita 
laws,  *  *  *  *  that  the  States  rfiay  law- 
fully decide  for  themselves,  and  each  State 
for  itself,  whether,  in  a  given  case,  the  act 
of  the  general  government  transcends  its 
powers,  *  *  *  *  that  if  the  exigency 
of  the  case,  in  the  opinion  of  any  State 
government  require  it,  such  State  gov- 
ernment may,  by  its  own  sovereign  au- 
thority, annul  an  act  of  the  general  'gov- 
ernment, which  it  deems  plainly  and  pal- 
pably unconstitutional."  Mr.  Hayne  was 
evidently  unprepared  to  admit,  or  fully 
deny,  the  propositions  as  so  laid  down,  but 
contented  himself  with  stating  the  words 
of  the  Virginia  Resolution  of  1798,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  That  this  assembly  doth  explicitly 
and  peremptorily  declare,  that  it  views  the 
powers  of  the  federal  government  as  result- 
ing from  the  compact,  to  which  the  States 
are  parties,  as  limited  by  the  plain  sense 
and  intention  of  the  instrument  constituting 
1  that  compact,  as  no  farther  valid  than  they 


30 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  1 


are  authorized  by  the  grants  enumerated 
in  that  compact,  and  that,  in  case  of  a  de- 
liberate, palpable  and  dangerous  exercise 
of  other  powers,  not  granted  by  the  said 
compact,  the  States  who  are  parties  thereto 
have  the  right,  and  are  in  duty  bound,  to 
interpose,  for  arresting  the  progress  of  the 
evil,  and  for  maintaining,  within  their  re- 
spective limits,  the  authorities,  rights,  and 
liberties  appertaining  to  them." 

This  resolution  came  to  be  understood 
by  Mr.  Hayne  and  others  on  that  side  of 
the  debate,  in  the  same  sense  that  Mr. 
Webster  stated,  as  above,  he  understood 
the  gentleman  from  the  South  to  interpret 
it.  On  the  other  side  of  the  question,  he 
argued  that  the  doctrine  had  no  foundation 
either  in  the  Constitution,  or  on  the  Vir- 
ginia resolutions — that  the  Constitution 
makes  the  federal  government  act  upon 
citizens  within  the  States,  and  not  upon 
the  States  themselves,  as  in  the  old  con- 
federation :  that  within  their  Constitution- 
al limits  the  laws  of  Congress  were  supreme 
— and  that  it  was  treasonable  to  resist 
them  with  force :  and  that  the  question  of 
their  constitutionality  was  to  be  decided 
by  the  Supreme  Court :  with  respect  to  the 
Virginia  resolutions,  on  which  Mr.  Hayne 
relied,  Mr.  Webster  disputed  the  interpre- 
tation put  upon  them — claimed  for  them 
an  innocent  and  justifiable  meaning — and 
exempted  Mr.  Madison  from  the  suspicion 
of  having  framed  a  resolution  asserting  the 
right  of  a  State  legislature  to  annul  an  Act 
of  Congress,  and  thereby  putting  it  in  the 
power  of  one  State  to  destroy  a  form  of 
government  which  he  had  just  labored  so 
hard  to  establish. 

Mr.  Hayne  on  his  part  gave  (as  the  prac- 
tical part  of  his  doctrine)  the  pledge  of  for- 
cible resistance  to  any  attempt  to  enforce 
unconstitutional  laws.  He  said,  "  The 
gentleman  has  called  upon  us  to  carry  out 
our  scheme  practically.  Now,  sir,  if  I  am 
c-orrect  in  my  view  of  this  matter,  then  it 
follows,  of  course,  that  the  right  of  a  State 
being  established,  the  federal  government 
is  bound  to  acquiesce  in  a  solemn  decision 
of  a  State,  acting  in  it^  sovereign  capacity, 
at  least  so  far  as  to  make  an  appeal  to  the 
•  people  for  an  amendment  to  tne  Constitu- 
tion. This  solemn  decision  of  a  State  binds 
the  federal  government,  under  the  highest 
constitutional  obligation,  not  to  resort  to 
any  means  of  coercion  against  the  citizens 
of  the  dissenting  State.  *  *  *  Suppose 
Congress  should  pass  an  agrarian  law,  or  a 
law  emancipating  our  slaves,  or  should 
commit  any  other  gross  violation  of  our 
constitutional  rights,  will  any  gentlemen 
contend  that  the  decision  of  every  branch 
of  the  federal  government,  in  favor  of  such 
laws,  could  prevent  the  State*?  from  de- 
claring them  null  and  void,  and  protecting 
their  citizens  from  their  operation  ?  *  * 
Let  me  assure  the  gentlemen  that,  when- 


ever any  attempt  shall  be  made  from  any 
quarter,  to  enforce  unconstitutional  laws, 
clearly  violating  our  essential  rights,  our 
leaders  (whoever  they  may  be)  will  not  be 
found  reading  black  letter  from  the  musty 
pages  of  old  law  books.  They  will  look  to 
the  Constitution,  and  when  called  upon  by 
the  sovereign  authority  of  the  State,  to 
preserve  and  protect  the  rights  secured  to 
them  by  the  charter  of  their  liberties,  they 
will  succeed  in  defending  them,  or  '  perish 
in  the  last  ditch.' " 

These  words  of  Mr.  Hayne  seem  almost 
prophetic  in  view  of  the  events  of  thirty 
years  later.  No  one  then  believed  in  any- 
thing serious  in  the  new  interpretation 
given  to  the  Virginia  resolutions — nor  in 
anything  practical  from  nullification — nor 
in  forcible  resistance  to  the  tariff  laws  from 
South  Carolina — nor  in  any  scheme  of  dis- 
union. 

Mr.  Webster's  closing  reply  was  a  fine 
piece  of  rhetoric,  delivered  in  an  elaborate 
and  artistic  style,  and  in  an  apparent  spirit 
of  deep  seriousness.  He  concluded  thus — 
"  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  behold, 
for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I 
not  see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dis- 
figured fragments  of  a  once  glorious 
Union ;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant, 
belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds, 
or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  fraternal  blood. 
Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance, 
rather,  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the 
Republic,  now  known  and  honored  through- 
out the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its 
arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  their  ori- 
ginal lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted, 
nor  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its 
motto  no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as, 
What  is  all  this  worth?  nor  those  other 
words  of  delusion  and  folly,  Liberty  first 
and  Union  afterwards;  but  everywhere, 
spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living  light, 
blazing  in  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float 
over  the  sea  and  over  the  land,  and  in 
every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that 
other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  Ameri- 
can heart — Liberty  and  Union,  now  and 
forever,  one  and  inseparable  I  " 

President  Jackson  in  his  first  annual 
message  to  Congress  called  attention  to  the 
fact  of  expiration  in  1836  of  the  charter 
of  incorporation  granted  by  the  Federal 

fovemment  to  a  moneyed  institution  called 
'he  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  was 
originally  designed  to  assist  the  govern 
ment  in  establishing  and  maintaining  a 
uniform  and  sound  currency.  He  seriously 
doubted  the  constitutionality  and  expedi- 
ency of  the  law  creating  the  bank,  and 
was  opposed  to  a  renewal  of  the  charter. 
His  view  of  the  matter  wjis  thatif  such  an 
institution  was  deemed  a  necessity  it  should 
be  made  a  national  one,  in  the  sense  of 
being  founded  on  the  credit  of  the  govem- 
,  ment  and  its  revenues,  and  not  a  corpora- 


^y^r.4>^ 


^/ 


:oox  I.] 


THE  UNITED  STATES  BANK. 


31 


tion  independent  from  and  not  a  part  of 
the  government.  The  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  strongly  in  favor  of  the  re- 
newal of  the  charter,  and  several  of  its 
committees  made  elaborate,  ample  and 
argumentative  reports  upon  the  subject. 
These  reports  were  the  subject  of  news- 
paper and  pamphlet  publication ;  and 
lauded  for  their  power  and  excellence,  and 
triumphant  refutation  of  all  the  President's 
opinions.  Thus  was  the  "  war  of  the  Bank" 
commenced  at  once  in  Congress,  and  in  the 
public  press ;  and  openly  at  the  instance 
of  the  Bank  itself,  which,  forgetting  its 
position  as  an  institution  of  the  govern- 
ment, for  the  convenience  of  the  govern- 
ment, set  itself  up  as  a  power,  and  strug- 
gled for  continued  existence,  by  demand 
for  renewal  of  its  charter.  It  allied  itself 
at  the  same  time  to  the  political  power 
opposed  to  the  President,  joined  in  all  their 
schemes  of  protective  tariff,  and  national 
internal  improvement,  and  became  the 
head  of  the  American  system.  Its  moneyed 
and  political  power,  numerous  interested 
affiliations,  and  control  over  other  banks 
and  fiscal  institutions,  was  truly  great  and 
extensive,  and  a  power  which  Avas  exer- 
cised and  made  to  be  felt  during  the  strug- 
gle to  such  a  degree  that  it  threatened  a 
danger  to  the  country  and  the  government 
almost  amounting  to  a  national  calamity. 

The  subject  of  renewal  of  the  charter 
was  agitated  at  every  succeeding  session 
of  Congress  down  to  1836,  and  many  able 
speeches  made  for  and  against  it. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1831,  the 
National  Republicans,  as  the  party  was 
then  called  which  afterward  took  the  name 
of  "  whig,"  held  its  convention  in  Balti- 
more, and  nominated  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  to  be  voted  for 
at  the  election  in  the  autumn  of  the  ensu- 
ing year.  Henry  Clay  was  the  candidate 
for  the  office  of  President,  and  John  Ser- 
geant for  that  of  Vice-President.  The 
platform  or  address  to  the  people  presented 
the  party  issues  which  were  to  be  settled 
at  the  ensuing  election,  the  chief  subjects 
being  the  tariff,  internal  improvement,  re- 
moval of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  the 
renewal  of  the  United  States  Bank  charter. 
Thus  the  bank  question  was  fully  presented 
as  an  issue  in  the  election  by  that  part  of 
its  friends  who  classed  politically  against 
President  Jackson.  But  it  had  also  Demo- 
cratic friends  without  whose  aid  the  re- 
charter  could  not  be  got  through  Congress, 
and  they  labored  assiduously  for  it.  The 
first  Bank  of  the  United  States,  chartered 
in  1791.  was  a  federal  measure,  favored  by 
General  Hamilton,  opposed  by  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, Mr.  Madison,  and  the  Republican 
party;  and  became  a  great  landmark  of 
party,  not  merely  for  the  bank  itself,  but 
for  the  latitudinarian  construction  of  the 
constitution  in  which  it  was  founded,  and 


the  precedent  it  established  that  Congress 
might  in  its  discretion  do  what  it  pleased, 
under  the  plea  of  being  "necessary''  to 
carry  into  effect  some  granted  power.  The 
non-renewal  of  the  charter  in  1811,  was 
the  act  of  the  Republican  party,  then  in 
possession  of  the  government,  and  taking 
the  opportunity  to  terminate,  upon  its  own 
limitation,  the  existence  of  an  institution 
whose  creation  they  had  not  been  able  to 
prevent.  The  charter  of  the  second  bank, 
in  1816,  was  the  act  of  the  Republican, 
party,  and  to  aid  them  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  government,  and,  as  such,  was 
opposed  by  the  Federal  party — not  seeming 
then  to  understand  that,  by  its  instincts,  a 
great  moneyed  corporation  was  in  sym- 
pathy with  their  own  party,  and  would 
soon  be  with  it  in  action — which  the  bank 
soon  was — and  now  struggled  for  a  con- 
tinuation of  its  existence  under  the  lead 
of  those  who  had  opposed  its  creation  and 
against  the  party  which  effected  it.  Mr. 
Webster  was  a  Federal  leader  on  both 
occasions — against  the  charter  in  1816 ; 
for  the  re-charter  in  1832.  The  bill  passed 
the  Senate  after  a  long  and  arduous  con- 
test; and  afterwards  passed  the  House, 
quickly  and  with  little  or  no  contest  at  all. 
It  was  sent  to  the  President,  and  vetoed 
by  him  July  10,  1832  ;  the  message  stating 
his  objections  being  an  elaborate  review 
of  the  subject ;  the  veto  being  based  mainly 
on  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  measure. 
The  veto  was  sustained.  Following  this 
the  President  after  the  adjournment  re- 
moved from  the  bank  the  government 
deposits,  and  referred  to  that  fact  in  his 
next  annual  message  on  the  second  day  of 
December,  1833,  at  the  opening  of  the  first 
session  of  the  twenty-third  Congress.  Ac- 
companying it  was  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Hon.  Roger  B. 
Taney,  afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  giv- 
ing the  reasons  of  the  government  for  the 
withdrawal  of  the  public  funds.  Long  and 
bitter  was  the  contest  between  the  Presi- 
dent on  the  one  side  and  the  Bank  and  its 
supporters  in  the  Senate  on  the  other  side. 
The  conduct  of  the  Bank  produced  dis- 
tress throughout  the  countrj',  and  was  so 
intended  to  coerce  the  President.  Distress 
petitions  flooded  Congress,  and  the  Senate 
even  passed  resolutions  of  censure  of  the 
President.  The  latter,  however,  held  firm 
in  his  position.  A  committee  of  investi- 
gation was  appointed  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  to  inquire  into  the  causes 
of  the  commercial  emoarrassment  and  the 
public  distress  complained  of  in  the 
numerous  distress  memorials  presented  to 
the  two  Houses  during  the  session;  and 
whether  the  Bank  had  been  instrumental, 
through  its  management  of  money,  in  pro- 
ducing the  distress  and  embarrassment  of 
which  so  much  complaint  was  made ;  to 


32 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


inquire  whether  the  charter  of  the  Bank 
had  been  violated,  and  what  corruptions 
and  abuses,  if  any,  existed  in  its  manage- 
ment ;  and  to  inquire  whether  the  Bank 
had  used  its  corporate  power  or  money  to 
control  the  press,  to  interpose  in  politics, 
or  to  influence  elections.  The  committee 
were  granted  ample  powers  for  the  execu- 
tion of  these  inquiries.  It  was  treated 
with  disdain  and  contempt  by  the  Bank 
management ;  refused  access  to  the  books 
and  papers,  and  the  directors  and  president 
tefusea  to  be  sworn  and  testify.  The 
committee  at  the  next  session  made  report 
of  their  proceedings,  and  asked  for  war- 
rants to  be  issued  against  the  managers  to 
bring  them  before  the  Bar  of  the  House  to 
answer  for  contempt ;  but  the  friends  of 
the  Bank  in  the  House  were  able  to  check 
the  proceedings  and  prevent  action  being 
taken.  In  the  Senate,  the  President  was 
sought  to  be  punished  by  a  declination  by 
that  body  to  confirm  the  President's 
nomination  of  the  four  government  direc- 
tors of  the  Bank,  who  had  served  the 
previous  year ;  and  their  re-nomination 
after  that  rejection  again  met  with  a  similar 
fate.  In  like  manner  his  re-nomination  of 
Roger  B.  Taney  to  be  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  was  rejected,  for  the  action  of 
the  latter  in  his  support  of  the  President 
and  the  removal  oi  the  public  deposits. 
The  Bank  had  lost  much  ground  in  the 
public  estimation  by  resisting  the  investi- 
gation ordered  and  attempted  by  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  in  consequence  the 
Finance  Committee  of  the  Senate  made  an 
investigation,  with  so  weak  an  attenapt  to 
varnish  over  the  aflairs  and  acts  oi  the 
corporation  that  the  odious  appellation  of 
"  wnite-washing  committee  "  was  fastened 
upon  it.  The  downfall  of  the  Bank 
speedily  followed ;  it  soon  afterwards  be- 
came a  total  financial  wreck,  and  its  assets 
and  property  were  seized  on  executions. 
With  its  financial  failure  it  vanished  from 
public  view,  and  public  interest  in  it  and 
concern  with  it  died  out. 

About  the  beginning  of  March,  1831,  a 
pamphlet  was  issued  in  Washington,  by 
Mr.  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  Vice-President, 
and  addressed  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  explaining  the  cause  of  a  difference 
which  had  taken  place  between  himself 
and  the  President,  General  Jackson,  in- 
stigated as  the  pamphlet  alleged,  by  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  and  intended  to  make  trouble 
between  the  first  and  second  officers  of  the 
government,  and  to  effect  the  political 
destruction  of  himself  (Mr.  Calhoun )  for  the 
benefit  of  the  contriver  of  the  auarrel,  the 
then  Secretary  of  State,  and  indicated  as  a 
candidate  for  the  presidential  succession 
upon  the  termination  of  Jackson's  term. 
The  differences  grew  out  of  certain  charges 
against  General  Jackson  respecting  his  con- 
duct during  the  Seminole  war  which  oc- 


curred in  the  administration  of  President 
Monroe.  The  President  justified  himself  in 
published  correspondence,  but  the  inevita- 
ble result  followed — a  rupture  between  the 
President  and  Vice-President — which  was 
quickly  followed  by  a  breaking  up  and 
reconstructing  the  Cabinet.  Some  of 
its  members  classed  as  the  political  friends 
of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  could  hardly  be  ex- 
pected to  remain  as  ministers  to  the  Presi- 
aent.  Mr.  Van  Buren  resigned ;  a  new 
Cabinet  was  appointed  and  confirmed. 
This  change  in  the  Cabinet  made  a  great 
figure  in  the  party  politics  of  the  day,  and 
filled  all  the  opposition  newspapers,  and 
had  many  sinister  reasons  assigned  to  it — 
all  to  the  prejudice  of  General  Jackson  and 
Mr.  Van  Buren. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  during 
the  administration  of  President  Jackson, 
— in  the  year  1833, — the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  as  the  consequence  of  the 
earnest  efforts  in  that  behalf,  of  Col.  R.  M. 
Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  aided  by  the  re- 
commendation and  support  of  the  Presi- 
dent, passed  the  first  laws,  abolishing  im- 
prisonment for  debt,  under  process  from 
the  Courts  of  the  United  States:  the  only 
extent  to  which  an  act  of  Congress  could 
go,  by  force  of  its  enactments ;  but  by  force 
of  example  and  influence,  has  led  to  the 
cessation  of  the  practice  of  imprisoning 
debtors,  in  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  States 
and  Territories  of  the  Union ;  and  without 
the  evil  consequences  which  had  been 
dreaded  from  the  loss  of  this  remedy  over 
the  person.  The  act  was  a  total  abolition  of 
the  practice,  leaving  in  full  force  all  the  re- 
medies against  fraudulent  evasions  of  debt. 

The  American  system,  and  especially  its 
prominent  feature  of  a  high  protective 
tariff  was  put  in  issue,  in  the  Presidential 
canvass  of  1832;  and  the  friends  of  that 
system  labored  diligently  in  Congress  in 
presenting  its  best  points  to  the  greatest 
advantage ;  and  staking  its  fate  upon  the 
issue  of  the  election.  It  was  lost;  not  only 
by  the  result  of  the  main  contest,  but  bv 
that  of  the  congressional  election  which 
took  place  simultaneously  with  it.  All  the 
States  dissatisfied  with  that  system,  were 
satisfied  with  the  view  of  its  speedy  and 
regular  extinction,  under  the  legislation  of 
the  approaching  session  of  Congress,  ex- 
cepting only  South  Carolina.  She  has 
held  aloof  from  the  Presidential  contest, 
and  cast  her  electoral  votes  for  persona 
who  were  not  candidates — doing  nothing 
to  aid  the  election  of  General  Jackson, 
with  whom  her  interests  were  apparently 
identified.  On  the  24th  November,  1832, 
two  weeks  after  the  election  which  de- 
cided the  fate  of  the  tariff,  that  State 
issued  an  "Ordinance  to  nullify  certain 
acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  purporting  to  be  laws  laying 
duties  and   imposts   on  the   importation 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    PRESIDENT'S    SPECIAL    MESSAGE. 


33 


of  foreign  commodities."  It  declared  that 
'jhe  Congress  had  exceeded  its  constitu- 
tional powers  in  imposing  high  and  ex- 
cessive duties  on  the  theory  of  "protec- 
tion," had  unjustly  discriminated  in  favor 
of  one  class  or  employment,  at  the  expense 
and  to  the  injury  and  oppression  of  other 
classes  and  individuals;  that  said  laws 
were  in  consequence  not  binding  on  the 
State  and  its  citizens;  and  declaring  its 
right  and  purpose  to  enact  laws  to  prevent 
the  enforcement  and  arrest  the  operation 
of  said  acts  and  parts  of  the  acts  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  within  the 
limits  of  that  State  after  the  first  day  of 
February  following.  This  ordinance  placed 
the  State  in  the  attitude  of  forcible  resist- 
ance to  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  to 
take  effect  on  the  first  day  of  February 
next  ensuing — a  date  prior  to  the  meeting 
of  the  next  Congress,  which  the  country 
naturally  expected  would  take  some  action 
in  reference  to  the  tariff  laws  complained 
of.  The  ordinance  further  provided  that 
if,  in  the  meantime,  any  attempt  was  made 
by  the  federal  government  to  enforce  the 
obnoxious  laws,  except  through  the  tribu- 
nals, all  the  officers  of  which  were  sworn 
against  them,  the  fact  of  such  attempt  was 
to  terminate  the  continuance  of  South  Car- 
olina in  the  Union — to  absolve  her  from 
all  connection  with  the  federal  government 
— and  to  establish  her  as  a  separate  govern- 
ment, wholly  unconnected  with  the  United 
States  or  any  State.  The  ordinance  of 
nullification  was  certified  by  the  Governor 
of  South  Carolina  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  reached  him  in  Decem- 
ber of  the  same  year ;  in  consequence  of 
which  he  immediately  issued  a  proclama- 
tion, exhorting  the  people  of  South  Caro- 
lina to  obey  the  laws  of  Congress ;  point- 
ing out  and  explaining  the  illegality  of 
the  procedure ;  stating  clearly  and  distinct- 
ly his  firm  determination  to  enforce  the 
laws  a.s  became  him  as  Executive,  even  by 
resort  to  force  if  necessary.  As  a  state 
paper,  it  is  important  as  it  contains  the 
views  of  General  Jackson  regarding  the 
nature  and  character  of  our  federal  gov- 
ernment, expressed  in  the  following  lan- 
guage: "  The  peojile  of  the  United  States 
formed  the  constitution,  acting  through 
the  State  Legislatures  in  making  the  com- 
pact, to  meet  and  discuss  its  provisions, 
and  acting  in  separate  conventions  when 
they  ratified  those  provisions;  but,  the 
terms  used  in  the  constitution  show  it  to 
be  a  government  in  which  the  people  of  all 
the  States  collectively  are  represented. 
We  are  one  people  in  the  choice  of  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President.  Here  the  States 
have  no  other  agency  than  to  direct  the 
mode  in  which  the  votes  shall  be  given. 
*  *  The  people,  then,  and  not  the 
3tates,  are  represented  in  the  executive 
branch.        ♦        *       *       In  the  House 


of  Eepresentatives  the  members  are  all 
representatives  of  the  United  States,  not 
representatives  of  the  particular  States 
from  which  they  come.  They  are  paid  by 
the  United  States,  not  by  the  State,  nor 
are  they  accountable  to  it  for  any  act  done 
in  the  performance  of  their  legislative 
functions.        ***** 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
then,  forms  a  government,  not  a  league ; 
and  whether  it  be  formed  by  a  compact 
between  the  States,  or  in  any  other  man- 
ner, its  character  is  the  same.  It  is  a  gov- 
ernment in  which  all  the  people  are  repre- 
sented, which  operates  directly  on  the 
people  individually,  not  upon  the  States — 
they  retained  all  the  power  they  did  not 
grant.  But  each  State,  having  expressly 
parted  with  so  many  powers  as  to  consti- 
tute, jointly  with  the  other  States,  a  single 
nation,  cannot,  from  that  period,  possess 
any  right  to  secede,  because  such  secession 
does  not  break  a  league,  but  destroys  the 
unity  of  the  nation,  and  any  injury  to  that 
unity,  is  not  only  a  breach  which  could 
result  from  the  contravention  of  a  com- 
pact, but  it  is  an  offence  against  the  whole 
Union.  To  say  that  any  State  may  at 
pleasure  secede  from  the  Union,  is  to  say 
that  the  United  States  are  not  a  nation ; 
because  it  would  be  a  solecism  to  contend 
that  any  part  of  a  nation  might  dissolve 
its  connection  with  the  other  parts,  to  their 
injury  or  ruin,  without  committing  any 
offence." 

Without  calling  on  Congress  for  extra- 
ordinary powers,  the  President  in  hi» 
annual  message,  merely  adverted  to  the 
attitude  of  the  State,  and  proceeded  to 
meet  the  exigency  by  the  exercise  of  the 
powers  he  already  possessed.  The  pro* 
ceedings  in  South  Carolina  not  ceasing, 
and  taking  daily  a  more  aggravated  form 
in  the  organization  of  troops,  the  collec- 
tion of  arms  and  of  munitions  of  war,  and 
in  declarations  hostile  to  the  Union,  he 
found  it  necessary  early  in  January  to  re- 
port the  facts  to  Congress  in  a  special 
message,  and  ask  for  extraordinary  powers. 
Bills  for  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  were 
early  in  the  Session  introduced  into  both 
houses,  while  at  the  same  time  the  Presi- 
dent, though  not  relaxing  his  efforts  to- 
wards a  peaceful  settlement  of  the  diffi- 
culty, made  steady  preparations  for  enforc- 
ing the  law.  The  result  of  the  bills  offered 
in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  was  the 
passage  of  Mr.  Clay's  "  compromise  "  bill 
on  the  12th  of  February  1833,  which  radi. 
cally  changed  the  whole  tariff"  system. 

The  President  in  his  message  on  the 
South  Carolina  proceedings  had  recom- 
mended to  Congress  the  revival  of  some 
acts,  heretofore  in  force,  to  enable  him  to 
execute  the  laws  in  that  State ;  and  the 
Senate's  committee  on  the  judiciary  had 
reported  a  bill  accordingly  early  in.  th» 


&1 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


llBOOK  I. 


session.  It  was  immediately  assailed  by 
several  members  as  violent  and  unconsti- 
tutional, tending  to  civil  war,  and  de- 
nounced as  "  the  bloody  bill " — the  "  force 
bill,"  &c.  The  bill  was  vindicated  in  the 
Senate,  by  its  author,  who  showed  that  it 
contained,  no  novel  principle;  was  sub- 
stantially a  revival  of  laws  previously  in 
force;  with  the  authority  superadded  to 
remove  the  office  of  customs  from  one 
building^  or  place  to  another  in  case  of 
need.  The  bill  was  vehemently  opposed, 
and  every  effort  made  to  render  it  odious 
to  the  people,  and  even  extend  the  odium 
to  the  President,  and  to  every  person 
urging  or  aiding  in  its  passage.  Mr. 
Webster  justly  rebuked  all  this  vitupera- 
tion, and  justified  the  bill,  both  for  the 
equity  of  its  provisions,  and  the  necessity 
for  enacting  them.  He  said,  that  an  un- 
lawful combination  threatened  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Union ;  that  the  crisis  called 
for  a  mild,  temperate,  forbearing  but  un- 
flexibly  firm  execution  of  the  laws ;  and 
finally,  that  public  opinion  sets  with  an 
irresistible  force  in  favor  of  the  Union,  in 
favor  of  the  measures  recommended  by 
the  President,  and  against  the  new  doc- 
trines which  threatened  the  dissolution  of 
the  Union.  The  support  which  Mr.  Web- 
ster gave  to  these  measures  was  the  regular 
result  of  the  principles  which  he  laid 
down  in  his  first  speeches  against  nullifi- 
cation in  the  debate  with  Mr.  Hayne,  and 
he  could  not  have  done  less  without  being 
derelict  to  his  own  principles  then  avowed. 
He  supported  with  transcendent  ability, 
the  cause  of  the  constitution  and  of  the 
country,  in  the  person  of  a  President  to 
whom  he  was  politically  opposed,  whose 
gratitude  and  admiration  he  earned  for  his 

Satriotic  endeavors.  The  country,  without 
istinction  of  party,  felt  the  same;  and 
the  universality  of  the  feeling  was  one  of 
the  grateful  instances  of  popular  applause 
and  justice  when  great  talents  are  seen 
exertmg  themselves  for  the  good  of  the 
country.  He  was  the  colossal  figure  on 
the  political  stage  during  that  eventful 
time;  and  his  labors,  splendid  in  their 
day,  survive  for  the  benefit  of  distant 
posterity. 

During  the  discussion  over  the  re-charter 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which 
as  before  mentioned,  occupied  the  atten- 
tion of  Congress  for  several  years,  the 
country  suffered  from  a  money  panic,  and  a 
general  financial  depression  and  distress 
was  generally  prevalent.  In  1834  a  mea- 
sure was  introduced  into  the  House,  for 
equalizing  the  value  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  legalizing  the  tender  of  foreign  coin, 
of  both  metals.  The  good  effects  of  the 
bill  were  immediately  seen.  Gold  began 
to  flow  into  the  countrv  through  all  the 
channels  of  commerce,  foreign  and  domes- 
tic ;  the  mint  was  busy ;  and  specie  pay- 


ment, which  had  been  suspended  m  the 
country  for  thirty  years,  was  resumed,  and 
gold  and  silver  became  the  currency  of  the 
land ;  inspiring  confidence  in  all  the  pur- 
suits of  industry. 

As  indicative  of  the  position  of  the  de- 
mocratic party  at  that  date,  on  the  subject 
of  the  kind  of  money  authorized  by  the 
Constitution,  Mr.  Benton's  speech  in  the 
Senate  is  of  interest.  He  said  :  "  In  the 
first  place,  be  was  one  of  those  who  be- 
lievea  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  was  intended  to  be  a  hard  money 
government ;  that  it  was  the  intention  and 
the  declaration  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  tthat  the  federal  currency 
should  consist  of  gold  and  silver,  and  that 
there  is  no  power  in  Congress  to  issue,  or 
to  authorize  any  company  of  individuals 
to  issue,  any  species  oi  federal  paper  cur- 
rency whatsoever.  Every  clause  in  the 
Constitution  (said  Mr.  B.)  which  bears 
upon  the  subject  of  money — every  early 
statute  of  Congress  which  interprets  the 
meaning  of  these  clauses— and  every  his- 
toric recollection  which  refers  to  them,  go 
hand  in  hand  in  giving  to  that  instrument 
the  meaning  which  this  proposition  ascribes 
to  it.  The  power  granted  to  Congress  to 
coin  money  is  an  authority  to  stamp  me- 
tallic money,  and  is  not  an  authority  for 
emitting  slips  of  paper  containing  promises 
to  pay  money.  The  authority  granted  to 
Congress  to  regulate  the  value  of  coin,  is 
an  authority  to  regulate  the  value  of  the 
metallic  money,  not  of  paper.  The  prohi- 
bition upon  the  States  against  making 
anything  but  gold  and  silver  a  legal  ten- 
der, is  a  moral  prohibition,  founded  in  vir- 
tue and  honesty,  and  is  just  as  binding 
upon  tbe  Federal  Government  as  upon  the 
State  Governments ;  and  that  without  a 
written  prohibition ;  for  the  difference  in 
the  nature  of  the  two  governments  is  such, 
that  the  States  may  do  all  things  which 
they  are  not  forbid  to  do  ;  and  the  Federal 
Government  can  do  nothing  which  it  is 
not  authorized  by  the  Constitution  to  do. 
The  framers  of  the  Constitution  (said  Mr. 
B.)  created  a  hard  money  government. 
They  intended  the  new  government  to  re- 
cognize nothing  for  money  but  gold  and 
silver ;  and  every  word  admitted  into  the 
Constitution,  upon  tbe  subject  of  money, 
defines  and  establishes  that  sacred  inten- 
tion. 

Legislative  enactment  came,  quickly  to 
the  aid  of  constitutional  intention  and 
historic  recollection.  The  fifth  statute 
passed  at  the  first  session  of  the  first  Con- 
gress that  ever  sat  under  the  present  Con- 
stitution was  fiill  and  explicit  on  this  head. 
It  declared,  "  that  the  fees  and  duties  pay- 
able to  the  federal  government  shall  be 
received  in  gold  and  silver  coin  only."  It 
was  under  General  Hamilton,  as  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  in  1791,  that  the  policy 


BOOK  I.]    THE  INCEPTION  OF  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION, 


35 


of  the  government  underwent  a  change. 
In  the  act  constituting  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  he  brought  forward  his  ce- 
lebrated plan  for  the  support  of  the  public 
credit — that  plan  which  unfolded  the  en- 
tire scheme  of  the  paper  system  and  imme- 
diately developed  the  great  political  line 
between  the  federalists  and  the  republi- 
cans. The  establishment  of  a  national 
bank  was  the  leading  and  predominant 
feature  of  that  plan;  and  the  original  re- 
port of  the  secretary,  in  favor  of  establish- 
ing the  bank,  contained  this  fatal  and  de- 
plorable recommendation :  "The  bills  and 
notes  of  the  bank,  originally  made  payable, 
or  which  shall  have  become  payable,  on 
demand,  in  gold  and  silver  coin,  shall  be 
receivable  in  all  payments  to  the  United 
States."  From  the  moment  of  the  adop- 
tion of  this  policy,  the  moneyed  character 
of  the  government  stood  changed  and  re- 
versed. Federal  bank  notes  took  the  place 
of  hard  money ;  and  the  whole  edifice  of 
the  government  slid,  at  once,  from  the  solid 
rock  of  gold  and  silver  money,  on  which 
its  framers  had  placed  it,  into  the  troubled 
and  tempestuous  ocean  of  paper  currency. 

The  first  session  of  the  35th  Congress 
opened  December  1835.  Mr.  James  K. 
Polk  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House  by 
a  large  majority  over  Mr.  John  Bell,  the 
previous  Speaker  ;  the  former  being  sup- 
ported by  the  administration  party,  and 
the  latter  having  become  identified  with 
those  who,  on  si  ding,  with  Mr.  Hugh  L. 
White  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
were  considered  as  having  divided  from 
the  democratic  party.  The  chief  subject 
of  the  President's  message  was  the  rela- 
tions of  our  country  with  France  relative 
to  the  continued  non-payment  of  the  stip- 
ulated indemnity  provided  for  in  the  treaty 
of  1831  for  French  spoliations  of  Ameri- 
can shipping.  The  obligation  to  pay  was 
admitted,  and  the  money  even  voted  for 
that  purpose  ;  but  offense  was  taken  at  the 
President's  message,  and  payment  refused 
until  an  apology  should  be  made.  The 
President  commented  on  this  in  his  mes- 
sage, and  the  Senate  had  under  consider- 
ation measures  authorizing  reprisals  on 
French  shipping.  At  this  point  Great 
Britain  offered  her  services  as  mediator  be- 
tween the  nations,  and  as  a  result  the  in- 
demnity was  shortly  afterwards  paid. 

Agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in  the 
United  States  really  began  about  this 
time.  Evil-disposed  persons  had  largely 
circulated  through  the  Southern  states, 
pamphlets  and  circulars  tending  to  stir  up 
strife  and  insurrection ;  and  this  had  be- 
come so  intolerable  that  it  was  referred  to 
by  the  President  in  his  message.  Congress 
at  the  session  of  1836  was  flooded  with  pe- 
titions and  memorials  urging  federal  inter- 
ference to  abolish  slavery  m  the  States ; 
beginning  with  the  petition  of  the  Society 


of  Friends  of  Philadelphia,  urging  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia. These  petitions  were  referred  to 
Committees  after  an  acrimonious  debate 
as  to  whether  they  should  be  received  or 
not.  The  position  of  the  government  at 
that  time  is  embodied  in  the  following 
resolution  which  was  adopted  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  as  early  as  1790,  and 
substantially  re-aflirmed  in  1836,  as  fol- 
lows :  "That  Congress  have  no  authority 
to  interfere  in  the  emancipation  of  slaves, 
or  in  the  treatment  of  them  within  any  of 
the  States  ;  it  remaining  with  the  several 
States  to  provide  any  regulations  therein 
which  humanity  and  true  policy  may  re- 
quire." 

In  the  Summer  preceding  the  Presi- 
dential election  of  1836,  a  measure  was  in- 
troduced into  Congress,  which  became  very 
nearly  a  party  measure,  and  which  in  its 
results  proved  disastrous  to  the  Democrat- 
ic party  in  after  years.  It  was  a  plan  for 
distributing  the  public  land  money  among 
the  States  either  in  the  shape  of  credit 
distribution,  or  in  the  disguise  of  a  deposit 
of  surplus  revenue  ;  and  this  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enhancing  the  value  of  the  State 
stocks  held  by  the  United  States  Bank, 
which  institution,  aided  by  the  party  which 
it  favored,  led  by  Mr.  Clay,  was  the  prime 
mover  in  the  plan.  That  gentleman  was 
the  author  of  the  scheme,  and  great  cal- 
culations were  made  by  the  party  which 
favored  the  distribution  upon  its  effect  in 
adding  to  their  popularity.  The  Bill  passed 
the  Senate  in  its  original  form,  but  met 
with  less  favor  in  the  House  where  it  was 
found  necessary.  To  effectuate  substan- 
tially the  same  end,  a  Senate  Bill  was  in- 
troduced to  regulate  the  keeping  of  the 
public  money  in  the  deposit  banks,  and 
this  was  turned  into  distribution  of  the 
surplus  public  moneys  with  the  States,  in 
proportion  to  their  representation  in  Con- 
gress, to  be  returned  when  Congress  should 
call  for  it ;  and  this  was  called  a  deposit 
with  the  States,  and  the  faith  of  the  States 
pledged  for  a  return  of  the  money.  It 
was  stigmatized  by  its  opponents  in  Con- 
gress, as  a  distribution  in  disguise — as  a 
deposit  never  to  be  reclaimed ;  as  a  mis- 
erable evasion  of  the  Constitution ;  as  an 
attempt  to  debauch  the  people  with  their 
own  money ;  as  plundering  instead  of  de- 
fending the  country.  The  Bill  passed  both 
houses,  mainly  by  the  efforts  of  a  half 
dozen  aspirants  to  the  Presidency,  who 
sought  to  thus  increase  their  popularitjr. 
They  were  doomed  to  disappointment  in 
this  respect.  Politically,  it  was  no  advan- 
tage to  its  numerous  and  emulous  support- 
ers, and  of  no  disservice  to  its  few  deter- 
mined opponents.  It  was  a  most  unfortu- 
nate act,  a  plain  evasion  of  the  Constitu- 
tion for  a  bad  purpose ;  and  it  soon  gave  a 
sad  oyerthrow  to  the  democracy  and  disap- 


36 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


pointed  every  calculation  made  upon  it. 
To  the  States  it  was  no  advantage,  raisin^ 
expectations  which  were  not  fulfilled,  and 
upon  which  many  of  them  acted  as  reali- 
ties. The  Bill  was  signed  by  the  Presi- 
dent, but  it  is  simple  justice  to  him  to  say 
that  he  did  it  witn  a  repugnance  of  feel- 
ing, and  a  recoil  of  judgment,  which  it  re- 
quired great  eftbrts  of  his  friends  to  over- 
come, and  with  a  regret  for  it  afterwards 
which  he  often  and  publicly  expressed.  In 
a  party  point  of  view,  the  passage  of  this 
measure  was  the  commencement  of  calam- 
ities, being  an  eflBcient  cause  in  that  gen- 
eral suspension  of  specie  payments,  which 
quickly  occurred,  and  brought  so  much 
embarrassment  on  the  Van  Buren  admin- 
istration, ending  in  the  great  democratic 
defeat  of  1840. 

The  presidential  election  of  1836  re- 
sulted in  the  choice  of  the  democratic  can- 
didate, Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  was  elected 
by  170  electoral  votes ;  his  opponent.  Gene- 
ral Harrison,  receiving  seventy-three  elec- 
toral votes.  Scattering  votes  were  given 
for  Mr.  "Webster,  Mr.  Mangum,  and  Mr. 
Hugh  L.  White,  the  last  named  represent- 
ing a  fragment  of  the  democracy  who,  in  a 
spirit  of  disaffection,  attempted  to  divide 
the  democratic  party  and  defeat  Mr.  Van 
Buren.  At  the  opening  of  the  second  ses- 
sion of  the  twenty-fourth  Congress,  Decem- 
ber, 1836,  President  Jackson  delivered  his 
last  annual  message,  under  circumstances 
exceedingly  gratifying  to  him.  The  power- 
ful opposition  in  Congress  had  been  broken 
down,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
full  majorities  of  ardent  and  tried  friends 
in  each  House.  The  countrj'  was  in  peace 
and  friendship  with  all  the  world ;  all  ex- 
citing questions  quieted  at  home ;  industry 
in  all  its  branches  prosperous,  and  the 
revenue  abundant.  And  as  a  happy 
sequence  of  this  state  of  affairs,  the  Senate 
on  the  16th  of  March,  1837,  expunged 
from  the  Journal  the  resolution,  adopted 
three  years  previously,  censuring  the  Presi- 
dent wr  ordering  the  removal  of  the  de- 
Sjsits  of  public  money  in  the  United  States 
ank.  He  retired  from  the  presidency 
with  high  honors,  and  died  eight  years 
afterwards  at  his  home,  the  celebrated 
"  Hermitage,"  in  Tennessee,  in  full  posses- 
sion of  all  his  faculties,  and  strong  to  the 
last  in  the  ruling  passion  of  his  soul — love 
of  country. 

The  4th  of  March,  1837,  ushered  in  an- 
other Democratic  administration — the  be- 
ginning of  the  term  of  Martin  Van  Buren 
as  President  of  the  United  States.  In  his 
inaugural  address  he  commented  on  the 
prosj)erous  condition  of  the  country,  and 
declared  it  to  be  his  policy  to  strictly  abide 
by  the  Constitution  as  written — no  latitu- 
dinarian  constructions  permitted,  or  doubt- 
fiil  powers  assumed;  that  his  political 
chart  shoAld  be  the  doctrines  of  the  demo- 


cratic school,  as  understood  at  the  original 
formation  of  parties. 

The  President,   however,  was  scarcely 
settled  in  his  new  office  when  a  financial 
panic  struck  the  country  with  irresistible 
force.    A  general  suspension  of  the  banks, 
a  depreciated  currency,  and  insolvency  of 
the  federal  treasury  were  at  hand.     The 
public  money  had  been  placed  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  local  banks,  and  the  notes  of  all 
these  banks,  and  of  all  others  in  the  coun- 
try, were  received  in  payment  of  public 
dues.      On  the   10th  of  May,   1837,   the 
banks  throughout  the  country  suspended 
specie  payments.    The  stoppage  of  the  de- 
posit banks  was  the  stoppage  of  the  Trea- 
sury.    Non-payment  by  the  government 
was  an  excuse  for  non-payment  by  others. 
The  suspension  was  now  complete  ;  and  it 
was  eviaent,  and  as  good  as  admitted  by 
those  who  had  made  it,  that  it  was  the 
effect  of  contrivance  on  the  part  of  politi- 
cians and  the  so-called  Bank  of  the  United 
States  (which,  after  the  expiration  of  its 
national  charter,  had  become  a  State  cor- 
poration chartered  by  the  Legislature  qf 
Pennsylvania  in  January,  1836)  for  the 
purpose  of  restoring  themselves  to  power. 
The  whole  proceeding  became   clear   to 
those  who  could  see  nothing  while  it  was 
in  progress.    Even  those  of  the  democratic 
party  whose  votes  had  helped  to  do  the 
mischief,  could  now  see  that  the  attempt  to 
deposit  forty  millions  with  the  States  was 
destruction  to  the  deposit  banks ;  that  the 
repeal  of  President  Jackson's  order,  known 
as  the  "specie  circular" — requiring  pay- 
ment for  public  lands  to  be  in  coin — was  to 
fill  the  treasury  with  paper  money,  to  be 
found  useless  when  wanted ;  that  distress 
was  purposely  created  to  throw  blame  of 
it  upon  the  party  in  power;    that   the 
promptitude  with  which  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  had  been  brought  forward 
as  a  remedy  for  the  distress,  showed  that  it 
had  been  held  in  reserve  for  that  purpose  ; 
and  the  delight  with  which  the  whig  party 
saluted  the  general  calamity,  showed  that 
they  considered  it  their  own  pas.sport  to 
power.      Financial    embarrassment    and 
general  stagnation  of  business  diminished^ 
the    current    receipts    from     lands    and 
customs,  and  actually  caused  an  absolute 
deficit  in  the  public  treasury.     In  conse- 
quence, the  President  found  it  an  inexora- 
ble necessity  to  issue  his  proclamation  con- 
vening Congress  in  extra  session. 

The  first  session  of  the  twenty-fiflh  Con- 
gress met  in  extra  session,  at  the  call  of 
the  President,  on  the  first  Monday  of  Sep- 
tember, 1837.  The  message  was  a  review 
of  the  events  and  causes  which  had  brought 
about  the  panic  ;  a  defense  of  the  policy  of 
the  "  specie  circular,"  and  a  recommenda- 
tion to  break  off  all  connection  with  any 
I  bank  of  issue  in  any  form ;  looking  to  the 
I  establishment  of  an  Independent  Treasury, 


I 


BOOK  1.3 


DEMOCRATS    AND    WHIGS. 


37 


and  that  the  Government  provide  for  the 
deficit  in  the  treasury  by  the  issue  of 
treasury  notes  and  by  withholding  the  de- 
posit due  to  the  States  under  the  act  then 
in  force.  The  message  and  its  recom- 
mendations were  violently  assailed  both  in 
(he  Senate  and  House  by  able  and  effec- 
tive speakers,  notably  by  Messrs.  Clay  and 
Webster,  and  also  by  Mr.  Caleb  Cushing, 
of  Massachusetts,  who  made  a  formal  and 
elaborate  reply  to  the  whole  document 
under  thirty-two  distinct  heads,  and  recit- 
ing therein  all  the  points  of  accusation 
against  the  democratic  policy  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  government  down  to  that 
day.  The  result  was  that  the  measures 
proposed  by  the  Executive  were  in  sub- 
stance enacted;  and  their  passage  marks 
an  era  in  our  financial  history — making  a 
total  and  complete  separation  of  Bank  and 
State,  and  firmly  establishing  the  principle 
that  the  government  revenues  should  be 
receivable  in  coin  only. 

The  measures  of  consequence  discussed 
and  adopted  at  this  session,  were  the 
graduation  of  price  of  public  lands  under 
the  pre-emption  system,  which  was  adopt- 
ed; the  bill  to  create  an  independent 
Treasury,  which  passed  the  Senate,  but 
failed  in  the  House ;  and  the  question  of 
the  re-charter  of  the  district  banks,  the 
proportion  for  reserve,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  such  institutions  on  a  specie  basis. 
The  slavery  question  was  again  agitated  in 
consequence  of  petitions  from  citizens  and 
societies  in  the  Northern  States,  and  a 
memorial  from  the  General  Assembly  of 
Vermont,  praying  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
territories,  and  for  the  exclusion  of  future 
slave  states  from  the  Union.  These  peti- 
tions and  memorials  were  disposed  of  ad- 
versely; and  Mr.  Calhoun,  representing 
the  ultra-Southern  interest,  in  several  able 
speeches,  approved  of  the  Missouri  com- 
promise, he  urged  and  obtained  of  the 
Senate  several  resolutions  declaring  that 
the  federal  government  had  no  power  to 
interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States ;  and 
that  it  would  be  inexpedient  and  impolitic 
to  interfere,  abolish  or  control  it  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  the  territories. 
These  movements  for  and  against  slavery 
in  the  session  of  1837-38  deserve  to  be  no- 
ticed, as  of  disturbing  effect  at  the  time, 
and  as  having  acquired  new  importance 
from  subsequent  events. 

The  first  session  of  the  twenty-sixth 
Congress  opened  December,  1839.  The 
organization  of  the  House  was  delayed  by 
a  closely  and  earnestly  contested  election 
from  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  Five  De- 
mocrats claiming  seats  as  against  an  equal 
number  of  Whigs.  Neither  set  was  admit- 
ted until  after  the  election  of  Speaker, 
which  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Robert  M. 
T.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  the  Whig  candi- 


[  date,  who  was  elected  by  the  full  Whig 
I  vote  with  the  aid  of  a  few  democrats — 
I  friends  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  had  for  seve- 
ral previous  sessions  been  acting  with  the 
Whigs  on  several  occasions.  The  House 
!  excluding  the  five  contested  seats  from 
New  Jersey,  was  really  Democratic ;  hav- 
ing 122  members,  and  the  Whigs  113  mem- 
bers. The  contest  for  the  Speakership  was 
long  and  arduous,  neither  party  adhering 
to  its  original  caucus  candidate.  Twenty 
scattering  votes,  eleven  of  whom  were 
classed  as  Whigs,  and  nine  as  Democrats, 
prevented  a  choice  on  the  earlier  ballots, 
and  it  was  really  Mr.  Calhoun's  Democrat- 
ic friends  uniting  with  a  solid  Whig  vote 
on  the  final  ballot  that  gained  that  party 
the  election.  The  issue  involved  was  a 
vital  party  question  as  involving  the  or- 
ganization of  the  House.  The  chief  mea- 
sure, of  public  importance,  adopted  at  this 
session  of  Congress  was  an  act  to  provide 
for  the  collection,  safe-keeping,  and  dis- 
bursing of  the  public  money.  It  practi- 
cally revolutionized  the  system  previously 
in  force,  and  was  a  complete  and  effectual 
separation  of  the  federal  treasury  and  the 
Government,  from  the  banks  and  moneyed 
corporations  of  the  States.  It  was  violent- 
ly opposed  by  the  Whig  members,  led  by 
Mr.  Clay,  and  supported  by  Mr.  Cushing, 
but  was  finally  passed  in  both  Houses  by  a 
close  vote. 

At  this  time,  and  in  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, was  exhibited  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  Congress,  the  pre- 
sent practice  of  members  "pairing  off,"  as 
it  is  called ;  that  is  to  say,  two  members  of 
opposite  political  parties,  or  of  opposite 
views  on  any  particular  subject,  agreeing 
to  absent  themselves  from  the  duties  of  the 
House,  for  the  time  being.  The  practice 
was  condemned  on  the  floor  of  the  House 
by  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  intro- 
duced a  resolution:  "That  the  practice, 
first  openly  avowed  at  the  present  session 
of  Congress,  of  pairing  off,  involves,  on 
the  part  of  the  members  resorting  to  it, 
the  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  of  an  express  rule  of  this 
House,  and  of  the  duties  of  both  parties  in 
the  transaction,  to  their  immediate  consti- 
tuents, to  this  House,  and  to  their  coun- 
try." This  resolution  was  placed  in  the 
calendar  to  take  its  turn,  but  not  being 
reached  during  the  session,  was  not  voted 
on.  That  was  the  first  instance  of  this 
justly  condemned  practice,  fifty  years  after 
the  establishment  of  the  G<)vernment ;  but 
since  then  it  has  become  common,  even  in- 
veterate, and  is  now  carried  to  great  lengths. 

The  last  session  of  the  twenty -sixth  Con- 
gress was  barren  of  measures,  and  neces- 
sarily so,  as  being  the  last  of  our  adminis- 
tration superseded  by  the  popular  voice, 
and  soon  to  expire  ;  and  therefore  restric- 
ted by  a  sense  of  propriety,  during  the 


38 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


brief  remainder  of  its  existence,  to  the  de- 
tails of  business  and  the  routine  of  service. 
The  cause  of  this  was  the  result  of  the 
presidential  election  of  1840.  The  same 
candidates  who  fought  the  battle  of  1836 
were  again  in  the  field.  Air.  Van  Buren 
was  the  Democratic  candidate.  His  ad- 
ministration had  been  satisfactory  to  his 
party,  and  his  nomination  for  a  second 
term  was  commended  by  the  party  in  the 
different  States  in  appointing  their  dele- 
gates^;  so  that  the  proceedings  of  the  con- 
.  vention  which  nominated  him  were  en- 
tirely harmonious  and  formal  in  their  na- 
ture. Mr.  Richard  M.  Johnson,  the  ac- 
tual Vice-President,  was  also  nominated 
for  Vice-President. 

On  the  Whig  ticket,  General  William 
Henry  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  was  the  candi- 
date for  President,  and  Mr.  John  Tyler,  of 
Virginia,  for  Vice-President.  The  lead- 
ing statesmen  of  the  Whig  party  were 
again  put  aside,  to  make  way  for  a  milita- 
ry man,  prompted  by  the  example  in  the 
nomination  of  General  Jackson,  the  men 
who  managed  presidential  elections  be- 
lieving then  as  now  that  military  renown 
wa«  a  passport  to  popularity  and  rendered 
a  candidate  more  sure  of  election.  Availa- 
bility— for  the  purpose — was  the  only  abili- 
ty asked  for.  Mr.  Clay,  the  most  promi- 
nent Whig  in  the  country,  and  the  ac- 
knowledged head  of  the  party,  was  not 
deemed  available;  and  though  Mr.  Clay 
was  a  candidate  before  the  convention,  the 
proceedings  were  so  regulated  that  his 
nomination  was  referred  to  a  committee, 
ingeniously  devised  and  directed  for  the 
afterwards  avowed  purpose  of  preventing 
his  nomination  and  securing  that  of  Gene- 
ral Harrison ;  and  of  producing  the  intend- 
ed result  without  showing  the  design,  and 
without  leaving  a  trace  behind  to  show 
what  was  done.  The  scheme  (a  modifica- 
tion of  which  has  since  been  applied  to 
subsequent  national  conventions,  and  out 
of  which  many  bitter  dissensions  have  again 
and  again  arisen)  is  embodied  and  was 
executed  in  and  by  means  of  the  following 
resolution  adopted  bv  the  convention : 
"  Ordered,  That  the  delegates  from  each 
State  be  requested  to  assemble  as  a  delega- 
tion, and  appoint  a  committee,  not  exceed- 
ing three  in  number,  to  receive  the  views 
and  opinions  of  such  delegation,  and  com- 
municate the  same  to  the  assembled  com- 
mittes  of  all  the  delegations,  to  be  by  them 
respectively  reported  to  their  principals  ; 
ana  that  thereupon  the  delegates  from 
each  Stato  be  reauested  to  assemble  as  a 
delegation,  and  ballot  for  candidates  for 
the  offices  of  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  having  done  so,  to  commit  the 
ballot  designating  the  votes  of  each  candi- 
date, and  by  whom  given,  to  its  commit- 
tee, and  thereupon  all  the  committees 
«hall  assemble  and  compare  the  several 


ballots,  and  report  the  result  of  the  same 
to  their  several  delegations,  together  with 
such  facts  as  may  bear  upon  the  nomina- 
tion ;  and  said  delegation  shall  forthwith 
re-assemble  and  ballot  again  for  candidates 
for  the  above  offices,  and  again  commit 
the  result  to  the  above  committees,  and  if 
it  shall  appear  that  a  majority  of  the  bal- 
lots are  for  any  one  man  ibr  candidate  for 
President,  said  committee  shall  report  the 
result  to  the  convention  for  its  considera- 
tion ;  but  if  there  shall  be  no  such  majori- 
ty, then  the  delegation  shall  repeat  the 
balloting  until  such  a  majority  shall  be 
obtained,  and  then  report  the  same  to  the 
convention  for  its  consideration.  That  the 
vote  of  a  majority  of  each  delegation  shall 
be  reported  as  the  vote  of  that  State ;  and 
each  State  represented  here  shall  vote  its 
full  electoral  vote  by  such  delegation  in 
the  committee."  This  was  a  sum  in  poli- 
tical algebra,  whose  quotient  was  known, 
but  the  quantity  unknown  except  to  those 
who  planned  it ;  and  the  result  was — for 
General  Scott,  16  votes ;  for  Mr.  Clay,  90 
votes;  for  General  Harrison,  148  votes. 
And  as  the  law  of  the  convention  implied- 
ly requires  the  absorption  of  all  minorities, 
the  106  votes  were  swallowed  up  by  the 
148  votes  and  made  to  count  for  General 
Harrison,  presenting  him  as  the  unani- 
mity candidate  of  the  convention,  and  the 
defeated  candidates  and  all  their  friends 
bound  to  join  in  his  support.  And  in  this 
way  the  election  of  1840  was  effected — a 
process  certainly  not  within  the  purview 
of  those  framers  of  the  constitution  who 
supposed  they  were  giving  to  the  nation 
the  choice  of  its  own  chief  magistrate. 

The  contest  before  the  people  was  a 
long  and  bitter  one,  the  severest  ever 
known  in  the  country,  up  to  that  time,  and 
scarcely  equalled  since.  The  whole  Whig 
party  and  the  large  league  of  suspended 
banks,  headed  by  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  making  its  last  struggle  for  a  new 
national  charter  in  the  eflbrt  to  elect  a 
President  friendly  to  it,  were  arrayed 
against  the  Democrats,  whose  hard-money 
policy  and  independent  treasury  schemes, 
met  with  little  favor  in  the  then  depressed 
condition  of  the  country.  Meetings  were 
held  in  every  State,  county  and  town ;  the 
people  thoroughly  aroused;  and  every 
argument  made  in  favor  of  the  respective 
candidates  and  parties,  which  could  pos- 
sibly have  any  effect  ui)on  the  voters.  The 
canvass  was  a  thorough  one,  and  the  elec- 
tion was  carried  for  the  Whig  candidates, 
who  received  234  electoral  votes  coming 
from  19  States.  The  remaining  60  electo- 
ral votes  of  the  other  9  States,  were  given 
to  the  Democratic  candidate  ;  though  the 
popular  vote  was  not  so  unevenly  divided ; 
the  actual  figures  being  1,275,611  for  the 
Whig  ticket,  against  1,135,761  for  the 
Democratic  ticket.    It  waa  a  complete  rout 


BOOKi.]       WHIGS    AND    DEMOCRATS— THE    HOUR   RULE. 


39 


of  the  Democratic  party,  but  without  the 
moral  effect  of  victory. 

On  March  4,  1841,  was  inaugurated  as 
President,  G6n'l  Wm.  H.  Harrison,  the 
first  Chief  Magistrate  elected  by  the  Whig 
party,  and  the  first  President  who  was  not 
a  Democrat,  since  the  installation  of  Gen'l 
Jackson,  March  4,  1829.  His  term  was  a 
short  one.  He  issued  a  call  for  a  special 
session  of  Congress  to  convene  the  31st  of 
May  following,  to  consider  the  condition 
of  the  revenue  and  finances  of  the  country, 
but  did  not  live  to  meet  it.  Taken  ill 
with  a  fatal  malady  during  the  last  days  of 
March,  he  died  on  the  4th  of  April  follow- 
ing, having  been  in  ofiice  just  one  month. 
He  was  succeeded  by  the  Vice-President, 
John  Tyler.  Then,  for  the  first  time  in 
our  history  as  a  government,  the  person 
elected  to  the  Vice-Presidency  of  the 
United  States,  by  the  happening  of  a  con- 
tingency provided  for  in  the  constitution, 
had  devolved  upon  him  the  Presidential 
oflSce. 

The  twenty-seventh  Congress  opened  in 
extra  session  at  the  call  of  the  late  Presi- 
dent, May  31,  1841.  A  Whig  member — 
Mr,  White  of  Kentucky — was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  Whigs  had  a  majority  of  forty-seven 
in  the  House  and  of  seven  in  the  Senate, 
and  with  the  President  and  Cabinet  of  the 
same  political  party  presented  a  harmony 
of  aspect  frequently  wanting  during  the 
three  previous  administrations.  The  first 
measure  of  the  new  dominant  party  was 
the  repeal  of  the  independent  treasury  act 
passed  at  the  previous  session ;  and  the 
next  in  order  were  bills  to  establish  a  sys- 
tem of  bankruptcy,  and  for  distribution  of 
public  land  revenue.  The  former  was 
more  than  a  bankrupt  law ;  it  was  practi- 
cally an  insolvent  law  for  the  abolition  of 
debts  at  the  will  of  the  debtor.  It  applied 
to  all  persons  in  debt,  allowed  them  to 
institute  the  proceedings  in  the  district 
where  the  petitioner  resided,  allowed  con- 
structive notices  to  creditors  in  newspapers 
— declared  the  abolition  of  the  debt  where 
effects  were  surrendered  and  fraud  not 
proved ;  and  gave  exclusive  jurisdiction  to 
the  federal  courts,  at  the  will  of  the  debtor. 
It  was  framed  upon  the  model  of  the  Eng- 
lish insolvent  debtors'  act  of  George  the 
Fourth,  and  embodied  most  of  the  pro- 
visions of  that  act,  but  substituting  a  re- 
lease from  the  debt  instead  of  a  release 
from  imprisonment.  The  bill  passed  by  a 
close  vote  in  both  Houses. 

The  land  revenue  distribution  bill  of 
this  session  had  its  origin  in  the  fact  that 
the  States  and  corporations  owed  about  two 
hundred  millions  to  creditors  in  Europe. 
These  debts  were  in  stocks,  much  depre- 
ciated by  the  failure  in  many  instances  to 
pay  the  accruing  interest — in  some  in- 
staLQces  failure  to  provide  for  the  principal. 


These  creditors,  becoming  uneasy,  wished 
the  federal  government  to  assume  their 
debts.  The  suggestion  was  made  as  early 
as  1838,  renewed  in  1839,  and  in  1840  be- 
came a  regular  question  mixed  up  with  the 
Presidential  election  of  that  year,  and 
openly  engaging  tha  active  exertions  of 
foreigners.  Direct  assumption  was  not 
urged  ;  indirect  by  giving  the  public  land 
revenue  to  the  States  was  the  mode  pur- 
sued, and  the  one  recommended  in  the 
message  of  President  Tyler.  Mr.  Calhoun 
spoke  against  the  measure  with  more  than 
usual  force  and  clearness,  claiming  that  it 
was  unconstitutional  and  without  warrant. 
Mr.  Benton  on  the  same  side  called  it  a 
squandering  of  the  public  patrimony,  and 
pointed  out  its  inexpediency  in  the  de- 
pleted state  of  the  treasury,  apart  from  its 
other  objectionable  features.  It  passed  by 
a  party  vote. 

This  session  is  remarkable  for  the  insti- 
tution of  the  hour  rule  in  the  House  of 
Representatives — a  very  great  limitation 
upon  the  freedom  of  debate.  It  was  a 
Whig  measure,  adopted  to  prevent  delay 
in  the  enactment  of  pending  bills.  It  was 
a  rigorous  limitation,  frequently  acting  as 
a  bar  to  profitable  debate  and  checking 
members  in  speeches  which  really  impart 
information  valuable  to  the  House  and  the 
country.  No  doubt  the  license  of  debate 
has  been  frequently  abused  in  Congress,  as 
in  all  other  deliberative  assemblies,  but  the 
incessant  use  of  the  previous  question, 
which  cuts  off  all  debate,  added  to  the 
hour  rule  which  limits  a  speech  to  sixty 
minutes  (constantly  reduced  by  interrup- 
tions) frequently  results  in  the  transaction 
of  business  in  ignorance  of  what  they  are 
about  by  those  who  are  doing  it. 

The  rule  worked  so  well  in  the  House, 
for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  devised — 
made  the  majority  absolute  master  of  the 
body — that  Mr.  Clay  undertook  to  have 
the  same  rule  adopted  in  the  Senate ;  but 
the  determined  opposition  to  it,  both  by 
his  political  opponents  and  friends,  led  to 
the  abandonment  of  the  attempt  in  that 
chamber. 

Much  discussion  took  place  at  this  ses- 
sion, over  the  bill  offered  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  for  the  relief  of  the  widow 
of  the  late  President — General  Harrison — > 
appropriating  one  year's  salary.  It  was 
strenuously  opposed  by  the  Democratic 
members,  as  unconstitutional,  on  account 
of  its  principle,  as  creating  a  private  pen- 
sion list,  and  as  a  dangerous  precedent. 
Many  able  speeches  were  made  against  the 
bill,  both  in  the  Senate  and  House ;  among 
others,  the  following  extract  from  the 
speech  of  an  able  Senator  contains  some 
interesting  fact".  He  said  :  "  Look  at  the 
case  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  a  man  than  whom 
no  one  that  ever  existed  on  God's  earth 
were  the  human  family  more  indebted  to. 


40 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  1. 


His  furniture  and  his  estate  were  sold  to 
satisfy  his  creditors.  His  posterity  was 
driven  from  house  and  home,  and  his  bones 
now  lay  in  soil  owned  by  a  stranger.  His 
family  are  scattered :  some  of  his  descend- 
ants are  married  in  foreign  lands.  Look 
at  Monroe — the  able,  the  patriotic  Monroe, 
whose  services  were  revolutionary,  whose 
blood  was  spilt  in  the  war  of  Independence, 
whose  life  was  worn  out  in  civil  service, 
and  whose  estate  has  been  sold  for  debt, 
his  family  scattered,  and  his  daughter 
buried  in  a  foreign  land.  Look  at  Madi- 
son, the  model  of  every  virtue,  public  or 
private,  and  he  would  only  mention  in 
connection  with  this  subject,  his  love  of 
order,  his  economy,  and  his  systematic 
regularity  in  all  his  habits  of  business. 
He,  when  his  term  of  eight  years  had  ex- 
pired, sent  a  letter  to  a  gentleman  (a  son 
of  whom  is  now  on  this  floor)  [Mr.  Pres- 
ton], enclosing  a  note  of  five  thousand 
dollars,  which  he  requested  him  to  en- 
dorse, and  raise  the  money  in  Virginia,  so 
as  to  enable  him  to  leave  this  city,  and  re- 
turn to  his  modest  retreat — his  patrimonial 
inheritance — in  that  State.  General  Jack- 
son drew  upon  the  consignee  of  hi»  cot- 
ton crop  in  New  Orleans  for  six  thousand 
dollars  to  enable  him  to  leave  the  seat 
of  government  without  leaving  creditors 
behind  him.  These  were  honored  leaders 
of  the  republican  party.  They  had  all 
been  Presidents.  They  had  made  great 
sacrifices,  and  left  the  presidency  deeply 
embarrassed ;  and  yet  the  republican  party 
who  had  the  power  and  the  strongest  dis- 
position to  relieve  their  necessities,  felt 
they  had  no  right  to  do  so  by  appropri- 
ating money  from  the  public  Treasury. 
Democracy  would  not  do  this.  It  was 
left  for  the  era  of  federal  rule  and  federal 
supremacy — who  are  now  rushing  the 
country  with  steam  power  into  all  the 
abuses  and  corruptions- of  a  monarchy, 
with  its  pensioned  aristocracy — and  to  en- 
tail upon  the  country  a  civil  pension  list." 

There  was  an  impatient  majority  in  the 
House  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  the  bill. 
The  circumstances  were  averse  to  delibera- 
tion— a  victorious  party,  come  into  power 
after  a  heated  election,  seeing  their  elected 
candidate  dying  on  the  threshold  of  his 
administration,  poor  and  beloved:  it  was  a 
case  for  feeling  more  than  of  judgment,  es- 
pecially with  the  political  iriends  of  the 
deceased — but  few  of  whom  could  follow 
the  counsels  of  the  head  against  the  impul- 
sions of  the  heart. 

The  bill  passed,  and  was  approved ;  and 
as  predicted,  it  established  a  precedent 
which  has  since  been  followed  in  every 
similar  case. 

The  subject  of  naval  pensions  received 
more  than  usual  consideration  at  this  ses- 
sion. The  question  arose  on  the  discussion 
of  the  appropriation  bill  for  that  purpose. 


A  difference  about  a  navy — on  the  point 
of  how  much  and  what  kind — had  always 
been  a  point  of  difference  between  the  two 
great  political  parties  of  the  Union,  which, 
under  whatsoever  names,  are  always  the 
same,  each  preserving  its  identity  in  prin- 
ciples and  policy,  but  here  the  two  parties 
divided  upon  an  abuse  which  no  one  could 
deny  or  defend,  A  navy  pension  fund  had 
been  established  under  the  act  of  1832, 
which  was  a  just  and  proper  law,  but  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1837,  an  act  was  passed 
entitled  "  An  act  for  the  more  equitable 
distribution  of  the  Navy  Pension  Fund." 
That  act  provided :  I.  That  Invalid  naval 
pensions  should  commence  and  date  back 
to  the  time  of  receiving  the  inability,  in- 
stead of  completing  the  proof.  II.  It  ex- 
tended the  pensions  for  death  to  all  cases 
of  death,  whether  incurred  in  the  line  of 
duty  or  not.  III.  It  extended  the  widow's 
pensions  for  life,  when  five  years  had  been 
the  law  both  in  the  army  and  navy.  IV. 
It  adopted  the  English  system  of  pension- 
ing children  of  deceased  marines  until 
th^-  attained  their  majority. 

The  effect  of  this  law  was  to  absorb  and 
bankrupt  the  navy  pension  fund,  a  meri- 
torious fund  created  out  of  the  government 
share  of  prize  money,  relinquished  for  that 
purpose,  and  to  throw  the  pensions, 
arrears  as  well  as  current  and  I'uture,  upon 
the  public  treasury,  where  it  was  never  in- 
tended they  were  to  be.  It  was  to  repeal 
this  act,  that  an  amendment  was  intro- 
duced at  this  session  on  the  bringing  for- 
ward of  the  annual  appropriation  bill  for 
navy  pensions,  and  long  and  earnest  were 
the  debates  upon  it.  The  amendment  was 
lost,  the  Senate  dividing  on  party  lines, 
the  Whigs  against  and  the  Democrats  for 
the  amendment.  The  subject  is  instruc- 
tive, as  then  was  practically  ratified  and  re- 
enacted  the  pernicious  practice  authorized 
by  the  act  of  1837,  of  granting  pensions  to 
date  from  the  time  of  injury  and  not 
from  the  time  of  proof;  and  has  grown  up 
to  such  proportions  in  recent  years  that 
the  last  act  of  Congress  appropriating 
money  for  arrears  of  pensions,  provided 
for  the  payment  of  such  an  enormous  sum 
of  money  that  it  would  have  appalled  the 
original  projector  of  the  act  of  1837  could 
they  have  seen  to  what  their  system  has 
led. 

Again,  at  this  session,  the  object  of  the 
tariff  occupied  the  attention  of  Congress. 
The  compromise  act,  as  it  was  called,  of 
1833,  which  was  composed  of  two  parts — 
one  to  last  nine  years,  for  the  benefit  of 
manufactures ;  the  other  to  last  for  ever, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  planting  and  con- 
suming interest — was  passed,  as  herein- 
before stated,  in  pursuance  of  an  agree- 
ment between  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Calhoun 
and  their  respective  friends,  at  the  time 
the  former  was  urging  the  necessity  for  a 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    NATIONAL    BANK    BILL. 


41 


continuance  of  high  tariff  for  protection 
and  revenue,  and  the  latter  was  presenting 
and  justifying  before  Congress  the  nullifi- 
cation ordinance  adopted  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  South  Carolina.  To  Mr.  Clay  and 
Mr.  Calhoun  it  was  a  political  necessity, 
one  to  get  rid  of  a  stumbling-block  (which 
protective  tariff  had  become) ;  the  other  to 
escape  a  personal  peril  which  his  nullify- 
ing ordinance  had  brought  upon  him,  and 
with  both,  it  was  a  piece  of  policy,  to 
enable  them  to  combine  against  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  by  postponing  their  own  conten- 
tion; and  a  device  on  the  part  of  its 
author  (Mr.  Clayton,  of  Delaware)  and 
Mr.  Clay  to  preserve  the  protective  system. 
It  provided  for  a  reduction  of  a  certain  per 
centage  each  year,  on  the  duties  for  the 
ensuing  nine  years,  until  the  revenue  was 
reduced  to  20  per  cent,  ad  valorem  on  all 
articles  imported  into  the  country.  In 
consequence  the  revenue  was  so  reduced 
that  in  the  last  year,  there  was  little  more 
than  half  what    the    exigencies    of  the 

fovornment  required,  and  different  modes, 
y  loans  and  otherwise,  were  suggested  to 
meet  the  deficiency.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  had  declared  the  necessity  of 
loans  and  taxes  to  carry  on  the  govern- 
ment ;  a  loan  bill  for  twelve  millions  had 
been  passed;  a  tariff  bill  to  raise  fourteen 
millions  was  .depending ;  and  the  chairman 
of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  Mr. 
Millard  Fillmore,  defended  its  necessity  in 
an  able  speech.  His  bill  proposed  twenty 
per  cent,  additional  to  the  existing  duty 
on  pertain  specified  articles,  sufficient  to 
make  up  the  amount  wanted.  This  en- 
croachment on  a  measure  so"  much 
vaunted  when  passed,  and  which  had  been 
kept  inviolate  while  operating  in  favor  of 
one  of  the  parties  to  it,  naturally  excited 
complaint  and  opposition  from  the  other, 
and  Mr.  Gilmer,  of  Virginia,  in  a  speech 
against  the  new  bill,  said:  "  In  referring 
to  the  compromise  act,  the  true  character- 
istics of  that  act  which  recommended  it 
strongly  to  him,  were  that  it  contemplated 
that  duties  were  to  be  levied  for  revenue 
only,  and  in  the  next  place  to  the  amount 
only  necessary  to  the  supply  of  the  economi- 
cal wants  of  the  government.  He  begged 
leave  to  call  the  attention  of  the  committee 
to  the  principle  recognized  as  the  lan- 
guage of  the  compromise,  a  principle  which 
ought  to  be  recognized  in  all  time  to  come 
by  every  department  of  the  government. 
It  is,  that  duties  to  be  raised  for  revenue 
are  to  be  raised  to  such  an  amount  only  as 
is  necessary  for  an  economical  administra- 
tion of  the  government.  Some  incidental 
Erotection  must  necessarily  be  given,  and 
e,  for  one,  coming  from  an  anti-tariff  por- 
tion of  the  country,  would  not  object  to 

The  bill  went  to  the  Senate  where  it 
found  Mr  Clay  and  Mr.  Calhoun  in  posi- 


tions very  different  from  what  they  occu- 
pied when  the  compromise  act  was  passed 
— then  united,  now  divided — then  concur- 
rent, now  antagonistic,  and  the  antago- 
nism general,  upon  all  measures,  was  to  be 
special  upon  this  one.  Their  connection 
with  the  subject  made  it  their  function 
to  lead  off  in  its  consideration  ;  and  their 
antagonist  positions  promised  sharp  en- 
counters, which  did  not  fail  to  come.  Mr. 
Clay  said  that  he  "  observed  that  the 
Senator  from  South  Carolina  based  his 
abstractions  on  the  theories  of  books  on 
English  authorities,  and  on.  the  arguments 
urged  in  favor  of  free  trade  by  a  certain 
party  in  the  British  Parliament.  Now  he, 
(Mr.  Clay,)  and  his  friends  would  not  ad- 
mit of  these  authorities  being  entitled  to 
as  much  weight  as  the  universal  practice 
of  nations,  which  Ie  all  parts  of  the  world 
was  found  to  be  in  favor  of  protecting  home 
manufactures  to  an  extent  sufficient  to 
keep  them  in  a  flourishing  condition. 
This  was  the  whole  difference.  The  Sena- 
tor was  in  favor  of  book  theory  and  ab- 
stractions: he  (Mr.  Clay)  and  his  friends, 
were  in  favor  of  the  universal  practice  of 
nations,  and  the  wholesome  and  necessary 
protection  of  domestic  manufactures." 

Mr.  Calhoun  in  reply,  referring  to  hig 
allusion  to  the  success  in  the  late  election 
of  the  tory  party  in  England,  said :  "  The 
interests,  objects,  and  aims  of  the  tory 
party  there  and  the  whig  party  here,  are 
identical.  The  identity  of  the  two  parties 
is  remarkable.  The  tory  party  are  the 
patrons  of  corporate  monopolies ;  and  are 
not  you  f  They  are  advocates  of  a  high 
tariff;  and  are  not  you  f  They  are  support- 
ers of  a  national  bank ;  and  are  not  you  f 
They  are  for  corn-laws — laws  oppressive 
to  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  favorable 
to  their  own  power;  and  are  not  youf 
Witness  this  bill.  *  *  *  The  success 
of  that  party  in  England,  and  of  the  whig 
party  here,  is  the  success  of  the  great 
money  power,  which  concentrates  the  in- 
terests of  the  two  parties,  and  identifies 
their  principles." 

The  bill  was  passed  by  a  large  majority, 
upon  the  general  ground  that  the  govern- 
ment must  have  revenue. 

The  chief  measure  of  the  session,  and  the 
great  object  of  the  whig  party — ^the  one  for 
which  it  had  labored  for  ten  years — was 
for  the  re-charter  of  a  national  bank. 
Without  this  all  other  measures  would  be 
deemed  to  be  incomplete,  and  the  victori- 
ous election  itself  but  little  better  than  a 
defeat.  The  President,  while  a  member  of 
the  Democratic  party,  had  been  opposed 
to  the  United  States  Bank ;  and  to  over- 
come any  objections  he  might  have  the 
bill  was  carefully  prepared,  and  studiously 
contrived  to  avoid  the  President's  objec- 
tions, and  save  his  consistency — ^a  point 
upon  which  he  was  exceedingly  seasitive. 


42 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


The  democratic  members  resisted  strenu- 
ously, in  order  to  make  the  measure  odious, 
but  successful  resistance  was  impossible. 
It  passed  both  houses  by  a  close  vote ;  and 
contrary  to  all  expectation  the  President 
disapproved  the  act,  but  with  such  expres- 
sions of  readiness  to  approve  another  bill 
which  should  be  free  from  the  objections 
which  he  named,  as  still  to  keep  his  party 
together,  and  to  prevent  the  resignation  of 
his  cabinet.  In  his  veto  message  the 
President  fell  back  upon  his  early  opinions 
against  the  constitutionality  of  a  national 
bank,  so  often  and  so  publicly  expressed. 

The  veto  caused  consternation  among 
the  whig  members ;  and  Mr.  Clay  openly 
gave  expression  to  his  dissatisfaction,  in 
the  debate  on  the  veto  message,  in  terms 
to  assert  that  President  Tyler  had  violated 
his  faith  to  the  whig  party,  and  had  been 
led  off  from  them  by  new  associations. 
He  said :  "  And  why  should  not  President 
Tyler  have  suffered  the  bill  to  become  a 
law  without  his  signature?  Without 
meaning  the  slightest  possible  disrespect  to 
him  (nothing  is  further  from  my  heart  than 
the  exhibition  of  any  such  feeling  towards 
that  distinguished  citizen,  long  my  per- 
sonal friend),  it  cannot  be  forgotten  that  he 
came  into  his  present  office  under  peculiar 
circumstances.  The  people  did  not  foresee 
the  contingency  which  has  happened. 
They  voted  for  him  as  Vice  President. 
They  did  not,  therefore,  scrutinize  his 
opinions  with  the  care  which  they  probably 
ought  to  have  done,  and  would  have  done, 
if  they  could  have  looked  into  futurity.  If 
the  present  state  of  the  fact  could  have 
been  anticipated — if  at  Harrisburg,  or  at 
the  polls,  it  had  been  foreseen  that  General 
Harrison  would  die  in  one  short  month 
after  the  commencement  of  his  administra- 
tion ;  so  that  Vice  President  Tyler  would 
be  elevated  to  the  presidential  chair ;  that 
a  bill  passed  by  decisive  majorities  of  the 
first  whig  Congress,  chartering  a  national 
bank,  would  be  presented  for  his  sanction  ; 
and  that  he  would  veto  the  bill,  do  I 
hazard  anything  when  I  express  the  con- 
viction that  he  would  not  have  received  a 
solitary  vote  in  the  nominating  convention, 
nor  one  solitary  electoral  vote  in  any  State 
in  the  Union  ?  " 

The  vote  was  taken  on  the  bill  over 
again,  as  required  by  the  constitution,  and 
so  far  from  receiving  a  two-thirds  vote,  it 
received  only  a  bare  majority,  and  was  re- 
turned to  the  House  with  a  message  stating 
his  objections  to  it,  where  it  gave  rise  to 
some  violent  speaking,  more  directed  to 
the  personal  conduct  of  the  President  than 
to  the  objections  to  the  bill  stated  in  his 
message.  The  veto  was  sustained  ;  and  so 
ended  the  second  attempt  to  resuscitate  the 
old  United  States  Bank  under  a  new  name. 
This  second  movement  to  establish  the 
bank  has  a  secret  history.    It  almost  caused 


the  establishment  of  a  new  party,  with  Mr. 
Tyler  as  its  head;  earnest  efforts  having 
been  made  in  that  behalf  by  many  promi- 
nent Whigs  and  Democrats.  The  entire 
cabinet,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Webster, 
resigned  within  a  few  days  after  the  second 
veto.  It  was  a  natural  thing  for  them  to 
do,  and  was  not  unexpected.  Indeed  Mr. 
Webster  had  resolved  to  tender  his  resigna- 
tion also,  but  on  reconsideration  determined 
to  remain  and  publish  his  reasons  there- 
for in  a  letter  to  the  National  Intelligencer, 
in  the  following  words : 

"  Lest  any  misapprehension  should  ex- 
ist, as  to  the  reasons  which  led  me  to  differ 
from  the  course  pursued  by  my  late  col- 
leagues, I  wish  to  say  that  I  remain  in  my 
place,  first,  because  I  have  seen  no  sufficient 
reasons  for  the  dissolution  of  the  late  Cabi- 
net, by  the  voluntary  act  of  its  own  mem- 
bers. I  am  perfectly  persuaded  of  the  ab- 
solute necessity  of  an  institution,  under  the 
authority  of  Congress,  to  aid  revenue  and 
financial  operations,  and  to  give  the  country 
the  blessings  of  a  good  currency  and  cheap 
exchanges.  Notwithstanding  what  has 
passed,  I  have  confidence  that  the  Presi- 
dent will  co-operate  with  the  legislature  in 
overcoming  all  difficulties  in  the  attain- 
ment of  these  objects ;  and  it  is  to  the 
union  of  the  Whig  party — ^by  which  I 
mean  the  whole  party,  the  Whig  President, 
the  Whig  Congress,  and  the  Whig  people — 
that  I  look  for  a  realization  of  our  wishes. 
I  can  look  nowhere  else.  In  the  second 
place  if  I  had  seen  reasons  to  resign  my 
office,  I  should  not  have  done  so,  without 
giving  the  President  reasonable  notice,  and 
affording  him  time  to  select  the  hands  to 
which  he  should  confide  the  delicate  and 
important  affairs  now  pending  in  this  de- 
partment." 

The  conduct  of  the  President  in  the 
matter  of  the  vetoes  of  the  two  bank  bills 
produced  revolt  against  him  in  the  party ; 
and  the  Whigs  of  the  two  Houses  of  Con- 
gress held  several  formal  meetings  to  con- 
sider what  they  should  do  in  the  new  con- 
dition of  affairs.  An  address  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States  was  resolved  upon. 
The  rejection  of  the  bank  bill  gave  great 
vexation  to  one  side,  and  equal  exultation 
to  the  other.  The  subject  was  not  per- 
mitted to  rest,  however ;  a  national  bank 
was  the  life — the  vital  principle — of  the 
Whig  party,  without  wnich  it  could  not 
live  as  a  party ;  it  was  the  power  which 
was  to  give  them  power  and  the  political 
and  financial  control  of  the  Union.  A 
second  attempt  was  made,  four  days  after 
the  veto,  to  accomplish  the  end  by  amend- 
ments to  a  bill  relating  to  the  currency, 
which  had  been  introduced  early  in  the 
session.  Mr.  Sargeant  of  Pennsylvania, 
moved  to  strike  out  all  after  the  enacting 
clause,  and  insert  his  amendments,  which 
were  substantially  the  same  as  the  vetoed 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    SECOND    BANK    BILL. 


43 


bill,  except  changing  the  amount  of  capi- 
tal and  prohibiting  discounts  on  notes  other 
than  bills  of  exchange.  The  bill  was 
pushed  to  a  vote  with  astonishing  rapidity, 
and  passed  by  a  decided  majority.  In  the 
Senate  the  bill  went  to  a  select  committee 
which  reported  it  back  without  alteration, 
as  had  been  foreseen,  the  committee  consist- 
ing entirely  of  friends  of  the  measure;  and 
there  was  a  majority  for  it  on  final  passage. 
Concurred  in  by  the  Senate  without  alter- 
ation, it  was  returned  to  the  House,  and 
thence  referred  to  the  President  for  his 
approval  or  disapproval.  It  was  disap- 
proved and  it  was  promulgated  in  language 
intended  to  mean  a  repudiation  of  the 
President,  a  permanent  separation  of  the 
Whig  party  from  him,  and  to  wash  their 
hands  of  ail  accountability  for  his  acts. 
An  opening  paragraph  of  the  address  set 
forth  that,  for  twelve  years  the  Whigs  had 
carried  on  a  contest  for  the  regulation  of 
the  currency,  the  equalization  of  exchanges, 
the  economical  administration  of  the  finan- 
ces, and  the  advancement  of  industry — all 
to  be  accomplished  by  means  of  a  national 
bank — declaring  these  objects  to  be  mis- 
understood by  no  one  and  the  bank  itself 
held  to  be  secured  in  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion, and  its  establishment  the  main  object 
of  the  extra  session.  The  address  then 
proceeds  to  state  how  these  plans  were 
frustrated : 

"  It  is  with  profound  and  poignant  regret 
that  we  find  ourselves  called  upon  to  in- 
voke your  attention  to  this  point.  Upon 
the  great  and  leading  measure  touching 
this  question,  our  anxious  endeavors  to 
respond  to  the  earnest  prayers  of  the 
nation  have  been  frustrated  by  an  act  as 
unlooked  for  as  it  is  to  be  lamented.  We 
grieve  to  say  to  you  that  by  the  exercise  of 
that  power  in  the  constitution  which  has 
ever  been  regarded  with  suspicion,  and 
often  with  odium,  by  the  people — a  power 
which  we  had  hoped  was  never  to  be  ex- 
hibited on  this  subject,  by  a  Whig  Presi- 
dent— we  have  been  defeated  in  two  at- 
tempts to  create  a  fiscal  agent,  which  the 
wants  of  the  country  had  demonstrated  to 
us,  in  the  most  absolute  form  of  proof  to 
be  eminently  necessary  and  proper  in  the 
present  emergency.  Twice  have  we  with 
the  utmost  diligence  and  deliberation 
matured  a  plan  for  the  collection,  safe- 
keeping and  disbursing  of  the  public 
moneys  through  the  agency  of  a  corpora- 
tion adapted  to  that  end,  and  twice  has  it 
been  our  fate  to  encounter  the  opposition 
of  the  President,  through  the  application 
of  the  veto  power.  *  *  *  We  are  con- 
strained to  say  that  we  find  no  ground  to 
justify  us  in  the  conviction  that  the  veto 
of  the  President  has  been  interposed  on 
this  question  solely  upon  conscientious  and 
well-considered  opinions  of  constitutional 
•cruple  as  to  his  duty  in  the  case  presented. 


On  the  contrary,  too  many  proofs  have  been 
forced  upon  our  observation  to  leave  us 
free  from  the  apprehension  that  the  Presi- 
dent has  permitted  himself  to  be  beguiled 
into  an  opinion  that  by  this  exhibition  of 
his  prerogative  he  might  be  able  to  divert 
the  policy  of  his  administration  into  a 
channel  which  should  lead  to  new  political 
combinations,  and  accomplish  results  which 
must  overthrow  the  present  divisions  of 
party  in  the  country;  and  finally  produce 
a  state  of  things  which  those  who  elected 
him,  at  least,  have  never  contemplated. 
*        *        *  *        *        * 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  Whigs  will 
naturally  look  with  anxiety  to  the  future, 
and  inquire  what  are  the  actual  relations 
between  the  President  and  those  who 
brought  him  into  power;  and  what,  in 
the  opinion  of  their  friends  in  Congress, 
should  be  their  course  hereafter.  *  *  * 
The  President  by  his  withdrawal  of  confi- 
dence from  his  real  friends  in  Congress 
and  from  the  members  of  his  cabinet ;  by 
his  bestowal  of  it  upon  others  notwith- 
standing their  notorious  opposition  to  lead- 
ing measures  of  his  administrations  has 
voluntarily  separated  himself  from  those 
by  whose  exertions  and  suffrage  he  was 
elevated  to  that  office  through  which  he 
has  reached  his  present  exalted  station. 
*  *  *  *  The  consequence  is,  that  those 
who  brought  the  President  into  power  can 
be  no  longer,  in  any  manner  or  degree, 
justly  held  responsible  or  blamed  for  the 
administration  of  the  executive  branch  of 
the  government;  and  the  President  and 
his  advisers  should  be  exclusively  here- 
after deemed  accountable.  *  *  *  The 
conduct  of  the  President  has  occasioned 
bitter  mortification  and  deep  regret.  Shall 
the  party,  therefore,  yielding  to  sentiments 
of  despair,  abandon  its  duty,  and  submit 
to  defeat  and  disgrace  ?  Far  from  suffer- 
ing such  dishonorable  consequences,  the 
very  disappointment  which  it  has  unfor- 
tunately experienced  should  serve  only  to 
redouble  its  exertions,  and  to  inspire  it 
with  fresh  courage  to  persevere  with  a 
spirit  unsubdued  and  a  resolution  unshak- 
en, until  the  prosperity  of  the  country  is 
fully  re-established,  and  its  liberties  firmly 
secured  against  all  danger  from  the  abuses, 
encroachments  or  usurpations  of  the  ex- 
ecutive department  of  the  government." 

This  was  the  manifesto,  so  far  as  it  con- 
cerns the  repudiation  of  President  Tyler, 
which  Whig  members  of  Congress  put 
forth:  it  was  answered  (under  the  name  of 
an  address  to  his  constituents)  by  Mr. 
Cushing,  in  a  counter  special  plea — coun- 
ter to  it  on  all  points — especially  on  the 
main  question  of  which  party  the  Presi- 
dent was  to  belong  to;  the  manifesto 
of  the  Whigs  assigning  him  to  the  de- 
mocracy— the  address  of  Mr.  Cushing, 
claiming  him  for  the  Whigs.    It  was  ea- 


£4 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


pecially  severe  on  Mr.  Clay,  as  setting  up 
a  caucus  dictatorship  to  coerce  the  Presi- 
dent; and  charged  that  the  address  em- 
anated from  this  caucus,  and  did  m^t  euibody 
or  represent  the  sentimenta  of  all  Whig 
leaders ;  and  referred  to  Mr.  Webster's  let- 
ter, and  his  remaining  in  the  cabinet  as 
proof  of  this.  But  it  was  without  avail 
against  the  concurrent  statements  of  the 
retiring  senators,  and  the  confirmatory 
statements  of  many  members  of  Congress. 
The  Whig  party  recoiled  from  the  Presi- 
dent, and  instead  of  the  unity  predicted  by 
Mr.  Webster,  there  was  diversity  and  wide- 
spread dissension.  The  Whig  party  re- 
mained with  Mr.  Clay ;  Mr.  Webster  re- 
tired, Mr.  Cushing  was  sent  on  a  foreign 
mission,  and  the  President,  seeking  to  en- 
ter the  democratic  ranks,  was  refused  by 
them,  and  left  to  seek  consolation  in  pri- 
vacy, for  his  political  errors  and  omissions. 

The  extra  session,  called  by  President 
Harrison,  held  under  Mr.  Tyler,  domi- 
nated by  Mr.  Clay,  commenced  May  31, 
and  ended  Sept.  13,  1841 — and  was  replete 
with  disappointed  calculations,  and  nearly 
barren  of  permanent  results.  The  pur- 
poses for  which  it  was  called  into  being, 
failed.  The  first  annual  message  of  Presi- 
dent Tyler,  at  the  opening  of  the  regular 
session  in  December,  1841,  coming  in  so 
soon  after  the  termination  of  the  extrA  ses- 
sion, was  brief  and  meagre  of  topics,  with 
few  points  of  interest. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1842,  Mr.  Henry 
Clay  resigned  his  place  in  the  Senate,  and 
delivered  a  valedictory  address  to  that 
body.  He  had  intended  this  step  upon 
the  close  of  the  previous  presidential  cam- 
paign, but  had  postponed  it  to  take  per- 
sonal charge  of  the  several  measures  wnich 
would  be  Drought  before  Congress  at  the 
special  session — the  calling  of  which  he 
foresaw  would  be  necessary.  He  resigned 
not  on  account  of  age,  or  infirmity,  or  dis- 
inclination for  public  life ;  but  out  of  dis- 
gust— ^profound  and  inextinguishable.  He 
had  been  basely  defeated  for  the  Presi- 
dential nomination,  against  the  wishes  of 
the  Whig  party,  of  which  he  was  the  ac- 
knowledged head — he  had  seen  his  leading 
measures  vetoed  by  the  President  whom 
his  party  had  elected — the  downfall  of  the 
Bank  for  which  he  had  so  often  pledged 
himself — and  the  insolent  attacks  of  the 
petty  adherents  of  the  administration  in 
the  two  Houses :  all  these  causes  acting  on 
his  proud  and  lofty  spirit,  induced  this 
withdrawal  from  public  life  for  which  he 
was  so  well  fitted. 

The  address  opened  with  a  retrospect  of 
his  early  entrance  into  the  Senate,  and  a 
grand  encomium  upon  its  powers  and  dig- 
nity as  he  hud  found  it,  and  left  it.  Mem- 
ory went  back  to  that  early  year,  1806, 
when  just  past  thirty  years  of  age,  he  en- 
tered the  United  States  Senate,  and  com- 


menced his  high  career — a  wide  and  lumi- 
nous horizon  before  him,  and  will  and 
talent  to  fill  it.  He  said :  "  From  the  year 
1806,  the  period  of  my  entering  upon  this 
noble  theatre  of  my  public  service,  "with 
but  short  intervals,  down  to  the  present 
time,  I  have  been  engaged  in  the  service 
of  my  country.  Of  the  nature  and  value 
of  those  services,  which  I  may  have  ren- 
dered during  my  long  career  of  public  life, 
it  does  not  become  me  to  speak.  History, 
if  she  deigns  to  notice  me,  and  posterity — 
if  a  recollection  of  any  humble  service 
which  I  may  have  rendered,  shall  be 
transmitted  to  posterity — will  be  the  best, 
truest,  and  most  impartial  judges;  and  to 
them  1  defer  for  a  decision  upon  their 
value.  But,  upon  one  subject,  I  may  be 
allowed  to  speak.  As  to  my  public  acts 
and  public  conduct,  they  are  for  the  judg- 
ment of  my  fellow  citizens;  but  my  private 
motives  of  action — that  which  prompted 
me  to  take  the  part  which  I  may  have 
done,  upon  great  measures  during  their 
progress  in  the  national  councils,  can  be 
known  only  to  the  Great  Searcher  of  the 
human  heart  and  myself;  and  I  trust  I 
shall  be  pardoned  for  repeating  again  a 
declaration  which  I  made  thirty  years  ago : 
that  whatever  error  I  may  have  committed 
— and  doubtless  I  have  committed  many 
during  my  public  service — I  may  appeal 
to  the  Divine  Searcher  of  hearts  for  the 
truth  of  the  declaration  which  I  now  make, 
with  pride  and  confidence,  that  I  have 
been  actuated  by  no  personal  motives — 
that  I  have  sought  no  personal  aggrandize- 
ment— no  promotion  Irom  the  advocacy  of 
those  various  measures  on  which  I  have 
been  called  to  act — that  I  have  had  an 
eye,  a  single  eye,  a  heart,  a  single  heart, 
ever  devoted  to  what  appeared  to  be  the 
best  interests  of  the  country." 

Mr.  Clay  led  a  great  party,  and  for  a 
long  time,  whether  lie  dictated  to  it  or  not, 
and  kept  it  well  bound  together,  without 
the  usual  means  of  forming  and  leading 
parties.  It  was  surprising  that,  without 
power  and  patronage,  he  was  able  so  long 
and  so  undividedlv  to  keep  so  great  a  party 
together,  and  lead  it  so  unresistingly.  He 
had  great  talents,  but  not  equal  to  some 
whom  he  led.  He  had  eloquence — superior 
in  popular  effect,  but  not  equal  in  high 
oratory  to  that  of  some  others.  But  his 
temperament  was  fervid,  his  will  was 
strong,  and  his  courage  daring ;  and  these 
qualities,  added  to  his  talents,  gave  him 
the  lead  and  supremacy  in  his  party,  where 
he  was  always  dominant.  The  farewell 
address  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
Senators  present ;  and  after  its  close,  Mr. 
Preston  brought  the  ceremony  to  a  conclu- 
sion, by  moving  an  adjournment,  which 
was  agreed  to. 

Again  at  this  session  was  the  subject  of 
the  tariff  considered,  but  this  time,  as  a 


BOOK  I.] 


WHIGS    AND    DEMOCRATS. 


45 


matter  of  absolute  necessity,  to  provide  a  | 
revenue.     Never  before  wore  the  coffers  1 
and  the  credit  of  the  treasury  at  so  low  an 
ebb.     A  deficit  of  fourteen  millions  in  the 
treasury — a    total    inability    to     borrow, 
either  at  home  or  abroad,  the  amount  of 
the  loan  of  twelve  millions  authorized  the 
year  before — ^the  treasury  notes  below  par, 
and  the  revenues  from  imports  inadequate  j 
and  decreasing. 

The  compromise  act  of  1833  in  reducing 
the  duties  gradually  through  nine  years,  ] 
to  a  fixed  low  rate ;  the  act  of  1837  in  dis- 
tributing the  surplus  revenue ;  and  the 
continual  and  continued  distribution  of 
the  land  revenue,  had  brought  about  this 
condition  of  things.  The  remedy  was 
sought  in  a  bill  increasing  the  tariff,  and 
suspending  the  land  revenue  distribution. 
Two  such  bills  were  passed  in  a  single 
month,  and  both  vetoed  by  the  President. 
It  was  now  near  the  end  of  August.  Con- 
gress had  been  in  session  for  an  unpre- 
cedentedly  long  time.  Adjournment  could 
not  be  deferred,  and  could  not  take  place 
without  providing  for  the  Treasury.  The 
compromise  act  and  the  land  distribution 
were  the  stumbling-blocks:  it  was  resolved 
to  sacrifice  them  together ;  and  a  bill  was 
introduced  raising  the  duties  above  the 
fixed  rate  of  twenty  per  cent.,  and  that 
breach  of  the  mutual  assurance  in  relation 
to  the  compromise,  immediately  in  terms 
of  the  assurance,  suspended  the  land 
revenue  distribution — ^to  continue  it  sus- 

f»ended  while  duties  above  the  compromise 
imit  continued  to  be  levied.  And  as  that 
has  been  the  case  ever  since,  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  land  revenue  has  been  sus- 
pended ever  since.  The  bill  was  passed, 
and  approved  by  the  President,  and  Con- 
gress thereupon  adjourned. 

The  subject  of  the  navy  was  also  under 
consideration  at  this  session.  The  naval 
policy  of  the  United  States  was  a  question 
of  party  division  from  the  origin  of  parties 
in  the  early  years  of  the  government — the 
I'ederal  party  favoring  a  strong  and 
splendid  Aavy,  the  Republican  a  moderate 
establishment,  adapted  to  the  purposes  of 
defense  more  than  of  offense.  And  this 
line  of  division  has  continued.  Under  the 
Whig  regime  the  policy  for  a  great  navy 
developed  itself.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Na\7-  recommended  a  large  increase  of 
ships,  seamen  and  officers,  involving  a 
heavy  expense,  though  the  government 
was  not  in  a  condition  to  warrant  any  such 
expenditure,  and  no  emergency  required 
an  increase  in  that  branch  of  the  public 
service.  The  vote  was  taken  upon  tne  in- 
crease proposed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and  recommended  by  the  President; 
and  it  was  carried,  the  yeas  and  nays  being 
well  defined  by  the  party  line. 

The  first  session  of  the  twenty-eighth 
Congress,  which  convened  December  1843, 


exhibited  in  its  political  complexion,  se- 
rious losses  in  the  Whig  following.  The 
Democratic  candidate  for  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  was  elected  over 
the  Whig  candidate — the  vote  standing 
128  to  59.  Thus  an  adverse  majority  of 
more  than  two  to  one  was  the  result  to  the 
Whig  party  at  the  first  election  after  the 
extra  session  of  1841.  The  President's 
message  referred  to  the  treaty  which  had 
lately  been  concluded  with  Great  Britain 
relative  to  the  northwestern  territory  ex- 
tending to  the  Columbia  river,  including 
Oregon  and  settling  the  boundary  lines ; 
and  also  to  a  pending  treaty  with  Texas 
for  her  annexation  to  the  United  States ; 
and  concluded  with  a  recommendation 
for  the  establishment  of  a  paper  currency 
to  be  issued  and  controlled  by  the  Federal 
government. 

For  more  than  a  year  before  the  meeting 
of  the  Democratic  Presidential  Conven- 
tion in  Baltimore,  in  May  1844,  it  was 
evident  to  leading  Democrats  that  Martin 
Van  Buren  was  the  choice  of  the  party. 
To  overcome  this  popular  current  and 
turn  the  tide  in  favor  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  who 
desired  the  nomination,  resort  was  had  to 
the  pending  question  of  the  annexation 
of  Texas.  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  known  to 
be  against  it,  and  Mr.  Calhoun  for  it.  To 
gain  time,  the  meeting  of  the  convention 
was  postponed  from  December  previous, 
which  had  been  the  usual  time  for  holding 
such  elections,  until  the  following  May. 
The  convention  met,  and  consisted  of  two 
hundred  and  sixty-six  delegates,  a  decided 
majority  of  whom  were  for  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
and  cast  their  votes  accordingly  on  the  first 
ballot.  But  a  chairman  had  been  selected, 
who  was  adverse  to  his  nomination  ;  ana 
aided  by  a  rule  adopted  by  the  convention, 
which  required  a  concurrence  of  two-thirds 
to  effect  a  nomination,  the  opponents  of 
Mr,  Van  Buren  were  able  to  accomplish 
his  defeat.  Mr.  Calhoun  had,  before  the 
meeting  of  the  convention,  made  known 
his  determination,  in  a  public  address,  not 
to  suffer  his  name  to  go  before  that  as- 
semblage as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
and  stated  his  reasons  for  so  doing,  whica 
were*  founded  mainly  on  the  manner  in 
which  the  convention  was  constituted ;  his 
objections  being  to  the  mode  of  choosing 
delegates,  and  the  manner  of  their  giving 
in  their  votes — ^he  contending  for  district 
elections,  and  the  delegates  to  vote  indi- 
vidually. South  Carolina  was  not  repre- 
sented m  the  convention.  After  the  first 
ballot  Mr.  Van  Buren's  vote  sensibly  de- 
creased, until  finally,  Mr.  James  K.  Polk, 
who  was  a  candidate  for  the  Vice  Presi- 
dency, was  brought  forward  and  nominated 
unanimously  for  the  chief  oifice.  Mr. 
Geo.  M,  Dallas  was  chosen  as  his  colleague 
for  the  Vice  Presidency,  The  nomination 
of  these  gentlemen,  neither  of  whom  had 


46 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  1. 


been  mentioned  until  late  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  convention,  for  the  offices  for 
which  they  were  finally  nominated,  was  a 
genuine  surprise  to  the  country.  No 
voice  in  favor  of  it  had  been  heard ;  and 
no  visible  sign  in  the  political  horizon  had 
announced  it. 

The  Whig  convention  nominated  Henry 
Clay,  for  President;  and  Theodore  Fre- 
linghuysen  for  Vice-President, 

The  main  issues  in  the  election  which 
ensued,  were  mainly  the  party  ones  of 
Whig  and  Democrat,  modified  by  the 
tariff  and  Texas  questions.  It  resulted  in 
the  choice  of  the  Democratic  candidates, 
who  received  170  electoral  votes  as  against 
105  for  their  opponents;  the  popular 
majority  for  the  Democrats  being  238,284, 
in  a  total  vote  of  2,834,108.  Mr.  Clay  re- 
ceived a  larger  popular  vote  than  had  been 
given  at  the  previous  election  for  the 
Whig  candidate,  showing  that  he  would 
have  been  elected  had  he  then  been  the 
nominee  of  his  party ;  though  the  popular 
vote  at  this  election  was  largely  increased 
over  that  of  1840.  It  is  conceded  that  the 
36  electoral  votes  of  New  York  State  gave 
the  election  to  Mr.  Polk.  It  was  carried 
by  a  bare  majority ;  due  entirely  to  the 
Gubernatorial  candidacy  of  Mr.  Silas 
Wright,  who  had  been  mentioned  for  the 
vice-presidential  nomination  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Van  Buren,  but  who  declined  it 
after  the  sacrifice  of  his  friend  and  col- 
league; and  resigning  his  seat  in  the 
Senate,  became  a  candidate  for  Governor 
of  New  York.  The  election  being  held  at 
the  same  time  as  that  for  president,  his 
name  and  popularity  brought  to  the  presi- 
dential ticket  more  than  enough  votes  to 
make  the  majority  that  gave  the  electoral 
vote  of  the  State  to  the  Democrats. 

President  Tyler's  annual  and  last  mes- 
sage to  Congress,  in  December  1844,  con- 
tained, (as  did  that  of  the  previous  year) 
an  elaborate  paragraph  on  the  subject  of 
Texas  and  Mexico;  the  idea  being  the 
annexation  of  the  former  to  the  Union,  and 
the  assumption  of  her  causes  of  grievance 
against  the  latter  ;  and  a  treaty  was  pend- 
ing to  accomplish  these  objects.  The 
scneme  for  the  annexation  of^^  Texas  was 
framed  with  a  double  aspect— one  looking 
to  the  then  pending  presidential  election, 
the  other  to  the  separation  of  the  Southern 
States  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  rejection  of  the 
treaty  was  foreseen,  and  the  nominating 
convention  had  acted,  the  disunion  aspect 
manifested  itself  over  m^ny  of  the  South- 
em  States — beginning  with  South  Carolina. 
Before  the  end  of  May,  a  great  meeting 
took  place  at  Ashley,  in  that  State,  to 
combine  the  slave  States  in  a  convention 
to  unite  the  Southern  States  to  Texas,  if 
Texas  should  not  be  received  into  the 
Union ;  and  to  invite  the  President  to 
convene  Congress  to  arrange  the  terms  of 


the  dissolution  of  the  Union  if  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  annexation  should  be  perse- 
vered in.  Responsive  resolutions  were 
adopted  in  several  States,  and  meetings 
held.  The  opposition  manifested,  brought 
the  movement  to  a  stand,  and  suppressed 
the  disunion  scheme  for  the  time  being — 
only  to  lie  in  wait  for  future  occasions. 
But  it  was  not  before  the  people  only  that 
this  scheme  for  a  Southern  convention 
with  a  view  to  the  secession  of  the  slave 
States  was  a  matter  of  discussion  ;  it  was 
the  subject  of  debate  in  the  Senate ;  and 
there  it  was  further  disclosed  that  the 
design  of  the  secessionists  was  to  extend 
the  new  Southern  republic  to  the  Califor- 
nias. 

The  treaty  of  annexation  was  supported 
by  all  the  power  of  the  administration, 
but  failed ;  and  it  was  rejected  by  the 
Senate  by  a  two-thirds  vote  against  it. 
Following  this,  a  joint  resolution  was 
early  brought  into  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives for  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a 
State  of  the  Union,  by  legislative  action  ; 
it  passed  the  House  by  a  fair  majority, 
but  met  with  opposition  in  the  Senate  un- 
less coupled  with  a  proviso  for  negotia- 
tion and  treaty,  as  a  condition  precedent. 
A  bill  authorizing  the  President  and  a 
commissioner  to  be  appointed  to  agree 
upon  the  terms  and  conditions  of  said 
admission,  the  question  of  slavery  within 
its  limits,  its  debts,  the  fixing  of  bounda- 
ries, and  the  cession  of  territory,  was 
coupled  or  united  with  the  resolution ;  and 
in  this  shape  it  was  finally  agreed  to,  and 
became  a  law,  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
President,  March  3,  1845.  Texas  was  then 
in  a  state  of  war  with  Mexico,  though 
at  that  precise  point  of  time  an  armistice 
had  been  agreed  upon,  looking  to  a  treaty 
of  peace.  The  House  resolution  was  for  an 
unqualified  admission  of  the  State;  the 
Senate  amendment  or  bill  was  for  negotia- 
tion ;  and  the  bill  actually  passed  would 
not  have  been  concurred  in  except  on  the 
understanding  that  the  incoming  Presi- 
dent (whose  term  began  March  4,  1845, 
and  who  was  favorable  to  negotiation) 
would  act  under  the  bill,  and  appoint 
commissioners  accordingly. 

Contrary  to  all  expectation,  the  outgoing 
President,  on  the  last  day  of  his  term,  at 
the  instigation  of  his  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr.  Calhoun,  assumed  the  execution  of 
the  act  providing  for  the  admission  of 
Texas — adopted  the  legislative  clause — 
and  sent  out  a  special  messenger  with  in- 
structions. The  danger  of  this  had  been 
foreseen,  and  suggested  in  the  Senate ;  but 
close  friends  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  speaking  for 
the  administration,  and  replying  to  the 
suggestion,  indignantly  denied  it  For  them, 
and  declared  that  they  would  not  have  the 
"  audacity  "  to  so  violate  the  spirit  and  in- 
tent of  the  act,  or  so  encroach  upon  the 


BOOK  I.] 


OREGON    TREATY    OF    1846. 


47 


rights  of  the  new  President.  These  state- 
ments from  the  friends  of  the  Secretary  and 
President  that  the  plan  by  negotiation 
would  be  adopted,  quieted  the  apprehen- 
sion of  those  Senators  opposed  to  legislative 
annexation  or  admission,  and  thus  secured 
their  votes,  without  which  the  bill  would 
have  failed  of  a  majority.  Thus  was  Texas 
incorporated  into  the  Union.  The  legisla- 
tive proposition  sent  by  Mr.  Tyler  was  ac- 
cepted :  Texas  became  incorporated  with 
the  United  States,  and  in  consequence  the 
state  of  war  was  established  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico ;  it  only  being  a 
question  of  time  and  chance  when  the 
armistice  should  end  and  hostilities  begin. 
Although  Mr.  Calhoun  was  not  in  favor  of 
war  with  Mexico — he  believing  that  a 
money  payment  would  settle  the  differ- 
ences with  that  country  —  the  admission 
of  Texas  into  the  Union  under  the  legisla- 
tive annexation  clause  of  the  statute,  was 
really  his  act  and  not  that  of  the  Presi- 
dent's ;  and  he  was,  in  consequence,  after- 
wards openly  charged  in  the  Senate  with 
being  the  real  author  of  the  war  which 
followed. 

The  administration  of  President  Polk 
opened  March  4,  1845 ;  and  on  the  same 
day,  the  Senate  being  convened  for  the 
purpose,  the  cabinet  ministers  were  nomi- 
nated and  confirmed.  In  December  fol- 
lowing the  29th  Congress  was  organized. 
The  House  of  Representatives,  being 
largely  Democratic,  elected  the  Speaker, 
by  a  vote  of  120,  against  70  for  the  Whig 
candidate.  At  this  session  the  "  Ameri- 
can" party — a  new  political  organization 
— first  made  its  appearance  in  the  Na- 
tional councils,  having  elected  six  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Representatives,  four 
from  New  York  and  two  from  Penn- 
sylvania. The  President's  first  annual 
message  had  for  its  chief  topic,  the  admis- 
sion of  Texas,  then  accomplished,  and  the 
consequent  dissatisfaction  of  Mexico ;  and 
referrmg  to  the  preparations  on  the  part  of 
the  latter  with  the  apparent  intention  of 
declaring  war  on  the  United  States,  either 
by  an  open  declaration,  or  by  invading 
Texas.  The  message  also  stated  causes 
which  would  justify  this  government  in 
taking  the  initiative  in  declaring  war — 
mainly  the  non-compliance  by  Mexico 
with  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  indemnity 
of  April  11,  1839,  entered  into  between 
that  State  and  this  government  relative  to 
injuries  to  American  citizens  during  the 
previous  eight  years.  He  also  referred  to 
the  fact  of  a  minister  having  been  sent  to 
Mexico  to  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  settle- 
ment of  the  differences  between  the  na- 
tions, without  a  resort  to  hostilities.  The 
message  concluded  with  a  reference  to  the 
negotiations  with  Great  Britain  relative  to 
the  Oregon  boundary ;  a  statement  of  the 
finances  and  the  public  debt,  showing  the 


latter  to  be  slightly  in  excess  of  seventeen 
millions ;  and  a  recommendation  for  a  re- 
vision of  the  tariff,  with  a  view  to  revenue 
as  the  object,  with  protection  to  home  in- 
dustry as  the  incident. 

At  this  session  of  Congress,  the  States  of 
Florida  and  Iowa  were  admitted  into  the 
Union ;  the  former  permitting  slavery 
within  its  borders,  the  latter  denying  it. 
Long  before  this,  the  free  and  the  slave 
States  were  equal  in  number,  and  the  prac- 
tice had  grown  up  —  from  a  feeling  of 
jealousy  and  policy  to  keep  them  evenly- 
balanced — of  admitting  one  State  of  eacn 
character  at  the  same  time.  Numerically 
the  free  and  the  slave  States  were  thus 
kept  even :  in  political  power  a  vast  in- 
equality was  going  on — the  increase  of 
population  being  so  much  greater  in  the 
northern  than  in  the  southern  region. 

The  Ashburton  treaty  of  1842  omitted  to 
define  the  boundary  line,  and  permitted, 
or  rather  did  not  prohibit,  the  joint  occu- 
pation of  Oregon  by  British  and  American 
settlers.  This  had  been  a  subject  of  dis- 
pute for  many  years.  The  country  on  the 
Columbia  River  had  been  claimed  by  bo+b. 
Under  previous  treaties  the  American 
northern  boundary  extended  "  to  the  lati- 
tude of  49  degrees  north  of  the  equator, 
and  along  that  parallel  indefinitely  to  the 
west."  Attempts  were  made  in  1842  and 
continuing  since  to  1846,  to  settle  this 
boundary  line,  by  treaty  with  Great  Britain. 
It  had  been  assumed  that  we  had  a  divid- 
ing line,  made  by  previous  treaty,  along 
the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes  from 
the  sea  to  the  Rocky  mountains.  The  sub- 
ject so  much  absorbed  public  attention, 
that  the  Democratic  National  convention 
of  1844  in  its  platform  of  principles  de- 
clared for  that  boundary  line,  or  war  as 
the  consequence.  It  became  known  as  the 
54-40  plank,  and  was  a  canon  of  political 
faith.  The  negotiations  between  the  gov- 
ernments were  resumed  in  Augiist,  1844. 
The  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Calhoun,  pro- 
posed a  line  along  the  parallel  of  49  de- 
grees of  north  latitude  to  the  summit  of 
the  Rocky  mountains  and  continuing  that 
line  thence  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  and  he 
made  this  proposition  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  the  Democratic  party— to  which  he 
belonged — ^were  then  in  a  high  state  of 
exultation  for  the  boundary  of  54  degrees 
40  minutes,  and  the  presidential  canvass, 
on  the  Democratic  side,  was  raging  upon 
that  cry. 

The  British  Minister  declined  this  pro- 
position in  the  part  that  carried  the  line 
to  the  ocean,  but  offered  to  continue  it 
from  the  summit  of  the  mountains  to  the 
Columbia  River,  a  distance  of  some  three 
hundred  miles,  and  then  follow  the  river 
to  the  ocean.  This  was  declined  by  Mr. 
Calhoun.  The  President  had  declared  in 
his  inaugural  address  in  favor  of  the  54-40 


48 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


line.  He  was  in  a  dilemma ;  to  maintain 
that  position  meant  war  with  Great  Britain ; 
to  recede  from  it  seemed  impossible.  The 
proposition  for  the  line  of  49  degrees  hav- 
ing been  withdrawn  by  the  American  gov- 
ernment on  its  non-acceptance  by  the  Brit- 
ish, had  appeased  the  Democratic  storm 
which  had  been  raised  against  the  Presi- 
dent. Congress  had  come  together  under 
the  loud  cry  of  war,  in  which  Mr.  Cass  was 
the  leader,  but  followed  by  the  body  of 
the  democracy,  and  backed  and  cheered 
by  the  whole  democratic  newspaper  press. 
Under  the  authority  and  order  of  Congress 
notice  had  been  served  on  Great  Britain 
which  was  to  abrogate  the  Joint  occupation 
of  the  country  by  the  citizens  of  the  two 

Sowers.  It  was  finally  resolved  by  the 
Iritish  Government  to  propose  the  line  of 
49  degrees,  continuing  to  the  ocean,  as 
originally  offered  by  Mr.  Calhoun;  and 
though  the  President  was  favorable  to  its 
acceptance,  he  could  not,  consistently  with 
his  previous  acts,  accept  and  make  a 
treaty,  on  that  basis.  The  Senate,  with 
whom  lies  the  power,  under  the  constitu- 
tion, of  confirming  or  restricting  all  trea- 
ties, being  favorable  to  it,  without  respect 
to  party  Tines,  resort  was  had,  as  in  the 
early  practice  of  the  Government,  to  the 
President,  asking  the  advice  of  the  Senate 
upon  the  articles  of  a  treaty  before  negoti- 
ation. A  message  was  accordingly  sent  to 
the  Senate,  by  the  President,  stating  the 
proposition,  and  asking  its  advice,  thus 
shifting  the  responsibility  upon  that  body, 
and  making  the  issue  of  peace  or  war  de- 
pend upon  its  answer.  The  Senate  advised 
the  acceptance  of  the  proposition,  and  the 
treaty  was  concluded. 

The  conduct  of  the  Whig  Senators, 
without  whose  votes  the  advice  would  not 
have  been  given  nor  the  treaty  made,  was 
patriotic  in  preferring  their  country  to 
their  party — in  preventing  a  war  with 
Great  Britain — and  saving  the  administra- 
tion from  itself  and  its  party  friends. 

The  second  session  or  the  29th  Congress 
was  opened  in  December,  1847.  The 
President's  message  was  chiefly  in  relation 
to  the  war  with  Mexico,  which  had  been 
declared  by  almost  a  unanimous  vote  in 
Congress.  Mr.  Calhoun  spoke  against  the 
declaration  in  the  Senate,  but  dia  not  vote 
upon  it.  He  was  sincerely  opposed  to  the 
war,  although  his  conduct  had  produced  it. 
Had  he  remained  in  the  cabinet,  to  do 
which  he  had  not  concealed  his  wish,  he 
would,  no  doubt,  have  labored  earnestly 
to  have  prevented  it.  Many  members  of 
Congress,  of  the  same  party  with  the  ad- 
ministration, were  extremely  averse  to  the 
war,  and  had  interviews  with  the  President, 
to  see  if  it  was  inevitable,  before  it  was  de- 
clared. Memberswere  underthe  impression 
that  the  war  could  not  last  above  three 
months. 


The  reason  for  these  impressions  was 
that  an  intrigue  was  laid,  with  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Executive,  for  a  peace,  even 
before  the  war  was  declared,  and  a  special 
agent  dispatched  to  bring  about  a  return 
to  Mexico  of  its  exiled  President,  General 
Santa  Anna,  and  conclude  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  him,  on  terms  favorable  to  the 
United  States.  And  for  this  purpose  Con- 
gress granted  an  appropriation  of  three 
millions  of  dollars  to  be  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  President,  for  negotiating  for 
a  boundary  which  should  give  the  United 
States  additional  territory. 

While  this  matter  was  pending  in  Con- 
gress, Mr.  Wilmot  of  Pennsylvania  intro- 
duced and  moved  a  proviso,  *'  that  no  part 
of  the  territory  to  be  acquired  should  be 
open  to  the  introduction  oj"  slavery."  It  was 
a  proposition  not  necessary  for  the  pur- 
pose of  excluding  slavery,  as  the  only  ter- 
ritory to  be  acquired  was  that  of  New 
Mexico  and  California,  where  slavery  waa 
already  prohibited  by  the  Mexican  laws 
and  constitution.  The  proviso  was  there- 
fore nugatory,  and  only  served  to  bring  on 
a  slavery  agitation  in  the  United  States. 
For  this  purpose  it  was  seized  upon  by  Mr. 
Calhoun  ana  declared  to  be  an  outrage 
upon  and  menace  to  the  slave-holding 
States.  It  occupied  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress for  two  sessions,  and  became  the  sub- 
ject of  debate  in  the  State  Legislatures, 
several  of  which  passed  disunion  resolu- 
tions. It  became  the  watchword  of  party — 
the  synonym  of  civil  war,  and  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Union.  Neither  party  really 
had  anything  to  fear  or  to  hope  from  the 
adoption  of  the  proviso — the  soil  was  free, 
and  the  Democrats  were  not  in  a  position 
to  make  slave  territory  of  it,  because  it 
had  just  enunciated  as  one  of  its  cardinal 
principles,  that  there  was  "no  power  in 
Congress  to  legislate  upon  slavery  in  Territo- 
ries." Never  did  two  political  parties  con- 
tend more  furiously  about  nothing.  Close 
observers,  who  had  been  watching  the  pro- 
gress of  the  slavery  agitation  since  its 
inauguration  in  Congress  in  1835,  knew  it 
to  be  the  means  of  keeping  up  an  agitation 
for  the  benefit  of  the  political  parties — the 
abolitionists  on  one  side  and  the  disunion- 
ists  or  nullifiers  on  the  other — to  accom- 
plish their  own  purposes.  This  was  the 
celebrated  Wilmot  Proviso,  which  for  so 
long  a  time  convulsed  the  Union  ;  assisted 
in  forcing  the  issue  between  the  North  and 
South  on  the  slavery  question,  and  almost 
caused  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The 
proviso  was  defeated ;  that  chance  of  the 
nullifiers  to  force  the  issue  was  lost;  an- 
other had  to  be  made,  which  was  speedily 
done,  by  the  introduction  into  the  Senate 
on  the  19th  February,  1847,  by  Mr.  Cal- 
houn of  his  new  slavery  resolutions,  de- 
claring the  Territories  to  be  the  common 
property  of  the  several  States;    denying 


BOOK  I,] 


TREATY  OF  PEACE  WITH  MEXICO. 


49 


the  right  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery 
iu  a  Territory,  or  to  pass  any  law  which 
would  have  the  effect  to  deprive  the  citi- 
zens of  any  slave  State  from  emigrating 
with  his  property  (slaves)  into  such  Terri- 
tory. The  introduction  of  the  resolutions 
was  prefaced  by  an  elaborate  speech  by 
Mr.  Calhoun,  who  demanded  an  immediate 
vote  upon  them.  They  never  came  to  a 
vote;  they  were  evidently  introduced  for 
the  mere  purpose  of  carrying  a  question  to 
the  slave  States  on  which  they  could  be 
formed  into  a  unit  against  the  free  States  ; 
and  so  began  the  agitation  which  finally 
led  to  the  abrogation  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise line,  and  arrayed  the  States  of  one 
section  against  those  of  the  other. 

The  Thirtieth  Congress,  which  assem- 
bled for  its  first  session  in  December,  1847, 
was  found,  so  far  as  respects  the  House  of 
Representatives,  to  be  politically  adverse 
to  the  administration.  The  Whigs  were 
in  the  majority,  and  elected  the  Speaker  ; 
Robert  C.  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts, 
being  chosen.  The  President's  message 
contained  a  full  report  of  the  progress  of 
the  war  with  Mexico ;  the  success  of  the 
American  arms  in  that  conflict;  the  vic- 
tory of  Cerro  Gordo,  and  the  capture  of 
the  City  of  Mexico ;  and  that  negotiations 
were  then  pending  for  a  treaty  of  peace. 
The  message  concluded  with  a  reference 
to  the  excellent  results  from  the  indepen- 
dent treasury  system. 

The  war  with  Mexico  waa  ended  by  the 
signing  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  in  February, 
1848,  by  the  terms  of  which  New  Mexico 
and  Upper  California  were  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  and  the  lower  Rio  Grande, 
from  its  mouth  to  El  Paso,  taken  for  the 
boundary  of  Texas.  For  the  territory  thus 
acquired,  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay 
to  Mexico  the  sum  of  fifteen  million  dol- 
lars, in  five  annual  installments ;  and  be- 
sides that,  assumed  the  claims  of  Ameri- 
can citizens  against  Mexico,  limited  to 
three  and  a  quarter  million  dollars,  out  of 
and  on  account  of  which  claims  the  war 
ostensibly  originated.  The  victories  achiev- 
ed by  the  American  commanders,  Generals 
Zachary  Taylor  and  Winfield  Scott,  during 
that  war,  won  for  them  national  reputa- 
tions, by  means  of  which  they  were  brought 
prominently  forward  for  the  Presidential 
iuccession. 

The  question  of  the  power  of  Congress  to 
legislate  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
Territories,  was  again  raised,  at  this  session, 
on  the  bill  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Or^on  territorial  government.  An  amend- 
ment was  offered  to  insert  a  provision  for 
the  extension  of  the  Missouri  compromise 
line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  which  line  thus 
extended  was  intended  by  the  amendment 
to  be  permanent,  and  to  apply  to  all  future 
territories  established  in  tne  West.  This 
amendment  was  lost,  but  the  bill  was  finally 


passed  with  an  amendment  incorporating 
into  it  the  anti-slavery  clause  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787.  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  the  Sen- 
ate, declared  that  the  exclusion  of  slavery 
from  any  territory  was  a  subversion  of  the 
Union;  openly  proclaimed  the  strife  be- 
tween the  North  and  South  to  be  ended, 
and  the  separation  of  the  States  accom- 
plished. His  speech  was  an  open  invoca- 
tion to  disunion,  and  from  that  time  forth, 
the  efforts  were  regular  to  obtain  a  meet- 
ing of  the  members  from  the  slave  States, 
to  unite  in  a  call  for  a  convention  of  the 
slave  States  to  redress  themselves.  He 
said :  "  The  great  strife  between  the  North 
and  the  South  is  ended.  The  North  is 
determined  to  exclude  the  property  of  the 
slaveholder,  and,  of  course,  the  slaveholder 
himself,  from  its  territory.  On  this  point 
there  seems  to  be  no  division  in  the  North 
In  the  South,  he  regretted  to  say,  there 
was  some  division  of  sentiment.  The 
effect  of  this  determination  of  the  Noi-th 
was  to  convert  all  the  Southern  population 
into  slaves ;  and  he  would  never  consent 
to  entail  that  disgrace  on  his  posterity. 
He  denounced  any  Southern  man  who 
would  not  take  the  same  course.  Gentle- 
men were  greatly  mistaken  if  they  sup- 
posed the  Presidential  question  in  the 
South  would  override  this  more  important 
one.  The  separation  of  the  North  and  the 
South  is  completed.  The  South  has  now 
a  most  solemn  obligation  to  perform — to 
herself — to  the  constitution — to  the  Union. 
She  is  bound  to  come  to  a  decision  not  to 
permit  this  to  go  on  any  further,  but  to 
show  that,  dearly  as  she  prizes  the  Union, 
there  are  questions  which  she  regards  as 
of  greater  importance  than  the  Union. 
This  is  not  a  question  of  territorial  govern- 
ment, but  a  question  involving  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Union."  The  President, 
in  approving  the  Oregon  bill,  took  occa- 
sion to  send  in  a  special  message,  point- 
ing out  the  danger  to  the  Union  from  the 
progress  of  the  slavery  agitation,  and  urged 
an  adherence  to  the  principles  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787 — the  terms  of  the  Missouri 
compromise  of  1820 — as  also  that  involved 
and  declared  in  the  Texas  case  in  1845,  as 
the  n\,eans  of  averting  that  danger. 

The  Presidential  election  of  1848  was 
coming  on.  The  Democratic  convention* 
met  in  Baltimore  in  May  of  that  year; 
each  State  being  represented  in  the  con- 
vention by  the  number  of  delegates  equal 
to  the  number  of  electoral  votes  it  was  en- 
titled to;  saving  only  New  York,  which 
sent  two  sets  of  delegates,  and  both  were 
excluded.  The  delegates  were,  for  the 
most  part,  members  of  Congress  and  oflSce- 
holders.  The  two-thirds  rule,  adopted  by 
the  previous  convention,  was  again  made 
a  law  of  the  convention.  The  main  ques- 
tion which  arose  upon  the  formation  of 
the  platform  for  the  campaign,  wa»  tht 


50 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


doctrine  advanced  by  the  Southern  mem- 
bers of  non-interference  with  slavery  in 
the  States  or  in  the  Territories.  The  can- 
didates of  the  partv  were,  Lewis  Cass,  of 
Michigan,  for  President,  and  General  Wm, 
O.  Butler,  of  Kentucky,  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

The  Whig  convention,  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  popularity  of  Genl.  Zachary 
Taylor,  for  his  military  achievements  in 
the  Mexican  war,  then  just  ended ;  and 
his  consequent  availability  as  a  candidate, 
nominated  him  for  the  Presidency,  over  Mr. 
Clay,  Mr.  Webster  and  General  Scott,  who 
were  his  competitors  before  the  convention. 
Millard  Fillmore  was  selected  as  the  Vice- 
presidential  candidate. 

A  third  convention  was  held,  consisting 
of  the  disaffected  Democrats  from  New 
York  who  had  been  excluded  from  the 
Baltimore  convention.  They  met  at  Utica, 
New  York,  and  nominated  Martin  Van 
Bnren  for  President,  and  Charles  Francis 
Adams  for  Vice  President,  The  princi- 
ples of  its  platform,  were,  that  Congress 
should  abolish  slavery  wherever  it  consti- 
tutionally had  the  power  to  do  so — [which 
was  intended  to  apply  to  the  District  of 
Columbia] — ^that  it  should  not  interfere 
with  it  in  the  slave  States — ^and  that  it 
should  prohibit  it  in  the  Territories.  This 
party  became  known  as  "  Free-soilers," 
irom  their  doctrines  thus  enumerated,  and 
their  party  cry  of  "  free-soil,  free-speech, 
free-labor,  free-men."  The  result  of  the 
election,  as  might  have  been  foreseen,  was 
to  lose  New  York  State  to  the  Baltimore 
candidate,  and  give  it  to  the  whigs,  who 
were  triumphant  in  the  reception  of  163 
electoral  votes  for  their  candidates,  against 
127  for  the  democrats ;  and  none  for  ihe 
free-soilers. 

The  last  message  of  President  Polk,  in 
December  following,  gave  him  the  oppor- 
tunity to  again  urge  upon  Congress  the 
necessity  for  some  measure  to  quiet  the 
slavery  agitation,  and  he  recommended 
the  extension  of  the  Missouri  compromise 
line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  passing  through 
the  new  Territories  of  California  and  New 
Mexico,  aa  a  fair  adjustment,  to  meet  as 
far  as  possible  the  views  of  all  parties. 
The  President  referred  also  to  the  state  of 
the  finances;  the  excellent  condition  of 
the  public  treasury;  government  loans, 
commanding  a  high  premium;  gold  and 
silver  the  established  currency ;  and  the 
business  interests  of  the  country  in  a  pros- 
perous condition.  And  this  was  the  state 
of  affairs,  only  one  year  after  emergency 
from  a  foreign  war.  It  would  be  unfair 
not  to  give  credit  to  the  President  and  to 
Senator  Benton  and  others  equally  promi- 
nent and  courageous,  who  at  that  time  had 
to  battle  against  the  bank  theory  and 
national  paper  money  currency,  as  strongly 
nrged  and  advocated,  and  to  prove  even- 


tually that  the  money  of  the  Constitution 
— gold  and  silver — was  the  only  currency 
to  ensure  a  successful  financial  working  of 
the  government,  and  prosperity  to  the  peo- 
ple. 

The  new  President,  General  Zachary 
Taylor,  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1849. 
The  Senate  being  convened,  as  usual,  in 
extra  session,  for  the  purpose,  the  Vice 
President  elect,  Millard  Fillmore,  was  duly 
installed ;  and  the  Whig  cabinet  officers 
nominated  by  the  President,  promptly 
confirmed.  An  additional  member  of  the 
Cabinet  was  appointed  by  this  administra- 
tion to  preside  over  the  new  "  Home  De- 
partment" since  called  the  "Interior," 
created  at  the  previous  session  of  Con- 
gress. 

The  following  December  Congress  met 
in  regular  session — the  31st  since  the  or- 
ganization of  the  federal  government. 
The  Senate  consisted  of  sixty  members, 
among  whom  were  Mr.  Webster,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, and  Mr.  Clay,  who  had  returned  to  • 
public  life.  The  Ilouse  had  230  members ; 
and  although  the  whigs  had  a  small  ma- 
jority, the  House  was  so  divided  on  the 
slavery  question  in  its  various  phases, 
that  the  election  for  Speaker  resulted  in 
the  choice  of  the  Democratic  candidate, 
Mr.  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  by  a  majority  of 
three  votes.  The  annual  message  of  the 
President  plainly  showed  that  he  compre- 
hended the  dangers  to  the  Union  from  a 
continuance  of  sectional  feeling  on  the 
slavery  question,  and  he  averred  nis  deter- 
mination to  stand  by  the  Union  to  the  full 
extent  of  his  obligations  and  powers.  At 
the  previous  session  Congress  had  spent 
six  months  in  endeavoring  to  frame  a  sat- 
isfactory bill  providing  territorial  govern- 
ments for  California  and  New  Mexico, 
and  had  adjourned  finally  without  accom- 
plishing it,  in  consequence  of  inability  to 
agree  upon  whether  the  Missouri  compro- 
mise line  should  be  carried  to  the  ocean, 
or  the  territories  be  permitted  to  remain 
as  they  were — slavery  prohibited  under 
the  laws  of  Mexico.  Mr.  Calhoun  brought 
forward,  in  the  debate,  a  new  doctrine — 
extending  the  Constitution  to  the  territory, 
and  arguing  that  as  that  instrument  recog- 
nized the  existence  of  slavery,  the  settlers 
in  such  territory  should  be  permitted  to 
hold  their  slave  property  taken  there,  and 
be  protected.  Mr.  Webster's  answer  to 
this  was  that  the  Constitution  was  made 
for  States,  not  territories;  that  it  cannot 
operate  anywhere,  not  even  in  the  States 
for  which  it  was  made,  without  acts  of 
Congress  to  enforce  it.  The  proposed  fex- 
tension  of  the  constitution  to  territories, 
with  a  view  to  its  transportation  of  slavery 
along  with  it,  was  futile  and  nugatory 
without  the  act  of  Congress  to  vitalize 
slavery  under  it.  The  early  part  of  the 
year  had  witnessed  ominous  movements — 


/^rA 


ci 


^ 


Boon.]  MR.    CLAY'S    COMPROMISE    RESOLUTIONS. 


51 


nightly  meetings  of  large  numbers  of  mem- 
bers from  the  slave  States,  led  by  Mr. 
C.ilhoun,  to  consider  the  state  of  things 
between  the  North  and  the  South.  They 
appointed  committees  who  prepared  an 
address  to  the  people.  It  was  in  this  con- 
dition of  things,  that  President  Taylor  ex- 
'  pressed  his  opinion,  in  his  message,  of  the 
remodies  required.  California,  New 
Mexico  and  Utah,  had  been  left  without 
governments.  For  California,  he  recom- 
mended that  having  a  sufficient  popula- 
tion and  having  framed  a  constitution, 
she  be  admitted  as  a  State  into  the 
Union ;  and  for  New  Mexico  and  Utah, 
without  mixing  the  slavery  question  with 
their  territorial  governments,  they  be  left 
to  ripen  into  States,  and  settle  the  slavery 
question  for  themselves  in  their  State  con- 
stitutions. 

With  a  view  to  meet  the  wishes  of  all 
parties,  and  arrive  at  some  definite  and 
permanent  adjustment  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion, Mr.  Cluy  early  in  the  session  in- 
troduced compromise  resolutions  which 
were  practically  a  tacking  together  of  the 
several  bills  then  on  the  calendar,  provid- 
ing for  the  admission  of  California — the 
territorial  government  for  Utah  and  New 
Mexico — the  settlement  of  the  Texas  boun- 
dary— slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
— and  for  a  fugitive  slave  law.  It  was 
seriously  and  earnestly  opposed  by  many, 
as  being  a  concession  to  the  spirit  of  dis- 
union— a  capitulation  under  threat  of  se- 
cession; and  as  likely  to  become  the  source 
of  more  contentions  than  it  proposed  to 
quiet. 

The  resolutions  were  referred  to  a  special 
committee,  who  promptly  reported  a  bill 
embracing  the  coraprenensive  plan  of  com- 
promise w^hich  Mr.  Clay  proposed.  Among 
the  resolutions  offered,  was  the  following  : 
"  Resolved,  that  as  slavery  does  not  exist 
by  law  and  is  not  likely  to  be  introduced 
into  any  of  the  territory  acquired  by  the 
United  States  from  the  Republic  of  Mexi- 
co, it  is  inexpedient  for  Congress  to  pro- 
vide by  law  either  for  its  introduction  into 
or  exclusion  from  any  part  of  the  said  ter- 
ritory; and  that  appropriate  territorial 
governments  ought  to  be  established  by 
Congress  in  all  of  the  said  territory,  and 
assigned  as  the  boundaries  of  the  proposed 
State  of  California,  without  the  adoption 
of  any  restriction  or  condition  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery."  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  of 
Mississippi,  objected  that  the  measure  gave 
nothing  to  the  South  in  the  settlement  of 
the  question ;  and  he  required  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Missouri  compromise  line  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean  as  the  least  that  he 
would  be  willing  to  take,  with  the  specific 
recognition  of  the  right  to  hold  slaves  in 
the  territory  below  that  line ;  and  that,  be- 
fore such  territories  are  admitted  into  the 
Union  as  States,  slarea  may  be  taken  there 


from  any  of  the  United  States  at  the  option 
of  their  owner. 

Mr.  Clay  in  reply,  said :  "  Coming  from 
a  slave  State,  as  I  do,  I  owe  it  to  myself,  I 
owe  it  to  truth,  I  owe  it  to  the  subject,  to 
say  that  no  earthly  power  could  induce  me 
to  vote  for  a  specific  measure  for  the  in- 
troduction of  slavery  where  it  had  not  be- 
fore existed,  either  south  or  north  of  that 
line.  *  *  *  If  the  citizens  of  those 
territories  choose  to  establish  slavery,  and 
ifthev  come  here  with  constitutions  es- 
tablishing slavery,  I  am  for  admitting 
them  with  such  provisions  in  their  consti- 
tutions; but  then  it  will  be  their  own 
work,  and  not  ours,  and  their  posterity 
will  have  to  reproach  them,  and  not  us,  for 
forming  constitutions  allowing  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  to  exist  among  them." 

Mr.  Seward  of  New  York,  proposed  a 
renewal  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  in  the  fol- 
lowing resolution :  "  Neither  slavery  nor 
involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  by 
conviction  for  crime,  shall  ever  be  allowed 
in  either  of  said  territories  of  Utah  and 
New  Mexico ; "  but  his  resolution  was  re- 
jected in  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  23  yeas  to 
33  nays.  Following  this,  Mr.  Calhoun 
had  read  for  him  in  the  Senate,  by  his 
friend  James  M.  Mason  of  Virginia,  his 
last  speech.  It  embodied  the  points  cov- 
ered by  the  address  to  the  people,  pre- 
pared by  him  the  previous  year ;  the  prob- 
ability of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and 
presenting  a  case  to  justify  it.  The  tenor 
of  the  speech  is  shown  by  the  following  ex- 
tracts from  it:  "I  have,  Senators,  believed 
from  the  first,  that  the  agitation  of  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  would,  if  not  prevented  by 
some  timely  and  effective  measure,  end  in 
disunion.  Entertaining  this  opinion,  I 
have,  on  all  proper  occasions,  endeavored  to 
call  the  attention  of  each  of  the  two  great 
parties  which  divide  the  country  to  adopt 
some  measure  to  prevent  so  great  a  disas- 
ter, but  without  success.  The  agitation  has 
been  permitted  to  proceed,  with  almost  no 
attempt  to  resist  it,  until  it  has  reached  a 
period  when  it  can  no  longer  be  disguised 
or  denied  that  the  Union  is  in  danger. 
You  have  had  forced  upon  you  the  great- 
est and  gravest  question  that  can  ever 
come  under  your  consideration :  How  can 
the  Union  be  preserved  ?***** 
Instead  of  being  weaker,  all  the  elements 
in  favor  of  agitation  are  stronger  now  than 
they  were  in  1835,  when  it  first  commenced, 
while  all  the  elements  of  influence  on  the 
part  of  the  South  are  weaker.  Unless 
something  decisive  is  done,  I  again  ask 
what  is  to  stop  this  agitation,  before  the 
great  and  final  ol)ject  at  which  it  aims-— 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  States — is 
consummated  ?  Is  it,  then,  not  certain  that 
if  something  decisive  is  not  now  done  to 
arrest  it,  the  South  will  be  forced  to  choose 
between  abolition  and  secession  ?    Indeed 


62 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[boof  t. 


as  events  are  now  moving,  it  will  not  re- 

?uire  the  South  to  secede  to  dissolve  the 
Fnion.  *  *  *  *  Ifthe  agitation  goes 
on,  nothing  will  be  left  to  hold  the  States 
together  except  force."  He  answered  the 
question.  How  can  the  Union  be  saved? 
with  which  his  speech  opened,  by  suggest- 
ing. "  To  provide  for  the  insertion  of  a 
provision  in  the  constitution,  by  an  amend- 
ment, which  will  restore  to  the  South  in 
substance  the  power  she  possessed  of  pro- 
tecting herself,  before  the  equilibrium  be- 
tween the  sections  was  destroyed  by  the 
action  of  the  government."  He  did  not 
State  of  what  the  amendment  should  con- 
sist, but  later  on,  it  was  ascertained  from 
reliable  sources  that  his  idea  was  a  dual 
executive — one  President  from  the  free, 
and  one  from  the  slave  States,  the  consent 
of  both  of  whom  should  be  required  to  all 
acts  of  Congress  before  they  become  laws. 
This  speech  of  Mr.  Calhoun's,  is  import- 
ant as  explaining  many  of  his  previous  ac- 
tions ;  and  as  furnishing  a  guide  to  those 
who  ten  years  afterwards  attempted  to 
cany  out  practically  the  suggestions 
thrown  out  by  him. 

Mr.  Clay's  compromise  bill  was  rejected, 
ft  was  evident  that  no  compromise  of  any 
kind  whatever  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
under  any  one  of  its  aspects  separately, 
much  less  under  all  put  together,  could 
possibly  be  made.  There  was  no  spirit  of 
concession  manifested.  The  numerous 
mea-sures  put  together  in  Mr.  Clay's  bill 
were  disconnected  and  separated.  Each 
measure  received  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent consideration,  and  with  a  result 
which  showed  the  injustice  of  the  at- 
tempted conjunction ;  for  no  two  of  them 
were  passed  by  the  same  vote,  even  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  which  had  even 
unanimously  reported  favorably  upon  them 
as  a  whole. 

Mr.  Calhoun  died  in  the  spring  of  1850  ; 
before  the  separate  bill  for  the  admission 
of  California  wa*  taken  up.  His  death 
took  place  at  Washington,  he  having 
reached  the  age  of  08  years.  A  eulogy 
upon  him  was  delivered  in  the  Senate  by 
hu  colleague,  Mr.  Butler,  of  South  Caro- 
lina. Mr.  Calhoun  was  the  first  great  ad- 
vocate of  the  doctrine  of  secession.  He 
ifas  the  author  of  the  nullification  doc- 
trine, and  an  advocate  of  the  extreme  doc- 
trine of  States  Rights.  He  was  an  elo- 
quent speaker — a  man  of  strong  intellect. 
His  speeches  were  plain,  strong,  concise, 
sometimes  impassioned,  and  always  severe. 
Daniel  Webster  said  of  him,  that  "  he  had 
the  basis,  the  indispensable  basis  of  all 
high  characters,  and  that  was  unspotted 
integrity,  unimpeached  honor  and  char- 
acter ! " 

In  July  of  this  year  an  event  took  place 
which  threw  a  gloom  over  the  country. 
The  President,  General  Taylor,  contracted  a 


fever  from  exposure  to  the  hot  sun  at  a  cel-?- 
bratiop  of  Independence  Day,  from  which 
he  died  four  days  afterwards.  He  was  a 
man  of  irreproachable  private  character, 
undoubted  patriotism,  and  established  tk- 

Eutation  for  judgment  and  firmness.  His 
rief  career  showed  no  deficiency  of  poli- 
tical wisdom  nor  want  of  political  training. 
His  administration  was  beset  with  difficul- 
ties, with  momentous  questions  pendiiig, 
and  he  met  the  crisis  with  firmness  nnd 
determination,  resolved  to  maintain  the 
Federal  Union  at  all  hazards.  His  first 
and  only  annual  message,  the  leading 
points  of  which  have  been  stated,  evinces 
a  spirit  to  do  what  was  right  among  all  the 
States.  His  death  was  a  public  calamity. 
No  man  could  have  been  more  devoi«jd  to 
the  Union  ncr  more  opposed  to  the  slavery . 
agitation  ;  and  his  position  as  a  Southern 
man  and  a  slaveholder — his  military  repu- 
tation, and  his  election  by  a  majority  of 
the  people  as  well  as  of  the  States,  would 
have  given  him  a  power  in  the  settlement 
of  the  pending  questions  of  the  day  which 
no  President  without  these  qualifications 
could  have  possessed. 

In  accordance  with  the  Constitution,  the 
oflSce  of  President  thus  devolved  upon  the 
Vice-President,  Mr.  Millard  Fillmure,  who 
was  duly  inaugurated  July  10,  1850.  The 
new  cabinet,  with  Daniel  Webster  as  Se- 
cretary of  State,  was  duly  appoiiited  and 
confirmed  by  the  Senate. 

The  bill  for  the  admission  of  California 
as  a  State  in  the  Union,  was  called  up  in 
the  Senate  and  sought  to  be  amendea  by 
extending  the  Missouri  Compromise  line 
through  it,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  so  as  to 
authorize  slavery  in  the  State  below  that 
line.  The  amendment  was  introduced  and 
pressed  by  Southern  friends  of  the  late 
Mr.  Calhoun,  and  made  a  test  question.  It 
was  lost,  and  the  bill  passed  by  a  two- 
third  vote  ;  whereupon  ten  Southern  Sena- 
tors offered  a  written  protest,  the  conclud- 
ing clause  of  which  was  :  '•  We  dissent 
from  this  bill,  and  solemnly  protest  against 
its  passage,  because  in  sanctioning  mea- 
sures so  contrary  to  former  precedents,  to 
obvious  policy,  to  the  spirit  and  intent  of 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  purpose  of  excluding  the  slaveholding 
States  from  the  territory  thus  to  be  erected 
into  a  State,  this  government  in  effect  de- 
clares that  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from 
the  territory  of  the  United  States  is  an  ob- 
ject so  high  and  important  as  to  justify  a 
disregard  not  only  of  all  the  principles  of 
sound  policy,  but  also  of  the  constitution 
itself.  Against  this  conclusion  we  must 
now  and  for  ever  protest,  as  it  is  destruc- 
tive of  the  safety  and  liberties  of  those 
whose  rights  have  been  committed  to  our 
care,  fatal  to  the  peace  and  equality  of  the 
States  which  we  represent,  and  must  lead, 
if  persisted  in,  to  the  dissolution  of  that 


BOOKI.]    RISE    AND    PROGRESS    OF    ABOLITION    PARTY. 


confederacy,  in  which  the  slaveholding 
States  have  never  sought  more  than 
equality,  and  in  which  they  will  not  be 
content  to  remain  with  less."  On  objec- 
tion being  made,  followed  by  debate,  the 
Senate  refused  to  receive  the  protest,  or 
permit  it  to  be  entered  on  the  Journal. 
The  bill  went  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, was  readily  passed,  and  promptly 
approved  by  the  President.  Thus  was 
virtually  accomplished  the  abrogation  of 
the  Missouri  compromise  line ;  and  the  ex- 
tension or  non-extension  of  slavery  was 
then  made  to  form  a  foundation  for  future 
political  parties. 

The  year  1850  was  prolific  with  disunion 
movements  in  the  Southern  States.  The 
Senators  who  had  joined  with  Mr.  Calhoun 
in  the  address  to  the  people,  in  1849, 
united  with  their  adherents  in  establishing 
at  Washington  a  newspaper  entitled  "  The 
Southern  Press,"  devoted  to  the  agitation 
of  the  slavery  question  ;  to  presenting  the 
advantages  of  disunion,  and  the  organi- 
zation of  a  confederacy  of  Southern 
States  to  be  called  the  "United,  States 
South."  Its  constant  aim  was  to  influence 
the  South  against  the  North,  and  advoca- 
ted concert  of  action  by  the  States  of  the 
former  section.  It  was  aided  in  its  efforts 
by  newspapers  published  in  the  South, 
more  especially  in  South  Carolina  and 
Mississippi.  A  disunion  convention  was 
actually  held,  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and 
invited  the  assembly  of  a  Southern  Con- 
gress. Two  States,  South  Carolina  and 
Mississippi  responded  to  the  appeal; 
passed  laws  to  carry  it  into  effect,  and  the 
lormer  went  so  far  as  to  elect  its  quota  of 
Representatives  to  the  proposed  new 
Southern  Congress.  These  occurrences 
are  referred  to  as  showing  the  spirit  that 
prevailed,  and  the  extraordinary  and  un- 
justifiable means  used  by  the  leaders  to 
mislead  and  exasperate  the  people.  The 
assembling  of  a  Southern  "  Congress  "  was 
a  turning  point  in  the  progress  of  disunion. 
Georgia  refused  to  join ;  and  her  weight  as 
a  great  Southern  State  was  sufficient  to  cause 
the  failure  of  the  scheme.  But  the  seeds 
of  discord  were  sown,  and  had  taken  root, 
only  to  spring  up  at  a  future  time  when 
circumstances  should  be  more  favorable  to 
the  accomplishment  of  the  object. 

Although  the  Congress  of  the  Upited 
States  had  in  1790  and  again  in  1836 
formally  declared  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment to  be  non-interference  with  the  States 
in  respect  to  the  matter  of  slavery  within 
the  limits  of  the  respective  States,  the  sub- 
ject continued  to  be  agitated  in  conse- 
quence of  petitions  to  Congress  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  which 
was  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the  fed- 
eral government;  and  of  movements 
throughout  the  United  States  to  limit,  and 
finally  abolish  it.  The  subject  first  made  its 


appearance  in  national  politics  in  1840,  when 
a  i)residential  ticket  was  nominated  by  a 
party  then  formed  favoring  the  abolition  of 
slavery ;  it  had  a  very  slight  following 
which  was  increased  ten-fold  at  the  elec- 
tion of  1844  when  the  same  party  again 
put  a  ticket  in  the  field  with  James  G. 
Birney  of  Michigan,  as  its  candidate  for 
the  Presidency ;  who  received  62,140  rotes. 
The  efforts  of  the  leaders  of  that  faction 
were  continued,  and  persisted  in  to  such 
an  extent,  that  when  in  1848  it  nominated 
a  ticket  with  Gerritt  Smith  for  President, 
against  the  Democratic  candidate,  Martin 
Van  Buren,  the  former  received  296,232 
votes.  In  the  presidential  contest  of  1852 
the  abolition  party  again  nominated  a 
ticket,  with  John  P.  Hale  as  its  candidate 
for  President,  and  polled  157,926  votes. 
This  large  following  was  increased  from 
time  to  time,  until  uniting  with  a  new 
party  then  formed,  called  the  Republican 
party,  which  latter  adopted  a  platform  en- 
dorsing the  views  and  sentiments  of  the 
abolitionists,  the  great  and  decisive  battle 
for  the  principles  involved,  was  fought  in 
the  ensuing  presidential  contest  of  1856 ; 
when  the  candidate  of  the  Republican 
party,  John  C.  Fremont,  supported  by  the 
entire  abolition  party,  polled  1,341,812 
votes.  The  first  national  platform  of  the 
Abolition  party,  upon  which  it  went  into 
the  contest  of  1840,  favored  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
Territories;  the  inter-state  slave  trade, 
and  a  general  opposition  to  slavery  to  tbe 
full  extent  of  constitutional  power. 

Following  the  discussion  of  the  subject  of 
slavery,  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre-  • 
sentatives,  brought  about  by  the  presenta- 
tion of  petitions  and  memorials,  and  the 
passage  of  the  resolutions  in  1836  rejecting 
such  petitions,  the  question  was  again 
raised  by  the  presentation  in  the  House, 
by  Mr.  Slade  of  Vermont,  on  the  20th 
December  1837,  of  two  memorials  praying 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  moving  that  they  be  re- 
ferred to  a  select  committee.  Great  excite- 
ment prevailed  in  the  chamber,  and  of  the 
many  attempts  by  the  Southern  members 
an  adjournment  was  had.  The  next  day  a 
resolution  was  offered  that  thereafter  all 
such  petitions  and  memorials  touching  the 
abolition  of  slavery  should,  when  pre- 
sented, be  laid  on  the  table ;  which  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  by  a  large  vote.  During 
the  24th  Congress,  the  Senate  pursued  the 
course  of  laying  on  the  table  the  motion  to 
receive  all  abolition  petitions ;  and  both 
Houses  during  the  25tn  Congress  continued 
the  same  course  of  conduct ;  when  finally 
on  the  25th  of  January  1840,  the  House 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  114  to  108,  an  amend- 
ment to  the  rules,  called  the  21st  Rule, 
which  provided : — "  that  no  petition,  me- 
morial or  resolution,  or  other  paper,  pray- 


54 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


ing  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  or  any  state  or  territory,  or 
the  slave-trade  between  the  States  or  ter- 
ritories of  the  United  States,  in  which  it 
now  exists,  shall  be  received  by  this 
House,  or  entertained  in  any  way  what- 
ever," This  rule  was  afterwards,  on  the 
3d  of  December,  1844,  rescinded  by  the 
House,  on  motion  of  Mr.  J.  Quincy  Adams, 
by  a  vote  of  108  to  80 ;  and  a  motion  to 
re-instate  it,  on  the  1st  of  December  1845, 
was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  84  to  121. 
iWithin  five  years  afterwards — on  the  17th 
September  iSoO, — the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  enacted  a  law,  which  was  ap- 
proved by  the  President,  abolishing  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1850,  there 
was  presented  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, two  petitions  from  citizens  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  Delaware,  setting  forth  that 
slavery,  and  the  constitution  which  per- 
mits it,  violates  the  Divine  law;  is  incon- 
sistent with  republican  principles;  that 
its  existence  has  brought  evil  upon  the 
country ;  and  that  no  union  can  exist  with 
States  which  tolerate  that  institution ;  and 
asking  that  some  plan  be  devised  for  the 
immediate,  peaceful  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  The  House  refused  to  receive  aud 
consider  the  petitions;  as  did  also  the 
Senate  when  tne  same  petitions  were  pre- 
sented the  same  month. 

The  presidential  election  of  1852  was  the 
last  campaign  in  which  the  Whig  party 
appeared  in  National  politics.  It  nomi- 
nated a  ticket  with  General  Winfield  Scott 
as  its  candidate  for  President.  His  oppo- 
nent on  the  Democratic  ticket  was  General 
Franklin  Pierce.  A  third  ticket  was  placed 
in  the  field  by  the  Abolition  party,  with 
John  P.  Hale  as  its  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent. The  platform  and  declaration  of 
principles  of  the  Whig  party  was  in  sub- 
stance a  ratification  and  endorsement  of 
the  several  measures  embraced  in  Mr. 
Clay's  compromise  resolutions  of  the  pre- 
vious session  of  Congress,  before  referred 
to ;  and  the  policy  of  a  revenue  for  the 
economical  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment, to  be  derived  mainly  from  duties  on 
imports,  and  by  these  means  to  afford  pro- 
tection to  American  industry.  The  main 
plank  of  the  platform  of  the  Abolition 
party  (or  Independent  Democrats,  as  they 
were  called)  was  for  the  non-extension  and 
jgradual  extinction  of  slavery.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  equally  adhered  to  the  com- 
promise measure.  The  election  resulted 
fin  the  choice  of  Franklin  Pierce,  by  a 
popular  vote  of  1,601,474,  and  254  electoral 
votes,  against  a  popular  aggregate  vote  of 
1,542,403  (of  which  the  abolitionists  polled 
157,926)  and  42  electoral  votes,  for  the 
AVhig  and  Abolition  candidates.  Mr. 
Pierce  was  duly  inaugurated  as  President, 
March  4,  1853. 


The  first  political  parties  in  the  United 
States,  from  the  estaolishment  of  the  fede- 
ral government  aud  for  many  years  after- 
wards, were  denominated  Federalists  and 
Democrats,  or  Democratic  Republicans. 
The  former  was  an  anti-alien  party.  The 
latter  was  made  up  to  a  large  extent  of 
naturalized  foreigners ;  refugees  from  Eng- 
land, Ireland  and  Scotland,  driven  from 
home  for  hostility  to  the  government  or  for 
attachment  to  France.  Naturally,  aliens 
sought  alliance  with  the  Democratic  party, 
which  favored  the  war  against  Great 
Britain.  The  early  party  contests  were 
based  on  the  naturalization  laws ;  the  first 
of  which,  approved  March  26,  1790,  re- 
quired only  two  years'  residence  in  this 
country;  a  few  years  afterwards  the  time 
was  extended  to  five  years ;  and  in  1798 
the  Federalists  taking  advantage  of  the 
war  fever  against  France,  and  then  being 
in  power,  extended  the  time  to  fourteen 
years.  (See  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  of 
1798).  Jefferson's  election  and  Demo- 
cratic victory  of  1800,  brought  the  period 
back  to  five  years  in  1802,  and  re-inforced 
the  Democratic  party.  The  city  of  New 
York,  especially,  from  time  to  time  became 
filled  with  foreigners ;  thus  naturalized ; 
brought  into  the  Democratic  ranks ;  and 
crowded  out  native  Federalists  from  con- 
trol of  the  city  government,  and  to  meet 
this  condition  of  affairs,  the  first  attempt 
at  a  Native  American  organization  was 
made.  Beginning  in  1836 ;  ending  in 
failure  in  election  of  Mayor  in  1837,  it  was 
revived  in  April,  1844,  when  the  Native 
American  organization  carried  New  York 
city  for  its  Mayoralty  candidate  by  a  good 
majority.  The  success  of  the  movement 
there,  caused  it  to  spread  to  New  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania.  In  Philadelphia,  it  was 
desperately  opposed  by  the  Democratic, 
Irish  and  Roman  Catholic  element,  and  so 
furiously,  that  it  resulted  in  riots,  in  which 
two  Romish  Churches  were  burned  and 
destroyed.  The  adherents  of  the  Ameri- 
can organization  were  not  confined  to 
Federalists  or  Whigs,  but  largely  of  native 
Democrats  ;  and  the  Whigs  openly  voted 
with  Democratic  Natives  in  orcler  to  secure 
their  vote  for  Henry  Clay  for  the  Presi- 
dency ;  but  when  in  November,  1844,  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  both  gave  Native 
majorities,  and  so  sapped  the  Whig  vote, 
that  both  places  gave  majorities  for  the 
Democratic  Presidential  electors,  the 
Whi^  drew  off.  In  1845,  at  the  April 
election  in  New  York,  the  natives  were 
defeated,  and  the  new  party  disappeared 
there.  As  a  result  of  the  autumn  election 
of  1844,  the  29th  Congress,  which  organ- 
ized in  December,  1845,  had  six  Native 
Representatives ;  four  from  New  York  and 
two  from  Pennsylvania.  In  the  30th  Con- 
gress, Pennsylvania  had  one.  Thereafter 
I  for  some  years,  with  the  exception  of  a 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    KANSAS-NEBRASKA    BILL. 


55 


small  vote  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York, 
Nativism  disappeared.  An  able  writer  of 
that  day— Hon.  A.  H.  H.  Stuart,  of  Vir- 
ginia— published  under  the  nom-de-plume 
ot"  "  Madison  "  several  letters  in  vindication 
of  the  American  party  (revived  in  1852,)  in 
which  he  said :  "  The  vital  principle  of  the 
American  party  is  Americanism — develop- 
ing itself  in  a  deep-rooted  attachment  to 
our  own  country — its  constitution,  its  union, 
and  its  laws — to  American  men,  and  Ameri- 
can measures,  and  American  interests — or, 
in  other  words,  a  fervent  patriotism — 
which,  rejecting  the  transcendental  philan- 
thropy of  abolitionists,  and  that  kindred 
batch  of  wild  enthusiasts,  who  would  seek 
to  embroil  us  with  foreign  countries,  in 
righting  the  wrongs  of  Ireland,  or  Hun- 
gary, or  Cuba — would  guard  with  vestal 
vigilance  American  institutions  and  Ameri- 
ean  interests  against  the  baneful  effects  of 
foreign  influence." 

About  1852,  when  the  question  of  slavery 
in  the  territories,  and  its  extension  or  its 
abolition  in  the  States,  was  agitated  and 
causing  sectional  differences  in  the  coun- 
try, many  Whigs  and  Democrats  forsook 
their  parties,  and  took  sides  on  the  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  This  was  aggravated  by 
the  large  number  of  alien  naturalized  citi- 
zens constantly  added  to  the  ranks  of 
voters,  who  took  sides  with  the  Democrats 
and  against  the  Whigs.  Nativism  then 
re-appeared,  but  in  a  new  form — that  of  a 
secret  fraternity.  Its  real  name  and  ob- 
jects were  not  revealed — even  to  its  mem- 
bers, until  they  reached  a  high  degree  in 
the  order ;  and  the  answer  of  members  on 
being  questioned  on  these  subjects  was,  "  I 
don't  know" — which  gave  it  the  popular 
name,  by  which  it  is  yet  known,  of  "  Know- 
nothing."  Its  moving  causes  were  the 
growing  power  and  designs  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  in  America ;  the  sudden 
influx  of  aliens ;   and  the  greed  and  inca- 

facity  of  naturalized  citizens  for  office. 
ts  cardinal  principle  was :  "  Americans 
must  rule  America  "  ;  and  its  countersign 
was  the  order  of  General  Washington  on  a 
critical  occasion  during  the  war :  "  Put 
none  but  Americans  on  guard  to-night." 
Its  early  nominations  were  not  made  pub- 
lic, but  were  made  by  select  committees 
and  conventions  of  delegates.  At  first 
these  nominations  were  confined  to  selec- 
tions of  the  best  Whig  or  best  Democrat  on 
the  respective  tickets ;  and  the  choice  not 
bein^  made  known,  but  quietly  voted  for 
by  all  the  members  of  the  order,  the  effect 
was  only  visible  after  election,  and  threw 
all  calculation  into  chaos.  For  a  while  it 
was  really  the  arbiter  of  elections. 

On  February  8,  1853,  a  bill  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  providing  a  ter- 
ritorial government  for  Nebraska,  embrac- 
ini^  all  of  what  is  now  Kansas  and 
Nebraska.     It  was  silent  on  the  subject  of 


the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
The  bill  was  tabled  in  the  Senate ;  to  be 
revived  at  the  following  session.  In  the 
Senate  it  was  amended,  on  motion  of  Mr, 
Douglas,  to  read  :  "  That  so  much  of  the 
8th  section  of  an  act  approved  March  6> 
1820,  (the  Missouri  compromise)  *  *  * 
which,  being  inconsistent  with  the  princi- 
ples of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with 
slavery  in  the  States  and  Territories,  as 
recognized  by  the  legislature  of  1850,  com- 
monly called  the  Compromise  measures,  is 
hereby  declared  inoperative  and  void ;  it 
being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any 
Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  there- 
from, but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  per- 
fectly free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way, 
subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States."  It  was  further  amended, 
on  motion  of  Senator  Clayton,  to  prohibit 
"alien  suffrage."  In  the  House  this 
amendment  was  not  agreed  to ;  and  the 
bill  finally  passed  without  it,  on  the  25th 
May,  1854. 

So  far  as  Nebraska  was  concerned,  no 
excitement  of  any  kind  marked  the  initia- 
tion of  her  territorial  existence.  The 
persons  who  emigrated  there  seemed  to 
regard  the  pursuits  of  business  as  of  mors 
interest  than  the  discussion  of  slavery. 
Kansas  was  less  fortunate.  Her  territory 
became  at  once  the  battle-field  of  a  fierce 
political  conflict  between  the  advocates  of 
slavery,  and  the  free  soil  men  from  the 
North  who  went  there  to  resist  the  estab- 
lishment of  that  institution  in  the  terri- 
tory. Differences  arose  between  the 
Legislature  and  the  Governor,  brought 
about  by  antagonisms  between  the  Pro- 
slavery  party  and  the  Free  State  party ; 
and  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Kansas 
assumed  so  frightful  a  mien  in  January, 
1856,  that  the  President  sent  a  special 
message  to  Congress  on  the  subject, 
January  24,  1856  ;  followed  by  a  Proclama- 
tion, February  11,  1856,  "warning  all  un- 
lawful combinations  (in  the  territory)  to 
retire  peaceably  to  their  respective  abodes, 
or  he  would  use  the  power  of  the  local 
militia,  and  the  available  forces  of  the 
United  States  to  disperse  them." 

Several  applications  were  made  to  Con- 
gress for  several  successive  years,  for  the 
admission  of  Kansas  as  a  state  in  the 
Union ;  upon  the  basis  of  three  separate 
and  distinct  constitutions,  all  differing  as 
to  the  main  questions  at  issue  between  the 
contending  factions.  The  name  of  Kansas 
was  for  some  years  synonymous  with  all 
that  is  lawless  and  anarchical.  Elections 
became  mere  farces,  and  the  officers  thus 
fraudulently  placed  in  power,  used  their 
authority  only  for  their  own  or  their 
party's  interest.  The  party  opposed  to 
slavery  at  length  triumphed ;  a  constitution 


56 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[bookl 


excluding  sLtven'  was  adopted  in  1859, 
and  Kansas  was  admitted  into  the  Union 
January  29,  1861. 

Under  the  ftigitive  slave  law,  which  was 
passed  hy  Congress  at  the  session  of  1850, 
as  one  of  the  Compromise  measures,  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Clay,  a  long  and  exciting 
litigation  occurred  to  test  the  validity  and 
constitutionality'  of  the  act,  and  the  several 
laws  on  which  it  depended.  The  suit  was 
instituted  by  Dred  Scott,  a  negro  slave,  in 
the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
the  District  of  I\Iissouri,  in  April  Term, 
1854,  against  John  F.  A.  Sanford,  his 
alleged  owner,  for  trespass  ri  d  armis,  in 
holding  the  plaintiff  and  his  wife  and 
daughters  in  slavery  in  said  District  of 
Slissouri,  where  by  law  slavery  was  pro- 
hibited ;  they  having  been  previously  law- 
fully held  in  slavery-  by  a  former  owner — 
Dr.  Emerson — in  the  State  of  Illinois, 
from  whence  they  were  taken  by  him  to 
Missouri,  and  sold  to  the  dcfendent,  San- 
ford. The  case  went  up  on  appeal  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and 
was  clearly  and  elaborately  argued.  The 
majority  opinion,  delivered  by  Chief  Jus- 
tice Taney,  as  also  the  dissenting  opinions, 
are  reported  in  full  in  Howard's  U.  S. 
Supreme  Court  Reports,  Volume  19,  page 
393.  In  respect  to  the  territories  the  Con- 
stitution grants  to  Congress  the  power  "  to 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations 
concerning  the  territory  and  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States.''  The 
Court  was  of  opinion  that  the  clause  of 
the  Constitution  applies  only  to  the  terri- 
tory within  the  original  States  at  the  time 
the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  that  it 
did  not  apply  to  fiiture  territory  acquired 
by  treaty  or  conquest  from  foreign  na- 
tions. They  were  also  of  opinion  that  the 
power  of  Congress  over  such  future  terri- 
torial acquisitions  was  not  unlimited,  that 
the  citizens  of  the  States  migrating  to  a 
territory  were  not  to  be  regarded  as 
colonists,  subject  to  absolute  power  in 
Congress,  but  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  with  all  the  rights  of  citizenship 
guarantied  by  the  Constitution,  and  that 
no  legislation  was  constitutional  which  at- 
tempted to  deprive  a  citizen  of  his 
property  on  his  becoming  a  resident  of  a 
territory.  This  question  in  the  case  arose 
under  the  act  of  Congress  prohibiting 
slavery  in  the  territory  of  upper  Louisiana, 
(acquired  from  France,  afterwards  the 
State),  and  of  which  the  territory  of 
Missouri  was  formed.  Any  obscurity  as 
to  what  constitutes  citizenship,  will  be  re- 
moved by  attending  to  the  distinction  be- 
tween local  rights  of  citizenship  of  the 
United  States  according  to  the  Constitu- 
tion. Citizenship  at  large  in  the  sense  of 
the  Constitution  can  be  conferred  on  a 
foreigner  only  by  the  naturalization  laws 
of  Congress.    But  each  State,  in  the  exer. 


else  of  its  local  and  reserved  sovereignty, 
may  place  foreigners  or  other  persons  on 
a  footing  with  its  own  citizens,  as  to  politi- 
cal rights  and  privileges  to  be  enjoyed 
within  its  own  dominion.  But  State  regu- 
lations of  this  character  do  not  make  the 
persons  on  whom  such  rights  are  conferred 
citizens  of  the  United  States  or  entitle 
them  to  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
citizens  in  another  State.  See  5  Wheaton, 
(U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Reports),  page  49. 

The  Court  said  in  The  Dred  Scott  case, 
above  referred  to,  that : — "  The  right  of 
property  in  a  slave  is  distinctly  and  ex- 
pressly affirmed  in  the  Constitution.  The 
right  to  traffic  in  it  like  the  ordinarj-  article 
of  merchandise  and  property  Mas  guar- 
antied to  the  citizens  of  the  L^nitcd  States, 
in  every  State  that  might  desire  it  for 
twenty  years,  and  the  government  in  ex- 
press terms  is  pledged  to  protect  it  in  all 
future  time  if  the  slave  escapes  from  his 
owner.  This  is  done  in  plain  words — too 
plain  to  be  misunderstood,  and  no  word 
can  be  found  in  the  Constitution  which 
gives  Congress  a  greater  power  over  slave 
property',  or  which  entitles  property  of 
that  kind  to  less  protection  than  the  prop- 
erty of  any  other  description.  The  only 
power  conferred  is  the  power  coupled  with 
the  duty  of  guarding  and  protecting  the 
owner  in  his  rights.  Upon  these  considera- 
tions, it  is  the  opinion  of  the  Court  that 
the  Act  of  Congress  which  prohibited  a 
citizen  from  holding  and  owning  property 
of  this  kind  in  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  north  of  the  line  therein  mentioned, 
is  not  warranted  by  the  Constitution  and 
is  therefore  void ;  and  that  neither  Dred 
Scott  himself,  nor  any  of  his  family  were 
made  free  by  being  carried  into  this  terri- 
tory ;  even  if  they  had  been  carried  there 
by  the  owner  with  the  intention  of  becom- 
ing a  permanent  resident."  The  abolition 
of  slavery  by  the  13th  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  ratified 
and  adopted  December  18,  1865,  has  put 
an  end  to  these  discussions  formerly  so 
numerous. 

As  early  as  1854,  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
controversy  on  the  territorial  government 
bill,  resulted  in  a  division  of  the  Whig 
party  in  the  North.  Those  not  sufficiently 
opposed  to  slavery  to  enter  the  new  Repub- 
lican party,  then  in  its  incipiency,  allied 
themselves  with  the  Know-Nothing  order, 
which  now  accepting  the  name  of  Ameri- 
can party  established  a  separate  and  in- 
dependent political  existence.  The  party 
had  no  hold  in  the  West ;  it  was  entirely 
Middle  State  at  this  time,  and  polled  a 
large  vote  in  Massachusetts,  Delaware  and 
New  York.  In  the  State  elections  of  1855 
the  American  party  made  a  stride  South- 
ward. In  1855,  the  absence  of  natural- 
ized citizens  was  universal  in  the  South, 
and  even  so  late  as  1881  the  proportion  of 


BOOK  1.] 


THE    AMERICAN    RITUAL. 


57 


foreign-born  population  in  the  Southern 
States,  with  the  exception  of  Florida, 
Louisiana,  and  Texas  was  under  two  per 
cent.  At  the  early  date — 1855 — the  na- 
tivist  feeling  among  the  Whigs  of  that 
section,  made  it  easy  to  transfer  them  to 
the  American  party,  which  thus  secured  in 
both  the  Eastern  and  Southern  States,  the 
election  of  Governor  and  Legislature  in 
the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachu- 
setts, Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  California  and  Kentucky ;  and  also 
elected  part  of  its  State  ticket  in  Mary- 
land, and  Texas  ;  and  only  lost  the  States 
of  Virginia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisi- 
ana, and  Texas,  by  small  majorities  against 
it. 

The  order  began  preparations  for  a  cam- 
paign as  a  National  party,  in  1856.  It  aimed 
to  introduce  opposition  to  aliens  and  Ro- 
man Catholicism  as  a  national  question. 
On  the  21st  of  February,  1856,  the  Nation- 
al Council  held  a  session  at  Philadelphia, 
and  proceeded  to  formulate  a  declaration  of 
principles,  and  make  a  platform,  which 
were  as  follows : 

"  An  humble  acknowledgement  to  the 
Supreme  Being,  for  his  protecting  care 
vouchsafed  to  our  fathers  in  their  success- 
ful Revolutionary  struggle,  and  hitherto 
manifested  to  us,  their  descendants,  in  the 
preservation  of  the  liberties,  the  indepen- 
dence, and  the  union  of  these  States. 

2d.  The  perpetuation  of  the  Federal 
Union,  as  the  palladium  of  our  civil  and 
religious  liberties,  and  the  only  sure  Bul- 
wark of  American  independence. 

3d.  Americans  must  rule  America,  and 
to  this  end,  native-born  citizens  should  be 
selected  for  all  state,  federal,  and  munici- 
pal oflSces  or  government  employment,  in 
preference  to  all  others  ;  nevertheless, 

4th.  Persons  born  of  American  par- 
ents residing  temporarily  abroad,  should 
be  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  native-born 
citizens ;  but, 

5th.  No  person  shall  be  selected  for  po- 
litical station  (whether  of  native  or  for- 
eign birth),  who  recognizes  any  allegiance 
or  obligation,  of  any  description,  to  any 
foreign  prince,  potentate,  or  power,  or  who 
refuses  to  recognize  the  Federal  and  State 
constitutions  (each  within  its  sphere)  as 

{>aramount  to  all  other  laws,  as  rules  of  po- 
itical  action. 

6th.  The  unqualified  recognition  and 
maintenance  of  the  reserved  rights  of  the 
several  States,  and  tiie  cultivation  of  har- 
mony and  fraternal  good  will,  between  the 
citizens  of  the  several  States,  and  to  this 
end,  non-interference  by  congress  with 
questions  appertaining  solely  to  the  indi- 
vidual States,  and  non-intervention  by  each 
State  with  the  affairs  of  any  other  State. 

7th.  The  recognition  of  the  right  of 
the  native-born  and  naturalized  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  permanently  residing  in 


any  territory  thereof,  to  frame  their  con- 
stitution and  laws,  and  to  regulate  their 
domestic  and  social  affairs  in  their  own 
mode,  subject  only  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  with  the  privilege  ot 
admission  into  the  Union,  whenever  they 
have  the  requisite  population  for  one  rep- 
resentative in  Congress. — Provided  always, 
that  none  but  those  who  are  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  under  the  Constitution  and 
laws  thereof,  and  who  have  a  fixed  resi- 
dence in  any  such  territory,  ought  to  par 
ticipate  in  the  formation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, or  in  the  enactment  of  laws  for  said. 
Territory  or  State.  ' 

8th.  An  enforcement  of  the  principle 
that  no  State  or  Territory  ought  to  admit 
others  than  citizens  of  the  United  States  to 
the  right  of  suffrage,  or  of  holding  politi- 
cal office. 

9th.  A  change  in  the  laws  of  naturali- 
zation, making  a  continued  residence  of 
twenty-one  years,  of  all  not  hereinbefore 
provided  for,  an  indispensable  requisite  for 
citizenship  hereafter,  and  excluding  all 
paupers,  and  persons  convicted  of  crime, 
from  landing  upon  our  shores ;  but  no  in- 
terference with  the  vested  rights  of  foreign- 
ers. 

10th.  Opposition  to  any  union  between 
Church  and  State  ;  no  interference  with  re- 
ligious faith,  or  worship,  and  no  test  oaths 
for  office. 

11th.  Free  and  thorough  investigation 
into  any  and  all  alleged  abuses  of  public 
functionaries,  and  a  strict  economy  in  pub- 
lic expenditures. 

12th.  The  maintenance  and  enforce- 
ment of  all  laws  constitutionally  enacted, 
until  said  laws  shall  be  repealed,  or  shall 
be  declareji  null  and  void  by  competent 
judicial  authority. 

The  American  Ritual,  or  Constitution, 
rules,  regulations,  and  ordinances  of  the 
Order  were  as  follows : — 

AMERICAN    RITUAL. 

CotutUulion    of  Hit  Natinnnl  OuncU  of  Ou  United  Btaia  of 
North  America, 

Art.  1st.  This  organization  shall  be 
known  by  the  name  and  title  of  The 
National  Couxcil  of  the  United 
States  of  North  America,  and  its  juris- 
diction and  power  shall  extend  to  all  the 
states,  districts,  and  territories  of  the 
United  States  of  North  America. 

Art.  2d.  The  object  of  this  organization 
shall  be  to  protect  every  American  citizen 
in  the  legal  and  proper  exercise  of  all  his 
civil  and  religious  rights  and  privileges ; 
to  resist  the  insidious  policy  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  and  all  other  foreign  influence 
against  our  republican  institutions  in  all 
lawful  ways  ;  to  place  in  all  offices  of  honor 
trust,  or  profit,  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  or 
by  appointment,  none  but  native-born 
Protestant  citizens,  and  to  protect,  preserve, 


58 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


and  uphold  the  union  of  these  states  and 
the  coustitution  of  the  same. 

Art.  3d.  Sec.  1. — A  person  to  become  a 
member  of  any  subordmate  council  must 
be  twenty-one  years  of  age ;  he  must  be- 
lieve in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being 
as  the  Creator  and  preserver  of  the  uni- 
verse. He  must  be  a  native-born  citizen  ; 
a  Protestant,  either  born  of  Protestant 
parents,  or  reared  under  Protestant  influ- 
ence ;  and  not  united  in  marriage  with  a 
Roman  Catholic;  provided,  nevertheless, 
•that  in  this  last  respect,  the  state,  district, 
or  territorial  councils  shall  be  authorized 
to  so  construct  their  respective  constitu- 
tions aa  shall  best  promote  the  interests  of 
the  American  cause  in  their  several  juris- 
dictions ;  and  provided,  moreover,  that  no 
member  who  may  have  a  Roman  Catholic 
wife  shall  be  eligible  to  office  in  this  order ; 
and  provided,  further,  should  any  state, 
district,  or  territorial  council  prefer  the 
words  "  Roman  Catholic"  as  a  disquali- 
fication to  membership,  in  place  of  Pro- 
testant" as  a  qualification,  they  may  so 
consider  this  constitution  and  govern  their 
action  accordingly. 

Sec.  2. — There  shall  be  an  interval  of 
three  weeks  between  the  conferring  of  the 
first  and  second  degrees;  and  of  three 
months  between  the  conferring  of  the 
second  and  third  degrees — provided,  that 
this  restriction  shall  not  apply  to  those  who 
may  have  received  the  second  degree  pre- 
vious to  the  first  day  of  December  next ; 
and  provided,  ftirther,  that  the  presidents 
of  state,  district,  and  territorial  councils 
may  grant  dispensations  for  initiating  in 
all  the  degrees,  officers  of  new  councils. 

Sec.  3. — The  national  council  shall  hold 
its  annual  meetings  on  the  first  Tuesday 
in  the  month  of  June,  at  such  place  as  may 
be  designated  by  the  national  council  at 
the  previous  annual  meeting,  and  it  may 
adjourn  from  time  to  time.  Special  meet- 
ings may  be  called  by  the  President,  on  the 
written  request  of  nve  delegations  repre- 
senting five  state  councils ;  provided,  that 
sixty  days'  notice  shall  be  given  to  the 
state  councils  previous  to  said  meeting. 

Sec.  4. — The  national  council  shall  be 
composed  of  seven  delegates  from  each 
state,  to  be  chosen  by  the  state  councils ; 
and  each  district  or  territory  where  a  dis- 
trict or  territorial  council  shall  exist,  shall 
be  entitled  to  send  two  delegates,  to  be 
chosen  from  said  council — provided  that  in 
the  nomination  of  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to 
cast  the  same  number  of  votes  as  they  shall 
have  members  in  both  houses  of  Congress. 
In  all  sessions  of  the  national  council, 
thirty-two  delegates,  representing  thirteen 
states,  territories,  or  districts,  shall  consti- 
tute a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness. 


Sec.  5. — ^The  national  council  shall  be 
vested  with  the  following  powers  and  privi- 
leges : 

It  shall  be  the  head  of  the  organization 
for  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
and  shall  fix  and  establish  all  signs,  grips, 
passwords,  and  such  other  secret  work,  as 
may  seem  to  it  necessary. 

It  shall  have  the  power  to  decide  all 
matters  appertaining  to  national  politics. 

It  shall  have  the  power  to  exact  from  the 
state  councils,  quarterly  or  annual  state- 
ments as  to  the  number  of  members  und^ 
their  jurisdictions,  and  in  relation  to  all 
other  matters  necessary  for  its  information. 

It  shall  have  the  power  to  form  state, 
territorial,  or  district  councils,  and  to  grant 
dispensations  for  the  formation  of  such 
bodies,  when  five  subordinate  councils  shall 
have  been  put  in  operation  in  any  state, 
territory,  or  district,  and  application  made. 

It  shall  have  the  power  to  determine 
upon  a  mode  of  punishment  in  case  of  any 
dereliction  of  duty  on  the  part  of  its  mem- 
bers or  officers. 

It  shall  have  the  power  to  adopt  cabal- 
istic characters  for  the  purpose  oi  writing 
or  telegraphing.  Said  characters  to  be 
communicated  to  the  presidents  of  the 
state  councils,  and  by  them  to  the  presi- 
dents of  the  subordinate  councils. 

It  shall  have  the  power  to  adopt  any  and 
every  measure  it  may  deem  necessary  to 
secure  the  success  of  the  organization ; 
provided  that  nothing  shall  be  done  by  the 
said  national  council  in  violation  of  the 
constitution ;  and  provided  further,  that 
in  all  political  matters,  its  members  may 
be  instructed  by  the  state  councils,  and  if 
so  instructed,  shall  carry  out  such  instruc- 
tions of  the  state  councils  which  they  repre- 
sent until  overruled  by  a  majority  of  the 
national  council. 

Art.  4.  The  President  shall  always  preside 
over  the  national  council  when  present, 
and  in  his  absence  the  Vice  President  shall 
preside,  and  in  the  absence  of  both  the 
national  council  shall  appoint  a  president 
pro  tempore;  and  the  presiding  officers  may 
at  all  times  call  a  member  to  the  chair,  but 
such  appointment  shall  not  extend  be- 
yond one  sitting  of  the  national  council. 

Art.  6.  Sec.  1. — The  officers  of  the 
National  Council  shall  be  a  President, Vice- 
President,  Chaplain,  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, Recording  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and 
two  Sentinels,  with  such  other  officers  as 
the  national  council  may  see  fit  to  appoint 
from  time  to  time ;  and  the  secretaries  and 
sentinels  may  receive  such  compensation 
as  the  national  council  shall  determine. 

Sec.  2. — The  duties  of  the  several  officers 
created  by  this  constitution  shall  be  such 
as  the  work  of  this  organization  prescribes. 

Art.  6.  Sec.  1. — All  officers  provided  for 
by  this  constitution,  except  the  sentinels, 
shall  be  elected  annually  oy  ballot.    The 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    AMERICAN    RITUAL, 


59 


president  may  appoint  sentinels  from  time 
to  time. 

Sec.  2. — A  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast 
shall  be  requisite  to  an  election  for  an  oflBce. 

Sec.  3. — All  officers  and  delegates  of  this 
council,  and  of  all  state,  district,  territorial, 
and  subordinate  councils,  must  be  invested 
with  all  the  degrees  of  this  order. 

Sec.  4. — All  vacancies  in  the  elective 
offices  shall  be  filled  by  a  vote  of  the  na- 
tional council,  and  only  for  the  unexpired 
term  of  the  said  vacancy. 

Art.  7.  Seel. — The  national  council  shall 
entertain  and  decide  all  cases  of  appeal, 
and  it  shall  establish  a  form  of  appeal. 

Sec.  2. — The  national  council  shall  levy 
a  tax  upon  the  state,  district,  or  territorial 
councils,  for  the  support  of  the  national 
council,  to  be  paid  in  such  manner  and  at 
such  times  as  the  national  council  shall 
determine. 

Art.  8. — This  national  council  may  alter 
and  amend  this  constitution  at  its  regular 
annual  meeting  in  June  next,  by  a  vote  of 
the  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  the 
members  present.  (Cincinnati,  Nov.  24, 
1854.) 

RULES  AND  REGULATIONS. 

Rule  1. — Each  State,  District,  or  Terri- 
tory, in  which  there  may  exist  five  or 
more  subordinate  councils  working  under 
dispensations  from  the  National  Council 
of  the  United  States  of  North  America,  or 
under  regular  dispensations  from  some 
State,  District,  or  Territory,  are  duly  em- 

Sowered  to  establish  themselves  into  a 
tate,  District,  or  Territorial  council,  and 
when  so  established,  to  form  for  them- 
selves constitutions  and  by-laws  for  their 
government,  in  pursuance  of,  and  in  con- 
sonance with  the  Constitution  of  the 
National  Council  of  the  United  States ; 
provided,  however,  that  all  State,  District, 
or  Territorial  constitutions  shall  be  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  National  Council  of 
the  United  States.     {June,  1854.) 

Rule  2.— All  State,  District,  or  Terri- 
torial councils,  when  established,  shall 
have  full  power  and  authority  to  establish 
all  subordinate  councils  within  their  re- 
spective limits ;  and  the  constitutions  and 
by-laws  of  all  such  subordinate  councils 
must  be  approved  by  their  respective  State, 
District,  or  Territorial  councils.  (June, 
1854.) 

Rule  3.— All  State,  District,  or  Terri- 
torial councils,  when  established  and  until 
the  formation  of  constitutions,  shall  work 
under  the  constitution  of  the  National 
Council  of  the  United  States.  (June, 
1854.) 

Rule  4. — ^In  all  cases  where,  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  organization,  two  State  or 
Territorial  councils  may  be  established, 
the  two  councils  together  shall  be  entitled 
to  but  thirteen  delegates*  in  the  National 

*lf  OTE. — See  Constitution,  Art.  3,  Sec.  4,  p.  5. 


Council  of  the  United  States — the  propor- 
tioned number  of  delegates  to  depena  on 
the  number  of  members  in  the  organiza- 
tions ;  provided,  that  no  State  shall  be  al- 
lowed to  have  more  than  one  State  coun- 
cil, without  the  consent  of  the  National 
Council  of  the  United  States.  (June, 
1854.) 

Rule  5. — In  any  State,  District,  or  Ter- 
ritory, where  there  may  be  more  than  one 
organization  working  on  the  same  basis, 
(to  wit,  the  lodges  and  "councils,")  the 
same  shall  be  required  to  combine;  the 
officers  of  each  organization  shall  resign 
and  new  officers  be  elected ;  and  thereafter 
these  bodies  shall  be  known  as  State  coun- 
cils, and  subordinate  councils,  and  new 
charters  shall  be  granted  to  them  by  the 
national  council.     (June,  1854.) 

Rule  6. — It  shall  be  considered  a  penal 
offence  for  any  brother  not  an  officer  of  a 
subordinate  council,  to  make  use  of  the 
sign  or  summons  adopted  for  public  noti- 
fication, except  by  direction  of  the  Presi- 
dent; or  for  officers  of  a  council  to  post 
the  same  at  any  other  time  than  from  mid- 
night to  one  hour  before  daybreak,  and 
this  rule  shall  be  incorporated  into  the  by- 
laws of  the  State,  District,  and  Territorial 
councils.     (June,  1854.) 

Rule  7. — The  determination  of  the  neces- 
sity and  mode  of  issuing  the  posters  for 
public  notification  shall  be  intrusted  to  the 
State,  District,  or  Territorial  councils. 
(June,  1854.) 

Rule  8. — The  respective  State,  District, 
or  Territorial  councils  shall  be  required  to 
make  statements  of  the  number  of  mem- 
bers within  their  respective  limits,  at  the 
next  meeting  of  this  national  council,  and 
annually  thereafter,  at  the  regular  annual 
meeting.     (June,  1854.) 

Eule  9. — The  delegates  to  the  National 
Council  of  the  United  States  of  North 
America  shall  be  entitled  to  three  dollars 
per  day  for  their  attendance  upon  the 
national  council,  and  for  each  day  that 
may  be  necessary  in  going  and  returning 
from  the  same ;  and  five  cents  per  mile  for 
every  mile  they  may  necessarily  travel  in 
going  to,  and  returning  from  the  place  of 
meeting  of  the  national  council;  to  be 
computed  by  the  nearest  mail  route :  which 
shall  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the 
national  council.     (November,  1854.) 

Rule  10. — Each  State,  District,  or  Terri- 
torial council  shall  be  taxed  four  cents  per 
annum  for  every  member  in  good  standing 
belonging  to  each  subordinate  council  un- 
der its  jurisdiction  on  the  first  day  of 
April,  which  shall  be  reported  to  the  na- 
tional council,  and  paid  into  the  national 
treasury,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  the 
annual  session,  to  be  held  in  June ;  and  on 
the  same  day  in  each  succeeding  year. 
And  the  first  fiscal  year  shall  be  considered 
as  commencing  on  the  first  day  of  Decern- 


60 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


ber,  1854,  and  ending  on  the  fifteenth  day  I 
of  May,  1855.     (November,  1854.) 

Eule  11.— The  following  shall  be  the; 
key  to  determine  and  ascertain  the  pur- 
port of  any  communication  that  may  be 
addressed  to  the  President  of  a  State,  Dis-  ' 
trict,  or  Territorial  council  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  national  council,  who  is  hereby 
instructed  to  communicate  a  knowledge  of 
the  same  to  said  officers :  j 

ABCDEFGHI  JKLM 
1  7  13  19  25  2  8  14  20  26  3  9  15 
NOPQRSTUVWXY    Z 

21   4    10  16  22   5   11   17  23   6  12  18  24  j 

Rule  12. — The  clause  of  the  article  of 
the  constitution  relative  to  belief  in  the 
Supreme  Being  is  obligatory  upon  every 
State  and  subordinate  council,  as  well  as 
upon  each  individual  member.  (June, 
1854.) 

Rule  13.— The  following  shall  be  the 
compensation  of  the  officers  of  this  coun- 
cil: 

1st.  The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall 
be  paid  two  thousand  dollars  per  annum, 
from  the  17th  day  of  June,  1854. 

2d.  The  Treasurer  shall  be  paid  five 
hundred  dollars  per  annum,  from  the  17th 
day  of  June,  1854. 

3d.  The  Sentinels  shall  be  paid  five  dol- 
lars for  every  day  they  may  be  in  attend- 
ance on  the  sittings  of  the  national  coun- 
cil. 

4th.  The  Chaplain  shall  be  paid  one 
hundred  dollars  per  annum,  from  the  17th 
day  of  June,  1854. 

5th.  The  Recording  Secretary  shall  be 
paid  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  from 
the  17th  day  of  June,  1854. 

6th.  The  Assistant  Secretary  shall  be 
paid  five  dollars  per  day,  for  everj'  day  he 
may  be  in  attendance  on  the  sitting  of"  the 
national  council.    All  of  which  is  to  be 

Said  out  of  the  national  treasury,  on  the 
raft  of  the  President    (November,  1854.) 

SPECIAL  VOTING. 

Vote  Ist. — ^This  national  council  hereby 
grants  to  the  State  of  Virginia  two  State 
councils,  the  one  to  be  located  in  Eastern 
and  the  other  in  Western  Virginia,  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains  being  the  geo- 
graphical line  between  the  two  jurisdic- 
tions.    (June,  1854.) 

Vote  2d. — ^The  President  shall  have 
power,  till  the  next  session  of  the  national 
council,  to  grant  dispensations  for  the  for- 
mation of  State,  District,  or  Territorial 
councils,  in  form  most  agreeable  to  his 
own  discretion,  upon  proper  applicu-ion 
being  made.     (June,  1854.) 

Vote  3d. — The  seats  of  all  delegates  to 
and  members  of  the  present  national  coun- 
cil shall  be  vacated  on  the  first  Tuesday  in 
June,  1855,  at  the  hour  of  six  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon;  and  the  national   council 


convening  in  annual  session  upon  that 
day,  shall  be  composed  exclusively  of  del- 
egates elected  under  and  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  as 
amended  at  the  present  session  of  this 
national  council ;  provided,  that  this  reso- 
lution shall  not  apply  to  the  officers  of  the 
national  council.     (November,  1854.) 

Vote  4th. — The  Corresponding  Secretary 
of  this  council  is  authorized  to  have  print- 
ed the  names  of  the  delegates  to  this 
national  council ;  also,  those  of  the  Presi- 
dents of  the  several  State,  District,  and 
Territorial  councils,  together  with  their 
address,  and  to  forward  a  copy  of  the 
same  to  each  person  named ;  and  further, 
the  Corresponding  Secretaries  of  each 
State,  District,  and  Territory  are  requested 
to  forward  a  copy  of  their  several  con- 
stitutions to  each  other.  (November, 
1854.) 

Vote  5th. — In  the  publication  of  the 
constitution  and  the  ritual,  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  committee — brothers  Desh- 
ler,  Damrell,  and  Stephens — the  name, 
signs,  grips,  and  passwords  of  the  order 
shall  be  indicated  by  [***],  and  a  copy 
of  the  same  shall  be  furnished  to  each 
State,  District,  and  Territorial  council,  and 
to  each  member  of  that  body.  (Novem- 
ber, 1854.) 

Vote  6th. — A  copy  of  the  constitution  of 
each  State,  District,  and  Territorial  coun- 
cil, shall  be  submitted  to  this  council  for 
examination,     (November,  1854.) 

Vote  7th.— It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Treasurer,  at  each  annual  meeting  of  this 
body,  to  make  a  report  of  all  moneys  re- 
ceived or  expended  iu  the  interval.  (No- 
vember, 1854.) 

Vote  8th.— Messrs.  Gifford  of  Pa.,  Bar- 
ker of  N.  Y.,  Deshler  of  N.  J.,  Williamson 
of  Va.,  and  Stephens  of  Md.,  are  appointed 
a  committee  to  confer  with  similar  commit- 
tees that  have  been  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  consolidating  the  various  American 
orders,  with  power  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangement  for  such  consolidation — sub- 
ject to  the  approval  of  this  national  coun- 
cil, at  its  next  session.    (November,  1854.) 

Vote  9th. — On  receipt  of  the  new  ritual 
by  the  members  of  this  national  council 
who  have  received  the  third  degree,  they 
or  any  of  them  may,  and  they  are  hereby 
empowered  to,  confer  the  third  degree  upon 
members  of  this  body  in  their  respective 
states,  districts,  and  territories,  ana  upon 
the  presidents  and  other  officers  of  their 
state,  district,  and  territorial  councils. 
And  further,  the  presidents  of  the  state, 
district,  and  territorial  councils  shall  in 
the  first  instance  confer  the  third  degree 
upon  as  many  of  the  presidents  and  officers 
of  their  subordinate  councils  as  can  be  as- 
sembled together  in  their  respective  local- 
ities ;  and  afterwards  the  same  may  be  con- 
ferred upon  officers  of  other  subordinate 


BOOK  I.'J 


THE    AMERICAN   RITUAL. 


61 


eouncils,  by  any  presiding  officer  of  a  coun- 
cil who  shall  have  previously  received  it 
under  the  provisions  of  the  constitution. 
(November,  1854.) 

Vote  10th. — To  entitle  any  delegate  to  a 
seat  in  this  national  council,  at  its  annual 
session  in  June  next,  he  must  present  a 
properly  authenticated  certificate  that  he 
was  duly  elected  as  a  delegate  to  the  same, 
or  appointed  a  substitute  in  accordance 
with  the  requirements  of  the  constitutions 
of  state,  territorial,  or  district  councils. 
And  no  delegate  shall  be  received  from 
any  state,  district,  or  territorial  council 
which  has  not  adopted  the  constitution  and 
ritual  of  this  national  council.  (November, 
18'>4.) 

Vote  11th. — The  committee  on  printing 
the  constitution  and  ritual  is  authorized  to 
have  a  suflacient  number  of  the  same  print- 
ed for  the  use  of  the  order.  And  no  state, 
district,  or  territorial  council  shall  be  al- 
lowed to  reprint  the  same.  (November, 
1854.) 

Vote  12th.— The  right  to  establish  all 
subordinate  councils  in  any  of  the  states, 
districts,  and  territories  represented  in  this 
national  council,  shall  be  confined  to  the 
state,  district,  and  territorial  councils 
which  they  represent.     (November,  1854.) 

Constitution  for  the  Government  of 
Subordinate  Councils. 

Art.  I.  Sec.  1. — Each  subordinate  coun- 
cil shall  be  composed  of  not  less  than  thir- 
teen members,  all  of  whom  shall  have  re- 
ceived all  the  degrees  of  the  order,  and 

shall  be  known  and  recognised  as  

Council,  No. ,   of  the  of  the 

county  of ,  and  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina. 

Sec.  2. — No  person  shall  be  a  member  of 
any  subordinate  council  in  this  state,  un- 
less he  possesses  all  the  qualifications,  and 
comes  up  to  all  the  requirements  laid  down 
in  the  constitution  of  the  national  council, 
and  whose  wife  (if  he  has  one),  is  not  a 
Roman  Catholic. 

Sec.  3.  No  application  for  membership 
shall  be  received  and  acted  on  from  a  per- 
son residing  out  of  the  state,  or  resides  in 
a  county  where  there  is  a  council  in  ex- 
istence, unless  upon  special  cause  to  be 
stated  to  the  council,  to  be  judged  of  by 
the  same ;  and  such  person,  if  the  reasons 
be  considered  sufiicient,  may  be  initiated 
the  same  night  he  is  proposed,  provided  he 
resides  five  miles  or  more  from  the  place 
where  the  council  is  located.  But  no  per- 
son can  vote  in  any  council,  except  the  one 
of  which  he  is  a  member. 

Sec.  4.  Every  person  applying  for  mem- 
bership, shall  be  voted  for' by  ballot,  in 
open  council,  if  a  ballot  is  requested  by  a 
single  member.  If  one-third  of  the  votes 
cast  be  against  the  applicant,  he  shall  be 
rejected.     If  any  applicant  be  rejected,  be 


shall  not  be  again  proposed  within  six 
months  thereafter.  Nothing  herein  con- 
tained shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the 
initiation  of  applicants  privately,  by  those 
empowered  to  do  so,  in  localities  where 
there  are  no  councils  within  a  convenient 
distance. 

Sec.  5.  Any  member  of  one  subordinate 
council  wishing  to  change  his  membership 
to  another  council,  shall  apply  to  the  coun- 
cil to  which  he  belongs,  either  in  writing 
or  orally  through  another  member,  and  the 
question  shall  be  decided  by  the  council. 
If  a  majority  are  in  favor  of  granting  him 
an  honorable  dismission,  he  shall  receive 
the  same  in  writing,  to  be  signed  by  the 
president  and  countersigned  by  the  secre- 
tary. But  until  a  member  thus  receiving 
an  honorable  dismission  has  actually  been 
admitted  to  membership  in  another  coun- 
cil, he  shall  be  held  subject  to  the  disci- 
pline of  the  council  from  which  he  has  re- 
ceived the  dismission,  to  be  dealt  with  by 
the  same,  for  any  violation  of  the  require- 
ments of  the  order.  Before  being  received 
in  the  council  to  which  he  wishes  to  trans- 
fer his  membership,  he  shall  present  said 
certificate  of  honorable  dismission,  and 
shall  be  received  as  new  members  are. 

Sec.  6.  Applications  for  the  second  de- 
gree shall  not  be  received  except  in  second 
degree  councils,  and  voted  on  by  second 
and  third  degree  members  only,  and  ap- 
plications for  the  third  degree  shall  be 
received  in  third  degree  councils,  and 
voted  on  by  third  degree  members  only. 

Art.  II. — Each  subordinate  council  shall 
fix  on  its  own  time  and  place  for  meeting: 
and  shall  meet  at  least  once  a  month,  but 
where  not  very  inconvenient,  it  is  recom- 
mended that  they  meet  once  a  week.  Thir- 
teen members  shall  form  a  quorum  for 
the  transaction  of  business.  Special  meet- 
ings may  be  called  by  the  president  at  any 
time,  at  the  request  of  four  members  of  the 
order. 

Art.  III. — Sec.  1.  The  members  of  each 
subordinate  council  shall  consist  of  a  pre- 
sident, vice-president,  instructor,  secre- 
tary, treasurer,  marshal,  inside  and  outside 
sentinel,  and  shall  hold  their  oflSces  for  the 
term  of  six  months,  or  until  their  succes- 
sors are  elected  and  installed. 

Sec.  2.  The  officers  of  each  subordinate 
council  (except  the  sentinels,  who  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  president),  shall  be  elect- 
ed at  the  first  regular  meetings  in  January 
and  July,  separately,  and  by  ballot ;  and 
each  shall  receive  a  majority  of  all  the 
votes  cast  to  entitle  him  to  an  election. 
No  member  shall  be  elected  to  any  office, 
unless  he  be  present  and  signify  his  assent 
thereto  at  the  time  of  his  election.  Any 
vacancy  which  may  occur  by  death,  resig- 
nation, or  otherwise,  shall  be  filled  at  the 
next  meeting  thereafter,  in  the  manner 
and  form  above  described. 


62 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Sec.  3.  The  President. — It  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  president  of  each  subordinate 
council,  to  preside  in  the  council,  and  en- 
force a  due  observance  of  the  constitution 
and  rules  of  the  order,  and  a  proper  respect 
for  the  state  council  and  the  national  coun- 
cil ;  to  have  sole  and  exclusive  charge  of 
the  charter  and  the  constitution  and  ritual 
of  the  order,  which  he  must  always  have 
with  him  when  his  council  is  in  session,  to 
see  that  all  officers  perform  their  respec- 
tive duties ;  to  announce  all  ballotings  to 
the  council ;  to  decide  all  questions  of 
order ;  to  give  the  casting  vote  in  all  cases 
of  a  tie ;  to  convene  special  meetings  when 
deemed  expedient ;  to  draw  warrants  on 
the  treasurer  for  all  sums,  the  payment  of 
which  is  ordered  by  the  council ;  and  to 
perform  such  other  duties  as  are  demanded 
of  him  by  the  donstitutions  and  ritual  of 
the  order. 

Sec.  4.  The  vice-president  of  each  sub- 
ordinate council  shall  assist  the  president 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  whilst  his 
council  is  in  session ;  and,  in  his  absence, 
shall  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  presi- 
dent. 

Sec.  5.  The  instructor  shall  perform  the 
duties  of  the  president  in  the  absence  of 
the  president  and  vice-president,  and  shall, 
under  the  direction  of  the  president,  per- 
form such  duties  as  may  be  assigned  to 
him  by  the  ritual. 

Seb.  6.  The  secretary  shall  keep  an  ac- 
curate record  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
council.  He  shall  write  all  communica- 
tions, fill  all  notices,  attest  all  warrants 
drawn  by  the  president  for  the  payment  of 
money ;  he  shall  keep  a  correct  roll  of  all 
the  members  of  the  council,  together  with 
their  age,  residence,  and  occupation,  in 
the  order  in  which  they  have  been  admit- 
ted ;  he  shall,  at  the  expiration  of  every 
three  months,  make  out  a  report  of  all  work 
done  during  that  time,  wnich  report  he 
shall  forward  to  the  secretary  of  the  state 
council ;  and  when  superseded  in  his  office 
shall  deliver  all  books,  papers,  &c.,  in  his 
hands  to  his  successor. 

Sec.  7.  The  treasurer  shall  hold  all  mo- 
neys raised  exclusively  for  the  use  of  the 
state  council,  which  he  shall  pay  over  to 
the  secretarj  of  the  state  council  at  its 
regular  sessions,  or  whenever  called  upon 
by  the  president  of  the  state  council.  He 
shall  receive  all  moneys  for  the  use  of  the 
subordinate  council,  and  pay  all  amounts 
drawn  for  on  him,  by  the  president  of  the 
subordinate  council,  if  attested  by  the  se- 
cretary. 

Sec.  8.  The  marshal  shall  perform 
Buch  duties,  under  the  direction  of  the 
president,  as  may  be  required  of  him  by 
the  ritual. 

Sec.  9.  The  inside  sentinel  shall  have 
charge  of  the  inner  door,  and  act  under 
the  directions  of  the  president.    He  shall 


admit  no  person,  unless  he  can  prove  him- 
self a  member  of  this  order,  and  of  the 
same  degree  in  which  the  council  is  opened, 
or  by  order  of  the  president,  or  is  satisfac- 
torily vouched  for. 

Sec.  10.  The  outside  sentinel  shall  have 
charge  of  the  outer  door,  and  act  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  orders  of  the  president. 
He  shall  permit  no  person  to  enter  the 
outer  door  unless  he  give  the  password  of 
the  degree  in  which  the  council  is  at  work, 
or  is  properly  vouched  for. 

Sec.  11.  The  secretary,  treasurer,  and 
sentinels,  shall  receive  such  compensation 
as  the  subordinate  councils  may  each  con- 
clude to  allow. 

Sec.  12.  Each  subordinate  council  may 
levy  its  own  fees  for  initiation,  to  raise  a 
fund  to  pay  its  dues  to  the  state  council, 
and  to  defray  its  own  expenses.  Each 
council  may,  also,  at  its  discretion,  initiate 
without  charging  the  usual  fee,  those  it 
considers  unable  to  pay  the  same. 

Sec.  13.  The  president  shall  keep  in  his 
possession  the  constitution  and  ritual  of 
the  order.  He  shall  not  suffer  the  same 
to  go  out  of  his  possession  under  any  pre- 
tence whatever,  unless  in  case  of  absence, 
when  he  may  put  them  in  the  hands  of 
the  vice-president  or  instructor,  or  whilst 
the  council  is  in  session,  for  the  informa- 
tion of  a  member  wishing  to  see  it,  for 
the  purpose  of  initiation,  or  conferring  of 
degrees. 

Art.  IV.  Each  subordinate  council  shall 
have  power  to  adopt  such  by-laws,  rules, 
and  regulations,  for  its  own  government, 
as  it  may  think  proper,  not  inconsistent 
with  the  constitutions  of  the  national  and 
state  councils. 

Form  of  Application  for  a  Charter 
TO  Organize  a  new  Council. 

Post  Office county, 

Date . 

To 

President  of  the  State  Council  of  North 
Carolina : — 

We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  the 
Third  Degree,  being  desirous  of  extending 
the  influence  and  usefulness  of  our  organi- 
zation, do  hereby  ask  for  a  warrant  of  dis- 
pensation, instituting  and  organizing  us  as 
a  subordinate  brancn  of  the  order,  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  Council  of  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  to  be  known  and 
hailed  as  Council  No. ,  and  to  be  lo- 
cated at ,  in  the  county  of ,  Stat« 

of  North  Carolina. 

And  we  do  hereby  pledge  ourselves  to 
be  governed  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
State  Council  of  the  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  of  the  Grand  Council  of  the  U. 
S.  N.  A.,  and  that  we  will  in  all  things  con- 
form to  the  rules  and  usages  of  the  order. 


Names. 


Kesidences. 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    AMERICAN    RITUAL. 


63 


FOEM  OF  DISMISSION  FROM  ONE  COUNCIL 
TO  ANOTHER. 

This  is  to  certify  that  Brother ,  a 

member  of Council,  No. •,  having 

made  an  application  to  change  his  mem- 
bership from  this  council  to  that  of 

Council,  No. ,  at ,  in  the  county 

of ,  I  do    hereby  declare,  that    said 

brother  has  received  an  honorable  dismis- 
sion from  this  council,  and  is  hereby  re- 
commended for  membership  in Coun- 
cil, No. ,  in  the  county  of ,  N.  C. ; 

Erovided,  however,  that  until  Brother  — — - 
as  been  admitted  to  membership  in  said 
council,  he  is  to  be  considered  subject  to 
the  discipline  of  this  council,  to  be  dealt 
with  by  the  same  for  any  violation  of  the 

requirements  of  the  order.     This  the 

day  of ,  185—,  and  the year  of 

American  Independence. 

President, Council, 

No. . 

Secretary. 

FORM  OF  CERTIFICATE  FOR  DELEGATES  TO 
THE  STATE  COUNCIL. 

Council,  No. , 

county  of ,  N.  C. 

This  is  to  certify  that and  — —  were 

at  the  regular  meeting  of  this  council,  held 

on  the ,  185 — ,  duly  elected  delegates 

to  represent  this  council  in  the  next  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  state  council,  to  be 
held  in ,  on  %e  3d  Monday  in  Novem- 
ber next.  And  by  virtue  of  the  authority 
in  me  reposed,  I  do  hereby  declare  the 

said and to  be  invested  with  all 

the  rights,  powers,  and  privileges  of  the 
delegates  as  aforesaid.      This  being  the 

•  day  of ,  185 — ,  and  the year 

of  our  national  independence. 

President  of 


Secretary. 


Council,  No. 


FORM  OF  NOTICE 

Prom  the  Subordinate  OourtcU  to  the  Slate  Council,  whenever 
any  Member  of  a  Subordinate  OouncU  is  expelled. 

Council,  No. , 

county  of ,  N.  C. 

To  the  President  of  the  State  Council  of 
North  Carolina : 

Sir: — This  is  to  inform  you  that  at  a 

meeting  of  this  council,  held  on  the 

day  of ,  185 — , ;-  — ; —  was  duly  ex- 
pelled from  membership  in  said  council, 
and  thus  deprived  of  all  the  privileges, 
rights,  and  benefits  of  this  organization. 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution  of  the  state  council,  you  are 
hereby  duly  notified  of  the  same,  that  you 
may  officially  notify  all  the  subordinate 
councils  of  the  state  to  be  upon  their  guard 

against  the  said ,  as  one  unworthy  to 

associate  with  patriotic  and  good  men,  and 
[if  expelled  for  violating  his  obligation)  as 
a  perjurer  to  Gk)d  and  his  country.    The 


said is  about  years  of  age,  and 

is  by  livelihood  a 

Duly  certified,  this  the day  of • 

185 — ,  and  in  the year  of  our  national 

independence. 

President  of 

Council,  No. . 

Secretary. 

First  Degree  Council. 

To  be  admitted  to  membership  in  this 
order,  the  applicant  shall  be — 

1st.  Proposed  and  found  acceptable. 

2nd.  Introduced  and  examined  under 
the  guarantee  of  secrecy. 

3rd.  Placed  under  the  obligation  which 
the  order  imposes. 

4th.  Required  to  enrol  his  name  and 
place  of  residence. 

5th.  Instructed  in  the  forms  and  usages 
and  ceremonies  of  the  order. 

6th.  Solemnly  charged  as  to  the  objects 
to  be  obtained,  and  his  duties. 

[A  recomn -jndation  of  a  candidate  to 
this  order  shall  be.  received  only  from  a 
brother  of  approved  integrity.  It  shall  be 
accompanied  by  minute  particulars  as  to 
name,  age,  calling,  and  residence,  and  by 
an  explicit  voucher  for  his  qualifications, 
and  a  personal  pledge  for  his  fidelity. 
These  particulars  shall  be  recorded  by  the 
secretary  in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose. 
The  recommendation  may  be  referred,  and 
the  ballot  taken  at  such  time  and  in  such  a 
manner  as  the  state  council  may  prescribe ; 
but  no  communication  shall  be  made  to  the 
candidate  until  the  ballot  has  been  declared 
in  his  favor.  Candidates  shall  be  received 
in  the  ante-room  by  the  marshal  and  sec- 
retary.] 

outside. 

Marshal. — Do  you  believe  in  a  Supreme 
Being,  the  Creator  and  Preserver  of  the 
universe? 

Ans. — I  do. 

Marshal. — Before  proceeding  further,  we 
require  a  solemn  obligation  of  secrecy  and 
truth.  If  you  will  take  such  an  obligation, 
you  will  lay  your  right  hand  upon  the  Holy 
Bible  and  cross. 

(When  it  is  known  that  the  applicant  is 
a  Protestant,  the  cross  may  be  omitted,  or 
affirmation  may  be  allowed.) 

OBLIGATION. 

You  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that 
you  will  never  reveal  anything  said  or  done 
in  this  room,  the  names  of  any  persons 
present,  nor  the  existence  of  this  society, 
whether  found  worthy  to  proceed  or  not, 
and  that  all  your  declarations  shall  be  true, 
80  help  you  God  ? 

Ans.—"  I  do." 

Marshal. — Where  were  you  bom  ? 

Marshal. — ^Where  ia  your  permanent 
residence  ? 


64 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[bookl 


(If  born  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  | 
United  States,  the  answer  shall  be  written, 
the  candidate  dismissed  with  an  admonition 
of  secrecy,  and  the  brother  vouching  for 
him  suspended  from  all  the  privileges  of 
the  order,  unless  upon  satisfactory  proof 
that  he  has  been  misinformed.) 

Marshal. — Are  you  twenty-one  years  of 
age? 

Ans.—"  I  am." 

Marshal. — Were  you  bom  of  Protestant 
parents,  or  were  you  reared  under  Protes- 
tant influence  ? 

Jns.— "Yes." 

Marshal. — If  married,  is  your  wife  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  ? 

("No"  or  "Yes" — ^the  answer  to  be 
valued  as  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
Council  shall  provide.) 

Marshal. — Are  you  willing  to  use  your 
influence  and  vote  only  for  native-born 
American  citizens  for  all  oflices  of  honor, 
trust,  or  profit  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  foreigners  and  aliens, 
and  Roman  Catholics  in  particular,  and 
without  regard  to  party  predilections  ? 

Ans.—"  I  am." 

INSIDE. 

(The  marshal  shall  then  repair  to  the 
council  in  session,  and  present  the  written 
list  of  names,  vouchers,  and  answers  to  the 
president,  who  shall  cause  them  to  be  read 
aloud,  and  a  vote  of  the  council  to  be  taken 
on  each  name,  in  such  manner  as  pre- 
scribed by  its  by-laws.  If  doubts  arise  in 
the  ante-room,  they  shall  be  referred  to  the 
council.  If  a  candidate  be  dismissed,  he 
shall  be  admonished  to  secrecy.  The 
candidates  declared  elected  shall  be  con- 
ducted to  seats  within  the  council,  apart 
from  the  brethren.*  When  all  are  present 
the  president  by  one  blow  of  the  gavel, 
shall  call  to  order  and  say:) 

President, — Brother  marshal,  introduce 
the  candidates  to  the  vice-president. 

Marshal. — Worthy  Vice-President,  I  pre- 
sent to  you  these  candidates,  who  have  duly 
answered  all  questions. 

Vice-President,  rising  in  his  place. — Gen- 
tlemen, it  is  my  oflBce  to  welcome  you  as 
friends.  When  you  shall  have  assumed 
the  patriotic  vow  by  which  we  are  all  bound, 
Tve  will  embrace  you  as  brotliers.  I  am 
authorized  to  declare  that  our  obligations 
enjoin  nothing  which  is  inconsistent  with 
the  duty  which  every  good  man  owes  to 
his  Creator,  his  country,  his  family,  or 
himself.  We  do  not  compel  you,  against 
your  convictions,  to  act  with  us  in  our 
good  work ;  but  should  you  at  any  time 
wish  to  withdraw,  it  will  be  our  duty  to 
grant  you  a  dismissal  in  good  faith.  If 
satisfied  with  this  assurance,  you  will  rise 
upon  your  feet  {pausing  till  they  do  so), 
place  the  left  hand  upon  the  breast,  ana 
raise  the  right  hand  towards  heaven. 


(The  brethren  to  remain  seated  till  called 
up.) 

OBLIGATION. 

In  the  presence  of  Almighty  God  and 
these  witnesses,  you  do  solemnly  promise 
and  swear,  that  you  will  never  betray  any 
of  the  secrets  of  this  society,  nor  commu- 
nicate them  even  to  proper  candidates,  ex- 
cept within  a  lawful  council  of  the  order  ; 
that  you  never  will  permit  any  of  the 
secrets  of  this  society  to  be  written,  or  in 
any  other  manner  made  legible,  except  for 
the  purpose  of  official  instruction ;  that 
you  will  not  vote,  nor  give  your  influence 
for  any  man  for  any  oflSce  in  the  gift  of  the 
people,  unless  he  be  an  American  born 
citizen,  in  favor  of  Americans  ruling 
America,  nor  if  he  be  a  Roman  Catholic ; 
that  you  will  in  all  political  matters,  so 
far  as  this  order  is  concerned,  comply  with 
the  will  of  the  majority,  though  it  may 
conflict  with  your  personal  preference,  so 
long  as  it  does  not  conflict  with  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  of  America, 
or  that  of  the  state  in  which  you  reside ; 
that  you  will  not,  under  any  circumstances 
whatever,  knowingly  'recommend  an  un- 
worthy person  for  initiation,  nor  sufffer  it 
to  be  done,  if  in  your  power  to  prevent  it ; 
that  you  will  not,  under  any  circumstances, 
expose  the  name  of  any  member  of  this 
orderj  nor  reveal  the  existence  of  such  an 
association ;  that  you  will  answer  an  impe- 
rative notice  issued  by  the  proper  authori- 
ty ;  obey  the  command  of  the  state  council, 
president,  or  his  deputy,  while  assembled 
by  such  notice,  and  respond  to  the  claim 
of  a  sign  or  cry  of  the  order,  unless  it  be 
physically  impossible ;  and  that  you  will 

acknowledge  the  State  Council  of 

as  the  legislative  head,  the  ruling  authori- 
ty, and  the  supreme  tribunal  of  the  order 

in  the  state  of  ,  acting  under  the 

jurisdiction  of  the  National  Council  of  the 
United  States  of  North  America. 

Binding  yourself  in  the  penalty  of  ex- 
communication from  the  order,  the  forfei- 
ture of  all  intercourse  with  its  members, 
and  being  denounced  in  all  the  societies  of 
the  same,  as  a  wilful  traitor  to  your  God 
and  your  country. 

(The  president  shall  call  up  every  per- 
son present,  by  three  blows  of  the  gavel, 
when  the  canaidates  shall  all  repeat  aftei 
the  vice-president  in  concert:) 

All  this  I  voluntarily  and  sincerely 
promise,  with  a  full  understanding  of  the 
solemn  sanctions  and  penalties. 

Vice- l^esi dent. — You  have  now^  taken 
solemn  oaths,  and  made  as  sacred  promises 
as  man  can  make,  that  you  will  keep  all 
our  secrets  inviolate;  and  we  wish  you  dis- 
tinctly to  understand  that  he  that  takes 
these  oaths  and  makes  these  promises,  and 
then  violates  them,  leaves  the  foul,  the 
deep  and  blighting  stain  of  perjury  resting 
on  his  soul. 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    AMERICAN    RITUAL. 


65 


President. — (Having  seated  all  by  one 
blow  of  the  gavel.) — Brother  Instructor, 
these  new  brothers  having  complied  with 
the  demand  of  the  order,  are  entitled  to  the 
secrets  and  privileges  of  the  same.  You 
will,  therefore,  invest  them  with  every- 
thing appertaining  to  the  first  degree. 

Instructor. — Brothers :  the  practices  and 
proceedings  in  our  order  are  as  follows  : 

We  have  pass-words  necessary  to  be  used 
to  obtain  admission  to  our  councils ;  forms 
for  our  conduct  while  there ;  means  of  re- 
cognizing each  other  when  abroad;  means 
I  of  mutual  protection;  and  methods  for 
'giving  notices  to  members. 

At  the  outer  door  you  will  *  {make  any 
ordinary  alarm  to  attract  the  attention  of 
^e  outside  sentinel). 

When  the  wicket  is  opened  you  will 
pronounce  the  {words — what's  the  pass),  in 
«  whisper.  The  outside  sentinel  will  re- 
ply ( Give  it),  when  you  will  give  the  term 
pass-word  and  be  admitted  to  the  ante- 
room. You  will  then  proceed  to  the  inner 
door  and  give  (one  rap).  When  the 
wicket  is  opened,  give  your  name,  the 
number  of,  and  location  of  your  council, 
the  explanation  of  the  term  pass,  and  the 
degree  pass-word. 

If  these  be  found  correct,  you  will  be 
admitted ;  if  not,  your  name  will  be  re- 
ported to  the  vice  president,  and  must  be 
properly  vouched  for  before  vou  can  gain 
admission  to  the  council,  ^ou  will  then 
proceed  to  the  centre  of  the  room  and  ad- 
dress the  {President)  with  the  countersign, 
which  is  performed  thus  (placing  the  right 
hand  diagonally  across  the  mouth).  When 
this  salutation  is  recognized,  you  will 
quietly  take  your  seat. 

This  sign  is  peculiar  to  this  degree,  and 
is  never  to  be  used  outside  the  council 
room,  nor  during  the  conferring  of  this 
degree.  When  retiring,  you  will  address 
the  (  Vice  President)  in  the  same  manner, 
and  also  give  the  degree  pass-word  to  the 
inside  sentinel. 

The  "  term  pass-word  "  is  (  We  are). 

(The  pass-word  and  explanation  is  to  be 
established  by  each  State  Council  for  its 
respective  subordinates.) 

The  "  explanation  "  of  the  "  term-pass," 
to  be  used  at  the  inner  door,  is  {our 
oountry^s  hope.) 

The  "degree  pass-word  "  is  {Native). 

The  "traveling  pass-word"  is  {ITie 
memory  of  our  pilgrim  fathers). 

(This  word  is  changed  annually  by  the 


*  In  the  Ritual  the  words  in  parentheses  are  omitted. 
Id  the  key  to  thn  Ritual,  thoy  are  written  in  fignr^s — 
tlie  alphat>et  used  being  the  game  as  printed  below.  So 
tbrougbout. 

Key  to  Unlock  Ccmmvnicniiont. 

ABCDEFQHI.TKLM 
1  7  13  19  25  2  8  14  20  20  .3  9  15 
N0PQB8TUVWXTZ 
21    4    10  16  22    6    11  17    23    6    12    18  M 


President  of  the  National  Council  of  the 

United  States,  and  is  to  be  made  and  used 
only  when  the  brother  is  traveling  beyond 
the  jurisdiction  of  his  own  state,  district, 
or  territory.  It  and  all  other  pass-words 
must  be  communicated  in  a  whisper,  and 
no  brother  is  entitled  to  communicate 
them  to  another,  v-rthout  authority  from 
the  presiding  officer. ) 

"  The  sign  of  recognition  "  is  {graspintf 
the  right  lappel  of  the  coat  with  the  right 
hand,  the  fore  finger  being  extended  in- 
wards.) 

The  "answer"  is  given  by  (a  similar 
action  with  the  left  hand. ) 

The  "grip"  is  given  by  {an  ordinary 
shake  of  the  hand). 

The  person  challenging  shall  {then  draw 
the  fore  finger  along  the  palm  of  the  hand). 
The  answer  will  be  given  by  {a  similar  ac- 
tion forming  a  link  by  hooking  together  the 
ends  of  the  fore  finger) ;  when  the  follow- 
ing conversation  ensues — the  challenging 
party  first  saying  {is  that  yours?)  The 
answer,  {it  is.)  Then  the  response  {how 
did  you  get  it?),  followed  by  the  rejoinder 
{it  is  my  birth-right). 

Public  notice  for  a  meeting  is  given  by 
means  of  a  {piece  of  white  paper  the  shape 
of  a  heart). 

(In  cities  *  the  ***  of  the  ***  where  the 
meeting  is  to  be  held,  will  be  written  legi- 
bly upon  the  notice ;  and  upon  the  election 
day  said  ***  will  denote  the  ***  where 
your  presence  is  needed.  This  notice  will 
never  be  passed,  but  will  be  ***  or  thrown 
upon  the  sidewalk  with  a  ***  in  the 
centre.) 

If  information  is  wanting  of  the  object 
of  the  gathering,  or  of  the  place,  &c.,  the 
inquirer  will  ask  of  an  undoubted  brother 
{where' s  when  ?)  The  brother  will  give  the 
information  if  possessed  of  it ;  if  not  it  will 
be  yours  and  his  duty  to  continue  the  in- 
quiry, and  thus  disseminate  the  call 
throughout  the  brotherhood. 

If  the  color  of  the  paper  (be  red),  it  will 
denote  actual  trouble,  which  requires  that 
you  come  prepared  to  meet  it. 

The  "cry  of  distress  "—to  be  used  only 
in  time  of  danger,  or  where  the  American 
interest  requires  an  immediate  assemblage 
of  the  brethren— is  {oh,  oh,  oh.)  The  re- 
sponse is  {hio,  hio,  h-i-o.) 

The  "sign  of  caution"— to  be  given 
when  a  brother  is  speaking  unguardedly 
before  a  stranger — is  (drawing  the  forefing- 
er and  thumb  together  across  the  eyes,  the 
rest  of  the  hand  being  closed),  which  sig- 
nifies "  keep  dark." 

Brothers,  you  are  now  initiated  into  and 
made  acquainted  with  the  work  and  or- 
ganization of  a  council  of  this  degree  of 
the  order ;  and  the  marshal  will  present 

*  Concerning  what  la  Bald  of  cities,  the  key  tff  tlie 
Ritual  says :  '"ConsidereU  .'nncceBaary  to  decipher  wH*l 
ia  aaid  in  regard  to  citiea." 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


you  to  the  worthy  president  for  admoni- 
tion. 

President. — It  has  no  doubt,  been  long 
apparent  to  you,  brothers,  that  foreign  in- 
fluence and  Roman  Catholicism  have  been 
making  steady  and  alarming  progress  in 
our  country.  You  cannot  have  felled  to 
observe  the  significant  transition  of  the 
foreigner  and  Romanist  from  a  character 
quiet,  retiring,  and  even  abject,  to  one 
bold,  threatening,  turbulent,  and  despotic 
in  its  appearance  and  assumptions.  You 
must  have  become  alarmed  at  the  syste- 
matic and  rapidly  augmenting  power  of 
these  dangerous  and  unnatural  elements  of 
our  national  condition.  So  it  is,  brothers, 
with  others  beside  yourselves  in  every 
state  of  the  Union.  A  sense  of  danger  has 
struck  the  great  heart  of  the  nation.  In 
every  city,  town,  and  hamlet,  the  danger 
has  been  seen  and  the  alarm  sounded. 
And  hence  true  men  have  devised  this  or- 
der as  a  means  of  disseminating  patriotic 
principles,  of  keeping  alive  the  fire  of  na- 
tional virtue,  of  fostering  the  national  in- 
telligence, and  of  advancing  America  and 
the  American  interest  on  the  one  side,  and 
on  the  other  of  checking  the  strides  of  the 
foreigner  or  alien,  or  thwarting  the  ma- 
chinations and  subverting  the  deadly  plans 
of  the  papist  and  Jesuit. 

Note. — The  President  shall  impress  up- 
on the  initiates  the  importance  of  secrecy, 
the  manner  of  proceeding  in  recommend- 
ing candidates  for  initiation,  and  the  re- 
BponsibUity  of  the  duties  which  they  have 
Assumed. 

Second  Degree  Coxtkcil. 

Marshal. — Worthy  President :  These 
brothers  have  been  duly  elected  to  the  sec- 
ond degree  of  this  order.  I  present  them 
to  you  for  obligation. 

President. — Brothers:  You  will  place 
your  left  hand  upon  your  right  breast,  and 
extend  your  right  hand  towards  the  flag  of 
our  country,  preparatory  to  obligation. 
(Each  council  room  should  have  a  neat 
American  flag  festooned  over  the  platform 
ot  the  President.) 

OBLIGATION. 

You,  and  each  of  you,  of  your  own  free 
will  and  accord,  in  the  presence  of  Al- 
mighty God  and  these  witnesses,  your  left 
hand  resting  upon  your  right  breast,  and 
your  right  hand  extended  to  the  flag  of 
your  country,  do  solemnly  and  sincerely 
swear,  that  you  will  not  under  any  cir- 
cumstances disclose  in  any  manner,  nor 
suffer  it  to  be  done  by  others,  if  in  your 
power  to  prevent  it,  the  name,  signs,  pass- 
words, or  other  secrets  of  this  degree,  ex- 
cept in  open  council  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
■truction  ;  that  you  will  in  aU  things  con- 
form to  all  the  rules  and  regulations  of  this 
order,  and  to  the  .constitution  and  by-laws 


of  this  or  any  other  council  to  which  you 
may  be  attached,  so  long  as  they  do  not 
conflict  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  nor  that  of  the  State  in  which  you 
reside;  that  you  will  under  all  circum- 
stances, if  in  your  power  so  to  do,  attend 
to  all  regular  signs  or  summons  that  may 
be  thrown  or  sent  to  you  bv  a  brother  of 
this  or  any  other  degree  of  this  order ;  that 
you  will  support  in  all  political  matters,  for 
all  political  oflSces,  members  of  this  order 
in  preference  to  other  persons ;  that  if  it 
may  be  done  legally,  you  will,  when  elect- 
ed or  appointed  to  any  official  station  con- 
ferring on  you  the  power  to  do  so  remove 
all  foreigners,  aliens,  or  Roman  Catholics 
from  office  or  place,  and  that  you  will  in 
no  case  appoint  such  to  any  office  or  place 
in  your  gift.  You  do  also  promise  and 
swear  that  this  and  all  other  obligations 
which  you  have  previously  taken  in  this 
order  snail  ever  be  kept  through  life  sacrrd 
and  inviolate.  All  this  you  promise  and 
declare,  as  Americans,  to  sustain  and 
abide  by,  without  any  hesitation  or  mental 
reservation  whatever.  So  help  you  God 
and  keep  you  steadfast. 

(Each will  answer  "I  do." 

President. — Brother  Marshal,  you  will 
now  present  the  brothers  to  the  instructor 
for  instructions  in  the  second  degree  of  the 
order. 

Marshal. — Brother  Instructor,  by  direc- 
tion of  our  worthy  president,  I  present 
these  brothers  before  you  that  you  may  in- 
struct them  in  the  secrets  and  mysteries  of 
the  second  degree  of  the  order. 

Instructor. — Brothers,  in  this  degree  we 
have  an  entering  sign  and  a  countersign. 
At  the  outer  door  proceed  {as  in  the-Jirst 
degree).  At  the  inner  door  you  will  make 
(two  raps),  and  proceed  as  in  the  first  de- 
gree, giving  the  second  degree  pass-word, 
which  is  American,  instead  of  that  of  ihe 
first  degree.  If  found  to  be  correct,  you 
will  then  be  admitted,  and  proceed  (to  the 
centre  of  the  room),  giving  the  countersign, 
which  is  made  thus  (extending  the  right 
arm  to  the  national  flag  over  the  president, 
the  palm  of  the  hand  being  vptrards). 

The  sign  of  recognition  in  this  degree  is 
the  same  as  in  the  first  degree,  with  the 
addition  of  (the  middle  Jinger),  and  the  re- 
sponse to  be  made  in  a  (similar  manner.) 

Marshal,  you  will  now  present  the  broth- 
ers to  the  worthy  president  for  admonition. 

Marshal. — Worthy  President,  I  now  pre- 
sent these  candidates  to  you  for  admo- 
nition. 

President. — Brothers,  you  are  now  duly 
initiated  into  the  second  degree  of  this  or- 
der. Renewing  the  congratulations  which 
we  extended  to  you  upon  your  admission  to 
the  first  degree,  we  aamonish  you  by  every 
tie  that  may  nerve  patriots,  to  aid  us  in 
our  efforts  to  restore  the  political  institu- 
tions of  our   country   to    their  original 


BOOK  I.] 


THE   AMERICAN   RITUAL. 


6^ 


furity.  Begin  with  the  youth  of  our  land, 
nstil  into  their  minds  the  lessons  of  our 
country's  history — the  glorious  battles  and 
the  brilliant  deeds  of  patriotism  of  our 
fathers,  through  which  we  received  the  in- 
estimable blessings  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  Point  them  to  the  example  of  the 
sages  and  the  statesmen  who  founded  our 
government.  Implant  in  their  bosoms  an 
ardent  love  for  the  Union.  Above  all  else, 
keep  alive  in  their  bosoms  the  memory, 
the  maxims,  and  the  deathless  example  of 
our  illustrious  Washington. 

Brothers,  recalling  to  your  minds  the 
solemn  obligations  which  you  have  sever- 
ally taken  in  this  and  the  first  degree,  I 
now    pronounce  you  entitled  to  all  the 

Srivileges  of  membership  in  this  the  second 
egree  of  our  order. 

Third  Degree  Council. 

Marshal. — Worthy  President,  these  bro- 
thers having  been  duly  elected  to  the  third 
degree  of  this  order,  I  present  them  before 
you  for  obligation. 

President. — Brothers,  you  will  place 
yourselves  in  a  circle  around  me,  each  one 
crossing  your  arms  upon  your  breasts,  and 
grasping  firmly  each  other's  hands,  hold- 
ing the  right  hand  of  the  brother  on  the 
right  and  the  left  hand  of  the  brother  on 
the  left,  80  as  to  form  a  circle,  symbolical 
of  the  links  of  an  unbroken  chain,  and  of 
a  ring  which  has  no  end. 

Note. — This  degree  is  to  be  conferred 
with  the  national  flag  elevated  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  circle,  by  the  side  of  the  presi- 
dent or  instructor,  and  not  on  less  than  five 
at  any  one  time,  in  order  to  give  it  solem- 
nity, and  also  for  the  formation  of  the  cir- 
cle— except  in  the  first  instance  of  confer- 
ring it  on  the  officers  of  the  state  and  sub- 
ordinate councils,  that  they  may  be  em- 
powered to  progress  with  the  work. 

The  obligation  and  charge  in  this  de- 
gree may  be  given  by  the  president  or  in- 
structor, as  the  president  may  prefer. 

OBLIGATION. 

You,  and  each  of  you,  of  your  own  free 
will  and  accord,  in  the  presence  of  Al- 
mighty God  and  these  witnesses,  with  your 
hands  joined  in  token  of  that  fraternal  af- 
fection which  should  ever  bind  together 
the  States  of  this  Union — forming  a  ring, 
in  token  of  your  determination  that,  so  far 
aa  your  efforts  can  avail,  this  Union  shall 
have  no  end — do  solemnly  and  sincerely 
swear  [or  affirm]  that  you  will  not  under 
any  circumstances  disclose  in  any  manner, 
nor  suffer  it  to  be  done  by  others  if  in  your 
power  to  prevent  it,  the  name,  signs,  pass- 
words, or  other  secrets  of  this  degree,  ex- 
cept to  those  to  whom  you  may  prove  on 
txial  to  be  brothers  of  the  same  degree,  or 


in  open  council,  for  the  purpose  of  instruc- 
tion ;  that  you  do  hereby  solemnly  declare 
your  devotion  to  the  Union  of  these  States ; 
that  in  the  discharge  of  your  duties  as 
American  citizens,  you  will  uphold,  main- 
tain, and  defend  it ;  that  you  will  discour- 
age and  discountenance  any  and  every  at- 
tempt, cominw  from  any  and  every  quarter, 
which  you  believe  to  be  designed  or  calcu- 
lated to  destroy  or  subvert  it,  or  to  weaken 
its  bonds ;  and  that  you  will  use  your  influ- 
ence, so  far  as  in  your  power,  in  endeavor- 
ing to  procure  an  amicable  and  equitable 
adjustment  of  all  political  discontents  or 
differehces  which  may  threaten  its  injury 
or  overthrow.  You  further  promise  ani 
swear  [or  affirm]  that  you  will  not  vote  for 
any  one  to  fill  any  office  of  honor,  profit  or 
trust  of  a  political  character,  whom  you 
know  or  believe  to  be  in  favor  of  a  disso- 
lution of  the  Union  of  these  States,  or  who 
is  endeavoring  to  produce  that  result ;  that 
you  will  vote  for  and  support  for  all  polit- 
ical offices,  third  or  union  degree  membei-a 
of  this  order  in  preference  to  all  others;  that 
if  it  may  be  done  consistently  with  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  the  land,  you  will, 
when  elected  or  appointed  to  any  official 
station  which  may  confer  on  you  the  power 
to  do  so,  remove  from  office  or  place  all 
persons  whom  you  know  or  believe  to  be  in 
favor  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  or  who 
are  endeavoring  to  produce  that  result ;  and 
that  you  will  in  no  case  appoint  such  per- 
son to  any  political  office  or  place  whatever. 
All  this  you  promise  and  swear  [or  affirm! 
upon  your  honor  as  American  citizens  and 
friends  of  the  American  Union,  to  sustain 
and  abide  by  without  any  hesitation  or 
mental  reservation  whatever.  You  also 
promise  and  swear  [or  affirm]  that  this  find 
all  other  obligations  which  you  have  pre- 
viously taken  in  this  order,  shall  ever  be 
kept  sacred  and  inviolate.  To  all  this  you 
pledge  your  lives,  your  fortunes,  and  your 
sacred  honors.  So  help  you  God  and  keep 
you  steadfast. 

(Each  one  shall  answer,  "  I  do.") 

President. — Brother  Marshal,  you  will 
now  present  the  brothers  to  the  instructor 
for  final  instruction  in  this  third  degree  of 
the  order. 

Marshal. — Instnictor,  by  direction  of  our 
worthy  president,  I  present  these  brothers 
before  you  that  you  may  instruct  them  in 
the  secrets  and  mysteries  of  this  the  third 
degree  of  our  order. 

Instructor. — Brothers,  in  this  degree  as 
in  the  second,  we  have  an  entering  pass- 
word, a  degree  password,  and  a  token  of 
salutation.  At  tne  outer  door  {make  any 
ordinary  alarm.  The  outside  sentinel  will 
say  U;  you  say  ni;  the  sentinel  will  re- 
join on).  This  will  admit  you  to  the  inner 
door.  At  the  inner  door  vou  will  make 
{three)  distinct  {raps),  'then  announce 
your  name,  with  tne  number  (or  name) 


68 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


and  location  of  the  council  to  which  you 
belong,  giving  the  explanation  to  the  pass- 
word, which  is  {safe).  If  found  correct, 
you  will  then  be  admitted,  when  you  will 
proceed  to  the  centre  of  the  room,  and 
placing  the  (hands  on  the  breast  with  the 
fingers  interlocked),  give  the  token  of  salu- 
tation, which  is  [by  botcing  to  the  president). 
You  will  then  quietly  take  your  seat. 

The  sign  of  recognition  is  made  by  the 
same  action  as  in  the  second  degree,  with 
the  addition  of  (the  third  finger),  and  the 
response  is  made  by  (a  similar  action  with 
the  left  hand.) 

(The  grip  is  given  by  taking  hold  of  the 
hand  in  the  usual  way,  and  then  by  slipping 
the  finger  around  on  the  top  of  the  thumb ; 
then  extending  the  littlefinger  and  pressing 
the  inside  of  the  wrist.  The  person  chal- 
lenging shall  say,  do  you  know  what  thai  is  f 
The  answer  is  yes.  The  challenging  party 
shall  say,  further,  what  is  it  ?  The  answer 
is,  Union. 

[The  instructor  will  here  give  the  grip  of 
this  degree,  with  explanations,  and  also  the 
true  password  of  this  degree,  which  is 
{Union.)] 

CHAKOE. 

To  be  given  by  the  president. 

Brothers,  it  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I 
congratulate  vou  upon  your  advancement 
to  the  third  degree  of  our  order.  The  re- 
sponsibilities you  have  now  assumed,  are 
more  serious  and  weighty  than  those  which 
preceded,  and  are  committed  to  such  only 
as  have  been  tried  and  found  worthy.  Our 
obligations  are  intended  as  solemn  avowals 
of  our  duty  to  the  land  that  gave  us  birth  ; 
to  the  memories  of  our  fathers ;  and  to  the 
happiness  and  welfare  of  our  children. 
Consecrating  to  your  country  a  spirit  un- 
Belfish  and  a  fidelity  like  that  which  dis- 
tinguished the  patriots  of  the  Revolution, 
you  have  pledged  your  aid  in  cementing 
the  bonds  of  a  llnion  which  we  trust  will 
endure  for  ever.  Your  deportment  since 
your  initiation  has  attested  your  devotion 
to  the  principles  we  desire  to  establish,  and 
has  inspired  a  confidence  in  your  patriot- 
ism, of  which  we  can  give  no  higher  proof 
than  your  reception  here. 

The  dangers  which  threaten  American 
libertv  arise  from  foes  without  and  from 
enemies  within.  The  first  degree  pointed 
out  the  source  and  nature  of  our  most  im- 
minent peril,  and  indicated  the  first  mea- 
sure of  safety.  The  second  degree  defined 
the  next  means  by  which,  in  coming  time, 
such  assaults  may  be  rendered  harmless. 
The  third  degree,  which  you  have  just  re- 
ceived, not  only  reiterates  the  lessons  of 
the  other  two,  but  it  is  intended  to  avoid 
and  provide  for  a  more  remote,  bi.*<  no  less 
terrible  danger,  from  domestic  enc'^'es  to 
OUT  free  institutions. 

Our  object  is  briefly  this : — to  perfect  ao 


organization  modeled  after  that  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  and  coex- 
tensive with  the  confederacy.  Its  object 
and  principles,  in  all  matters  of  national 
concern,  to  be  uniform  and  identical  whilat 
in  all  local  matters  the  component  parts 
shall  remain  independent  and  sovereign 
within  their  respective  limits. 

The  great  result  to  be  attained — the  only 
one  which  can  secure  a  perfect  guarantee 
as  to  our  future — is  uxiON;  permanent, 
enduring,  fraternal  union  !  Allow  me,  then, 
to  impress  upon  your  minds  and  memories 
the  touching  sentiments  of  the  Father  of 
his  Country,  in  his  Farewell  Address : — 

"  The  unity  of  government  which  consti- 
tutes you  one  people,"  says  Washington, 
"  is  justly  dear  to  you,  for  it  is  the  main 
pillar  in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independ- 
ence, the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at 
home,  of  your  peace  abroad,  of  your  safety, 
your  prosperity— even  that  liberty  you  so 
justly  prize. 

"  *  *  It  is  of  infinite  moment  that 
you  should  properly  estimate  the  immense 
value  of  your  National  Union,  to  your  col- 
lective and  individual  happiness.  You 
should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  and  im- 
movable attachment  to  it;  accustoming 
yourselves  to  think  and  speak  of  it,  as  the 
palladium  of  your  political  safety  and  pros- 
perity ;  watching  for  its  preservation  with 
jealous  anxiety;  discountenancing  what- 
ever may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it 
can  in  any  event  be  abandoned ;  and  in- 
dignantly frowning  upon  the  dawning  of 
every  attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of 
our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to  enfeeble 
the  sacred  ties  which  now  bind  together 
the  various  parts." 

Let  these  words  of  paternal  advice  and 
warning,  from  the  greatest  man  that  ever 
lived,  sink  deep  into  your  hearts.  Cherish 
them,  and  teach  your  children  to  reverence 
them,  as  you  cherish  and  reverence  the 
memory  of  Washin^n  himself  The 
Union  of  these  states  is  the  great  conserva- 
tor of  that  liberty  so  dear  to  the  American 
heart.  Without  it,  our  greatness  as  a  na- 
tion would  disappear,  and  our  boasted  self- 
government  prove  a  signal  failure.  The 
very  name  of  liberty,  and  the  hopes  of 
struggling  freedom  throughout  the  world, 
must  perish  in  the  wreck  of  this  Union. 
Devote  yourselves,  then,  to  its  maintenance, 
as  our  mthers  did  to  the  cause  of  independ- 
ence; consecrating  to  its  support,  as  you 
have  sworn  to  do,  your  lives,  your  fortunes, 
and  your  sacred  honors. 

Brothers :  Recalling  to  your  minds  the 
solemn  obligations  which  you  have  sever- 
ally taken  in  this  and  the  preceding  degrees, 
I  now  pronounce  you  entitled  to  aU  the 
privileges  of  membership  in  this  organiza- 
tion, and  take  pleasure  in  informing  you 
that  you  are  now  members  of  the  order  of 
[the  American  Union.) 


BOOK  I.] 


POLITICAL    NOMINATIONS    IN    1856. 


6^ 


American,  "Wlilg)  Republican  and  Demo- 
cratic IVomlnatlons  of  1856. 

The  American  convention  met  the  next 
day  after  the  session  of  the  National  Coun- 
cil of  the  Order,  on  the  22d  February, 
1856.  It  was  composed  of  227  delegates ; 
all  the  States  being  represented  except 
Maine,  Vermont,  Georgia  and  South  Car- 
olina. Hon.  Millard  Fillmore  was  nom- 
inated for  President,  and  Andrew  J.  Don- 
elson  for  Vice-President. 

The  Whig  Convention  met  at  Baltimore, 
September,  17,  1856,  and  endorsed  the 
nominations  made  by  the  American  par- 
ty, and  in  its  platform  declared  that 
"  without  adopting  or  referring  to  the  pe- 
culiar doctrines  of  the  party  which  has 
already  selected  Mr.  Fillmore  as  a  candi- 
date" *  *  *  Resolved,  that  in  the 
present  exigency  of  political  affairs,  we 
are  not  called  upon  to  discuss  the  subordi- 
nate questions  of  the  administration  in  the 
exercising  of  the  constitutional  powers  of 
the  government.  It  is  enough  to  know 
that  civil  war  is  raging,  and  that  the 
Union  is  in  peril ;  and  proclaim  the  con- 
viction that  the  restoration  of  Mr.  Fill- 
more to  the  Presidency  will  furnish  the  best 
if  not  the  only  means  of  restoring  peace." 
'  The  first  National  Convention  of  the 
new  Republican  party  met  at  Philadelphia, 
June  18,  1856,  and  nominated  John  G. 
Fremont  for  President,  and  William  L. 
Dayton  for  Vice-President.  Since  the 
previous  Presidential  election,  a  new  party 
consisting  of  the  disaffected  former  adhe- 
rents of  the  other  parties — Native  and  In- 
dependent Democrats,  Abolitionists,  and 
Whigs  opposed  to  slavery — had  sprung 
into  existence,  and  was  called  by  its  adhe- 
rents and  friends,  the  Republican  party. 

This  convention  of  delegates  assembled 
in  pursuance  of  a  call  addressed  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  without  regard 
to  past  political  differences  or  divisions, 
who  were  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise.  To  the  policy  of 
President  Pierce's  administration:  To  the 
extension  of  slavery  into  free  territory :  In 
favor  of  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  free 
State :  Of  restoring  the  action  of  the  fed- 
eral government  to  the  principles  of  Wash- 
ington and  Jefferson.  > 

It  adopted  a  platform,  consisting  ora  set 
of  resolutions,  the  principal  one  of  which 
was:  "That  we  deny  the  authority  of 
Congress,  of  a  territorial  legislature,  of  any 
individual,  or  association  of  individuals, 
to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any 
territory  of  the  United  States,  while  the 
present  Constitution  shall  be  maintained." 
And  closed  with  a  resolution :  "  That  we 
invite  the  approbation  and  co-operation  of 
the  men  of  all  parties,  however  different 
from  us  in  other  respects,  in  support  of  the 
principles  herein  declared ;  and  believing 


that  the  spirit  of  our  institutions,  as  we^X 
as  the  Constitution  of  our  country,  guar 
an  ties  liberty  of  conscience  and  equality  o* 
rights  among  citizens,  we  oppose  all  legis 
lation  impairing  their  security." 

The  Democratic  Convention,  met  rt 
Cincinnati,  in  May  1856,  and  nominate'* 
James  Buchanan  for  President,  and  John 
C.  Breckenridge  for  Vice-President.  14 
adopted  a  platform  which  contained  th** 
material  portions  of  all  its  previous  plat 
forms,  and  also  defined  its  position  on  the 
new  issues  of  the  day,  and  declared  (1 )  that 
the  revenue  to  be  raised  should  not  exceec* 
the  actual  necessary  expenses  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  for  the  gradual  extinction  ot 
I  the  public  debt;  (2)  that  the  ConstitutioP' 
!  does  not  confer  upon  the  general  govern- 
ment the  power  to  commence  and  carry  oi^ 
a  general  system  of  internal  improvements; 
(8)  for  a  strict  construction  of  the  power* 
granted  by  the  Constitution  to  the  fedeiai 
government;  (4)  that  Congress  has  m% 
power  to  charter  a  national  bank ;  (5)  thai 
Congress  has  no  power  to  interfere  with 
slavery  in  the  States  and  Territories ;  the 
people  of  which  have  the  exclusive  right 
and  power  to  settle  that  question  for  them- 
selves. (6)  Opposition  to  native  American- 
ism. 

At  the  election  which  followed,  in  No- 
vember, 1856,  the  Democratic  candidates 
were  elected,  though  by  a  popular  minority 
vote,  having  received  1,838,160  popular 
votes,  and  174  electoral  votes,  against 
2,215,768  popular  votes,  and  122  electoral 
votes  for  John  C.  Fremont,  the  Republican 
candidate,  and  Mr.  Fillmore,  the  Whig  and 
American  candidate. 

The  aggregate  vote  cast  for  Mr.  Fillmore, 
who  was  the  nominee  on  both  the  Whig 
and  American  tickets,  was  874,534,  and 
his  electoral  vote  was  eight ;  that  of  the 
State  of  Maryland.  This  was  the  last  na- 
tional election  at  which  the  Whigs  ap- 
E eared  as  a  party,  under  that  name  ;  they 
aving  joined  with  the  American  and  with 
the  Republican  parties,  and  finally  united 
with  the  latter  after  the  downfall  and  ex- 
tinction of  the  former.  In  the  State  elec- 
tions of  that  year,  (1856)  the  American 
party  carried  Rhode  Island  and  Maryland; 
and  in  the  35th  Congress,  which  met  in 
December,  1857,  the  party  had  15  to  20 
Representatives  and  five  Senators.  When 
the  36th  Congress  met,  in  1859,  it  had  be- 
come almost  a  border  State  or  Southern 
party,  having  two  Senators ;  one  from 
Kentucky  and  one  from  Maryland;  and 
23  Representatives,  five  from  Kentucky, 
seven  from  Tennessee,  three  from  Mary- 
land, one  from  Virginia,  four  from  North 
Carolina,  two  from  Georgia,  and  one  from 
Louisiana.  The  American  party  had  none 
of  the  elements  of  persistence.  It  made 
another  desperate  effort,  however,  in  the 
next  Presidential  campaign,  but  having 


70 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


failed  to  carry  the  South,  disappeared 
finally  from  politics. 

The  new  Republican  party  polled  a  very 
large  vote — 1,341,234  out  of  a  total  vote  of 
4,053,928 — and  its  candidates  received  114 
votes  out  of  296,  in  the  electoral  college ; 
having  secured  majorities  in  all  the  free 
States,  except  Illinois,  Indiana,  Pennsyl- 
vania. New  Jersey  and  California. 

The  successful  candidate,  Mr.  James 
Buchanan,  was  duly  inaugurated  as  Presi- 
d.'nt  of  the  United  States,  and  entered 
(upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  such, 
March  4,  1857. 

After  the  election  of  November,  1856, 
the  Republican  Association  of  Washington 
iB»ued  an  address  to  the  people,  in  which 
the  results  of  the  election  were  examined, 
and  the  future  policy  of  the  party  stated. 
It  is  an  interesting  paper,  as  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  campaign  of  1860,  which 
followed,  and  is  here  given  in  full ; 


*<  BepuMlcan  Association  of  Washington. 

Addrett  to  the  Bepuhlicani  of  the  United  SiateB. 

"  Washington,  Nov.  27, 1856. 

"  The  Presidential  contest  is  over,  and  at 
last  we  have  some  materials  to  enable  us 
to  form  a  judgment  of  the  results. 

"  Seldom  have  two  parties  emerged  from 
a  conflict  with  less  of  joy  in  the  victors, 
more  of  hope  in  the  vanquished.  The 
pro-slavery  party  has  elected  its  Presiden- 
tial candidate,  only,  however,  by  the  votes 
of  a  minority,  and  that  of  such  a  character 
aa  to  stamp  the  victory  as  the  offspring  of 
sectionalism  and  temporary  causes.  The 
Republicans,  wherever  able  to  present 
clearly  to  the  public  the  real  issue  of  the 
cauvass — slavery  restriction  or  slavery  ex- 
tension— have  carried  the  people  with  them 
by  unprecedented  majorities;  almost  break- 
ing up  in  some  States  the  organization  of 
their  adversaries.  A  sudden  gathering  to- 
gether of  the  people,  alarmed  at  the  in- 
roads of  the  Slave  power,  rather  than  a 
well  organized  party,  with  but  a  few 
months  to  attend  to  the  complicated  de- 
tails of  party  warfare ;  obstructed  by  a  se- 
cret Order,  which  had  pre-occupied  the 
field,  and  obtained  a  strong  hold  of  the 
national  and  religious  prejudices  of  the 
masses ;  opposed  to  an  old  party,  com- 
mencing the  canvass  with  the  united  sup- 
port of  a  powerful  section,  hardened  by 
long  party  drill,  accustomed  to  victory, 
wielding  the  whole  power  of  the  federal 
administration— a  party  which  only  four 
years  ago  carried  all  but  four  of  the  States, 
and  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote — still, 
under  all  these  adverse  circumstances,  they 
have  triumphed  in  eleven,  if  not  twelve  of 
the  free  States,  pre-eminent  for  enterprise 
and  general  intelligence,  and  containing 


one  half  of  the  whole  population  of  the  coun- 
try ;  given  to  their  Presidential  candidate 
nearly  three  times  as  many  electoral  votes 
as  were  cast  by  the  Whig  party  in  1852 ;  and 
this  day  control  the  governments  of  fourteen 
of  the  most  powerful  States  of  the  Union. 

"  Well  may  our  adversaries  tremble  in 
the  hour  of  their  victory.  'The  Demo- 
cratic and  Black  Republican  parties,'  they 
say,  'are  nearly  balanced  in  regard  to 
power.  The  former  was  victorious  in  the 
recent  struggle,  but  success  was  hardly  won, 
with  the  aid  of  important  accidental  ad- 
vantages. The  latter  has  abated  nothing 
of  its  zeal,  and  has  suffered  no  pause  in  ite 
preparations  for  another  battle.' 

"  With  such  numerical  force,  such  zeal, 
intelligence,  and  harmony  in  counsel ;  with 
so  many  great  States,  and  more  than  a 
million  voters  rallied  to  their  standard  by 
the  efforts  of  a  few  months,  why  may  not 
the  Republicans  confidently  expect  a  vic- 
tory in  the  next  contest? 

The  necessity  for  their  organization  still 
exists  in  all  its  force.  Mr.  Buchanan  has 
always  proved  true  to  the  demands  of  his 
party.  He  fully  accepted  the  Cincinnati 
platform,  and  pledged  himself  to  its  policy 
— a  policy  of  filibustering  abroad,  propa- 
gandism  at  home.  Prominent  and  controll- 
ing among  his  supporters  are  men  com- 
mitted, by  word  and  deed,  to  that  policy ; 
and  what  is  there  in  his  character,  nis  an- 
tecedents, the  nature  of  his  northern  sup- 
port, to  authorize  the  expectation  that  he 
will  disregard  their  will?  Nothing  will  be 
so  likely  to  restrain  him  and  counteract 
their  extreme  measures,  as  a  vigorous  and 
growing  Republican  organization,  as  noth- 
ing would  be  more  necessary  to  save  the 
cause  of  freedom  and  the  Union,  should  he, 
as  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  con- 
tinue the  pro-slavery  policy  of  the  present 
incumbent.  Let  us  beware  of  folding  our 
arms,  and  waiting  to  see  what  he  will  do. 
We  know  the  ambition,  the  necessities,  the 
schemes  of  the  slave  power.  Its  policy  of 
extension  and  aggrandizement  and  univer- 
sal empire,  is  the  law  of  its  being,  not  an 
accident — is  settled,  not  fluctuating.  Covert 
or  open,  moderate  or  extreme,  according  to 
circumstances,  it  never  changes  in  spirit  or 
aim.  With  Mr.  Buchanan,  the  elect  of  a 
party  controlled  by  this  policy,  administer- 
ing the  government,  the  safety  of  the 
country  and  of  free  institutions  must  rest  in 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  party. 

What,  then,  is  the  duty  before  us? 
Organization,  vigilance,  action ;  action  on 
the  rostrum,  through  the  press,  at  the  bal- 
lot-box ;  in  state,  county,  city,  and  town 
elections ;  everywhere,  at  all  times ;  in  every 
election,  making  Republicanism,  or  loyal- 
ty to  the  policy  and  principles  it  advocates, 
the  sole  political  test.  No  primary  or 
municipal  election  should  be  suffered  to 
go  by  default.    The  party  that  would  sue- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE   KANSAS    STRUGGLE. 


71 


ceed  nationally  must  triumph  in  states — 
triumph  in  the  state  elections,  must  be 
prepared  by  municipal  success. 

Next  to  the  remaining  power  in  the 
states  already  under  their  control,  let  the 
Republicans  devote  themselves  to  the 
work  of  disseminating  their  principles, 
and  initiating  the  true  course  of  political 
action  in  the  states  which  have  decided  the 
election  against  them.  This  time  we  have 
failed,  for  reasons  nearly  adl  of  which  may  be 
removed  by  proper  effort.  Many  thousand 
honest,  but  not  well-informed  voters,  who 
supported  Mr.  Buchanan  under  the  delu- 
sive impression  that  he  would  favor  the 
cause  of  free  Kansas  will  soon  learn  their 
mistake,  and  be  anxious  to  correct  it.  The 
timid  policy  of  the  Republicans  in  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Indiana,  in  post- 
poning their  independent  action,  and  tem- 
porizing with  a  party  got  up  for  purposes 
not  harmonizing  with  their  own,  and  the 
conduct  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  friends  in  either 
voting  for  Mr.  Buchanan,  or  dividing  the 
opposition  by  a  separate  ticket,  can  hardly 
be  repeated  again.  The  true  course  of  the 
Republicans  is  to  organize  promptly,  bold- 
ly, and  honestly  upon  their  own  principles, 
80  clearly  set  forth  in  the  Philadelphia 
platform,  and,  avoiding  coalitions  with 
other  parties,  appeal  directly  to  the  masses 
of  all  parties  to  ignore  all  organizations 
and  issues  which  would  divert  the  public 
mind  from  the  one  danger  that  now  threat- 
ens the  honor  and  interests  of  the  country, 
and  the  subtlety  of  the  Union^— slavery 
propagandism  allied  with  disunionism. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  it  is  not  the  want 
of  generous  sentiment,  but  of  sufficient  in- 
formation, that  prevents  the  American  peo- 
ple from  being  united  in  action  against  the 
aggressive  policy  of  the  slave  power.  Were 
these  simple  questions  submitted  to-day  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  : — Are  you 
in  favor  of  the  extension  of  slavery  ?  Are 
you  in  favor  of  such  extension  by  the  aid 
or  connivance  of  the  federal  government? 
And  could  they  be  permitted  to  record  their 
votes  in  response,  without  embarrassment, 
without  constraint  of  any  kind,  nineteen- 
twentieths  of  the  people  of  the  free  States, 
and  perhaps  more  than  half  of  the  people 
of  the  slave  States,  would  return  a  decided 
negative  to  both. 

Let  us  have  faith  in  the  people.  Let  us 
believe,  that  at  heart  they  are  hostile  to 
the  extension  of  slavery,  desirous  that 
the  territories  of  the  Union  be  consecrated 
to  free  labor  and  free  institutions ;  and  that 
they  require  only  enlightenment  as  to  the 
most  effectual  means  of  securing  this  end, 
to  convert  their  cherished  sentiment  into  a 
fixed  principle  of  action. 

The  times  are  pregnant  with  warning. 
That  a  disunion  party  exists  in  the  South, 
no  longer  admits  of  a  doubt.  It  accepts 
the  election  of  Mr.  Buchanan  as  affording 


time  and  means  to  consolidate  its  strength 
and  mature  its  plans,  which  comprehend 
not  only  the  enslavement  of  Kansas,  and 
the  recognition  of  slavery  in  all  territory  of 
the  United  States,  but  the  conversion  of 
the  lower  half  of  California  into  a  slave 
State,  the  organization  of  a  new  slavery 
territory  in  the  Gadsden  purchase,  the  fix- 
ture annexation  of  Nicaragua  and  subju- 
gation of  Central  America,  and  the  acqui- 
sition of  Cuba ;  and,  as  the  free  States  are 
not  expected  to  submit  to  all  this,  ultimate 
dismemberment  of  the  Union,  and  the  for- 
mation of  a  great  slaveholding  confeder- 
acy, with  foreign  alliances  with  Brazil  and 
Russia.  It  may  assume  at  first  a  moderate 
tone,  to  prevent  the  sudden  alienation  of  its 
Northern  allies ;  it  may  delay  the  develoj>- 
ment  of  its  plot,  as  it  did  under  the  Pierce 
administration ;  but  the  repeal  of  the  Mis- 
souri compromise  came  at  last,  and  so  will 
come  upon  the  country  inevitably  the  final 
acts  of  the  dark  conspiracy.  When  that 
hour  shall  come,  then  will  the  honest  Dem- 
ocrats of  the  free  States  be  driven  into  our 
ranks,  and  the  men  of  the  slave  States  who 
prefer  the  republic  of  Washington,  Adams 
and  Jefferson — a  republic  of  law,  order 
and  liberty — to  an  oligarchy  of  slavehold- 
ers and  slavery  propagandists,  governed  by 
Wise,  Atchison,  Soule,  and  Walker,  founded 
in  fraud  and  violence  and  seeking  aggran- 
dizement by  the  spoliation  of  nations,  will 
bid  God  speed  to  the  labors  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  to  preserve  liberty  and  the 
Union,  one  and  inseparable,  perpetual  and 
allpowerful. 
Washington,  D.  C,  Nov.  27, 1856. 


Tbe  Kansas  Struggle. 

It  was  the  removal  of  the  interdiction 
against  slavery,  in  all  the  territory  north 
of  36°  30,'  by  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  which  gave  legality  to  the 
struggle  for  Kansas,  and  it  was  the  doc- 
trine of  popular  sovereignty  which  gave 
an  impartial  invitation  to  both  sides  to  en- 
ter the  struggle.  The  aggressive  men  of 
both  parties  hurried  emigrants  to  the  Ter- 
ritory. Each  accused  the  other  of  organ- 
ized efforts,  and  soon  in  the  height  of  the 
excitement  these  charges  were  rather  con- 
fessed than,  denied. 

A  new  question  was  soon  evolved  by  the 
struggle,  for  some  who  entered  from  the 
South  took  their  slaves  with  them.  The 
Free  State  men  now  contended  that  sla- 
very was  a  local  institution  and  confined 
to  the  States  where  it  existed,  and  that  it 
an  emigrant  passed  into  the  territory  with 
his  slaves  these  became  free.  The  South- 
em  view  was,  that  slaves  were  recognized 
as  property  by  the  National  Constitution  ; 
that  therefore  their  ma-sters  had  a  right  to 
take  them  there  and  hold  them  under  con- 


72 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Btitutioual  guarantees,  the  same  as  any  I  question  which  was  now  rapidly  dividing 
other  property ;   that  to  assert  anything  tne  two  great  sections  of  the  Union.    The 
A^^.,  41,^  <^r,i,oi;+,r  ^e  +1,0  result  of  the  long  Congressional  struggle 


else  would  be '  to  deny  the  equality  of  the 
States  within  their  common  territory,  and 
degrade  them  from  the  rank  of  equals  to 
that  of  inferiors.  This  last  proposition 
had  such  force  that  it  would  doubtless  have 
received  more  general  recognition  if  the 
North  had  not  felt  that  the  early  compact 
dedicating  the  territories  north  of  36°  30' 
to  freedom,  had  been  violated.  In  answer 
to  this  proposition  they  therefore  pro- 
claimed in  their  platforms  and  speeches, 
and  there" was  no  other  logical  answer, 
"  that  freedom  was  National,  and  slavery 
Sectional." 

We  cannot  enter  upon  a  full  description 
of  the  scenes  in  Kansas,  but  bloodshed 
and  rapine  soon  followed  the  attempts  of 
the  opposing  parties  to  get  control  of  its 

government.  What  were  called  the  "  Bor- 
er Ruffians  "  by  the  Free  State  men,  be- 
cause of  active  and  warlike  organization 
in  Missouri  and  upon  its  borders,  in  the 
earlier  parts  of  the  struggle,  seemed  to 
have  the  advantage.  They  were  supported 
by  friends  near  at  hand  at  all  times,  and 
warlike  raids  were  frequent.  The  Free 
State  men  had  to  depend  mainly  upon 
New  England  for  supplies  in  arms  and 
means,  but  organizations  were  in  turn 
rapidly  completed  to  meet  their  calls,  and 
the  struggle  soon  became  in  the  highest 
degree  critical. 

The  pro-slavery  party  sustained  the 
Territorial  government  appointed  by  the 
administration  ;  the  anti-slavery  party  re- 
pudiated it,  because  of  its  presumed  com- 
mittal to  slavery.  The  election  for  mem- 
bers of  the  Territorial  legislature  had  been 
attended  with  much  violence  and  fraud, 
and  it  was  claimed  that  these  things  prop- 
erly annulled  any  action  taken  by  that 
body.  A  distinct  and  separate  convention 
was  called  at  Topeka  to  frame  a  State  con- 
stitution, and  the  Free  State  men  likewise 
elected  their  own  Governor  and  Legisla- 
ture to  take  the  place  of  those  appointed 
by  Buchanan,  and  when  the  necessary 
preliminaries  were  completed,  they  ap- 
plied for  admission  into  the  Union.  After 
a  long  and  bitter  struggle  Congress  decided 
the  question  by  refusing  to  admit  Kansas 
under  the  Topeka  Constitution,  and  by  re- 
cognizing the  authority  of  the  territorial 
government.  These  proceedings  took  place 
during  the  session  of  1856-7,  which  ter- 
minated immediately  before  the  inaugura- 
ation  of  President  Buchanan. 

At  the  beginning  of  Buchanan's  admin- 
istration in  1857,  the  Republicans  almost 
Bolidly  faced  the  Democrats.  There  still 
remained  part  of  the  division  caused  by 
the  American  or  Know-Nothing  party,  but 
ita  membership  in  Congress  haa  already 
been  compelled  to  show  at  least  the  ten- 
dency of  their  sentiments  on    the  great 


over  the  admission  of  Kansas  and  Nebras- 
ka was  simply  this :  "  That  Congress  was 
neither  to  legislate  slaverj'  into  any  Terri- 
tory or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom  ; 
but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic 
institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"* 
and  it  was  specially  prescribed  that  when 
the  Territory  of  Kansas  shall  be  admitted 
as  a  State,  it  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  with  or  without  slavery  as  the  con- 
stitution adopted  should  prescribe  at  the 
time  of  admission. 

This  was,  as  it  proved,  but  a  temporary 
settlement  on  the  principle  of  popular 
sovereignty,  and  was  regarded  at  the  time 
as  a  triumph  of  the  views  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  by  the  friends  oiT  that  great  poli- 
tician. The  more  radical  leaders  ot  the 
South  looked  upon  it  with  distrust,  but 
the  blood  of  the  more  excitable  in  both 
sections  was  rapidly  rising  toward  fever 
heat,  and  the  border  men  from  the  Free 
and  Slave  States  alike  were  preparing  to 
act  upon  a  compromise  which  in  effect  in- 
vited a  conflict. 

The  Presidential  election  in  1856  had 
singularly  enough  encouraged  the  more 
aggressive  of  both  sections.  Buchanan's 
election  was  a  triumph  for  the  South; 
Fremont's  large  vote  snowed  the  power  of 
a  growing  party  as  yet  but  partially  or- 
ganized, and  crippled  by  schisms  which 
grew  out  of  the  attempt  to  unite  all  ele- 
ments of  opposition  to  the  Democrats. 
The  general  plan  of  the  latter  was  now 
changed  into  an  attempt  to  unite  all  of  the 
free-soil  elements  into  a  party  organization 
against  slavery,  and  from  that  time  for- 
ward until  its  total  abolition  slavery  was 
the  paramount  issue  in  the  minds  of  the 
more  aggressive  men  of  the  north.  Lin- 
coln voiced  the  feelings  of  the  Republi- 
cans when  he  declared  in  one  of  his  Illi- 
nois speeches : — 

"  We  will,  hereafter,  speak  for  freedom, 
and  against  slavery,  as  long  as  the  Consti- 
tution guaranties  free  speech ;  until  every- 
where, on  this  wide  land,  the  sun  shall 
shine,  and  the  rain  shall  fall,  and  the 
wind  shall  blow  upon  no  man  who  goea 
forth  to  unrequited  toil." 

In  the  Congressional  battle  over  the  ad- 
mission of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  Douglas 
was  the  most  conspicuous  figure,  and  the 
language  which  we  have  quoted  from 
Buchanan's  inaugural  was  the  literal 
meaning  which  Douglas  had  given  to  his 
idea  of  "popular"  or  "squatter  sover- 
eigntj." 

Prior  to  the  Kansas  struggle  the  Free 

*  Preiident  BuchanAo'a  Inaugural  Addreet. 


BOOKi.]  THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


73 


Soilers  of  the  North  had  regarded  Douglas 
as  an  ally  of  the  South,  and  his  admitted 
ambition  for  the  Presidency  gave  color  to 
this  suspicion.  He  it  was  who  reported 
and  carried  through  Congress  the  bill  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  a 
measure  which  at  that  time  was  thought  to 
obstruct  Southern  designs  in  the  territories 
of  the  great  West,  but  this  repeal  proved 
in  fact  the  first  plain  steps  toward  the  free- 
dom of  the  territories.  Having  repealed 
that  compromise,  something  must  take  its 
place,  and  what  better  than  "popular 
sovereignty,"  thought  Douglas.  Terri- 
tories contiguous  to  the  Slave  States,  or  in 
the  same  latitude,  would  thus  naturally 
revert  to  slavery ;  while  those  farther  north, 
and  at  that  time  least  likely  of  early  s  > 
tlement,  would  be  dedicated  to  freeddu  .' 
There  was  a  grave  miscalculation  just  here. 
Slave-owners  were  not  apt  to  change  their 
homesteads,  and  could  not  with  either 
profit  or  convenience  carry  their  property 
to  new  lands  which  might  or  might  not  be 
fruitful  in  the  crops  best  adapted  to  slave 
labor.  Slave-owners  were  few  in  number 
compared  with  the  free  citizens  of  the 
North  and  the  thousands*  of  immigrants 
annually  landing  on  our  shores.  People 
who  had  once  moved  from  the  New  Eng- 
land or  Middle  States  westward,  were 
rather  fond  of  it,  and  many  of  these 
swelled  the  tide  which  constantly  sought 
homes  in  the  territories ;  and  where  these 
did  not  go  in  person  their  sons  and  daugh- 
ters were  quite  willing  to  imitate  the  early 
adventures  of  their  parents.  All  these 
counted  for  the  North  under  the  doctrine 
of  "  popular  sovereignty,"  and  it  was  the 
failure  of  that  doctrine  to  aid  the  South 
which  from  this  time  forward  caused  that 
section  to  mistrust  the  friendship  of 
Douglas. 

No  political  writer  has  since  questioned 
his  motives,  and  we  doubt  if  it  can  be  done 
successfully.  His  views  may  have  under- 
gone some  change  since  1850,  and  it  would 
be  singular  if  they  had  not ;  for  a  mind  as 
discerning  as  his  could  hardly  fail  to  note 
the  changes  going  on  all  about  him,  and 
no  where  more  rapidly  than  in  his  own 
State.  He  thoujjht  his  doctrine  at  least 
adapted  to  the  time,  and  he  stood  by  it 
witn  rare  bravery  and  ability.  If  it  had 
been  accepted  by  the  Republicans,  it  would 
have  been  fatal  to  their  organization  as  a 
party.  We  doubt  the  ability  of  any  party 
to  stand  long  upon  any  mere  compromise, 
made  to  suit  the  exigencies  and  avoid  the 
dangers  of  the  moment.  It  may  be  said 
that  our  government,  first  based  on  a  con- 
federacy and  then  a  constitution,  with  a 
system  of  checks  and  balances,  with  a  di- 
vision of  power  between  the  people  and 
the  States,  is  but  a  compromise ;  out  the 
assertion  will  not  hold  good.  These  things 
were  adopted  because  of  a  belief  at  the 


time  that  they  were  in  themselves  right,  or 
as  nearly  right  as  those  who  participated 
in  their  adoption  were  given  to  see  the 
right.  There  was  certainly  no  attempt  at 
a  division  of  right  and  wrong,  and  the 
closest  investigation  will  show  nothing  be- 
yond a  surrender  of  power  for  the  good  of 
all,  which  is  in  itself  the  very  essence  and 
beginning  of  government. 

We  have  said  that  Douglas  fought 
bravely  for  his  idea,  and  every  movement 
in  his  most  remarkable  campaign  with 
Lincoln  for  the  U.  S.  Senate  demonstrated 
the  fact.  The  times  were  full  of  agitation 
and  excitement,  and  these  were  increased 
when  it  became  apparent  that  Buchanan's 
administration  would  aid  the  eftbrt  to 
make  Kansas  a  ?lave  State.  Douglas  was 
the  first  to  see  that  the  application  of  ad- 
ministration machinery  to  his  principle, 
would  degrade  and  rob  it  of  its  fairness. 
He  therefore  resented  Buchanan's  inter- 
ference, and  in  turn  Buchanan's  friends 
sought  to  degrade  him  by  removing  him 
from  the  chairmanship  of  the  Senate  Com- 
mittee on  Territories,  the  position  which 
had  given  him  marked  control  over  all 
questions  pertaining  to  the  organization  of 
territories  and  the  admission  of  new 
States. 


The  Lilncoln  and  Douglas  Debate. 

The  Senatorial  term  of  Douglas  was 
drawing  near  to  its  close,  when  in  July, 
1858,  he  left  Washington  to  enter  upon  the 
canvass  for  re-election.  The  Republican 
State  Convention  of  Illinois  had  in  the 
month  previous  met  at  Springfield,  and 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  as  a  candi- 
date for  United  States  Senator,  this  with  a 
view  to  pledge  all  Republican  members  of 
the  Legislature  to  vote  for  him — a  practice 
since  gone  into  disuse  in  most  of  the  States, 
because  of  the  rivalries  which  it  engenders 
and  the  aggravation  of  the  dangers  of  de- 
feat sure  to  follow  in  the  selection  of  a  can- 
didate in  advance.  "  First  get  your  goose, 
then  cook  it,"  inelegantly  describes  the 
basic  principles  of  improved  political  tac- 
tics. But  the  Republicans,  particularly  of 
the  western  part  of  Illinois,  had  a  double 
purpose  in  the  selection  of  Lincoln.  He 
was  not  as  radical  as  they,  but  he  well  re- 
presented the  growing  Republican  senti- 
ment, and  he  best  of  all  men  could  cope 
with  Douglas  on  the  stump  in  a  canvass 
which  they  desired  should  attract  the  at- 
tention of  the  Nation,  and  give  shape  to 
the  sentiment  of  the  North  on  all  questions 
pertaining  to  slavery.  The  doctrine  of 
''  popular  sovereignty  "  was  not  acceptable 
to  the  Republicans,  the  recent  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  compromise  having  lea  them, 
or  the  more  radical  portion  of  them,  to 
despise  all  compromise  measures. 

The  plan  of  the  Illinois  Republicans,  if 


74 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


indeed  it  was  a  well-settled  plan,  accom- 
plished even  more  than  was  anticipated, 
though  it  did  not  result  in  immediate  suc- 
cess. It  gave  to  the  debate  which  followed 
between  Lincoln  and  Douglas  a  world-wide 
celebrity,  and  did  more  to  educate  and 
train  the  anti-slavery  sentiment,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  ever-growing  excite- 
ment in  Kansas,  than  anything  that  could 
have  happened. 

I  Lincoln's  speech  before  the  convention 
which  nominated  him,  gave  the  first  clear 
expression  to  the  idea  that  there  was  an 
"irrepressible  conflict"  between  fireedom 
and  slavery.  Wm.  H.  Seward  on  October 
25th  following,  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  ex- 
pressed the  same  idea  in  these  words  : 

"It  is  an  irrepressible  conflict  between 
opposing  and  enduring  forces,  and  it  means 
that  the  United  States  will  sooner  or  later 
become  either  an  entire  slaveholding  Na- 
tion, or  an  entirely  free  labor  Nation." 

Lincoln's  words  at  Springfield,  in  July, 
1858,  were : 

"  If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are, 
and  whither  we  are  tending,  we  could  bet- 
ter judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it. 
We  are  now  far  into  the  fifth  year,  since  a 
policy  was  initiated  with  the  avowed  object, 
and  confident  promise  of  putting  an  end  to 
the  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  operation 
of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  only 
not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augmented. 
In  my  opinion  it  will  not  cease,  until  a 
crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed. 
'A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot 
stand.'  I  believe  this  government  cannot 
endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half 
free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dis- 
solved— I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall — 
but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided. 
It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the 
other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery 
will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and 
place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest 
m  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ulti- 
mate extinction  ;  or  its  advocates  will  push 
it  forward,  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful 
in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new — North 
as  well  as  South." 

Douglas  arrived  in  Chicago  on  the  9th 
of  July,  and  was  warmly  received  by  en- 
thusiastic friends.  His  doctrine  of  "  pop- 
ular sovereignty  "  had  all  the  attractions 
of  novelty  and  apparent  fairness.  For 
months  it  divided  many  Republicans,  and 
at  one  time  the  New  York  Tribune  showed 
^indications  of  endorsing  the  position  of 
Douglas — a  fact  probably  traceable  to  the 
attitude  of  jealousy  and  hostility  manifested 
toward  him  by  the  Buchanan  administra- 
tion. Neither  of  the  great  debaters  were 
to  be  wholly  free  in  the  coming  contest. 
Douglas  was  undermined  by  Buchanan, 
who  feared  him  as  a  rival,  and  by  the  more 
bitter  friends  of  slavery,  who  could  not  see 
that  the  new  doctrine  was  safely  in  their 


interest ;  but  these  things  were  dwarfed  in 
the  State  conflict,  and  those  who  shared 
such  feelings  had  to  make  at  least  a  show 
of  friendship  until  they  saw  the  result. 
Lincoln  was  at  first  handicapped  by  the 
doubts  of  that  class  of  Republicans  who 
thought  "popular  sovereignty"  not  bad 
Republican  doctrine. 

On  the  arrival  of  Douglas  he  replied  to 
Lincoln's  Springfield  speech ;  on  the  16th 
he  spoke  at  Bloomington,  and  on  the  17th, 
in  the  afternoon,  at  Springfield.  Lincoln 
had  heard  all  three  speeches,  and  replied 
to  the  last  on  the  night  of  the  day  of  its 
deliverv.  He  next  addressed  to  Douglas 
the  following  challenge  to  debate : 

Chicago,  July  24th,  1858. 

Hon.  S.  a.  Douglas  -.—My  Dear  Sir : — 
Will  it  be  agreeable  to  you  to  make  an  ar- 
rangement to  divide  time,  and  address  the 
same  audience,  during  the  present  canvass? 
etc.  Mr.  Judd  is  authorized  to  receive 
your  answer,  and  if  agreeable  to  you,  to  en- 
ter into  terms  of  such  agreement,  etc. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  Lincoln. 

Douglas  promptly  accepted  the  chal- 
lenge, and  it  was  arranged  that  there  should 
be  seven  joint  debates,  each  alternately 
opening  and  closing,  the  opening  speech 
to  occupy  one  hour,  the  reply  one  hour 
and  a  half,  and  the  closing  half  an  hour. 
They  spoke  at  Ottawa,  August  21st ;  Free- 
port,  August  27th ;  Jonesboro',  September 
15th ;  Charleston,  September  18th  ;  Gales- 
burg,  October  7th ;  Quincy,  October  13th  ; 
and  Alton,  October  15th.  We  give  in 
Book  III  of  this  volume  their  closing 
speeches  in  full. 

Great  crowds  attended,  and  some  of  the 
more  enterprising  daily  journals  gave  pho- 
nographic reports  of  the  speeches.  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  North  soon  ran  in  Lin- 
coln's favor,  though  Douglas  had  hosts  of 
friends ;  laut  then  the  growing  and  the 
aggressive  party  was  the  Republican,  and 
even  the  novelty  of  a  new  and  attractive 
doctrine  like  that  of  "  popular  sovereignty" 
could  not  long  divert  their  attention.  The 
prize  suspended  in  view  of  the  combat- 
ants was  the  United  States  Senatorship, 
and  to  close  political  observers  this  was 
plainly  within  the  ^rasp  of  Douglas  by 
reason  of  an  apportionment  which  would 
give  his  party  a  majority  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, even  though  the  popular  majority 
should  be  twenty  thousand  against  him— . 
a  system  of  apportionment,  by  the  way, 
not  confined  to  Illinois  alone,  or  not  pecu- 
liar to  it  in  the  work  of  any  of  the  great  par- 
ties at  any  period  when  party  lines  were 
drawn. 

Buchanan  closelv  watched  the  fight,  and 
it  was  charged  and  is  still  believed  by  the 
Mends  of  the  "  Little  Giant,"  that  the 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


75 


administration  secretly  employed  its  pa- 
tronage and  power  to  defeat  him.  Certain 
it  is  that  a  few  prominent  Democrats  de- 
serted the  standard  of  Douglas,  and  that 
some  of  them  were  rewarded.  In  the  heat 
of  the  battle,  however,  Douglas'  friends 
were  careless  of  the  views  of  the  adminis- 
tration. He  was  a  greater  leader  than 
Buchanan,  and  in  Illinois  at  least  he  over- 
shadowed the  administration.  He  lacked 
neither  money  nor  friends.  Special  trains 
of  cars,  banners,  cannon,  bands,  proces- 
sions, were  all  supplied  with  lavish  hands. 
The  democracy  of  Illinois,  nor  yet  of  any 
other  State,  ever  did  so  well  before  or 
since,  and  if  the  administration  had  been 
with  him  this  enthusiasm  might  have 
spread  to  all  other  States  and  given  his 
doctrine  a  larger  and  more  glorious  life. 
Only  the  border  States  of  the  South,  how- 
ever, saw  opportunity  and  glory  in  it, 
while  the  office-holders  in  other  sections 
stood  oif  and  awaited  results. 

Lincoln's  position  was  different.  He, 
doubtless,  early  realized  that  his  chances 
for  election  were  remote  indeed,  with  the 
apportionment  as  it  was,  and  he  sought  to 
impress  the  nation  with  the  truth  of  his 
convictions,  and  this  without  other  dis- 
play than  the  force  of  their  statement  and 
publication.  Always  a  modest  man,  he 
wai  never  more  so  than  in  this  great  battle. 
He  declared  that  he  did  not  care  for  the 
local  result,  and  in  the  light  of  what  tran- 
spired, the  position  was  wisely  taken. 
Do\iglaa  was  apparently  just  as  earnest, 
though  more  ambitious ;  for  he  declared 
in  the  vehemence  of  the  advocacy  of  his 
doctrine,  that  "  he  did  not  care  whether 
slavery  was  voted  up  or  voted  down." 
Douglas  had  more  to  lose  than  Lincoln — 
a  place  which  his  high  abilities  had  hon- 
oi'ed  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
jwViich  intriguing  enemies  in  his  own  party 
made  him  doubly  anxious  to  hold.  Beaten, 
and  he  was  out  of  the  field  for  the  Presi- 
dency, with  his  enthroned  rival  a  candi- 
date for  re-election.  Successful,  and  that 
rival  must  leave  the  field,  with  himself  in 
direct  command  of  a  great  majority  of  the 
party.  This  view  must  have  then  been 
presented,  but  the  rapid  rise  in  public  feel- 
ing made  it  in  part  incorrect.  The  calcu- 
lation of  Douglas  that  he  could  at  one 
and  the  same  time  retain  the  good  will  of 
all  his  political  friends  in  Illinois  and 
those  of  the  South  failed  him,  though  he 
did  at  the  time,  and  until  his  death,  better 
represent  the  majority  of  his  party  in  the 
whole  country  than  any  other  leader. 

At  the  election  which  followed  the  de- 
bate, the  popular  choice  in  the  State  as  a 
whole  was  for  Lincoln  by  126,084  to  121,- 
940  for  Douglas;  but  the  apportionment 
of  1850  gave  to  Douglas  a  plain  majority 
of  the  Senators  and  Representatives. 

At  the  Freeport  meeting,  August  27th, 


there  were  sharp  questions  and  answers 
between  the  debaters.  They  were  brought 
on  by  Lincoln,  who,  after  alluding  to  some 
questions  propounded  to  him  at  Ottawa, 
said : 

"  I  now  propose  that  I  will  answer  any 
of  the  interrogatories,  upon  condition  that 
he  will  answer  questions  from  me  not  ex- 
ceeding the  same  number,  to  which  I  give 
him  an  opportunity  to  respond.  The  judge 
remains  silent ;  I  now  say  that  I  will  an- 
swer his  interrogatories,  whether  he  an- 
swer mine  or  not,  and  that  after  I  have 
done  so  I  shall  propound  mine  to  him. 

"  I  have  supposed  myself,  since  the  or- . 
ganization  oi  the  Republican  party  at 
Bloomington  in  May,  1856,  bound  as  a 
party  man  by  the  platforms  of  the  party, 
there,  and  since.  If,  in  any  interrogatories 
which  I  shall  answer,  I  go  beyond  the 
scope  of  what  is  within  these  platforms,  it 
will  be  perceived  that  no  one  is  responsible 
but  myself. 

"  Having  said  thus  much,  I  will  take  up 
the  judge's  interrogatories  as  I  find  them 
printed  in  the  Chicago  Times,  and  answer 
them  seriatim.  In  order  that  there  may 
be  no  mistake  about  it,  I  have  copied  the 
interrogatories  in  writing,  and  also  my 
answers  to  them.  The  first  one  of  these 
interrogatories  is  in  these  words  : 

Question  1. — I  desire  to  know  whether 
Lincoln  to-day  stands,  as  he  did  in  1854, 
in  favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  ? 

Answer. — I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did, 
stand  in  favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

Q.  2. — I  desire  him  to  answer  whether 
he  stands  pledged  to-day,  as  he  did  in  1854, 
against  the  admission  of  any  more  slave 
States  into  the  Union,  even  if  the  people 
want  them  ? 

A. — I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand 
pledged  against  the  admission  of  any  more 
slave  States  into  the  Union. 

Q.  3 — I  want  to  know,  whether  he  stands 
pledged  against  the  admission  of  a  new 
State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a  Consti- 
tution as  the  people  of  the  State  may  see 
fit  to  make  ? 

A. — I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the 
admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union, 
with  such  a  Constitution  as  the  people  of 
the  State  may  see  fit  to  make. 

Q.  4. — I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands 
to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia? 

A. — I  do  not  stand  to-dayjpl edged  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia. 

Q.  6. — I  desire  him  to  answer  whether 
he  stands  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the 
slave  trade  between  the  different  States? 

A. — I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  prohibi- 
tion of  the  slave  trade  between  the  different 
States. 


76 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Q.  6. — ^I  desire  to  know  whether  he 
stands  pledged  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all 
the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  North 
as  well  as  South  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise line  ? 

A. — I  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly, 
pledged  to  a  belief  in  the  right  and  duty 
of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  of  the 
United  States'  Territories. 

Q.  7. — I  desire  him  to  answer,  whether 
he  is  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  any  new 
territory,  unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited 
therein  ? 

A. — I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest 
acquisition  of  territory ;  and  in  any  given 
case,  I  would  or  woula  not  oppose  such  ac- 
quisition, according  as  I  might  think  such 
acquisition  would  or  would  not  aggravate 
the  slavery  question  among  ourselves. 

"Now,  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived 
upon  an  examination  of  these  questions 
and  answers,  that  so  far,  I  have  only  an- 
swered that  I  was  not  pledged  to  this,  that, 
or  the  other. 

The  judge  has  not  framed  his  interroga- 
tories to  ask  me  anything  more  than  this 
and  I  have  answered  in  strict  accordance 
with  the  interrogatories,  and  have  answered 
truly,  that  I  am  not  pledged  at  all  upon 
any  of  the  points  to  which  I  have  an- 
swered. But  I  am  not  disposed  to  hang 
upon  the  exact  form  of  his  interrogatories. 
I  am  rather  disposed  to  take  up,  at  least 
some  of  these  questions,  and  state  what  I 
really  think  upon  them. 

"The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia. In  relation  to  that,  I  have  my  mind 
very  distinctly  made  up.  I  should  be  very 
glad  to  see  slavery  abolished  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia.  I  believe  that  Congress 
possesses  the  constitutional  power  to  abolish 
it.  Yet,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  should 
not,  with  my  present  views,  be  in  favor  of 
endeavoring  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  unless  it  should  be  upon 
these  conditions:  First,  That  the  aboli- 
tion should  be  gradual ;  Second,  That  it 
should  be  on  a  vote  of  a  majority  of  quali- 
fied voters  in  the  District;  and  Third, 
That  compensation  should  be  made  to  un- 
willing owners.  With  these  three  condi- 
tions, I  confess  I  would  be  exceedingly 
glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  and  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Henry  Clay,  'sweep  from  our 
Capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  nation.'  " 

I  now  proceed  to  propound  to  the  judge 
the  interrogatories,  so  far  as  I  have  framed 
them.  I  will  bring  forward  a  new  in- 
stalment when  I  get  them  ready.  I  will 
bring  now  only  four.    The  first  one  is : — 

1.  If  the  people  of  Kansas  shall,  by 
means  entirely  unobjectionable  in  all  other 
respects,  adopt  a  Slate  Constitution  and 
ask  admission  into  the  Union  under  it 
btfore  they  have  the  requisite  number  of 


inhabitants,  according  to  the  English  bill 
— some  ninety-three  thousand — will  he 
vote  to  admit  them? 

2.  Can  the  people  of  the  United  States 
Territory,  in  any  lawful  way,  against  the 
wish  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
exclude  slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to  the 
formation  of  a  State  Constitution  ? 

3.  If  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  shall  decide  that  States  cannot  ex- 
clude slavery  from  their  limits,  are  you  in 
favor  of  acquiescing  in,  adopting  and  fol- 
lowing such  decision  as  a  rule  of  political 
action  ? 

4.  Are  you  in  favor  of  acquiring  addi- 
tional territory  in  disregard  of  how  much 
acquisition  may  affect  the  nation  on  the 
slavery  question? 

To  these  questions  Mr.  Douglas  said: 
"  In  reference  to  Kansas,  it  is  my  opinion 
that,  as  she  has  population  enough  to  con- 
stitute a  slave  State,  she  has  people  enough 
for  a  free  State.  I  hold  it  to  be  a  sacred 
rule  of  universal  application,  to  require  a 
Territory  to  contain  the  requisite  popula- 
tion for  a  member  of  Congress,  before  it  is 
admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union. 

2.  "It  matters  not  what  way  the  Supreme 
Court  may  hereafter  decide,  as  to  the  ab- 
stract question  whether  slavery  may  or 
may  not  go  into  a  Territory  under  the 
Constitution,  the  people  have  the  lawful 
means  to  introduce  it,  or  exclude  it  as  they 
please,  for  the  reason  that  slavery  cannot 
exist  a  day,  or  an  hour,  anywhere,  unless 
it  is  supported  by  local  police  regulations. 
These  police  regulations  can  only  be  estab- 
lished by  the  local  legislature,  and  if  the 
people  are  opposed  to  slavery,  they  will 
elect  representatives  to  that  body,  who  will, 
by  unfriendly  legislation,  effectually  pre- 
vent the  introduction  of  it  into  their  midst. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  they  Ure  for  it,  their 
legislation  will  favor  its  extension.  Hence, 
no  matter  what  the  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  may  be  on  that  abstract 
question,  still  the  right  of  the  people  to 
make  a  slave  Territory  or  a  free  Terri- 
tory is  perfect  and  complete  under  the 
Nebraska  bill. 

"  3.  The  third  question  which  Mr.  Lin- 
coln presented  is,  if  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  shall  decide  that  a  State 
of  this  Union  cannot  exclude  slavery  from 
its  own  limits,  will  I  submit  to  it?  I  am 
amazed  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  ask  such 
a  question. 

He  casts  an  imputation  upon  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  by  sup- 
posing that  they  would  violate  the  consti- 
tution of  the  United  States.  I  tell  him 
that  such  a  thing  is  not  possible.  It  would 
be  an  act  of  moral  treason  that  no  man  on 
the  bench  could  ever  descend  to.  Mr, 
Lincoln,  himself,  would  never,  in  his  par- 
tisan feelings,  so  far  forget  what  was  nght 
as  to  be  guuty  of  such  an  act. 


BOOK  I.] 


THE   KANSAS    STRUGGLE. 


77 


4.  With  our  natural  increase,  growing 
with  a  rapidity  unknown  in  any  other  part 
of  the  globe,  with  the  tide  of  emigration 
that  is  fleeing  from  despotism  in  the  old 
world,  to  seek  refuge  in  our  own,  there  is 
a  constant  torrent  pouring  into  this  coun- 
try that  requires  more  land,  more  terri- 
X)ry  upon  which  to  settle,  and  just  as  fast 
IS  our  interests  and  our  destiny  require 
}*!  additional  territory  in  the  North,  in  the 
South,  or  on  the  Island  of  the  Ocean,  I 
am  for  it,  and  when  we  require  it,  will 
leave  the  people,  according  to  the  Nebraska 
bill,  free  to  do  as  they  please  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery,  and  every  other  ques- 
tion." 

The  bitterness  of  the  feelings  aroused  by 
the  canvass  and  boldness  of  Douglas,  can 
both  be  well  shown  by  a  brief  abstract 
from  his  speech  at  Freeport.  He  had  per- 
sisted in  calling  the  Republicans  "  Black 
Republicans,"  although  the  crowd,  the 
great  majority  of  which  was  there  against 
him,  insisted  that  he  should  say  "White 
Republican."  In  response  to  these  oft  re- 
peated demands,  he  said : — 

"Now,  there  are  a  great  many  Black 
Republicans  of  you  who  do  not  know  this 
thing  was  done.  ("White,  white,  and 
great  clamor)."  I  wish  to  remind  you  that 
while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  speaking,  there 
was  not  a  Democrat  vulgar  and  black- 

faard  enough  to  interrupt  him.  But  I 
now  that  the  shoe  is  pinching  you.  I  am 
clinching  Lincoln  now,  and  you  are  scared 
to  death  for  the  result.  I  nave  seen  this 
thing  before.  I  have  seen  men  make  ap- 
pointments for  discussions  and  the  mo- 
ment their  man  has  been  heard,  try  to  in- 
terrupt and  prevent  a  fair  hearing  of  the 
other  side.  I  have  seen  your  mobs  before 
and  defy  your  wrath.  (Tremendous  ap- 
plause.) . 

"  My  friends,  do  not  cheer,  for  I  need 
my  whole  time. 

"  I  have  been  put  to  severe  tests.  I  have 
stood  by  my  principles  in  fair  weather  and 
in  foul,  in  the  sunshine  and  in  the  rain. 
I  have  defended  the  great  principle  of 
self-government  here  among  you  when 
Northern  sentiment  ran  in  a  torrent  against 
me,  and  I  have  defended  that  same  great 
principle  when  Southern  sentiment  came 
down  like  an  avalanche  upon  me.  I  M'as 
not  afraid  of  any  test  they  put  to  me.  I 
knew  I  was  right — I  knew  my  principles 
were  sound — I  knew  that  the  people  would 
see  in  the  end  that  I  had  done  right,  and 
I  knew  that  the  God  of  Heaven  would 
smile  upon  me  if  I  was  faithful  -n  the  per- 
formance of  my  duty." 

As  an  illustration  of  the  earnestness  of 
Lincoln's  position  we  need  only  quote  two 
paragraphs  from  his  speech  at  Alton : — 
^  "Is  slavery  wrong?  That  is  the  real 
issue.  That  is  the  issue  that  will  continue 
in  this  country  when  these  poor  tongues  of 


Judge  Douglas  and  myself  shall  be  silent. 
It  is  the  eternal  struggle  between  these  two 
principles — right  and  wrong — throughout 
the  world.  They  are  two  principles  that 
have  stood  face  to  face  from  the  beginning 
of  time;  and  will  ever  continue  to  struggle. 
The  one  is  the  common  right  of  humanity, 
and  the  other  the  divine  right  of  Kings. 
It  is  the  same  principle  in  whatever  shape 
it  develops  itself.  It  is  the  same  spirit  that 
says,  '  you  work  and  toil,  and  earn  bread, 
and  I'll  eat  it.'  No  matter  in  what  shape 
it  comes,  whether  from  the  mouth  of  a 
King  who  seeks  to  bestride  the  people  of 
his  own  nation  and  life  by  the  fruit  of  their 
labor,  or  from  one  race  of  men  as  an 
apology  for  enslaving  another  race,  it  is 
the  same  tyrannical  principle.'' 

And  again : — 

"  On  this  subject  of  treating  it  as  a 
wrong,  and  limiting  its  spread,  let  me  say  a 
word.  Has  anything  ever  threatened  the 
existence  of  this  Union  save  and  except 
this  very  institution  of  slavery?  What  13 
it  that  we  hold  most  dear  among  us  ?  (3ur 
own  liberty  and  prosperity.  What  has 
ever  threatened  our  liberty  and  prosperity 
save  and  except  this  institution  of  slavery  ? 
If  this  is  true,  how  do  you  propose  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  things?  by  enlarging 
slavery  ? — by  spreading  it  out  and  making 
it  bigger?  You  may  have  a  wen  or  cancer 
upon  your  person  and  not  be  able  to  cut  it 
out,  lest  you  bleed  to  death ;  but  surely  it 
is  no  way  to  cure  it,  to  engraft  it  and 
spread  it  over  your  whole  body.  That  is 
no  proper  way  of  treating  what  you  regard 
a  wrong.  You  see  this  peaceful  way  of 
dealing  with  it  as  a  wrong — restricting  the 
spread  of  it,  and  not  allowing  it  to  go  into 
new  countries  where  it  has  not  already 
existed.  That  is  the  peaceful  way,  the 
old-fashioned  way,  the  way  in  which 
the  fathers  themselves  set  us  the  ex- 
ample." 

The  administration  of  Pierce  had  lefk 
that  of  Buchanan  a  dangerous  legacy.  He 
found  the  pro-slavery  party  in  Congress 
temporarily  triumphant,  it  is  true,  and 
supported  by  the  action  of  Congress  in  re- 
jecting the  Topeka  constitution  and  rec- 
ognizing the  territorial  government,  but 
he  found  that  that  decision  was  not  accep- 
table either  to  the  majority  of  the  people 
in  the  country  or  to  a  rapidly  rising  anti- 
slavery  sentiment  in  the  North.  Yet  he 
saw  but  one  course  to  pursue,  and  that  waa 
to  sustain  the  territorial  government,  which 
had  issued  the  call  for  the  Lecompton  con- 
vention. He  was  siipported  in  this  view 
by  the  action  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which 
had  decided  that  slavery  existed  in  Kansas 
under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  the  people  therein  could  only  re- 
lieve themselves  of  it  by  the  election  of 
delegates  who  would  prohibit  it  in  the 
constitution  to  be  framed  by  the  Lecomp- 


78 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


ton  convention.  The  Free  State  men  re- 
fused to  recognize  the  call,  made  little,  if 
any,  preparation  for  the  election,  yet  on 
the  last  day  a  number  of  them  voted  for 
State  officials  and  a  member  of  Congress 
under  the  Lecompton  constitution.  This 
had  the  effect  of  suspending  hostilities  be- 
tween the  parties,  yet  peace  was  actually 
maintained  only  by  the  intervention  of 
U.  S.  troops,  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Sumner,  who  afterwards  won  distinction 
in  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  The  Free 
State  people  stood  firmly  by  their  Topeka 
constitution,  and  refused  to  vote  on  ques- 
tions affecting  delegates  to  the  Lecompton 
convention.  They  had  no  confidence  in 
(Jovernor  AValker,  the  appointee  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan,  and  his  proclamations 
passed  unheeded.  They  recognized  their 
own  Governor  Robinson,  who  in  a  message 
dated  December  7th,  1857,  explained  and 
defended  their  position  in  these  words : 

"  The  convention  which  framed  the  con- 
stitution at  Topeka  originated  with  the 
people  of  Kansas  territory.  They  have 
adopted  and  ratified  the  same  twice  by  a 
direct  vote,  and  also  indirectly  through  two 
elections  of  State  officers  and  members  of 
the  State  Legislatuie.  Yet  it  has  pleased 
the  administration  to  regard  the  whole 
o^-oceeding  as  revolutionary." 

The  Lecompton  convention,  proclaimed 
by  Governor  Walker  to  be  lawfully  con- 
stituted, met  for  the  second  time,  Sept.  4th, 
1857,  and  proceeded  to  frame  a  constitu- 
tion, and  adjourned  finally  Nov.  7th.  A 
large  majoritv  of  the  delegates,  as  in  the 
first,  were  of  course  pro-slavery,  because 
of  the  refusal  of  the  anti-slavery  men  to 
participate  in  the  election.  It  refused  to 
submit  the  whole  constitution  to  the  people, 
it  is  said,  in  opposition  to  the  desire  of 
President  Buchanan,  and  part  of  his 
Cabinet.  It  submitted  only  the  question 
of  whether  or  not  slavery  should  exist  in 
the  new  State,  and  this  they  were  required 
to  do  under  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  if 
indeed  they  were  not  required  to  submit  it 
all.  Yet  such  was  the  hostility  of  the 
pro-slavery  men  to  submission,  that  it  was 
only  by  three  majority  the  proposition  to 
submit  the  main  question  was  adopted — a 
confession  in  advance  that  the  result  was 
not  likely  to  favor  their  side  of  the  con- 
troversy. But  six  weeks'  time  was  also 
allowed  for  preparation,  the  election  being 
ordered  for  Dec.  21st,  1857.  Still  another 
advantage  was  taken  in  the  printing  of  the 
ballots,  as  ordered  by  the  convention.  The 
method  prescribed  was  to  endorse  the  bal- 
lots, "Constitution  with  Slavery,"  and 
"Constitution  with  no  Slavery,  thus  com- 
pelling the  voter,  however  adverse  his 
views,  as  to  other  parts  of  the  Constitution, 
to  vote  for  it  as  a  wnole.  As  a  consequence, 
(at  least  this  wa"  iriven  as  one  of  the  rea- 
90II8  )  the  Free  State  men  as  a  rule  refused 


to  participate  in  the  election,  and  the  result 
as  returned  was  6,143  votes  in  favor  of 
slavery,  and  589  against  it.  The  constitu- 
tion was  announced  as  adopted,  an  election 
was  ordered  on  the  first  Monday  of  Janu- 
ary, 1858,  for  State  officers,  members  of  the 
Legislature,  and  a  member  of  Congress. 
The  opponents  of  the  Lecompton  constitu- 
tion dia  not  now  refrain  from  voting,  partly 
because  of  their  desire  to  secure  the  repre- 
sentative in  Congress,  but  mainly  to  secure 
an  opportunity,  as  advised  by  their  State 
officers,  to  vote  down  the  Lecompton  con- 
stitution. Both  parties  warmly  contested 
the  result,  but  the  Free  State  men  won,  and 
with  their  general  victory  secured  a  large 
majority  in  the  Legislature. 

The  ballots  of  the  Free  State  men  were 
now  headed  with  the  words  "  Against  the 
Lecompton  Constitution,"  and  they  re- 
turned 10,226  votes  against  it,  to  134  for 
it  with  slavery,  and  24  for  it  against  slavery. 
This  return  was  certified  by  J.  W.  Denv<,r, 
"  Secretary  and  Acting  Governor,"  and  its 
validity  was  endorsed  by  Douglas  in  his 
report  from  the  Senate  Territorial  Com- 
mittee. It  was  in  better  accord  with  his 
idea  of  popular  sovereignty,  as  it  shoT\-ed 
almost  twice  as  large  a  vote  as  that  cast 
under  the  Lecompton  plan,  the  fairness  of 
the  return  not  being  disputed,  while  that 
of  the  month  previous  was  disputed. 

But  their  previous  refusal  to  vote  on  the 
Lecompton  constitution  gave  their  oppo- 
nents an  advantage  in  position  strangely  at 
variance  with  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of 
the  people.  The  President  of  that  conven- 
tion, J.  Calhoun,  forwarded  the  document 
to  the  President  with  an  official  remiest 
that  it  be  submitted  to  Congress.  This 
was  done  in  a  message  dated  2d  February, 
1858,  and  the  President  recommended  tne 
admission  of  Kansas  under  it. 

This  message  occasioned  a  violent  debate 
in  Congress,  which  continued  for  three 
months.  It  was  replete  with  sectional 
abuse  and  bitterness,  and  nearly  all  the 
members  of  both  Houses  participated.  It 
finally  closed  with  the  passage  of  the 
"  Act  for  the  admission  of  the  State  of 
Kansas  into  the  Union,"  passed  May  4th, 
1858.  This  Act  had  been  reported  by  a 
committee  of  conference  of  both  Houses, 
and  was  passed  in  the  Senate  by  31  to  22, 
and  in  the  House  by  112  to  103.  There 
was  a  strict  party  vote  in  the  Senate  with 
the  exception  of  Mr.  DoUglas,  C.  E.  Stuart 
of  Michigan,  and  D.  C.  Broderick  of  Cal- 
ifornia, who  voted  with  the  Republican 
minority.  In  the  House  several  anti- 
Lecompton  democrats  voted  with  the  Re- 
publican minority.  These  were  Messrs. 
Adrian  of  New  Jersey ;  Chapman  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  Clark  of  New  York ;  Cockerill 
of  Ohio ;  Davis  of  Indiana ;  Harris  of  Il- 
linois ;  Haskin  of  New  York ;  Hickman 
of  Pennsylvania;  McKibben  of  California; 


BOOK  1.] 


THE    KANSAS    STRUGGLE. 


79 


Marshall  of  Illinois;  Morgan  of  New 
York ;  Morris,  Shaw,  and  Smith  of  Illinois. 
The  Americans  who  voted  with  the  Repub- 
licans were  Crittenden  of  Kentucky ;  Davis 
of  Maryland ;  Marshall  of  Kentucky ; 
Ricaud  of  Maryland ;  Underwood  of  Ken- 
tucky. A  number  of  those  previously 
classed  as  Anti-Lecorapton  Democrats 
voted  against  their  colleagues  of  the  same 
faction,  and  consequently  against  the  bill. 
These  were  Messrs.  Cockerill,  Gwesheck, 
Hall,  Lawrence,  Pendleton  and  Cox  of 
Ohio ;  English  and  Foley  of  Indiana ;  and 
Jones  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Americans 
who  voted  against  the  bill  were  Kennedy 
of  Maryland ;  Anderson  of  Missouri ;  Eus- 
tis  of  Louisiana ;  Gilmer  of  North  Caro- 
lina ;  Hill  of  Georgia ;  Maynard,  Ready 
and  ZoUicoffer  of  Tennessee ;  and  Trippe 
of  Georgia. 


liecompton.  Constitution. 

^    The  following  are  the  political  features 
of  the  Lecompton  constitution : 

Aeticle  VII. — Slavery. 

Sec.  1.  The  right  of  property  is  before 
and  higher  than  any  constitutional  sanc- 
tion, and  the  right  of  the  owner  of  a  slave 
to  such  slave  and  its  increase  is  the  same, 
and  as  inviolable  as  the  right  of  the  owner 
of  any  property  whatever. 

Sec.  2.  The  legislature  shall  have  no 
power  to  pass  laws  for  the  emancipation 
of  slaves  without  the  consent  of  the 
owners,  or  without  paying  the  owners 
previous  to  their  emancipation  a  full 
equivalent  in  money  for  the  slaves  so 
emancipated.  They  shall  have  no  power 
to  prevent  emigrants  to  the  state  from 
bringing  with  them  such  persons  as  are 
deemed  slaves  by  the  laws  of  any  one  of 
the  United  States  or  territories,  so  long  as 
any  person  of  the  same  age  or  description 
shall  be  continued  in  slavery  by  the  laws 
of  this  state :  Provided,  That  such  person 
or  slave  be  the  bona  fide  property  of  such 
emigrants :  And  provided,  also.  That  laws 
may  be  passed  to  prohibit  the  introduc- 
tion into  this  state  of  slaves  who  have 
committed  high  crimes  in  other  states  or 
territories.  They  shall  have  power  to  pass 
laws  to  permit  the  owners  of  slaves  to 
emancipate  them,  saving  the  rights  of 
creditors,  and  preventing  them  from  be- 
coming a  public  charge.  They  shall  have 
power  to  oblige  the  owners  of  slaves  to 
treat  them  with  humanity,  to  provide  for 
them  necessary  food  and  clothing,  to  ab- 
stain from  all  injuries  to  them  extending 
to  life  or  limb,  and,  in  case  of  their  neglect 
or  refusal  to  comply  with  the  direction  of 
such  laws,  to  have  such  slave  or  slaves 
sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  owner  or 
owners. 


Sec.  3.  In  the  prosecution  of  slaves  for 
crimes  of  higher  grade  than  petit  larceny, 
the  legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  de- 
prive them  of  an  impartial  trial  by  a  petit 
jury. 

Sec.  4.  Any  person  who  shall  mali- 
ciously dismember,  or  deprive  a  slave  of 
life,  shall  suffer  such  punishment  as  would 
be  inflicted  in  case  the  like  offence  had 
been  committed  on  a  free  white  person, 
and  on  the  like  proof,  except  in  case  of 
insurrection  of  such  slave. 

Free  Negroes. 

Bill  of  Rights,  Sec.  23.  Free  negroes 
shall  not  be  allowed  to  live  in  this  state 
under  any  circumstances. 

Article  VIII. — Elections  and  Rights  of 
Suffrage. 

Sec.  1.  Every  male  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  above  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  having  resided  in  this  state  one 
year,  and  in  the  county,  city,  or  town  in 
which  he  may  offer  to  vote,  three  months 
next  preceding  any  election,  shall  have 
the  qualifications  of  an  elector,  and  be  en- 
titled to  vote  at  all  elections.  And  every 
male  citizen  of  the  United  States,  above 
the  age  aforesaid,  who  may  be  a  resident 
of  the  state  at  the  time  this  constitution 
shall  be  adopted,  shall  have  the  right  of 
voting  as  aforesaid  ;  but  no  such  citizen  or 
inhabitant  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  ex- 
cept in  the  county  in  which  he  shall 
actually  reside  at  the  time  of  the  elec- 
tion. 


The  TopelEa  Conatltutlon. 

The  following  are  the  political  featuirea 
of  the  Topeka  constitution : 

Slavery. 
Bill  of  Rights,  Sec.  6.    There  shall  be 
no  slavery  in  this  state,  nor  involuntary 
servitude,  unless  for  the  punishment  of- 
crime. 

Amendments  to  the  Constitution. 

Sec.  1.  All  propositions  for  amend- 
ments to  the  constitution  shall  be  made 
by  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  2.  A  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of 
the  members  elected  to  each  house  shall  be 
necessary,  after  which  such  proposed 
amendments  shall  be  again  referred  to  the 
legislature  elected  next  succeeding  said 
publication.  If  passed  by  the  second 
legislature  by  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of 
the  members  elected  to  each  house,  such 
amendments  shall  be  republished  as  afore- 
said, for  at  least  six  months  prior  to  the 
next  general  election,  at  which  election 
such  proposed  amendments  shall  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  people  for  their  approval  or 


%0 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


tejection  ;  and  if  a  majority  of  the  electors 
voting  at  such  election  shall  adopt  such 
amendments,  the  same  shall  become  a  part 
of  the  constitution. 

Sec.  3.  When  more  than  one  amend- 
ment is  submitted  at  the  same  time,  they 
shall  be  so  submitted  as  to  enable  the 
electors  to  vote  upon  each  amendment 
separately.  No  convention  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  new  constitution  shall  be  called, 
and  no  amendment  to  the  constitution 
shall  be,  by  the  general  assembly,  made 
.before  the  year  1865,  nor  more  than  once 
in  five  years  thereafter. 

Submusion  of  Constitution  to  the  People. 
Schedule,  Sec.  2.  That  this  constitution 
shall  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  Kansas 
for  ratification  on  the  15th  day  of  Decem- 
ber next.  That  each  qualified  elector 
shall  express  his  assent  or  dissent  to  the 
constitution  by  voting  a  written  or  printed 
ticket,  labelled  "Constitution,"  or  "No 
Constitution;"  which  election  shall  be 
held  by  the  same  judges,  and  conducted 
under  the  same  regulations  and  restric- 
tions as  is  hereinafter  provided  for  the 
election  of  members  of  the  general 
assembly. 


The  Douglas  Amendment. 

The  following  is  the  Douglas  amend- 
ment, which  really  formed  the  basis  of  the 
bill  for  admission : 

"  It  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning 
of  this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any 
state  or  territory,  nor  to  exclude  it  there- 
from, but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  per- 
fectly free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way, 
subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States." 

The  bill  which  passed  on  the  4th  of  May 
was  known  as  the  English  bill,  and  it  met 
the  approval  of  Buchanan.  To  the  measure 
was  attached  "a  fundamental  condition 
precedent,"  which  arose  from  the  fact  that 
the  ordinance  of  the  convention  accom- 
panying the  constitution  claimed  for  the 
new  State  a  cession  of  the  public  lands  six 
times  greater  than  had  been  granted  to 
other  States,  amounting  in  all  to  23,500,- 
000  acres.  In  lieu  of  this  Congress  pro- 
posed to  submit  to  a  vote  of  the  people  a 
proposition  specifying  the  number  of  acres 
and  the  purposes  for  which  the  money 
arising  from  their  sale  were  to  be  used,  and 
the  acceptance  of  this  was  to  be  followed 
by  a  proclamation  that  "thereafter,  and 
without  further  proceedings  from  Congress 
the  admission  of  the  State  of  Kansas,  into 
the  Union,  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  States  in  all  respects  whatever, 
shall  be  complete  and  absolute."  The  con- 
dition was  never  fulfilled,  for  the  people  at 
the  election  on  the  2d  of  August,  1858, 


rejected  it  by  a  majority  of  9,513,  and  Kan- 
sas was  not  admitted  under  the  Lecompton 
constitution. 

Finally,  and  after  continued  agitation, 
more  peaceful,  however,  than  that  which 
characterized  the  earlier  stages  of  the  strug- 
gle, the  territorial  legislature  of  Kansas 
called  an  election  for  delegates  to  meet  and 
form  a  constitution.  They  assembled  in 
convention  at  Wyandot,  in  July,  1859,  and 
reported  a  constitution  prohibiting  slavery. 
This  was  adopted  by  a  majority  exceeding 
4000,  and  under  it  Kansas  was  admitted  to 
the  Union  on  the  29th  of  January,  1861. 

The  comparative  quiet  between  the  re- 
jection of  tne  English  proposition  and  the 
adoption  of  the  Wyandot  constitution,  was 
at  one  time  violently  disturbed  by  a  raid 
made  by  John  Brown  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
with  a  view  to  excite  the  slaves  to  insur- 
rection. This  failed,  but  not  before  Gov. 
Wise,  of  Virginia,  had  mustered  his  militia, 
and  called  for  the  aid  of  United  Stales 
troops.  The  more  radical  anti-slavery  men 
of  the  North  were  at  first  shocked  by  the 
audacity  of  an  offense  which  many  looked 
upon  as  an  act  of  treason,  but  the  anxietj 
of  Virginia  to  hang  Brown  and  all  hia 
followers  who  had  been  captured  alive, 
changed  a  feeling  of  conservatism  in  the 
North  to  one  of  sympathy  for  Brown  and 
deeper  hatred  of  slavery.  It  is  but  fair  to 
say  that  it  engendered  hostility  to  the 
Union  in  the  South.  The  right  and  wrong 
of  slavery  was  thereafter  more  generally 
discussed  than  ever.  The  talent  of  the 
South  favored  it;  while,  with  at  least  a 
large  measure  of  truth  it  6an  be  said  that 
the  talent  of  the  North  opposed  it.  So 
bitter  grew  the  feeling  that  soon  the 
churches  of  the  sections  began  to  divide, 
no  other  political  question  having  ever  be- 
fore disturbed  the  Union. 

We  have  not  pretended  to  give  a  com- 
plete history  of  the  Kansas  trouble  either 
in  that  State  or  in  Congress,  nor  yet  a  full 
history  of  the  many  issues  raised  on  ques- 
tions which  were  but  subsidiary  to  the 
main  one  of  slavery.  Our  object  is  to  .show 
the  relation  of  the  political  parties  through- 
out that  struggle,  for  we  are  dealing  with 
the  history  of  parties  from  a  national  view, 
and  not  with  battles  and  the  minor  ques- 
tions or  details  of  parliamentary  struggles.  • 
The  contest  had  cemented  the  Democrats 
of  the  South  as  it  had  the  Republicans  of 
the  North  ;  it  divided  both  the  Democrats 
of  the  North  and  the  Americans  in  all 
sections.  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  and 
Sam  Houston  of  Texa.s,  recognized  leaders 
of  the  Americans,  had  shown  their  sym- 

E>athy  with  the  new  stand  taken  by  Dong- 
as, as  early  as  1854.  Bell,  however,  was 
less  decided  than  Houston,  and  took  his 
position  with  many  qualifications,  Hous- 
ton opposed  even  the  repeal  of  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  and  made  the  last  speech 


BOOK  I.] 


THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION. 


81 


against  it  in  the  Senate.  He  closed  with 
these  words: 

"  In  the  discharge  of  my  duty  I  have 
acted  fearlessly.  The  events  of  the  future 
are  left  in  the  hands  of  a  wise  Providence, 
and,  in  my  opinion,  on  the  decision  which 
we  make  upon  this  question  must  depend 
union  or  disunion." 

These  sentiments  were  shared  by  many 
Americans,  and  the  great  majority  of  them 
drifted  into  the  Eepublican  party.  The 
Abolitionists  from  the  beginning  of  the 
struggle,  allied  themselves  with  the  Repub- 
licans, a  few  of  their  leaders  proclaiming, 
however,  that  this  party  was  not  sufficiently 
advanced  in  its  views. 


The  Charleston  Convention. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  parties 
when  the  Democratic  national  convention 
met  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  on  the  23d  of 
April,  1860,  it  being  then  the  custom  of 
the  Democratic  party,  as  it  is  of  all  major- 
ity parties,  to  call  its  convention  first.  It 
was  composed  of  delegates  from  all  the 
thirty-three  States  of  the  Union,  the  whole 
number  of  votes  being  303.  After  the  ex- 
ample of  former  Democratic  conventions 
it  adopted  the  two-third  rule,  and  202  votes 
were  required  to  make  nominations  for 
President  and  Vice-President.  Caleb  Cush- 
ing,  of  Mass.,  presided.  From  the  first  a 
radical  difference  of  opinion  was  exhibited 
among  the  members  on  the  question  of 
slavery  in  the  Territories.  Almost  the 
entire  Southern  and  a  minority  of  the 
Northern  portion  believed  in  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  and  held  that  slave  property 
was  as  valid  under  the  constitution  as  any 
other  :;lass  of  property.  The  Douglas 
delegates  stood  firmly  by  the  theory  of 
popular  sovereignty,  and  avowed  their  in- 
difference to  the  fact  whether  it  would  lead 
to  the  protection  of  slave  property  in  the 
territories  or  not.  On  the  second  day  a 
committee  on  resolutions  consisting  of  one 
member  from  each  State,  selected  by  the 
State  delegates,  was  named,  and  then  a 
resolution  was  resolved  unanimously  "that 
this  convention  will  not  proceed  to  ballot 
for  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  until  the 
platform  shall  have  been  adopted."  On 
the  fifth  day  the  committee  on  resolutions 
presented  majority  and  minority  reports. 

After  a  long  discussion  on  the  respective 
merits  of  the  two  reports,  they  were  both, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Bigler,  of  Pennsylvania, 
re-committed  to  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions, with  a  view,  if  possible,  to  promote 
harmony ;  but  this  proved  to  be  impracti- 
cable. On  the  sixth  day  of  the  Conven- 
tion (Saturday,  April  28th,)  at  an  evening 
session,  Mr.  Avery,  of  North  Carolina,  and 
Mr.  Samuels,  of  Iowa,  from  the  majority 
6 


and  minority  of  the  committee,  again  made 
opposite  and  conflicting  reports  on  the 
question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories.  On 
this  question  the  committee  had  divided 
from  the  beginning,  the  one  portion  em- 
bracing the  fifteen  members  from  the 
slaveholding  States,  with  those  from  Cali- 
fornia and  Oregon,  and  the  other  consist- 
ing of  the  members  from  all  the  free  States 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  On  all  other 
questions  both  reports  substantially  agreed. 

The  following  is  the  report  of  the  major- 
ity made  on  this  subject  by  Mr.  Avery,  of 
North  Carolina,  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee: "Resolved,  That  the  platform 
adopted  by  the  Democratic  party  at  Cin- 
cinnati be  affirmed  with  the  following  ex- 
planatory resolutions :  1st.  That  the  Gov- 
ernment of  a  Territory,  organized  by  an 
act  of  Congress,  is  provisional  and  tempo- 
rary, and  during  its  existence  all  citizens 
of  the  United  States  have  an  equal  right 
to  settle  with  their  property  in  the  Terri- 
tory, without  their  rights,  either  of  person 
or  property,  being  destroyed  or  impaired 
by  Congressional  or  Territorial  legislation. 
2d.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, in  all  its  departments,  to  protect, 
when  necessary,  the  rights  of  persons  and 
property  in  the  Territories,  and  wherever 
else  its  constitutional  authority  extends. 
3d.  That  when  the  settlers  in  a  Territory 
having  an  adequate  population  form  a 
State  Constitution,  the  right  of  sovereignty 
commences,  and  being  consummated  by 
admission  into  the  Union,  they  stand  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  people  of  other 
States,  and  the  State  thus  organized  ought 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Federal  Union 
whether  its  constitution  prohibits  or  recog- 
nizes the  institution  of  slavery." 

The  following  is  the  report  of  the  minor- 
ity, made  by  Mr.  Samuels,  of  Iowa.  After 
re-affirming  the  Cincinnati  platform  by 
the  first  resolution,  it  proceeds:  "Inas- 
much as  differences  of  opinion  exist  in  the 
Democratic  party,  as  to  the  nature  and  ex- 
tent of  the  powers  of  a  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture, and  as  to  the  powers  and  duties  of 
Congress,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  over  the  institution  of 
slavery  within  the  Territories,  Resolved, 
That  the  Democratic  party  will  abide  by 
the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  upon  questions  of  constitu- 
tional law." 

After  some  preliminary  remarks,  Mr. 
Samuels  moved  the  adoption  of  the  minor- 
ity report  as  a  substitute  for  that  of  the 
majority.  This  gave  rise  to  an  earnest 
and  excited  debate.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  parties  was  radical  and  irrecon- 
cilable. The  South  insisted  that  the  Cin- 
cinnati platform,  whose  true  construction 
in  regard  to  slavery  in  the  Territories  had 
always  been  denied  by  a  portion  of  the 
Democratic  party,  should  be  explained  and 


82 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


settled  by  an  express  recognition  of  the 
principles  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
The  North,  on  the  other  hand,  refused  to 
recognize  this  decision,  and  still  main- 
tained the  power  to  be  inherent  in  the 
people  of  a  Territory  to  deal  with  the 
question  of  slavery  according  to  their  own 
discretion.  The  vot€  was  then  taken,  and 
the  minority  report  was  substituted  for 
that  of  the  majority  by  a  vote  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight.  The  delegates  from  the  six 
New  England  States,  as  well  as  from  New 
York,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  fourteen 
free  States,  cast  their  entire  vote  in  favor 
of  the  minority  report.  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  alone  among  the  free  States 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  refused  to 
Tote  as  States,  but  their  delegates  voted  as 
individuals. 

The  means  employed  to  attain  this  end 
were  skillfully  devised  by  the  minority  of 
the  Pennsylvania  delegation  in  favor  of 
nominating  Mr.  Douglas.  The  entire  del- 
egation had,  strangely  enough,  placed  this 
power  in  their  hands,  by  selecting  two  of 
their  number,  Messrs.  Cessna  and  Wright, 
to  represent  the  whole  on  the  two  most  im- 
portant committees  of  the  Convention — 
that  of  organization  and  that  of  resolu- 
tions. These  gentlemen,  by  adroitness  and 
parliamentary  tact,  succeeded  in  abrogat- 
ing the  former  practice  of  casting  the  vote 
of  the  State  as  a  unit.  In  this  manner, 
whilst  New  York  indorsed  with  her  entire 
thirty-five  votes  the  peculiar  views  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  notwithstanding  there  was  in  her 
delegation  a  majority  of  only  five  votes  in 
their  favor  on  the  question  of  Territorial 
sovereignty,  the  effective  strength  of  Penn- 
sylvania recognizing  the  judgment  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  was  reduced  to  three  votes, 
this  being  the  majority  of  fifteen  on  the 
one  side  over  twelve  on  the  other. 

The  question  next  in  order  before  the 
Convention  was  upon  the  adoption  of  the 
second  resolution  of  the  minority  of  the 
committee,  which  had  been  substituted  for 
the  report  of  the  majority.  On  this  ques- 
tion Georgia,  Louisiana,  Alabama,  Arkan- 
sas, Texas,  Florida,  and  Mississippi  re- 
fused to  vote.  Indeed,  it  soon  appeared 
that  on  the  question  of  the  final  adoption 
of  this  second  resolution,  which  in  fact 
amounted  to  nothing,  it  had  scarcely  any 
friends  of  either  party  in  the  Convention. 
The  Douglas  party,  without  explanation 
or  addition,  voted  against  it.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  old  Democracy  could  not  vote 
for  it  without  admitting  that  the  Supreme 
Court  had  not  already  placed  the  right 
over  slave  property  in  the  Territories  on 
the  same  footing  with  all  other  property', 
and  therefore  they  also  voted  against  it. 
In  consequence  the  resolution  was  nega- 
tived by  .a  vote  of  only  twenty-one  in  its 


favor  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 
Had  the  seven  Southern  States  just  men- 
tioned voted,  the  negatives  would  have 
amounted  to  two  hundred  and  eighty-two, 
or  more  than  thirteen  to  one.  Thus  both 
the  majority  and  the  minority  resolutions 
on  the  Territorial  question  were  rejected, 
and  nothing  remained  before  the  Conven- 
tion except  the  Cincinnati  platform. 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  (April 
80th),  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Alabama, 
South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Florida,  Tex- 
as, and  Arkansas,  having  assigned  their 
reasons  for  the  act,  withdrew  in  succession 
from  the  Convention,  After  these  seven 
States  had  retired,  the  delegation  from 
Virginia  made  an  effort  to  restore  har- 
mony, Mr,  Russell,  their  chairman,  ad- 
dressed the  Convention  and  portrayed  the 
alarming  nature  of  the  crisis.  He  ex- 
pressed nis  fears  that  we  were  on  the  eve 
of  a  revolution,  and  if  this  Convention 
should  prove  a  failure  it  would  be  the  last 
National  Convention  of  any  party  which 
would  ever  assemble  in  the  United  States. 
"  Virginia,"  said  he,  "  stands  in  the  midst 
of  her  sister  States,  in  garments  red  with 
the  blood  of  her  children  slain  in  the  first 
outbreak  of  the  'irrepressible  conflict,' 
But,  sir,  not  when  her  cnildren  fell  at  mid- 
night beneath  the  weapon  of  the  assassin, 
was  her  heart  penetrated  with  so  profound 
a  grief  as  that  which  will  wring  it  when 
she  is  obliged  to  choose  between  a  sepa- 
rate destiny  with  the  South,  and  her  com- 
mon destiny  with  the  entire  Republic." 

Mr,  Russell  was  not  then  prepared  to 
answer,  in  behalf  of  his  delegation,  whether 
the  events  of  the  day  (the  defeat  of  the 
majority  report,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the 
seven  States)  were  sufl^cient  to  justify  her 
in  taking  the  irrevocable  step  in  question. 
In  order,  therefore,  that  they  might  have 
time  to  deliberate,  and  if  they  thought 
proper  make  an  effort  to  restore  harmony 
m  the  Convention,  he  expressed  a  desire 
that  it  might  adjourn  and  afford  them  an 
opportunity  for  consultation.  The  Con- 
vention accordingly  adjourned  until  the 
next  day,  Tuesday,  May  1st ;  and  imme- 
diately after  its  reassembling  the  delega- 
tion from  Georgia,  making  the  eighth 
State,  also  withdrew. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Virginia  delega- 
tion had  consulted  among  themselves,  and 
had  conferred  with  the  delegation  of  the 
other  Southern  States  which  still  remained 
in  the  Convention,  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
restoring  harmony.  In  consequence  Mr. 
Howard,  of  Tennessee,  stated  to  the  Con- 
vention that  "  he  had  a  proposition  to  pre- 
sent in  behalf  of  the  delegation  from  Ten- 
nessee, whenever,  under  parliamentary 
rules,  it  would  be  proper  to  present  it." 
In  this  Tennessee  was  joined  by  Kentucky 
and  Virginia.  He  should  propose  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  whenever  it  would  be  in 


BOOK  I.] 


THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION. 


83 


order :  '  Resolved,  That  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  have  an  equal  right  to  set- 
tle with  their  property  in  the  Territories 
of  the  United  States ;  and  that,  under  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  which  we  recognize  as  the 
correct  exposition  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  neither  the  rights  of 
person  nor  property  can  be  destroyed  or 
inpaired  by  Congressional  or  Territorial 
legislation.' '' 

On  a  subsequent  day  (May  3d),  Mr.  Rus- 
sell informed  the  Convention  that  this  re- 
solution had,  "he  believed,  received  the 
approbation  of  all  the  delegations  from 
the  Southern  States  which  remained  in 
the  Convention,  and  also  received  the  ap- 
probation of  the  delegation  from  New 
York.  He  was  informed  there  waa  strength 
enough  to  pass  it  when  in  order." 

Mr.  Howard,  however,  in  vain  attempted 
to  obtain  a  vote  on  his  resolution.  When 
he  moved  to  take  it  up  on  the  evening  of 
the  day  it  had  been  offered,  he  was  met  by 
cries  of  "Not  in  order,"  "Not  in  order." 
The  manifest  purpose  was  to  postpone  its 
consideration  until  the  hour  should  arrive 
which  had  been  fixed  by  a  previous  order 
of  the  Convention,  in  opposition  to  its  first 
order  on  the  same  subject,  for  the  balloting 
to  commence  for  a  Presidential  candidate, 
when  it  would  be  too  late.  This  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Douglas  accomplished,  and  no  vote 
was  ever  taken  upOn  it  either  at  Charleston 
or  Baltimore. 

Before  the  balloting  commenced  Mr. 
Howard  succeeded,  in  the  face  of  strong 
opposition,  with  the  aid  of  the  thirty-five 
votes  from  New  York,  in  obtaining  a  vote 
of  the  Convention  in  re-aflSrmance  of  the 
two-thirds  rule.  On  his  motion  they  re- 
solved, by  141,  to  112  votes,  "that  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  Convention  be  and  he  is  here- 
by directed  not  to  declare  any  person 
nominated  for  the  oflice  of  President  or 
Vice-President,  unless  he  shall  have  re- 
ceived a  number  of  votes  equal  to  two- 
thirds  of  the  votes  of  all  the  electoral  col- 
leges." It  was  well  known  at  the  time 
that  this  resolution  rendered  the  regular 
nomination  of  Mr.  Douglas  impossible. 

The  balloting  then  commenced  (Tuesday 
evening.  May  1st),  on  the  eighth  day  of  the 
session.  Necessary  to  a  nomination,  under 
the  two-thirds  rule,  202  votes.  On  the 
first  ballot  Mr.  -Douglas  received  145J 
votes ;  Mr.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  42 ;  Mr. 
Guthrie,  of  Kentucky,  35*  ;  Mr.  Johnson, 
of  Tennessee,  12;  Mr.  Dickinson,  of  New 
York,  7;  Mr.  Lane,  of  Oregon,  6;  Mr. 
Toucey,  of  Connecticut,  2J  ;  Mr.  Davis,  of 
Mississippi,  IJ,  and  Mr.  Pearce,  of  Mary- 
land, 1  vote. 

The  voting  continued  until  May  3d, 
during  which  there  were  fifty-four  addi- 
tional ballotings.  Mr.  Douglas  never  rose 
to  more  than  152 J,  and   ended    in  151 J 


votes,  202  votes  being  necessary  to  a  nomi- 
nation. 

Until  1824  nominations  had  been  made 
by  Congressional  caucus.  In  these  none 
participated  except  Senators  and  Demo- 
cratic States,  and  Representatives  from 
Democratic  Congressional  districts.  The 
simple  majority  rule  governed  in  these 
caucuses,  because  it  was  morally  certain 
that,  composed  as  they  were,  no  candidate 
could  be  selected  against  the  will  of  the 
Democratic  States  on  whom  his  election 
depended.  But  when  a  change  was  made 
to  National  Conventions,  it  was  at  once 
perceived  that  if  a  mere  majority  could 
nominate,  then  the  delegates  from  Anti- 
Democratic  States  might  be  mainly  instru- 
mental in  nominating  a  candidate  for 
whom  they  could  not  give  a^single  electo- 
ral vote.  Whilst  it  would  have  been  harsh 
and  inexpedient  to  exclude  these  States 
from  the  Convention  altogether,  it  would 
have  been  unjust  to  confer  on  them  a  con- 
trolling power  over  the  nomination.  To 
compromise  this  difficulty,  the  two-thirds 
rule  was  adopted.  Under  its  operation  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  that  a  candi- 
date could  be  selected,  without  the  votes 
of  a  simple  majority  of  delegates  from  the 
Democratic  States.  This  was  the  argu- 
ment of  its  friends. 

It  had  now  become  manifest  that  it  was 
impossible  to  make  a  nomination  at 
Charleston.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Douglas 
adhered  to  him  and  would  vote  for  him 
and  him  alone,  whilst  his  opponents,  ap- 
prehending the  effect  of  his  principles 
should  he  be  elected  President,  were  equally 
determined  to  vote  against  his  nomination. 

In  the  hope  that  some  compromise 
might  yet  be  effected,  the  Convention,  on 
the  motion  of  Mr.  Russell,  of  Virginia, 
resolved  to  adjourn  to  meet  at  Baltimore  on 
Monday,  the  18th  June ;  and  it  was  "  re- 
spectfully recommended  to  the  Democratic 
party  of  the  several  States,  to  make  pro- 
vision for  supplying  all  vacancies  in  tneir 
respective  delegations  to  this  Convention 
when  it  shall  re-assemble." 

The  Convention  re-assembled  at  Balti- 
more on  the  18th  June,  1860,  according  to 
its  adjournment,  and  Mr.  Cushing,  the 
Presiclent,  took  the  chair. 

Immediately  after  the  reorganization  of 
the  Convention,  Mr.  Howard,  of  Tennes- 
see, offered  a  resolution,  "that  the  Presi* 
dent  of  this  Convention  direct  the  ser- 
geant-at-arms  to  issue  tickets  of  admission 
to  the  delegates  of  the  Convention,  as  orig- 
inally constituted  and  organized  at  Charles- 
ton." Thus  the  vitally  important  question 
was  distinctly  presented.  It  soon,  how- 
ever, became  manifest  that  no  such  reso- 
lution could  prevail.  In  the  absence  of 
the  delegates  who  had  withdrawn  at 
Charleston,  the  friends  of  Mr.  Douglas 
constituted  a  controlling  majority.    At  the 


84 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


threshold  they  resisted  the  admission  of 
the  original  delegates,  and  contended  that 
by  withdrawing  they  had  irrevocably  re- 
signed their  seats.  In  support  of  this  po- 
sition, they  relied  upon  the  language  of 
the  resolution  adjourning  the  Convention 
to  Baltimore,  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
"recommended  to  the  Democratic  party 
of  the  several  States  to  make  provision  for 
supplying  all  vacancies  in  their  respective 
delegations  to  this  Convention,  when  it 
shall  reassemble."  On  the  other  hand, 
the  advocates  of  their  readmission  con- 
tended that  a  simple  withdrawal  of  the 
delegates  was  not  a  final  renunciation  of 
their  seats,  but  they  were  still  entitled  to 
reoccupy  them,  whenever,  in  their  judg- 
ment, this  course  would  be  best  calculated 
to  restore  the  harmony  and  promote  the 
success  of  the  Democratic  party ;  that  the 
Convention  had  no  right  to  interpose  be- 
tween them  and  the  Democracy  of  their 
respective  States ;  that  being  directly  re- 
sponsible to  this  Democracy,  it  alone  could 
accept  their  resignation ;  that  no  such  re- 
signation had  ever  been  made,  and  their 
authority  therefore  continued  in  fiill  force, 
and  this,  too,  with  the  approbation  of  their 
constituents. 

In  the  mean  time,  after  the  adjournment 
from  Charleston  to  Baltimore,  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Douglas,  in  several  of  these  States, 
had  proceeded  to  elect  delegates  to  take 
the  place  of  those  who  had  withdrawn 
from  the  Convention.  Indeed,  it  was 
manifest  at  the  time,  and  has  since  been 
clearly  proved  by  the  event,  that  these 
delegates  represented  but  a  small  minority 
of  the  party  in  their  respective  States. 
These  new  delegates,  nevertheless,appeared 
and  demanded  seats.  * 

After  a  long  and  ardent  debate,  the 
Convention  adopted  a  resolution,  offered 
by  Mr.  Church,  of  New  York,  and  modi- 
fied on  motion  of  Mr.  Gilmore,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  a  substitute  for  that  of  Mr. 
Howard,  to  refer  "  the  credentials  of  all 
persons  claiming  seats  in  this  Convention, 
made  vacant  by  the  secession  of  delegates 
at  Charleston,  to  the  Committee  on  Cre- 
dentials.'' They  thus  prejudged  the  ques- 
tion, by  deciding  that  the  seats  of  these 
delegates  had  been  made  and  were  still 
vacant.  The  Committee  on  Credentials 
had  been  originally  composed  of  one  dele- 
gate from  each  of  the  thirty-three  States, 
but  the  number  was  now  reduced  to  twen- 
ty-five, in  consequence  of  the  exclusion  of 
eight  of  its  members  from  the  States  of 
Grec)rgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  South  Car- 
olina, Texas,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and 
Florida.  The  committee,  therefore,  now 
stood  16  to  9  in  favor  of  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Douglas,  instead  of  17  to  16  against  it, 
according  to  its  original  organization. 

•  From  Mr.  Bnchanan'a  Adminifrtration  on  the  ere  of 
a*  BebelliuD,  publithed  by  D.  Appleton  A  Co.,  1866. 


The  committee,  through  their  chairman, 
Mr.  Krum,  of  Missouri,  made  their  report 
on  the  2l3t  June,  aild  Governor  Stevens,  of 
Oregon,  at  the  same  time  presented  a 
minority  report,  signed  by  himself  and 
eight  other  members. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  give  in  detail  these 
conflicting  reports.  It  is  sufficient  to  state 
that  whilst  the  report  of  the  majority 
maintained  that  the  delegates,  by  with- 
drawing at  Charleston,  had  resigned  their 
seats,  and  these  were  still  vacant ;  that  of 
the  minority,  on  the  contrary,  asserted  the 
right  of  these  delegates  to  resume  their 
seats  in  the  Convention,  by  virtue  of  their 
original  appointment. 

On  the  next  day  (June  22),  the  impor- 
tant decision  was  made  between  the  con- 
flicting reports.  Mr.  Stevens  moved  to 
substitute  the  minority  report  for  that  of 
the  majority,  and  his  motion  was  rejected 
by  a  vote  of  lOOJ  to  150.  Of  course  no 
vote  was  given  from  any  of  the  excluded 
States,  except  one  half  vote  from  each  of 
the  parties  in  Arkansas. 

The  resolutions  of  the  majority  were  then 
adopted  in  succession.  Among  other  mo- 
tions of  similar  character,  a  motion  had 
been  made  by  a  delegate  in  the  majority 
to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  the  Con- 
vention had  adopted  the  minority  report, 
as  a  substitute  for  that  of  the  majority, 
and  to  lay  his  own  motion  on  the  table. 
This  is  a  common  mode  resorted  to,  ac- 
cording to  parliamentary  tactics,  of  de- 
feating every  hope  of  a  reconsideration  of 
the  pending  question,  and  rendering  the 
first  decision  final. 

Mr.  Cessna  with  this  view  called  for  a 
vote  on  laying  the  motion  to  reconsider  on 
the  table.  Should  this  be  negatived,  then 
the  question  of  reconsideration  would  be 
open.  The  President  stated  the  question 
to  be  first  "  on  laying  on  the  table  the  mo- 
tion to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  the 
Convention  refused  to  amend  the  majority 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Credentials  by 
suDstituting  the  report  of  the  minority." 
On  this  question  New  York,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  meeting  at  Baltimore,  voted 
with  the  minority  and  changed  it  into  a 
majority.  "When  New  York  was  called," 
says  the  report  of  the  proceedings,  "  and  re- 
sponded tnirty-five  votes"  (in  the  nega- 
tive) "  the  response  was  greeted  with  loild 
cheers  and  applause."  The  result  of  the 
vote  was  113J  to  138  J — "so  the  Convention 
reftised  to  lay  on  the  table  the  motion  to 
reconsider  the  minority  report."  The  Con- 
vention then  adjourned  until  evening,  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Cochrane,  of  New  York, 
amidst  great  excitement  and  confusion. 

This  vote  of  New  York,  appearing  to  in- 
dicate a  purpose  to  harmonize  the  party  by 
admitting  the  original  delegates  from  the 
eight  absent  States,  was  not  altogether  un- 
expected.   Although  voting  as  a  unit,  it 


BOOK  I.] 


THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION. 


85 


was  known  that  her  delegation  were  greatly 
divided  among  themselves.  The  exact 
strength  of  the  minority  was  afterwards 
stated  by  Mr.  Bartlett,  one  of  its  members, 
in  the  Breckinridge  Convention.  He  said : 
"  Upon  all  questions  and  especially  upon 
the  adoption  of  the  majority  report  on  cre- 
dentials, in  which  we  had  a  long  contest, 
the  line  was  strictly  drawn,  and  there  were 
thirty  on  one  side  and  forty  on  the  other." 

The  position  of  New  York  casting  an  un- 
divided vote  of  thirty-five,  with  Dean  Rich- 
mond at  their  head,  had  been  a  controlling 
power  from  the  commencement. 

Strong  expectations  were,  therefore,  now 
entertained  that  after  the  New  York  dele- 
gation had  recorded  their  vote  against  a 
motion  which  would  have  killed  the  mi- 
nority report  beyond  hope  of  revival,  they 
would  now  follow  this  up  by  taking  the 
next  step  in  advance  and  voting  for  its  re- 
consideration and  adoption.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  very  same  day,  however,  they 
reversed  their  course  and  voted  against  its 
reconsideration.  They  were  then  cheered 
\)y  the  opposite  party  from  that  which  had 
cheered  them  in  the  morning.  Thus  the 
action  of  the  Convention  in  favor  of  the 
majority  report  became  final  and  conclu- 
sive. 

Mr.  Cessna,  of  Pennsylvania,  at  once 
moved  "  that  the  Convention  do  now  pro- 
ceed to  nominate  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Russell  rose  and  stated,  "  It  has  be- 
come my  duty  now,  by  direction  of  a  large 
majority  of  the  delegation  from  Virginia, 
respectfully  to  inform  you  and  this  body, 
that  it  is  not  consistent  Avith  their  convic- 
tions of  duty  to  participate  longer  in  its 
deliberations." 

Mr.  Lander  next  stated  "  that  it  became 
his  duty,  as  one  of  the  delegates  from  North 
Carolina,  to  say  that  a  very  large  majority 
of  the  delegation  from  that  State  were 
compelled  to  retire  permanently  from  this 
Convention,  on  account,  as  he  conceived, 
of  the  unjust  course  that  had  been  pursued 
toward  some  of  their  fellow-citizens  of  the 
South.  The  South  had  heretofore  relied 
upon  the  Northern  Democracy  to  give  them 
the  rights  which  were  justly  due  them  ;  but 
the  vote  to-day  had  satisfied  the  majority 
of  the  North  Carolina  delegation  that  these 
rights  were  now  refused  them,  and,  this 
being  the  case,  they  could  no  longer  re- 
main in  the  Convention." 

Then  followed  in  succession  the  with- 
drawal of  the  delegations  from  Tennessee, 
Kentucky,  Maryland,  California,  Oregon, 
and  Arkansas.  The  Convention  now  ad- 
journed at  half-past-ten  o'clock  until  the 
next  morning  at  ten. 

Soon  after  the  assembling  of  the  Con- 
vention, the  President,  Mr.  Cushing,  whilst 
tendering  his  thanks  to  its  members  for 
their  candid  and  honorable  support  in  the 


performance  of  his  duties,  stated  that  not- 
withstanding \he  retirement  of  the  delega- 
tions of  several  of  the  States  at  Charleston, 
in  his  solicitude  to  maintain  the  harmony 
and  union  of  the  Democratic  party,  he 
had  continued  in  his  post  of  labor.  "  To 
that  end  and  in  that  sense,"  said  he,  "  I 
had  the  honor  to  meet  you,  gentlemen,  here 
at  Baltimore.  But  circumstances  have 
since  transpired  which  compel  me  to  pause. 
The  delegations  of  a  majority  of  the  States 
have,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  in  one 
form  or  another,  ceased  to  participate  in 
the  deliberations  of  the  Convention.  *  * 
*  In  the  present  circumstances,  I  deem 
it  a  duty  of  self-respect,  and  I  deem  it 
still  more  a  duty  to  this  Convention,  as  at 
present  organized,  *  *  *  to  resign  my 
seat  as  President  of  this  Convention,  in 
order  to  take  my  place  on  the  floor  as  a 
member  of  the  delegation  from  Massachu- 
setts. *  *  *  I  deem  this  above  all  a 
duty  which  I  owe  to  the  members  of  this 
Convention,  as  to  whom  no  longer  would 
my  action  represent  the  will  of  a  majority 
of  the  Convention." 

Grovernor  Tod,  of  Ohio,  one  of  the  Vice- 
Presidents,  then  took  the  vacant  chair,  and 
was  greeted  with  hearty  and  long-continued 
cheers  and  applause  from  members  of  the 
Convention. 

Mr.  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  now  an- 
nounced that  a  portion  of  the  Massachu- 
setts delegation  desired  to  retire,  but  was 
interrupted  by  cries  of  "No,"  "No," 
"  Call  the  roll."  Mr.  Cessna  called  for  the 
original  question,  to  wit,  that  the  Conven- 
tion now  proceed,  to  a  nomination  for  Pres- 
ident and  Vice-President. 

The  President  here  ordered  the  Secre- 
tary to  call  the  States.  Maine,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  Vermont  were  called,  and  they 
gave  an  unbroken  vote  for  Stephen  A. 
Douglas.  When  Massachusetts  was  called, 
Mr.  Butler  rose  and  said  he  had  a  respect- 
ful paper  in  his  hand  which  he  would 
desire  the  President  to  have, read.  A  scene 
of  great  confusion  thereupon  ensued,  cries 
of  "  I  object"  being  heard  upon  all  sides 
Mr.  Butler,  not  to  be  baffled,  contended 
for  his  right  at  this  stage  to  make  remarks 
pertinent  to  the  matter,  and  cited  in  his 
support  the  practice  of  the  Conventions  at 
Baltimore  in  1848  and  1852,  and  at  Cin- 
cinnati in  1856.  Hefin»lly  prevailed,  and 
was  permitted  to  procee  I.  He  then  said 
he  "  would  now  withdra  v  from  the  Con- 
vention, upon  the  ground  that  there  had 
been  a  withdrawal,  in  who,  e  or  in  part,  of 
a  majority  of  the  States;  and  mrther, 
which  was  a  matter  more  personal  to  him- 
self, he  could  not  sit  in  a  convention  where 
the  African  slave  trade,  which  was  piracy 
according  to  the  laws  of  his  countiy,  was 
openly  advocated." 

Mr.  Butler  then  retired,  followed  by 
General  Cushing  and  four  others  of  the 


86 


AMERICAN    POLITICS 


[book  I. 


Massachusetts  delegation.  All  of  these 
had  voted  with  the  South  and  against 
Douglas. 

The  balloting  now  proceeded.  Mr. 
Douglas  received  173 J  votes;  Mr.  Guthrie 
9 ;  Mr.  Breckinridge  6J  ;  Mr.  Bocock  and 
Mr.  Seymour  each  1 ;  and  Mr.  Dickerson 
and  Mr.  Wise  each  half  a  vote.  On  the 
next  and  last  ballot  Mr.  Douglas  received 
181 J  votes,  eight  of  those  in  the  minority 
having  changed  their  votes  in  his  favor. 

To  account  for  this  number,  it  is  proper 
to  state  that  a  few  delegates  from  five  of 
the  eight  States  which  had  withdrawn  still 
remained  in  the  Convention.  On  the  last 
ballot  Mr.  Douglas  received  all  of  their 
votes,  to  wit :  3  of  the  15  votes  of  Virginia, 
1  of  the  10  votes  of  North  Carolina,  IJ  of 
the  3  votes  of  Arkansas,  3  of  the  12  votes 
of  Tennessee,  3  of  the  12  votes  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  2i  of  the  8  votes  of  Maryland, 
making  in  the  aggregate  14  votes.  To 
this  number  may  be  added  the  9  votes  of 
the  new  delegates  from  Alabama  and  the 
6  from  Louisiana,  which  had  been  admitted 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  original  dele- 
gates. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  accordingly  declared 
to  be  the  regular  nominee  of  the  Democra- 
tic party  of  the  Union,  upon  the  motion  of 
Mr.  Church,  of  New  York,  when,  accord- 
ing to  the  report  of  the  proceedings,  "  The 
whole  bodv  rose  to  its  feet,  hats  were 
waved  in  tLe  air,  and  many  tossed  aloft ; 
shouts,  screams,  and  yells,  and  every 
boisterous  mode  of  expressing  approbation 
and  unanimity,  were  resorted  to." 

Senator  Fitzpatrick,  of  Alabama,  was 
then  unanimously  nominated  as  the 
candidate  for  Vice-President ;  and  the 
Convention  adjourned  sine  die  on  the  23d 
June,  the  sixth  and  last  day  of  its  ses- 
sion. On  the  same  day,  but  after  the  ad- 
journment, Mr.  Fitzpatrick  declined  the 
nomination,  and  it  was  immediately  con- 
ferred on  Mr.  Herschel  V.  Johnson,  of 
Georgia,  by  the  Executive  Committee. 
Thus  ended  the  Douglas  Convention. 

But  another  Convention  assembled  at 
Baltimore  on  the  same  23d  June,  styling 
itself  the  "  National  Democratic  Conven- 
tion." It  was  composed  chiefly  of  the 
delegates  who  had  just  withdrawn  from 
the  Douglas  Convention,  and  the  original 
delegates  from  Alabama  and  Louisiana. 
One  of  their  first  acts  was  to  abrogate  the 
two-third  rule,  as  had  been  done  by  the 
Douglas  Convention.  Both  acted  under 
the  same  necessity,  because  the  preserva- 
tion of  this  rule  would  have  prevented  a 
nomination  by  either. 

Mr.  Cushin^  was  elected  and  took  the 
chair  as  President.  In  his  opening  ad- 
dress he  said :  "  Gentlemen  of  the  Con- 
vention, we  assemble  here,  delegates  to  the 
National  Democratic  Convention,  duly 
accredited  thereto  from  more  than  twenty 


States  of  the  Union,  for  the  purpose  of 
nominating  candidates  of  the  Democratic 
party  for  the  offices  of  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
purpose  of  announcing  the  principles  of 
the  party,  and  for  the  purpose  of  continu- 
ing and  re-establishing  that  party  upon 
the  firm  foundations  of  the  Constitution, 
the  Union,  and  the  coequal  rights  of  the 
several  States." 

Mr.  Avery,  of  North  Carolina,  who  had 
reported  the  majority  resolutions  at 
Charleston,  now  reported  the  same  from 
the  committee  of  this  body,  and  they 
"were  adopted  unanimously,  amid  great 
applause." 

The  Convention  then  proceeded  to  select 
their  candidates.  Mr.  Loring,  on  behalf 
of  the  delegates  from  Massachusetts,  who 
with  Mr.  Butler  had  retired  from  the 
Douglas  Convention,  nominated  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  which  Mr. 
Dent,  representing  the  Pennsylvania  dele- 
gation present,  "  most  heartily  seconded." 
Mr.  Ward,  from  the  Alabama  delegation, 
nominated  E.  M.  T.  Hunter,  of  Virginia ; 
Mr,  Ewing,  from  that  of  Tennessee,  nomi- 
nated Mr.  Dickinson,  of  New  York  ;  and 
Mr,  Stevens,  from  Oregon,  nominated 
General  Joseph  Lane.  Eventually  all 
these  names  were  withdrawn  except  that 
of  Mr.  Breckinridge,  and  he  received  the 
nomination  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The 
whole  number  of  votes  cast  in  his  favor 
from  twenty  States  was  103J. 

General  Lane  was  unanimously  nomi- 
nated as  the  candidate  for  Vice-President. 
Thus  terminated  the  Breckinridge  Conven- 
tion. 


Tbe  Chicago  Republican  Convention. 

The  Republicans  had  named  May  16th, 
1860,  as  the  date  and  Chicago  as  the  place 
for  holding  their  second  National  Conven- 
tion. They  had  been  greatly  encouraged 
by  the  vote  for  Fremont  and  Dayton,  and, 
what  had  now  become  apparent  as  an  ir- 
reconcilable division  of  the  Democracy, 
encouraged  them  in  the  belief  that  they 
could  elect  their  candidates.  Those  of  the 
great  West  were  especially  enthusiastic, 
and  had  contributed  freely  to  the  erection 
of  an  immense  "  Wigwam,"  capable  of 
holding  ten  thousand  people,  at  Chicago. 
All  the  Northern  States  were  fully  repre- 
sented, and  there  were  besides  partial  de> 
legations  from  Delaware,  Mar}'land,  Ken- 
tucky, Missouri  and  Virginia,  with  occa- 
sional delegates  from  other  Slave  States, 
there  being  none,  however,  from  the  Gulf 
States.  David  Wilmot,  of  Penna.,  author 
of  the  Wilmot  proviso,  was  made  tempo 
rary  chairman,  and  George  Ashman,  of 
Mass.,  permanent  President.  No  differ- 
ences were  excited  by  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee on  platform,  and  the  proceeding* 


BOOK  I.] 


THE   AMERICAN   CONVENTION. 


87 


throughoui.  were  characterized  by  great 
harmony,  though  there  was  a  somewhat 
sharp  contest  for  the  Presidential  nomina- 
tion. The  prominent  candidates  were  Wm. 
H.  Sewartl,  of  New  York ;  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, of  Illinois ;   Salmon   P.    Chase,    of 
Ohio ;  Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  Edward  Bates,   of  Missouri.    There 
were  three  ballots,  Mr.  Lincoln  receiving 
in  the  last  354  out  of  446  votes.     Mr.  Sew- 
ard led  the  vote  at  the  beginning,  but  he 
was  strongly  opposed  by  gentlemen  in  his 
own  State  as  prominent  as  Horace  Greeley 
and  Thurlow  Weed,   and  his  nomination 
was  thought  to  be  inexpedient.     Lincoln's 
successful  debate  with  Douglas  was  still 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  delegates,  and 
every  addition  to  his  vote  so  heightened 
the  enthusiasm  that  the  convention  was 
finally  carried  "off  its  feet,"  the  delegations 
rapidly  changing  on  the  last  ballot.     Lin- 
coln had  been  a  known  candidate  but  a 
month  or  two  before,  while  Seward's  name 
had  been  everywhere  canvassed,  and  where 
opposed  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States, 
it  was  mainly  because  of  the  belief  that  his 
views  on  slavery  were  too  radical.     He  was 
more   strongly  favored  by  the   Abolition 
branch  of  the  party  than  any  other  candi- 
didate.     When  the  news  of  his  success  was 
first  conveyed  to  Mr.  Lincoln  he  was  sit- 
ting in  the  office  of  the  State  Journal,  at 
Springfield,    which    was    connected  by  a 
telegraph  wire  with  the  Wigwam.     On  the 
close  of  the  third  ballot  a  despatch   was 
handed  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  read  it  in  silence, 
and    then    announcing    the    result    said: 
"  There  is  a  little  woman  down  at  our 
house  would  like  to  hear  this — I'll  go  down 
and  tell  her,"  and  he  started  amid  the 
shouts  of  personal  admirers.     Hannibal 
Hamlin,  of  Maine,  was  nominated  for  Vice- 
President  with  much  unanimity,  and  the 
Chicago  Convention  closed  its  work  iii  a 
single  day. 

Tbe  American  Con-ventlon. 

A  "Constitutional  Union,"  really  an 
American  Convention,  had  met  at  Balti- 
more on  the  9th  of  May.  Twenty  States 
were  represented,  and  John  Bell,  of  Ten- 
nessee, and  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachu- 
ietts,  were  named  for  the  Presidency  and 
Vice-Presidency.  Their  friends,  though 
known  to  be  less  in  number  than  either  those 
of  Douglas,  Lincoln  or  Breckinridge,  yet 
made  a  vigorous  canvass  in  the  hope  tnat 
the  election  would  be  thrown  into  the 
House,  and  that  there  a  compromise  in  the 
vote  by  States  would  naturally  turn  toward 
their  candidates.  The  result  of  the  great 
contest  is  elsewhere  given  in  our  Tabulated 
History  of  Politics. 

THE  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED. 

Lincoln  received  large  majorities  in 
nearly  all  of  the  free  States,  his  popular 


vote  being  1,866,452;  electoral  vote,  180. 
Douglas  was  next  in  the  popular  estimate, 
receiving  1,375,157  votes,  with  but  12  elec- 
tors. Breckinridge  had  847,953  votes,  with 
76  electors;  Bell,  with  570,631  votes,  had 
39  electors. 

The  principles  involved  in  the  contro- 
versy are  given  at  length  in  the  Book  of 
Platforms,  and  were  briefly  these:  The 
Republican  party  asserted  that  slavery 
should  not  be  extended  to  the  territories ; 
that  it  could  exist  only  by  virtue  of  local 
and  positive  law;  that  freedom  was  na- 
tional; that  slavery  was  morally  wrong, 
and  the  nation  should  at  least  anticipate 
its  gradual  extinction.  The  Douglas  wing 
of  the  Democratic  party  adhered  to  the 
doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty,  and 
claimed  that  in  its  exercise  in  the  terri- 
tories they  were  indifferent  whether  slavery 
was  voted  up  or  down.  The  Breckinridge 
wing  of  the  Democratic  party  asserted  both 
the  moral  and  legal  right  to  hold  slaves, 
and  to  carry  them  to  the  territories,  and 
that  no  power  save  the  national  constitu- 
tion could  prohibit  or  interfere  with  it  out- 
side of  State  lines.  The  Americans  sup- 
porting Bell,  adhered  to  their  peculiar 
doctrines  touching  emigration  and  natural- 
ization, but  had  abandoned,  in  most  of  the 
States,  the  secrecy  and  oaths  of  the  Know- 
Nothing  order.  They  were  evasive  and 
non-committal  on  the  slavery  question. 

Preparing  for  Secession. 

Secession,  up  to  this  time,  had  not  been 
regarded  as  treasonable  in  all  sections  and 
at  all  times.  As  shown  in  many  previous 
pages,  it.had  been  threatened  by  the  Hart- 
ford Convention ;  certainly  by  some  of  the 
people  of  New  England  who  opposed  the 
war  of  1812.  Some  of  the  more  extreme 
Abolitionists  had  favored  a  division  of  the 
sections.  The  South,  particularly  the  Gulf 
States,  had  encouraged  a  secret  organiza- 
tion, known  as  the  "Order  of  the  Lone 
Star,"  previous  to  and  at  the  time  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas.  One  of  its  objects 
was  to  acquire  Cuba,  so  as  to  extend  slave 
territory.  The  Gulf  States  needed  more 
slaves,  and  though  the  law  made  partici- 
pancy  in  the  slave  trade  piracy,  many  car- 
goes had  been  landed  in  parts  of  the  Gulf 
without  protest  or  prosecution,  just  prior 
to  the  election  of  1860.  Calhoun  had 
threatened,  thirty  years  before,  nullifica- 
tion, and  before  that  again,  secession  in 
the  event  of  the  passage  of  the  Public 
Land  Bill.  Jefferson  and  Madison  had 
indicated  that  doctrine  of  State  Rights  on 
which  secession  was  based  in  the  Kentucky 
and  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798,  facfesi 
which  were  daily  discussed  by  the  people 
of  the  South  during  this  most  exciting  of 
all  Presidential  campaigns. 

The  leaders  in  the  South  had  anticipated 
defeat  at  the  election,  and  many  of  them 


88 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


made  early  preparations  for  the  withdrawal 
of  their  States  from  the  Union.  Some  of 
the  more  extreme  anti-slavery  men  of  the 
North,  noting  these  preparations,  for  a 
time  favored  a  plan  of  letting  the  South 
go  in  peace.  South  Carolina  was  the  first 
to  adopt  a  secession  ordinance,  and  before 
it  did  so,  Horace  Greeley  said  in  the  New- 
York  Tribune: 

"  If  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
iostified  the  secession  from  the  British 
Empire  of  three  millions  of  colonists  in 
1776,  we  can  not  see  why  it  would  not  jus- 
tify the  secession  of  five  millions  of  South- 
rons from  the  Federal  Union  in  1861.'-' 

These  views,  however,  soon  fell  into  dis- 
favor throughout  the  North,  and  the  period 
of  indecision  on  either  side  ceased  when 
Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon.  The  Gulf 
States  openly  made  their  preparations  as 
soon  as  the  result  of  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion was  known,  as  a  rule  pursuant  to  a 
previous  understanding.  The  following, 
condensed  from  Hon.  Edward  McPher- 
son's  "  Political  History  of  the  United  States 
of  America  during  the  Great  Rehellion,"  is 
a  -jorrect  statement  of  the  movements 
which  followed,  in  the  several  Southern 
States: 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

November  5th,  1860.  Legislature  met 
to  choose  Presidential  electors,  who  voted 
for  Breckinridge  and  Lane  for  President 
and  Vice  President.  Gov.  William  H. 
Gist  recommended  in  his  message  that  in 
the  event  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  election 
to  the  Presidency,  a  convention  of  the 
people  of  the  State  be  immediately  called 
to  consider  and  determine  for  themselves 
the  mode  and  measure  of  redress.  He  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  the  only  alterna- 
tive left  is  the  "  secession  of  South  Caro- 
lina from  the  Federal  Union." 

7th.  United  States  officials  resigned  at 
Charleston. 

10th.  U.  S.  Senators  James  H.  Ham- 
mond and  James  Chestnut,  Jr.,  resigned 
their  seats  in  the  Senate.  Convention 
called  to  meet  Dec.  17th.  Delegates  to  be 
elected  Dec.  6th. 

13th.  Collection  of  debts  due  to  citi- 
zens of  non-slaveholding  States  stayed. 
Francis  W.  Pickens  elected  Governor. 

17th.  Ordinance  of  Secession  adopted 
unanimously. 

21st.  Commissioners  appointed  (Barn- 
well, Adams,  and  Orr)  to  proceed  to 
Washington  to  treat  for  the  possession  of 
U.  8.  Government  property  within  the  lim- 
its of  South  Carolina.  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed to  the  other  slaveholding  States. 
Southern  Congress  proposed. 

24th.  Representatives  in  Congress  with- 
drew. 

Gov.  Pickens  issned  a  proclamation 
"  announcing  the  repeal,  Dec.  20th,  1860, 


by  the  good  people  of  South  Carolina,"  of 
the  Ordinance  of  May  23d,  1788,  and  "  the 
dissolution  of  the  union  between  the  State 
of  ^outh  Carolina  and  other  States  under 
the  name  of  the  United  States  of  Ameri- 
ca," and  proclaiming  to  the  world  "  that 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  is,  as  she  has 
a  right  to  be,  a  separate,  sovereign,  free 
and  independent  State,  and,  as  such,  has  a 
right  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  negotiate 
treaties,  leagues,  or  covenants,  and  to  do 
all  acts  whatsoever  that  rightfully  apper- 
tain to  a  free  and  independent  State. 

"  Done  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  the 
sovereignty  and  independence  of  South 
Carolina." 

Jan.  3d,  1861.  South  Carolina  Com- 
missioners left  Washington. 

4th.  Convention  appointed  T.  J.  With- 
ers, L.  M.  Keitt,  AV.  W.  Bovce,  Jas.  Chest- 
nut, Jr.,  R.  B.  Rhett,  Jr.,  R'.  W.  Barnwell, 
and  C.  G.  Memminger,  delegates  to  South- 
ern Congress. 

5th.  Convention  adjourned,  subject  to 
the  call  of  the  Governor. 

14th.  Legislature  declared  that  any  at- 
tempt to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter  would  be 
considered  an  open  act  of  hostility  and  a 
declaration  of  war.  Approved  the  Gov- 
ernor's action  in  firing  on  the  Star  of  the 
West.  Accepted  the  services  of  the  Cataw- 
ba Indians. 

27th.  Received  Judge  Robertson,  Com- 
missioner from  Virginia,  but  rejected  the 
proposition  for  a  conference  and  co-oper- 
ative action. 

March  26th.  Convention  met  in  Charles- 
ton. 

April  3d.  Ratified  "Confederate"  Con- 
stitution — yeas  114,  nays  16. 

8th.  Transferred  forts,  etc.,  to  "Con- 
federate "  government. 

GEORGIA. 

November  8th,  1860.  Legislature  met 
pursuant  to  previous  arrangement. 

18th.  Convention  called.  Legislature 
appropriated  $1,000,000  to  arm  the  State. 

Dec.  3d.  Resolutions  adopted  in  the  Leg- 
islature proposing  a  conference  of  the 
Southern  States  at  Atlanta,  Feb.  20th. 

January  17th,  1861.  Convention  met. 
Received  Commissioners  from  South  Caro- 
lina and  Alabama 

18th.  Resolutions  declaring  it  the  right 
and  duty  of  Georgia  to  secede,  adopted-— 
yeas  165,  nays  130. 

19th.  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed — 
yeas  208,  nays  89. 

21st.  Sena^^ors  and  Representatives  in 
Congress  withdrew. 

24th.  Elected  Delegates  to  Southern 
Congress  at  Montgomery,  Alabama. 

28th.  Elected  Commissioners  to  othe? 
Slaveholding  States. 

29th.  Adopted  an  address  "  to  the  South 
and  the  world." 


BOOK  I.] 


PREPARING    FOR    SECESSION. 


89 


March  7th.  Convention  reassembled. 

16th,  Ratified  the  "  Confederate  "  Consti- 
tutions-yeas 96,  nays  5. 

20th.  Ordinance  passed  authorizing  the 
"  Confederate"  government  to  occupy,  use 
and  possess  the  forts,  navy  yards,  arsenals, 
and  custom  houses  within  the  limits  of  said 
State. 

April  26th.  Governor  Brown  issued  a 
proclamation  ordering  the  repudiation  by 
)he  citizens  of  Georgia  of  all  debts  due 
N^orthern  men. 

MISSISSIPPI. 

November  26th,  1860.  Legislature  met 
Nov.  26th,  and  adjourned  Nov.  30th.  Elec- 
tion for  Convention  fixed  for  Dec.  20th. 
Convention  to  meet  Jan  7th.  Convention 
bills  and  secession  resolutions  passed  unani- 
mously. Commissioners  appointed  to  other 
Slaveholding  States  to  secure  "their  co- 
operation in  effecting  measures  for  their 
common  defence  and  safety." 

Jan.  7th,  1861.    Convention  assembled. 

9th.  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed — 
yeas  84,  nays  15. 

In  the  ordinance  the  people  of  the  State 
of  Mississippi  express  their  consent  to  form 
a  federal  union  with  such  of  the  States  as 
have  seceded  or  may  secede  from  the  Union 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  upon  the 
basis  of  the  present  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  except  such  parts  thereof  as 
embrace  other  portions  than  such  seceding 
States. 

10th.  Commissioners  from  other  States 
received.  Resolutions  adopted,  recogniz- 
ing South  Carolina  as  sovereign  and  inde- 
pendent. 

Jan.  12th.  Representatives  in  Congress 
withdrew. 

19th.  The  committee  on  the  Confederacy 
in  the  Legislature  reported  resolutions  to 
provide  for  a  Southern  Confederacy,  and 
to  establish  a  provisional  government  for 
seceding  States  and  States  hereafter  seced- 
ing. 

21st.  Senators  in  Congress  withdrew. 

March  30th.  Ratified  "Confederate" 
Constitution — ^yeas  78,  nays  7. 

FLORIDA. 

November  26th,  1860.  Legislature  met. 
Governor  M.  S.  Perry  recommended  imme- 
diate secession. 

Dec.  1st.  Convention  bill  passed. 

Jan.  3d,  1861.  Convention  met. 

7th.  Commissioners  from  South  Carolina 
and  Alabama  received  and  heard. 

10th.  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed — 
yeas  62,  nays  7. 

18th.  Delegates  appointed  to  Southern 
Congress  at  Montgomery. 

2l8t.  Senators  and  Representatives  in 
Congress  withdrew. 

Feb.  14th.  Act  passed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture declaring  that  after  any  actual  collision 


between  Federal  troops  and  those  in  the 
emoloy  of  Florida,  the  act  of  holding  office 
under  the  Federal  government  shall  be 
declared  treason,  and  the  person  convicted 
shall  suffer  death.  Transferred  control  of 
government  property  captured,  to  the  "  Con- 
federate" government. 

LOUISIANA.  I 

December  10th,  1860.     Legislature -met 

11th.  Convention  called  for  Jan.  .23d. 
Military  bill  passed. 

12th.  Commissioners  from  Mississippi  re- 
ceived and  heard.  Governor  instructed  to 
communicate  with  Governors  of  other 
southern  States, 

Jan  23d,  1861.  Convention  met  and 
organized.  Received  and  heard  Commis- 
sioners from  South  Carolina  and  Alabama. 

25th.  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed — ■ 
yeas  113,  nays  17.  Convention  refused  to 
submit  the  ordinance  to  the  people  by  a 
vote  of  84  to  45.  This  was  subsequently 
reconsidered,  and  the  ordinance  was  sub- 
mitted. The  vote  upon  it  as  declared  was 
20,448  in  favor,  and  17,296  against, 

Feb.  5th.  Senators  withdrew  from  Con- 
gress, also  the  Representatives,  except  John 
E.  Bouligny.  State  flag  adopted.  Pilots 
at  the  Balize  prohibited  from  bringing  over 
the  bar  any  tlnited  States  vessels  of  war. 

March  7th.  Ordinance  adopted  in  secret 
session  transferring  to  "  Confederate  "  States 
government  $536,000,  being  the  amount  of 
bullion  in  the  U.  S.  mint  and  customs 
seized  by  the  State. 

16th.  Ai^  ordinance  voted  down,  submit- 
ting the  "  Confederate  "  Constitution  to  the 
people — ^yeas  26,  nays  74. 

21st.  Ratified  the  "Confederate "Consti- 
tution— ^yeas  lOL  jays  7.  Governor  author- 
ized to  transfi*  the  arms  and  property 
captured  fror.  the  United  States  to  the 
"Confederate"  Government. 

27th.  Convention  adjourned  sine  die. 

ALABAMA. 

January  7th,  1861.    Convention  met.  _ 

8th.  Received  and  heard  the  Commis- 
sioner from  South  Carolina. 

11th.  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed  in 
secret  session — ^yeas  61,  nays  39.  Proposi- 
tion to  submit  ordinance  to  the  people  lost 
— yeas  47,  nays  53. 

14th.  Legislature  met  pursuant  to  pre- 
vious action, 

19th,  Delegates  elected  to  the  Southern 
Congress. 

21st.  Representatives  and  Senators  in 
Congress  withdrew, 

26th.  Commissioners  appointed  to  treat 
with  the  United  States  Government  relative 
to  the  United  States  forts,  arsenals,  etc., 
within  the  State. 

The  Convention  requested  the  people  of 
the  States  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Florida, 


90 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Georgia,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas, 
Arkansas,  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  Mis- 
souri to  meet  the  people  of  Alabama  by 
their  delegates  in  Convention,February  4th, 
1861,  at  Slontgomery,  for  the  purpose  ^of 
consulting  as  to  the  most  effectual  mode  of 
securing  concerted  or  harmonious  action  in 
whatever  measures  may  be  deemed  most 
desirable  for  their  common  peace  and 
security.  Military  bill  passed.  Commis- 
sioners appointed  to  other  Slaveholding 
States. 

March  4th.  Convention  re-assembled. 

13th.  Ratified  "  Confederate  "  Constitu- 
tion, yeas  87,  nays  6.  Transferred  control 
forts,  of  arsenals,  etc.,  to  "  Confederate" 
Grovernment. 

ARKANSAS. 

January  16th,  1861.  Legislature  passed 
Convention  bill.  Vote  of  the  people  on 
the  Convention  was  27,412  for  it,  and  16,- 
826  against  it. 

February  18th.  Delegates  elected. 

March  4th.  Convention  met. 

18th.  The  Ordinance  of  Secession  de- 
feated— yeas  35,  nays  39.  The  convention 
effected  a  compromise  by  agreeing  to  sub- 
mit the  question  of  co-operation  or  seces- 
sion to  the  people  on  the  1st  Monday  in 
August. 

May  6th.  Passed  Secession  Ordinance — 
yeas  69,  nays  1.  Authorized  her  delegates 
to  the  Provisional  Congress,  to  transfer  the 
arsenal  at  Little  Rock  and  hospital  at  Na- 
poleon to  the  "  Confederate  "  Grovernment. 

TEXAS.  • 

January  21st,  1861.    Legislature  met. 

28th.    People's  State  Convention  met. 

29th.  Legislature  passed  a  resolution  de- 
claring that  the  Federal  Government  has 
no  power  to  coerce  a  Sovereign  State  after 
she  has  pronounced  her  separation  from 
the  Federal  Union. 

February  1st.  Ordinance  of  Secession 
passed  in  Convention — ^yeas  166,  nays  7. 
Military  bill  passed. 

7th.  Ordinance  passed,  forming  the  foun- 
dation of  a  Southern  Confederacy.  Dele- 
gates to  the  Southern  Congress  elected. 
Also  an  act  passed  submitting  the  Ordi- 
nance of  Secession  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 

23d.  Secession  Ordinance  voted  on  by 
the  people ;  adopted  by  a  vote  of  34,794  in 
favor,  and  11,2.35  against  it. 

March  4th.  Convention  declared  the 
State  out  of  the  Union.  Gov.  Houston 
issued  a  proclamation  to  that  effect. 

16th.  Convention  by  a  vote  of  127  to  4 
deposed  Gov.  Houston,  declaring  his  seat 
vacant.  Gov.  Houston  issued  a  proclama- 
tion to  the  people  protesting  against  this 
action  of  the  Convention. 

20th.  Legislature  confirmed  the  action 
of  the  Convention  in  deposing  Gov.  Hous- 
ton by  a  vote  of  53  to  11.    Transferred 


forts,  etc.,  to  "Confederate"  Government. 
23d.  Ratified  the  "Confederate"  Consti- 
tution— ^yeas  68,  nays  2. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

November  20th,  1860.  Legislature  met. 
Gov.  Ellis  recommended  that  the  Legisla- 
ture invite  a  conference  of  the  Southern 
States,  or  failing  in  that,  send  one  or  more 
delegates  to  the  neighboring  States  so  as  to 
secure  concert  of  action.  He  recommended 
a  thorough  reorganization  of  the  militia, 
and  the  enrollment  of  all  persons  between 
18  and  45  years,  and  the  organization  of  a 
corps  of  ten  thousand  men ;  also,  a  Con- 
vention, to  assemble  immediately  after  the 
proposed  consultation  with  other  Southern 
States  shall  have  terminated. 

December  9th,  Joint  Committee  on  Fed- 
eral Relations  agreed  to  report  a  Conven- 
tion Bill. 

17th.  Bill  appropriating  $300,000  to 
arm  the  State,  debated. 

18th.  Senate  passed  above  bill — ^yeas, 
41,  nays,  3. 

20th.  Commissioners  from  Alabama  and 
Mississippi  received  and  heard — ^the  latter, 
J.  Thompson,  by  letter. 

22d.  Senate  bill  to  arm  the  State  failed 
to  pass  the  House. 

22d.     Adjourned  till  January  7th. 

January  8th,  1861.  Senate  Bill  arming 
the  State  passed  the  House,  yeas,  73,  nays, 
26. 

30th.  Passed  Convention  Bill — election 
to  take  place  February  28th.  No  Secession 
Ordinance  to  be  valid  without  being  rati- 
fied by  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of 
the  State. 

31st.  Elected  Thos.  L.  Clingman  United 
States  Senator, 

February  13th.  Commissioners  from 
Georgia  publicly  received. 

20th.  Mr.  Hoke  elected  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral of  the  State.    Military  Bill  passed. 

28th.  Election  of  Delegates  to  Conven- 
tion took  place. 

28th.  The  vote  for  a  Convention  was 
46,671 ;  against  47,333 — majority  against  a 
Convention  661. 

May  1st.  Extra  session  of  the  Legisla- 
ture met  at  the  call  of  Gov.  Ellis.  The 
same  day  they  passed  a  Convention  Bill, 
ordering  the  election  of  delegates  on  the 
15th. 

2d.    Legislature  adjourned. 

13th.  Election  of  delegates  to  the  Con- 
vention took  place. 

20th.     Convention  met  at  Raleigh. 

21st.  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed; 
also  the  "  Confederate  "  Constitution  rati- 
fied. 

June  5th.  Ordinance  passed,  ceded  the 
arsenal  at  Fayetteville,  and  transferred 
magazines,  etc.,  to  the  "Confederate** 
Government. 


BOOK  I.] 


PREPARING    FOR    SECESSION. 


91 


TENNESSEE. 

January  6th,  1861.     Legislature  met. 

12th.    Passed  Convention  Bill. 

80th.  Commissioners  to  Washington 
appointed. 

February  8th.  People  voted  no  Conven- 
tion :  67,360  to  64,156. 

May  1st.  Legislature  passed  a  joint  re- 
solution authorizing  the  Governor  to  ap- 
point Commissioners  to  enter  into  a  mili- 
tary league  with  the  authorities  of  the 
"  Confederate ''  States. 

7th.  Legislature  in  secret  session  rati- 
fied the  league  entered  into  by  A.  O.  W. 
Totten,  Gustavus  A.  Henry,  Washington 
Barrow,  Commissioners  for  Tennessee,  and 
Henry  W.  Hilliard,  Commissioner  for 
"  Confederate "  States,  stipulating  that 
Tennessee  until  she  became  a  member  of 
the  Confederacy  placed  the  whole  military 
force  of  the  State  under  the  control  of  the 
President  of  the  "  Confederate"  States,  and 
turned  over  to  the  "  Confederate  "  States 
all  the  public  property,  naval  stores  and 
munitions  of  war.  Passed  the  Senate, 
yeas  14,  nays  6,  absent  and  not  voting  5 ; 
the  House,  yeas  42,  nays  15,  absent  and 
not  voting,  18.  Also  a  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence and  Ordinance  dissolving  the 
Federal  relations  between  Tennessee  and 
the  United  States,  and  an  ordinance  adopt- 
ing and  ratifying  the  Confederate  Consti- 
tution, these  two  latter  to  be  voted  on  by 
the  people  on  June  8th  were  passed. 

June  24th.  Gov.  Isham  G.  Harris  de- 
clared Tennessee  out  of  the  Union,  the 
vote  for  Separation  being  104,019  against 
47,238. 

VIRGINIA. 

January  7th,  1861.  Legislature  con- 
vened. 

8th.    Anti-coercion  resolution  passed. 

9th.  Resolution  passed,  asking  that  the 
status  quo  be  maintained. 

10th.  The  Governor  transmitted  a  des- 
patch from  the  Mississippi  Convention,  an- 
nouncing its  unconditional  secession  from 
the  Union,  and  desiring  on  the  basis  of  the 
old  Constitution  to  form  a  new  union  with 
the  seceding  States.  The  House  adopted — 
yeas  77,  nays  61, — an  amendment  submit- 
ting to  a  vote  of  the  people  the  question  of 
referring  for  their  decision  any  action  of 
the  Convention  dissolving  Virginia's  con- 
nection with  the  Union,  or  changing  its 
organic  law.  The  Richmond  Enquirer 
denounced  "  the  emasculation  of  the  Con- 
vention Bill  as  imperilling  all  that  Virgin- 
ians held  most  sacred  and  dear." 

16th.  Commissioners  Hopkins  and  Gil- 
mer of  Alabama  received  in  the  Legisla- 
ture. 

17th.  Resolutions  passed  proposing  the 
Crittenden  resolutions  as  a  basis  for  adjust- 
ment, and  requesting  General  Government 
to  avoid  collision  with  Southern  States. 


Gov.  Letcher  communicated  the  Resolu- 
tions of  th«  Legislature  of  New  York,  ex- 
pressing the  utmost  disdain,  and  saying 
that  "  the  threat  conveyed  can  inspire  no 
terror  in  freemen."  The  resolutions  were 
directed  to  be  returned  to  the  Governor  of 
New  York. 

18th.  $1,000,000  appropriated  for  the 
defence  of  the  State. 

19th.  Passed  resolve  that  if  all  efforts 
to  reconcile  the  differences  of  the  country 
fail,  every  consideration  of  honor  and  in- 
terest demands  that  Virginia  shall  unite 
her  destinies  with  her  sister  slaveholding 
States.  Also  that  no  reconstruction  of  the 
Union  can  be  permanent  or  satisfactory, 
which  will  not  secure  to  each  section  self- 
protecting  power  against  any  invasion  of 
the  Federal  Union  upon  the  reserved  rights 
of  either.  (See  Hunter's  proposition  for 
adjustment.) 

21st.  Replied  to  Commissioners  Hop- 
kins and  Gilmer,  expressing  ir^ability  to 
make  a  definite  response  until  after  the 
meeting  of  the  State  Convention. 

22d.  The  Governor  transmitted  the  re- 
solutions of  the  Legislature  of  Ohio,  with 
unfavorable  comment.  His  message  was 
tabled  by  a  small  majority. 

30th.  The  House  of  Delegates  to-day 
tabled  the  resolutions  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature,  but  referred  those  of  Tennes- 
see to  the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations. 

February  20th.  The  resolutions  of  the 
Legislature  of  Michigan  were  returned 
without  comment. 

28th.  Ex-President  Tyler  and  James  A. 
Seddon,  Commissioners  to  the  Peace  Con- 
gress, presented  their  report,  and  denounced 
the  recommendation  of  that  body  as  a  de- 
lusion and  a  sham,  and  as  an  insult  and  an 
offense  to  the  South. 


Proceedings  of  Virginia  Convention. 

February  4th.  Election  of  delegates  to 
the  Convention. 

13th.    Convention  met. 

14th.  Credentials  of  John  S.  Preston, 
Commissioner  from  South  Carolina,  Fulton 
Anderson  from  Mississippi,  and  Henry  L. 
Benning  from  Georgia,  were  received. 

18th.  Commissioners  from  Mississippi 
and  Georgia  heard ;  both  pictured  the  dan- 
ger of  Virginia  remaining  with  the  North ; 
neither  contemplated  such  an  event  as  re- 
union. 

19th.  The  Commissioner  from  South 
Carolina  was  heard.  He  said  his  people 
believed  the  Union  unnatural  and  mon- 
strous, and  declared  that  there  was  no 
hunfkn  force  — no  sanctity  of  human  touch, 
— that  could  re-unite  the  people  of  the 
North  with  the  people  of  the  South— that 
it  could  never  be  done  unless  the  economy 
of  God  were  changed. 


92 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


20th.  A  committee  reported  that  in  all 
but  sixteen  counties,  the  majority  for  sub- 
mitting the  action  of  the  Convention  to  a 
vote  of  the  people  was  52,857.  Numerous 
resolutions  on  Federal  Relations  intro- 
duced, generally  expressing  attachment  to 
the  Union,  but  denouncingcoercion. 

26th.  Mr.  Goggin  of  Bedford,  in  his 
speech,  denied  the  right  of  secession,  but 
aamitted  a  revolutionary  remedy  for  wrongs 
committed  upon  a  State  or  section,  and 
said  wherever  Virginia  went  he  was  with 
her. 

March  2d.  Mr.  Goode  of  Bedford  offered 
a  resolution  that,  as  the  powers  delegated 
to  the  General  Government  by  Virginia 
had  been  perverted  to  her  injury,  and  as 
the  Crittenden  propositions  as  a  basis  of 
adjustment  had  been  rejected  by  their 
Northern  confederates,  therefore  every 
consideration  of  duty,  interest,  honor  and 
patriotism  requires  that  Virginia  should  de- 
clare her  connection  with  the  Government 
to  be  dissolved. 

5th.  The  thanks  of  the  State  were  voted 
to  Hon.  John  J.  Crittenden,  by  yeas  107, 
nays  16,  for  his  efforts  to  bring  about  an 
honorable  adjustment  of  the  national  diffi- 
culties. Mr.  Harvie  of  Amelia  offered  a 
resolution,  requesting  Legislature  to  make 
needful  appropriations  to  resist  any  attempt 
of  the  Federal  authorities  to  hold,  occupy 
or  possess  the  property  and  places  claimed 
by  the  United  States  in  any  of  the  seceded 
States,  or  those  that  may  withdraw  or  col- 
lect duties  or  imposts  in  the  same.  . 

9th.  Three  reports  were  made  from  the 
Committee  on  Federal  Relations.  The 
majority  proposed  to  submit  to  the  other 
States  certain  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, awaiting  the  response  of  non-slave- 
holding  States  before  determining  whether 
"  she  will  resume  the  powers  granted  by 
her  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  throw  herself  upon  her  reserved 
rights  ;  meanwhile  insisting  that  no  coer- 
cion be  attempted,  the  Federal  forts  in  se- 
ceded States  be  not  reinforced,  duties  be 
not  collected,  etc.,"  and  proposing  a  Con- 
vention at  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  the  last 
Monday  in  May,  of  the  States  of  Delaware, 
Maryland,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Kentucky,  Missouri  and  Arkansas.  Henry 
A.  Wise  differed  in  details,  and  went  fur- 
ther in  the  same  direction.  Messrs.  Lewis 
E.  Harvie,  Robert  L.  Montague  and  Sam- 
uel C.  Williams  recommended  the  immedi- 
ate passage  of  an  Ordinance  of  Secession. 
Mr.  Barbour  of  Culpeper  insisted  upon  the 
immediate  adoption  by  the  non-slavehold- 
ing  States  of  needed  guarantees  of  safety, 
and  provided  for  the  appointment  of  three 
Commissioners  to  confer  with  the  CoriTed- 
erate  authorities  at  Montgomcrv. 

19th.  Committee  on  Federal  Relations 
reported  proposed  amendments  to  the 
Constitution,  which  were  the  substitute  of 


Mr.  Franklin  of  Pa.,  in  "Peace  Confer- 
ence," changed  by  using  the  expression 
"  involuntary  servitude  "  in  place  of  "  per- 
sons held  to  service."  The  right  of  owners 
of  slaves  is  not  to  be  impaired  by  congres- 
sional or  territorial  law,  or  any  pre-exist- 
ing law  in  territory  hereafter  acquired. 

Involuntary  servitude,  except  for  crime, 
to  be  prohibited  north  of  36°30^  but  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  Congress  or  any  Ter- 
ritorial legislature  south  of  that  line.  The 
third  section  has  some  verbal  alterations, 
providing    somewhat    better    security  for 

Eroperty  in  transit.  The  fifth  section  pro- 
ibits  the  importation  of  slaves  from  places 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States. 
The  sixth  makes  some  verbal  changes  in 
relation  to  remuneration  for  fiigitives  by 
Congress,  and  erases  the  clause  relative  to 
the  securing  of  privileges  and  immunities. 
The  seventh  forbids  the  granting  of  the 
elective  franchise  and  right  to  hold  office 
to  persons  of  the  African  race.  The  eighth 
provides  that  none  of  these  amendments, 
nor  the  third  paragraph  of  the  second  sec- 
tion of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution, 
nor  the  third  paragraph  of  the  second  sec- 
tion of  the  fourth  article  thereof,  shall  be 
amended  or  abolished  without  the  consent 
of  all  the  States. 

25th.  The  Committee  of  the  Whole  re- 
fused (yeas  4,  nays  116)  to  strike  out  the 
majority  report  and  insert  Mr.  Carlile's 
"  Peace  Conference  "  substitute. 

26th.  The  Constitution  of  the  "  Confede- 
rate" States,  proposed  by  Mr.  Hall  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  report  of  the  committee,  re- 
jected— ^yeas  9,  nays  78. 

28th.  The  first  and  second  resolutions 
reported  by  the  committee  adopted. 

April  6th.  The  ninth  resolution  of  the 
majority  report  came  up.  Mr.  Bouldin 
offered  an  amendment  striking  out  the 
whole,  and  inserting  a  substitute  declaring 
that  the  independence  of  the  seceded 
States  should  be  acknowledged  without 
delay,  which  was  lost — yeas  68,  nays  71. 

9th.  Mr.  Wise's  substitute  for  the  tenth 
resolution,  to  the  effect  that  Virginia  re- 
cognizes the  independence  of  the  seceding 
States  was  adopted — yeas  128,  nays  20. 

April  17.  Ordinance  of  Secession  passed 
in  secret  session — yeas  88,  nays  55,  one 
excused,  and  eight  not  voting. 

Same  day  the  Commissioners  adopted 
and  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  Provi- 
sional Government  of  the  "  Confederate  " 
States  of  America,  this  ordinance  to  cease 
to  have  legal  effect  if  the  people  of  Vir- 
ginia voting  upon  the  Ordinance  of  Seces- 
sion should  reject  it. 

25th.  A  Convention  was  made  between 
Commissioners  of  Virginia,  chosen  by  the 
Convention,  and  A.  H.  Stephens,  Commis- 
sioner for  "  Confederates,"  stipulating  that 
Virginia  until  she  became  a  member  of  the 
Confederacy  should   place    her   military 


BOOK  I.] 


PREPARING    FOR    SECESSION. 


93 


force  under  the  direction  of  the  President 
of  the  "  Confederate  "  States ;  also  turn 
over  to  "  Confederate  "  States  all  her  pub- 
lic property,  naval  stores,  and  munitions  of 
war.  teigned  by  J.  Tyler,  W.  B.  Preston, 
S.  McD.  Moore,  James  P.  Holcombe,  Jas. 
C.  Bruce,  Lewis  E.  Harvie — for  Virginia  ; 
and  A.  H.  Stephens  lor  "  Confederate  " 
States. 

June  25th.  Secession  vote  announced  as 
128,884  for,  and  32,134  against. 

July.  The  Convention  passed  an  ordi- 
nance to  the  effect  that  any  citizen  of  Vir- 
ginia holding  office  under  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  after  the  31st  of  July, 
1861,  should  be  fbrever  banished  from  the 
State,  and  be  declared  an  alien  enemy. 
Also  that  any  citizen  of  Virginia,  hereafter 
undertaking  to  represent  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
should,  in  addition  to  the  above  penalties, 
be  considered  guilty  of  treason,  and  his 
property  be  liable  to  confiscation.  A  pro- 
vision was  inserted  exempting  from  the 
penalties  of  the  act  all  officers  of  theUnited 
fttates  outside  of  the  United  States,  or  of 
the  Confederate  States,  until  after  July 
1st,  1862. 

KENTUCKY. 

December  12th,  1860.  Indiana  militia 
offer  their  services  to  quell  servile  insur- 
rection. Gov.  Magoffin  declines  accepting 
them. 

January  17th,  1861.  Legislature  con- 
vened. 

22d.  The  House  by  a  vote  of  87  to  6  re- 
solved to  resist  the  invasion  of  the  South 
at  all  hazards. 

27th.  Legislature  adopted  the  Virginia 
resolutions  requiring  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  protect  Slavery  in  the  Territories 
and  to  guarantee  the  right  of  transit  of 
slaves  through  the  Free  States. 

February  2d.  The  Senate  passed  by  a 
vote  of  25  to  11,  resolutions  appealing  to 
the  Southern  States  to  stop  the  revolution, 
protesting  against  Federal  coercion  and 
providing  that  the  Legislature  reassemble 
on  the  24th  of  April  to  hear  the  responses 
from  sister  States,  also  in  favor  of  making 
an  application  to  call  a  National  Conven- 
tion for  proposing  amendments  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  also  by  a 
vote  of  25  to  14  declared  it  inexpedient  at 
this  time  to  call  a  State  Convention. 

5th.  The  House  by  a  vote  of  54  to  40 
passed  the  above  resolutions. 

March  22d.  State  Rights  Convention  as- 
sembled. Adopted  resolutions  denouncing 
any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  collect  revenue  as  coercion ;  and 
affirming  that,  in  case  of  any  such  attempt, 
the  border  States  should  make  common 
cause  with  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
They  also  recommended  a  border  State 
Convention. 


April  24th.  Gov.  Magoffin  called  an  extra 
session  of  the  Legislature. 

May  20th.  Gov.  Magoffin  issued  a  neu- 
trality proclamation. 

September  11th.  The  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives by  a  vote  of  71  to  26,  adopted  a 
resolution  directing  the  Governor  to  issue 
a  proclamation  ordering  the  Confederate 
troops  to  evacuate  Kentucky  soil.  The 
Governor  vetoed  the  resolution,  which 
was  afterwards  passed  over  his  veto,  and 
accordingly  he  issued  the  required  procla- 
mation.   , 

October  29th.  Southern  Conference  met 
at  Russellville.  H.  C.  Burnett  elected 
Chairman,  R.  McKee  Secretary,  T.  S. 
Bryan  Assistant  Secretary.  Remained  in 
secret  session  two  days  and  then  adjourned 
sine  die.  A  series  of  resolutions  reported 
by  G.  W.  Johnson  were  adopted.  They 
recite  the  unconstitutional  and  oppressive 
acts  of  the  Legislature,  proclaim  revolu- 
tion, provide  for  a  Sovereignty  Convention 
at  Russellville,  on  the  18th  of  November, 
recommend  the  organization  of  county 
guards,  to  be  placed  in  the  service  of  and 
paid  by  the  Confederate  States  Govern- 
ment ;  pledge  resistance  to  all  Federal  and 
State  taxes,  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  ;  and  ap- 
point Robert  McKee,  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge, Humphrey  Marshall,  Geo,  W.  Ew- 
ing,  H.  W.  Bruce,  Geo.  B.  Hodge,  William 
Preston,  Geo.  W.  Johnson,  Blanton  Dun- 
can, and  P.  B.  Thompson  to  carry  out  the 
resolutions. 

November  18th.  Convention  met  and 
remained  in  session  three  days, 

20th.  It  passed  a  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  an  Ordinance  of  Secession. 
A  Provisional  Government  consisting  of  a 
Governor,  Legislative  Council  of  ten,  a 
Treasurer,  and  an  Auditor  were  agreed 
upon.  Geo.  W.  Johnson  was  chosen  Gov- 
ernor. Legislative  Council  were :  Willis 
B.  Machen,  John  W.  Crockett,  James  P. 
.Rates,  Jas.  S.  Chrisman,  Phil.  B.  Thomp- 
son, J.  P.  Burnside,  H.  W.  Bruce,  J.  W. 
Moore,  E.  M.  Bruce,  Geo,  B.  Hodge. 

MARYLAND. 

Nov.  27th,  1860.  Gov.  Hicka  declined 
to  call  a  special  session  of  the  Legislature, 
in  response  to  a  request  for  such  convening 
from  Thomas  G.  Pratt,  Sprigg  Harwood, 
J,  S.  Franklin,  N.  H,  Green,  Llewellyn 
I3oyle,  and  J.  Pinkney. 

December  19th.  Gov.  Hicks  replied  to 
A.  H.  Handy,  Commissioner  from  Missis- 
sippi, declining  to  accept  the  programme 
of  Secession. 

20th.  Wm.  H.  Collins,  E--<q.,  of  Balti- 
more, issued  an  address  to  the  people,  in 
favor  of  the  Union,  and  in  March  a  second 
address. 

31st.  The  "Clipper"  denied  the  exist- 
ence of  an  organization  in  Maryland  to 


94 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


prevent  the  inauguration  of  President  Lin- 
coln. 

A.  H.  Handy  of  Mississippi  addressed 
citizens  of  Baltimore  in  favor  of  disunion. 

January  3d,  1861.  Henry  Winter  Davis 
issued  an  address  in  favor  of  the  Union. 

3d.  Numerous  Union  meetings  in  vari- 
ous part  of  the  State.  Gov.  Hicks  issued 
an  address  to  the  people  against  seces- 
sion. 

11th.  John  C.  Legrand  in  a  letter  to 
Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson  replied  to  the 
Union  speech  of  the  latter. 

14th.  James  Carroll,  former  Democratic 
candidate  for  Governor,  announced  his  de- 
sire to  go  with  the  seceding  States. 

16th.  Wm.  A.  Spencer,  in  a  letter  to 
Walter  S.  Cox,  Esq.,  declared  against  the 
right  of  Secession  but  for  a  Convention. 

16.  Marshal  Kane,  in  a  letter  to  Mayor 
Berrett,  denied  that  any  organization  ex- 
ists to  prevent  the  inauguration  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  and  said  that  the  President 
elect  would  need  no  anried  escort  in  pass- 
ing through  or  sojourning  within  the  limits 
of  Baltimore  and  Maryland. 

24th.  Coleman  Yellott  declared  for  a 
Convention. 

30th.  Messrs.  John  B.  Brooke,  President 
of  the  Senate,  and  E.  G.  Kilbourn,  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Delegates,  asked  the  Gov- 
ernor to  convene  the  Legislature  in  re- 
sponse to  public  meetings.  Senator  Ken- 
nedy published  his  opinion  that  Mary- 
land must  go  with  Virginia. 

February  18th.  State  Conference  Con- 
vention held,  and  insisted  upon  a  meeting 
of  the  Legislature.  At  a  meeting  in  How- 
ard Co.,  w^hich  Speaker  E.  G.  Kilbourn 
addressed,  a  resolution  was  adopted  that 
"immediate  steps  ought  to  be  taken  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Southern  Confed- 
eracy, by  consultation  and  co-operation 
with  such  other  Southern  and  Slave  States 
as  may  be  ready  therefor." 

April  21st.  Gov.  Hicks  wrote  to  Gen. 
Butler,  advising  that  he  do  not  land  his 
troops  at  Annapolis.  Butler  replied  that 
he  intended  to  land  there  and  march 
thence  to  Washington.  Gov.  Hicks  pro- 
tested against  this  and  also  against  his 
having  taken  forcible  possession  of  the 
Annapolis  and  Elkridge  railroad. 

24th.  A  special  election  of  ten  delegates 
to  the  Legislature  took  place  at  Baltimore. 
The  total  vote  cast  in  all  the  wards  was 
9,249.  The  total  vote  cast  at  the  Presi- 
dential election  in  November,  1860,  was 
30,148. 

26th.  Legislature  reassembled  at  Fred- 
erick, Annapolis  being  occupied  by  Union 
troops. 

29th.  Gov.  Hicks  sent  a  message  to  the 
Legislature  communicating  to  them  the 
correspondence  between  himself  and  Gen. 
Butler  and  the  Secretary  of  War  relative 
to  the  landing  of  troops  at  Annapolis. 


The  House  of  Delegates  voted  against 
Secession,  53  to  13.     Senate  unanimously. 

May  2d.  The  Committee  on  Federal  Re- 
lations, "  in  view  of  the  seizure  of  the 
railroads  by  the  General  Government  and 
the  erection  of  fortifications,"  presented 
resolutions  appointing  Commissioners  to 
the  President  to  ascertain  whether  any  be- 
coming arrangements  with  the  General 
Government  are  practicable,  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  peace  and  honor  of  the 
State  and  the  security  of  its  inhabitants. 
The  report  was  adopted,  and  Otho  Scott, 
Robt.  M.  McLane,  and  Wm.  J.  Ross  were 
appointed  such  Commissioners. 

Mr.  Yellott  in  the  Senate  introduced  a 
bill  to  appoint  a  Board  of  Public  Safety. 
The  powers  given  to  the  Board  included 
the  expenditure  of  the  two  millions  of  dol- 
lars proposed  by  Mr.  Brune  for  the  defence 
of  the  State,  and  the  entire  control  of  the 
military,  including  the  removal  and  ap- 
pointment of  commissioned  officers.  It 
was  ordered  to  a  second  reading  by  a  vote 
of  14  to  8.  The  Board  was  to  consist  of 
Ezekiel  F.  Chambers,  Enoch  Louis  Lowe, 
John  V.  L.  MacMahon,  Thomas  G.  Pratt, 
Walter  Mitchell,  and  Thomas  Winans. 
Gov.  Hicks  was  made  ex-officio  a  member 
of  the  Board.  This  measure  was  strongly 
pressed  by  the  Disunionists  for  a  long 
time,  but  they  were  finally  compelled  to 
give  way,  and  the  bill  never  passed. 

6th.  The  Commissioners  reported  the 
result  of  their  interview  with  the  Presi- 
dent, and  expressed  the  opinion  that  some 
modification  of  the  course  of  the  General 
Government  towards  Maryland  ought  to 
be  expected. 

10th.  The  House  of  Delegates  passed  a 
series  of  resolutions  reported  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Federal  Relations  by  a  vote  of 
43  to  12.  The  resolutions  declare  that 
Maryland  protests  against  the  war,  and 
does  earnestly  beseech  and  implore  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to  make 
peace  with  the  "  Confederate "  States ; 
also,  that  "  the  State  of  Maryland  desires 
the  peaceful  and  immediate  recogition  of 
the  independence  of  the  Confederate 
States."  Those  who  voted  in  the  negative 
are  Messrs.  Medders,  Lawson,  Keene, 
Routzahn,  Naill,  Wilson  of  Harford,  Bay- 
iess,  McCoy,  Fiery,  Stake,  McCleary,  and 
Grorsuch. 

13th.  Both  Houses  adopted  a  resolution 

Providing  for  a  committee  of  eight  mem- 
ers,  (four  from  each  House)  to  visit  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  the 
President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
The  committee  to  visit  President  Davis 
were  instructed  to  convey  the  assurance 
that  Maryland  sympathizes  with  the  Con- 
federate States,  and  that  the  people  of 
Maryland  are  enlisted  with  their  whole 
hearts  on  the  side  of  reconciliation  and 
peace. 


BOOK  I.] 


PREPARING    FOR    SECESSION. 


95 


June  11th.  Messrs.  McKaig,  Yellott  and 
Harding,  Commissioners  to  visit  President 
Davis,  presented  their  report ;  accompany- 
ing which  is  a  letter  from  Jefferson  Davis, 
expressing  his  gratification  to  hear  that 
the  State  of  Maryland  was  in  sympathy 
with  themselves,  was  enlisted  on  the  side 
of  peace  and  reconciliation,  and  avowing 
his  perfect  willingness  for  a  cessation  of 
hostilities,  and  a  readiness  to  receive  any 
proposition  for  peace  from  the  United 
States  Government. 

20th.  The  House  of  Delegates,  and  June 
22d,  the  Senate  adopted  resolutions  un- 
qualifiedly protesting  against  the  arrest  of 
Ross  Winans  and  sundry  other  citizens  of 
Maryland,  as  an  "oppressive  and  tyran- 
nical assertion  and  exercise  of  military 
jurisdiction  within  the  limits  of  Maryland, 
over  the  persons  and  property  of  her  citi- 
zens, by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States." 

MISSOURI. 

January  15th,  1861.  Senate  passed  Con- 
vention Bill — yeas  31,  nays  2.  Passed 
House  also. 

February  28th.  Convention  met ;  motion 
to  go  into  secret  session,  defeated.  A  reso- 
lution requiring  members  to  take  an  oath 
to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  State  of  Missouri,  was  lost 
— 65  against  30. 

March  4.  Resolution  passed,  64  yeas,  35 
nays,  appointing  committee  to  notify  Mr. 
Glenn,  Commissioner  of  Georgia,  that  the 
Convention  was  ready  to  hear  any  com- 
munication from  his  State.  Mr.  Glenn  was 
introduced,  read  Georgia's  articles  of  se- 
cession, and  made  a  speech  urging  Mis- 
souri to  join  her. 

5th.  Resolutions  were  read,  ordering 
that  the  protest  of  St.  Louis  against  co- 
ercion be  reduced  to  writing,  and  a  copy 
sent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ; 
also,  resolutions  were  adopted  informing  the 
Commissioner  from  Georgia  that  Missouri 
dissented  from  the  position  taken  by  that 
State,  and  refused  to  share  the  honors  of 
secession  with  her. 

6th.  Resolutions  were  offered  by  several 
members  and  referred,  calling  a  Conven- 
tion of  the  Southern  States  which  have 
not  seceded,  to  meet  at  Nashville,  April 
15th,  providing  for  such  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as 
shall  secure  to  all  the  States  equal  rights 
in  the  Union,  and  declaring  strongly 
against  secession. 

9th.  The  Committee  on  Federal  Rela- 
tions reported  a  series  of  resolutions,  set- 
ting forth  that  at  present  there  is  no  ade- 
quate cause  to  impel  Missouri  to  leave  the 
Union,  but  that  on  the  contrary  she  will 
labor  for  such  an  adjustment  of  existing 
troubles  as  will  secure  peace  and  the  rights 
and   equality  of  all  the  States;  that  the 


people  of  Missouri  regard  the  aniendments 
to  the  Constitution  proposed  by  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden, with  their  extension  to  territory 
hereafter  to  be  required,  a  basis  of  adjust- 
ment which  would  forever  remove  all  diffi- 
culties ;  and  that  it  is  expedient  for  the 
Legislature  to  call  a  Convention  for  pro- 
posing amendments  to  the  Constitution. 

The  Senate  passed  resolutions  that  their 
Senators  be  instructed,  and  their  Repre- 
sentatives requested,  to  oppose  the  pas- 
sage of  all  acts  granting  supplies  of  men 
and  money  to  coerce  the  seceding  States 
into  submission  or  subjugation ;  and  that, 
should  such  acts  be  passed  by  Congress, 
their  Senators  be  instructed,  and  their  Re- 

Eresentatives  requested,  to  retire  from  the 
alls  of  Congress. 

16th.  An  amendment  of  the  fifth  resolu- 
tion of  the  majority  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Federal  Relations,  asserting  that 
Missouri  would  never  countenance  nor  aid 
a  seceding  State  in  making  war  upon  the 
General  Government,  nor  provide  men 
and  money  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the 
General  Government  to  coerce  a  seceding 
State,  was  voted  down. 

27th.  The  following  resolution  was 
passed  by  a  vote  in  the  House  of  62  against 
42:— 

Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  for  the 
General  Assembly  to  take  any  steps  for 
calling  a  National  Convention  to  propose 
amendments  to  the  Constitution,  as  recom- 
mended by  the  State  Convention. 

July  22d.  The  Convention  reassembled. 

23d.  Resolution  passed,  by  a  vote  of  65 
to  21,  declaring  the  office  of  President, 
held  by  General  Sterling  Price  at  the  last 
session  of  the  Convention,  vacant.  A 
committee  of  seven  were  appointed  to  re- 
port what  action  they  deem  it  advisable  to 
take  in  the  dislocated  condition  of  the 
State. 

25th.  The  committee  presented  their  re- 
port. It  alludes  at  length  to  the  present 
unparalleled  condition  of  things,  the  reck- 
less course  of  the  recent  Government,  and 
flight  of  the  Governor  and  other  State 
officers  from  the  capitol.  It  declares  the 
offices  of  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor, 
and  Secretary  of  State  vacant,  and  pro- 
vides that  their  vacancies  shall  be  filled  by 
the  Convention,  the  officers  so  appointed 
to  hold  their  positions  till  August,  1862, 
at  which  time  it  provides  for  a  special  elec- 
tion by  the  people.  It  repeals  the  ninth 
section  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  Consti- 
tution, and  provides  that  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  shall  consist  of  seven 
members ;  and  that  four  members,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  three  now  comprising  the 
Court,  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governor 
chosen  by  this  Convention  to  hold  office 
till  1862,  when  the  people  shall  decide 
whether  the  change  shall  be  permanent 
It  abolishes  the  State  Legislature,  and  or* 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


dains  that  in  case,  before  the  1st  of  August, 
1862,  the  Governor,  chosen  by  this  Con- 
vention shall  consider  the  public  exigen- 
cies demand,  he  shall  order  a  special  elec- 
tion for  the  members  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture. It  recommends  the  passage  of  an 
ordinance  repealing  the  following  bills, 
passed  by  the  Legislature  in  secret  session, 
in  May  last :  The  military  fund  bill,  the 
bill  to  suspend  the  distribution  of  the 
school  fund,  and  the  bill  for  cultivating 
friendly  relations  with  the  Indian  tribes. 
It  repeals  the  bill  authorizing  the  appoint- 
ment of  one  major-general  of  the  Missouri 
militia,  and  revives  the  militia  law  of  1859. 

A  resolution  was  passed  that  a  commit- 
tee of  seven  be  appointed  by  the  President 
to  prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of  the 
State  of  Missouri. 

November  26th.  Jefferson  Davis  trans- 
mitted to  the  "  Confederate  "  Congress  a 
message  concerning  the  secession  of  Mis- 
souri. It  was  accompanied  by  a  letter 
from  Governor  Jackson,  and  also  by  an 
act  dissolving  the  union  with  the  United 
States,  and  an  act  ratifying  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Provisional  Government  of  the 
Confederate  States;  also,  the  Convention 
between  the  Commissioners  of  Missouri 
and  the  Commissioners  of  the  Confederate 
States.  Congress  unanimously  ratified  the 
Convention  entered  into  between  the  Hon. 
R.  M.  T.  Hunter  for  the  rebel  Government 
and  the  Commissioners  for  Missouri. 


Inter-state  Commissioners. 

The  seceding  States,  as  part  of  their  plan 
of  operation,  appointed  Commissioners  to 
visit  other  slaveholding  States.  They 
were  as  follows,  as  announced  in  the  news- 
papers : 

South  Carolina. 

To  Alabama,  A.  P.  Calhoun. 

To  Georgia,  James  L.  Orr,  Ex-M.  C. 

To  Florida,  L.  W.  Spratt. 

To  Mississippi,  M.  L.  Bonham,  Ex-M.  C. 

To  Louisiana,  J.  L.  Manning. 

To  Arkansas,  A.  C.  Spain. 

To  Texas,  J.  B.  Kershaw. 

To  Virginia,  John  S.  Preston. 

Alabama. 

To  North  Carolina,  Isham  W.  Garrett.    " 

To  Mississippi,  E.  W.  Pettus. 

To  South  Carolina,  J.  A.  Elmore. 

To  Maryland,  A.  F.  Hopkins. 

To  Virginia,  Frank  Gilmer. 

To  Tennessee,  L.  Pope  Walker. 

To  Kentucky,  Stephen  F.  Hale. 

To  Arkansas,  John  Anthony  Winston. 

Georgia. 

To  Missouri,  Luther  J.  Glenn. 
To  Virginia,  Henry  L.  Benning. 


Mississippi. 
To  South  Carolina,  C.  E.  Hooker. 
To  Alabama,  Jos.  W.  Matthews,  Ex-Gov. 
To  Georgia,  William  L.  Harris. 
To  Louisiana,  Wirt  Adams. 
To  Texas,  H.  H.  Miller. 
To  Arkansas,  George  R.  FalL 
To  Florida,  E.  M.  Yerger. 
To  Tennessee,  T.  J.  Wharton,  Att'y-Gen. 
To  Kentucky ,W.  S.  Featherstone,  Ex-M.  C. 
To  North  Carolina,  Jacob  Thompson,  Ex- 

M.  C. 
To  Virginia,  Fulton  Anderson. 
To  Maryland,  A.  H.  Handy,  Judge. 
To  Delaware,  Henry  Dickinson. 
To  Missouri, Russell. 


Sontliem  Cong^ress. 

This  body,  composed  of  Deputies  elected 
by  the  Conventions  of  the  Seceding  States, 
met  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  February 
4th,  1861,  to  organize  a  Southern  Confed- 
eracy. Each  State  had  a  representation 
equal  to  the  number  of  members  of  the 
Thirty-sixth  Congress.  The  members 
were: 

South  Carolina. 

Robert  W.  Barnwell,  Ex-U.  S.  Senator. 
R.  Barnwell  Rhett,        "        "        " 
James  Chestnut,  jr.,      "        "        " 
Lawrence  M.  Keitt,  Ex-M.  0. 
William  W.  Boyce,     "      " 
Wm.  Porcher  Miles,    "      « 
C.  G.  Memminger. 
Thomas  J  Withers. 

Alabama, 
W.  P.  Chilton. 
Stephen  F.  Hale. 
David  P.  Lewis. 
Thomas  Fearn, 
Richard  W.  Walker. 
Robert  H.  Smith. 
Colin  J.  McRae. 
John  Gill  Shorter. 
J.  L.  M.  Curry,  Ex-M.  C. 

Florida. 
J.  Patten    Anderson,  Ex-Delegate  from 

Washington  Territoiy. 
Jackson  Morton,  Ex-U.  S.  Senator. 
James  Powers, 

Mississippi. 
W.  S.  Wilson. 
Wiley  P.  Harris,  Ex-M.  C. 
James  T.  Harrison. 
Walter  Brooke,  Ex-U.  S.  Senator. 
William  S.  Barry,  Ex-M.  C. 
A.  M.  Clayton. 

Georgia. 
Robert  Toombs,  Ex-U.  S.  Senator. 
Howell  Cobb,  Ex-M.  C. 

Martin  J.  Crawford,    "        " 
Augustus  R  Wright,  "        " 


BOOK  I.] 


PP,EPARING    FOR    SECESSION. 


9T 


Augustus  H.  Keenan. 

Benjamin  H.  Hill. 

Francis  S.  Bartow. 

E.  A.  Nisbet. 

Thomas  R.  R.  Cobb. 

Alexander  H.  Stephenij,  Ex-M.  0. 

Louisiana. 
Duncan  F.  Kenner. 
Charles  M.  Conrad,  Ex-U.  S.  Senator. 
Henry  Marshall. 
John  Perkins,  jr. 
G.  E.  Sparrow. 
E.  De  Qouet. 

Texas. 

(Admittt'3  March  2d,  1861.) 

Louis  T.  Wigfal),  Ex-U.  S.  Senator. 

John  Hemphill,      "        "        " 

John  H.  Reagan,  Ex-M.  C. 

T.  N.  Waul. 

John  Gregg. 

W.  S.  Oldham. 

W.  B.  Ochiltree. 


Proceedings  of  tlie  Southern  Congress. 

February  4th,  1861.  Howell  Cobb  of 
Georgia  elected  President,  Johnson  J. 
Hooper  of  Alabama,  Secretary.  Mr.  Cobb 
announced  that  secession  "  is  now  a  fixed 
and  irrevocable  fact,  and  the  separation  is 
perfect,  complete  and  perpetual." 

6th.  David  L.  Swain,  M.  W.  Ransom, 
and  John  L.  Bridgers,  were  admitted  as 
Commissioners  from  North  Carolina,  un- 
der resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
that  State,  passed  January  29th,  1861,  "  to 
effect  an  honorable  and  amicable  adjust- 
ment of  all  the  difficulties  that  disturb 
the  country,  upon  the  basis  of  the  Critten- 
den resolutions,  as  modified  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  Virginia,"  and  to  consult  with 
the  delegates  to  the  Southern  Congress 
for  their  "common  peace,  honor  and 
safety." 

7th.  Congress  notified  that  the  State  of 
Alabama  had  placed  $500,000  at  its  dispo- 
sal, as  a  loan  to  the  provisional  government 
of  the  Confederacy  of  Seceding  States. 

8th.  The  Constitution  of  the  Provisional 
Government  adopted.  * 

♦The  Provisional  Constitntion  adopted  by  the  Seceded 
States  differs  from  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
in  several  important  particulars.  The  alterations  and 
additions  are  aa  foliowi) : 

ALTEKATIONS. 

1st.  The  Provisional  Constitution  differs  from  the  other 
In  this :  That  the  legislative  powers  of  the  Provisional 
Government  are  vested  in  the  Congress  now  assembled, 
and  this  body  exercises  all  the  functions  that  are  exer- 
cised by  either  or  both  branches  of  the  United  States 
Government. 

•id.  The  Provisional  President  holds  his  ofBce  for  one 
year,  unless  sooner  superseded  by  the  establishment  of  a 
permanent  Government. 

3d.  Each  State  u  erected  into  a  distinct  judicial  dis- 
trict, the  judge  having  all  the  powers  heretofore  vested 
in  the  district  and  circuit  courts ;  and  the  several  district 
judges  together  compose  the  supreme  bench — a  majority 
of  them  coDstitutiag  a  quorum. 

7 


9th.  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi, 
elected  Provisional  President  of  the  Con- 
federate States  of  America,  and  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  Vice-President. 
The  question  of  attacking  Fort  Sumter  hac 
been  referred  to  the  Congress. 

11th.  Mr.  Stephens  announced  his  ac- 
ceptance. Committee  appointed  to  prepare 
a  permanent  Constitution. 

12th.  The  Congress  assumed  "  charge 
of  all  questions  and  difficulties  now  exist- 
ing between  the  sovereign  States  of  this 
Confederacy  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  relating  to  the  occupation  of 
forts,  arsenals,  navy  yards,  custom-houses, 
and  all  other  public  establishments."  The 
resolution  was  directed  to  be  communicated 
to  the  Governors  of  the  respective  States  of 
the  Confederacy. 

15th.  Official  copy  of  the  Texas  Ordi- 
nance of  Secession  presented. 

16th.  President  Davis  arrived  and  re- 
ceived with  salute,  etc. 

18th.     President  Davis  inaugurated. 

19th.    Tariff  law  passed. 

21st.  Robert  Toombs  appointed  Secre- 
tary of  the  State ;  C.  G.  Memminger,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury ;    L.  Pope  Walker,  of 

4th.  Whenever  the  word  "  Union "  occurs  in  the 
United  States  Constitution  the  word  "  Confederacy  "  ia 
substituted. 

THE  FOLtOWINO  ABE  THE  ADDITIONS. 

Ist.  The  President  may  veto  any  separate  appropriatloa 
without  vetoing  the  whole  bill  in  which  it  is  am- 
taiued. 

2d.  The  African  slave-trade  is  prohibited. 

3d.  Congress  is  empowered  to  prohibit  the  introduclion 
of  slaves  from  any  State  not  a  member  of  this  Confed- 
eracy. 

4th.  All  appropriations  must  be  upon  the  demanil  of 
the  President  or  heads  of  departments. 

OMISSIOKS. 

1st,  There  is  no  prohibition  on  membem  of  Congress 
holding  other  offices  of  honor  and  emolument  under  the 
Provisional  Government. 

2d.  There  is  no  provision  for  a  neutral  spot  for  the 
location  of  a  scat  of  government,  or  for  sites  for  forts,  ar- 
senals, and  dock-yards ;  consequently  there  is  no  reference 
made  to  the  territorial  powers  of  the  Provisional  Glovern- 
ment. 

3d.  The  section  in  the  old  Constitution  in  reference  to 
capitation  and  other  direct  tax  is  omitted ;  also,  the  sec- 
tion providing  that  no  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  any 
exports. 

4th.  The  prohibition  on  States  keeping  troops  or  ships 
of  war  in  time  of  peace  is  omitted 

6th.  The  Constitution  b<'ing  provisional  merely,  IM 
provision  is  made  for  its  ratification. 

AMENDMENTS. 

Ist.  The  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  old  Constitntion  la 
so  amended  as  to  contain  the  word  "slave,"  and  to  pro- 
vide for  full  compensation  in  cases  of  abduction  of  forci- 
ble rescue  on  the  part  of  the  State  in  which  such  abdno 
tion  or  rescue  may  take  place. 

2d.  Congress,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds,  may  at  any  tine 
alter  or  amend  tlio  Constitution. 

TEMPOBABY  PB0VIBION8. 

1st.  The  Provisional  Government  is  required  to  take 
immediate  steps  for  the  settlement  of  all  matters  between 
the  States  forming  it  and  their  other  l.ate  confederates  of 
the  United  Slates  in  relation  to  the  public  property  and 
the  public  debt. 

2d.  Montgomery  Is  made  the  temporary  seatof  gorera- 
ment. 

3d.  This  Constitution  is  to  continue  one  year,  nnlesi 
altered  by  a  two  thirds  vote  or  superseded  by  a  pern*- 
neat  Qoverumsnt. 


98 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Alabama,  Secretary  of  War ;  Stephen  R. 
Mallory,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Judah  P. 
Benjamin,  Attorney-General,  and  John  H. 
Keagan,  Postmaster-General ;  Philip  Clay- 
ton, of  Georgia  appointed  Assistant  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  and  Wm.  M.  Browne, 
late  of  the  Washington  Constitution, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State. 

March   2d.    The   Texas    Deputies   re- 
ceived. 


The  Confederate  States. 

The  Confederate  States  was  the  name  of 
the  government  formed  in  1861  by  the 
seven  States  which  first  seceded.  Bellige- 
rent rights  were  accorded  to  it  by  the  lead- 
ing naval  powers,  but  it  was  never  recog- 
nized as  a  government,  notwithstanding 
the  persevering  efforts  of  its  agents  near 
the  principal  courts.  This  result  was  mainly 
due  to  the  diplomacy  of  the  federal  Sec- 
retary of  State,  Wm  H.  Seward,  to  the 
proclamations  of  emancipation  in  1862-3, 
which  secured  the  sympathy  of  the  best 
elements  of  Great  Britain  and  France  for 
the  federal  government,  and  the  obstinate 
persistence  of  the  federal  government  in 
avoiding,  as  far  as  possible,  any  recognition 
of  the  existence,  even  de  facto,  of  a  con- 
federate government.  The  federal  generals 
in  the  field,  in  their  communications  with 
confederate  9fBcers,  did  not  hesitate,  upon 
occasion,  even  to  give  "  president  "  Davis 
his  official  title,  but  no  such  embarrassing 
precedent  was  ever  admitted  by  the  civil 
government  of  the  United  States.  It  at 
first  endeavored,  until  checked  by  active 
preparations  for  retaliation,  to  treat  the 
crews  of  confederate  privateers  as  pirates  ; 
it  avoided  any  official  communication  with 
the  confederate  government,  even  when 
compelled  to  exchange  prisoners,  confining 
its  negotiations  to  the  confederate  commis- 
sioners of  exchange ;  and,  by  its  persistent 
policy  in  this  direction,  it  succeeded,  with- 
out any  formal  declaration,  in  impressing 
upon  foreign  governments  the  belief  that 
any  recognition  of  the  confederate  States 
as  a  separate  people  would  be  actively  re- 
sented by  the  government  of  the  United 
States  as  an  act  of  excessive  unfriendliness. 
The  federal  courts  have  steadily  held  the 
same  ground,  that '  the  confederate  states 
was  an  unlawful  assemblage,  without  cor- 
porate power;"  and  that,  though  the 
separate  States  were  still  in  existence  and 
were  indestructible,  their  state  govern- 
ments, while  they  chose  to  act  as  part  of 
the  confederate  States,  did  not  exist,  even 
de  facto.  Early  in  January,  1861,  while 
only  South  Carolina  had  actually  seceded, 
though  other  Southern  States  had  called 
conventions  to  consider  the  question,  the 
Senators  of  the  seven  States  farthest  South 
practically  assumed  control  of  the  whole 
movement,  and  their  energy  and  unswer- 


ving singleness  of  purpose,  aided  by  the 
telegraph,  secured  a  rapidity  of  execution 
to  which  no  other  very  extensive  conspi- 
racy of  history  can  afford  a  parallel.  The 
ordinance  of  secession  was  a  negative  in- 
strument, purjiorting  to  withdraw  the  state 
from  the  Union  and  to  deny  the  authority 
of  the  federal  government  over  the  people 
of  the  State ;  the  cardinal  object  of  the 
senatorial  group  was  to  hurry  the  forma- 
mation  of  a  new  national  government,  as 
an  organized  political  reality  which  would 
rally  the  outright  secessionists,  claim  the 
allegiance  of  the  doubtful  mass,  and  coerce 
those  who  still  remained  recalcitrant.  At 
the  head  of  the  senatorial  group,  and  of 
its  executive  committee,  was  Jefferson 
Davis,  Senator  from  Mississippi,  and  natu- 
rally the  first  official  step  toward  the  for- 
mation of  a  new  government  came  from 
the  Mississippi  Legislature,  where  a  com- 
mittee reported,  January  19th,  1861,  reso- 
lutions in  favor  of  a  congress  of  delegates 
from  the  seceding  States  to  provide  for  a 
southern  confederacy,  and  to  establish  a 
provisional  government,  therefore.  ,The 
other  seceding  States  at  once  accepted  the 
proposal,  through  their  State  conventions, 
which  also  appointed  the  delegates  on  the 
ground  that  the  people  had  intrusted  the 
State  conventions  with  unlimited  pow- 
ers. The  new  government  therefore  be£:an 
its  existence  without  any  popular  ratio  of 
representation,  and  with  only  such  popular 
ratification  as  popular  acquiescence  gave. 
The  provisional  congress  met  Feb.  4th,  at 
Montgomery,  Ala.,  with  delegates  from 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  LoiJsi- 
ana,  Florida  and  Mississippi.  The  Texas 
delegates  were  not  appointed  until  Jeb. 
14th.  Feb,  8th,  a  provisional  constitution 
was  adopted,  being  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  with  some  changes.  Feb. 
9th,  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  was 
unanimously  chosen  provisional  president, 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  or  Georgia, 
provisional  vice-president,  each  State  hav- 
ing one  vote,  as  in  all  other  proceedings  of 
the  body.  By  acts  of  Feb.  9th  and  12th, 
the  laws  and  revenue  officers  of  the  United 
States  were  continued  in  the  confederate 
States  until  changed.  Feb.  18th,  the 
president  and  vice-president  were  inaugu- 
rated. Feb.  20th-26th,  executive  depart- 
ments and  a  confederate  regular  army  were 
organized,  and  provision  was  made  for 
borrowing  money.  March  11th,  the  per- 
manent constitution  was  adopted  by 
Congress. 

The  Internal  legislation  of  the  provi  - 
sional  congress  was,  at  first,  mainly  the 
adaptation  of  the  civil  service  in  the  South- 
ern States  to  the  uses  of  the  new  govern- 
ment. Wherever  possible,  judges,  post- 
masters, and  civil  as  well  as  military  and 
naval  officers,  who  had  resigned  from  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  were  given 


BOOK  I,] 


BUCHANAN'S    VIEWS. 


99 


an  equal  or  higher  rank  in  the  confederate 
service.  Postmasters  were  directed  to  make 
their  final  accounting  to  the  United  States, 
May  31st,  thereafter  accounting  to  the  Con- 
federate States.  April  29th,  the  provi- 
sional congreas,  which  had  adjourned  March 
16th,  re-assembled  at  Montgomery,  having 
'  been  convoked  by  President  Davis  in  con- 
sequence of  President  Lincoln's  prepa- 
rations to  enforce  federal  authority  in  the 
South.  Davis'  message  announced  that 
all  the  seceding  States  had  ratified  the 
permanent  constitution ;  that  Virginia, 
which  had  not  yet  seceded  and  entered  in- 
to alliance  with  the  confederacy,  and  that 
other  States,  were  expected  to  follow  the 
same  plan.  He  concluded  by  declaring 
that  "  all  we  ask  is  to  be  let  alone."  May 
6th,  an  act  was  passed  recognizing  the  ex- 
istence of  war  with  the  tFnited  States. 
Congress  adjourned  May  22d,  re-convened 
at  Richmond,  Va.,  July  20th,  and  ad- 
journed August  22d,  until  November  18th. 
Its  legislation  had  been  mainly  military 
and  financial.  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Tennessee  and  Arkansas,  had  passed  ordi- 
nances of  secession,  and  been  admitted  to 
the  confederacy.  (See  the  States  named, 
and  secession.)  Although  Missouri  and 
Kentucky  had  not  seceded,  delegates  from 
these  States  were  admitted  in  December 
1861.  Nov.  6,  1861,  at  an  election  under 
the  permanent  constitution,  Davis  and 
Stephens  were  again  chosen  to  their  re- 
spective ofiices  by  a  unanimous  electoral 
vote.  Feb.  18th,  1862,  the  provisional  con- 
gress (of  one  house)  gave  way  to  the  per- 
manent congress,  and  Davis  and  Stephens 
were  inaugurated  February  22nd.  The 
cabinet,  with  the  successive  Secretaries  of 
each  department,  was  as  follows,  including 
both  the  provisional  and  permanent  cabi- 
nets : 

State  Department. — Robert  Toombs, 
Georgia,  February  21st,  1861 ;  R.  M.  T. 
Hunter,  Virginia,  July  30th,  1861 ;  Judah 
P.  Benjamin,  Louisiana,  February  7th, 
1862. 

Treasury  Department. — Charles  G.  Mem- 
minger,  South  Carolina,  February  21st, 
1861,  and  March  22d,  1862;  James  L. 
Trenholm,  South  Carolina,  June  13th, 
1864. 

War  Department. — L.  Pope  "Walker, 
Mississippi,  February  21st,  1861 ;  Judah  P. 
Benjamin,  Louisiana,  November  10th, 
186i  ;  .Tames  A.  Seddon,  Virginia,  March 
22d,  1862;  John  C.  Breckinridge,  Ken- 
tucky, February  15th,  1865. 

Navy  Department.— ^tQ^hen  R.  Mallorv, 
Florida,  March  4th,  1861,  and  March  22d. 

Attorney  General. — Judah  P.  Benjamin, 
Louisiana,  February  21st,  1861 ;  Thomas 
H.  Watts,  Alabama,  September  10th,  1861, 
and  March  22nd,  1862;  George  Davis, 
North  Carolina,' November  10th,  1863. 

Postmaster- General. — Henry    J.   Elliot, 


Mississippi,  February  2l8t,  1865 ;  John  H. 
Reagan,  Texas,  March  6th,  1861,  and 
March  22d,  1862. 

The  provisional  Congress  held  four  ses- 
sions, as  follows:  1.  Februarv  4-March 
16th,  1861 ;  2.  April  29-Mav22d,  1861 ;  3. 
July  20- August  22d,  1861 ;  and  4.  Novem- 
ber 18th,  1861-February  17th,  1862. 

Under  the  permanent  Constitution  there 
were  two  Congresses.  The  first  Congress 
held  four  sessions,  as  follows :  1.  Febru- 
ary 18- April  21st,  1862;  2.  August  12- 
October  13th,  1862 ;  3.  Januarv  12-MaT 
8th  1863 ;  and  4.  December  7,  i863-Feb- 
ruary  18th,  1864.  The  second  Congress 
held  two  sessions,  as  follows :  1.  May  2- 
June  15th,  1864 ;  and  2.  From  November 
7th,  1864,  until  the  hasty  and  final  ad- 
journment, March  18th,  1865, 

In  the  first  Congress  members  chosen  by 
rump  State  conventions,  or  by  regiments  in 
the  confederate  service,  sat  for  districts  in 
Missouri  and  Kentucky,  though  th(«e 
States  had  never  seceded.  There  were 
thus  thirteen  States  in  all  represented  at 
the  close  of  the  first  Congress  ;  but,  as  the 
area  of  the  Confederacy  narrowed  before 
the  advance  of  the  Federal  armies,  the  va- 
cancies in  the  second  Congress  became 
significantly  more  numerous.  At  its  best 
estate  the  Confederate  Senate  numbered 
26,  and  the  house  106,  as  follows :  Ala- 
bama, 9 ;  Arkansas,  4 ;  Florida,  2 ;  Geor- 
gia, 10 ;  Kentucky,  12 ;  Louisiana,  6 ;  Mis- 
sissippi, 1 ;  Missouri,  7 ;  North  Carolina, 
10 ;  South  Carolina,  6 ;  Tennessee,  1 1 ; 
Texas,  6 ;  Virginia,  16.  In  both  Con- 
gresses Thomas  S.  Bocock,  of  Virginia,  was 
Speaker  of  the  House.* 

For  four  months  between  the  Presiden- 
tial election  and  the  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  those  favoring  secession  in  the 
South  had  practical  control  of  their  sec- 
tion, for  while  President  Buchanan  hesi- 
tated as  to  his  constitutional  powers,  the 
more  active  partisans  in  his  Cabinet  were 
aiding  their  Southern  friends  in  every 
practical  way.  In  answer  to  the  visit- 
ing Commissioners  from  South  Carolina, 
Messrs.  R.  W.  Barnwell,  J.  H.  Adams  and 
Jas.  L.  Orr,  who  formally  submitted  that 
State's  ordinance  of  secession,  and  de- 
manded possession  of  the  forts  in  Charles- 
ton harbor,  Buchanan  said  : — 

"In  answer  to  this  communication,  I 
have  to  say  that  my  position  as  President 
of  the  United  States  was  clearly  defined  in 
the  message  to  Congress  on  the  3d  inst. 
In  that  I  stated  that '  apart  from  the  exe- 
cution of  the  laws,  so  far  as  this  may  be 
practicable,  the  Executive  has  no  authority 
to  decide  what  shall  be  the  relations  be- 
tween the  Federal  Government  and  South 
Carolina.  He  has  been  invested  with  no 
such  discretion.    He  possesses  no  power  to 

•  From   T.ftlnr'g  EnaidopcaUa  of  PtiliHcal  Scienoe,  pub- 
lished by  Band  &  McNally.  Ohica<co,  DL 


100 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


change  the  relations  heretofore  existing 
between  them,  much  less  to  acknowledge 
the  independence  of  that  State.  This 
would  be  to  invest  a  mere  executive  officer 
with  the  power  of  recognizing  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Confederacy  among  our  thirty- 
three  sovereign  States.  It  bears  no  re- 
semblance to  the  recognition  of  a  foreign 
de  facto  Government,  involving  no  such 
responsibility.  Any  attempt  to  do  this 
would,  on  his  part,  be  a  naked  act  of 
msurpation.  It  is,  therefore,  my  duty  to 
submit  to  Congress  the  whole  question  in 
all  its  bearings.' 

"Such  is  my  opinion  still.  I  could, 
therefore,  meet  you  only  as  private  gentle- 
men of  the  highest  character,  and  was  en- 
tirely willing  to  communicate  to  Congress 
any  proposition  you  might  have  to  make 
to  that  body  upon  the  suoject.  Of  this  you 
were  well  aware.  It  was  my  earnest  desire 
that  such  a  disposition  might  be  made  of 
the  whole  subject  by  Congress,  who  alone 
possess  the  power,  as  to  prevent  the  inau- 
guration of  a  civil  war  between  the  parties 
in  regard  to  the  possession  of  the  Federal 
forts  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston." 

Further  correspondence  followed  between 
the  President  and  other  seceding  State  Com- 
missioners, and  the  attitude  of  the  former 
led  to  the  following  changes  in  his  Cabi- 
net: December  12th,  1860,  Lewis  Cass 
resigned  as  Secretary  of  State,  because  the 
President  declined  to  reinforce  the  forts  in 
Charleston  harbor.  December  17th,  Jere- 
miah S.  Black  was  appointed  his  suc- 
cessor. 

December  10th,  Howell  Cobb,  resigned 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury — "  his  duty  to 
Greorgia  requiring  it."  December  12th, 
Philip  F.  Thomas  was  appointed  his  suc- 
cessor, and  resigned,  January  11th,  1861, 
because  differing  from  the  President  and  a 
majority  of  the  Cabinet,  "in  the  measures 
which  have  been  adopted  in  reference  to 
the  recent  condition  of  things  in  South 
Carolina,"  especially  "touching  the  au- 
thority, under  existing  laws,  to  enforce  the 
collection  of  the  customs  at  the  port  of 
Charleston."  January  11th,  1861,  John  A. 
Dix  appointed  his  successor. 

29th,  John  B.  Floyd  resigned  as  Secre- 
tary of  War,  because,  after  the  transfer  of 
Major  Anderson's  command  from  Fort 
Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter,  the  President  de- 
clined "  to  withdraw  the  garrison  from  the 
harbor  of  Charleston  altogether." 

December  Slst,  Joseph  Holt,  Postmas- 
ter-General, was  entrusted  with  the  tem- 
?orary  charge  of  the  War  Department,  and 
anuary  18th,  1861,  was  appointed  Secre- 
tarv  of  War. 

January  8th,  1861,  Jacob  Thompson 
resigned  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  be- 
cause "additional  troops,  he  had  heard, 
have  been  ordered  to  Charleston "  in  the 
Star  of  the  West 


December  17th,  1860,  Jeremiah  S. 
Black  resigned  as  Attorney-General,  and 
Edwin  M.  Stanton,  December  20th,  was 
appointed  his  successor. 

January  18th,  1861,  Joseph  Holt  re- 
signed as  Postmaster-General,  and  Ho- 
ratio King,  February  12th,  1861,  was  ap- 
pointed his  successor. 

President  Buchanan,  in  his  annual  mes- 
sage of  December  3d,  1860,  appealed  to 
Congress  to  institute  an  amendment  to  the 
constitution  recognizing  the  rights  of  the 
Southern  States  in  regard  to  slavery  in  the 
territories,  and  as  this  document  embraced 
the  views  which  subsequently  led  to  such 
a  general  discussion  of  the  right  of  seces- 
sion and  the  right  to  coerce  a  State,  we 
make  a  liberal  quotation  from  it : — 

"  I  have  purposely  confined  my  remarks 
to  revolutionary  resistance,  because  it  has 
been  claimed  within  the  last  few  years  that 
any  State,  whenever  this  shall  be  its 
sovereign  will  and  pleasure,  may  secede 
from  the  Union  in  accordance  with  the 
Constitution,  and  without  any  violation  of 
the  constitutional  rights  of  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Confederacy.  That  as  each  be- 
came parties  to  the  Union  by  the  vote  of 
its  own  people  assembled  in  convention, 
so  any  one  of  them  may  retire  from  the 
Union  in  a  similar  manner  by  the  vote  of 
such  a  convention. 

"  In  order  to  justify  secession  as  a  con- 
stitutional remedy,  it  must  be  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  Federal  Government  is  a 
mere  voluntary  association  of  States,  to  be 
dissolved  at  pleasure  by  any  one  of  the 
contracting  parties.  If  this  be  so,  the 
Confederacy  is  a  rope  of  sand,  to  be  pene- 
trated and  dissolved  by  the  first  advtifse 
wave  of  public  opinion  in  any  of  the  States. 
In  this  manner  our  thirty-three  States  may 
resolve  themselves  into  as  many  petty, 
jarring,  and  hostile  republics,  each  one  re- 
tiring from  the  Union  without  responsi- 
bility whenever  any  sudden  excitement 
might  impel  them  to  such  a  course.  By 
this  process  a  Union  might  be  entirely 
broken  into  fragments  in  a  few  weeks, 
which  cost  our  forefathers  many  ^ears  of 
toil,  privation,  and  blood  to  establish. 

"  Such  a  principle  is  wholly  inconsistent 
with  the  history  as  well  as  the  character  of 
the  Federal  Constitution.  After  it  wa» 
framed  with  the  greatest  deliberation  and 
care,  it  was  submitted  to  conventions  of 
the  people  of  the  several  States  for  ratifi- 
cation. Its  provisions  were  discussed  at 
length  in  these  bodies,  composed  of  the 
first  men  of  the  country.  Its  opponents 
contended  that  it  conferred  powers  upon 
the  Federal  Government  dangerous  to  the 
rights  of  the  States,  whilst  its  advocates 
maintained  that,  under  a  fair  construction 
of  the  instrument,  there  was  no  foundation 
for  such  apprehensions.  In  that  mighty 
struggle  between  the  first  intellects  of  this 


BOOK  I.] 


BUCHANAN'S   VIEWS. 


101 


or  any  other  country,  it  never  occurred  to 
any  individual,  either  among  its  opponents 
or  advocates,  to  assert  or  even  to  intimate 
that  their  efforts  were  all  vain  labor,  be- 
cause the  moment  that  any  State  felt  her- 
self aggrieved  she  might  secede  from  the 
Union.  What  a  crushing  argument  would 
this  have  proved  against  those  who  dreaded 
that  the  rights  of  the  States  would  be  en- 
dangered by  the  Constitution.  The  truth 
is,  that  it  was  not  until  some  years  after 
the  origin  of  the  Federal  Government  that 
such  a  proposition  was  first  advanced.  It 
was  afterwards  met  and  refuted  by  the 
conclusive  arguments  of  General  Jackson, 
who,  in  his  message  of  the  16th  of  January, 
•  1833,  transmitting  the  nullifying  ordinance 
of  South  Carolina  to  Congress,  employs  the 
following  language :  '  The  right  of  the  peo- 
ple of  a  single  State  to  absolve  themselves 
at  will  and  without  the  consent  of  the 
other  States  from  their  most  solemn  obli- 
gations, and  hazard  the  liberty  and  happi- 
ne'ss  of  the  millions  composing  this  Union, 
caunot  be  acknowledged.  Such  authority 
is  beKeved  to  be  utterly  repugnant  both  to 
the  principles  upon  which  the  General 
Government  is  constituted,  and  to  the  ob- 
jects which  it  was  expressly  formed  to 
attain.' 

"  It  is  not  pretended  that  any  clause  in 
the  Constitution  gives  countenance  to  such 
a  theory.  It  is  altogether  founded  upon 
inference,  not  from  any  language  con- 
tained in  the  instrument  itself,  but  from 
the  sovereign  character  of  the  several 
States  by  which  it  was  ratified.  But  it  is 
beyond  the  power  of  a  State  like  an  indi- 
vidual, to  yield  a  portion  of  its  sovereign 
rights  to  secure  the  remainder?  In  the 
language  of  Mr.  Madison,  who  has  been 
called  the  father  of  the  Constitution,  '  It 
was  formed  by  the  States — that  is,  by  the 

Eeople  in  each  of  the  States  acting  in  their 
ighest  sovereign  capacity,  and  formed  con- 
sequently by  the  same  authority  which 
formed  the  State  constitutions.'  'Nor  is 
the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
created  by  the  Constitution,  less  a  Govern- 
ment, in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term  with- 
in the  sphere  of  its  powers,  than  the  gov- 
ernments created  by  the  constitutions  of 
the  States  are  within  their  several  spheres. 
It  is  like  them  organized  into  legislative, 
executive,  and  judiciaiy  departments.  It 
operates,  like  them,  directly  on  persons 
and  things ;  and,  like  them,  it  has  at  com- 
mand a  physical  force  for  executing  the 
powers  committed  to  it.' 

"  It  was  intended  to  be  perj,3tual,  and 
not  to  be  annulled  at  the  pleasure  of  any 
one  of  the  contracting  parties.  The  old 
Articles  of  Confederation  were  entitled 
'Articles  of  Confederation  and  Perpetual 
Union  between  the  States ; '  and  by  the 
thirteenth  article  it  is  expressly  declared 
(hat  'the  articles  of  this   confederation 


shall  be  inviolably  observed  by  every 
State,  and  the  Union  shall  be  perpetuaL' 
The  preamble  to  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  having  express  reference  to 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  recites  that 
it  was  established  '  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union.'  And  yet  it  is  contended 
that  this  '  more  perfect  union '  does  not  in- 
clude the  esssential  attribute  of  perpe- 
tuity. 

"But  that  the  Union  waa  designed  to 
be  perpetual,  appears  conclusively  from 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  powers  con- 
ferred by  the  Constitution  of  the  Federal 
Government.  These  powers  embrace  the 
\ery  highest  attributes  of  national  sov- 
ereignty. They  place  both  the  sword  and 
purse  under  its  control.  Congress  has 
power  to  make  war  and  to  make  peace ;  to 
raise  and  support  armies  and  navies,  and 
to  conclude  treaties  with  foreign  govern- 
ments. It  is  invested  with  the  power  to 
coin  money,  and  to  regulate  the  value 
thereof,  and  to  regulate  commerce  with 
foreign  nations  and  among  the  several 
States.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enumerate 
the  other  high  powers  which  have  been 
conferred  upon  the  Federal  Government. 
In  order  to  carry  the  enumerated  powers 
into  effect.  Congress  possesses  the  exclusive 
right  to  lay  and  collect  duties  on  imports, 
and,  in  common  with  the  States,  to  lay 
and  collect  all  other  taxes. 

"  But  the  Constitution  has  not  only  con- 
ferred these  high  powers  upon  Congress, 
but  it  has  adopted  effectual  means  to  re- 
strain the  States  from  interfering  with  their 
exercise.  For  that  purpose  it  has  in  strong 
prohibitory  language  expressly  declared 
that '  no  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty, 
alliance,  or  confederation ;  grant  letters  of 
marque  and  reprisal ;  coin  money ;  emit 
bills  of  credit;  make  anything  but  gold 
and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of 
debts;  pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post 
facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation 
of  contracts.'  Moreover,  *  without  the  con- 
sent of  Congress  no  State  shall  lay  any  im- 
posts or  duties  on  any  imports  or  exports, 
except  what  may  be  absolutely  necessary 
for  executing  its  inspection  laws,'  and  if 
they  exceed  this  amount,  the  excess  shall 
belong  to  the  United  States.  And  'no 
State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Con- 
gress, lay  any  duty  of  tonnage,  keep  troops 
or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into 
any  agreement  or  compact  with  another 
State,  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage 
in  war,  unless  actually  invaded  or  in  such 
imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of 
delay.' 

"  In  order  still  further  to  secure  the  un- 
interrupted exercise  of  these  high  powers 
against  State  interposition,  it  is  provided 
'  that  this  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  pur- 
suance thereof,  and  all  treaties  made  or 


i02 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


which  shall  be  made  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land ;  and  the  judges  in  every 
State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any  thing  in 
the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.' 

"  The  solemn  sanction  of  religion  has 
been  superadded  to  the  obligations  of 
otiicial  duty,  and  all  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States,  all  mem- 
bers of  State  Legislatures,  and  all  execu- 
tive and  judicial  officers,  '  both  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  several  States, 
shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to 
support  this  Constitution.' 

In  order  to  carry  into    effect    these 
powers,  the  Constitution  has  established  a 

f)erfect  Government  in  all  its  forms,  Icgis- 
ative,  executive,  and  judicial ;  and  this 
Grovernment  to  the  extent  of  its  powers 
acts  directly  upon  the  individual  citizens 
of  every  State,  and  executes  its  own  de- 
crees by  the  ageucy  of  its  own  officers.  In 
this  respect  it  differs  entirely  from  the 
Government  under  the  old  confederation, 
which  was  confined  to  making  requisitions 
on  the  States  in  their  sovereign  character. 
This  left  it  in  the  discretion  of  each 
whijther  to  obey  or  refuse,  and  they  often 
declined  to  comply  with  such  requisitions. 
It  thus  became  necessary,  for  the  purpose 
of  removing  this  barrier,  and  '  in  order  to 
form  a  more  perfect  union,'  to  establish  a 
G^>vernment  which  could  act  directly  upon 
the  people  and  execute  its  own  laws  with- 
out the  intermediate  agency  of  the  States. 
This  has  been  accomplished  by  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  In  short, 
the  Government  created  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  deriving  its  authority  from  the 
sovereign  people  of  each  of  the  several 
States,  has  precisely  the  same  right  to 
63  ercise  its  power  over  the  people  of  all 
these  States  in  the  enumerated  cases,  that 
each  one  of  them  possesses  over  subjects 
not  delegated  to  tne  United  States,  but 
'  reserved  to  the  States  respectively  or  to 
the  people.' 

"  To  the  extent  of  the  delegated  powers 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  as 
much  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  each 
State,  and  is  as  binding  upon  its  people, 
as  though  it  had  been  textually  inserted 
therein. 

"  This  Government,  therefore,  is  a  great 
and  powerful  Government,  invested  with 
all  the  attributes  of  sovereignty  over  the 
special  subjects  to  wliich  its  authority  3x- 
tends.  Its  framers  never  intended  to  im- 
plant in  its  bosom  the  seeds  of  its  own 
destruction  nor  were  they  at  its  creation 
guilty  of  the  absurdity  of  providing  for  its 
own  dissolution.  It  was  not  intended  by 
its  framers  to  be  the  baseless  fabric  of  a 
vision,  which,  at  the  touch  of  the  en- 
chanter, would  vanish  into  thin  air,  but  a 
substantial  and  mighty  fabric,  capable  of 


resisting  the  slow  decay  of  time,  and  of 
defying  the  storms  of  ages.  Indeed,  well 
may  the  jealous  patriots  of  that  day  have 
indulged  fears  that  a  Government  of  such 
high  power  might  violate  the  reserved  rights 
of  the  States,  and  wisely  did  they  adopt 
the  rule  of  a  strict  construction  of  these 
powers  to  prevent  the  danger.  But  they  did 
not  fear,  nor  had  they  any  reason  to  imagine 
that  the  Constitution  would  ever  be  so  in- 
terpreted as  to  enable  any  State  by  her 
own  act,  and  without  the  consent  of  her 
sister  States,  to  discharge  her  people 
from  all  or  any  of  their  federal  obliga- 
tions. 

"  It  may  be  asked,  then,  are  the  people 
of  the  States  without  redress  against  the 
tyranny  and  oppression  of  the  Federal 
Government?  By  no  means.  The  right 
of  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  governed 
against  the  oppression  of  their  govern- 
ments cannot  be  denied.  It  exists  inde- 
pendently of  all  constitutions,  and  has  been 
exercised  at  all  periods  of  the  world's  his- 
tory. Under  it,  old  governments  have  been 
destroyed  and  new  ones  have  taken  their 
place.  It  is  embodied  in  strong  and  ex- 
press language  in  our  own  Declaration  of 
Independence.  But  the  distinction  must 
ever  be  observed  that  this  is  revolution 
against  an  established  Government,  and 
not  a  voluntary  secession  from  it  by  virtue 
of  an  inherent  constitutional  right.  In 
short,  let  us  look  the  danger  fairly  in  the 
face;  secession  is  neither  more  nor  less 
than  revolution.  It  may  or  it  may  not  be 
a  justifiable  revolution;  but  still  it  is  rev- 
olution." 

The  President  having  thus  attempted  to 
demonstrate  that  the  Constitution  affords 
no  warrant  for  secession,  but  that  this  was 
inconsistent  both  with  its  letter  and  spirit, 
then  defines  his  own  position.    He  says: 

"  What,  in  the  mean  time,  is  the  respon- 
sibility and  true  position  of  the  Executive  ? 
He  is  bound  by  solemn  oath,  before  Grod 
and  the  country,  'to  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed,'  and  from  this 
obligation  he  cannot  be  absolved  by  any 
human  power.  But  what  if  the  perfor- 
mance of  this  duty,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
has  been  rendered  impracticable  by  events 
over  which  he  could  have  exercised  no 
control?  Such,  at  the  present  moment,  is 
the  case  throughout  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  so  far  as  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  to  secure  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice by  means  of  the  Federal  judiciary  are 
concerned.  All  the  Federal  officers  within 
its  limits,  through  whose  agency  alone 
these  laws  can  be  carried  into  execution, 
have  already  resigned.  We  no  longer 
have  a  district  judge,  a  district  attorney, 
or  a  marshal  in  South  Carolina.  In  fact, 
the  whole  machinery  of  the  Federal  gov* 
ernment  necessary  for  the  distribution  of 
remedial  justice  among  the  people  has  been 


BOOK  I.] 


BUCHANAN'S    VIEWS. 


103 


demolished,  and  it  would  be  difficult,  li 
not  impossible,  to  replace  it. 

"  The  only  acts  of  Congress  on  the  stat- 
ute book  bearing  upon  this  subject  are 
those  of  the  28th  Februrry,  1795,  and  3rd 
March,  1807.  These  authorize  the  Presi- 
dent, after  he  shall  have  ascertained  that 
the  marshal,  with  his  posse  comitatus,  is 
unable  to  execute  civil  or  criminal  process 
in  any  particular  case,  to  call  forth  the 
jmilitia  and  employ  the  army  and  navy  to 
aid  him  in  performing  this  service,  having 
first  by  proclamation  commanded  the  in- 
surgents '  to  disperse  and  retire  peaceably 
to  their  respective  abodes  within  a  limited 
time.'  This  duty  cannot  by  possibility  be 
performed  in  a  State  where  no  judicial  au- 
thority exists  to  issue  process,  and  where 
there  is  no  marshal  to  execute  it,  and 
•where,  even  if  there  were  such  an  officer, 
the  entire  population  would  constitute  one 
solid  combination  to  resist  him. 

"  The  bare  enumeration  of  these  provi- 
sions proves  how  inadequate  they  are  with- 
oul;  further  legislation  to  overcome  a  united 
opposition  in  a  single  State,  not  to  speak 
of  other  States  who  may  place  themselves 
in  a  similar  attitude.  Congress  alone  has 
power  to  decide  whether  the  present  laws 
can  or  cannot  be  amended  so  as  to  carry 
out  more  effectually  the  objects  of  the 
Constitution. 

"  The  same  insuperable  obstacles  do  not 
lie  in  the  way  of  executing  the  laws  for  the 
collection  of  customs.  The  revenue  still 
continues  to  be  collected,  as  heretofore,  at 
the  custom-house  in  Charleston,  and  should 
the  collector  unfortunately  resign,  a  suc- 
cessor may  be  appointed  to  perform  this 
duty. 

"  Then,  in  regard  to  the  property  of  vhe 
L'nited  States  in  South  Carolina.  This  has 
been  purchased  for  a  fair  equivalent,  '  by 
the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State,'  '  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines, 
arsenals,'  &c.,  and  over  these  the  authority 
'  to  exercise  exclusive  legislation '  has  been 
expressly  granted  by  the  Constitution  to 
Congress.  It  is  not  believed  that  any  at- 
tempt will  be  made  to  expel  the  United 
States  from  this  property  by  force ;  but  if 
in  this  I  should  prove  to  be  mistaken,  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  forts  has  re- 
ceived orders  to  act  strictly  on  the  defen- 
sive. In  such  a  contingency  the  respon- 
sibility for  consequences  would  rightfully 
rest  upon  the  heads  of  the  assailants. 

"  Apart  from  the  execution  of  the  la^s, 
so  far  as  this  may  be  practicable,  the  Ex- 
ecutive has  no  authority  to  decide  what 
shall  be  the  relations  between  the  Federal 
Government  and  South  Carolina.  He  has 
been  invested  with  no  such  discretion.  He 

Eosaesses  no  power  to  change  the  relations 
eretofore  existing  between  them,  much 
less  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of 
that  State.    This  would  be  to  invest  a  mere 


executive  officer  with  the  power  of  recog- 
nizing the  dissolution  of  tne  Confederacy 
among  our  thirty-three  sovereign  States. 
It  bears  no  relation  to  the  recognition  of  a 
foreign  de  facto  Government,  involving  no 
such  resjponsibility.  Any  attempt  to  do 
this  would,  on  his  part,  be  a  naked  act  of 
usurpation.  It  is,  therefore,  my  duty  to 
submit  to  Congress  the  whole  question  in 
all  its  bearings." 

Then  follows  the  opinion  expressed  in 
the  message,  that  the  Constitution  has  con- 
ferred no  power  on  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  coerce  a  State  to  remain  in  the 
Union.  The  following  is  the  language : 
"The  question  fairly  stated  is,  'Has  the 
Constitution  delegated  to  Congress  the 
power  to  coerce  a  State  into  submission 
which  is  attempting  to  withdraw,  or  has 
actually  withdrawn  from  the  Confedera- 
cy?' If  answered  in  the  affirmative,  it 
must  be  pn  the  principle  that  the  power 
has  been  conferred  upon  Congress  to  make 
war  against  a  State. 

"  After  much  serious  reflection,  I  have 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  no  such 
power  has  been  delegated  to  Congress  or 
to  any  other  department  of  the  Federal 
Government.  It  is  manifest,  upon  an  in- 
spection of  the  Constitution,  that  this  is 
not  among  the  specific  and  enumerated 
powers  granted  to  Congress;  and  it  is 
equally  apparent  that  its  exercise  is  not 
'  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into 
execution'  any  one  of  these  powers.  So  far 
from  this  power  having  been  delegated  to 
Congress,  it  was  expressly  refiised  by  the 
Convention  which  framed  the  Constitu- 
tion. 

"  It  appears  from  the  proceedings  of  that 
body  that  on  the  31st  May,  1787,  the 
clause  *  authorizing  an  exertion  of  the  force 
of  the  whole  against  a  delinquent  State ' 
came  up  for  consideration.  Mr.  Madison 
opposed  it  in  a  brief  but  powerful  speech, 
from  which  I  shall  extract  but  a  single 
sentence.  He  observed  :  '  The  lise  of  force 
against  a  State  would  look  more  like  a 
declaration  of  war  than  an  infliction  of 
punishment,  and  would  probably  be  con- 
sidered by  the  party  attacked  as  a  dissolu- 
tion of  all  previous  compacts  by  which  it 
might  be  bound.'  Upon  his  motion  the 
clause  was  unanimously  postponed,  and 
was  never,  I  believe,  again  presented.  Soon 
afterwards,  on  the  8th  June,  1787,  when 
incidentally  adverting  to  the  subject,  he 
said:  'Any  government  for  the  United 
States,  formea  on  the  supposed  practica- 
bility of  using  force  against  the  unconsti- 
tutional proceedings  of  the  States,  would 
prove  as  visionary  and  fallacious  as  the 
government  of  Congress,'  evidently  mean- 
ing the  then  existing  Congress  of  the  old 
confederation." 

At  the  time  of  the  delivery  of  this  mes- 
sage the  excitement  was  very  high.    The 


104 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


extreme  Southerners  differed  from  it,  in  so 
far  as  it  disputed  both  the  right  of  revolu- 
tion and  secession  under  the  circumstances, 
but  quickly  made  a  party  battle-cry  of  the 
denial  of  the  right  of  the  National  Gov- 
ernment to  coerce  a  State — a  view  which 
for  a  time  won  the  President  additional 
frfends,  but  which  in  the  end  solidified  all 
friends  of  the  Union  against  his  adminis- 
tration. To  show  the  doubt  which  this 
ingenious  theory  caused,  we  quote  from  the 
speech  of  Senator  Andrew  Johnson,  of 
Tennessee  (subsequently  Vice-President 
and  acting  President),  delivered  Dec.  18th, 
1860,  (Congressional  Globe,  page  119) : — 

"  I  do  not  believe  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment has  the  power  to  coerce  a  State,  for 
by  the  eleventh  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  it  is  expressly 
provided  that  you  cannot  even  put  one  of 
the  States  of  this  confederacy  oefore  one 
of  the  courts  of  the  country  as  a  party. 
As  a  State,  the  Federal  Government  has 
no  power  to  coerce  it ;  but  it  is  a  member 
of  the  compact  to  which  it  agreed  in  com- 
mon with  the  other  States,  and  this  Gov- 
ernment has  the  right  to  pass  laws,  and  to 
enforce  those  laws  upon  individuals  within 
the  limits  of  each  State.  While  the  one 
proposition  is  clear,  the  other  is  equally  so. 
Tills  Government  can,  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  country,  and  by  the  laws  enacted  in 
conformity  with  the  Constitution,  operate 
upon  individuals,  and  has  the  right  and 
power,  not  to  coerce  a  State,  but  to  enforce 
and  execute  the  law  upon  individuals 
within  the  limits  of  a  State." 

Senator  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi, 
publicly  objected  to  the  message  because  of 
Its  earnest  argument  against  secession,  and 
the  determination  expressed  to  collect  the 
revenue  in  the  ports  of  South  Carolina,  by 
means  of  a  naval  force,  and  to  defend  the 
public  property.  From  this  moment  they 
alienated  themselves  from  the  President. 
Soon  thereafter,  when  he  refused  to  with- 
draw Maior  Anderson  from  Fort  Sumter, 
on  the  demand  of  the  self-styled  South 
Carolina  Commissioners,  the  separation  be- 
came complete.  For  more  than  two  months 
before  the  close  of  the  session  all  friendly 
intercourse  between  them  and  the  Presi- 
dent, whether  of  a  political  or  social  cha- 
racter, had  ceased. 

The  Crittenden  Compromise. 

Congress  referred  the  request  in  the 
message,  to  adopt  amendments  to  the  con- 
stitution recognizing  the  rights  of  the 
Slave  States  to  take  slavery  into  the  terri- 
tories to  a  committee  of  thirteen,  consisting 
of  five  Republicans  :  Messrs.  Seward,  Col- 
lamer,  Wade,  Doolittle,  and  Grimes  ;  five 
from  slave-holding  States:  Messrs.  Powell, 
Hunter,  Crittenden,  Toombs,  and  Davis ; 
and  three  Northern  Democrats;  Messrs. 
Pouglas,  Bigler,  and  Bright.    The  latter 


three  were  intended  to  act  as  mediators 
between  the  extreme  parties  on  the  com- 
mittee. 

The  committee  first  met  on  the  21st  De- 
cember, 1860,  and  preliminary  to  any  other 
proceeding,  they  resolved  that  no  propo- 
sition shall  be  reported  as  adopted,  unless 
sustained  by  a  majority  of  each  of  the 
classes  of  the  committee ;  Senators  of  the 
Republican  party  to  constitute  one  class, 
and  Senators  of  the  other  parties  to  con- 
stitute the  other  class."  This  resolution 
was  passed,  because  any  report  they  might 
make  to  the  Senate  would  be  in  vain  unless 
sanctioned  by  at  least  a  majority  of  the  five 
Republican  Senators.  On  the  next  day 
(the  22d),  Mr.  Crittenden  submitted  to  the 
committee  "  A  Joint  Resolution "  (the 
same  Avhich  he  had  two  days  before  pre- 
sented to  the  Senate),  "proposing  certain 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,"  now  known  as  the  Critten- 
den Compromise.  This  was  truly  a  com- 
promise of  conflicting  claims,  because  it 
proposed  that  the  South  should  surrender 
their  adjudged  right  to  take  slaves  into  all 
our  Territories,  provided  the  North  would 
recognize  this  right  in  the  Territories  south 
of  the  old  Missouri  Compromise  line. 
The  committee  rejected  this  compromise, 
every  one  of  its  five  Republican  members, 
together  with  Messrs.  Davis  and  Toombs, 
from  the  cotton  States,  having  voted 
against  it.  Indeed,  not  one  of  all  the  Re- 
publicans in  the  Senate,  at  any  period  or 
in  any  form,  voted  in  its  favor. 

The  committee,  having  failed  to  arrive 
at  a  satisfactory  conclusion,  reported  their 
disagreement  to  the  Senate  on  the  31st 
December,  1860,  in  a  resolution  declaring 
that  they  had  "  not  been  able  to  agree 
upon  any  general  plan  of  adjustment." 

Mr.  Crittenden  did  not  despair  of 
ultimate  success,  notwithstanding  his  de- 
feat before  the  Committee  of  Thirteen. 
After  this,  indeed,  he  could  no  longer  ex- 
pect to  carry  his  compromise  as  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  by  the  necessary 
two-thirds  vote  of  Congress.  It  was, 
therefore,  postponed  by  the  Senate  on  his 
own  motion.  As  a  substitute  for  it  he 
submitted  to  the  Senate,  on  the  3d 
January,  1861,  a  joint  resolution,  which 
might  be  passed  by  a  majority  of  both 
Houses.  This  was  to  refer  his  rejected 
amendment,  by  an  ordinary  act  of  Con- 
gress, to  a  direct  vote  of  the  people  of  the 
several  States. 

He  offered  his  resolution  in  the  following 
language :  "  Whereas  the  Union  is  in 
danger,  and,  owing  to  the  unhappy  divi- 
sion existing  in  Congress,  it  would  be  dif- 
ficult, if  not  impossible,  for  that  body  to 
concur  in  both  its  branches  by  the  re- 
quisite majority,  so  as  to  enable  it  either 
to  adopt  such  measures  of  legislation,  or 
to  recommend  to  the  States  such  amend- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CRITTENDEN    COMPROMISE. 


105 


ments  to  the  Constitution,  as  are  deemed 
necessary  and  proper  to  avert  that  danger  ; 
and  whereas  in  so  great  an  emergency  the 
opinion  and  judgment  of  the  people  ought 
to  be  heard,  and  would  be  the  best  and 
surest  guide  to  their  Representatives ; 
Therefore,  Resolved,  That  provision  ought 
to  be  ma'de  by  law  without  delay  for  tak- 
ing the  sense  of  the  people  and  submitting 
to  their  vote  the  following  resolution  [the 
same  as  in  his  former  amendment],  as  the 
basis  for  the  final  and  permanent  settle- 
ment of  those  disputes  that  now  disturb 
the  peace  of  the  country  and  threaten  the 
existence  of  the  Union." 

Memorials  in  its  favor  poured  into  Con- 
gress from  portions  of  the  North,  even 
from  New  England.  One  of  these  pre- 
sented to  the  Senate  was  from  "  the  Mayor 
and  members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
and  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of 
Boston,  and  over  22,000  citizens  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  praying  the  adop- 
tion of  the  compromise  measures  proposed 
by  Mr.  Crittenden."  It  may  be  proper 
here  to  observe  that  the  resolution  of  Mr. 
Crittenden  did  not  provide  in  detail  for 
holding  elections  by  which  "  the  sense  of 
the  people  "  could  be  ascertained.  To  sup- 
ply this  omission,  Senator  Bigler,  of 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  14th  January,  1861, 
brought  in  "  A  bill  to  provide  for  taking 
the  sense  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  on  certain  proposed  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;" 
but  never  was  he  able  to  induce  the  Senate 
even  to  consider  this  bill. 

President  Buchanan  exerted  all  his  in- 
fluence in  favor  of  these  measures.  In  his 
special  message  to  Congress  of  the  8th  of 
January,  1861,  after  depicting  the  conse- 
quences which  had  already  resulted  to  the 
country  from  the  bare  apprrliension  of 
civil  war  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
he  says : 

"  Let  the  question  be  transferrec  from 
political  assemblies  to  the  ballot-box,  and 
the  people  themselves  would  speedily  re- 
dress the  serious  grievances  which  the 
South  have  suffered.  But,  in  Heaven's 
name,  let  the  trial  be  made  before  we 
plunge  into  armed  conflict  upon  the  mere 
assumption  that  there  is  no  other  alterna- 
tive. Time  is  a  great  conservative  power. 
Let  us  pause  at  this  momentous  point,  aiid 
afford  the  people,  both  North  and  South, 
an  opportunity  for  reflection.  Would  that 
Soutn  Carolina"  had  been  convinced  of  this 
truth  before  her  precipitate  action!  I, 
therefore,  appeal  througn  you  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  country,  to  declare  in  tneir 
might  that  the  Union  must  and  shall  be 
preserved  by  all  constitutional  means.  I 
most  earnestly  recommend  that  you  devote 
yourselves  exclusively  to  the  question  how 
this  can  be  accomplished  in  peace.  All 
Other  questions,  when  compared  with  this, 


sink  into  insignificance.  The  present  is  no 
time  for  palliatives ;  action,  prompt  action 
is  required.  A  delay  in  Congress  to  pre-  • 
scribe  or  to  recommend  a  distinct  and 
practical  proposition  for  conciliation,  may 
drive  us  to  a  point  from  which  it  will  be 
almost  impossible  to  recede. 

"  A  common  ground  on  which  concilia- 
tion and  harmony  can  be  produced  is 
surely  not  unattainable.  The  proposition 
to  compromise  by  letting  the  North  have 
exclusive  control  of  the  territory  above  a 
certain  line,  and  to  give  Southern  institu- 
tions protection  below  that  line,  ought  to 
receive  universal  approbation.  In  itself, 
indeed,  it  may  not  be  entirely  satisfactory, 
but  when  the  alternative  is  between  a 
reasonable  concession  on  both  sides  and  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  it  is  an  imputa- 
tion on  the  patriotism  of  Congress  to  assert 
that  its  members  will  hesitate  for  a  mo- 
ment." 

This  recommendation  was  totally  disre- 
garded. On  the  14th  January,  1861,  Mr. 
Crittenden  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  have  it  considered,  but  it  was  postponed 
until  the  day  following.  On  this  day  it 
was  again  postponed  by  the  vote  of  every 
Republican  Senator  present,  in  order  to 
make  way  for  the  Pacific  Railroad  bill.  On 
the  third  attempt  (January  16,)  he  suc- 
ceeded, but  by  a  majority  of  a  single  vote, 
in  bringing  his  resolution  before  the  body. 
Every  Republican  Senator  present  voted 
against  its  consideration.  Mr.  Clark,  a 
Republican  Senator  from  New  Hampshire, 
moved  to  strike  out  the  entire  preamble 
and  resolution  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  and  in 
lieu  thereof  insert  as  a  substitute  a  pream- 
ble and  resolution  in  accordance  with  the 
Chicago  platform.  This  motion  prevailed 
by  a  vote  of  25  to  23,  every  Republican 
Senator  present  having  voted  in  its  favor. 
Thus  Mr.  Crittenden's  proposition  to  refer 
the  question  to  the  people  was  buried 
under  the  Clark  amendment.  This  con- 
tinued to  be  its  position  for  more  than  six 
weeks,  until  the  day  before  the  final  ad- 
journment of  Congress,  2d  March,  when 
the  proposition  itself  was  defeated  by  a 
vote  of  19  in  the  affirmative  against  20  in 
the  negative. 

The  Clark  Amendment  prevailed  only 
in  consequence  of  the  refusal  of  six  Seces- 
sion Senators  to  vote  against  it.  These 
were  Messrs.  Benjamin  and  Slidell,  of 
Louisiana;  Mr.  Iverson,  of  Georgia; 
Messrs.  Hemphill  and  Wigfall,  of  Texas ; 
and  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Arkansas.  Had  these 
gentleman  voted  with  the  border  slave- 
holding  States  and  the  other  Democratic 
Senators,  the  Clark  Amendment  would 
have  been  defeated,  and  the  Senate  would 
then  have  been  brought  to  a  direct  vote 
on  the  Crittenden  resolution. 

It  is  proper  for  reference  that  the  names 
of  those  Senators  who  constituted  the  ma« 


106 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


jority  on  this  question,  should  be  placed 
upon  record.  Every  vote  given  from  the 
six  New  England  States  was  in  opposition 
to  Mr.  Crittenden's  resolution.  These  con- 
sisted of  Mr.  Clark,  of  New  Hampshire ; 
Messrs.  Sumner  and  Wilson,  of  Massachu- 
setts; Mr.  Anthony,  of  Rhode  Island; 
Messrs.  Dixon  and  Foster,  of  Connecticut ; 
Mr.  Foot,  of  Vermont ;  and  Mr.  Fessen- 
den,  of  Maine.  The  remaining  twelve 
votes,  in  order  to  make  up  the  20,  were 
given  by  Messrs.  Bingham  and  Wade,  of 
Ohio ;  Mr.  Trumbull,  of  Illinois  ;  Messrs. 
Bingham  and  Chandler,  of  Michigan ; 
Messrs.  Grimes  and  Harlan,  of  Iowa ; 
Messrs.  Doolittle  and  Durkee,  of  Wiscon- 
sin ;  Mr.  Wilkinson,  of  Minnesota  ;  Mr. 
King,  of  New  York ;  and  Mr.  Ten  Eyck, 
of  New  Jersey.  The  Republicans  not 
voting  were  Hale  of  New  Hampshire ; 
Simmons  of  Rhode  Island ;  Collamer  of 
Vermont;  Seward  of  New  York,  and 
Cameron  of  Pennsylvania.  They  refrained 
from  various  motives,  but  in  the  majority 
of  instances  because  they  disbelieved  in 
any  effort  to  compromise,  for  nearly  all 
were  recognized  leaders  of  the  more  radi- 
cal sentiment,  and  in  favor  of  coercion  of 
the  South  by  energetic  use  of  the  war 
powers  of  the  government.  This  was  spe- 
cially true  of  Hale,  Seward,  and  General 
Cameron,  shortly  after  Secretary  of  War, 
and  the  first  Cabinet  officer  who  favored 
the  raising  of  an  immense  army  and  the 
early  liberation  and  arming  of  the  slaves. 

On  December  4th,  1860,  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Boteler  of  Virginia,  so  much  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan's  message  as  related  to  the 
perilous  condition  of  the  country,  was  re- 
lerred  to  a  special  committee  of  one  from 
each  State,  as  follows : 

Corwin  of  Ohio ;  Millson  of  Virginia ; 
Adams  of  Massachusetts;  Winslow  of 
North  Carolina ;  Humphrey  of  New  York ; 
Boyce  of  South  Carolina;  Campbell  of 
Pennsylvania ;  Love  of  Georgia ;  Ferry  of 
Connecticut ;  Davis  of  Maryland ;  Robin- 
son of  Rhode  Island ;  Whiteley  of  Dela- 
ware ;  Tappan  of  New  Hampshire ;  Strat- 
ton  of  New  Jersey  ;  Bristow  of  Kentucky ; 
Morrill  of  Vermont ;  Nelson  of  Tennessee ; 
Dunn  of  Indiana;  Taylor  of  Louisiana; 
Davis  of  Mississippi;  Kellogg  of  Illinois; 
Houston  of  Alabama;  Morse  of  Maine; 
Phelps  of  Missouri ;  Rust  of  Arkansas ; 
Howardof  Michigan;  Hawkins  of  Florida; 
Hamilton  of  Texas ;  Washburn  of  Wiscon- 
sin; Curtis  of  Iowa  ;  Burch  of  California; 
Windom  of  Minnesota ;  Stout  of  Oregon. 

Messrs.  Hawkins  and  Boyce  asked  to  be 
excused  from  service  on  the  Committee, 
but  the  House  refused. 

From  this  Committee  Mr.  Corwin  report- 
ed, January  14th,  1861,  a  series  of  proposi- 
tions with  a  written  statement  in  advocacy 
thereof.  Several  minorrity  reporta  were 
presented,  but  the  following  Joint  Reso- 


lution is  the  only  one  which  secured  the 
assent  of  both  Houses. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT. 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Congress  assembled,  two-thirds 
of  both  Houses  concurring,  That  the  fol- 
lowing article  be  proposed  to  the  Legisla- 
tures of  the  several  States  as  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  which,  when  ratified  by  three- 
fourths  of  said  Legislatures,  shall  be  valid, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  a  part  of  the 
said  Constitution,  namely : 

Art.  XII.  No  amendment  shall  be 
made  to  the  Constitution  which  will  auth- 
orize or  give  to  Congress  the  power  to 
abolish  or  interfere  within  any  State,  with 
the  domestic  institutions  thereof,  including 
that  of  persons  held  to  labor  or  service  by 
the  laws  of  said  State. 

The  Legislatures  of  Ohio  and  Maryland 
agreed  to  the  amendment  promptly,  but 
events  followed  so  rapidly,  that  the  atten- 
tion of  other  States  was  drawn  from  it,  and 
nothing  came  of  this,  the  only  Congres- 
sional  movement  endorsed  which  looked  to 
reconciliation.  Other  propositions  came 
from  the  Border  and  individual  states,  but 
all  alike  failed. 


The  Peace  Convention. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Virginia,  ou 
the  19th  of  January,  adopted  resolutions 
inviting  Representatives  of  the  several 
States  to  assemble  in  a  Peace  Convention 
at  Washington,  which  met  on  the  4th  of 
February.  It  was  composed  of  133  Com- 
missioners, many  from  the  border  States, 
and  the  object  of  these  was  to  prevail  upon 
their  associates  from  the  North  to  unite 
with  them  in  such  recommendations  to 
Congress  as  would  prevent  their  own  States 
from  seceding  and  enable  them  to  bring 
back  six  of  the  cotton  States  which  had 
already  seceded. 

One  month  only  of  the  session  of  Con- 
gress remained.  Within  this  brief  period 
it  was  necessary  that  the  Convention 
should  recommend  amendments  to  the 
Constitution  in  sufficient  time  to  enable 
both  Houses  to  act  upon  them  before  their 
final  adjournment.  It  was  also  essential 
to  success  that  these  amendments  should 
be  sustained  by  a  decided  majority  of  the 
commissioners  both  from  the  Northern 
and  the  border  States. 

On  Wednesday,  the  6th  February,  a  re- 
solution was  adopted,*  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Guthrie,  of  Kentucky,  to  refer  the  resolu^ 
tions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia, 
and  all  other  kindred  subjects,  to  a  com- 
mittee to  consist   of  one   commissioner 

*  Oeacial  Jonmal  of  the  ConTention,  pp.  9  and  10. 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    PEACE    CONVENTION. 


107 


from  each  State,  to  be  selected  by  the 
respective  State  delegations ;  and  to  pre- 
vent delay  they  were  instructed  to  report 
on  or  before  the  Friday  following  (the  8th), 
"  what  they  may  deem  right,  necessary, 
and  proper  to  restore  harmony  and  pre- 
serve the  Union." 

This  committee,  instead  of  reporting  on 
the  day  appointed,  did  not  report  until 
Friday,  the  15th  February, 

The  amendments  reported  by  a  majority 
of  the  committee,  through  Mr.  Guthrie, 
their  chairman,  were  substantially  the 
same  with  the  Crittenden  Compromise; 
but  on  motion  of  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Mary- 
land, the  general  terms  of  the  first  and  by  far 
the  most  important  section  were  restricted 
to  the  present  Territories  of  the  United 
States.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Franklin,  of 
Pennsylvania,  this  section  was  further 
amended,  but  not  materially  changed,  by 
the  adoption  of  the  substitute  offered  by 
him.  Nearly  in  this  form  it  was  afterwards 
adopted  by  the  Convention.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  copy  :  "  In  all  the  present  territory 
of  the  United  States  north  of  the  parallel 
of  Ihirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  of 
north  latitude,  involuntary  servitude,  ex- 
cept in  punishment  of  crime,  is  prohibited. 
In  all  the  present  territory  south  of  that 
line,  the  status  of  persons  held  to  involun- 
tarj'  service  or  labor,  as  it  now  exists,  shall 
not  be  changed ;  nor  shall  any  law  be 
passed  by  Congress  or  the  Territorial  Le- 
gislature to  hinder  or  prevent  the  taking 
of  such  persons  from  any  of  the  States  of 
this  Union  to  said  territory,  nor  to  impair 
the  rights  arising  from  said  relation ;  but 
the  same  shall  be  subject  to  judicial  cogni- 
zance in  the  Federal  courts,  according  to 
the  course  of  the  common  law.  When  any 
Territory  north  or  south  of  said  line,  with- 
in such  boundary  as  Congress  may  pre- 
scribe, shall  contain  a  population  equal  to 
that  required  for  a  member  of  Congress,  it 
shall,  if  its  form  of  government  be  repub- 
lican, be  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  with 
or  without  involuntary  servitude,  as  the 
Constitution  of  such  State  may  provide." 

Mr.  Baldwin,  of  Connecticut,  and  Mr. 
Seddon,  of  Virginia,  made  minority  re- 
ports, which  they  proposed  to  substitute 
for  that  of  the  majority.  Mr.  Baldwin's 
report  was  a  recommendation  "to  the 
several  States  to  unite  with  Kentucky  in 
her  application  to  Congress  to  call  a  Con- 
vention for  proposing  amendments  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  be 
submitted  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several 
States,  or  to  Conventions  therein,  for  rati- 
fication, as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of 
ratification  may  be  proposed  by  Congress, 
in  accordance  with  the  provisions  in  the 
fifth  article  of  the  Constitution." 

The  proposition  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  re- 
ceived the  votes  of  eight  of  the  twenty-one 


States.  These  consisted  of  the  whole  of 
the  New  England  States,  except  Rhode 
Island,  and  of  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  New 
York,  all  being  free  States. 

The  first  amendment  reported  by  Mr. 
Seddon  differed  from  that  of  fhe  majority 
inasmuch  as  it  embraced  not  only  the 
present  but  all  future  Territories.  This 
was  rejected.  His  second  amendment, 
which,  however,  was  never  voted  upon  by 
the  Convention,  went  so  far  as  distinctly 
to  recognize  the  right  of  secession. 

More  than  ten  days  were  consumed  ia 
discussion  and  in  voting  upon  various  pro- 
positions offered  by  individual  commis- 
sioners. The  final  vote  was  not  reached 
until  Tuesday,  the  26th  February,  when 
it  was  taken  on  the  first  vitally  important 
section,  as  amended. 

This  section,  on  which  all  the  rest  de- 

S ended,  was  negatived  by  a  vote  of  eight 
tates  to  eleven.  Those  whic;h  voted  in 
its  favor  were  Delaware,  Kentucky,  Mary- 
land, NeAV  Jersey,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 
Rhode  Island,  and  Tennessee.  And  those 
in  the  negative  were  Connecticut,  Illinois, 
Iowa,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Missouri, 
New  York,  North  Carolina,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Vermont,  and  Virginia.  It  is  but 
justice  to  say  that  Messrs.  Ruffin  and  More- 
head,  of  North  Carolina,  and  Messrs.  Rives 
and  Summers,  of  Virginia,  two  of  the  five 
commissioners  from  each  of  these  States, 
declared  their  dissent  from  the  vote  of 
their  respective  States.  So,  also,  did 
Messrs.  Bronson,  Corning,  Dodge,  Wool, 
and  Granger,  five  of  the  eleven  New  York 
comitifesioners,  dissent  from  the  vot€  of 
thej*  State.  On  the  other  hand,  Messrs. 
Meredith  and  Wilmot,  two  of  the  seven 
commissioners  from  Pennsylvania,  dis- 
sented from  the  majority  in  voting  in  favor 
of  the  section.  Thus  would  the  Conven- 
tion have  terminated  but  for  the  inter- 
position of  Illinois.  Immediately  after 
the  section  had  been  negatived,  the  com- 
missioners from  that  State  made  a  motion 
to  reconsider  the  vote,  and  this  prevailed. 
The  Convention  afterwards  adjourned  un- 
til the  next  morning.  When  they  reassem- 
bled (February  27,)  the  first  section  was 
adopted,  but  only  by  a  majority  of  nine  to 
eight  States,  nine  being  less  than  a  ma- 
jority of  the  States  represented.  This 
change  was  effected  by  a  change  of  the  vote 
of  Illinois  from  the  negative  to  the  affirm- 
ative, by  Missouri  withholding  her  vote, 
and  by  a  tie  in  the  New  York  commis- 
sioners, on  account  of  the  absence  of  one 
of  their  number,  rendering  it  impossible 
for  the  State  to  vote.  Still  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  and  Connecticut,  Maine, 
Massachusetts,  New  Hamj^shire,  and  Ver- 
mont, persisted  in  voting  in  the  negative. 
From  the  nature  of  this  vote,  it  was  mani- 
festly impossible  that  two-thirds  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress  should  act  favorably 


108 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


on  the  amendment,  even  if  the  delay  had 
not  already  rendered  such  action  imprac- 
ticable before  the  close  of  the  session. 

The  remaining  sections  of  the  amend- 
ment were  carried  by  small  majorities. 
The  Convention,  on  the  same  day,  through 
Mr.  Tyler,  their  President,  communicated 
to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives the  amendment  they  had  adopted, 
embracing  all  the  sections,  with  a  request 
that  it  might  be  submitted  by  Congress, 
under  the  Constitution,  to  the  several  State 
.Legislatures.  In  the  Senate  this  was  im- 
mediately referred  to  a  select  committee, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Crittenden.  The  com- 
mittee, on  the  next  day  (28th  Feb.),  re- 
ported a  joint  resolution  proposing  it  as  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  but  he  was 
never  able  to  bring  the  Senate  to  a  direct 
vote  upon  it.  Failing  in  this,  he  made  a 
motion  to  substitute  the  amendment  of  the 
Peace  Convention  for  his  own. 

Mr.  Crittenden's  reasons  failed  to  con- 
vince the  Senate,  and  his  motion  was  re- 
jected by  a  large  majority  (28  to  7).  Then 
next  in  succession  came  the  memorable 
vote  on  Mr.  Crittenden's  own  resolution, 
and  it  was  in  its  turn  defeated,  as  we  have 
already  stated,  by  a  majority  of  20  against 
19. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  the 
amendment  proposed  bv  the  Convention 
was  treated  with  still  less  consideration 
than  it  had .  been  by  the  Senate.  The 
Speaker  was  refused  leave  even  to  present 
it.  Every  effort  made  for  this  purpose 
was  successfully  resisted  by  leading  Repub- 
lican members.  The  consequence  is  that 
a  copy  of  it  does  not  even  appear  in  the 
Journal. 

The  refusal  to  pass  the  Crittenden  or  any 
other  Compromise  heightened  the  excite- 
ment in  the  South,  where  many  showed 
great  reluctance  to  dividing  the  Union. 
Georgia,  though  one  of  the  cotton  States, 
under  the  influence  of  conservative  men 
like  Alex.  H.  Stephens,  showed  greater 
concern  for  the  Union  than  any  other,  and 
it  took  all  the  influence  of  spirits  like  that 
of  Robert  Toombs  to  bring  her  to  favor 
secession.  She  was  the  most  powerful  of 
the  cotton  States  and  the  richest,  as  she  is 
to-day.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1860, 
Robert  Toombs  sent  the  following  exciting 
telegraphic  manifesto  from  Washington : 

idlow- Citizens  of  Georgia :  I  came  here 
to  secure  your  constitutional  rights,  or  to 
demonstrate  to  you  that  you  can  get  no 
guarantees  for  these  rights  from  your  North- 
ern Confederates. 

The  whole  subject  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee of  thirteen  in  the  Senate  yesterday. 
I  was  appointed  on  the  committee  and  ac- 
cepted the  trust.  I  submitted  propositions, 
which,  so  far  from  receiving  decided  sup- 
port from  a  single  member  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  on  the  committee,  were  all 


treated  with  either  derision  or  contempt. 
The  vote  was  then  taken  in  committee  on 
the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  pro- 
posed by  Hon.  J.  J.  Crittenden  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  each  and  all  of  them  were  voted 
against,  unanimously,  by  the  Black  Re- 
publican members  of  the  committee. 

In  addition  to  these  facts,  a  majority  of 
the  Black  Republican  members  of  the 
committee  declared  distinctly  that  thev 
had  no  guarantees  to  offer,  which  was  si- 
lently acquiesced  in  by  the  other  members. 

The  Black  Republican  members  of  this 
Committee  of  Thirteen  are  representative 
men  of  their  party  and  section,  and  to  the 
extent  of  my  information,  truly  represent 
the  Committee  of  Thirty-three  in  the  House, 
which  on  Tuesday  adjourned  for  a  week 
without  coming  to  any  vote,  after  solemnly 
pledging  themselves  to  vote  on  all  proposi- 
tions then  before  them  on  that  date. 

That  committee  is  controlled  by  Black 
Republicans,  your  enemies,  who  only  seek  to 
amuse  you  with  delusive  hope  until  your 
election,  in  order  that  you  may  defeat  the 
friends  of  secession.  If  you  are  deceived 
by  them,  it  shall  not  be  my  fault.  I  have 
put  the  test  fairly  and  frankly.  It  is  de- 
cisive against  you ;  and  now  I  tell  you  up- 
on the  faith  of  a  true  man  that  all  further 
looking  to  the  North  for  security  for  vour 
constitutional  rights  in  the  Union  ougtt  to 
be  instantly  abandoned.  It  is  fraught  with 
nothing  but  ruin  to  yourselves  and  your 
posterity. 

Secession  by  the  fourth  of  March  next 
should  be  thundered  from  the  ballot-box 
by  the  unanimous  voice  of  Georgia  on  the 
second  day  of  January  next.  Such  a  voice 
will  be  your  best  guarantee  for  liberty, 

SECURITY,  TEANQUILLITY  and  GLORY. 

Robert  Toombs. 

IMPORTANT  telegraphic  CORRESPOND- 
ENCE. 

Atlanta,  Georgia,  December  26th,  1860. 
Hon.  S.  A.  Douglas  or  Eon.  J.  J.  Critten- 
den: 

Mr.  Toombs's  despatch  of  the  22d  inst. 
unsettled  conservatives  here.  Is  there  any 
hope  for  Southern  rights  in  the  Union  ?  We 
are  for  the  Union  of  our  fathers,  if  South- 
em  rights  can  be  preserved  in  it  If  not, 
we  are  for  secession.  Can  we  yet  hope 
the  Union  will  be  preserved  on  this  prin- 
ciple? You  are  looked  to  in  this  emer- 
gency. Give  us  your  views  by  despatch 
and  oblige 

William  Ezzard. 

Robert  W.  Sims. 
*        James  P.  Hambleton. 

Thomas  S.  Powell. 

S.  G.  Howell. 

J.  A.  Hayden. 

G.  W.  Adair. 

E.  C.  Honlestee. 


BOOK  I.] 


SECESSION, 


109 


Washington,  December  29tli,  1860. 
In  reply  to  your  inquiry,  we  have  hopes 
that  the  rights  of  the  South,  and  of  every 
State  and  section,  may  be  protected  within 
the  Union.  Don't  give  up  the  ship.  Don't 
despair  of  the  Eepublic. 

J.  J.  Crittenden. 
S.  A.  Douglas. 

Congress,  amid  excitement  which  the 
mbove  dispatches  indicate,  and  which  was 
general,  remained  for  several  weeks  com- 
paratively inactive.  Buchanan  sent  mes- 
sages, but  his  suggestions  were  distrusted 
by  the  Republicans,  who  stood  firm  in  the 
conviction  that  when  Lincoln  took  his  seat, 
and  the  new  Congress  came  in,  they  could 
pass  measures  calculated  to  restore  the 
property  of  and  protect  the  integrity  of  the 
Union,  None  of  them  believed  in  the 
right  of  secession ;  all  had  lost  faith  in 
compromises,  and  all  of  this  party  repudi- 
ated the  theory  that  Congress  had  no  right 
to  coerce  a  State.  The  revival  of  these 
questions,  revived  also  the  logical  thoughts 
of  Webster  in  his  great  reply  to  Hayne, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  then  expanded 
the  constitution  was  now  accepted  as  the 
proper  doctrine  of  Republicanism  on  that 
question.  No  partisan  sophistry  could 
snake  the  convictions  made  by  Webster, 
and  so  apt  were  his  arguments  in  their 
application  to  every  new  development  that 
tney  supplied  every  logical  want  in  the 
Northern  mind.  Republican  orators  and 
newspapers  quoted  and  endorsed,  until 
nearly  every  reading  mind  waa  imbued 
with  the  same  sentiments,  until  in  fact  the 
Northern  Democrats,  and  at  all  times  the 
Douglas  Democrats,  were  ready  to  stand 
by  the  flag  of  the  Union.  George  W. 
Curtis,  in  Harper^ s  Weekly  (a  journal  which 
at  the  time  graphically  illustrated  the  best 
Union  thoughts  and  sentiments),  in  an 
issue  as  late  as  January  12th,  1872,  well 
described  the  power  of  Webster's  grand 
ability  *  over  a  crisis  which  he  did  not  live 
to  see,  Mr.  Curtis  says  : — 

"  The  war  for  the  Union  was  a  vindica- 
tion of  that  theory  of  its  nature  which 
Webster  had  maintained  in  a  memorably 
Impregnable  and  conclusive  manner.  His 
second  speech  on  Foot's  resolution  —  the 
reply  to  Hayne — was  the  most  famous 
and  effective  speech  ever  delivered  in  this 
country.  It  stated  clearly  and  fixed  firmly 
in  the  American  mind  the  theory  of  the 
government,  which  was  not,  indeed,  origi- 
nal with  Webster,  but  which  is  nowhere 
else  presented  with  such  complete  and  in- 
exorable reason  as  in  this  speech.  If  the 
poet  be  the  man  who  is  so  consummate  a 
master  of  expression  that  he  only  says  per- 

♦  The  text  of  Webster's  speech  !n  reply  to  Hayne,  now 
■ccepte<l  aa  the  greatest  constitutional  expoeition  ever 
made  by  any  American  orator,  will  be  found  in  our  book 
deToted  to  Great  Speeches  on  (Sreat  Issues. 


fectly  what  everybody  thinks,  upon  this 
great  occasion  the  orator  was  the  poet.  He 
spoke  the  profound  but  often  obscured  and 
dimly  conceived  conviction  of  a  nation. 
He  made  the  whole  argument  of  the  civil 
war  a  generation  before  the  war  occurred, 
and  it  has  remained  unanswered  and  un- 
answerable. Mr.  Everett,  in  his  discourse 
at  the  dedication  of  the  statute  of  Webster, 
in  the  State-House  grounds  in  Boston  in 
185a,  described  the  orator  at  the  delivery 
of  this  great  speech.  The  evening  before 
he  seemed  to  be  so  careless  that  Mr.  Ever- 
ett feared  that  he  might  not  be  fully  aware 
of  the  gravity  of  the  occasion.  But  when 
the  hour  came,  the  man  was  there.  '  As  I 
saw  him  in  the  evening,  if  I  may  borrow 
an  illustration  from  his  favorite  amuse- 
ment,' said  Mr.  Everett,  '  he  was  as  un- 
concerned and  as  free  of  spirit  as  some  here 
have  often  seen  him  while  floating  in  hia 
fishing-boat  along  a  hazy  shore,  gently 
rocking  on  the  *ranquil  tide,  dropping  his 
line  here  and  there  with  the  varying  for- 
tune of  the  sport.  The  next  morning  he 
was  like  some  mighty  admiral,  dark  and 
terrible,  casting  the  long  shadow  of  his 
frowning  tiers  far  over  the  sea,  that  seemed 
to  sink  beneath  him;  his  broad  pennant 
streaming  at  the  main,  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
at  the  fore,  the  mizzen,  and  the  peak,  and 
bearing  down  like  a  tempest  upon  his  an- 
tagonist, with  all  his  canvas  strained  to  the 
wind,  and  all  his  thunders  roaring  from 
his  broadsides.'  This  passage  well  sug- 
gests that  indescribable  impression  of  great 
oratory  which  Rufus  Choate,  in  his  eulogy 
of  Webster  at  Dartmouth  College,  conveys 
by  a  felicitous  citation  of  what  Quintilian 
says  of  Hortensius,  that  there  was  some 
spell  in  the  spoken  word  which  the  reader 
misses." 

As  we  have  remarked,  thfi  Republicans 
were  awaiting  the  coming  of  a  near  and 
greater  power  to  themselves,  and  at  the 
same  time  jealously  watching  the  move- 
ments of  the  friends  of  the  South  in  Con- 
gress and  in  the  President's  Cabinet.  It 
needed  all  their  watchfulness  to  prevent 
advantages  which  the  secessionists  tnought 
they  had  a  right  to  take.  Thus  Jefferson 
Davis,  on  January  9th,  1860,  introduced 
to  the  senate  a  bill  "  to  authorize  the  sale 
of  public  arms  to  the  several  States  and 
Territories,"  and  as  secession  became  more 
probable  he  sought  to  press  its  passage,  but 
failed.  Floyd,  the  Secretary  of  War,  was 
far  more  successful,  and  his  conduct  was 
made  the  subject  of  the  following  historic 
and  most  remarkable  report : — 


Tranafer  of  V.  S.  Arnw  South  to  1859-60. 

Report  (Abstract  of)  made  by  Mr.  B. 
Stanton,  from  the  Committee  on  Military 


110 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Affairs,  in  House  of  Representatives,  Feb. 
18th,  1861. 

The  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  to 
whom  was  referred  the  resolution  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  31st  of  De- 
cember last,  instructing  said  committee  to 
inquire  and  report  to  the  House,  how,  to 
whom,  and  at  what  price,  the  public  arms 
distributed  since  the  first  day  of  January, 
A.  D.  1860,  have  been  disposed  of;  and 
also  into  the  condition  of  the  forts,  arsenals, 
dock-yards,  etc.,  etc.,  submit  the  following 
report: 

That  it  appears  from  the  papers  herewith 
submitted,  that  Mr.  Floyd,  the  late  Secre- 
tary of  War,  by  the  authority  or  under 
color  of  the  law  of  March  3d,  1825,  author- 
izing the  Secretary  of  War  to  sell  any  arms, 
ammunition,  or  other  military  stores  which 
should  be  found  unsuitable  for  the  public 
service,  sold  to  sundry  persons  and  States 
31,610  flint-lock  muskets,  altered  to  per- 
cussion, at  $2.50  each,  between  the  1st 
day  of  January,  A.  D.  1860,  and  the  1st  day 
of  January,  A.D.,  1861.  It  will  be  seen  from 
the  testimony  of  Colonel  Craig  and  Captain 
Maynadier,  that  they  differ  as  to  whether 
the  arms  so  sold  had  been  found,  "upon 
proper  inspection,  to  be  unsuitable  for  the 
public  service." 

Whilst  the  Committtee  do  not  deem  it 
important  to  decide  this  question,  they  say, 
that  in  their  judgment  it  would  require  a 
very  liberal  construction  of  the  law  to 
bring  these  sales  within  its  provisions. 

It  also  appears  that  on  the  21st  day  of 
November  last,  Mr.  Belknap  made  applica- 
tion to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  the  pur- 
chase of  from  one  to  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  United  States  muskets,  flint-locks 
and  altered  to  percussion,  at  $2.15  each; 
but  the  Secretary  alleges  that  the  acceptance 
was  made  under  a  misapprehension  of  the 
price  bid,  he  supposing  it  was  $2.50  each, 
instead  of  $2.15. 

Mr.  Belknap  denies  all  knowledge  of  any 
mistake  or  misapprehension,  and  insiste 
upon  the  performance  of  his  contract. 

The  present  Secretary  refuses  to  recog- 
nize the  contract,  and  the  muskets  have 
not  been  delivered  to  Mr.  Belknap. 

Mr.  Belknap  testifies  that  the  muskets 
were  intendea  for  the  Sardinian  govern- 
ment. 

It  will  appear  by  the  papers  herewith 
submitted,  that  on  tne  29tn  of  December, 
1859,  the  Secretary  of  War  ordered  the 
transfer  of  65,000  percussion  muskets,  40- 
000  muskets  altered  to  percussion,  and  10- 
000  percussion  rifles,  from  the  Springfield 
Armory  and  the  Watertown  and  Water- 
vliet  Arsenals,  to  the  Arsenals  at  Fayette- 
ville,  N.  C,  Charleston,  S.  C,  Augusta,  Ga., 
Mount  Vernon,  Ala.,  and  Baton  Rousre, 
La.,  and  that  the-^e  arms  were  distributed 
daring  the  spring  of  1860  as  follows : 


Percussion  Altered 

muskets,  muskets.  Bifl«a, 

To  Charleston  Arsenal,               9,280  S,720  i.OOO 

To  North  Carolina  Arsenal,      15.480  9,520  2,000 

To  Augusta  Arsenal,                  12,380  7,620  2,000 

To  Mount  Vernon  Arsenal,        9,280  6,7:;0  2,f<0Q 

To  Baton  Kouge  Arseual,          18,580  11,420  2,<M0 

65,000        40,000        10,000 

All  of  these  arms,  except  those  sent  to 
the  Ngrth  Carolina  Arsenal,*  have  been 
seized  by  the  authorities  of  the  several 
States  of  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  Loui- 
siana and  Georgia,  and  are  no  longer  in' 
possession  of  the  United  States. 

It  will  appear  by  the  testimony  herewith 
presented,  that  on  the  20th  of  October  last 
the  Secretary  of  War  ordered  forty  colum- 
biads  and  four  thirty-two  pounders  to  be 
sent  from  the  Arsenal  at  Pittsburg  to  the 
fort  on  Ship  Island,  on  the  coast  of  Missis- 
sippi, then  in  an  unfinished  condition,, and 
seventy  columbiads  and  seven  thirty-two 
pounders  to  be  sent  from  the  same  Arsenal 
to  the  fort  at  Galveston,  in  Texas,  tlie 
building  of  which  had  scarcely  been  c<tm- 
menced. 

This  order  was  given  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  without  any  report  from  the  Engineei 
department  showing  that  said  works  were 
ready  for  their  armament,  or  that  the  guns 
were  needed  at  either  of  said  points. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  testimony  of  Cap- 
tain Wright,  of  the  Engineer  department, 
that  the  fort  at  Galveston  cannot  be  ready 
for  its  entire  armament  in  less  than  about 
five  years,  nor  for  any  part  of  it  in  less  than 
two ;  and  that  the  lort  at  Ship  Island  will 
require  an  appropriation  of  $85,000  and 
one  year's  time  before  it  can  be  ready  for 
any  part  of  its  armament.  This  last  named 
fort  has  been  taken  possession  of  by  the 
State  authorities  of  Mississippi. 

The  order  of  the  late  Secretary  of  War 
(Floyd)  was  countermanded  by  the  present 
Secretary  (Holt)  before  it  had  been  fully 
executed  by  the  shipment  of  said  guns  from 
Pittsburg.f 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  communication  from 
the  Ordnance  oflBce  of  the  2l8t  of  January 
last,  that  by  the  last  returns  there  were  re- 
maining in  the  United  States  arsenals  and 
armories  the  following  small  arms,  viz : 
Percussion  muskets  and  muskets 

altered  to  percussion  of  calibre 

69 499,554 

Percussion  rifles,  calibre54 42,011 

Total 641,565 

•  These  were  afterwards  seized. 

+  The  attempted  removal  of  these  heavy  pins  from  Al- 
legheny Arsenai,  late  in  December,  1860,  created  intense 
excitement.  A  monster  mass  meeting  assembled  at  the 
call  of  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  citizens  of  all  parties 
aided  in  the  effort  to  prevent  the  shipment.  Through 
the  interposition  of  Hon.  J.  K.  Moorhead,  Hon.  R.  Mc 
Knight,  Judge  Shaler.  Judge  Wilkins,  Judge  Shannon, 
and  others  inquiry  was  instituted,  and  a  revocation  of 
the  order  obtained.  The  Secewtionists  in  Congress  bitterly 
complained  of  the  '  m«b  law  "  which  thus  interfered  with 
toe  routiiie  of  gcvemmental  affair«.-McPheiaon'8  Uutotj. 


BOOK  1.] 


SECESSION. 


HI 


Of  t'hese  60,878  were  deposited  in  the 
arsenals  of  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  and 
Louisiana,  and  are  in  the  possession  of  the 
authorities  of  those  States,  reducing  the 
number  in  possession  of  the  United  States 
to  480,687. 

Since  the  date  of  said  communication, 
the  following  additional  forts  and  military 
posts  have  been  taken  possession  of  by 

Sarties  acting  under  the  authority  of  the 
tates  in  which  they  are  respectively  situ- 
ated, viz : 

Fort  Moultrie,  South  Carolina. 

Fort  Morgan,  Alabama. 

Baton  Rouge  Barracks,  Louisiana. 

Fort  Jackson,  Louisiana. 

Fort  St.  Philip, 

Fort  Pike,  Louisiana. 

Oglethorpe  Barracks,  Georgia. 

And  the  department  has  been  unofficially 
advised  that  the  arsenal  at  Chattahoochee, 
Forts  McRea  and  Barrancas,  and  Barracks, 
have  been  seized  by  the  authorities  of 
Florida. 

To  what  further  extent  the  small  arms 
in  possession  of  the  United  States  may 
have  been  reduced  by  these  figures,  your 
committee  have  not  been  advised. 

The  whole  number  of  the  sea-board  forts 
in  the  United  States  is  fifty-seven;  their 
appropriate  garrison  in  war  would  require 
26,420  men ;  their  actual  garrison  at  this 
time  is  1,334  men,  1,308  of  whom  are  in 
the  forts  at  Governor's  Island,  New  York ; 
Fort  McHenry,  Maryland ;  Fort  Monroe, 
Virginia,  and  at  Alcatraz  Island,  California, 
in  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco. 

From  the  facts  elicited,  it  is  certain  that 
the  regular  military  force  of  the  United 
States,  is  wholly  inadequate  to  the  pro- 
tection of  the  forts,  arsenals,  dockyards, 
and  other  property  of  the  United  States 
in  the  present  disturbed  condition  of 
the  country.  The  regular  army  numbers 
only  18,000  men  when  recruited  to  its 
maximum  strength,  and  the  whole  of  this 
force  is  required  for  the  protection  of  the 
border  settlements  against  Indian  depreda- 
tions. Unless  it  is  the  intention  of  Con- 
gress that  the  forts,  arsenals,  dock-yards 
and  other  public  property,  shall  be  exposed 
to  capture  and  spoliation,  the  President 
must  be  armed  with  additional  force  for 
their  protection. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  the  law 
of  February  28th,  1795,  confers  upon  the 
President  ample  power  to  call  out  the  mili- 
tia,to  execute  the  laws  and  protect  the  public 
property.  But  as  the  late  Attorney-General 
has  given  a  different  opinion,  the  Commit- 
tee to  remove  all  doubt  upon  the  subject, 
report  the  accompanying  bill,  etc. 


OTHEB  ITEMS. 

statement  of  Arms  dMributed  by  Sale  $mc«  Ike  Jlrtt  of 
Juuiuary,  1860,  lo  whom  told  an>i  the  place  whence  $old. 

1860.  AnenaU. 

To  whom  told.             No.  DaUof  Sale.      Where  told. 

3.  W.  Zacharie  &  Co 4,000  Feb  3        St  Louia. 

Jainea  T.  Ames 1,000  Mar.  14    New  Yoi*. 

Captain  G.  Barry 80  June  11    St.  Lonis. 

W.  C.  N.  Swift 400  Aug.  31     Springfield. 

do 80  Nov.  13             do. 

State  of  Alabama 1.000  Sep.  27     Baton  Bonge. 

do 2,500  Nov.  14            do. 

State  of  Virginia .6,000  Nov.   6    Washington, 

Phillips  county,  Ark 50  Nov.  16    St.  Louis. 

G.  B.  Lamar 10,000  Nov.  24    Watenliet. 

The  arms  were  all  flint-lock  muskets 
altered  to  percussion,  and  were  all  sold  at 
$2.60  each,  except  those  purchased  by  Cap- 
tain G.  Barry  and  by  the  Phillips  county 
volunteers,  for  which  $2  each  were  paid. 

The  Mobile  Advertiser  says :  "  During 
the  past  year  135,430  muskets  have  been 
quietly  transferred  from  the  Northern  Ar- 
senal at  Springfield  alone,  to  those  in  the 
Southern  States.  We  are  much  obliged  to 
Secretary  Floyd  for  the  foresight  he  lias 
thus  displayed  in  disarming  the  North  and 
equipping  the  South  for  this  emergency. 
There  is  no  telling  the  quantity  of  arms 
and  munitions  which  were  sent  South  from 
other  Northern  arsenals.  There  is  no  doubt 
but  that  every  man  in  the  South  who  can 
carry  a  gun  can  now  be  supplied  from  pri- 
vate or  public  sources.  The  Springfield 
contribution  alone  would  arm  all  the  mili- 
tiamen of  Alabama  and  Mississippi." 

General  Scott,  in  his  letter  of  December 
2d,  1862,  on  the  early  history  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, states  that  "  Rhode  Island,  Delaware 
and  Texas  had  not  drawn,  at  the  end  of 
1860,  their  annual  quotas  of  arms  for  that 
year,  and  Massachusetts,  Tennessee,  and 
Kentucky  only  in  part;  Virginia,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama, 
Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  Kansas  were,  by 
order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  supplied 
with  their  quotas  for  1861  in  advance,  and 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  in  part." 

This  advance  of  arms  to  eight  Southern 
States  is  in  addition  to  the  transfer,  about 
the  same  time,  of  115,000  muskets  to  South- 
ern arsenals,  as  per  Mr.  Stanton's  report. 

Governor  Letcher  of  Virginia,  in  his 
Message  of  December,  1861,  says,  that  for 
some  time  prior  to  secession,  he  had  been 
engaged  in  purchasing  arms,  ammunition, 
etc. ;  among  which  were  13  Parrott  rifled 
cannon,  and  6,000  muskets.  He  desired  to 
buy  from  the  UnTted  States  Government 
10,000  more,  when  buj'ing  the  5,000,  but 
he  says  "  the  authorities  declined  to  sell 
them  to  us,  although  five  times  the  number 
were  then  in  the  arsenal  at  Washington. " 

Had  Jefferson  Davis'  bill  relative  to  the 
purchase  of  arms  become  a  law,  the  result 
might  have  been  different. 

This  and  similar  action  on  the  part  of 
the  South,  especially  the  attempted  seizure 
and  occupation  of  iforts,  convinced  many 


112 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


of  the  Republicans  that  no  compromise 
could  endure,  however  earnest  its  advo- 
cates from  the  Border  States,  and  this 
earnestness  was  unquestioned.  Besides 
their  attachment  to  the  Union,  they  knew 
that  in  the  threatened  war  they  would  be 
the  greatest  sufferers,  with  their  people  di- 
vided neighbor  against  neighbor,  their 
lands  laid  waste,  and  their  houses  destroy- 
ed. They  had  every  motive  for  earnest- 
ness in  the  effort  to  conciliate  the  disagree- 
ing sections. 

The  oddest  partisan  feature  in  the  en- 
tire preliminary  and  political  struggle  was 
the  attempt,  in  the  parlance  of  the  day,  of 
"  New  York  to  secede  from  New  York" — 
an  oddity  verified  by  Mayor  Wood's  recom- 
mendation in  favor  of  the  secession  of  New 
York  city,  made  January  6th,  1861.  The 
document  deserves  a  place  in  this  history, 
as  it  shows  the  views  of  a  portion  of  the 
citizens  then,  and  an  exposition  of  their 
interests  as  presented  by  a  citizen  before 
and  since  named  by  repeated  elections  to 
Congress. 


Mayor  Wood's  Secession  Message. 

To  the  Honorable  the  Common  Council  : 

Gentuemen: — ^We  are  entering  upon 
the  public  duties  of  the  year  under  circum- 
stances as  unprecedented  as  they  are 
gloomy  and  painful  to  contemplate.  The 
great  trading  and  producing  interests  of 
not  only  the  city  of  New  York,  but  of  the 
entire  country,  are  prostrated  by  a  mone- 
tary crisis ;  and  although  similar  calami- 
ties have  before  befallen  us,  it  is  the  first 
time  that  they  have  emanated  from  causes 
having  no  other  origin  than  that  which 
may  be  traced  to  political  disturbances. 
Truly,  may  it  now  be  said,  "  We  are  in  the 
midst  of  a  revolution  bloodless  as  yet." 
Whether  the  dreadful  alternative  implied 
as  probable  in  the  conclusion  of  this  pro- 
phetic quotation  may  be  averted,  "  no  hu- 
man ken  can  divine."  It  is  quite  certain 
that  the  severity  of  the  storm  is  unexam- 
pled in  our  history,  and  if  the  disintegra- 
tion of  the  Federal  Government,  with  the 
consequent  destruction  of  all  the  material 
interests  of  the  people  shall  not  follow,  it 
will  be  owing  more  to  the  interposition  of 
Divine  Providence,  than  to  the  inherent 
preventive  power  of  oivr  institutions,  or 
the  intervention  of  any  other  human 
agency. 

It  would  seem  that  a  dissolution  of  the 
Federal  Union  is  inevitable.  Having  been 
formed  originally  on  a  basis  of  general  and 
mutual  protection,  but  separate  local  inde- 
pendence— each  State  reserving  the  entire 
and  absolute  control  of  its  own  domestic 
affairs,  it  is  evidently  impossible  to  keep 
them  together  longer  tnan  they  deem 
themselves  fairly  treated  by  each  other,  or 


longer  than  the  interests,  honor  and  fra- 
ternity of  the  people  of  the  several  States 
are  satisfied.  Being  a  Government  created 
by  opinion,  its  continuance  is  dependent 
upon  the  continuance  of  the  sentiment 
which  formed  it.  It  cannot  be  preserved 
by  coercion  or  held  together  by  force.  A 
resort  to  this  last  dreadful  alternative 
would  of  itself  destroy  not  only  the  Gov- 
ernment, but  the  lives  and  property  of  the 
people. 

If  these  forebodings  shall  be  realized, 
and  a  separation  of  the  States  shall  occur, 
momentous  considerations  will  be  pre- 
sented to  the  corporate  authorities  of  this 
city.  We  must  provide  for  the  new  re- 
lations which  will  necessarily  grow  out  of 
the  new  condition  of  public  affairs. 

It  will  not  only  be  necessary  for  us  to 
settle  the  relations  which  we  shall  hold  to 
other  cities  and  States,  but  to  establish,  if 
we  can,  new  ones  with  a  portion  of  our 
own  State.  Being  the  child  of  the  Union, 
having  drawn  our  sustenance  from  ila 
bosom,  and  arisen  to  our  present  power 
and  strength  through  the  vigor  of  our 
mother — when  deprived  of  her  maternal 
advantages,  we  must  rely  upon  our  own 
resources  and  assume  a  position  predicated 
upon  the  new  phase  which  public  affairs 
will  present,  and  upon  the  inherent 
strength  which  our  geographical,  commer- 
cial, political,  and  financial  pre-eminence 
imparts  to  us. 

With  our  aggrieved  brethren  of  the 
Slave  States,  we  have  friendly  relations 
and  a  common  sympathy.  We  have  not 
participated  in  the  warfare  upon  their  con- 
stitutional rights  or  their  domestic  insti- 
tutions. While  other  portions  of  our  State 
have  unfortunately  been  imbued  with  the 
fanatical  spirit  wnich  actuates  a  portion 
of  the  people  of  New  England,  the  city  of 
New  York  has  unfalteringly  preserved  the 
integrity  of  its  principles  in  adherence  to 
the  compromises  of  txie  Constitution  and 
the  equal  rights  of  the  people  of  all  the 
States.  We  have  respected  the  local  in- 
terests of  every  section,  at  no  time  oppress- 
ing, but  all  the  while  aiding  in  the  aevel- 
opment  of.  the  resources  of  the  whole 
country.  Our  ships  have  penetrated  to 
every  clime,  and  so  have  New  York  capi- 
tal, energy  and  enterprise  found  their  way 
to  every  State,  and,  indeed,  to  almost  every 
county  and  town  of  the  American  Uiuon. 
If  we  have  derived  sustenance  from  the 
Union,  so  have  we  in  return  disseminated 
blessings  for  the  common  benefit  of  all. 
Therefore,  New  York  has  a  right  to  ex- 
pect, and  should  endeavor  to  preserve  a 
continuance  of  uninterrupted  intercourse 
with  every  section. 

It  is,  however,  folly  to  disguise  the  fact 
that,  judging  from  the  past.  New  York  may 
have  more  cause  of  apprehension  from  the 
aggressive  legislation  of  our  own  State 


BOOKi.]    CONGRESS   ON   THE   EVE   OF   THE   REBELLION.         US 


than  from  external  dangers.  "We  have 
already  largely  suffered  from  this  cause. 
For  the  past  five  years,  our  interests  and 
corporate  rights  have  been  repeatedly 
trampled  upon.  Being  an  integral  portion 
of  the  State,  it  has  been  assumed,  and  in 
effect  tacitly  admitted  on  our  part  by  non- 
resistance,  that  all  political  and  govern- 
mental power  over  us  rested  in  the  State 
Legislature.  Even  the  common  right  of 
taxing  ourselves  for  our  own  government, 
has  been  yielded,  and  we  are  not  permit- 
ted to  do  so  without  this  authority.   *   *  * 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  political 
Iconnection  between  the  people  of  the  city 
and  the  State  has  been  used  by  the  latter 
to  our  injury.  The  Legislature,  in  which 
the  present  partizan  majority  has  the 
power,  has  become  the  instrument  by 
which  we  are  plundered  to  enrich  their 
speculators,  lobby  agents,  and  Abolition 
politicians.  Laws  are  passed  through  their 
malign  influence  by  which,  under  forms  of 
legal  enactment,  our  burdens  have  been 
increased,  our  substance  eaten  out,  and 
our  municipal  liberties  destroyed.  Self- 
government,  though  guaranteed  by  the 
State  Constitution,  and  left  to  every  other 
county  and  city,  has  been  taken  from  us 
by  this  foreign  power,  whose  dependents 
have  been  sent  among  us  to  destroy  our 
liberties  by  subverting  our  political  sys- 
tem. 

How  we  shall  rid  ourselves  of  this  odi- 
ous and  oppressive  connection,  it  is  not 
for  me  to  determine.  It  is  certain  vthat  a 
dissolution  cannot  be  peacefully  accom- 
plished, except  by  the  consent  of  the 
Legislature  itself.  Whether  this  can  be 
obtained  or  not,  is,  in  my  judgment,  doubt- 
ful. Deriving  so  much  advantage  from 
its  power  over  the  city,  it  is  not  probable 
that  a  partizan  majority  will  consent  to  a 
separation — and  the  resort  to  force  by  vio- 
lence and  revolution  must  not  be  thought 
of  for  an  instant.  We  have  been  distin- 
guished as  an  orderly  and  law-abiding 
people.  Let  us  do  nothing  to  forfeit  this 
character,  or  to  add  to  the  present  dis- 
tracted condition  of  public  affairs. 

Much,  no  doubt,  can  be  said  in  favor  of 
the  justice  and  policy  of  a  separation.  It 
may  be  said  that  secession  or  revolution  in 
any  of  the  United  States  would  be  subver- 
sive of  all  Federal  authority,  and,  so  far 
as  the  Central  Government  is  concerned, 
the  resolving  of  the  community  into  its 
original  elements — that,  if  part  of  the 
States  form  new  combinations  and  Gov- 
ernments, other  States  may  do  the  same. 
California  and  her  sisters  of  the  Pacific 
will  no  doubt  set  up  an  independent  Re- 
public and  husbana  their  own  rich  min- 
eral resources.  The  Western  States,  equally 
rich  in  cereals  and  other  agricultural  pro- 
ducts, will  probably  do  the  same.  Then 
it  may  be  said,  why  should  not  New  York 
8 


city,  instead  of  supporting  by  her  contri- 
butions in  revenue  two-thirds  of  the  ex- 
penses of  the  United  States,  become  also 
equally  independent  f  As  a  free  city,  with 
but  nominal  duty  on  imports,  her  local 
Government  could  be  supported  without 
taxation  upon  her  people.  Thus  we  could 
live  free  from  taxes,  and  have  cheap  goods 
nearly  dutj'  free.  In  this  she  would  have 
the  whole  and  united  support  of  the 
Southern  States,  as  well  as  all  the  other 
States  to  whose  interests  and  rights  under 
the  Constitution  she  has  always  been  true. 

It  is  well  for  individuals  or  communi- 
ties to  look  every  danger  square  in  the 
face,  and  to  meet  it  calmly  and  bravely. 
As  dreadful  as  the  severing  of  the  bonds 
that  tave  hitherto  united  the  States  has 
been  in  contemplation,  it  is  now  appar- 
ently a  stern  and  inevitable  fact.  We 
have  now  to  meet  it  with  all  the  conse- 
quences, whatever  they  may  be.  If  the 
Confederacy  is  broken  up  the  Government 
is  dissolved,  and  it  behooves  every  distinct 
community,  as  well  as  every  individual,  to 
take  care  of  themselves. 

When  Disunion  has  become  a  fixed  and 
certain  fact,  why  may  not  New  York  dis- 
rupt the  bands  which  bind  her  to  a  venal 
and  corrupt  master — to  a  people  and  a 
party  that  have  plundered  her  revenues, 
attempted  to  ruin  her  commerce,  taken 
away  the  power  of  self-government,  and 
destroyed  the  Confederacy  of  which  she 
was  the  proud  Empire  City  ?  Amid  the 
gloom  which  the  present  and  prospective 
condition  of  things  must  cast  over  the 
country.  New  York,  as  a  Free  City,  may 
shed  the  only  light  and  hope  of  a  future 
reconstruction  of  our  once  blessed  Con- 
federacy. 

But  I  am  not  prepared  to  recommend 
the  violence  implied  in  these  views.  In 
stating  this  argument  in  favor  of  freedom, 
"  peaceably  if  we  can,  forcibly  if  we  must," 
let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  The  redress 
can  be  found  only  in  appeals  to  the  mag- 
nanimity of  the  people  of  the  whole  State. 
The  events  of  the  past  two  months  have 
no  doubt  effected  a  change  in  the  popular 
sentiment  of  the  State  and  National  poli- 
tics. This  change  may  bring  us  the  de- 
sired relief,  and  we  may  be  able  to  obtain 
a  repeal  of  the  law  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred, and  a  consequent  restoration  of  our 
corporate  rights. 

FerS'ANDO  Wood,  Mayor 

January  6th,  1861. 


Con^^ress  on  the  Eire  of  the  Rebellion. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  of 
the  propositions,  whether  for  compromise, 
authority  to  sup})ress  insurrection,  or  new 
laws  to  collect  duties,  had  to  be  considered 
by  the  Second  Session  of  the  36th  Con- 
gress, which  was  then,  with,  the  exception 


114 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book.  I. 


of  the  Republicans,  a  few  Americans,  and 
the  anti-Lecompton  men,  Bupporting  the 
administration  of  Buchanan.  JNo  Congress 
ever  had  so  many  and  such  grave  proposi- 
tions presented  to  it,  and  none  ever  showed 
more  exciting  political  divisions.  It  was 
composed  of  the  following  persons,  some 
of  whom  survive,  and  most  of  whom  are 
historic  characters : 

SENATE. 

John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky, 
Vice-President; 

Maine — H.  Hamlin,*  W.  P.  Fessenden. 

New  Hampshire — John  P.  Hale,  Daniel 
Clark. 

Vermont — Solomon  Foot,  J,  Collamer, 

Massachusetts — Henry  Wilson,  Charles 
Sumner. 

Rhode  Island — James  F.  Simmons,  H. 
B.  Anthony. 

Connecticut — L.  S.  Foster,  Jas.  Dixon. 

New  York — William  H.  Seward,  Preston 
King. 

New  Jersey— J.  C.  Ten  Eyck,  J.  R.  Thom- 
son. 

Pennsylvania — S.  Cameron,  Wm.  Bigler. 

Delaware — J.  A.  Bayard,  W.  Saulsbury. 

Maryland — J.  A.  Pearce,  A.  Kennedy. 

Virginia — R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  James  M. 
Mason. 

South  Carolina — Jas.  Chesnut,t  James 
H.  Hammond.t 

North  Carolina — Thomas  Bragg,  T.  L. 
Clingman. 

Alabama — B.  Fitzpatrick,  C.  C.  Clay,  Jr. 
.    Mississippi — A.  G.  Brown,  Jeff.  Davis. 

Louisiana — J.  P.  Benjamin,  John  Sli- 

am. 

Tennessee — A.  0.  P.  Nicholson,  A.  John- 
son. 

Arkansas — R.  W.  Johnson,  W.  K.  Se- 
bastian. 

Kentucky — L.  W.  Powell-  J.  J.  Critten- 
den. 

Missouri — ^Jas.  S.  Green,  Trusten  Polk. 

Ohio—B.  F.  Wade,  Geo.  E.  Pugh. 

Indiana— J.  D.  Bright,  G.  N.  Fitch. 

Illinois — S.  A.  Douglas,  L.  Trumbull. 

Michigan — Z.  Chandler,  K.  S.  Bingham. 

Florida— J).  L.  Yulee,  S.  R.  Mallory. 

Georgia — Alfred  Iverson,  Robt.  Toombs. 

Texas— John  Hemphill,  L.  T.  Wigfall. 

Wisconsin — Charles  Durkee,  J.  R.  Doo- 
little. 

Iowa — J.  M.  Grimes,  Jas.  Harlan. 

California — M.  S.  Latham.  William  M. 
Gwin. 

Minnesotor—R.  M.  Rice,  M.  S.  Wilkin- 
son. 

Oregon — Joseph  Lane,  Edward  D.  Ba- 
ker. 


•BMigned  January  17th,  1861,  and  luooeeded  by  Bon. 
I«t  M.  Horrill. 

t  Di4  not  attend. 


HOUSE  OF  representatives. 

William  Pennington,  of  New  Jersey, 
Speaker. 

Maine — D.  E.  Somes,  John  J.  Pernr,  E. 
B.  French,  F.  H.  Morse,  Israel  Washburn, 
Jr.,*  S.  C.  Foster. 

New  Hampshire — Gilman  Marston,  M. 
W.  Tappan,  T.  M.  Edwards. 

Vermont— E..  P.  Walton,  J.  S.  Morrill, 
H.  E.  Royce. 

Massachusetts — ^Thomas  D.  Eliot,  James 
Buffinton,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Alexan- 
der H.  Rice,  Anson  Burlingame,  John  B. 
Alley,  Daniel  W.  Gooch,  Charles  R.  Train, 
Eli  Thayer,  Charles  Delano,  Henry  L. 
Dawes. 

Rhode  Island — C.  Robinson,  W.  D. 
Brayton. 

Connecticut  —  Dwight  Loomis,  John 
Woodruff,  Alfred  A.  Burnham,  Orris  S. 
Ferry. 

Delaware — W.  G.  Whitelev. 

New  York — Luther  C.  Carter,  James 
Humphreys,  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  W.  B.  Ma- 
clay,  Thomas  J.  Barr,  John  Cochrane, 
Gorge  Briggs,  Horace  F.  Clark,  John  B. 
Haskin,  Chas.  H,  Van  Wyck,  William  S. 
Kenyon,  Charles  L.  Beale,  Abm.  B.  Olin, 
John  H.^Reynolds,  Jas.  B.  McKean,  G.  W. 
Palmer,  Francis  E.  Spinner,  Clark  B. 
Cochrane,  James  H.  Graham,  Richard 
Franchot,  Roscoe  Conkling,  R.  H.  Duell, 
M.  Ludley  Lee,  Charles  B.  Hoard,  Chas. 

B.  Sedgwick,  M.  Butterfield,  Emory  B. 
Pottle,  Alfred  Wells,  William  Irvine,  Al- 
fred Ely,  Augustus  Frank,  Edwin  R.  Rey- 
nolds, Elbridge  G.  Spaulding  Reuben  E, 
Fenton. 

New  Jersey — John  T.  Nixon,  John  L.  N. 
Stratton,  Gamett  B.  Adrain,  Jetur  R. 
Riggs,  Wm.  Pennington  (Speaker). 

Pennsylvania — Thomas  B.  Florence,  E. 
Joy  Morris,  John  P.  Verree,  William  Mill- 
ward,  John  Wood,  John  Hickman,  Henry 

C.  Longnecker,  Jacob  K.  McKenty,  Thad- 
deus  Stevens,  John  W.  Kellinger,  James 
H.  Campbell,  George  W.  Scranton,  Wil- 
liam H.  Dimmick,  Galusha  A.  Grow, 
James  T.  Hale,  Benjamin  F.  Junkin, 
Edward  McPherson,  Samuel  S.  Blair, 
John  Covode,  William  Montgomery, 
James  K.  Moorhead,  Robert  McKnight, 
William  Stewart.,  Chapin  Hall,  Elijah 
Babbitt. 

Maryland — Jas.  A.  Stewart,  J.  M.  Harris, 
H.  W.  Davis,  J.  M.  Kunkel,  G.  W. 
Hughes. 

Virginia — John  S.  Millson,  Muscoe  R. 
H.  Gamett,  Daniel  C.  De  Jamette,  Roger 
A.  Pryor,  Thomas  S.  Bocock,  William 
Smith,  Alex.  R.  Boteler,  John  T.  Harris, 
Albert  G.  Jenkins,  Shelton  F.  Leake, 
Henry  A.  Edmundson,  Elbert  S.  Martin, 
Sherrard  Clemens. 

*  Resigned  and  mcceeded  January  2d,  1861,  by  Hon 
Stephen  Cobam. 


BOOK  I.] 


SECESSION. 


115 


South  Carolina — John  McQueen,  Wm. 
Porcher  Miles,  Lawrence  M.  Keitt,  Mill- 
edge  L.  Bonham,  John  D  A-shmore,  Wm. 
W.  Boyce. 

North  Carolina— W.  N.  H.  Smith,  Thos. 
Ruffin,  W.  Winslow,  L.  O'B.  Branch, 
John  A.  Gilmer,  Jas.  M.  Leach,  Burton 
Craige,  Z.  B.  Vance. 

Oeorgia — Peter  E.  Love,  M.  J.  Crawford, 
Tho3.  Hardeman,  Jr.,  L.  J.  Gartrell,  J.  W. 
H.  Underwood,  James^  Jackson,  Joshua 
Hill,  John  J.  Jones. 

Alabama — Jas.  L.  Pugh,  David  Clopton, 
Svdenh.  Moore,  Geo.  S.  Houston,  W,  R. 
VV.  Cobb,  J.  A.  Stallworth,  J.  L.  M.  Curry. 

Mississippi — L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  Eeuben 
Davis,  William  Barksdale,  O.  R.  Single- 
ton, John  J.  McRae. 

Louisiana — John  E.  Bouligny,  Miles 
Taylor,  T.  G.  Davidson,  John  M.  Landrum. 
Ohio — G.  H.  Pendleton,  John  A.  Gur- 
ley,  C.  L.  Vallandigham,  William  Allen, 
James  M.  Ashley,  Wm.  Howard,  Thomas 
Corwin,  Benj.  Stanton,  John  Carey,  C.  A. 
Trimble,  Chas.  D.  Martin,  Saml.  S.  Cox, 
John  Sherman,  H.  G.  Blake,  William  Hel- 
mick,  C.  B.  Tompkins,  T.  C.  Theaker,  S. 
Edgerton,  Edward  Wade,  John  Hutchins, 
John  A.  Bingham. 

Kentucky — Henry  C.  Burnett,  Green 
Adams,  S.  O.  Peyton,  F.  M.  Bristow,  W. 
C.  Anderson,  Robert  Mallory,  Wm.  E. 
Simms,  L.  T.  Moore,  John  Y.  Brown,  J. 
W.  Stevenson. 

Tennessee — T.  A.  R.  Nelson,  Horace 
Mayryird,  R.  B.  Brabson,  William  B. 
Stokes,  Robert  Hatton,  James  H.  Thomas, 
John  V.  Wright,  James  M.  Quarles,  Em- 
erson Etheridge,  Wm.  T.  Avery. 

Indiana — Wm.  E.  Niblack,  Wm.  H. 
English,  Wm.  M'Kee  Dunn,  Wm.  S.  Hol- 
man,  David  Kilgore,  Albert  G.  Porter, 
John  G.  Davis,  James  Wilson,  Schuyler 
Colfax,  Chas.  Case,  John  U.  Pettit. 

Illinois — E.'  B.  Washburne,  J.  F.  Farns- 
worth,  Owen  Lovejoy,  Wm.  Kellogg,  I.  N. 
Morris,  John  A.  McClernand,  James  C. 
Robinson,  P.  B.  Fouke,  John  A.  Logan. 

Arkansas — Thomas  C.  Hiadman,  Albert 
Bust, 

Missouri — J.  R.  Barrett,  T.  L.  Anderson, 
John  B.  Clark,  James  Craig,  L.  H.  Wood- 
eon,  John  S.  Phelps,  John  W.  Noell. 

Michigan — William  A.  Howard,  Henry 
Waldron,  F.  W.  Kellogg,  De  W.  C.  Leach. 

Florida — George  S.  Hawkins. 

Texas — John  11.  Regan,  A.  J.  Hamilton. 

Iowa — S.  R.  Curtis,  Wm.  Vandever. 

California — Charles  L.  Scott,  John  C. 
Burch. 

Wisconsin — John  F.  Porter,  C.  C.  Wash- 
burne, C.  H.  Larrabee. 

Minnesota — Cyrus  Aldrich,  Wm.  Win- 
do  m. 

Oregon — Lansing  Stout. 

Kansas — Martin  F.  ( Jonway,  (sworn  Jan. 
80th,  1861). 


MR.  LINCOLN'S  VIEWS. 

While  the  various  propositions  above 
given  were  under  consideration,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  of  course  an  interested  observer 
from  his  home  in  Illinois,  where  he 
awaited  the  legal  time  for  taking  his  seat 
as  President.  His  views  on  the  efforts  at 
compromise  were  sought  by  the  editor  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  and  expressed  as 
follows : 

'"I  will  suffer  death  before  I  will  con- 
sent or  advise  my  friends  to  consent  to 
any  concession  or  compromise  which  looks 
like  buying  the  privilege  of  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  Government  to  which  we  have 
a  constitutional  right ;  because,  whatever 
I  might  think  of  the  merits  of  the  various 
propositions  before  Congress,  I  should  re- 
gard any  concession  in  the  face  of  menace 
aa  the  destruction  of  the  government  it- 
self, and  a  consent  on  all  hands  that  our 
system  shall  be  brought  down  to  a  level 
with  the  existing  disorganized  state  of  af- 
fairs in  Mexico.  But  this  thing  will  here- 
after be,  as  it  is  now,  in  the  hands  of  the 
people ;  and  if  they  desire  to  call  a  conven- 
tion to  remove  any  grievances  complained 
of,  or  to  give  new  guarantees  for  the  per- 
manence of  vested  rights,  it  is  not  mine  to 
oppose.' " 

JUDGE  black's  views. 

Jeremiah  S.  Black,  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  then  Buchanan's  Attorney  General, 
and  as  his  position  has  since  been  made 
the  subject  of  lengthy  controversy,  it  is 
pertinent  to  give  the  following  copious  ex- 
tract from  his  "  Opinion  upon  the  Powers 
of  the  President,"  in  response  to  an  official 
inquiry  from  the  Executive : — 

The  existing  laws  put  and  keep  the 
Federal  Government  strictly  on  the  defen- 
sive. You  can  use  force  only  to  repel  an 
assault  on  the  public  property,  and  aid  the 
courts  in  the  performance  of  their  duty. 
If  the  means  given  you  to  collect  the 
revenue  and  execute  the  other  laws  be  in- 
sufficient for  that  purpose.  Congress  may 
extend  and  make  them  more  eftectual  to 
that  end. 

If  one  of  the  States  should  declare  her 
independence,  your  action  cannot  depend 
upon  the  rightfulness  of  the  cause  upon 
which  such  declaration  is  based.  Whether 
the  retirement  of  a  State  from  the  Union 
be  the  exercise  of  a  right  reserved  in  the 
Constitution  or  a  revolutionary  movement, 
it  is  certain  that  you  have  not  in  either 
case  the  authority  to  recognize  her  in- 
dependence or  to  absolve  Ixer  from  her 
Federal  obligations.  Congress  or  the 
other  States  in  convention  assembled  must 
take  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary 
and  proper.  In  such  an  event  I  see  no 
course  for  you  but  to  go  straight  onward 
in  the  path  you  have  hitherto  trodden, 
that  is,  execute  the  laws  to  the  extent  of 


116 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


the  defensive  means  placed  in  your  hands, ' 
and  act  generally  upon  the  assumption 
that  the  present  constitutional  relations 
between  the  States  and  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment continue  to  exist  until  a  new  order 
of  things  shall  be  established,  either  by 
law  or  force. 

Whether  Congress  has  the  constitutional 
right  to  make  war  against  one  or  more 
States,  and  require  the  Executive  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  carry  it  on  by 
means  of  force  to  be  drawn  from  the  other 
States,  is  a  question  for  Congress  itself  to 
consider.  It  must  be  admitted  that  no 
such  power  is  expressly  given ;  nor  are 
there  any  words  in  the  Constitution  which 
imply  it.  Among  the  powers  enumerated 
in  article  I.  section  8,  is  that  "  to  declare 
war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal, 
and  to  make  rules  concerning  captures  on 
land  and  water.''  This  certainly  means 
nothing  more  than  the  power  to  commence, 
and  carry  on  hostilities  against  the  foreign 
enemies  of  the  nation.  Another  clause  in 
the  same  section  gives  Congress  the  power 
"  to  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia," 
and  to  use  them  within  the  limits  of  the 
State.  But  this  power  is  so  restricted  by 
the  words  which  immediately  follow,  that 
it  can  be  exercised  only  for  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing purposes :  1.  To  execute  the  laws 
of  the  Union  ;  that  is,  to  aid  the  Federal 
officers  in  the  performance  of  their  regular 
duties.  2.  To  suppress  insurrections  against 
the  States ;  but  this  is  confined  by  article 
IV.  section  4,  to  cases  in  which  the  State 
herself  shall  apply  for  assistance  against 
her  own  people.  3.  To  repel  the  invasion 
of  a  State  oy  enemies  who  come  from 
abroad  to  assail  her  in  her  own  territory. 
All  these  provisions  are  made  to  protect 
the  States,  not  to  authorize  an  attack  by 
one  part  of  the  country  upon  another ;  to 
preserve  their  peace,  and  not  to  plunge 
them  into  civil  war.  Our  forefathers  do 
not  seem  to  have  thought  that  war  was 
calculated  "  to  form  a  more  perfect  union, 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tran- 
quillity, provide  for  the  common  defence, 
promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure 
the  blessings  of.  liberty  to  ourselves  and 
our  posterity."  There  was  undoubtedly  a 
strong  and  universal  conviction  among  the 
men  who  framed  and  ratified  the  Constitu- 
tion, that  military  force  would  not  only  be 
useless,  but  pernicious  as  a  means  of  hold- 
ing the  States  together. 

If  it  be  true  that  war  cannot  be  declared, 
nor  a  system  of  general  hostilities  carried 
on  by  the  central  government  against  a 
State,  then  it  seems  to  follow  that  an 
attempt  to  do  so  would  be  ipso  facto  an  ex- 
pulsion of  such  State  from  the  Union. 
Being  treated  as  an  alien  and  an  enemy, 
she  would  be  compelled  to  act  accordingly. 
And  if  Congress  shall  break  up  the  present 
Union  by  unconstitutionally  putting  strife 


and  enmity,  and  armed  hostility,  between 
different  sections  of  the  country,  instead  of 
the  "  domestic  tranquillity "  which  the 
Constitution  was  meant  to  insure,  will  not 
all  the  States  be  absolved  from  their 
Federal  obligations?  Is  any  portion  of 
the  people  bound  to  contribute  their 
money  or  their  blood  to  carrv  on  a  contest 
like  that? 

The  right  of  the  General  Government  to 
preserve  itself  in  its  whole  constitutional 
vigor  by  repelling  a  direct  and  positive 
aggression  upon  its  propertj^  or  its  officers, 
cannot  be  denied.  But  this  is  a  totally 
different  thing  from  an  offensive  war  to 
punish  the  people  for  the  political  mis- 
deeds of  their  State  governments,  or  to 
prevent  a  threatened  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution, or  to  enforce  an  acknowledgment 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
is  supreme.  The  States  are  colleagues  of 
one  another,  and  if  some  of  them  shall 
conquer  the  rest  and  hold  them  as  sub- 
jugated provinces,  it  would  totally  destroy 
the  whole  theory  upon  which  they  are 
now  connected. 

If  this  view  of  the  subject  be  as  correct 
as  I  think  it  is,  then  the  Union  must 
totally  perish  at  the  moment  when  Con- 
gress shall  arm  one  part  of  the  people 
against  another  for  any  purpose  beyond 
that  of  merely  protecting  the  General 
Government  in  the  exercise  of  its  proper 
constitutional  functions.  I  am,  very  re- 
spectfully, yours,  etc., 

J.  S.  Black. 
To  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  above  expressions  from  Lincoln  and 
Black  well  state  the  position  cf  the  Kepub- 
lican  and  the  administration  Democrats 
on  the  eve  of  the  rebellion,  and  they  are 
given  for  that  purpose.  The  views  of  the 
original  secessionists  are  given  in  South 
Carolina's  declaration.  Those  of  the  con- 
servatives of  the  South  who  hesitated  and 
leaned  toward  the  Union,  were  best  ex- 
pressed before  the  Convention  of  Georgia 
in  the 

SPEECH  OF  ALEX.  H.  STEPHENS. 

This  step  (of  secession)  once  taken  can 
never  be  recalled ;  and  all  the  baleful  and 
withering  consequences  that  must  follow, 
will  rest  on  the  convention  for  all  coming 
time.  When  we  and  our  posterity  shall 
see  our  lovely  South  desolated  by  the  de- 
mon of  war,  irhich  this  act  oft/ours  itill  in- 
evitably invite  and  call  forth ;  when  our 
green  fields  of  waving  harvest  shall  be 
trodden  down  by  the  murderous  soldiery 
and  fiery  car  of  war  sweeping  over  our 
land  ;  our  temples  of  justice  laid  in  ashes; 
all  the  horrors  and  desolations  of  war  upon 
us;  who  but  this  Convention  irill  be  hela  re- 
sponsible for  it  f  and  who  but  him  who 
snail  have  given  his  vote  for  this  unwise 


BOOK  I.] 


SECESSION. 


117 


and  ill-timed  measure,  as  I  honestly  think 
and  believe,  shall  be  held  to  strict  account 
for  this  suicidal  act  by  the  present  genera- 
tion, and  probably  cursed  and  execrated  by 
posterity  for  all  coming  time,  for  the  wide 
and  desolating  ruin  that  will  inevitably 
follow  this  act  you  now  propose  to  perpe- 
trate? Pause,  I  entreat  you,  and  consider 
for  a  moment  what  reasons  you  can  give 
that  will  even  satisfy  yourselves  in  calmer 
moments — what  reason  you  can  give  to 
your  fellow  sufferers  in  the  calamity  that 
it  will  bring  upon  us.  What  reasons  can  you 
give  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  justify  it  f 
They  will  be  the  calm  and  deliberate 
judges  in  the  case ;  and  what  cause  or  one 
overt  act  can  you  name  or  point,  on  which 
to  rest  the  plea  of  justification?  What 
right  has  the  North  assailed  f  What  inter- 
est of  the  South  has  been  invaded  ?  What 
justice  has  been  denied?  and  what  claim 
founded  in  justice  and  right  has  been 
withheld  ?  Can  either  of  you  to-day  name 
one  governmental  act  of  wrong,  deliber- 
ately and  purposely  done  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Washington,  of  which  the  South 
has  a  right  to  complain  ?  I  challenge  the 
answer.  While  on  the  other  hand,  let  me 
show  the  facts  (and  believe  me,  gentlemen, 
I  am  not  here  the  advocate  of  the  North  ; 
but  I  am  here  the  friend,  the  firm  friend, 
and  lover  of  the  South  and  her  institutions, 
and  for  this  reason  I  speak  thus  plainly 
and  faithfully  for  yours,  mine,  and  every 
other  man's  interest,  the  words  of  truth 
and  soberness),  of  which  I  wish  you  to 
judge,  and  I  will  only  state  facts  which  are 
clear  and  undeniable,  and  which  now 
stand  as  records  authentic  in  the  history  of 
our  country.  When  we  of  the  South  de- 
manded the  slave-trade,  or  the  importation 
of  Africans  for  the  cultivation  of  our  lands, 
did  they  not  yield  the  right  for  twenty 
years  ?  When  we  asked  a  three-fifths  rep- 
resentation in  Congress  for  our  slaves,  was 
it  not  granted  ?  When  we  asked  and  de- 
mandea  the  return  of  any  fugitive  from 
justice,  or  the  recovery  of  those  persons 
owing  labor  or  allegiance,  was  it  not  incor- 
porated in  the  Constitution,  and  again  rat- 
ified and  strengthened  by  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  of  1850?  But  do  you  reply 
that  in  many  instances  they  have  violated 
this  compact,  and  have  not  been  faithful 
to  their  engagements  ?  As  individual  and 
local  communities,  they  may  have  done  so  ; 
but  not  by  the  sanction  of  Government ; 
for  that  has  always  been  true  to  Southern 
interests.  Again,  gentlemen,  look  at 
another  act :  when  we  have  asked  that 
more  territory  should  be  added,  that  we 
might  spread  the  institution  of  slavery, 
have  they  not  yielded  to  our  demands  in 
giving  us  Louisiana,  Florida  and  Texas, 
out  of  which  four  States  have  been  carved, 
and  ample  territory  for  four  more  to  be  add- 
ed in  due  time,  if  you  by  this  unwise  and 


impolitic  act  do  not  destroy  this  hope,  and 
perhaps,  by  it  lose  all,  and  have  your  last 
slave  wrenched  from  you  by  stern  military 
rule,  as  South  America  and  Mexico  were; 
or  by  the  vindictive  decree  of  a  universal 
emancipation,  which  may  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  follow  f 

But,  again,  gentlemen,  what  have  we  to 
gain  by  this  proposed  change  of  our  rela- 
tion to  the  General  Government?  We 
have  always  had  the  control  of  it,  and  can 
yet,  if  we  remain  in  it,  and  are  as  united 
as  we  have  been.  We  have  had  a  majority 
of  the  Presidents  chosen  from  the  South ; 
as  well  as  the  control  and  management  of 
most  of  those  chosen  from  the  North.  We 
have  had  sixty  years  of  Southern  Presi- 
dents to  their  twenty-four,  thus  controlling 
the  Executive  department.  So  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  we  have  had 
eighteen  from  the  South,  and  but  eleven 
from  the  North ;  although  nearly  four- 
fifths  of  the  judicial  business  has  arisen  in 
the  Free  States,  yet  a  majority  of  the  Court 
has  always  been  from  the  South.  This  we 
have  required  so  as  to  guard  against  any 
interpretation  of  the  Constitution  unfa- 
vorable to  us.  In  like  manner  we  have 
been  equally  watchful  to  guard  our  inter- 
ests in  the  Legislative  branch  of  Govern- 
ment. In  choosing  the  presiding  Presi- 
dents {pro  tern.)  of  the  Senate,  we  have 
had  twenty-four  to  their  eleven.  Speakers 
of  the  House  we  have  had  twenty-three, 
and  they  twelve.  While  the  majority  of 
the  Representatives,  fro)n  their  greater 
population,  have  always  been  from  the 
North,  yet  we  have  so  generally  secured 
the  Speaker,  because  he,  to  a  great  extent, 
shapes  and  controls  the  legislation  of  the 
country.  Nor  have  we  had  less  control  in 
every  other  department  of  the  General 
Government.  Attorney-Generals  we  have 
had  fourteen,  while  the  North  have  had 
but  five.  Foreign  ministers  we  have  had 
eighty-six,  and  they  but  fifty-four.  While 
three-fourths  of  the  business  which  de- 
mands diplomatic  agents  abroad  is  clearly 
from  the  Free  States,  from  their  greater 
commercial  interest,  yet  we  have  had  the 
principal  embassies  so  as  to  secure  the 
world-markets  for  our  cotton,  tobacco,  and 
sugar  on  the  best  possible  terms.  We  have 
had  a  vast  majority  of  the  higher  offices  of 
both  army  and  navy,  while  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  were 
drawn  from  the  North.  Equally  so  of 
Clerks,  Auditors,  and  Comptrollers  filling 
the  executive  department,  the  records  show 
for  the  last  fifty  years  that  of  the  three 
thousand  thus  employed,  we  have  had 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  same,  while 
we  have  but  one-third  of  the  white  popu- 
lation of  the  Republic. 

Again,  look  at  another  item,  ana  one,  b< 
assured,  in  which  we  have  a  great  anc 
vital  interest;  it  is  that  of  revenue,  oi 


118 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


means  of  supporting  Grovernment.  From  of- 
ficial documents,  we  learn  that  a  fraction 
over  three-fourths  of  the  revenue  collected 
for  the  support  of  the  Government  has 
uniformly  been  raised  from  the  North. 

Pause  now  while  you  can,  gentlemen, 
and  contemplate  carefully  and  candidly 
these  important  items.  Look  at  another 
necessary  branch  of  Government,  and 
learn  from  stern  statistical  facts  how  mat- 
ters stand  in  that  department.  I  mean  the 
mail  and  Post-Office  privileges  that  we 
now  enjoy  under  the  General  Government 
ae  it  has  been  for  years  past.  The  expense 
for  the  transportation  of  the  mail  in  the 
Free  States  was,  by  the  report  of  the  Post- 
master-General for  the  year  1860  a  little 
over  $13,000,000,  while  the  income  was 
$19,000,000.  But  in  the  Slave  States  the 
transportation  of  the  mail  was  $14,716,000, 
while  the  revenue  from  the  same  was  $8,- 
001,026,  leaving  a  deficit  of  $6,704,974,  to 
be  supplied  by  the  North  for  our  accom- 
modation, and  without  it  we  must  have 
been  entirely  cut  off  from  this  most  essen- 
tial branch  of  Government. 

Leaving  out  of  view,  for  the  present,  the 
countless  millions  of  dollars  you  must  ex- 
pend in  a  war  with  the  North ;  with  tens 
of  thousands  of  your  sons  and  brothers 
slain  in  battle,  and  offered  up  as  sacrifices 
upon  the  altar  of  your  ambition — and  for 
what,  we  ask  again  ?  Is  it  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  American  Government,  es- 
tablished by  our  common  ancestry,  cement- 
ed and  built  up  by  their  sweat  and  blood, 
and  founded  on  the  broad  principles  of 
Right,  Justice  and  Humanity?  And  as, 
such,  I  must  declare  here,  as  I  have  often 
done  before,  and  which  has  been  repeated 
by  the  greatest  and  wisest  of  statesmen  and 
patriots  in  this  and  other  lands,  that  it  is 
the  best  and  freest  Government — the  most 
equal  in  its  rights,  the  most  just  in  its  de- 
cisions, the  most  lenient  in  its  measures, 
and  the  most  aspiring  in  its  principles  to 
elevate  the  race  of  men,  that  the  sun  of 
heaven  ever  shone  upon.  Now,  for  you  to 
attempt  to  overthrow  such  a  government 
as  this,  under  which  we  have  lived  for 
more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century — in 
which  we  have  gained  our  wealth,  our 
standing  as  a  nation,  our  domestic  safety 
while  the  elements  of  peril  are  around  us, 
with  peace  and  tranquillity  accompanied 
with  unbounded  prosperity  and  rights  un- 
assailed — is  the  neignt  of  madness,  folly, 
and  wickedness,  to  which  1  can  neither 
,lend  my  sanction  nor  my  vote." 

The  seven  seceding  States  (South  Caro- 
lina, Mississippi,  Georgia,  Florida,  Ala- 
bama, Louisiana  and  Texas,)  as  shown  by 
data  previously  given,  organized  their 
Provisional  Government,  with  Jefferson 
Davis,  the  most  radical  secession  leader,  as 
President;  and  Alex.  H.  Stephens,  the 
most  conservative  leader,  as  Vice  Presi- 


dent. The  reasons  for  these  selections 
were  obvious ;  the  first  met  the  views  of 
the  cotton  States,  the  other  example  was 
needed  in  securing  the  secession  of  other 
States.  The  Convention  adopted  a  consti- 
tution, the  substance  of  which  is  given 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  Stephens  delivered 
a  speech  at  Savannah,  March  2l8t,  1861,  in 
explanation  and  vindication  of  this  instru- 
ment, which  says  all  that  need  be  said 
about  it : 

"  The  new  Constitution  has  put  at  rest 
forever  all  the  agitating  questions  relating 
to  our  peculiar  institutions  —  African 
slavery  as  it  exists  among  us — ^the  proper 
status  of  the  negro  in  our  form  of  civiliza- 
tion. This  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
late  rupture  and  present  revolution.  Jeffer- 
son, in  his  forecast,  had  anticipated  this  as 
the  *  rock  upon  which  the  old  Union  would 
split.'  He  was  right.  What  was  conjec- 
ture with  him,  is  now  a  realized  fact.  But 
whether  he  fully  comprehended  the  great 
truth  upon  which  that  rock  stood  and 
stands,  may  be  doubted.  The  prevailing 
ideas  entertained  by  him  and  most  of  the 
leading  statesmen  at  the  time  of  the  for- 
mation of  the  old  Constitution,  were  that 
the  enslavement  of  the  African  was  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature :  that  it 
was  wrong  in  principle,  socially,  morally, 
and  politically.  It  was  an  evil  they  knew 
not  well  how  to  deal  with,  but  the  general 
opinion  of  the  men  of  that  day  was,  that 
somehow  or  other,  in  the  order  of  Provi- 
dence, the  institution  would  be  evanescent 
and  pass  away.  This  idea,  though  not  in- 
corporated in  the  Constitution,  was  the 
prevailing  idea  at  the  time.  The  Constitu- 
tion, it  IS  true,  secured  every  essential 
guarantee  to  the  institution  while  it  should 
last,  and  hence  no  argument  can  be  justly 
used  against  the  constitutional  guarantees 
thus  secured,  because  of  the  common  sen- 
timent of  the  day.  Those  ideas,  however, 
were  fundamentally  wrong.  They  rested 
upon  the  assumption  of  the  equality  of 
races.  This  was  an  error.  It  was  a  sandy 
foundation,  and  the  idea  of  a  government 
built  upon  it ;  when  the  '  storm  came  and 
the  wind  blew,  it  fell.' 

"  Our  new  Government  is  founded  upon 
exactly  the  opposite  idea ;  its  foundations 
are  laid,  its  corner-stone  rests  upon  the 
great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to 
the  white  man.  That  slaverj' — subordina- 
tion to  the  superior  race,  is  his  natural  and 
normal  condition.  This,  our  new  Govern- 
ment, is  the  first,  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  based  upon  this  great  physical  and 
moral  truth.  This  truth  has  been  slow  in 
the  process  of  its  development,  like  all 
other  truths  in  the  various  departments  of 
science.  It  has  been  so  even  amongst  us. 
Many  who  hear  me,  perhaps,  can  recollect 
well,  that  this  truth  was  not  generally  ad- 
mitted, even  within  their  day.    The  errors 


BOOK  1.] 


SECESSION. 


119 


of  the  past  generation  still  clung  to  many 
as  late  as  twenty  years  a^o.  Those  at  the 
North  who  still  cling  to  these  errors,  with 
a  zeal  above  knowledged,  we  justly  denom- 
inate fanatics.        *        *        * 

"  In  the  conflict  thus  far,  success  has 
been,  on  our  side,  complete  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  Confederate 
States.  It  is  upon  this,  as  I  liave  stated, 
our  actual  fabric  is  firmly  planted ;  and  I 
cannot  permit  myself  to  doubt  the  ultimate 
success  of  a  full  recognition  of  this  prin- 
ciple throughout  the  civilized  and  enlight- 
ened world. 

"  As  I  have  stated,  the  truth  of  this  prin- 
ciple may  be  slow  in  development,  as  all 
truths  are,  and  ever  have  been,  in  the  var- 
ious branches  of  science.  It  was  so  with 
the  principles  announced  by  Galileo — it 
was  so  with  Adam  Smith  and  his  principles 
of  political  economy — it  was  so  with  Har- 
vey and  his  theory  of  the  circulation  of 
the  blood.  It  is  stated  that  not  a  single  one 
of  the  medical  profession,  living  at  the 
time  of  the  announcement  of  the  truths 
made  by  him,  admitted  them.  Now  they 
are  universally  acknowledged.  May  we  not, 
therefore,  look  with  confidence  to  the  ulti- 
mate universal  acknowledgment  of  the 
truths  upon  which  our  system  rests.  It  is 
the  first  government  ever  instituted  upon 
principles  of  strict  conformity  to  nature, 
and  the  ordination  of  Providence,  in  fur- 
nishing the  materials  of  human  society. 
Many  governments  have  been  founded 
upon  the  principle  of  certain  classes ;  but 
the  classes  thus  enslaved,  were  of  the  same 
race,  and  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature. 
Our  system  commits  no  such  violation  of 
nature's  laws.  The  negro,  by  nature,  or  by 
the  curse  against  Canaan,  is  fitted  for  that 
condition  which  he  occupies  in  our  sys- 
tem. The  architect,  in  the  construction  of 
buildings,  lays  the  foundation  with  the 
proper  materials,  the  granite ;  then  comes 
the  brick  or  the  marble.  The  substratum 
of  our  society  is  made  of  the  material 
fitted  by  nature  for  it,  and  by  experience 
we  know  that  it  is  best,  not  only  for  the 
superior,  but  for  the  inferior  race  that  it 
should  be  so.  It  is,  indeed,  in  conformity 
with  the  ordinance  of  the  Creator.  It  is 
not  for  us  to  inquire  into  the  wisdom  of 
His  ordinances,  or  to  question  them.  For 
His  own  purposes  He  has  made  one  race 
to  differ  from  another,  as  He  has  made 
'one  star  to  differ  from  another  star  in 
glory.'  • 

"  The  great  objects  of  humanity  are  best 
attained  when  conformed  to  His  laws  and 
decrees,  in  the  formation  of  governments, 
as  well  as  in  all  things  else.  Our  Confed- 
eracy is  founded  upon  principles  in  strict 
conformity  with  these  laws.  This  stone 
which  was  first  rejected  by  the  first  builders 
'  is  become  the  chief  stone  of  the  corner '  in  i 
our  new  edifice.  I 


"The  progress  of  disintegration  in  the 
old  Union  may  be  expected  to  go  on  with 
almost  absolute  certainty.  We  are  now 
the  nucleus  of  a  growing  power,  which,  if 
we  are  true  to  ourselves,  our  destiny,  and 
high  mission,  will  become  the  controlling 
power  on  this  continent.  To  what  extent 
accessions  will  go  on  in  the  process  of  time, 
or  where  it  will  end,  the  future  will  deter- 
mine." 

It  was  determined  by  the  secession  of 
eleven  States  in  all,  the  Border  States  ex- 
cept Missouri,  remaining  in  the  Union,  and 
West  Virginia  dividing  from  old  Virginia 
for  the  purpose  of  keeping  her  place  in  the 
Union. 

The  leaders  of  the  Confederacy  relied  to 
a  great  extent  upon  the  fact  that  President 
Buchanan,  in  his  several  messages  and  re- 
plies to  commissioners,  and  in  the  expla- 
nation of  the  law  by  his  Attorney-Greneral, 
had  tied  his  own  hands  against  any  attempt 
to  reinforce  the  garrisons  in  the  Southern 
forts,  and  they  acted  upon  this  faith  and 
made  preparations  for  their  capture.  The 
refusal  of  the  administration  to  reinforce 
Fort  Moultrie  caused  the  resignation  of 
General  Cass,  and  by  this  time  the  Cabinet 
was  far  from  harmonious.  As  early  as  the 
10th  of  December,  Howell  Cobb  resigned 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  because  of 
his  "  duty  to  Georgia ;  "  January  26th, 
John  B.  Floyd  resigned  because  Buchanan 
would  not  withdraw  the  troops  from  South- 
ern forts ;  and  before  that,  Attorney  Gene- 
ral Black,  without  publicly  expressing  hia 
views,  also  resigned.  Mr.  Buchanan  saw 
the  wreck  around  him,  and  his  adminis- 
tration closed  in  profound  regret  on  the 
part  of  many  of  his  northern  friends,  and, 
doubtless,  on  his  own  part.  His  early 
policy,  and  indeed  up  to  the  close  of  1860, 
must  have  been  unsatisfactory  even  to 
himself,  for  he  supplied  the  vacancies  in 
his  cabinet  by  devoted  Unionists— by  Ph  ilip 
F.  Thomas  of  Maryland,  Gen'l  Dix  of  New 
York,  Joseph  Holt  of  Kentucky,  and  Ed- 
win M.  Stanton  of  Pennsylvania — men  who 
held  in  their  hands  the  key  to  nearly  every 
situation,  and  who  did  much  to  protect  and 
restore  the  Union  of  the  States.  In  the 
eyes  of  the  North,  the  very  last  acts  of 
Buchanan  were  the  best. 

With  the  close  of  Buchanan  s  adminis- 
tration all  eyes  turned  to  Lincoln,  and 
fears  were  entertained  that  the  date  fixed 
by  law  for  the  counting  of  the  electoral 
vote — February  15th,  1861 — would  inau- 
gurafe  violence  and  bloodshed  at  the  seat 
of  go  rernment.  It  passed,  however,  peace- 
ably. Both  Houses  met  at  12  high  noon 
in  the  hall  of  the  House,  Vice-President 
Breckinridge  and  Speaker  Pennington, 
both  democrats,  sitting  side  by  side,  and 
the  count  was  made  without  serious  chal- 
lenge or  question. 

On  the  11th  of  February  Mr.  Lincoln 


120 


AMERICAN    I'OLITICS. 


[book:  I. 


left  his  home  for  Washington,  intending 
to  perform  the  journey  in  easy  stages.  On 
parting  with  his  friends  at  Springfield,  he 
said: 

"  My  Friends :  No  one,  in  my  position, 
can  realize  the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  part- 
ing. To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  I  am. 
Here  I  have  lived  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century.  Here  my  children  were  born, 
and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried.  I  know 
not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  I  go 
to  assume  a  task  more  difficult  than  that 
which  has  devolved  upon  any  other  man 
since  the  days  of  Washington.  He  never 
would  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid 
of  Divine  Providence,  upon  which  he  at 
all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  suc- 
ceed without  the  same  Divine  blessing 
which  sustained  him;  and  on  the  same 
Almighty  Being  I  place  my  reliance  for 
support.  And  I  hope  you,  my  friends, 
will  all  pray  that  I  might  receive  that  Di- 
vine assistance,  without  which  I  cannot 
succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain. 
Again,  I  bid  you  all  an  affectionate  fare- 
well." 

Lincoln  passed  through  Indiana,  Ohio, 
New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania 
on  his  way  to  the  Capitol.  Because  of 
threats  made  that  he  should  not  reach  the 
Capitol  alive,  some  friends  in  Illinois  em- 
ployed a  detective  to  visit  Washington  and 
Baltimore  in  advance  of  his  arrival,  and 
he  it  was  who  discovered  a  conspiracy  in 
Baltimore  to  mob  and  assassinate  him.  He 
therefore  passed  through^  Baltimore  in  the 
night,  two  days  earlier  than  was  antici- 
pated, and  reached  Washington  in  safety. 
On  the  22d  of  February  he  spoke  at  Inde- 
pendence Hall  and  said : 

"  All  the  political  sentiments  I  entertain 
have  been  drawn,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments 
which  originated  in,  and  were  given  to  the 
world  from,  this  hall.  I  never  had  a  feel- 
ing, politically,  that  did  not  spring  from 
the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence. 
******** 

"It  was  not  the  mere  matter  of  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  Colonies  from  the  mother- 
land, but  that  sentiment  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  which  gave  liberty,  not 
alone  to  the  people  of  this  country,  but,  I 
hope,  to  the  world  for  all  future  time.  It 
waa  that  which  gave  promise  that,  in  due 
lime,  the  weight  would  be  lifted  from  the 
shoulders  of  men.  This  is  the  «entiro.ent 
embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. Now,  my  friends,  can  this  country 
be  saved  upon  that  basis?  If  it  can,  I  wiil 
consider  myself  one  of  the  happiest  men 
in  the  world,  if  I  can  help  to  save  it.  If  it 
cannot  be  saved  upon  that  principle,  it 
will  be  truly  awful !  But  if  this  country 
eannot  be  saved  without  giving  up  the 
principle,  I  was  about  to  say,   I  would 


rather  be  assassinated  on  the  spot  than 
surrender  it.'  ***** 
I  have  said  nothing  but  what  I  am  willing 
to  live  by,  and  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of  Al- 
mighty God,  to  die  by  ! " 


liincoln'a  First  Administration. 

Such  was  the  feeling  of  insecurity  that 
the  President-elect  was  followed  to  Wash- 
ington by  many  watchful  friends,  while 
Gen'l  Scott,  Col.  Sumner,  Major  Hunter 
and  the  members  of  Buchanan's  Cabinet 
quickly  made  such  arrangements  as  secured 
his  safety.  Prior  to  his  inauguration  he 
took  every  opportunity  to  quell  the  still  - 
rising  political  excitement  by  assuring  the 
Southern  people  of  his  kindly  feelings,  and 
on  the  27th  of  February,*  "when  waited 
upon  by  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council 
of  Washington,  he  assured  them,  and 
through  them  the  South,  that  he  had  no 
disposition  to  treat  them  in  any  other  way 
than  as  neighbors,  and  that  he  had  no  dis- 
position to  withhold  from  them  any  consti- 
tutional right.  He  assured  the  people  that 
they  would  have  all  of  their  rights  under 
the  Constitution — '  not  grudgingly,  but 
freely  and  fairly.' " 

He  was  peacefully  inaugurated  on  the 
4th  of  March,  and  yet  Washington  was 
crowded  as  never  before  by  excited  multi- 
tudes. The  writer  himself  witnessed  the 
military  arrangements  of  Gen'l  Scott  for 
preserving  the  peace,  and  with  armed  ca- 
valry lining  every  curb  stone  on  the  line 
of  march,  it  would  have  been  difficult  in- 
deed to  start  or  continue  a  riot,  though  it 
was  apparent  that  many  in  the  throng  were 
ready  to  do  it  if  occasion  offered. 

The  inaugural  ceremonies  were  more 
than  usually  impressive.  On  the  eastern 
front  of  the  capital,  surrounded  by  such  of 
the  members  of  the  Senate  and  House  who 
had  not  resigned  their  seats  and  entered 
the  Confederacy,  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  headed  by 
Chief  Justice  Taney,  the  author  of  the 
Dred  Scott  decision ;  the  higher  officers  of 
Army  and  Navy,  while  close  by  the  side  of 
the  new  President  stood  the  retiring  one — 
James  Buchanan — tall,  dignified,  reserved, 
and  to  the  eye  of  the  close  observer  appa- 
rently deeply  grieved  at  the  part  his  party 
and  position  had  compelled  him  to  play  in 
a  National  drama  which  was  now  reac-liing 
still  another  crisis.  Near  by,  too,  stood 
Douglas  (holding  Lincoln's  hat)  more 
gloomy  than  was  his  wont,  but  determined 
as  he  had  ever  been.  Next  to  the  two 
Presidents  he  was  most  observed. 

If  the  country  could  then  have  been 
pacified,  Lincoln's  inaugural  was  well  cal- 
culated to  do  it.  That  it  exercised  a 
wholesome  influence  in  behalf  of  the  Union, 

*  From  the  "  History  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  th« 
Overthrow  of  Slarery,"  by  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold. 


...^raUyk^c/r^ 


BOOKi.]        MR.    LINCOLN'S    FIRST    ADMINISTRATION. 


121 


and  especially  in  the  border  States,  soon 
became  apparent.  Indeed,  its  sentiments 
seemed  for  weeks  to  check  the  wild  spirit 
of  secession  in  the  cotton  States,  and  it 
took  all  the  efforts  of  their  most  fiery  ora- 
tors to  rekindle  the  flame  which  seemed  to 
have  been  at  its  highest  when  Major  An- 
derson waa  compelled  to  evacuate  Fort 
Moultrie. 

It  is  but  proper  in  this  connection,  to 
make  a  few  quotations  from  the  inaugural 
address,  for  Lincoln  then,  as  he  did  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  better  reflected 
the  more  popular  Republican  sentiment 
than  any  other  leader.  The  very  first 
thought  was  upon  the  theme  uppermost  in 
the  minds  of  all.     We  quote : 

"  Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States  that  by 
the  accession  of  a  Republican  Administra- 
tion their  property  and  their  peace  and 
personal  security  are  to  be  endangered. 
There  has  never  been  any  reasonable  cause 
for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the 
while  existed  and  been  open  to  their  in- 
spection. It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  pub- 
lished speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses 
you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of  those 
speeches  when  I  declare  that  '  I  have  no 
purpose  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States 
w^here  it  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  law- 
ful right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclina- 
tion to  do  so.'  Those  who  nominated  and 
elected  me  did  so  with  full  knowledge  that 
I  had  made  this  and  many  similar  decla- 
rations, and  had  never  recanted  them.  And 
more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform 
for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a  law  to  them- 
selves and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic 
resolution  which  I  now  read : 

'  Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  invio- 
late of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  es- 
pecially the  right  of  each  State  to  order 
and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions 
according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively, 
is  essential  to  the  balance  of  power  on  which 
the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  politi- 
cal fabric  depend,  and  we  denounce  the 
lawless  invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil 
of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under 
what  pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of 
crimes.' 

I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments ;  and  in 
doing  so,  I  only  press  upon  the  public  at- 
tention the  most  conclusive  evidence  of 
which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the  prop- 
erty, peace,  and  security  of  no  section  are 
to  be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the  now 
incoming  Administration.  I  add,  too,  that 
all  the  protection  which,  consistently  with 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  be  given, 
will  be  cheerfully  given  to  all  the  States 
when  lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever 
cause — as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to 
Wiother." 


After  conveying  this  peaceful  assurance, 
he  argued  the  question  in  his  own  way,  and 
in  a  way  matchless  for  its  homely  force  : 

"  Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  sepa- 
rate. We  cannot  remove  our  respective 
sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  im- 
passable wall  between  them.  A  husband 
and  wife  may  be  divorced,  and  go  out  of 
the  presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each 
other ;  but  the  difierent  parts  of  our  coun- 
try cannot  do  this.  They  cannot  but  re- 
main face  to  face  ;  and  intercourse,  either 
amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between 
them.  Is  it  possible,  then,  to  make  that  in- 
tercourse more  advantageous  or  more  satis- 
factory after  separation  than  before  f  Can 
aliens  make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can 
make  laws  ?  Can  treaties  be  more  faith- 
fully enforced  between  aliens  than  laws  can 
among  friends  ?  Suppose  you  go  to  war, 
you  cannot  fight  always  ;  and  when  after 
much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on 
either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  old 
questions,  as  to  terms  of  intercourse,  are 
again  upon  you. 

"  This  country,  with  its  institutions,  be- 
longs to  the  people  who  inhabit  it.  When- 
ever they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing 
Government  they  can  exercise  their  con- 
stitutional right  of  amending  it,  or  their 
revolutionary  right  to  dismember  or  over- 
throw it.  I  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  many  worthy  and  patriotic  citizens  are 
desirous  of  having  the  National  Constitu- 
tion amended.  While  I  make  no  recom- 
mendation of  amendments,  I  fully  recog- 
nize the  rightful  authority  of  the  people 
over  the  whole  subject,  to  be  exercised  in 
either  of  the  modes  prescribed  in  the  in- 
strument itself;  and  I  should  under  exist- 
ing circumstances,  favor  rather  than  op- 
pose a  fair  opportunity  being  afforded  the 
people  to  act  upon  it.  I  will  venture  to  add 
that  to  me  the  convention  mode  seems  pref- 
erable, in  that  it  allows  amendments  to  ori- 
ginate with  the  people  themselves,  instead 
of  only  permitting  them  to  take  or  reject 
propositions  originated  by  others,  not  es- 
pecially chosen  for  the  purpose,  and  which 
might  not  be  precisely  such  as  they  would 
wish  to  either  accept  or  refuse.  I  under- 
stand a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution— ^which  amendment,  however,  I 
have  not  seen — has  passed  Congress,  to  the 
effect  that  the  Federal  Government  shall 
never  interfere  with  the  domestic  institu- 
tions of  the  States,  including  that  of  per- 
sons held  to  service.  To  avoid  misconstruc- 
tion of  what  I  have  said,  I  depart  from  my 
purpose  not  to  speak  of  particular  amend- 
ments so  far  as  to  say  that,  holding  such  a 
f)rovision  now  to  be  implied  constitutional 
aw,  I  have  no  objection  to  its  being  made 
express  and  irrevocable. 

"  The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his 
authority  from  the  people,  and  they  have 
conferrei  none  upon  him  to  fix  terms  for 


122 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


the  separation  of  the  States.  The  people 
themselves  can  do  this  also  if  they  choose  ; 
but  the  Executive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  His  duty  is  to  administer  the 
present  Government,  as  it  came  to  his  hands, 
and  to  transmit  it,  unimpaired  by  him,  to 
his  successor.  *  *  * 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow- 
countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  mo- 
mentous issue  of  civil  war.  The  Grovern- 
ment  will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no 
conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  ag- 
gressors. You  have  no  oath  registered'  in 
heaven  to  destroy  the  Government,  while  I 
shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  'pre- 
serve, protect  and  defend  it.' 

"  I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  ene- 
mies but  friends.  We  must  not  be  ene- 
mies. Though  passion  may  have  strained, 
it  must  not  hreak  our  bonds  of  affection. 
The  mystic  chords  of  memory,  stretching 
from  every  battle-field  and  patriot  grave  to 
every  living  heart  and  hearth-stone,  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the 
chorus  of  the  union,  when  again  touched, 
as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels 
of  our  nature." 

Lincoln  appointed  a  Cabinet  in  thorough 
accord  with  his  own  views,  and  well  suited 
to  whatever  shades  of  difierence  there  were 
in  the  Republican  party.  Wm.  H.  Seward, 
Secretary  of  State,  and  Salmon  P.  Chase 
represented  the  more  advanced  anti-slavery 
element;  General  Simon  Cameron,  Secre- 
tary of  War,  from  the  first  saw  onlv  a  pro- 
longed war  in  which  superior  I^orthem 
resources  and  appliances  would  surely  win, 
while  Seward  expressed  the  view  that  "  all 
troubles  would  be  over  in  three  months  ;" 
Gideon  Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy; 
Caleb  B.  Smith  of  the  Interior ;  Edward 
Bates,  Attorney  General,  and  Montgomery 
Blair,  Postmaster  General,  represented  the 
more  conservative  Republican  view — the 
two  last  named  being  well  adapted  to 
retaining  the  National  hold  on  the  Border 
States. 

Political  events  now  rapidly  succeeded 
each  other.  As  early  as  March  11,  John 
Forsyth  of  Alabama  and  Martin  J.  Craw- 
ford of  Georgia,  submitted  to  the  Secretary 
of  State  a  proposition  for  an  unofficial  inter- 
view. Mr.  Seward  the  next  day,  from 
"purely  public  considerations,"  declined. 
On  the  13th  the  same  gentlemen  sent  a 
sealed  communication,  saying  they  had 
been  duly  accredited  by  the  Confederate 
government  as  Commissioners,  to  negotiate 
for  a  speedy  adjustment  of  all  questions 
growing  out  of  the  political  separation  of 
seven  States,  which  had  formed  a  govern- 
ment of  their  own,  etc.  They  closed  this 
remarkable  document  by  requesting  the 
Secretary  of  State  to  appoint  as  early  a  day 
as  possible  in  order  that  they  may  present 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States  the 
credentials  which  they  bear,  and  the  objects 


of  the  mission  with  which  they  are  charged. 

Mr.  Seward's  reply  in  substance,  said 
that  his  "  official  duties  were  confined, 
subject  to  the  direction  of  the  President,  to 
the  conducting  of  the  foreign  relations  of 
the  country,  and  do  not  at  all  embrace 
domestic  questions  or  questions  arising  be- 
tween the  several  States  and  the  Federal 
Government,  is  unable  to  comply  with  the 
request  of  Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford, 
to  appoint  a  day  on  which  they  may  pre- 
sent the  evidences  of  their  authority  and 
the  object  of  their  visit  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States.  On  the  contrary,  he  is 
obliged  to  state  to  Messrs.  Forsyth  and 
Crawford  that  he  has  no  authority,  nor  is 
he  at  liberty  to  recognize  them  as  diploma- 
tic agents,  or  hold  correspondence  or  other 
communication  with  them." 

An  extended  correspondence  followed, 
but  the  administration  in  all  similar  cases, 
refused  to  recognize  the  Confederacy  as  a 
government  in  any  way.  On  the  13th 
of  April  the  President  granted  an  inter- 
view to  Wm.  Ballard  Preston,  Alex.  H. 
Stuart,  and  George  W.  Randolph,  who  had 
been  sent  by  the  Convention  of  Virginia, 
then  in  session,  under  a  resolution  recited 
in  the  President's  reply,  the  text  of  which 
is  herewith  given : — 

Gentlemen:  As  a  committee  of  the 
Virginia  Convention,  now  in  session,  you 
present  me  a  preamble  and  resolution  in 
these  words : 

"  Whereas,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Con 
vention,  the  uncertainty  which  prevails  in 
the  public  mind  as  to  the  policy  which  the 
Federal  Executive  intends  to  pursue  toward 
the  seceded  States  is  extremely  injurious 
to  the  industrial  and  commercial  interests 
of  the  country,  tends  to  keep  up  an  excite- 
ment which  is  unfavorable  to  the  adjust- 
ment of  pending  difficulties,  and  threatens  a 
disturbance  of  the  public  peace :  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three 
delegates  be  appointed  to  wait  on  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  United  States,  present  to  him 
this  preamble  and  resolution,  and  respect- 
fully ask  him  to  communicate  to  this  Con- 
vention the  policy  which  the  Federal  Exe- 
cutive intends  to  pursue  in  regard  to  the 
Confederate  States." 

"  In  answer  I  have  to  8ay,-that,  having 
at  the  beginning  of  my  official  term  ex- 
pressed my  intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I 
was  able,  it  is  with  deep  regret  and  some 
mortification  I  now  learn  that  there  is 
great  and  injurious  uncertainty  in  the  pub- 
lic mind  as  to  what  that  policy  is,  and 
what  course  I  intend  to  pursue. 

"  Not  having  as  yet  seen  occasion  to 
change,  it  is  now  my  purpose  to  pursue  the 
coursemarked  out  in  tne  inaugural  address. 
I  commend  a  carefiil  consideration  of  the 
whole  document  as  the  best  expression  J 
can  give  of  my  purposes.  As  I  then  and 
therein  said,  I  now  repeat: 


BOOKi.]        MR.   LINCOLN'S    FIRST   ADMINISTRATION. 


123 


"  The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used 
to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property 
and  places  belonging  to  the  Government, 
and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts  ;  but 
beyond  what  is  necessary  for  these  objects 
there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force 
against  or  among  the  people  anywhere." 

"  By  the  words  'property  and  places  be- 
longing to  the  Government'  I  chiefly 
allude  to  the  military  posts  and  property 
which  were  in  the  possession  of  the  Govern- 
ment when  it  came  into  my  hands. 

"  But  if,  as  now  appears  to  be  true,  in 
pursuit  of  a  purpose  to  drive  the  United 
States  authority  from  these  places,  an  un- 
provoked assault  has  been  made  upon  Fort 
Sumter,  I  shall  hold  myself  at  liberty  to 
repossess,  if  I  can,  like  places  which  had 
been  seized  before  the  Government  was 
devolved  upon  me.  And,  in  any  event,  I 
shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  repel  force 
by  force. 

"  In  case  it  proves  true  that  Forr.  Sum- 
ter has  been  assaulted,  as  is  reported,  I 
shall  perhaps  cause  the  United  States  mails 
to  be  withdrawn  from  all  the  States  which 
claim  to  have  seceded,  believing  that  the 
commencement  of  actual  war  against  the 
Government  justifies  and  possibly  demands 
it." 

"  I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  consider 
the  military  posts  and  property  situated 
within  the  States  which  claim  to  have 
seceded  as  yet  belonging  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  as  much  as  they 
did  before  the  supposed  secession. 

"  Whatever  else  I  may  do  for  the  pur- 
pose, I  shall  not  attempt  to  collect  the 
auties  and  imposts  by  any  armed  invasion 
of  any  part  of  the  country — not  meaning 
by  this,  however,  that  I  may  not  land  a 
force  deemed  necessary  to  relieve  a  fort 
upon  the  border  of  the  country. 

"  From  the  fact  that  I  have  quoted  a 
part  of  the  inaugural  address,  it  must  not 
inferred  that  I  repudiate  any  other  part, 
the  whole  of  which  I  reaffirm,  except  so 
far  as  what  I  now  say  of  the  mails  may  be 
regarded  as  a  modification." 

we  have  given  the  above  as  not  only 
fair  but  interesting  samples  of  the  semi- 
official and  official  transactions  and  corre- 
spondence of  the  time.  To  give  more 
could  not  add  to  the  interest  of  what  is  but 
a  description  of  the  political  situation. 

The  Border  states  and  some  others  were 
"halting  between  two  opinions."  North 
Carolina  at  first  voted  down  a  proposition 
to  secede  by  46,671  for,  to  47,333  against, 
but  the  secessionists  called  another  con- 
vention in  May,  the  work  of  which  the 
Eeople  ratified,  the  minority,  however, 
eing  very  large. 

Before  Lincoln  had  entered  office  most 
of  the  Southern  forts,  arsenals,  docks,  cus- 
tom houses,  etc.,  had  been  seized,  and  now 
that  preparations  were  being  made  for  ac- 


tive warfare  by  the  Confederacy,  many  offi- 
cers of  the  army  and  navy  resigned  or  de- 
serted, and  joined  it.    The  most  notable 
were  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  for  a 
time  hesitated  as  to  his  "  duty,"  and  Gene- 
ral David  E.  Twiggs,  the  second  officer  in 
rank  in  the  United  States  Army,  but  who 
had  purposely  been  placed  by  Secretary 
Floyd  in  command  of  the  Department  of 
Texas  to  facilitate  his  joining  the  Con- 
federacy, which  he  intended  to  do  from 
the  beginning.    All  officers  were  permitted 
to  go,  the  administration  not  seeking  to 
restrain  any,  under  the  belief  that  until 
some  open  act  of  war  was  committed  it 
ought  to  remain  on  the  defensive.     This 
was  wise  political  policy,  for  it  did  more 
than  all  else  to  hold  the  Border  States,  the 
position  of  which  Douglas  understood  fiilly 
as  well  as  any  statesman  of  that  hour.     It 
is  remarked  of  Douglas  (in  Arnold's  "  His- 
tory of  Abraham  Lincoln")  that  as  early 
as  January  1,  1861,  he  said  to  General 
Charles  Stewart,  of  New  York,  who  had 
made  a  New  Year's  call  at  his  residence  in 
Washington,  and  inquired,  "  What  will  be 
the  result  of  the  efforts  of  Jefferson  Davis, 
and  his  associates,  to  divide  the  Union?" 
"  Rising,  and  looking,"  says  my  informant, 
"  like  one  inspired,  Douglas  replied,  '  The 
cotton  States  are  making  an  effort  to  draw 
in  the  border  States  to  their  schemes  of 
secession,  and  I  am  but  too  fearful  they 
will  succeed.    If  they  do  succeed,  there 
will  be  the  most  terrible  civil  war  the 
world  has  ever  seen,  lasting  for  years,' 
Pausing  a  moment,  he  exclaimed,  'Vir- 
ginia will  become  a  charnel  house,  but  the 
end  will   be  the  triumph  of  the  Union 
cause.     One  of  their  first  efforts  will  be  to 
take  possession  of  this  Capitol  to  give  them 
prestige  abroad,  but  they  will  never  suc- 
ceed in  taking  it — the  North  will  rise  en 
masse  to  defend  it ; — but  Washington  will 
become  a  city  of  hospitals — the  churches 
will  be  used  for  the  sick  and  wounded — 
even  this  house  (Minnesota  block,  after- 
wards, and  during  the  war,  the  Douglas 
Hospital)  may  be  devoted  to  that  purpose 
before  the  end  of  the  war.'    The  friend  to 
whom  this  was  said  inquired,  '  What  justi- 
fication  for  all    this?'     Douglas  replied, 
'There  is  no  justification,  nor  any  pretense 
of  any — if  they  remain  in  the  Union,  I  will 
go  as  far  as  the  Constitution  will  permit,  to 
maintain  their  just  rights,  and  I  do  not 
doubt  a  majority  of  Congress  would  do  the 
same.     But,'  said  he,  again  rising  on  his 
feet,  and  extending  his  arm,  '  if  the  South- 
em  States   attempt   to  secede  from  this 
Union,  without  further  cause,  I  am  in  fa- 
vor of  their  having  just  so  many  slaves, 
and  just  so  much  slave  territory,  as  they 
can  hold  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and 

NO  MORE.'  " 

In  the  border  states  of  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Mis- 


124 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Bouri  there  were  sharp  political  contests 
between  the  friends  of  secession  and  of 
the  Union.  Ultiraatelv  the  Unionists  tri- 
umphed in  Maryland,  kentucky  and  Mis- 
Bouri — in  the  latter  state  by  the  active  aid 
of  U.  S.  troops — in  Maryland  and  Ken- 
tucky by  militarj^  orders  to  arrest  any  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  conspiring  to  take 
their  states  out.  In  Tennessee,  the  Union 
men,  under  the  lead  of  Andrew  Johnson, 
Governor  ("Parson")  Brownlow,  Horace 
Maynard  and  others,  who  made  a  most  gal- 
-lant  fight  to  keep  the  state  in,  and  they  had 
the  sympathy  ol  the  majority  of  the  people 
of  East  Tennessee.  The  Secessionists  took 
Virginia  out  April  17th,  and  North  Caro- 
lina May  20th.  The  leading  Southerners 
encouraged  the  timid  and  hesitating  by 
Baying  the  North  would  not  make  war; 
that  the  political  divisions  would  be  too 
great  there,  and  they  were  supported  in  this 
view  by  the  speeches  and  letters  of  lead- 
ers like  Clement  L.  Vallandigham.  On 
the  other  hand  they  roused  the  excitable 
by  warlike  preparations,  and,  as  we  have 
stated,  to  prevent  reconsideration  on  the 
part  of  those  who  had  seceded,  resolved 
to  fire  upon  Sumter.  Beauregard  acted 
under  direct  instructions  from  the  govern- 
ment at  Montgomery  when  he  notified  Ma- 
jor Anderson  on  the  11th  of  April  to  sur- 
render Fort  Sumter.  Anderson  replied  that 
he  would  evacuate  on  the  15th,  but  the 
original  summons  called  for  surrender  by 
the  12th,  and  they  opened  their  fire  in  ad- 
vance of  the  time  fixed  for  evacuation — a 
fact  which  clearly  established  the  purpose 
to  bring  about  a  collision.  It  was  this  ag- 
gressive spirit  which  aroused  and  united 
the  North,  and  made  extensive  political 
division  therein  impossible. 

The  Southern  leaders,  ever  anxious  for 
the  active  aid  of  the  Border  States,  soon 
saw  that  they  could  only  acquire  it  through 
higher  sectional  excitement  than  any  yet 
cultivated,  and  they  acted  accordingly. 
Roger  A.  Pryor,  in  a  speech  at  Richmond 
April  10th,  ^ave  expression  to  this  thought, 
when  he  said  in  response  to  a  serenade : — 

"  Gentlemen,  I  thank  you,  especially 
that  you  have  at  last  annihilated  this  ac- 
cursed Union,  [applause,]  reeking  with 
corruption,  and  insolent  with  excess  of 
tyranny.  Thank  God,  it  is  at  last  blasted 
and  riven  by  the  lightning  wrath  of  an 
outraged  and  indignant  people.  [Loud 
applause.]  Not  onlv  is  it  gone,  but  gone 
forever.  [Cries  of  *  You're  right,'  and  ap- 
plause.] In  the  expressive  language  of 
Scripture,  it  is  water  spilt  upon  the  ground, 
which  cannot  be  gathered  up  [  Applause.] 
Like  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning,  it  has 
fallen,  never  to  rise  again.  [Continued 
applause.]  For  my  part,  gentlemen,  if  Abra- 
ham lAncoln  and  Hannibal  Hamlin  to- 
morrow tcere  to  abdicate  their  offices  and 
were  to  ffive  me  a  blank  sheet  of  paper  to 


write  the  conditions  of  reannexation  to  the 
defunct  Union,  I  would  scornfully  spurn 
the  overture.  *  *  *  *  I  invoke 
you,  and  I  make  it  in  some  sort  a  personal 
appeal — personal  so  far  as  it  tends  to  our 
assistance  in  Virginia — I  do  invoke  you, 
in  your  demonstrations  of  popular  opinion, 
in  your  exhibitions  of  ofiicial  intent,  to 
give  no  countenance  to  this  idea  of  recon- 
struction. [Many  voices,  emphatically, 
'  Never,'  and  applause.]  In  Virginia  they 
all  say,  if  reduced  to  the  dread  dilemma  of 
this  memorable  alternative,  they  will  es- 
pouse the  cause  of  the  South  as  against  the 
interest  of  the  Northern  Confederacy,  but 
they  whisper  of  reconstruction,  and  they 
say  Virginia  must  abide  in  the  Union,  with 
the  idea  of  reconstructing  the  Union  which 
you  have  annihilated.  I  pray  you,  gentle- 
men, rob  them  of  that  idea.  Proclaim  to 
the  world  that  upon  no  condition,  and 
under  no  circumstance,  will  South  Carolina 
ever  again  enter  into  political  association 
with  the  Abolitiopists  of  New  England. 
[Cries  of  '  Never,"  and  applause.] 

"  Do  not  distrust  Virginia.  As  sure  as 
to-morrow's  sun  will  rise  upon  us,  just  so 
sure  will  Virginia  be  a  member  of  this 
Southern  Confederation.  [Applause.]  And 
I  will  tell  you,  gentlemen,  what  will  put  her 
in  the  Southern  Confederation  in  less  than 
an  hour  by  Shrewsbury  clock — STRIKE  A 
BLOW  !  [Tremendous  applause.]  The  very 
moment  that  blood  is  shed,  old  Virginia  will 
make  common  cause  with  her  sisters  of  the 
South.  [Applause.]  It  is  impossible  she 
should  do  otherwise." 

Warlike  efforts  were  likewise  used  to 
keep  some  of  the  states  firmly  to  their  pur- 

?ose.  Hon.  Jeremiah  Clemens,  formerly 
Fnited  States  Senator  from  Alabama,  and 
a  member  of  the  Alabama  Seceding  Con- 
vention who  resisted  the  movement  until 
adopted  by  the  body,  at  an  adjourned  Re- 
construction meeting  held  at  Huntsville, 
Ala.,  March  13,  1864,  made  this  significant 
statement : — 

Mr.  Clemens,  in  adjourning  the  meeting, 
said  he  would  tell  the  Alm^amians  how 
their  state  was  got  out  of  the  Union.  "  In 
1861,"  said  Mr.  C,  "  shortly  after  the  Con- 
federate Government  was  put  in  operation, 
I  was  in  the  city  of  Montgomery.  One 
day  I  stepped  into  the  office  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  General  Walker,  and  found 
there,  engaged  in  a  very  excited  discussion, 
Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  Mr.  Memminger,  Mr. 
Benjamin,  Mr.  Gilchrist,  a  member  of  our 
Legislature  from  Loundes  county,  and  a 
number  of  other  prominent  gentlemen. 
They  were  discussing  the  propriety  of  im- 
mediately opening  fire  on  Fort  Sumter,  to 
which  General  Walker,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  appeared  to  be  opposed.  Mr.  Gil- 
christ said  to  him, '  Sir,  unless  you  sprinkle 
blood  in  the  face  of  the  people  of  Alabama 
they  will  be  back  in  the  old  Union  in  less 


BOOKi.]         MR.    LINCOLN'S    FIRST    ADMINISTRATION". 


125 


than  ten  days  I '  The  next  day  General 
Beauregard  opened  his  batteries  on  Sumter, 
and  Alabama  was  saved  to  the  Confed- 
eracy." 

When  the  news  flashed  along  the  wires 
that  Sumter  had  been  fired  upon,  Lincoln 
immediately  used  his  war  powers  and  is- 
sued" a  call  for  75,000  troops.  All  of  the 
northern  governors  responded  with  prompt- 
nes3  and  enthusiasm  ;  but  this  was  not  true 
of  the  governors  of  the  southern  states 
which  at  that  time  had  not  seceded,  and 
the  Border  States, 

We  take  from  McPheJson's  admirable 
condensation,  the  evasive  or  hostile  replies 
of  the  Governors  referred  to,  and  follow  it 
with  his  statement  of  the  military  calls  and 
legislation  of  both  governments,  but  for 
the  purposes  of  this  work  omit  details 
which  are  too  extended. 

REPLIES  OF  SOUTHERN"  STATE  GOVERNORS 
TO  LINCOLN'S  CALL  FOR  75,000  TROOPS. 

Governor  Burton,  of  Delaware,  iesued 
a  proclamation,  April  26,  recommending 
the  formation  of  volunteer  companies  for 
the  protection  of  the  lives  and  property  of 
the  people  of  Delaware  against  violence  of 
any  sort  to  which  they  may  be  exposed, 
the  companies  not  being  subject  to  be  or- 
dered by  the  Executive  into  the  United 
States  service,  the  law  not  vesting  him 
with  such  authority,  but  having  the  option 
of  offering  their  services  to  the  General 
Government  for  the  defence  of  its  capital 
and  the  support  of  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  country. 

Governor  Hicks,  of  Maryland,  May  14, 
issued  a  proclamation  for  the  troops,  stat- 
ing that  the  four  regiments  would  be  de- 
tailed to  serve  within  the  limits  of  Mary- 
land or  for  the  defence  of  the  capital  of  the 
United  States. 

Governor  Letcher,  of  Virginia,  replied 
that  "  The  militia  of  Virginia  will  not  be 
furnished  to  the  powers  of  Washington  for 
any  such  use  or  purpose  as  they  have  in 
view.  Your  object  is  to  subjugate  the 
southern  States,  and  a  requisition  made 
upon  me  for  such  an  object — an  object,  in 
my  judgment,  not  within  the  purview  of 
the  Constitution  or  the  act  of  1795 — will 
not  be  complied  with.  You  have  chosen 
to  inaugurate  civil  war,  and  having  done 
•o  we  will  meet  it  in  a  spirit  as  determined 
as  the  Administration  has  exhibited  to- 
ward the  South." 

Governor  Ellis,  of  North  Carolina,  re- 
plied April  15 : 

"  Your  dispatch  is  received,  and  if  gen- 
uine— which  its  extraordinary  character 
leads  me  to  doubt — I  have  to  say  in  reply 
that  I  regard  the  levy  of  troops  made  by 
the  Administration,  for  the  purpose  of  sub- 
iugating  the  States  of  the  South,  as  in  vio- 
lation of  the  Constitution  and  a  usurpation 
of  power.     I  can  be  no  party  to  this  wicked 


violation  of  the  laws  of  the  country,  and 
to  this  war  upon  the  liberties  of  a  free  peo- 
ple. You  can  get  no  troops  from  North 
Carolina.  I  will  reply  more  in  detail  when 
your  call  is  received  by  mail.'' 

Governor  Magoffin,  of  Kentucky,  re- 
plied, April  15 : 

"  Your  dispatch  is  received.  In  answer 
I  say  emphatically,  Kentucky  will  furnish 
no  troops  for  the  wicked  purpose  of  subdu- 
ing her  sister  Southern  States." 

Governor  Harris,  of  Tennessee,  replied, 
April  18: 

"  Tennessee  will  not  furnish  a  single  man 
for  coercion,  but  fifty  thousand,  if  necessa- 
ry, for  the  defence  of  our  rights  or  those  of 
our  southern  brethren." 

Governor  Jackson,  of  Missouri,  replied : 

"  Your  requisition  is  illegal,  unconstitu- 
tional, revolutionary,  inhuman,  diabolical, 
and  cannot  be  complied  with." 

Governor  Rector,  of  Arkansas,  replied, 
April  22 : 

"  None  will  be  furnished.  The  demand 
is  only  adding  insult  to  injury." 

all  other  calls  for  troops. 

May  3,  1861— The  President  called  for 
thirty-nine  volunteer  regiments  of  infantry 
and  one  regiment  of  cavalry,  with  a  mini- 
mum aggregate  of  34,506  officers  and  en- 
listed men,  and  a  maximum  of  42,034 ;  and 
for  the  enlistment  of  18,000  seamen. 

May  3,  1861 — ^The  President  directed  an 
increase  of  the  regular  army  by  eight  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  one  of  cavalry,  and  one 
of  artillery — minimum  aggregate,  18,054; 
maximum,  22,714. 

August  6 — Congress  legalized  this  in- 
crease, and  all  the  acts,  orders,  and  pro- 
clamations respecting  the  Army  and  Navy. 

July  22  and  25,  1861 — Congress  author- 
ized the  enlistment  of  500,000  volunteers. 

September  17,  1861 — Commanding  offi- 
cer at  Hatteras  Inlet,  N.  C,  authorized  to 
enlist  a  regiment  of  loyal  North  Carolini- 
ans. 

November  7,  1861 — The  Governor  of 
Missouri  was  authorized  to  raise  a  force  of 
State  militia  for  State  defence. 

December  3,  1861— The  Secretary  of 
War  directed  that  no  more  regiments,  bat- 
teries, or  independent  companies  be  raised 
by  the  Governors  of  States,  except  upon 
the  special  requisition  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment. 

July  2,  1862— The  President  called  for 
three  hundred  thousand  volunteers. 

Under  the  act  of  July  17,  1862. 

August  4,  1862— The  President  ordered 
a  draft  of  three  hundred  thousand  militia, 
for  nine  months  unless  sooner  discharged ; 
and  directed  that  if  any  State  shall  not,  by 
the  15th  of  August,  furnish  its  quota  of  the 
additional  300,000  authorized  by  law,  the 
deficiency  of  volunteers  in  that  State  will 
also  be  made  up  by  special  draft  from  the 


126 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


militia.  Wednesday,  September  3,  was 
Bubsequently  fixed  for  the  draft. 

May  8,  1863 — Proclamation  issued,  de- 
fining the  relations  of  aliens  to  the  con- 
scription act,  holding  all  aliens  who  have 
declared  on  oath  their  intention  to  become 
citizens  and  may  be  in  the  country  within 
sixty -five  days  from  date,  and  all  who  have 
declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens 
and  have  voted. 

June  15,  1863  One  hundred  thousand 
men,  for  six  months,  called  to  repel  the 
invasion  of  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Ohio, 
and  Pennsylvania. 

October  17,  1863 — A  proclamation  was 
issued  for  300,000  volunteers,  to  serve  for 
three  years  or  the  war,  not,  however,  ex- 
ceeding three  years,  to  fill  the  places  of 
those  whose  terms  expire  "during  the 
coming  year,"  these  being  in  addition  to 
the  men  raised  by  the  present  draft.  In 
States  in  default  under  this  call,  January  5, 
1864,  a  draft  shall  be  made  on  that  day. 

February  1, 1864— Draft  for  500,000  men 
for  three  years  or  during  the  war,  ordered 
for  March  10,  1864. 

March  14,  1864— Draft  for  200,000  ad- 
ditional for  the  army,  navy  and  marine 
corps,  ordered  for  April  15, 1864,  to  supply 
the  force  required  for  the  navy  and  to  pro- 
vide an  adequate  reserve  force  for  all  con- 
tingencies. 

April  23,  1864—85,000  one  hundred  day 
men  accepted,  tendered  by  the  Governors 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wis- 
consin ;  30,000,  20,000,  20,000,  10,000  and 
6,000  being  tendered  respectively. 

UNION  MILITARY   LEGISLATION. 

1861,  July  22— The  President  was  au- 
thorized to  accept  the  services  of  volun- 
teers, not  exceeding  five  hundred  thousand, 
for  a  period  not  exceeding  three  years. 
July  27,  this  authority  was  duplicated. 

1861,  July  27 — Nine  regiments  of  in- 
fantry, one  of  cavalry,  and  one  of  artillery, 
added  to  the  regular  army. 

August  5 — Passed  bill  approving  and 
legalizing  the  orders  of  the  President  re- 
specting the  armv  and  navy,  issued  from 
4th  of  March  to  that  date. 

1862,  July  17— Authorized  the  President, 
when  calling  forth  the  militia  of  the  States, 
to  specify  the  period  of  such  service,  not 
exceeding  nine  months ;  and  if  by  reason 
of  defects  in  existing  laws  or  in  the  execu- 
tion of  them,  it  shall  be  found  necessary 
to  provide  for  enrolling  the  militia,  the 
President  was  authorized  to  make  all 
necessary  regulations,  the  enrollment  to  in- 
clude all  able  bodied  male  citizens  between 
eighteen  and  forty-five,  and  to  be  appor- 
tioned according  to  representative  popula- 
tion. He  was  authorized,  in  addition  to 
the  volunteers  now  authorized,  to  accept 
100.000  infantr)-,  for  nine  months;  also,  for 
twelve  months,  to  fill  up  old  regiments,  as 


many  as  may  be  presented  for  the  pur- 
pose. 

1863,  February  7 — Authorized  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Kentucky,  by  the  consent  and 
under  the  direction  of  the  President,  to 
raise  twenty  thousand  volunteers,  for 
twelve  months,  for  service  within  the 
limits  of  the  State,  for  repelling  invasion, 
suppressing  insurrection,  and  guarding  and 
protecting  the  public  property — two  regi- 
ments to  be  mounted  riflemen.  With  tne 
consent  of  the  President,  these  troops  may 
be  attached  to,  and  become  a  part  of,  the 
body  of  three  years'  volunteers. 

1863,  March  3 — ^The  conscription  act 
passed.  It  included  as  a  part  of  the  na- 
tional forces,  all  able  bodied  male  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  persons  of  for- 
eign birth  who  shall  have  declared  on  oath 
their  intention  to  become  citizens  under 
and  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  thereof,  be- 
tween the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  fortj'- 
five  years,  except  such  as  are  rejected  as 
physically  or  mentally  vmfit  for  the  senice ; 
also,  the  Vice  President,  the  judges  of  the 
various  courts  of  the  United  States,  the 
heads  of  the  various  executive  departments 
of  the  Government,  and  the  Governors  of 
the  several  States ;  also,  the  only  son  liable 
to  military  service,  of  a  widow  dependent 
upon  his  labor  for  support ;  also,  the  only 
son  of  aged  or  infirm  parent  or  parents, 
dependent  upon  his  labor  for  support ; 
also,  where  there  are  two  or  more  sons  of 
aged  or  infirm  parents,  subject  to  draft,  the 
father,  or  if  he  be  dead,  the  mother,  may 
elect  which  son  shall  be  exempt ;  also,  the 
only  brother  of  children  not  twelve  years 
old,  having  neither  father  nor  mother,  de- 
pendent upon  his  labor  for  support ;  also, 
the  father  of  motherless  children  under 
twelve  years  of  age,  dependent  upon  his 
labor  for  support ;  also,  where  there  are  a 
father  and  sons  in  the  same  family  and 
household,  and  two  of  them  are  in  military 
service  of  the  United  States  as  non-com- 
missioned officers,  musicians,  or  privates, 
the  residue  of  such  family ;  provided  that 
no  person  who  has  been  convicted  of  any 
felony  shall  be  enrolled  or  permitted  to 
serve  in  said  forces.  It  divided  the  forces 
into  two  classes :  Ist,  those  between  twenty 
and  thirty-five  and  all  unmarried  persons 
above  thirty-five  and  under  forty-five ;  2d, 
all  others  liable  to  military  duty.  It  di- 
vided the  country  into  districts,  m  each  of 
which  an  enrollment  board  was  established. 
The  persons  enrolled  were  made  subject  to 
be  called  into  the  military  service  for  two 
years  from  July  1,  1863,  and  continue  in 
service  for  three  years.  A  drafted  person 
was  allowed  to  ftimish  an  acceptable  sub- 
stitute, or  pay  6-'300,  and  be  discharged 
from  fiirther  liability  under  that  draft. 
Persons  failing  to  report,  to  be  considered 
deserters.  Allpersons  drafted  shall  be  as- 
signed by  the  Presid  -nt  to  military   duty 


BOOKi.]         MR.    LINCOLN'S    FIRST    ADMINISTRATION. 


127 


ia  such  corps,  regiments,  or  branches  of 
the  service  as  the  exigencies  of  the  service 
may  require. 

1864,  Feb.  24 — Provided  for  equalizing 
the  draft  by  calculating  the  quota  of  each 
district  or  precinct  and  counting  the  num- 
ber previously  furnished  by  it.  Any  per- 
son enrolled  may  furnish  an  acceptable 
substitute  who  is  not  liable  to  draft,  nor, 
at  any  time,  in  the  military  or  naval  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States ;  and  such  per- 
son so  furnishing  a  substitute  shall  be  ex- 
empt from  draft  during  the  time  for  which 
such  substitute  shall  not  be  liable  to  draft, 
not  exceeding  the  time  for  which  such  sub- 
stitute shall  have  been  accepted.  If  such 
substitute  is  liable  to  draft,  the  name  of 
the  person  furnishing  him  shall  again  be 
placed  on  the  roll  and  shall  be  liable  to 
draft  in  Mure  calls,  but  not  until  the  pre- 
sent enrollment  shall  be  exhausted.  The 
exemptions  are  limited  to  such  as  are  re- 
jected as  physically  or  mentally  unfit  for  the 
service ;  to  jpersons  actually  in  the  military 
or  naval  service  of  the  Government,  and 
all  persons  who  have  served  in  the  military 
or  naval  service  two  years  during  the  pre- 
sent war  and  been  honorably  discharged 
therefrom. 

The  separate  enrollment  of  classes  is  re- 
pealed and  the  two  classes  consolidated. 

Members  of  religious  denominations, 
who  shall  by  oath  or  affirmation  declare 
that  they  are  conscientiously  opposed  to 
the  bearing  of  arms,  and  who  are  pro- 
hibited from  doing  so  by  the  rules  and 
articles  of  faith  and  practice  of  said  re- 
ligious denomination,  shall  when  drafted, 
be  considered  non-combatants,  and  be  as- 
signed to  duty  in  the  hospitals,  or  the  care 
of  freedmen,  or  shall  pay  $300  to  the 
benefit  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  if 
they  give  proof  that  their  deportment  has 
been  uniformly  consistent  with  their  de- 
claration. 

No  alien  who  has  voted  in  county.  State 
or  Territory  shall,  because  of  alienage,  be 
exempt  from  draft. 

"  All  able-bodied  male  colored  persons 
between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty-five 
vears,  resident  in  the  United  States,  shall 
be  enrolled  according  to  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  and  of  the  act  to  which  this  is  an 
amendment,  and  form  part  of  the  national 
forces ;  and  when  a  slave  of  a  loyal  master 
shall  be  drafted  and  mustered  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States,  his  master  shall 
have  a  certificate  thereof;  and  thereupon 
euch  slave  shall  be  free,  and  the  bounty  of 
one  hundred  dollars,  now  payable  by  law 
for  each  drafted  man,  shall  be  paid  to  the 
person  to  whom  such  drafted  person  was 
owing  service  or  labor  at  the  time  of  his 
muster  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 
The  Secretary  of  War  shall  appoint  a  com- 
mission in  each  of  the  slave  States  repre- 
lented  in  Congress,  charged  to  award  to 


each  loyal  person  to  whom  a  colored  volun- 
teer may  owe  service  a  just  compensation, 
not  exceeding  three  hundred  dollars,  for 
each  such  colored  volunteer,  payable  out 
of  the  fund  derived  from  commuta- 
tions, and  every  such  colored  volunteer 
on  being  mustered  into  the  service  shall  be 
free.  And  in  all  cases  where  men  of  color 
have  been  enlisted,  or  have  volunteered  in 
the  military  service  of  the  United  States, 
all  the  provisions  of  this  act  so  far  as  the 
payment  of  bounty  and  compensation  are 
provided,  shall  be  equally  applicable,  as  to 
those  who  may  be  hereafter  recruited.  But 
men  of  color,  drafted  or  enlisted,  or  who 
may  volunteer  into  the  military  service, 
while  they  shall  be  credited  on  the  quotas 
of  the  several  States,  or  sub-divisions  of 
States,  wherein  they  are  respectively  draft- 
ed, enlisted,  or  shall  volunteer,  shall  not 
be  assigned  as  State  troops,  but  shall 
be  mustered  into  regiments  or  companies 
as  United  States  colored  troops." 

1864,  Feb.  29 — Bill  passed  reviving  the 
grade  of  Lieutenant  General  in  the  army, 
and  Major  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant  was 
appointed  March  2d. 

1864,  June  15 — All  persons  of  color  shall 
receive  the  same  pay  and  emoluments,  ex- 
cept bounty,  as  other  soldiers  of  the  regular 
or  volunteer  army  from  and  after  Jan.  1, 
1864,  the  President  to  fix  the  bounty  for 
those  hereafter  mustered,  not  exceeding 
$100. 

1864,  June  20 — The  monthly  pay  of  pri- 
vates and  non-commissioned  officers  was 
fixed  as  follows,  on  and  after  May  1 : 

Sergeant  majors,  twenty -six  dollars ; 
quartermaster  and  commissary  sergeants  of 
Cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry,  twenty- 
two  dollars ;  first  sergeants  of  cavalry, 
artillery,  and  infantry,  twenty-four  dollars ; 
sergeants  of  cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry, 
twenty  dollars;  sergeants  of  ordnance, 
sappers  and  miners,  and  pontoniers,  thirty- 
four  dollars ;  corporals  of  ordnance,  sap- 
pers and  miners,  and  pontoniers,  twenty 
dollars  ;  privates  of  engineers  and  ordnance 
of  the  first  class,  eighteen  dollars,  and  of 
the  second  class,  sixteen  dollars  ;  corporals 
of  cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry,  eighteen 
dollars ;  chief  buglers  of  cavalry,  twenty- 
three  dollars ;  buglers,  sixteen  dollars ;  far- 
riers and  blacksmiths,  of  cavalry,  and  arti- 
ficers of  artillerjr,  eighteen  dollars ;  privates 
of  cavalry,  artillery  and  infantry,  sixteen 
dollars;  principal  musicians  of  artillery 
and  infantry,  twenty-two  dollars;  leaders 
of  brigade  and  regimental  bands,  seventy- 
five  dollars;  musicians,  sixteen  dollars; 
hospital  stewards  of  the  first  class,  thirty- 
three  dollars;  hospital  stewards  of  the 
second  class,  twenty-five  dollars  ;  hospital 
stewards  of  the  third  class,  twenty-tnree 
dollars." 

July  4 — This  bill  became  a  law : 

Be  it  enaHed,  die.  That  the  President  of 


128 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


the  United  States  may,  at  his  discretion,  at 
any  time  hereafter  call  for  any  number  of 
men  as  volunteers  for  the  respective  terms 
of  one,  two,  and  three  years  for  military 
service ;  and  any  such  volunteer,  or,  in  case 
of  draft,  as  hereinafter  provided,  any  sub- 
stitute, shall  be  credited  to  the  town,  town- 
ship, ward  of  a  city,  precinct,  or  election 
district,  or  of  a  county  not  so  subdivided 
towards  the  quota  of  which  he  may  have 
volunteered  or  engaged  as  a  substitute; 
and  every  volunteer  who  is  accepted  and 
mustered  into  the  service  for  a  term  of  one 
year,  unless  sooner  discharged,  shall  re- 
ceive, and  be  paid  by  the  United  States,  a 
bounty  of  one  hundred  dollars ;  and  if  for 
a  term  of  two  years,  unless  sooner  dis- 
charged, a  bounty  of  two  hundred  dollars ; 
and  if  for  a  term  of  three  years,  unless 
sooner  discharged,  a  bounty  of  three  hun- 
dred dollars ;  one  third  of  which  bounty 
shall  be  paid  to  the  soldier  at  the  time  of 
his  being  mustered  into  the  service,  one- 
third  at  the  expiration  of  one-half  of  his 
term  of  service,  and  one-third  at  the  expi- 
ration of  his  term  of  service.  And  in  case 
of  his  death  while  in  service,  the  residue  of 
his  bounty  unpaid  shall  be  paid  to  his 
widow,  if  he  shall  have  left  a  widow ;  if 
not,  to  his  children  ;  or  if  there  be  none,  to 
his  mother,  if  she  be  a  widow. 

Sec.  8.  That  all  persons  in  the  naval 
service  of  the  Unitea  States,  who  have  en- 
tered said  service  during  the  present  rebel- 
lion, who  have  not  been  credited  to  the 
quota  of  any  town,  district,  ward,  or  State, 
by  reason  of  their  being  in  said  service  and 
not  enrolled  prior  to  February  twenty-four, 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  shall  be 
enrolled  and  credited  to  the  quotas  of  the 
town,  ward,  district,  or  State,  in  which 
they  respectively  reside,  upon  satisfactory 
proof  of  their  residence  made  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War. 

"confederate"  military  legislation. 

February  28,  1861,  (four  days  before  the 
inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln) — The  "Con- 
federate "  Congress  passed  a  bill  provid- 
ing— 

Ist.  To  enable  the  Government  of  the 
Confederate  States  to  maintain  its  jurisdic- 
tion over  all  questions  of  peace  and  war, 
and  to  provide  for  the  public  defence,  the 
President  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized 
and  directed  to  assume  control  of  all  mili- 
tary operations  in  every  State,  having  re- 
ference to  a  connection  with  questions  be- 
tween the  said  States,  or  any  of  them,  and 
Powers  foreign  to  themselves. 

2d.  The  President  wa.s  authorized  to  re- 
ceive from  the  several  States  the  arms  and 
munitions  of  war  which  have  been  ac- 
quired from  the  United  States. 

3d.  He  was  authorized  to  receive  into 
Government  service  such  forces  in  the  ser- 


vice of  the  States,  as  may  be  tendered,  in 
such  number  as  he  may  require,  for  any 
time  not  less  than  twelve  months,  unless 
sooner  discharged. 

March  6,  1861 — The  President  was  au- 
thorized to  employ  the  militia,  military  and 
naval  forces  of  the  Confederate  States  to 
repel  invasion,  maintain  rightful  possession 
of  the  territory,  and  secure  public  tran- 
quillity and  independence  against  threat- 
ened assault,  to  the  extent  of  100,000 
men,  to  serve  for  twelve  months. 

May  4,  1861 — One  regiment  of  Zouaves 
authorized. 

May  6,  1861 — Letters  of  marque  and  re- 
prisal authorized. 

1861,  August  8 — The  Congress  author- 
ized the  Pi'esident  to  accept  the  services  of 
400,000  volunteers,  to  serve  for  not  less 
than  twelve  months  nor  more  than  three 
years  after  they  shall  be  mustered  into  ser- 
vice, unless  sooner  discharged. 

The  Kichmond  Enquirer  of  that  date  an- 
nounced that  it  was  ascertained  from  oflS- 
cial  data,  before  the  passage  of  the  bill, 
that  there  were  not  less  than  210,000  men 
then  in  the  field. 

August  21 — Volunteers  authorized  for 
local  defence  and  special  service. 

1862,  January — Publishers  of  newspa- 
pers, or  other  printed  matter  are  prohibited 
from  giving  the  number,  disposition,  move- 
ment, or  destination  of  the  land  or  naval 
forces,  or  description  of  vessel,  or  battery, 
fortification,  engine  of  war,  or  signal,  un- 
less first  authorized  by  the  President  or 
Congress,  or  the  Secretary  of  War  or  Navy, 
or  commanding  oflicer  of  post,  district,  or 
expedition.  The  penalty  is  a  fine  of  $1,000 
and  imprisonment  not  over  twelve  months. 

1862,  February — The  Committee  on  Na- 
val Affairs  were  instructed  to  inquire  into 
the  expediency  of  placing  at  the  disposal 
of  the  President  five  millions  of  dollars  to 
build  gunboats. 

1862 — Bill  passed  to  "  regulate  the  de- 
struction of  property  under  military  neces- 
sity," referring  particularly  to  cotton  and 
tobacco.  The  authorities  are  authorized  to 
destroy  it  to  keep  it  from  the  enemy ;  and 
owners,  destroying  it  for  the  same  purpose, 
are  to  be  indemnified  upon  proof  of  the 
value  and  the  circumstances  of  the  de. 
struction. 

1862,  April  16— The  first  "  conscription  '* 
bill  became  a  law. 

1864,  February.  The  second  conscription 
bill  became  a  law. 

The  Richmond  Sentinel  of  February  17, 
1864,  contains  a  synopsis  of  what  is  called 
the  military  bill,  heretofore  forbidden  to  be 
printed : 

The  first  section  provides  that  all  white 
men  residents  of  tne  Confederate  States, 
between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and  fifty, 
shall  be  in  the  military  service  for  the  war. 

The  second  section  provides  that  all  be- 


BOOKi.]         MR.    LINCOLN'S   FIRST   ADMINISTRATION. 


129 


tweea  eighteen  and  forty-five,  now  in  ser- 
vice, shall  be  continued  during  the  war  in 
the  same  regiments,  battalions,  and  com- 
panies to  which  they  belong  at  the  passage 
of  this  act,  with  the  organization,  officers, 
&c.,  provided  that  companies  from  one  State 
organized  against  their  consent,  expressed 
at  the  time,  with  regrets,  &c.,  from  another 
State,  shall  have  the  privilege  of  being 
transferred  to  the  same  arm  in  a  regiment 
from  their  own  State,  and  men  can  be  trans- 
ferred to  a  company  from  their  own  State. 

Section  three  gives  a  bounty  eight  months 
hence  of  $100  in  rebel  bonds. 

Section  four  provides  that  no  person 
shall  be  relieved  from  the  operations  of  this 
act  heretofore  discharged  for  disability,  nor 
shall  those  who  furnished  substitutes  be  ex- 
empted, where  no  disability  now  exists  ;  but 
exempts  religious  persona  who  have  paid 
an  exemption  tax.  *  *  * 

The  tenth  section  provides  that  no  per- 
son shall  be  exempt  except  the  following  ; 
ministers,  superintendents  of  deaf,  dumb, 
and  blind,  or  insane  asylums ;  one  editor  to 
each  newspaper,  and  such  employees  as  he 
may  swear  to  be  indispensable ;  the  Con- 
federate and  State  public  printers,  and  the 
journeymen  printers  necessary  to  perform 
the  public  printing  ;  one  apothecary  to  each 
drug  store,  who  Avas  and  has  been  contin- 
uously doing  business  as  such  since  Octo- 
ber 10,  1862 ;  physicians  over  30  years  of 
age  of  seven  years'  practice,  not  including 
dentists ;  presidents  and  teachers  of  col- 
leges, academies  and  schools,  who  have  not 
less  than  thirty  pupils ;  superintendents 
of  public  hospitals  established  by  law,  and 
such  physicians  and  nurses  as  may  be  in- 
dispensable for  their  efficient  management. 

One  agriculturist  on  such  farm  where 
there  is  no  white  male  adult  not  liable  to 
duty  employing  fifteen  able-bodied  slaves, 
between  sixteen  and  fifty  years  of  age,  up- 
on the  following  conditions : 

The  party  exempted  shall  give  bonds  to 
deliver  to  the  Government  in  the  next 
twelve  months,  100  pounds  of  bacon,  or  its 
equivalent  in  salt  pork,  at  Government  se- 
lection, andlOOpoundsof  beef  for  each  such 
able-bodied  slave  employed  on  said  farm 
at  commissioner's  rates. 

In  certain  cases  this  may  be  commuted 
in  grain  or  other  provisions. 

The  person  shall  further  bind  himself  to 
sell  all  surplus  provisions  how  on  hand,  or 
which  he  may  raise,  to  the  Government,  or 
the  families  of  soldiers,  at  commissioner's 
rates,  the  person  to  be  allowed  a  credit  of 
25  per  cent,  on  any  amount  he  may  deliver 
in  three  months  from  the  passage  of  this 
act;  Provided  that  no  enrollment  since  Feb. 
1,  1864,  shall  deprive  the  person  enrolled 
from  the  benefit  of  this  exemption. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  Secretary 
of  War  is  authorized  to  make  such  details 
as  the  public  security  requires. 

9 


The  vote  in  the  House  of  Represeuta- 
tives  was — yeas,  41 ;  nays,  31. 

GUERRILLAS. 

1862,  April  21— The  President  was  au- 
thorized to  commission  such  officers  as  he 
may  deem  proper,  with  authority  to  form 
bands  of  partisan  rangers,  in  companies, 
battalions  or  regiments,  either  as  infantry 
or  cavalry,  to  receive  the  same  pay,  rations, 
and  quarters,  and  be  subject  to  the  same 
regulations  as  other  soldiers.  For  any  arms 
and  munitions  of  war  captured  from  the 
enemy  by  any  body  of  partisan  rangers, 
and  delivered  to  any  quartermaster  at  des- 
ignated place,  the  rangers  shall  pay  their 
full  value.* 

The  following  resolution,  in  relation  t» 
partisan  service,  was  adopted  by  the  Vir- 
ginia Legislature,  May  17,  1862: 

Whereas,  this  General  Assembly  places 
a  high  estimate  upon  the  value  of  the  ran- 
ger or  partisan  service  in  prosecuting  the 
present  war  to  a  successful  issue,  and  re- 
gards it  as  perfectly  legitimate ;  and  it  be- 
ing understood  that  a  Federal  commander 
on  the  northern  border  of  Virginia  has  in- 
timated his  purpose,  if  such  service  is  not 
discontinued,  to  lay  waste  by  fire  the  por- 
tion of  our  territory  at  present  under  his 
power. 

Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly,  That 
in  its  opinion,  the  policy  of  employing  such 
rangers  and  partisans  ought  to  be  carried 
out  energetically,  both  by  the  authorities 
of  this  State  and  of  the  Confederate  States, 
without  the  slightest  regard  to  such  threats. 

By  another  act,  the  President  was  au- 
thorized, in  addition  to  the  volunteer  force 
authorized  under  existing  laws,  to  accept 
the  services  of  volunteers  who  may  offer 
them,  without  regard  to  the  place  of  en- 
listment, to  serve  for  and  during  the  exist- 
ing war. 

1862,  May  27— Major  General  John  B. 
Floyd  was  authorized  by  the  Legislature  of 
Virginia,  to  raise  ten  thousand  men,  not 
now  in  service  or  liable  to  draft,  for  twelve 
months. 

1862,  September  27— The  President  was 
authorized  to  call  out  and  place  in  the  mil- 
itary service  for  three  years,  all  white  men 
who  are  residents,  between  the  ages  of 
thirty-five  and  forty-five,  at  the  time  the 
call  may  be  made,  not  legally  exempt.  And 
such  authority  shall  exist  in  the  President, 
during  the  present  war,  as  to  all  persons 
who  now  are,  or  hereafter  may  become 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  all  persons  be- 
tween eighteen  and  forty-five,  once  en- 
rolled, shall  serve  their  full  time. 

*  1864,  February  15 — Repealed  the  aboye  act,  but  pro- 
vided for  continuing  orjranizationB  of  partisan  rangers 
acting  aa  regular  cavalry  and  so  to  continue ;  and  author- 
iriiig  the  Socrctary  of  War  to  provide  for  uniting  all 
iMinds  of  partisan  rauperg  with  other  orffunizafionii  and 
bringing  them  under  tlie  general  di^ipliuo  of  thi  pr^ 
iTisiuDitl  army. 


130 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


THE  TWENTY-NEGRO    EXEMPTION    LAW. 

1862,  October  11— Exempted  certain 
classes,  described  in  the  repealing  law  of 
the  next  session,  as  follows : 

The  dissatisfaction  of  the  people  with  an 
act  passed  by  the  Confederate  Congress,  at 
its  last  session,  by  which  persons  owning  a 
certain  number  of  slaves  were  exempted 
from  the  operation  of  the  conscription  law, 
has  led  the  members  at  the  present  session 
to  reconsider  their  work,  and  already  one 
branch  has  passed  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of 
the  obnoxious  law.  This  bill  provides  as 
follows : 

"  The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States 
do  enact,  That  so  mifch  of  the  act  ap- 
proved October  11,  1862,  as  exempts  from 
military  service  '  one  person,  either  as 
agent,  owner,  or  overseer,  on  each  planta- 
tion on  which  one  white  person  is  required 
to  be  kept  by  the  laws  or  ordinances  of  any 
State,  and  on  which  there  is  no  white  male 
adult  not  liable  to  military  service,  and  in 
States  having  no  such  law,  one  person,  as 
agent,  owner,  or  overseer  on  such  planta- 
tion of  twenty  negroes,  and  on  which  there 
is  no  white  male  adult  not  liable  to  mili- 
tary service  ;'  and  also  the  following  clause 
in  said  act,  to  wit:  'and  furthermore,  for 
additional  police  of  every  twenty  negroes, 
on  two  or  more  plantations,  within  five 
miles  of  each  other,  and  each  having  less 
than  twenty  negroes,  and  on  which  there 
is  no  white  male  adult  not  liable  to  military 
duty,  one  person,  being  the  oldest  of  the 
owners  or  overseers  on  such  plantations,' 
be  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed  ;  and 
the  persons  so  hitherto  exempted  by  said 
clauses  of  said  act  are  hereby  made  subject 
to  military  duty  in  the  same  manner  that 
they  would  be  had  said  clauses  never  been 
embraced  in  said  act." 

THE  POSITION  OP  DOUGLAS. 

After  the  President  had  issued  his  first 
call,  Douglas  saw  the  danger  to  which  the 
Canitol  was  exposed,  and  he  promptly 
called  upon  Lincoln  to  express  his  full 
approval  of  the  call.  Knowing  his  politi- 
cal value  and  that  of  his  following  Lin- 
coln asked  him  to  dictate  a  despatch  to  the 
Associated  Press,  which  he  did  in  these 
words,  the  original  being  left  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Hon.  George  Ashmun  of  Massachu- 
Betts : 

*•  April  18,  ISOl,  Senator  Douglas,  called 
on  the  President,  and  had  an  interesting 
conversation,  on  tiie  present  condition  of 
the  countrv.  The  substance  of  it  was,  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Douglas,  that  while  he  was 
unalterably  opposed  to  the  administration 
in  all  ita  political  issues  he  was  prepared 
to  fullv sustain  the  President,  in  the  exercise 
of  allKis  Constitutional  functions,  to  pre- 
Berve  the  Union,  maintain  the  Government, 
and  defend  the  Federal  Capitol.  A  firm  po- 
licy and  prompt  action  was  necessary.  The 


Capitol  yraa  in  danger,  and  must  be  de- 
fended at  all  hazards,  and  at  any  expense 
of  men  and  money.  He  spoke  of  the  pre- 
sent and  future,  without  any  reference  to 
the  past." 

Douglas  followed  this  with  a  great  speech 
at  Chicago,  in  which  he  uttered  a  sentence 
that  -vas  soon  quoted  on  nearly  every 
Northern  tongue.  It  was  simply  tliis, 
"  fliat  there  now  could  be  but  two  parties, 
patriots  and  traitors."  It  needed  nothing 
more  to  rally  the  Douglas  Democrats  by 
the  side  of  the  Administration,  and  in  the 
general  feeling  of  patriotism  awakened  not 
only  this  class  of  Democrats,  but  many 
Northern  supporters  of  Breckinridge  also 
enlisted  in  the  Union  armies.  Theleaders 
who  stood  aloof  and  gave  their  synapathies 
to  the  South,  were  stigmatized  as  "  Copper- 
heads," and  these  where  they  were  so  im- 
pudent as  to  give  expression  to  their  hos- 
tility, were  as  odious  to  the  mass  of  North- 
erners as  the  Unionists  of  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina  were  to  the  Secessionists—- 
with  this  difference — that  the  latter  were 
compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  their  moun- 
tains, while  the  Northern  leader  who 
sought  to  give  "  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
enemy  "  was  either  placed  under  arrest  by 
the  government  or  proscribed  politically 
by  his  neighbors.  Civil  war  is  ever  thus. 
Let  us  now  pass  to 

THE  POLITICAL  LEGISLATION  INCIDENT  TO 
THE  WAR. 

The  first  session  of  the  37th  Congress 
began  July  4,  1861,  and  closed  Aug.  6. 
The  second  began  December  2,  1861,  and 
closed  July  17,  1862.  The  third  began 
December  1,  1862  and  closed  March  4, 
1863. 

All  of  these  sessions  of  Congress  were 
really  embarrassed  by  the  number  of  vol- 
unteers offering  from  the  North,  and  suflS- 
ciently  rapid  provision  could  not  be  made 
for  them.  And  as  illustrative  of  how 
political  lines  had  been  broken,  it  need 
only  be  remarked  that  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
the  leader  of  the  Northern  wing  of  Breck- 
inridge's supporters,  was  commissioned  aa 
the  first  commander  of  the  forces  which 
Massachusetts  sent  to  the  field.  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio — the  great  West — all 
the  States,  more  than  met  all  early  require- 
ments. So  rapid  were  enlistments  that  no 
song  was  as  popular  as  that  beginning 
with  the  lines : 

"  We  are  coming,  Father  Abraham, 
Six  hundred  thousand  stronp;." 

The  first  session  of  the  37th  Congress 
was  a  special  one,  called  by  the  President. 
McPherson,  in  his  classification  of  the 
membership,  shows  the  changes  in  a  body 
made  historic,  if  such  a  thing  can  be,  not 
onlv  by  its  membership  present,  but  that 
which  had  gone  or  made  itself  subject  to 


BOOKi.]        MR.    LINCOLN'S    FIRST    ADMINISTRATION. 


131 


expulsion  by  siding  with  the  Confederacy. 
We  quote  the  list  so  concisely  and  correct- 
ly presented: 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  37TH  CONGRESS. 
March  4, 1861,  to  March  4, 1863, 

Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate. 

SENATORS. 

Maine— ^Lot  M.  Morrill,  Wm.  Pitt  Fes- 
senden. 

New  Hampshire — John  P.  Hale,  Daniel 
Clark. 

Vermont — Solomon  Foot,  Jacob  Colla- 
mer. 

Massachusetts — Charles  Sumner,  Henry 
Wilson. 

Rhode  Island — James  F.  Simmons,* 
Henry  B.  Anthony. 

Connecticut — James  Dixon,  Lafayette  S. 
Foster. 

New  York — Preston  King,  Ira  Harris. 

New  Jersey — John  B.  Thomson,*  John 
C.  Ten  Eyck. 

Pennsylvania — David  Wilmot,  Edgar 
Cowan. 

Delaware — James  A.  Bayard,  Willard 
Saulsbury. 

Maryland — Anthony  Kennedy,  James  A. 
Pearce.* 

Virginia.* 

Ohio — Benjamin  F.  Wade,  John  Sher- 
.  man. 

Kentucky — Lazarus  W.  Powell,  John  C. 
Breckinridge.* 

Tennessee — Andrew  Johnson. 

Indiana — Jesse  D.  Bright,*  Henry  S. 
Lane. 

Illinois  —  O.  H.  Browning,*  Lyman 
Trumbull. 

Missouri — Trusten  Polk,*  Waldo  P. 
Johnson.* 

Michigan — Z.  Chandler,  K.  S.  Bing- 
ham.* 

lotca — James  W.  Grimes,  James  Harlan. 

Wisconsin — James  R.  Doolittle,  Timothy 
O.  Howe. 

California — Milton  S.  Latham,  James 
A.  McDougall. 

Minnesota — Henry  M.  Rice,  Morton  S. 
Wilkinson. 

Oregon — Edward  D.  Baker,*  James  W. 
Nesmith. 

Kansas — James  H.  Lane,  S.  C.  Pomeroy. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

Galusha  a.  Grow,  of  Pennsylvania, 
Speaker  of  the  House. 

Maine — John  N.  Goodwin,  Charles  W. 
Walton,*  Samuel  C.  Fessenden,  Anson  P. 
Morrill,  John  H,  Rice,  Frederick  A.  Pike. 

New  Hampshire — Gilman  Marston,  Ed- 
ward H.  Rollins,  Thomas  M.  Edwards. 

Vermont — E.  P.  Walton,  Jr.,  Justin  S. 
Morrill,  Portus  Baxter. 

*  Sm  memorandum  at  the  end  of  liat 


Massachusetts — Thomas  D.  Eliot,  James 
Buffinton,  Benjamin  F.  Thomas,  Alexan- 
der H.  Rice,  William  Appleton,*  John  B. 
Alley,  Daniel  W.  Gooch,  Charles  R.  Train, 
Goldsmith  F.  Bailey,*  Charles  Dehino. 
Henry  L.  Dawes. 

Rhode  /standi— William  P.  Sheffield, 
George  H.  Browne. 

Connecticut — Dwight  Loomis,  James  E. 
English,  Alfred  A.  Burnham,*  George  C. 
Woodruff. 

New  York — Edward  H.  Smith,  Moses  F. 
Odell,  Benjamin  Wood,  James  E.  Kerri- 
gan, William  Wall,  Frederick  A.  Conk- 
ling,  Elijah  Ward,  Isaac  C.  Delaplaine, 
Edward  Haight,  Charles  H.  Van  Wyck, 
John  B.  Steele,  Stephen  Baker,  Abraham 
B.  Olin,  Erastus  Corning,  James  B.  Mc- 
Kean,  William  A.  Wheeler,  Socrates  N. 
Sherman,  Chauncey  Vibbard,  Richard 
Franchot,  Roscoe  Conkling,  R.  Holland 
Duell,  William  E.  Lansing,  Ambrose  W. 
Clark,  Charles  B.  Sedgwick,  Theodore  M. 
Pomeroy,  Jacob  P.  Chamberlain,  Alexan- 
der S.  Diven,  Robert  B.  Van  Valkenburgh, 
Alfred  Ely,  Augustus  Frank,  Burt  Van 
Horn,  Elbridge  G.  Spalding,  Reuben  E. 
Fenton. 

New  Jersey — John  T.  Nixon,  John  L.  N. 
Stratton,  William  G.  Steele,  George  T. 
Cobb,  Nehemiah  Perry. 

Pennsylvania  —  William  E.  Lehman, 
Charles  J.  Biddle,*  John  P.  Verree,  Wil- 
liam D.  Kelley,  William  Morris  Davis, 
John  Hickman,  Thomas  B.  Cooper,*  Syd- 
enham E.  Ancona,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  John 
W.  Killinger,  James  H.  Campbell,  Hen- 
drick  B.  Wright,  Philip  Johnson,  Galusha 
A.  Grow,  James  T.  Hale,  Joseph  Baily, 
Edward  McPherson,  Samuel  S.  Blair,  John 
Covode,  Jesse  Lazear,  James  K.  Moorhead, 
Robert  McKnight,  John  W.  Wallace,  John 
Patton,  Elijah  Babbitt. 

Delaware — George  P.  Fisher. 

Maryland — John  W.  Crisfield,  Edwin  H. 
Webster,  Cornelius  L.  L.  Leary,  Henry 
May,  Francis  Thomas,  Charles  B.  Calvert. 

Virginia — Charles  H.  Upton,*  William 
G.  Brown,  John  S.  Carlile,*  Kellian  V. 
Whaley. 

Ohio — George  H.  Pendleton,  John  A. 
Gurley,  Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  William 
Allen,  James  M.  Ashley,  Chilton  A.  White, 
Richard  A.  Harrison,  Samuel  Shella- 
barger,  Warren  P.  Noble,  Carey  A.  Trim- 
ble, Valentine  B.  Horton,  Samuel  S.  Cox, 
Samuel  T.  Worcester,  Harrison  G.  Blake, 
Robert  H.  Nugen,  William  P.  Cutler, 
James  R.  Morris,  Sidney  Edgerton,  Albert 
G.  Riddle,  John  Hutchins,  John  A.  Bing- 
ham. 

Kentucky — Henry  C.  Burnett,*  James  S. 
Jackson,*  Henry  Grider,  Aaron  Harding, 
Charles  A.  Wickliffe,  George  W.  Dunlaa 
Robert  Mallory,  John  J.  Crittenden,  Wil- 
liam H,  Wadsworth,  John  W.  Menzies. 
See  memorandum  at  eud  of  lUt. 


132 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Tennessee — Horace  Maynard,*  Andrew 
J.  Clements,*  George  W.  Bridges.* 

Indiana — John  Law,  James  A.  Cravens, 
W.  McKee  Dunn,  William  S.  Holm:in, 
George  W.  Julian,  Albert  G.  Porter,  Dan- 
iel \V.  Voorhees,  Albert  S.  White,  Schuyler 
Colfax,  William  Mitchell,  John  P.  C. 
Shanks. 

Illinois — Elihu  B.  Washbume,  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,  Owen  Lovejoy,  William  Kellogg, 
William  A.  Richardson,*  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand,*  James  C.  Robinson,  Philip  B. 
Fouke,  John  A.  Logan,* 

Missouri — Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  James 
S.  Rollins,  John  B.  Clark,*  Elijah  H.  Nor- 
ton, John  W.  Reid,*  John  S.  Phelps,* 
John  W.  Noell. 

Michigan — Bradley  F.  Granger,  Fer- 
nando C.  Beaman,  Francis  W.  Kellogg, 
Rowland  E.  Trowbridge. 

lotca — Samuel  R.  Curtis,*  William  Van- 
dever. 

Wisconsin — John  F.  Potter,  Luther  Han- 
chett,*  A.  Scott  Sloan. 

Minnesota— Gyrus  Aldrich,  William  Win- 
dom. 

Oregon — Andrew  J.  Thayer.* 

Kansas — Martin  F.  Conway. 

MEMORAXDUM  OF  CHANGES. 

The  following  changes  took  place  during 
the  Congress : 

IN  SENATE. 

Rhode  Island— 1862,  Dec.  1,  Samuel  G. 
Arnold  succeeded  James  F.  Simmons,  re- 
signed. 

Xew  Jersey — 1862,  Dec.  1,  Richard  S. 
Field  succeeded,  by  appointment,  John  R. 
Thompson,  deceased  Sept.  12, 1862.  1863, 
Jan.  21,  James,  W.  Wall,  succeeded,  by 
election,  Richard  S.  Field. 

Maryland— 1S6S,  Jan.  14,  Thomas  H. 
Hicks,  first  by  appointment  and  then  by 
election  succeedea  James  A.  Pearce,  de- 
ceased Dec.  20,  1862. 

rirginia—imi,  July  13,  John  8.  Carlile 
and  Waitman  T.  Willey,  sworn  in  place  of 
Robert  M.  T.  Hunter  and  James  M.  Mason, 
withdrawn  and  abdicated. 

Kentucky— ISdl,  Dec.  23,  Garrett  Davis 
succeeded  John  C.  Breckinridge,  expelled 
December  4. 

Indiana— im2,  March  3,  Joseph  A. 
Wright  succeeded  Jesse  D.  Bright,  expelled 
Feb.  6,  1863,  Jan.  22,  David  Turpie,  super- 
seded, bv  election,  Joseph  A.  Wright. 

Illinois— ISe^,  Jan.  30,  William  A.  Rich- 
ardson superseded,  by  election,  O.  H. 
Browning. 

Missouri— IS61,  Jan.  24,  R.  Wilson  suc- 
ceeded Waldo  P.  Johnson,  expelled  Jan. 
10.  1862,  Jan.  29,  John  B.  Henderson  suc- 
ceeded Trusten  Polk,  expelled  Jan.  10. 

Michigan— \S(>2,  Jan.  17,  Jacob  M.  How- 
ard succeeded  K.  S.  Bingham,  deceased 
Octobers,  1861. 

*  8«e  memorandnin  at  and  of  list 


Oregon— 1862,  Dec.  1,  Benjamin  F.  Hard- 
ing succeeded  Edward  D.  Baker,  deceased 
Oct.  21,  1862. 

IN  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 

Maine — 1862,  December  1,  Thomas  A. 
D.  Fessenden  succeeded  Charles  W.  Wal- 
ton, resigned  May  26,  1862. 

Massachusetts — 1861,  December  1,  Amasa 
Walker  succeeded  Goldsmith  F.  Bailey, 
deceased  May  8,  1862;  1861,  December  2, 
Samuel  Hooper  succeeded  William  Apple- 
ton,  resigned. 

Connecticut — 1861,  December  2,  Alfred 
A.  Burnham  qualified. 

Pennsylvania — 1861,  December  2,Charle8 
J.  Biddle  qualified  ;  1862,  June  3,  John  D. 
Stiles  succeeded  Thomas  B.  Cooper,  de- 
ceased April  4,  1862. 

Virginia,— 1861,  July  13,  John  S.  Cariile 
resigned  to  take  a  seat  in  the  Senate ;  1861, 
December  2,  Jacob  B.  Blair,  succeeded  John 
S.  Cariile,  resigned;  1862,  February  28, 
Charles  H.  Upton  unseated  by  a  vote  of 
the  House;  1862,  May  6,  Joseph  Segar 
qualified. 

Kentucky — 1862,  December,  1,  George  H. 
Yeaman  succeeded  James  S.  Jackson,  de- 
ceased ;  1862,  March  10,  Samuel  L.  Casey 
succeeded  Henry  C.  Burnett,  expelled  De- 
cember 3,  1861. 

Tennessee — 1861,  December  2,  Horace 
Maynard  qualified ;  1862,  January  13,  An- 
drew J.  Clements  qualified ;  1863,  Febru- ' 
ary  25,  George  W.  Bridges  qualified. 

Illinois— 1861,  December  12,  A.  L.  Knapp 
qualified,  in  place  of  J.  A.  McClernand,  re- 
signed; 1862,  June  2,  William  J.  Allen 
qualified,  in  place  of  John  A.  Logan,  re- 
signed ;  1863,  January  30,  William  A.  Rich- 
ardson withdrew  to  take  a  seat  in  the 
Senate. 

Missouri — 1862,  January  21,  Thomas  L. 
Price  succeeded  John  W.  Reid,  expelled 
December  2,  1861 ;  1862,  January  20,  Wil- 
liam A.  Hall  succeeded  John  B.  Clark,  ex- 
pelled July  13,  1861 ;  1862,  May  9,  John  S. 
Phelps  qualified. 

Iowa — 1861,  December  2,  James  F.  Wil- 
son succeeded  Samuel  R.  Curtis,  resigned 
August  4,  1861. 

Wisconsin — 1863,  January  26,  Walter  D. 
Mclndoe  succeeded  Luther  Hanchett,  de- 
ceased November  24,  1862. 

Oregon— 1861,  July  30,  George  K.  Shiel 
succeeded  Andrew  J.  Thayer,  unseated. 

Louisiana — 1863,  February  17,  Michael 
Hahn  qualified ;  1863,  February  23,  Ben- 
jamin '^.  Flanders  qualified. 

Lincoln,  in  his  message,  recited  the 
events  which  had  transpired  since  his 
inauguration,  and  asked  Congress  to  con- 
fer upon  him  the  power  to  make  the  conflict 
short  and  decisive.  He  wanted  400,000 
men,  and  four  hundred  millions  of  money, 
remarking  that  "  the  people  will  save  their 


BOOKi.]  MR.  LINCOLN'S    FIRST    ADMINISTRATION. 


133 


government  if  the  government  itself  will 
do  its  part  only  indifferently  well."  Con- 
gress responded  by  adding  an  hundred 
thousand  to  each  request. 

There  were  exciting  debates  and  scenes 
during  this  session,  for  many  of  the  South- 
ern leaders  remained,  either  through  hesi- 
tancy or  with  a  view  to  check  legislation 
and  aid  their  section  by  adverse  criticism 
on  the  measures  proposed.  Most  promi- 
nent in  the  latter  list  was  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge, late  Vice  President  and  now  Senator 
from  Kentucky.  With  singular  boldness 
and  eloquence  he  opposed  every  war  mea- 
sure, and  spoke  with  the  undisguised  pur- 
pose of  aiding  the  South.  He  continued 
this  course  until  the  close  of  the  extra 
session,  when  he  accepted  a  General's 
commission  in  the  Confederate  army.  But 
before  its  close,  Senator  Baker  of  Oregon, 
angered  at  his  general  course,  said  in  reply 
to  one  of  Breckinridge's  speeches,  Aug.  1st : 

"  What  would  the  Senator  from  Ken- 
tucky, have  ?  These  speeches  of  his,  sown 
broadcast  over  the  land,  what  clear  distinct 
meaning  have  they?  Are  they  not  intend- 
ed for  disorganization  in  our  very  midst? 
Are  they  not  intended  to  destroy  our  zeal  ? 
Are  they  not  intended  to  animate  our 
enemies  ?  Sir,  are  they  not  words  of  bril- 
liant polished  treason,  even  in  the  very 
Capitol  of  the  Republic  ?"  [Here  there  were 
such  manifestations  of  applause  in  the  gal- 
leries, as  were  with  difficulty  suppressed.] 

Mr.  Baker  resumed,  and  turning  directly 
to  Mr.  Breckinridge,  inquired : 

"  What  would  have  been  thought,  if,  in 
another  Capitol,  in  another  republic,  in  a 
yet  more  martial  age,  a  Senator  as  grave, 
not  more  eloquent,  or  dignified  than  the 
Senator  from  Kentucky,  yet  with  the 
Roman  purple  flowing  over  his  shoulders, 
had  risen  in  his  place,  surrounded  by  all 
the  illustrations  of  Roman  glory,  and  de- 
clared that  the  cause  of  the  advancing 
Hannibal  was  just,  and  that  Carthage  ought 
to  be  dealt  with  in  terms  of  peace  ?  What 
would  have  been  thought  if,  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Cannae,  a  Senator  there  had  risen  in 
his  place,  and  denounced  every  levy  of  the 
Roman  people,  every  expenditure  of  its 
treasure,  and  every  appeal  to  the  old  recol- 
lections and  the  old  glories  ?" 

There  was  a  silence  so  profound  through- 
out the  Senate  and  galleries,  that  a  pinfall 
could  have  been  heard,  while  every  eye 
was  fixed  upon  Breckinridge.  Fessenden 
exclaimed  in  deep  low  tones,  "  he  would 
have  been  hurled  from  the  Tarpeian  Rock !" 

Baker  resumed : 

"  Sir,  a  Senator  himself  learned  far  more 
than  myself,  in  such  lore,  (Mr.  Fessenden) 
tells  me,  in  a  low  voice,  "  he  would  have 
been  hurled  from  the  Tarpeian  Rock." 
It  is  a  grand  commentary  upon  the 
American  Constitution,  that  we  permit 
tiiese  words  of  the  Senator   from    Ken- 


tucky, to  be  uttered.  I  ask  the  Senator 
to  recollect,  to  what,  save  to  send  aid 
and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  do  these  pre- 
dictions amount  to  ?  Every  word  thus  utter- 
ed, falls  as  a  note  of  inspiration  upon  every 
Confederate  ear.  Every  sound  thus  utter- 
ed, is  a  word,  (and  falling  from  his  lips,  a 
mighty  word)  of  kindling  and  triumph  to 
the  foe  that  determines  to  advance." 

The  Republicans  of  the  North  were  the 
distinctive  "war  party,"  i.  e.,  they  gave 
unqualified  support  to  every  demand  made 
by  the  Lincoln  administration.  Most  of 
the  Democrats,  acting  as  citizens,  did  like- 
wise, but  many  of  those  in  official  position, 
assuming  the  prerogative  of  a  minority, 
took  the  liberty  in  Congress  and  State 
Legislature  to  criticise  the  more  important 
war  measures,  and  the  extremists  went  so 
far,  in  many  instances,  as  to  organize  oppo- 
sition, and  to  encourage  it  among  their 
constituents.  Thus  in  the  States  bordering 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  organized 
and  individual  efforts  were  made  to  encour- 
age desertions,  and  the  "Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle,"  and  the  "Sons  of  Liberty," 
secret  societies  composed  of  Northern  sym- 
pathizers with  the  South,  formed  many 
troublesome  conspiracies.  Through  their 
action  troops  were  even  enlisted  in  South- 
ern Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri  for  the 
Confederate  armies,  while  the  border  States 
in  the  Union  sent  whole  regiments  to  bat- 
tle for  the  South.  The  "  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle  "  conspired  to  release  Con- 
federate prisoners  of  war,  and  invited  Mor- 
gan to  raid  their  States.  One  of  the  worst 
forms  of  opposition  took  shape  in  a  con- 
spiracy to  resist  the  draft  in  New  York 
city.  The  fury  of  the  mob  was  several 
days  beyond  control,  and  troops  had  to  be 
recalled  from  the  front  to  suppress  it.  The 
riot  was  really  political,  the  prejudices  of 
the  mob  under  cover  of  resistance  to  the 
draft,  being  vented  on  the  negroes,  many 
of  whom  were  killed  before  adequate  num- 
bers could  be  sent  to  their  succor.  The 
civil  authorities  of  the  city  were  charged 
with  winking  at  the  occurrence,  and  it  was 
afterwards  ascertained  that  Confederate 
agents  really  organized  the  riot  as  a  move- 
ment to  "  take  the  enemy  in  the  rear." 

The  Republican  was  as  distinctively  the 
war  party  during  the  Great  Rebellion,  as 
the  Whigs  were  during  the  Revolution,  the 
Democratic-Republicans  during  the  War 
of  1812,  and  the  Democrats  during  the 
War  with  Mexico,  and,  as  in  all  of  these 
war  decades,  kept  the  majority  sentiment 
of  the  country  with  them.  This  is  such  a 
plain  statement  of  facts  that  it  is  neither 
partisan  to  assert,  nor  a  mark  of  partv- 
fealty  to  denjr.  The  history  is  indelibly 
written.  It  is  stamped  upon  nearly  every 
war  measure,  and  certainly  upon  every 
political  measure  incident  to  growing  out 
of  the  rebellion. 


134 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


These  were  exciting  and  memorable 
scenes  in  the  several  sessions  of  the  37th 
Congress.  During  the  first  many  Southern 
Senators  and  Representatives  withdrew 
after  angry  statements  of  their  reasons, 
generally  in  obedience  to  calls  from  their 
States  or  immediate  homes.  In  this  way 
the  majority  was  changed.  Others  re- 
mained until  the  close  of  the  first  session, 
and  then  more  quietly  entered  the  rebellion. 
We  have  shown  that  of  this  class  was 
Breckinridge,  who  thought  he  could  do 
more  good  for  his  cause  in  the  Federal 
Congress  than  elsewhere,  and  it  is  well  for 
the  Union  that  most  of  his  colleagues  dis- 
agreed with  him  as  to  the  propriety  and 
wisdom  of  his  policy.  If  all  had  followed 
his  lead  or  imitated  his  example,  the  war 
would  in  all  probability  have  closed  in  an- 
other compromise,  or  possibly  in  the  ac- 
complishment of  southern  separations. 
These  men  could  have  so  obstructed  legis- 
lation as  to  make  all  its  early  periods  far 
more  discouraging  than  they  were.  As  it 
was  the  Confederates  had  all  the  advan- 
tages of  a  free  and  fair  start,  and  the  eifect 
was  traceable  in  all  of  the  early  battles 
and  negotiations  with  foreign  powers. 
There  was  one  way  in  which  these  advan- 
tages could  have  been  supported  and  con- 
tinued. Breckenridge,  shrewd  and  able 
politician  as  he  was,  saw  that  the  way  was 
to  keep  Southern  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress, at  least  as  long  as  Northern  senti- 
ment would  abide  it,  and  in  this  way  win 
victories  at  the  very  fountain-head  of 
power.  But  at  the  close  of  the  extra  ses- 
sion this  view  had  become  unpopular  at 
both  ends  of  the  line,  and  even  Brecken- 
ridge abandoned  it  and  sought  to  hide  his 
original  purpose  by  immediate  service  in 
tlie  Confederate  armies. 

It  will  be  noted  that  those  who  vacated 
their  seats  to  enter  the  Confederacy  were 
afterwards  expelled.  In  this  connection  a 
curious  incident  can  be  related,  occuring 
as  late  as  the  Senate  session  of  1882  : 

The  widow  of  the  late  Senator  Nichol- 
son, of  Tennessee,  who  was  in  the  Senate 
when  Tennessee  seceded,  a  short  time  ago 
sent  a  petition  to  Congress  asking  that  the 
salary  of  her  late  husband,  after  he  return- 
ed to  Tennessee,  might  be  paid  to  her. 
Mr.  Nicholson's  term  would  nave  expired 
in  1865  had  he  remained  in  his  seat.  He 
did  not  appear  at  the  special  session  of 
Congress  convened  in  July,  18G1,  and  with 
other  Senators  from  the  South  was  expelled 
from  the  Senate  on  July  11th  of  that  year. 
•The  Senate  Committee  on  Claims,  after 
examining  the  case  thoroughly,  submitted 
to  the  Senate  an  adverse  report.  After 
giving  a  concise  history  of  the  case  the 
committee  say :  "  We  do  not  deem  it 
proper,  after  the  expiration  of  twenty  years, 
to  pass  special  acts  of  Congress  to  compen- 
sate the  Senators  and  Representatives  who 


seceded  in  1861  for  their  services  in  the 
early  part  of  that  year.  We  recommend 
that  the  claim  of  the  petitioner  be  disal- 
lowed." 

The  Sessions  of  the  37th  Congress 
changed  the  political  course  of  many  pub- 
lic men.  It  made  the  Southern  believers 
in  secession  still  more  vehement ;  it  sepa- 
rated the  Southern  Unionists  from  their 
former  friends,  and  created  a  wall  of  fire 
between  them  ;  it  changed  the  temper  of 
Northern  Abolitionists,  in  so  far  as  to  drive 
from  them  all  spirit  of  faction,  all  pride  of 
methods,  and  compelled  them  to  unite  with 
a  republican  sentiment  which  was  making 
sure  advances  from  the  original  declara- 
tion that  slavery  should  not  be  extended 
to  the  Territories,  to  emancipation,  and, 
finally,  to  the  arming  of  the  slaves.  It 
changed  many  Northern  Democrats,  and 
from  the  ranks  of  these,  even  in  represen- 
tative positions,  the  lines  of  the  Repub- 
licans were  constantly  strengthened  on 
pivotal  questions.  On  the  27th  of  July 
Breckinridge  had  said  in  a  speech :  "  When 
traitors  become  numerous  enough  treason 
becomes  respectable."  Senator  Andrew 
Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  replied  to  this,  and 
said  :  "  God  being  willing,  whether  traitors 
be  many  or  few,  as  I  have  hitherto  waged 
war  against  traitors  and  treason,  I  intend 
to  continue  it  to  the  end."  And  yet  John- 
son had  the  year  before  warmly  supported 
Breckinridge  in  his  presidential  campaign. 

Among  the  more  conspicuous  Republi- 
cans and  anti-Lecompton  Democrats  in 
this  session  were  Charles  Sumner,  a  man 
who  then  exceeded  all  others  in  scholarly 
attainments  and  as  an  orator,  though  he 
was  not  strong  in  current  debate.  Great 
care  and  preparation  marked  every  impor- 
tant effort,  but  no  man's  speeches  were 
more  admired  throughout  the  North,  and 
hated  throughout  the  South,  than  those  of 
Charles  Sumner.  An  air  of  romance  sur- 
rounded the  man,  because  he  was  the  first 
victim  of  a  senatorial  outrage,  when  beaten 
by  Brooks  of  South  Carolina  ;  but,  sneered 
his  political  enemies,  "  no  man  more  care- 
fully preserved  his  wounds  for  exhibition 
to  a  sympathetic  world."  He  had  some 
minor  weaknesses,  which  were  constantly 
displayed,  and  these  centred  in  egotism 
and  high  personal  pride — not  very  popular 
traits — but  no  enemy  was  so  malicious  as 
to  deny  his  greatness. 

Fessenden  of  Maine  was  one  of  the  great 
lights  of  that  day.  He  was  apt,  almost 
beyond  example,  in  debate,  and  was  a  re- 
cognized leader  of  the  Republicans  until, 
in  the  attempt  to  impeach  President  John- 
son, he  disagreed  with  the  majority  of  his 
party  and  stepped  "  down  and  out."  Yet 
no  one  questioned  his  integrity,  and  all  be- 
lieved that  his  vote  was  cast  on  this  ques- 
tion in  a  line  with  his  convictions.  The 
leading  character  in  the  House  was  Thlid- 


BooKi.]         MR.    LINCOLN'S   FIRST   ADMINISTRATION. 


135 


deus  Stevens,  an  original  Abolitionist  in 
sentiment,  but  a  man  eminently  practical 
and  shrewd  in  all  his  methods. 

The  chances  of  politics  often  carry  men 
into  the  Presidential  Chair,  into  Cabinets, 
and  with  later  and  demoralizing  frequency 
into  Senate  seats ;  but  chance  never  makes 
a  Commoner,  and  Thaddeua  Stevens  was 
throughout  the  war,  and  up  to  the  hour  of 
his  death,  recognized  as  the  great  Com- 
moner of  the  Northern  people.  He  led  in 
every  House  battle,  and  a  more  unflinch- 
ing party  leader  was  never  known  to  par- 
liamentary bodies.  Limp  and  infirm,  he 
was  not  liable  to  personal  assault,  even  in 
days  when  such  assaults  were  common; 
but  when  on  one  occasion  his  fiery  tongue 
had  so  exasperated  the  Southerners  in 
Congress  as  to  make  them  show  their 
knives  and  pistols,  he  stepped  out  into  the 
aisle,  and  facing,  bid  them  defiance.  He 
was  a  Radical  of  the  Radicals,  and  con- 
stantly contended  that  the  government — 
the  better  to  preserve  itself — could  travel 
outside  of  the  Constitution.  What  cannot 
be  said  of  any  other  man  in  history,  can 
be  said  ofThaddeus  Stevens.  When  he 
lay  dead,  carried  thus  from  Washington  to 
his  home  in  Lancaster,  with  all  of  his 
people  knowing  that  he  was  dead,  he  was, 
on  the  day  following  the  arrival  of  his 
corpse,  and  within  a  few  squares  of  his  re- 
sidence, unanimously  renominated  by  the 
Republicans  for  Congress.  If  more  poetic 
ana  less  practical  sections  or  lands  than  the 
North  had  such  a  hero,  hallowed  by  such 
an  incident,  both  the  name  and  the  inci- 
dent would  travel  down  the  ages  in  song 
and  story.* 

The  "rising"  man  in  the  37th  Congress 
was  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana,  elected 
Speaker  of  the  38th,  and  subsequently 
^  ice  President.  A  great  parliamentarian, 
he  was  gifted  with  rare  eloquence,  and 
with  a  kind  which  won  friends  without 
olfending  enemies — something  too  rare  to 
last.  In  the  House  were  also  Justin  S. 
Morrill,  the  author  of  the  Tariff  Bill  which 
supplied  the  "  sinews  of  war,"  Henry  L. 
Dawes  of  Massachusetts,  then  "  the  man  of 
Statistics "  and  the  "  watch-dog  of  the 
treasury."  Roscoe  Conkling  was  then  the 
admitted  leader  of  the  New  York  delega- 
tion, as  he  was  the  admitted  mental 
superior  of  any  other  in  subsequent  terms 
in  the  Senate,  up  to  the  time  of  his  resigna- 
tion in  1881.  Reuben  E.  Fenton,  his 
factional  opponent,  was  also  there.  Ohio 
was  strongly  represented  in  both  parties — 
Pendleton,  Cox  and  Vallandigham  on  the 
side  of  the  Democrats ;  Bingham  and  Ash- 
ley on  the  part  of  the  Republicans.  Illi- 
nois showed  four  prominent  anti-Lecomp- 
ton    supporters    of  the    administration — 

•This  incident  was  related  to  the  writer  by  Col.  A.  K. 
HcClure  of  Philadelphia,  who  wm  in  Lancaster  at  the 
tlmo.f 


Douglas  in  the  Senate;  Logan,  McCler- 
nand  and  Richardson  in  the  House ;  while 
prominent  among  the  Republicans  were 
Lovejoy  (an  original  Abolitionist),  Wash- 
burne,  a  candidate  for  the  Presidential 
nomination  in  1880— Kellogg  and  Arnold. 
John  F.  Potter  was  one  of  the  prominent 
Wisconsin  men,  who  had  won  additional 
fame  by  accepting  the  challenge  to  duel  of 
Roger  A.  Pryor  of  Virginia,  and  naming 
tte  American  rifle  as  the  weapon.  Fortu- 
nately the  duel  did  not  come  off".  Penn- 
sylvania had  then,  as  she  still  has.  Judge 
Kelley  of  Philadelphia,  chairman  of  Ways 
and  Means  in  the  46th  Congress ;  also 
Edward  McPherson,  frequently  since  Clerk 
of  the  House,  temporary  President  of  the 
Cincinnati  Convention,  whose  decision 
overthrew  the  unit  rule,  and  author  of 
several  valuable  political  works,  some  of 
which  we  freely  quote  in  this  history. 
John  Hickman,  subsequently  a  Republi- 
can, but  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  anti- 
Lecompton  Democrats,  was  an  admitted 
leader,  a  man  of  rare  force  and  eloquence. 
So  radical  did  he  become  that  he  refused 
to  support  the  re-election  of  Lincoln.  He 
was  succeeded  by  John  M.  Broomall,  who 
made  several  fine  speeches  in  favor  of 
the  constitutional  amendments  touching 
slavery  and  civil  rights.  Here  also  were 
James  Campbell,  Hendricks  B.  Wright, 
John  Covode,  James  K.  Morehead,  and 
Speaker  Grow — the  father  of  the  Home- 
stead Bill,  which  will  be  found  in  Book 
v.,  giving  the  Existing  Political  Laws. 
At  this  session  Senator  Trumbull  of 
Illinois,  renewed  the  agitation  of  the 
slavery  question,  by  reporting  from  the 
Judiciary  Committee  of  which  he  was 
Chairman,  a  bill  to  confiscate  all  property 
and  free  all  slaves  used  for  insurrectionary 
purposes.*  Breckinridge  fought  the  bill, 
as  indeed  he  did  all  bills  coming  from  the 
Republicans,  and  said  if  passed  it  would 
eventuate  in  "the  loosening  of  all  bonds." 
Among  the  facts  stated  in  support  of  the 
measure  was  this,  that  the  Confederates 
had  at  Bull  Run  used  the  negroes  and 
slaves  against  the  Union  army — a  state- 
ment never  well  established.  The  bill 
passed  the  Senate  by  33  to  6,  and  on  th« 
3d  of  August  passed  the  House,  though 
several  Republicans  there  voted  against  it, 
fearing  a  too  rapid  advance  would  preju- 
dice the  Union  cause.  Indeed  this  fear 
was  entertained  by  Lincoln  when  he  re- 
commended 

COMPENSATED  EMANCIPATION 

in  the  second  session  of  the  37th  Congress, 
which  recommendation  excited  oflScial  dis- 
cussion almost  up  to  the  time  the  emanci- 
pation proclamation  was  issued  as  a  war 
necessity.    The  idea  of  compensated  emau- 

*Ar&old'8  "History  of  Abraham  Liacoliu" 


136 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[booki. 


cipation  originated  with  or  was  first  form- 
ulated by  James  B.  McKean  of  New  York, 
who  on  Feb.  11th,  1861,  at  the  2d  session 
of  the  36th  Congress,  introduced  the  fol- 
lowing resolution : 

Whereas,  The  "Gulf  States"  have  as- 
sumed to  secede  from  tlie  Union,  and  it  is 
deemed  important  to  prevent  the  "  border 
slave  States "  from  following  their  exam- 
ple ;  and  wherea-s  it  is  believed  that  those 
who  are  inflexibly  opposed  to  any  measure 
of  compromise  or  concession  that  involves, 
or  may  involve,  a  sacrif  ce  of  principle  or 
the  extension  of  slavery,  would  neverthe- 
less cheerfully  concur  in  any  lawful 
measure  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  : 
Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  select  committee  of 
five  be  instructed  to  inquire  whether,  by 
the  consent  of  the  people,  or  of  the  State 
governments,  or  oy  compensating  the 
slaveholders,  it  be  practicable  for  the  Gen- 
eral Government  to  procure  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves  in  some,  or  all,  of  the  "bor- 
der States ;"  and  if  so,  to  report  a  bill  for 
that  purpose. 

Iiincoiii  was  so  strongly  impressed  with 
the  fact,  in  the  earlier  struggles  of  the  war, 
that  great  good  would  follow  compensated 
emancipation,  that  on  March  2d,  1862,  he 
sent  a  special  message  to  the  2d  session  of 
the  37th  Congress,  in  which  he  said : 

"  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint 
resolution  by  your  honorable  bodies,  which 
shall  be  substantially  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought 
to  co-operate  with  any  State  which  may 
adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giv- 
ing to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used 
by  such  State  in  its  discretion,  to  compen- 
sate for  the  inconveniences,  public  and 
private,  produced  by  such  change  of  sys- 
tem. 

"  If  the  proposition  containcU  in  the 
resolution  does  not  meet  the  approval  of 
Congress  and  the  country,  there  is  the  end ; 
but  if  it  does  command  such  approval,  I 
deem  it  of  importance  that  the  States  and 
people  immediately  interested  should  be 
at  once  distinctly  notified  of  the  fact,  so 
that  they  may  begin  to  consider  whether 
to  accept  or  reject  it.  The  Federal  Govern- 
ment would  find  its  highest  interest  in  such 
a  measure,  as  one  or  the  most  efficient 
means  of  self-preservation.  The  leaders  of 
the  existing  insurrection  entertain  the  hope 
that  this  Government  will  ultimately  be 
forced  to  acknowledge  the  independence 
of  some  part  of  the  disaffected  region,  and 
that  all  the  slave  States  north  of  such  part 
will  then  say,  '  the  Union  for  which  we 
have  struggled  being  already  gone,  we  now 
choose  to  go  with  the  southern  section.' 
To  deprive  them  of  this  hope,  substantially 
ends  the  rebellion ;  and  the  initiation  of 
enxancipation  completelv  deprives  them  of 
it  as  to  all  the  States  initiating  it.    The 


point  is  not  that  all  the  States  tolerating 
slavery  would  very  soon,  if  at  all,  initiate 
emancipation ;  but  that,  while  the  offer 
is  equally  made  to  all,  the  more  northern 
shall,  by  such  initiation,  make  it  certain 
to  the  more  southern  that  in  no  event  will 
the  former  ever  join  the  latter  in  their  pro- 
posed confederacy.  I  say  '  initiation,'  be- 
cause, in  my  judgment,  gradual,  and  not 
sudden  emancipation,  is  better  for  all.  In 
the  mere  financial  or  pecuniary  view,  any 
member  of  Congress,  with  the  census 
tables  and  Treasury  reports  before  him, 
can  readily  see  for  himself  how  very  soon 
the  current  expenditures  of  this  war  would 
purchase,  at  fair  valuation,  all  the  slaves 
in  any  named  State.  Such  a  proposition 
on  the  part  of  the  General  Government 
sets  up  no  claim  of  a  right  by  Federal 
authority  to  interfere  with  slavery  within 
State  limits,  referring,  as  it  does  the  abso- 
lute control  of  the  subject  in  each  case  to 
the  State  and  its  people  immediately  in- 
terested. It  is  proposed  as  a  matter  of  per- 
fectly free  choice  with  them. 

"  In  the  annual  message  last  December, 
I  thought  fit  to  say,  '  the  Union  must  be 
preserved;  and  hence  all  indispensable 
means  must  be  employed.'  I  said  this  not 
hastily,  but  deliberately.  War  has  been 
made,  and  continues  to  be  an  indispensa- 
ble means  to  this  end.  A  practical  reac- 
knowledgment  of  the  national  authoritjr 
would  render  the  war  unnecessary,  and  it 
would  at  once  cease.  If,  however,  resist- 
ance Continues,  the  war  must  also  continue ; 
and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the  inci- 
dents which  may  attend,  and  all  the  ruin 
which  may  follow  it.  Such  as  may  seem 
indispensable,  or  may  obviously  promise 
great  efficiency  toward  ending  the  strug- 
gle, must  and  will  come. 

"  The  proposition  now  made,  though  an 
offer  only,  I  hope  it  may  be  esteemed  no 
offence  to  ask  whether  the  pecunianr  con- 
sideration tendered  would  not  be  of  more 
value  to  the  States  and  private  persons 
concerned,  than  are  the  institution,  and 
property  in  it,  in  the  present  aspect  of 
affairs  ? 

"  While  it  is  true  that  the  adoption  of 
the  proposed  resolution  would  be  merely 
initiatory,  and  not  within  itself  a  practical 
measure,  it  is  recommended  in  the  hope 
that  it  would  soon  lead  to  important  prac- 
tical results.  In  full  view  of  my  great  re- 
sponsibility to  my  God  and  to  my  country, 
I  earnestly  beg  the  attention  of  Congress 
and  the  people  to  the  subject." 

Mr.  Conkling  called  the  question  up  in 
the  House  March  10th,  and  under  a  sus- 
pension of  the  rules,  it  was  pa.ssed  by  97  to 
36.  It  passed  the  Senate  April  2,  by  82  to 
10,  the  Eepublicans,  as  a  rule,  voting  for 
it,  the  Democrats,  as  a  rule,  voting  against 
it ;  and  this  was  true  even  of  those  in  the 
Border  States. 


BOOK  I.] 


COMPENSATED    EMANCIPATION. 


137 


The  fact  last  stated  excited  the  notice  of 
President  Lincoln,  and  in  July,  1862,  he 
sought  an  interview  with  the  Border  State 
Congressmen,  the  result  of  which  is  con- 
tained in  Mcpherson's  Political  History  of 
the  Great  Rebellion,  as  follows : 


Tbe  President's  Appeal   to   tbe  Border 
States. 

The  Eepresentatives  and  Senators  of 
the  border  slaveholding  States,  having,  by 
special  invitation  of  the  President,  been 
convened  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  on 
Saturday  morning  last,  (July  12,)  Mr. 
Lincoln  addressed  them  as  follows  from  a 
written  paper  held  in  his  hand  : 

"  Gentlemen  :  After  the  adjournment 
of  Congress,  now  near,  I  shall  have  no 
opportunity  of  seeing  you  for  several 
months.  Believing  that  you  of  the  border 
States  hold  more  power  for  good  than  any 
other  equal  number  of  members,  I  feel  it 
a  duty  which  I  cannot  justifiably  waive,  to 
make  this  appeal  to  you. 

"I  intend  no  reproach  or  complaint 
when  I  assure  you  that,  in  my  opinion,  if 
you  all  had  voted  for  the  resolution  in  the 

fradual  emancipation  message  of  last 
[arch,  the  war  would  now  be  substantially 
ended.  And  the  plan  therein  proposed  is 
yet  one  of  the  most  potent  and  swift  means 
of  ending  it.  Let  the  States  which  are  in 
rebellion  see  definitely  and  certainly  that 
in  no  event  will  the  States  you  represent 
ever  join  their  proposed  Confederacy,  and 
they  cannot  much  longer  maintain  the 
contest.  But  you  cannot  divest  them  of 
their  hope  to  ultimately  have  you  with 
them  so  long  as  you  show  a  determination 
to  perpetuate  the  institution  within  your 
own  States.  Beat  them  at  elections,  as 
j^ou  have  overwhelmingly  done,  and,  noth- 
ing daunted,  they  still  claim  you  as  their 
own.  You  and  I  know  what  the  lever  of 
their  power  is.  Break  that  lever  before 
their  faces,  and  they  can  shake  you  no 
more  forever. 

"Most  of  you  have  treated  me  with 
kindness  and  consideration,  and  I  trust 
you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch 
what  is  exclusively  your  own,  when,  for 
the  sake  of  the  whole  country,  I  ask,  '  Can 
you,  for  your  States,  do  better  than  to  take 
the  course  I  urge  ? '  Discarding  punctilio 
and  maxims  adapted  to  more  manageable 
times,  and  looking  only  to  the  unprece- 
dentedly  stern  facts  of  our  case,  can  you  do 
better  in  any  possible  event?  You  prefer 
that  the  constitutional  relations  of  the 
States  to  the  nation  shall  be  practically 
restored  without  disturbance  of  the  insti- 
tution ;  and,  if  this  were  done,  my  whole 
duty,  in  this  respect,  under  the  Constitu- 
tion and  my  oath  of  office,  would  be  per- 
formed.   But  it  is  not  done,  and  we  are 


trying  to  accomplish  it  by  war.  The 
incidents  of  the  war  cannot  be  avoided. 
If  the  war  continues  long,  as  it  must,  if 
the  object  be  not  sooner  attained,  the  in- 
stitution in  your  States  will  be  ex- 
tinguished by  mere  friction  and  abrasion 
— by  the  mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It 
will  be  gone,  and  you  will  have  nothing 
valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value 
is  gone  already.  How  much  better  for 
you  and  for  your  people  to  take  the  step 
which  at  once  shortens  the  war  and 
secures  substantial  compensation  for  that 
which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost  in  any 
other  event!  How  much  better  to  thus 
save  the  money  which  else  we  sink  forever 
in  the  war!  How  much  better  to  do  it 
while  we  can,  lest  the  war  ere  long  render 
us  pecuniarily  unable  to  do  it !  How  much 
better  for  you,  as  seller,  and  the  nation,  as 
buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy  out  that  without 
which  the  war  could  never  have  been, 
than  to  sink  both  the  thing  to  be  sold  and 
the  price  of  it  in  cutting  one  another's 
throats ! 

"  I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation  at  once, 
but  of  a  decision  at  once  to  emancipate 
gradualbj.  Room  in  South  America  for 
colonization  can  be  obtained  cheaply  and 
in  abundance,  and  when  numbers  shall  be 
large  enough  to  be  company  and  encour- 
agement for  one  another,  the  freed  people 
will  not  be  so  reluctant  to  go. 

"  I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet 
mentioned,  one  which  threatens  division 
among  those  who,  united,  are  none  too 
strong.  An  instance  of  it  is  known  to 
you.  General  Hunter  is  an  honest  man. 
He  was,  and  I  hope  still  is,  my  friend.  I 
valued  him  none  the  less  for  his  agreeing 
with  me  in  the  general  wish  that  all  men 
everywhere  could  be  freed.  He  proclaimed 
all  men  free  within  certain  States,  and  I 
repudiated  the  proclamation.  He  expected 
more  good  and  less  harm  from  the  measure 
than  I  could  believe  would  follow.  Yet, 
in  repudiating  it,  I  gave  dissatisfaction,  if 
not  offence,  to  many  whose  support  the 
country  cannot  afford  to  lose.  And  this  is 
not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in  this 
direction  is  still  upon  me,  and  is  increas- 
ing. By  conceding  what  I  now  ask  you 
can  relieve  me,  and,  much  more,  can  re- 
lieve the  country  in  this  important  point. 

"  Upon  these  considerations  I  have 
again  begged  your  attention  to  the  mes- 
sage of  March  last.  Before  leaving  the 
Capitol,  consider  and  discuss  it  among 
yourselves.  You  are  patriots  and  states- 
men, and  as  such  I  pray  you  consider  this 
proposition ;  and  at  the  least  commend  it 
to  the  consideration  of  your  States  and 
people.  As  you  would  perpetuate  popular 
government  for  the  best  people  in  the 
world,  I  beseech  you  that  you  do  in  no- 
wise omit  this.  Our  common  country  i» 
in   great   peril,    demanding   the   loftiest 


138 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


views  and  boldest  action  to  bring  a  speedy 
relief.  Once  relieved,  its  form  of  govern- 
ment is  saved  to  the  world,  its  beloved 
history  and  cherished  memories  are  vin- 
dicated, and  its  happy  future  fully  assured 
and    rendered    inconceivably  grand.     To 

J'ou,  more  than  to  any  others,  the  privi- 
ege  is  given  to  assure  that  happiness  and 
swell  that  grandeur,  and  to  linlc  your  own 
names  therewith  forever." 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  remarks 
some  conversation  was  had  between  the 
President  and  several  members  of  the 
delegations  from  the  border  States,  in 
which  it  was  represented  that  these  States 
could  not  be  expected  to  move  in  so  great 
a  matter  as  that  brought  to  their  notice  in 
the  foregoing  address  while  as  yet  the 
Congress  had  taken  no  step  beyond  the 
passage  of  a  resolution,  expressive  rather 
of  a  sentiment  than  presenting  a  substan- 
tial and  reliable  basis  of  action. 

The  President  acknowledged  the  lorce 
of  this  view,  and  admitted  that  the  border 
States  were  entitled  to  expect  a  substantial 
pledge  of  pecuniary  aid  as  the  condition 
of  taking  into  consideration  a  proposition 
so  important  in  its  relations  to  their  social 
system. 

It  was  further  represented,  in  the  con- 
ference, that  the  people  of  the  border 
States  were  interested  in  knowing  the 
great  importance  which  the  President 
attached  to  the  policy  in  question,  while  it 
was  equally  due  to  the  country,  to  the 
President,  and  to  themselves,  that  the 
representatives  of  the  border  slave-holding 
States  should  publicly  announce  the  mo- 
tives under  which  they  were  called  to  act, 
and  the  considerations  of  public  policy 
urged  upon  them  and  their  constituents  by 
the  President. 

With  a  view  to  such  a  statement  of  their 
position,  the  members  thus  addressed  met 
in  council  to  deliberate  on  the  reply  they 
should  make  to  the  President,  and,  as  the 
result  of  a  comparison  of  opinions  among 
themselves,  they  determined  upon  the 
adoption  of  a  majority  and  minority  an- 
swer. 

BEPLY   OF  THE  MAJORITY. 

The  following  paper  was  yesterday  sent  to 
the  President,  signed  by  thfe  majority  of 
the  Representatives  from  the  bord.er  slave- 
holding  States : — 

Washington,  July  14, 1862. 
To  the  President  : 

The  undersigned.  Representatives  of 
Kentucky,  Virginia,  Missouri,  and  Mary- 
land, in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  have 
listened  to  your  address  with  the  profound 
sensibility  naturally  in.'spired  by  the  high 
source  from  which  it  emanates,  the  earn- 
estness which  marked  its  delivery,  and 
the  oyerwhelming  importance  of  the  sub- 


ject of  which  it  treats.  We  have  given  it 
a  most  respectful  consideration,  and  now 
lay  before  you  our  response.  We  regret 
that  want  of  time  has  not  permitted  us  to 
make  it  more  perfect. 

We  have  not  been  wanting,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, in  respect  to  you,  and  in  devotion  to 
the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  We 
have  not  been  indifferent  to  the  great  dif- 
ficulties surrounding  you,  compared  with 
which  all  former  national  troubles  have 
been  but  as  the  summer  cloud;  and  we 
have  freely  given  you  our  sympathy  and 
support.  Repudiating  the  dangerous  here- 
sies of  the  secessionists,  we  believed,  with 
you,  that  the  war  on  their  part  is  aggressive 
and  wicked,  and  the  objects  for  which  it 
was  to  be  prosecuted  on  ours,  defined  by 
your  message  at  the  opening  of  the  pres- 
ent Congress,  to  be  such  as  all  good  men 
should  approve.  We  have  not  hesitated 
to  vote  all  supplies  necessary  to  carry  it  on 
vigorously.  We  have  voted  all  the  men 
and  money  you  have  asked  for,  and  even 
more  ;  we  have  imposed  onerous  taxes  on 
our  people,  and  they  are  paying  them 
with  cheerfulness  and  alacrity ;  we  have 
encouraged  enlistments  and  sent  to  the 
field  many  of  our  best  men  ;  and  some  of 
our  number  have  offered  their  persons  to 
the  enemy  as  pledges  of  their  sincerity  and 
devotion  to  the  country. 

We  have  done  all  this  under  the  most 
discouraging  circumstances,  and  in  the 
face  of  measures  most  distasteful  to  us 
and  injurious  to  the  interests  we  repre- 
sent, and  in  the  hearing  of  doctrines 
avowed  by  those  who  claim  to  be  your 
friends,  must  be  abhorrent  to  us  and  our 
constituents.  But,  for  all  this,  we  have 
never  faltered,  nor  shall  we  as  long  as  we 
have  a  Constitution  to  defend  and  a  Gov- 
ernment which  protects  us.  And  we  are 
ready  for  renewed  efforts,  and  even  greater 
sacrifices,  yea,  any  sacrifice,  when  we  are 
satisfied  it  is  required  to  preserve  our 
admirable  form  of  government  and  the 
priceless  blessings  of  constitutional  li- 
berty. 

A  few  of  our  number  voted  for  the 
resolution  recommended  by  your  message 
of  the  6th  of  March  last,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  us  did  not,  and  we  will  briefly 
state  the  prominent  reasons  which  in- 
fluenced our  action. 

In  the  first  place,  it  proposed  a  radical 
change  of  our  social  system,  and  was  hur- 
ried through  both  Houses  with  undue 
haste,  without  reasonable  time  for  consid- 
eration and  debate,  and  with  no  time  at 
all  for  consultation  with  our  constituents, 
whose  interests  it  deeply  involved.  It 
seemed  like  an  interference  by  this  Gov- 
ernment with  a  question  which  peculiarly 
and  exclusively  belonged  to  our  respective 
States,  on  which  they  nad  not  sought  ad- 
vice or  solicited  aid.    Many  of  us  doubted 


BOOK  I.] 


COMPENSATED    EMANCIPATIOIy. 


139 


the  constitutional  power  of  this  Govern- 
ment to  make  appropriations  of  money  for 
the  object  designated,  and  all  of  us  thought 
our  finances  were  in  no  condition  to  bear 
the  immense  outlay  which  its  adoption 
and  faithful  execution  would  impose  upon 
the  national  Treasury.  If  we  pause  but 
a  moment  to  think  of  the  debt  its  accept- 
ance would  have  entailed,  we  are  appalled 
by  its  magnitude.  The  proposition  was 
addressed  to  all  the  States,  and  embraced 
the  whole  number  of  slaves. 

According  to  the  census  of  1860  there 
■were  then  nearly  four  million  slaves  in  the 
country ;  from  natural  increase  they  exceed 
that  number  now.  At  even  the  low  average 
of  $300,  the  price  fixed  by  the  emancipa- 
tion act  for  the  slaves  of  this  District,  and 
greatly  below  their  real  worth,  their  value 
runs  up  to  the  enormous  sum  of  $1,200,- 
000,000 ;  and  if  to  that  we  add  the  cost  of 
deportation  and  colonization,  at  $100  each, 
which  is  but  a  fraction  more  than  is  ac- 
tually paid  by  the  Marvland  Colonization 
Society,  we  have  $400,000,000  more.  We 
were  not  willing  to  impose  a  ta?  on  our 
people  suificient  to  pay  the  interest  on  that 
sum,  in  addition  to  the  vast  and  daily  in- 
creasing debt  already  fixed  upon  them  by 
the  exigencies  of  the  war,  and  if  we  had 
been  willing,  the  country  could  not  bear  it. 
Stated  in  this  form  the  proposition  is  noth- 
ing less  than  the  deportation  from  the 
country  of  $1,600,000,000  worth  of  produc- 
ing labor,  and  the  substitution  in  its  place 
oi"  an  interest-bearing  debt  of  the  same 
amount. 

But,  if  we  are  told  that  it  was  expected 
that  only  the  States  we  represent  would 
accept  the  proposition,  we  respectfully 
submit  that  even  then  it  involves  a  sum 
too  great  for  the  financial  ability  of  this 
Grovernment  at  this  time.  According  to 
the  census  of  1860 — 

Slaves. 

Kentucky  had. 225,490 

Marvland 87,188 

Virginia.... 490,887 

Delaware 1,798 

Missouri 114,965 

Tennessee 275,784 

Making  in  the  whole 1,196,112 

At  the  same  rate  of  valuation 

these  would  amount  to.... $358,933,500 

Add  for  deportation  and  colo- 
nization $100  each 11 8,244,533 

And  we  have  the  enormous 
sum  of. $478,038,133 

We  did  not  feel  that  we  should  be  justi- 
fied in  voting  for  a  measure  which,  if  car- 
ried out,  would  add  this  vast  amount  to 
our  public  debt  at  a  moment  when  the 
Treasury  was  reeling  under  the  enormous 
expenditure  of  the  war. 


Again,  it  seemed  to  us  that  this  resolu- 
tion was  but  the  annunciation  of  a  senti- 
ment which  could  not  or  was  not  likely  to 
be  reduced  to  an  actual  tangible  proposi- 
tion. No  movement  was  then  made  to 
provide  and  appropriate  the  funds  required 
to  carry  it  into  effect ;  and  we  were  not  en- 
couraged to  believe  that  funds  would  be 
provided.  And  our  belief  has  been  fiilly 
justified  by  subsequent  events.  Not  to 
mention  other  circumstances,  it  is  quite 
sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  bring  to  your 
notice  the  fact  that,  while  this  resolution 
was  under  consideration  in  the  Senate,  our 
colleague,  the  Senator  from  Kentucky, 
moved  an  amendment  appropriating  $500,- 
000  to  the  object  therein  designated,  and  it 
was  voted  down  with  great  unanimity.  What 
confidence,  then,  could  we  reasonably  feel 
that  if  we  committed  ourselves  to  the 
policy  it  proposed,  our  constituents  would 
reap  the  fruits  of  the  promise  held  out; 
ana  on  what  ground  could  we,  as  fair  men, 
approach  them  and  challenge  their  sup- 
port? 

The  right  to  hold  slaves  is  a  right  apper- 
taining to  all  the  States  of  this  Union. 
They  have  the  right  to  cherish  or  abolish 
the  institution,  as  their  tastes  or  their  in- 
terests may  prompt,  and  no  one  is  autho- 
rized to  question  the  right  or  limit  the  en- 
joyment. And  no  one  has  more  clearly 
affirmed  that  right  than  you  have.  Your 
inaugural  address  does  you  great  honor  in 
this  respect,  and  inspired  the  country  with 
confidence  in  your  fairness  and  respect  for 
the  law.  Our  States  are  in  the  enjoyment 
of  that  right.  We  do  not  feel  called  on  to 
defend  the  institution  or  to  affirm  it  is  one 
which  ought  to  be  cherished ;  perhaps,  if 
we  were  to  make  the  attempt,  we  might 
find  that  we  differ  even  among  ourselves. 
It  is  enough  for  our  purpose  to  know  that 
it  is  a  right ;  and,  so  knowing,  we  did  not 
see  why  we  should  now  be  expected  to 
yield  it.  We  had  contributed  our  full 
share  to  relieve  the  country  at  this  terrible 
crisis ;  we  had  done  as  much  as  had  been 
required  of  others  in  like  circumstances; 
and  we  did  not  see  why  .sacrifices  should 
be  expected  of  us  from  which  others,  no 
more  loyal,  were  exempt.  Nor  could  we 
see  what  good  the  nation  would  derive 
from  it. 

Such  a  sacrifice  submitted  to  by  us 
would  not  have  strengthened  the  arm  of 
this  Government  or  weakened  that  of  the 
enemy.  It  was  not  necessary  as  a  pledge 
of  our  loyalty,  for  that  had  been  mani- 
fested beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  in  every 
form,  and  at  every  place  possible.  There 
was  not  the  remotest  probability  that  the 
States  we  represent  would  join  in  the  re- 
bellion, nor  IS  there  now,  or  of  their  elect- 
ing to  go  with  the  southern  section  in  the 
event  of  a  recognition  of  the  independence 
of  any  part  of  the  disaffected  region.    Our 


140 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


States  are  fixed  unalterably  in  their  reso- 
lution to  adhere  to  and  support  the  Union. 
They  see  no  safety  for  themselves,  and  no 
hope  for  constitutional  liberty  but  by  its 
preservation.  They  will,  under  no  cir- 
cumstances, consent  to  its  dissolution ;  and 
we  do  them  no  more  than  justice  Avhen  we 
assure  you  that,  while  the  war  is  conducted 
to  prevent  that  deplorable  catastrophe, 
they  will  sustain  it  as  long  as  they  can 
muster  a  man  or  command  a  dollar.  Nor 
will  they  ever  consent,  in  any  event,  to 
unite  with  the  Southern  Confederacy.  The 
bitter  fruits  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  of 
that  region  will  forever  prevent  them  from 
placing  their  security  and  happiness  in  the 
custody  of  an  association  whicn  has  incor- 
porated in  its  organic  law  the  seeds  of  its 
own  destruction. 
******        ♦» 

Mr.  President,  we  have  stated  with  frank- 
ness and  candor  the  reasons  on  which  we 
forbore  to  vote  for  the  resolution  you  have 
mentioned ;  but  you  have  again  presented 
this  proposition,  and  appealed  to  us  with 
an  earnestness  and  eloquence  which  have 
not  failed  to  impress  us,  to  "  consider  it, 
and  at  the  least  to  commend  it  to  the  con- 
sideration of  our  States  and  people."  Thus 
appealed  to  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  our 
beloved  country,  in  the  hour  of  its  greatest 
peril,  we  cannot  wholly  decline.  We  are 
willing  to  trust  every  question  relating  to 
their  interest  and  happiness  to  the  con- 
sideration and  ultimate  judgment  of  our 
own  people.  While  differing  from  you  as 
to  the  necessity  of  emancipating  the  slaves 
of  our  States  as  a  means  of  putting  down 
the  rebellion,  and  while  protesting  against 
the  propriety  of  any  extra-territorial  inter- 
ference to  induce  the  people  of  our  States 
to  adopt  any  particular  line  of  policy  on  a 
subject  which  peculiarly  and  exclusively 
belongs  to  them,  yet,  when  you  and  our 
brethren  of  the  loyal  States  sincerely  be- 
lieve that  the  retention  of  slavery  by  us  is 
an  obstacle  to  peace  and  national  harmony, 
and  are  willing  to  contribute  pecuniary  aid 
to  compensate  our  States  and  people  for 
the  inconveniences  produced  by  such  a 
change  of  system,  we  are  not  unwilling 
that  our  people  shall  consider  the  propriety 
of  putting  it  aside. 

But  we  have  already  saiu  that  we  re- 
garded this  resolution  as  the  utterance  of 
a  sentiment,  and  we  had  no  confidence 
that  it  would  assume  the  shape  of  a  tangi- 
ble, practical  proposition^  which  would 
yield  the  fruits  of  the  sacrifice  it  required. 
Our  people  are  influenced  by  the  same 
want  of  confidence,  and  will  not  consider 
the  proposition  in  its  present  impalpable 
form.  The  interest  they  are  asked  to  give 
up  is  to  them  of  much  importance,  and 
they  ought  not  to  be  exnected  even  to  en- 
tertain the  proposal  until  they  are  assured 
that  when  they  accept  it  their  just  expect- 


ations will  not  be  finistrated.  We  regard 
your  plan  as  a  proposition  from  the  Nation 
to  the  States  to  exercise  an  admitted  con- 
stitutional right  in  a  particular  manner 
and  yield  up  a  valuable  interest.  Before 
they  ought  to  consider  the  proposition,  it 
should  oe  presented  in  such  a  tangible, 
practical,  efficient  shape  as  to  command 
their  confidence  that  its  fruits  are  contin- 
gent only  upon  their  acceptance.  We  can- 
not trust  anything  to  the  contingencies  of 
future  legislation. 

If  Congress,  by  proper  and  necessary 
legislation,  shall  provide  sufficient  funds 
and  place  them  at  your  disposal,  to  be  ap- 
plied by  you  to  the  payment  of  any  of  our 
States  or  the  citizens  thereof  who  shall 
adopt  the  abolishment  of  slavery,  either 
gradual  or  immediate,  as  they  may  deter- 
mine, and  the  expense  of  deportation  and 
colonization  of  the  liberated  slaves,  then 
will  our  State  and  people  take  this  propo- 
sition into  careful  consideration,  for  such 
decision  as  in  their  judgment  is  demanded 
by  their  interest,  their  honor,  and  their 
duty  to  the  whole  country.  We  have  the 
honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

C.  A.  WlCKLIFFE,  CKn, 

Garrett  Davis, 
E.  Wilson, 
J.  J.  Crittenden, 
John  S.  Carlile, 
J.  W.  Crisfield, 
J.  S.  Jackson, 
H.  Grider, 
John  S.  Phelps, 
Francis  Thomas, 
Chas.  B.  Calvert, 
C.  L.  Leary, 
Edwin  H.  Webstek 
K.  Mallory, 
Aaron  Harding, 
James  S.  Rollins, 
J.  W.  Menzies, 
Thomas  L.  Price, 
G.  W.  Dunlap, 
Wm.  a.  Hall. 

Others  of  the  minority,  among  them  Sen- 
ator Henderson  and  Horace  Maynard,  for- 
warded separate  replies,  but  all  rejecting 
the  idea  of  compensated  emancipation. 
Still  Lincoln  adhered  to  and  advocated  it 
in  his  recent  annual  message  sent  to  Con- 
gress, Dec.  1,  1862,  from  which  we  take 
the  following  paragraphs,  which  are  in 
themselves  at  once  curious  and  interesting : 

"  We  have  two  million  nine  hundred  and 
sixty-three  thousand  square  miles.  Europe 
has  three  million  and  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand, with  a  population  averaging  seventy- 
three  and  one-third  persons  to  the  square 
mile.  Why  may  not  our  country,  at  some 
time,  average  as  many?  Is  it  less  fertile? 
Has  it  more  waste  surface,  by  mountains, 
rivers,  lakes,  deserts,  or  other  causes?  Is 
1  it  inferior  to  Europe  in  any  natural  ad- 


BOOK  I.] 


EMANCIPATION. 


141 


vantage  ?  If,  then,  we  are  at  some  time  to 
be  as  populous  as  Europe,  how  sqon  ?  As 
to  when  this  may  be,  we  can  judge  by  the 
past  and  the  present ;  as  to  when  it  voill  be, 
if  ever,  depends  much  on  whether  we 
maintain  the  Union.  Several  of  our  States 
are  already  above  the  average  of  Europe 
— seventy-three  and  a  third  to  the  square 
mile.  Massachusetts  has  157 ;  Rnode 
Island,  133 ;  Connecticut,  99 ;  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  each,  80.  Also  two  other 
great  states,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  are 
not  far  below,  the  former  having  63  and 
the  latter  59.  The  states  already  above 
the  European  average,  except  New  York, 
have  increased  in  as  rapid  a  ratio,  since 
passing  that  point,  as  ever  before ;  while 
no  one  of  them  is  equal  to  some  other  parts 
of  our  country  in  natural  capacity  f^^r  sus- 
taining a  dense  population. 

"Taking  the  nation  in  the  aggregate, 
and  we  find  its  population  and  ratio  of  in- 
crease, for  the  several  decennial  periods,  to 
be  as  follows : 

1790 3,929,827    Ratio  of  increase. 

1800 5,305,937  35.02  per  cent. 

1810 7,239,814  36.45       " 

1820 9,638,131  33.13       " 

1830 12,866,020  33.49       " 

1840 17,069,453  32.67       " 

1850 23,191,876  35.87       " 

1860 31,443,790  35.58       " 

This  shows  an  annual  decennial  increase 
of  34.69  per  cent,  in  population  through 
the  seventy  years  from  our  first  to  our  last 
census  yet  taken.  It  is  seen  that  the  ratio 
of  increase,  at  no  one  of  these  seven  periods 
is  either  two  per  cent,  below  or  two  per 
cent,  above  the  average ;  thus  showing  how 
inflexible,  and,  consequently,  how  reliable, 
the  law  of  increase  in  our  case  is.  Assum- 
ing that  it  will  continue,  gives  the  follow- 
ing results : 

1870 42,323,341 

1880 56,967,216 

1890 76,677,872 

1900 103,208,415 

1910 138,918,526 

1920 186,984,335 

1930 251,680,914 

"These  figures  show  that  our  country 
may  be  as  populous  as  Europe  now  is  at 
some  point  between  1920  and  1930 — say 
about  1925 — our  territory,  at  seventy-three 
and  a  third  persons  to  the  square  mile,  be- 
ing of  capacity  to  contain  217,186,000. 

And  we  will  reach  this,  too,  if  we  do 
not  ourselves  relincjuish  the  chance  by  the 
folly  and  evils  of  disunion,  or  by  long  and 
exhausting  war  springing  from  the  only 
great  element  of  nationsil  discord  among 
us.  While  it  cannot  be  foreseen  exactly 
how  much  one  huge  example  of  secession, 
breeding  lesser  ones  indefinitely,  would  re- 
tard population,  civilization,  and  prosperity 


no  on6  can  doubt  that  the  extent  of  it 
would  be  very  great  and  injurious. 

The  proposedemancipation  would  short- 
en the  war,  perpetuate  peace,  insure  this 
increase  of  population,  and  proportionately 
the  wealth  of  the  country.  With  these,  we 
should  pay  all  the  emancipation  would  cost, 
together  with  our  other  debt,  easier  than 
we  should  pay  our  other  debt  without  it. 
If  we  had  allowed  our  old  national  debt  to 
run  at  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  simple  in- 
terest, from  the  end  of  our  revolutionary 
struggle  until  to-day,  without  paying  any- 
thing on  either  principal  or  interest,  each 
man  of  us  would  owe  less  upon  that  debt 
now  than  each  man  owed  upon  it  then ; 
and  this  because  our  increase  of  men 
through  the  whole  period  has  been  greater 
than  six  per  cent. ;  has  run  faster  than  the 
interest  upon  the  debt.  Thus,  time  alone 
relieves  a  debtor  nation,  so  long  as  its  popu- 
lation increases  faster  than  unpaid  interest 
accumulates  on  its  debt. 

"This  fact  would  be  no  excuse  for  de- 
laying payment  of  what  is  justly  due ;  but 
it  shows  the  great  importance  of  time  in 
this  connection — the  great  advantage  of  a 
policy  by  which  we  shall  not  have  to  pay 
until  we  number  a  hundred  millions,  what, 
by  a  different  policy,  we  would  have  to  pay 
now,  when  we  number  but  thirty-one  mil- 
lions. In  a  word,  it  shows  that  a  dollar 
will  be  much  harder  to  pay  for  the  war 
than  will  be  a  dollar  for  emancipation  on 
the  proposed  plan.  And  then  the  latter 
will  cost  no  blood,  no  precious  life.  It  will 
be  a  saving  of  both." 

Various  propositions  and  measures  re- 
lating to  compensated  emancipation,  were 
afterwards  considered  in  both  Houses,  but 
it  was  in  March,  1863,  dropped  after  a 
refusal  of  the  House  to  suspend  the  rules 
for  the  consideration  of  the  subject. 


Kmanclpatlon  as  a  AVar  Neceaslty* 

Before  the  idea  of  compensated  emanci- 
pation had  been  dropped,  and  it  was  con- 
stantly discouraged  by  the  Democrats  and 
Border  Statesmen,  President  Lincoln  had 
determined  upon  a  more  radical  policy, 
and  on  the  22a  of  September,  1862,  issued 
his  celebrated  proclamation  declaring  that 
he  would  emancipate  "  all  persons  held  aa 
slaves  within  any  State  or  designated  part 
of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States" — by 
the  first  of  January,  1863,  if  such  sections 
were  not  "  in  good  faith  represented  in 
Congress."  He  followed  this  by  actual 
emancipation  at  the  time  stated. 


Proclamation  of  S<-pt.  39,  1869. 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  army  and  navy  there«f,  do 


142 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book.  I. 


hereby  proclaim  and  declare  that  hereafter, 
as  heretofore,  the  war  will  be  prosecuted 
for  the  object  of  practically  restoring  the 
constitutional  relation  between  the  United 
States  and  each  of  the  States  and  the  peo- 
ple thereof,  in  which  States  that  relation 
18  or  may  be  suspended  or  disturbed. 

That  it  is  my  purpose,  upon  the  next 
meeting  of  Congress,  to  again  recommend 
the  adoption  of  a  practical  measure  tender- 
ing pecuniary  aid  to  the  free  acceptance  or 
rejection  of  all  slave  States,  so  called,  the 
people  thereof  may  not  then  be  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  and  which  States 
may  then  have  voluntarily  adopted,  or 
thereafter  may  voluntarily  adopt,  imme- 
diate or  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery 
within  their  respected  limits;  and  that  the 
effort  to  colonize  persons  of  African  descent 
with  their  consent  upon  this  continent  or 
elsewhere,  with  the  previously  obtained 
consent  of  the  Governments  existing  there, 
will  be  continued. 

That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as 
slaves  within  any  State  or  designated  part 
of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall 
be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free ; 
and  the  Executive  Government  of  the 
United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and 
will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  per- 
sons, or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they 
may  make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day 
of  January  aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  de- 
signate the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if 
any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respective- 
ly, shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States ;  and  the  fact  that  any  State, 
or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be, 
in  good  faith,  represented  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  by  members  chosen 
thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of 
the  qualified  voters  of  such  State  shall  have 
participated,  shall,  in  the  absenceof  strong 
countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  con- 
clusive evidence  that  such  State,  and  the 
people  thereof,  are  not  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  Stites. 

That  attention  is  hereby  called  to  an  act 
of  Congress  entitled  "  An  act  to  make  an 
additional  article  of  war,"  approved  March 
13,  1862,  and  which  act  is  in  the  words  and 
figures  following : 

"  lie  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Bepresentntives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
hereafter  the  following  shall  be  promulga- 
ted as  an  additional  article  of  war,  for  the 
government  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  and  shall  be  obeyed  and  observed 
as  such. 

"  Abticle  — .  All  officers  or  persons  in 


the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United 
States  are  prohibited  from  employing  any 
of  the  forces  under  their  respective  com- 
mands for  the  purpose  of  returning  fugi- 
tives from  service  or  labor  who  may  have 
escaped  from  any  persons  to  whom  such 
service  or  labor  is  claimed  to  be  due,  and 
any  officer  who  shall  be  found  guilty  by  a 
court-martial  of  violating  this  article  shall 
be  dismissed  .from  the  service. 

"Sec.  2.  And  he  it  further  enacted.  That 
this  act "  shall  take  e^ect  from  and  after  its 
passage." 

Also  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  sections  of 
an  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  suppress  insur- 
rection, to  punish  treason  and  rebellion,  to 
seize  and  confiscate  property  of  rebels,  and 
for  other  purposes,"  approved  July  17, 
1862,  and  which  sections  are  in  the  words 
and  figures  following : 

"  Sec.  9.  And  he  it  further  enacted,  That 
all  slaves  of  persons  who  shall  hereafter  be 
engaged  in  rebellion  against  the  Goverxi- 
ment  of  the  United  States  or  who  shall  in 
any  way  give  aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escap- 
ing from  such  persons  and  taking  refuge 
within  the  lines  of  the  army;  and  all  slaves 
captured  from  such  persons  or  deserted  by 
them,  and  coming  under  the  control  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States ;  and 
all  slaves  of  such  persons  found  on  [or] 
being  within  any  place  occupied  by  rebel 
forces  and  afterwards  occupied  by  the 
forces  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  deem- 
ed captives  of  war,  and  shall  be  forever 
free  of  their  servitude,  and  not  again  held 
as  slaves. 

"  Sec.  10.  And  he  it  further  enacted,  That 
no  slave  escaping  into  any  State,  Territory, 
or  the  District  of  Columbia,  from  any  other 
State,  shall  be  delivered  up,  or  in  any  way 
impeded  or  hindered  of  his  liberty,  except 
for  crime,  or  some  offence  against  the  laws, 
unless  the  person  claiming  said  fugitive 
shall  first  make  oath  that  the  person  to 
whom  the  labor  or  service  of  such  fugitive 
is  alleged  to  be  due  is  his  lawful  owner, 
and  has  not  borne  arms  against  the  United 
States  in  the  present  rebellion,  nor  in  any 
way  given  aid  and  comfort  thereto  ;  and  no 
person  engaged  in  the  military  or  naval 
service  of  the  United  States  shall,  under 
any  pretence  whatever,  assume  to  decide 
on  the  validity  of  the  claim  of  anv  person 
to  the  service  or  labor  of  any  other  per- 
son, or  surrender  up  any  such  person  to 
the  claimant,  on  pam  of  being  dismissed 
from  the  service." 

And  I  do  hereby  enjoin  upon  and  order 
all  persons  engaged  in  the  military  and  na- 
val service  of  the  United  States  to  observe, 
obey,  and  enforce,  within  their  respective 
spheres  of  service,  the  act  and  sections 
aoove  recited. 

And  the  Executive  will  in  due  time 
recommend  that  all  citizens  of  the 
United  States  who  shall  have  remained 


BOOK  1.3 


EMANCIPATION. 


148 


loyal  thereto  throughout  the  rebellion  shall 
(upon  the  restoration  of  the  constitutional 
relation  between  the  United  States  and 
their  respective  States  and  people,  if  that 
relation  shall  have  been  suspended  or  dis- 
turbed) be  compensated  for  all  losses  by 
acts  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
loss  of  slaves. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set 
my  hand,  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United 
States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this 
twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  Indepen- 
dence of  the  United  States  the  eighty - 
seventh. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

By  the  President : 
William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 


Proclamation  of  January  1, 1863. 

Whereas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two, 
a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  containing 
among  other  things,  the  following,  to  wit : 

"That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  any  State  or  designated 
part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall 
then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and 
forever,  free;  and  the  Executive  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will 
recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of 
such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any 
efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  free- 
dom. 

"That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first 
day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  proclamation, 
designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if 
any,  in  which  the  people  thereof,  respec- 
tively, shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States ;  alnd  the  fact  that  any 
State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that 
day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  mem- 
bers chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a 
majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  such 
States  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the 
absence  of  strong  countervailing  testi- 
mony, be  deemed  conclusive  evidence 
that  such  State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are 
then  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States." 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States,  by  virtue 
of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the 
United  States,  in  time  of  actual  armed  re- 
bellion against  the  authority  and  Grovem- 


ment  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and 
necessary  war  measure  for  suppressing  said 
rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and, sixty-three,  and  lit, accord- 
ance with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly 
proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one  hun- 
dred days  from  the  day  first  above  men- 
tioned, order  and  designate  as  the  States 
and  parts  of  States  wherein  the  people 
thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  in  rebel- 
lion against  the  United  States,  the  follow- 
ing, to  wit: 

Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana,  (except  the 
parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jef- 
ferson, St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James, 
Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  La- 
fourche, St.  Mary,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans, 
including  the  city  of  New  Orleans,)  Mis- 
sissippi, Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South 
Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia, 
(except  the  forty-eight  counties  designatecl 
as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of 
Berkeley,  Accomac,  Northampton,  Eliza- 
beth City,  York,  Princess  Ann,  and  Nor- 
folk, including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  aiid 
Portsmouth,)  and  which  excepted  parts 
are  for  the  present  left  precisely  as  if  this 
proclamation  were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  tlie 
purpose  aforesaid,  I  do  order  and  declare 
that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said 
designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are, 
and  henceforward  shall  be,  free;  and  that 
the  Executive  Government  of  the  United 
States,  including  the  military  and  naval 
authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so 
declared  to  be  free  to  abstain  from  all  vio- 
lence, unless  in  necessary  self-defence ;  and 
I  recommend  to  them  that,  in  all  cases 
when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for 
reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known 
that  such  persons,  of  suitable  condition, 
will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of 
the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions, 
stations,  and  other  places,  and  to  man 
vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to 
be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Con- 
stitution upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke 
the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and 
the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set 
my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United 
States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this 
first  day  of  Januarv,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-three,  and  of  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty- 
seventh.  Abraham  Lincolj', 
By  the  President : 

William  H.  Seward, 

Secretary  of  StaU, 


144 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


These  proclamations  were  followed  by 
many  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Demo- 
crats to  declare  them  null  and  void,  but  all 
such  were  tabled.  The  House  on  the  15th 
of  Decagiber,  1862,  endorsed  the  first  by 
a  vote  of  78  to  51,  almost  a  strict  party 
vote.  Two  classed  as  Democrats,  voted  for 
emancipation — Haight  and  Noell;  seven 
classed  as  Republicans,  voted  against  it — 
Granger,  Harrison,  Leary,  Maynard,  Benj. 
F.  Thomas,  Francis  Thomas,  and  Whaley. 

Just  previous  to  the  issuance  of  the  first 
proclamation  a  meeting  of  the  Governors 
of  the  Northern  States  had  been  called  to 
consider  how  best  their  States  could  aid 
the  general  conduct  of  the  war.  Some  of 
them  had  conferred  with  the  President, 
and  while  that  meeting  and  the  date  of  the 
emancipation  proclamation  are  the  same, 
it  was  publicly  denied  on  the  floor  of  Con- 
gress by  Mr.  Boutwell  (June  25,  1864,) 
that  the  proclamation  was  the  result  of 
that  meeting  of  the  Governors.  That  they 
fully  endorsed  and  knew  of  it,  however,  is 
shown  by  the  following 


Address  of  loy«l  GoT-emors  to  the  President. 

Adopted  at  a  meeting  of  Governors  of 
loyal  States,  held  to  take  measures  for 
the  more  active  support  of  the  GJovern- 
ment,  at  Altoona,  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
22d  day  of  September,  1862. 

After  nearly  one  year  and  a  half  spent 
in  contest  with  an  armed  and  gigantic  re- 
bellion against  the  national  Government  of 
the  United  States,  the  duty  and  purpose  of 
the  loyal  States  and  people  continue,  and 
I  must  always  remain  as  they  were  at  its 
origin — namely,  to  restore  and  perpetuate 
the  authority  of  this  Government  and  the 
life  of  the  nation.  No  matter  what  con- 
sequences are  involved  in  our  fidelity,  this 
work  of  restoring  the  Republic,  preserving 
the  institutions  of  democratic  liberty,  ana 
justifying  the  hopes  and  toils  of  our  fathers 
shall  not  fail  to  oe  performed. 

And  we  pledge  without  hesitation,  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  most 
loyal  and  cordial  support,  hereafter  as 
heretofore,  in  the  exercise  of  the  functions 
of  his  great  office.  We  recognize  in  b'm 
the  Chief  Executive  Magistrate  of  the 
nation,  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
Army  and  Naw  of  the  United  States,  their 
responsible  and  constitutional  head,  whose 
rigntful  authority  and  power,  as  well  as  the 
constitutional  powers  of  Congress,  must  be 
rigorously  ana  religiously  guarded  and 
preserved,  as  the  condition  on  which  alone 
our  form  of  Government  and  the  constitu- 
tional rights  and  liberties  of  the  people 
themselves  can  be  saved  from  the  wreck  of 
anarchy  or  from  the  gulf  of  despotism. 

In  submission  to  the  laws  which  may- 
have  been  or  which  may  be  duly  enactea, 


and  to  the  lawful  orders  of  the  President, 
co-operating  always  in  our  own  spheres 
with  the  national  Government,  we  mean  to 
continue  in  the  most  vigorous  exercise  of 
all  our  lawful  and  proper  powers,  contend- 
ing against  treason,  rebellion,  and  the  pub- 
lic enemies,  and,  whether  in  public  life  or 
in  private  station,  supporting  the  arms  of 
the  Union,  until  its  cause  shall  conquer, 
until  final  victory  shall  perch  upon  its 
standard,  or  the  rebel  foe  shall  yield  a 
dutiful,  rightful,  and  unconditional  sub- 
mission. 

And,  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
an  army  of  reserve  ought,  until  the  war 
shall  end,  to  be  constantly  kept  on  foot,  to 
be  raised,  armed,  equipped,  and  trained  at 
home,  and  ready  for  emergencies,  we  re- 
spectfully ask  the  President  to  call  for  such 
a  force  of  volunteers  for  one  year's  service, 
of  not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  in 
the  aggregate,  the  quota  of  each  State  to 
be  raised  after  it  shall  have  filled  its  quota 
of  the  requisitions  already  made,  both  for 
volunteers  and  militia.  We  believe  that 
this  would  be  a  measure  of  military  pru- 
dence, while  it  would  greatly  promote  the 
military  education  of  the  people. 

We  hail  with  heartfelt  gratitude  and  en- 
couraged hope  the  proclamation  of  the 
President,  issued  on  the  22d  instant,  de- 
claring emancipated  from  their  bondage 
all  persons  held  to  service  or  labor  aa 
slaves  in  the  rebel  States,  whose  rebellion 
shall  last  until  the  first  day  of  January 
now  next  ensuing.  The  right  of  any  per- 
son to  retain  authority  to  compel  any  por- 
tion of  the  subjects  of  the  national  Gov- 
ernment to  rebel  against  it,  or  to  maintain 
ifc»  enemies,  implies  in  those  who  are  al- 
lowed possession  of  such  authority  the 
right  to  rebel  themselves;  and  therefore 
the  right  to  establish  martial  law  or  mili- 
tary government  in  a  State  or  territory  in 
rebellion  implies  the  right  and  the  duty 
of  the  Government  to  liberate  the  minds 
of  all  men  living  therein  by  appropriate 
proclamations  and  assurances  of  protection, 
in  order  that  all  who  are  capable,  intel- 
lectually and  morally,  of  loyalty  and 
obedience,  may  not  be  forced  into  treason 
as  the  unwilling  tools  of  rebellious  traitors. 
To  have  continued  indefinitely  the  most 
efficient  cause,  support,  and  stay  of  the  re- 
bellion, would  have  been,  in  our  judg- 
ment, unjust  to  the  loyal  people  whose 
treasure  and  lives  are  made  a  willing  sacri- 
fice on  the  altar  of  patrotism — would  have 
discriminated  against  the  wife  who  is  com- 
pelled to  surrender  her  husband,  against 
the  parent  who  is  to  surrender  his  child  to 
the  nardships  of  the  camp  and  the  perils 
of  battle,  in  favor  of  rebel  masters  per- 
mitted to  retain  their  slaves.  It  would 
have  been  a  final  decision  alike  against 
humanity,  justice,  the  rights  and  dignity 
of  the  Government,  and  against  sound  and 


BooKi.]        REPEAL    OF   THE    FUGITIVE    SLAVE    LAW. 


145 


wise  national  policy.  The  decision  of  the 
President  to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  re- 
bellion will  lend  new  vigor  to  the  efforts 
and  new  life  and  hope  to  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  Cordially  tendering  to  the  Presi- 
dent our  respectful  assurance  of  personal 
and  official  confidence,  we  trust  and  be- 
lieve that  the  policy  now  inaugurated  will 
be  crowned  with  success,  will  give  speedy 
and  triumphant- victories  over  our  enemies, 
and  secure  to  this  nation  and  this  people 
the  blessing  and  favor  of  Almighty  God. 
We  believe  that  the  blood  of  the  heroes 
who  have  already  fallen,  and  those  who 
may  yet  give  their  lives  to  their  country, 
will  not  have  been  shed  in  vain. 

The  splendid  valor  of  our  soldiers,  their 
patient  endurance,  their  manly  patriotism, 
and  their  devotion  to  duty,  demand  from 
us  and  from  all  their  countrymen  the 
homage  of  the  sincerest  gratitude  and  the 
pledge  of  our  constant  reinforcement  and 
support.  A  just  regard  for  these  brave 
men,  whom  we  have  contributed  to  place 
in  the  field,  and  for  the  importance  of  the 
duties  which  may  lawfully  pertain  to  us 
hereafter,  has  called  us  into  friendly  con- 
ference. And  now,  presenting  to  our 
national  Chief  Magistrate  this  conclusion 
of  our  deliberations,  we  devote  ourselves  to 
our  country's  service,  and  we  will  surround 
the  President  with  our  constant  support, 
trusting  that  the  fidelity  and  zeal  of  the 
loyal  States  and  people  will  always  assure 
him  that  he  will  be  constantly  maintained 
in  pursuing  with  the  utmost  vigor  this  war 
for  the  preservation  of  the  national  life 
and  the  hope  of  humanity. 

A,  G.  CURTIN, 

John  A.  Andrew, 

EicHARD  Yates, 

Israel  Washburne,  Jr., 

Edward  Solomon, 

Samuel  J.  Kirkwood, 

O.  P,  Morton, 

By  D.  G.  Rose,  his  represe  mtative, 

Wm.  Sprague, 

F.  H.  Peirpoint,         • 

David  Tod, 

N.  S.  Berrt, 

Austin  Blair. 


Repeal  of  tbe  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

The  first  fugitive  slave  law  passed  was 
that  of  February  12th,  1793,  the  second  and 
last  that  of  September  18th,  1850.  Vari- 
ous efforts  had  been  made  to  repeal  the  lat- 
ter before  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  with- 
out a  prospect  of  success.  The  situation 
was  now  different.  The  war  spirit  was 
high,  and  both  Houses  of  Congress  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  Republicans  as  early  as 
December,  1861,  but  all  of  them  were  not 
then  ready  to  vote  for  repeal,  while  the 
10 


Democrats  were  at  first  solidly  against  it. 
The  bill  had  passed  the  Senate  in  1850  by 
27  yeas  to  12  nays ;  the  House  by  109  yeas 
to  76  nays,  and  yet  as  late  as  1861  such  waa 
still  the  desire  of  many  not  to  offend  the 
political  prejudices  of  the  Border  States 
and  of  Democrats  whose  aid  was  counted 
upon  in  the  war,  that  sufficient  votes  could 
not  be  had  until  June,  1864,  to  pass  the  re- 
pealing bill.  Republican  sentiment  ad- 
vanced very  slowly  in  the  early  years  of 
the  war,  when  the  struggle  looked  doubt- 
ful and  when  there  was  a  strong  desire  to 
hold  for  the  Union  every  man  and  county 
not  irrevocably  against  it;  when  success 
could  be  foreseen  the  advances  were  more 
rapid,  but  never  as  rapid  as  the  more  rad- 
ical leaders  desired.  The  record  of  Con- 
gress in  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  will  illustrate  this  political  fact,  in 
itself  worthy  of  grave  study  by  the  poli- 
tician and  statesman,  and  therefore  we  give 
it  as  compiled  by  McPherson  : — 


Second  Session,  Tblrty-Seventli  Congress.* 

In  Senate,  1861,  December  26— Mr. 
Howe,  of  Wisconsin,  introduced  a  bill  to 
repeal  the  fugitive  slave  law  ;  which  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judici- 
arv. 

1862,  May  24— Mr.  "Wilson,  of  Massachu- 
setts, introduced  a  bill  to  amend  the  fugi- 
tive slave  law ;  which  was  ordered  to  be 
printed  and  lie  on  the  table. 

June  10 — Mr.  Wilson  moved  to  take  up 
the  bill ;  which  was  agreed  to — ^Yeas  25, 
nays  10,  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Anthony,  Browning, 
Chandler,  Clark,  Cowan,  Dixon,  Doolittle, 
Fessenden,  Foot,  Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan, 
Harris,  Howard,  Howe,  King,  Lane  of  Kan- 
sas, Morrill,  Pomeroy,  Simmons,  Sumner, 
Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Wade,  Wilson,  of 
Massachusetts. — 25. 

Nays — Messrs.    Carlile,  Davis,  Latham, 

*  On  the  23d  of  July,  1861,  the  Attorney  Geneml  in 
answer  to  a  letter  from  the  United  States  Marshal  of 
Kansas,  inquirinz  whether  he  sliould  assist  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  wrote : 

Attorney  General's  Office,  July  23,  ISfiL 
J.  L.  McDowell,  U.  S.  Marshal,  Kamas  : 

Your  letter,  of  the  11th  of  July,  received  19th,  (under 
frank  of  Senator  Lane,  of  Kansas,  i  asks  advice  whether 
you  should  give  your  official  services  in  the  execution  o/ 
the  fugitive  slave  law. 

It  is  the  Presidont'g  constitutional  duty  to  "  take  c«r» 
that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed."  That  means  all  tho 
laws.  He  has  no  right  to  discriminate,  no  right  to  exe- 
cute the  laws  he  likes,  and  leave  unexecuted  tliose  he 
dislikes  And  of  course  you  and  I,  his  suhordinates,  can 
have  no  wider  latitude  of  discretion  tlian  he  has.  Mis- 
souri is  a  State  in  the  Union.  The  insurrectionary  dis- 
orders in  Missouri  are  but  individual  crimes,  and  do  not 
change  tlie  legal  status  of  the  State,  nor  change  its  rights 
and  obligations  as  a  member  of  the  Union. 

A  refusal  by  a  ministerial  officer  to  execute  any  law 
which  properly  belongs  to  his  ofHce,  is  an  official  misde- 
meanor, of  which  I  have  no  doubt  the  President  wouM 
take  notice.  Very  respectfully 

£t>WAIU>  BATK& 


146 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


f  BOOK  I. 


McDougall,   Nesmith,    Powell,  Saulshury, 
Stark,  Willey,   WHght—ld* 

The  bill  was  to  secure  to  claimed  fugi- 
tives a  right  to  a  jury  trial  in  the  district 
court  for  the  United  States  for  the  district 
in  which  they  may  be,  and  to  require  the 
claimant  to  prove  his  loyalty.  The  bill 
repeals  sections  6,  7,  8,  9,  and  10  of  the  act 
of  1850,  and  that  part  of  section  5,  which 
authorizes  the  summoning  of  the  posse 
comitatus.  When  a  warrant  of  return  is 
made  either  on  jury  trial  or  confession  of 
the  party  in  the  presence  of  counsel,  hav- 
ing been  warned  of  his  rights,  the  fugitive 
is  to  be  surrendered  to  the  claimant,  or  the 
marshal  where  necessary,  who  shall  remove 
him  to  the  boundary  line  of  the  district, 
and  there  deliver  him  to  the  claimant.  The 
bill  was  not  further  considered. 

In  House,  1861,  December  20— Mr. 
Julian  offered  this  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  Judiciary  Committee 
be  instructed  to  report  a  bill,  so  amending 
the  fugitive  slave  law  enacted  in  1850  as  to 
forbid  the  recapture  or  return  of  any  fii- 
^itive  from  labor  without  satisfactory  proof 
hrst  made  that  the  claimant  of  sucn  fugi- 
tive is  loyal  to  the  Government. 

Mr.  Holman  moved  to  table  the  resolu- 
tion, which  was  disagreed  to— yeas  39,  nays 
78,  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Ancona,  Joseph  Baily, 
Biddle,  George  H.  Browne,  Cobb,  Cooper, 
Cox,  Cravens,  Crittenden,  Dunlap,  English. 
Fouke,  Grider,  Harding,  Holman,  Johnson, 
Law,  Lazear,  Leary,  Lehman,  Mallory,  Mor- 
ris, Noble,  Noell,  Norton,  Nugen,  Odell, 
Pendleton,  Robinson,  Shiel,  John  B.  Steele, 
William  G.  Steele,  Vallandigham,  Wads- 
worth,  Webster,  Chilton  A.  White,  Wick- 
liffe.   Woodruff,   WHaht—Z^. 

Nays — Messrs.  Aldrich,  Alley,  Arnold, 
Babbitt,  Baker,  Baxter,  Beaman,  Bingham, 
Francis  P.  Blair,  Samuel  S.  Blair,  Blake, 
Buffinton,  Burnham,  Chamberlain,  Clark, 
Colfax,  Frederick  A.  Conkling,  Roscoe 
Conkling,  Cutler,  Davis,  Dawes,  Delano, 
Duell,  Edwards,  Eliot,  Fessenden,  Fran- 
chot,  Frank,  Gooch,  Goodwin,  Gurley, 
Hale,  Hanchett,  Harrison,  Hooper,  Hutch- 
ins,  Julian,  William  Kellogg,  Lansing, 
Loomis,  Lovejoy,  McKnight,  McPherson, 
Marston,  Mitchell,  Moorhead,  Anson  P. 
Morrill,  Justin  8. -Morrill,  Olin,  Patton, 
Pike,  Pomeroy,  Porter,  John  H.  Rice,  Rid- 
dle, Edward  H.  Rollins,  Sargent,  Sedg- 
wick, Shanks.  Shellabarger,  Sherman, 
Sloan,  Spaulding,  Stevens.  Benjamin  F. 
Thomas,  Train,  Vandever.  Wall,  Wallace, 
Walton,  Washbume.  Wheeler,  Whaley, 
Albert  8.  White,  Wilson,  Windom,  Wor- 
cester—78. 

The  resolution  was  then  adopted — yeas 
78,  nays  39. 

1862,  June  9— Mr.  Julian,  of  Indiana, 

•  B«i)ablican*  ia  Boouui,-  DeaoentU  in  iUlica. 


introduced  into  the  House  a  resolution  in- 
structing the  Judiciary  Committee  to  re- 
j)ort  a  bill  for  the  purpose  of  repealing  the 
fugitive  slave  law ;  which  was  tabled — yeas 
66,  nays  51,  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  William  J.  Allen,  Anco- 
na, Baily,  Biddle,  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jacob 
B.  Blair,  George  H.  Browne,  William  G, 
Brown,  Burnham,  Calvert,  Casey,  Clem- 
ents, Cobb,  Corning,  Crittenden,  Delano, 
Diven,  Granger,  Grider,  Haight,  Hale, 
Harding,  Holman,  Johnson,  William  Kel- 
logg, Kerrigan,  Knapp,  Lazear,  Low,  May- 
nard,  Menzies,  Moorhead,  Morris,  Noble, 
Noell,  Norton,  Odell,  Pendleton,  John  S. 
Phelps,  Timothy  G.  Phelps,  Porter,  Rich- 
ardson, Robinson,  James  S.  Rollins,  Sar- 
gent, Segar,  Sheffield,  Shiel,  Smith,  John  B. 
Steele,  William  G.  Steele,  Benjamin  F. 
Thomas,  Francis  Thomas,  Trimble,  Fal- 
landigham,Y  erree,  Vibbard,  Voorhees,  Wads- 
worth,  Webster,  Chilton  A.  White,  Wick- 
liffe.  Wood,  Woodruff,  Worcester,  Wright 
—66. 

Nays — ^Messrs.  Aldrich,  Alley,  Baker, 
Baxter,  Beaman,  Bingham,  Blake,  Buffin- 
ton, Chamberlain,  Colfax,  Frederick  A. 
Conkling,  Davis,  Dawes,  Edgerton,  Ed- 
wards, Eliot,  Ely,  Franchot,  Gooch,  Good- 
win, Hanchett,  Hutchins,  Julian,  Kelley, 
Francis  W.  Kellogg,  Lansing,  Lovejoy, 
McKnight,  McPherson,  Mitchell,  Anson  P. 
Morrill,  Pike,  Pomeroy,  Potter,  Alexander 
H.  Rice,  John  H.  Rice,  Riddle,  Edward  H. 
Rollins,  Shellabarger,  Sloan,  Spaulding, 
Stevens,  Train,  Trowbridge,  Van  Horn, 
Van  Valkenburgh,Wall,  Wallace,  Wash- 
burne,  Albert  S.  White,  Windom— -51. 

Same  day — Mr.  Colfax,  of  Indiana,  of- 
fered this  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  the  Ju- 
diciary be  instructed  to  report  a  bill  modi- 
fying the  fugitive  slave  law  so  as  to  require 
a  jury  trial  in  all  cases  where  the  person 
claimed  denies  under  oath  that  he  is  a  slave, 
and  also  requiring  any  claimant  under  such 
act  to  prove  that  he  has  been  loyal  to  the 
Government  during  the  present  rebellion. 

Which  was  agreed  to— yeas  77,  nays  43, 
as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Aldrich,  Alley,  Arnold, 
Ashley,  Babbitt,  Baker,  Baxter,  Beaman, 
Bingham,  Francis  P.  Blair,  Blake,  Buffin- 
ton, Burnham,  Chamberlain,  Colfax,  Fred- 
erick A.  Conkling,  Davis,  Dawes,  Delano, 
Diven,  Edgerton,  Edwards,  Eliot,  Ely, 
Franchot,  Gooch,  Goodwin,  Granger,  Gur- 
ley, Haight,  Hale,  Hanchett,  Hutchins, 
Julian,  Kelley^  Francis  W.  Kellogg,  Wil- 
liam Kellogg,  Lansing,  Loomis,  Lovejoy, 
Lowe,  McKnight,  AlcPherson,  Mitchell, 
Anson  P.  Mornll,  Justin  S.  Morrill,  Nixon, 
Timothy  G.  Phelps,  Pike,  Pomeroy,  Por- 
ter, Potter,  Alexander  H.  Rice,  John  H. 
Rice,  Riddle,  Edward  H.  Rollins,  Sargent, 
Shanks,  Sheffield,  Shellabarger,  Sloan, 
Spaulding,  Stevens,  Stratton,  Benjamin  F. 


BOOKi.]         REPEAL    OF    THE    FUGITIVE    SLAVE    LAWS. 


147 


Thorns,  Train,  Trimble,  Trowbridge,  Van 
Valkenburgh,  Verree,  Wail,  Wallace, 
Washburne,  Albert,  S.  White,  Wilson, 
Windom,  Worcester — 17. 

Nays — Messrs.  William  J.  Allen,  Ancona, 
Baily,  Biddle,  Jacob  B.  Blair,  William  G. 
Brown,  Calvert,  Casey,  Clements,  Cobb, 
Corning,  Crittenden,  Fouke,  Grider,  Hard- 
ing, Holman,  Johnson,  Xnapp,  Maynard, 
Menzies,  Noble,  1^ oeU,  Norton,  Pendleton, 
John  S.  Phelps,  Richardson,  Robinson, 
James  S  Rollins,  Segar,  Shiel,  Smith,  John 
B.  Steele,  William  G.  Steele,  Francis  Thom- 
as, Vallandigham,  Vibbard,  Voorhees,  Wads- 
Korth,  Webster,  Chilton  A.  White,  Wick- 
life.  Wood,  Wright. -A^. 

Tblrd  Session,    Tliirty-Seveiitli    Congress. 

In  Senate,  1863,  February  11— Mr.  Ten 
Eyck,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Judici- 
ary, to  whom  was  referred  a  bill,  intro- 
duced by  Senator  Howe,  in  second  session, 
December  26,  1861,  to  repeal  the  fugitive 
slave  act  of  1850,  reported  it  back  without 
amendment,  and  with  a  recommendation 
that  it  do  not  pass. 

First  Session,  Tlilrty-Slglitli  Congress. 

In  House,  1863,  Dec.  14.— Mr.  Julian,  of 
Indiana,  offered  this  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  the  Ju- 
diciary be  instructed  to  report  a  bill  for  a 
repeal  of  the  third  and  fourth  sections  of 
the  "  act  respecting  fugitives  from  justice 
and  persons  escaping  from  the  service  of 
their  masters,"  approved  February  12, 1793, 
and  the  act  to  amend  and  supplementary 
to  the  aforesaid  act,  approved  September 
18,  1850. 

Mr.  Holman  moved  that  the  resolution 
lie  upon  the  table,  which  was  agreed  to — 
yeas  81,  nays  73,  as  follows: 

Yeas — Messrs.  James  C.  Allen,  William 
J.  Allen,  Ancona,  Anderson,  Baily,  Au- 
gustus C.  Baldwin,  Jacob  B.  Blair,  Bliss, 
Brooks,  James  S.  Brown,  William  G.  Browne, 
Clay,  Cobb,  Coffroth,  Cox,  Cravens,  Creswell, 
Dawson,  Demming,  Denison,  Eden,  Edger- 
ton,  Eldridge,  English,  Finck,  Ganson, 
Grider,  Griswold,  Hall,  Harding,  Harring- 
ton, Benjamin  O.  Harris,  Charles  M.  Har- 
ris, Higby,  Holman,  Hutchins,  William 
Johnson,  Kernan,  King,  Knapp,  Law,  La- 
zear,  Le  Blond,  Long,  Mallory,  Marcy,  Mar- 
vin, McBride,  McDowell,  McKinney,  Wil- 
liam H.  Miller,  James  R.  Morris,  Morrison, 
Nelson,  Noble,  Odell,  John  O'Neil,  Pendle- 
ton, William  H.  Randall,  Robinson,  Rogers, 
James  S.  Rollins,  Ross,  Scott,  Smith,  Smith- 
era,  Stebbins,  John  B.  Steele,  Stuart,  Sweat, 
Thoma8,  Voorhees,  Wadsworth,  Ward, 
Wheeler,  Chilton  A.  White,  Joseph  W.  White, 
Williams,  Winfield,  Fernando  Wood,  Yea- 
man — 81. 

Nays — Messrs.  Alley,  Allison,  Ames, 
Arnold,  Ashley,  John  D.  Baldwin,  Baxter, 
Beaman,  Blaine,  Blow,  Boutwell,  Boyd, 


Brandegee,  Broomall,  Ambrose  W.  Clark, 
Freeman  Clark,  Cole,  Henry  Winter  Da- 
vis, Dawes,  Dixon,  Donnelly,  Driggs,  Du- 
mont,  Eckley,  Eliot,  Farnsworth,  b  enton, 
Frank,  Garfield,  Gooch,  Grinnell,  Hooper, 
Hotchkiss,  Asahel  W.  Hnbbard,  John  H. 
Hubbard,  Hulburd,  Jenckes,  Julian,  Fran- 
cis W.  Kellogg,  Orlando  Kellogg,  Loan, 
Longyear,  Lovejoy,  McClurg,  Mclndoe, 
Samuel  F.  Miller,  Moorhead,  Morrill, 
Ainos  Mvers,  Leonard  Mvers,  Norton, 
Charies  O'Neill,  Orth,  Patter8on,Pike,  Pom- 
eroy.  Price,  Alexander  H.  Rice,  John  H. 
Rice,  Edwq,rd  H.  Rollins,  Schenck, 
Soofield,  Shannon,  Spalding,  Thayer, 
Van  Valkenburgh,  Elihu  B.  Wash- 
burne, William  B.  Washburn,  Whaley, 
Wilder,  Wilson,  Windom,  Woodbidge — 73. 

1864,  June  6,  Mr.  Hubbard,  of  Connec- 
ticut, offered  this  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  the  Ju- 
diciary be  instructed  to  report  to  this 
House  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  all  acts  and 
parts  of  acts  which  provide  for  the  rendi- 
tion of  fugitive  slaves,  and  that  they  have 
leave  to  make  such  report  at  any  time. 

Which  went  over  under  the  rule.  May 
30,  he  had  made  an  ineffectual  effort  to 
offer  it,  Mr.  Holman  objecting. 

REPEALING  BILLS. 

1864,  April  19,  the  Senate  considered  the 
bill  to  repeal  all  acts  for  the  rendition  of 
fiigitives  from  service  or  labor.  The  bill 
was  taken  up — ^yeas  26,  nays  10. 

Mr.  Sherman  moved  to  amend  by  insert- 
in^  these  words  at  the  end  of  the  bill : 

Except  the  act  approved  February  12, 
1793,  entitled  "  An  act  respecting  fugitives 
from  justice,  and  persons  escaping  from  the 
service  of  their  masters." 

Which  was  agreed  to— yeas  24,  nays  17, 
as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Buckalew,  Carlila,  Col- 
lamer,  Cowan,  Davis,  Dixon,  Doolittle, 
Foster,  Harris,  Henderson,  Hendricks, 
Howe,  Johnson,  Lane  of  Indiana,  McDou- 
gall,  Nesmith,  Powell,  Riddle,  Saulsbury, 
Sherman,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Van  Win- 
kle, Willey— 24. 

Nays — Messrs.  Anthony,  Brown,  Clark, 
Conness,  Fessenden,  Grimes,  Hale,  How- 
ard, Lane  of  Kansas,  Morgan,  Morrill, 
Pomeroy,  Ramsey,  Sprague,  Sumner,  Wil- 
kinson, Wilson — 17. 

Mr.  Saulsbury  moved  to  add  these  sec- 
tions : 

And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  no  white 
inhabitant  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
arrested,  or  imprisoned,  or  held  to  answer 
for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infamous  crime, 
except  m  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  na- 
val forces,  or  in  the  militia  when  in  actual 
service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger, 
without  due  process  of  law. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  per- 
son engaged  in  the  executive,  legislative^ 


148 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


or  judicial  departments  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  or  holding  any  office 
or  trust  recognized  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  no  person  in  mili- 
tary or  naval  service  of  the  United  States, 
shall,  without  due  process  of  law,  arrest  or 
imprison  any  white  inhabitant  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  who  is  not,  or  has  not  been,  or 
shall  not  at  the  time  of  such  arrest  or  im- 
prisonment be,  engaged  in  levying  war 
against  the  United  States,  or  in  adhering 
to  the  enemies  of  the  United  States,  giv- 
ing them  aid  and  comfort,  nor  aid,  abet, 
procure  or  advise  the  same,  except  in  cases 
arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in 
the  militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time 
of  war  or  public  danger.  And  any  person 
as  aforesaid  so  arresting,  or  imprisoning,  or 
holding,  as  aforesaid,  as  in  this  and  the 
second  section  of  this  act  mentioned,  or 
aiding,  abetting,  or  procuring,  or  advising 
the  same,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  fel- 
ony, and,  upon  conviction  thereof  in  any 
court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  shall  be 
imprisoned  for  a  term  of  not  less  than  one 
nor  more  than  five  years,  shall  pay  a  fine  of 
not  less  than  $1,000  nor  more  than  $5000, 
and  shall  be  forever  incapable  of  holding 
any  office  or  public  trust  under  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Hale  moved  to  strike  out  the  word 
"white"  wherever  it  occurs;  which  was 
agreed  to. 

The  amendment  of  ^Mr.  Saulsbury,  as 
amended,  was  then  disagreed  to — yeas  9, 
nays  27,  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Buckalew,  Carlile,  Cowan, 
Davis,  Hendricks,  McDougall,  Powell,  Rid- 
dle. Saulsbury — 9. 

Nays — Messrs.  Anthony,  Clark,  CoUa- 
mer,  Conness,  Doolittle,  Fessenden,  Foster, 
Grimes,  Hale,  Harris,  Howard,  Howe,  Lane 
of  Indiana,  Lane,  of  Kansas,  Morgan,  Mor- 
rill, Pomeroy,  Ramsey,  Sherman,  Sprague, 
Sumner,  Ten  Evck,  Trumbull,  Van  Win- 
kle, Wilkinson,"  Willey,  Wilson— 27. 

Mr.  CoKNEss  moved  to  table  the  bill ; 
which  was  disagreed  to— yeas  9,  (Messrs. 
Buckalew,  Carlile,  Conness,  Davis,  Hen- 
dricks, Nesmith,  Powell,  Riddle,  Saulsbury,) 
nays  3L 
tt  was  not  again  acted  upon. 
1864,  June  13 — The  House  passed  this 
bill,  introduced  by  Mr.  Spalding,  of  Ohio, 
and  reported  from  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary  by  Mi.  Morris,  of  New  York, 
M  follows : 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  that  sections  three  and 
four  of  an  act  entitled  "  An  act  respecting 
fagitives  from  justice  and  persons  escaping 
from  the  sen'ice  of  their  masters,"  passed 
February  12,  1793,  and  an  Act  entitled 
"  An  act  to  amend,  and  supplementary  to, 
tke  act  entitled  *  An  act  respecting  fugi- 
tiTes  from  justice,  and  persons  escaping 


1793,"  passed  September  18, 1850,  be,  and 
the  same  are  hereby,  repealed. 
Yeas  86,  nays  60,  as  follows : 
Yeas — Messrs.  Alley,  Allison,  Ames,  Ar- 
nold, Ashley,  John  D.  Baldwin,  Baxter, 
Beaman,  Blaine,  Blair,  Blow,  Boutwell, 
Boyd,  Brandegee,  Broomall,  Ambrose  W. 
Clarke,  Freeeman  Clark,  Cobb,  Cole,  Cres- 
well,  Henry  Winter  Davis,  Thomas  T.  Da- 
avis,  Dawes,  Dixon,  Donnelly,  Driggs,  Eck- 
ley,  Eliot,  Farnsworth,  Fen  ton,  Frank,  Gar- 
field, Gooch,  Griswold,  Higby,  Hooper, 
Hotchkiss,  Asahel  W.  Hubbard,  John  K, 
Hubbard,  Hulburd,  Ingersoll,  Jenckes,  Ju- 
lian, Kelley,  Francis  W.  Kellogg,  O.  Kel- 
logg, Littlejohn,  Loan,  Longyear,  Marvin, 
McClurg,  Mclndoe,  Samuel  F.  Miller, 
Moorhead,  Morrill,  Daniel  Morris,  Amos 
Myers,  Leonard  Myers,  Norton,  Charles 
O'Neill,  Orth,  Patterson,  Perham,  Pike, 
Price,  Alexander  H.  Rice,  John  H.  Rice, 
Schenck,  Scofield,  Shannon,  Sloan,  Spald- 
ing, Starr,  Stevens,  Thayer,  Thomas,  Tracy, 
Upson,  Van  Valkenburgh,  Webster,  Wha- 
ley,  Williams,  Wilder,  Wilson,  Windom, 
Woodbridge — 86. 

Nays — Messrs.  James  C.  Allen,  William 
J.  Allen,  Ancona,  Augustus  C.  Baldwin, 
Bliss,  Brooks,  James  S.  Brown,  Chanler, 
Coffroth,  Cox,  Cravens.  Dawson,  Denison, 
Eden,  Edgerton,  Eldridge,  English,  Finck, 
Ganson,  Grider,  Harding,  Harrington, 
Charles  M.  Harris,  Herrick,  Holman, 
Hutchins,  Kalbjieisch,  Kernan,  King,  Knapp, 
JjOW,  iMzear,  Le  Blond,  Mallory,  Marcy, 
McDowell,  McKinney,  Wm.  H.  Miller,  James 
R.  Morris,  Morrison,  Odell,  Pendleton, 
l^uyn,  Radford,  Robinson,  Jas.  S.  Rollins, 
Ross,  Smithers,  John  B.  Steele,  Wm.  G. 
Steele,  Stiles,  Strouse,  Stuart,  Sweat,  Wads- 
worth,  Ward,  Wheeler,  Chilton  A.  White, 
Joseph  W.  White,  Fernando  Wood— 60. 

June  22 — ^This  bill  was  taken  up  in  the 
Senate,  when  Mr.  Saulsbury  moved  this 
substitute : 

That  no  person  held  to  service  or  labor 
in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escap- 
ing into  another,  shall,  in  consec^uence  of 
any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  de- 
livered up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom 
such  service  or  labor  may  be  due ;  and 
Congress  shall  pass  all  necessary  and  pro- 
per laws  for  the  rendition  of  all  such  per- 
sons who  shall  so,  as  aforesaid,  escape. 

Which  was  rejected — yeas  9,  nays  29,  as 
follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Buckalew,  Carlile,  Cowan, 
Davis,  McDougall,  Powell,  Richardson, 
Riddle,  Saulsbury — 9. 

Nays — Messrs.  Anthony,  Brown,  Chand- 
ler, Clark,  Conness,  Dixon,  Foot,  Grimes, 
Hale,  Harlan,  Harris,  Hicks,  Howard, 
Howe,  Johnson,  Lane  of  Indiana,  Lane 
of  Kansas,  Morgan,  Morrill,  Pomeroy, 
Ramsey,   Sprague,    Sumner,    Ten    Eycfe, 


fimn  their  masters,' passed  February  12,  |  Trumbull,  Van  Winkle,  Wade, Willey — J^. 


BOOKi.]     FINANCIAL   LEGISLATION— INTERNAL    TAXES.        149 


Mr.  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  moved  an 
amendment  to  substitute  a  clause  repeal- 
ing the  act  of  1850 ;  which  was  rejected — 
yeas  17,  naya  22,  as  follows  : 

Yeas— Messrs.  Buckalew,  Carlile,  Cowan, 
Daois,  Harris,  Hicks,  Johnson,  Lane  of 
Indiana,  McDougall,  Powell,  Richardson, 
Riddle,  Saulshury,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull, 
Van  Winkle,  Willey— 17. 

Nays — Messrs.  Anthony,  Brown,  Chand- 
ler, Clark,  Conness,  Dixon,  Fessenden, 
Foot,  Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan,  Howard, 
Howe,  Lane  of  Kansas,  Morgan,  Morrill, 
Pomeroy,  Ramsey,  Sprague,  Sumner,  Wade, 
Wilson— 22. 

The  bill  then  passed — yeaa  27,  nays  12, 
as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Anthony,  Brown,  Chand- 
ler, Clark,  Conness,  Dixon,  Fessenden, 
Foot,  Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan,  Harris,  Hicks, 
Howard,  Howe,  Lane  of  Indiana,  Lane  of 
Kansas,  Morgan,  Morrill,  Pomeroy,  Ram- 
sey, Sprague,  Sumner,  Ten  Eyck,  Trum- 
bull, Wade,  Wilson— 27. 

Nays — Messrs.  Buckalew,  Carlile,  Cowan, 
Davis,  Johnson,  McDougall,  Powell,  Rich- 
ardson, Riddle,  Saulshury,  Van  Winkle, 
Willey— 12. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  President,  approved 
it,  June  28,  1864. 


Seivard  as  Secretary  of  State. 

Wm.  H.  Seward  was  a  master  in  diplo- 
macy and  Statecraft,  and  to  his  skill  the 
Unionists  were  indebted  for  all  avoidance 
of  serious  foreign  complications  while  the 
war  was  going  on.  The  mo^t  notable  case 
coming  under  his  supervision  was  that  of 
the  capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  by  Com- 
modore Wilkes,  who,  on  the  8th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1881,  had  intercepted  the  Trent  with 
San  Jacinto.  The  prisoners  were  Confed- 
erate agents  on  their  way  to  St.  James  and 
St.  Cloud.  Both  had  been  prominent  Sen- 
ators, early  secessionists,  and  the  popular 
impulse  of  the  North  was  to  hold  and  pun- 
ish them.  Both  Lincoln  and  Seward  wisely 
resisted  the  passions  of  the  hour,  and  when 
Great  Britain  demanded  their  release 
under  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  wherein  the 
right  of  future  search  of  vessels  was  dis- 
avowed, Seward  yielded,  and  referring  to 
the  terms  of  the  treaty,  said : 

"  If  I  decide  this  case  in  favor  of  my 
own  Government,  I  must  disavow  its  most 
cherished  principles,  and  reverse  and  for- 
ever abandon  its  essential  policy.  The 
country  cannot  afford  the  sacrifice.  If  1 
maintain  those  principles  and  adhere  to 
that  policy,  I  must  surrender  the  case 
itself.'^ 

The  North,  with  high  confidence  in  their 
President  and  Cabinet,  readily  conceded 
the  wisdom  of  the  argument,  especially  as 
it  was  clinched  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
day  by  one  of  Lincoln's  homely  remarks : 


"  One  tear  at  a  time."    A  war  with  Great 
Britain  was  thus  happily  avoided. 

With  the  incidents  of  the  war,  however, 
save  as  they  affected  politics  and  politi- 
cians, this  work  has  little  to  do,  and  we 
therefore  pass  the  suspension  of  the  torit  of 
habeas  corpus,  which  suspension  was  em- 

{>loyed  in  breaking  up  the  Maryland  Legis- 
ature  and  other  bodies  when  they  con- 
templated secession,  and  it  facilitated  the 
arrest  and  punishment  of  men  throughout 
the  North  who  were  suspected  of  giving 
"aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy."  The 
alleged  arbitrary  character  of  these  arrests 
caused  much  complaint  from  Democratic 
Senators  and  Representatives,  but  the  right 
was  fully  enforced  in  the  face  of  every  form 
of  protest  until  the  war  closed.  The  most 
prominent  arrest  was  that  of  Clement  L. 
Vallandigham,  member  of  Congress  from 
Ohio,  who  was  sent  into  the  Southern  lines. 
From  thence  he  went  to  Canada,  and  when 
a  candidate  for  Governor  in  Ohio,  was  de- 
feated by  over  100,000  majority. 


Financial  Iiegislation — Internal  Taxes. 

The  Financial  legislation  during  the 
war  was  as  follows : 

1860,  December  17 — Authorized  an  issue 
of  $10,000,000  in  Treasury  notes,  to  be 
redeemed  after  the  expiration  of  one  year 
from  the  date  of  issue,  and  bearing  such  a 
rate  of  interest  as  may  be  offered  by  the 
lowest  bidders.  Authority  was  given  to 
issue  these  notes  in  payment  of  warrants  in 
favor  of  public  creditors  at  their  par  value, 
bearing  six  per  cent,  interest  per  annum. 

1861,  February  8 — Authorized  a  LOAN  of 
$25,000,000,  bearing  interest  at  a  rate  not 
exceeding  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  and 
reimbursable  within  a  period  not  beyond 
twenty  jeatn  nor  less  than  ten  years.  This 
loan  was  made  for  the  payment  of  the  cur- 
rent, expenses,  and  was  to  be  awarded  to 
the  most  favorable  bidders. 

March  2 — Authorized  a  loan  of  $10,- 
000,000,  bearing  interest  at  a  rate  not  ex- 
ceeding six  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  rC' 
imbursable  after  the  expiration  of  ten 
years  from  July  1,  1861.  In  case  propo- 
sals for  the  loan  were  not  acceptable,  au- 
thority was  given  to  issue  the  whole 
amount  in  Treasury  notes,  bearing  in- 
terest at  a  rate  not  exceeding  six  per  cent, 
per  annum.  Authority  was  also  given  to 
substitute  Treasure  notes  for  the  whole 
or  any  part  of  the  loans  for  which  the  Sec- 
retary was  by  law  authorized  to  contract 
and  issue  bonds,  at  the  time  of  the  passage 
of  this  act,  and  such  treasury  notes  were  to 
be  made  receivable  in  payment  of  all  pub- 
lic dues,  and  redeemable  at  any  time 
within  two  years  from  March  2,  1861. 

March  2 — Authorized  an  issue,  should 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  deem  it  ex- 
pedient, of  $2,800,000  in  coupon  boni>8, 
tearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent 


150 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


per  annum,  and  redeemable  in  twenty 
years,  for  the  payment  of  expenses  incurred 
oy  the  Territories  of  Wa.shingtou  and 
Oregon  in  the  suppression  of  Indian  hos- 
tilities during  the  year  1855-'56. 

July  17— Authorized  a  loan  of  $250,000,- 
000,  for  which  could  be  issued  boxds  bear- 
ing interest  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  7  per 
cent,  per  annum,  irredeemable  for  twenty 
years,  and  after  that  redeemable  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  United  States. 

Treasury  xotes  bearing  interest  at  the 
rate  of  7.30  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable 
three  years  after  date ;  and 

United  States  ^'OTES  without  interest, 
payable  on  demand,  to  the  extent  of  $50,- 
000,000.  (Increased  by  act  of  February 
12,  1862,  to  $60,000,000.) 

The  bonds  and  treasury  notes  to  be  is- 
sued in  such  proportions  of  each  as  the 
Secretary  may  deem  advisable. 

August  5 — Authorized  an  issue  of  bonds 
bearing  6  per  cent,  interest  per  annum, 
and  payable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  United 
States  after  twenty  years  from  date,  which 
may  be  issued  in  exchange  for  7.30  trea- 
sury notes ;  but  no  such  bonds  to  be  issued 
for  a  less  sum  than  $500,  and  the  Avhole 
amount  of  such  bonds  not  to  exceed  the 
whole  amount  of  7.30  treasury  notes  issued. 

February  6,  1862— Making  $50,000,000 
of  notes,  of  denominations  less  than  $5,  a 
legal  tender,  as  recommended  by  Secretary 
Chase,  was  pas-^ed  January  17,  1862.  In 
the  House  it  received  the  votes  of  the  Ee- 

fublicans  generally,  and  38   Democrats, 
n  the  Senate  it  had  30  votes  for  to  1 
against,  that  of  Senator  Powell. 

1862,  February  25 — Authorized  the  issue 
of  $15,000,000  in  legal  tender  United  States 
NOTES,  $50,000,000  of  which  to  be  in  lieu 
of  demand  notes  issued  under  act  of  July 
17,  1861,  $500,000,000  in  6  per  cent,  bonds, 
redeemable  after  five  years,  and  payable 
twenty  years  from  date,  which  may  be  ex- 
changea  for  United  States  notes,  and  a 
temporary  loan  of  $25,000,000  in  United 
States  notes  for  not  less  than  thirty  days, 
payable  after  ten  days'  notice  at  5  per 
cent,  interest  per  annum. 

March  17 — Authorized  an  increase  of 
TEMPORARY  LOANS  of  $25,000,000,  bearing 
interest  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  5  per  cent, 
per  annum. 

July  11 — Authorizel  a  further  increase 
of  TEMPORARY  LOANS  of  $50,000,000,  mak- 
ing the  whole  amount  authorized  $100,- 
0W,000. 

March  1 — Authorized  an  issue  of  cer- 
tificates or  indebtedness,  payable  one 
year  from  date,  in  settlement  of  audited 
claims  against  the  Grovemment.  Interest 
6  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  in  gold  on 
those  issuecl  prior  to  ilarch  4, 1863,  and  in 
lawful  currency  on  those  issue*l  on  and 
after  that  date.  Amount  of  issue  not 
specified. 


1862,  July  11 — Authorized  an  additional 
issue  of  $150,000,0(0  legal  tender  notes, 
$35,000,000  of  which  might  be  in  denomi- 
nations less  than  five  dollars.  Fifty  mil- 
lion dollars  of  this  issue  to  be  reserved  to 
pay  temporary  loans  promptly  in  case  of 
emergency. 

July  17 — Authorized  an  issue  of  notes 
of  the  fractional  part  of  one  dollar,  receiv- 
able in  payment  of  all  dues,  except  cus- 
toms, less  than  five  dollars.  Amount  of 
issue  not  specified. 

1863,  January  17 — Authorized  the  issue 
of  $100,000,000  in  United  States  notes  for 
the  immediate  payment  of  the  army  and 
navy ;  such  notes  to  be  a  part  of  the 
amount  provided  for  in  any  bill  that  may 
hereafter  be  passed  by  this  Congress.  The 
amount  in  this  resolution  is  included  in 
act  of  March  3,  1863. 

March  3 — Authorized  a  loan  of  $300,- 
000,000  for  this  and  $600,000,000  for  next 
fiscal  year,  for  which  could  be  issued  bonds 
running  not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than 
forty  years,  principal  and  interest  payable 
in  coin,  bearing  interest  at  a  rate  not  ex- 
ceeding 6  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  on 
bonds  not  exceeding  $100,  annually,  and  on 
all  others  semi-annually.  And  Treasury 
NOTES  (to  the  amount  of  $400,000,000)  not 
exceeding  three  years  to  run,  with  interest 
not  over  6  per  cent,  per  annum,  principal 
and  interest  payable  in  lawful  money, 
which  may  be  made  a  legal  tender  for 
their  face  value,  excluding  interest,  or 
cotivertible  into  United  States  notes.  And 
a  further  issue  of  $150,000,000  in  United 
States  NOTES  for  the  purpose  of  converting 
the  Treasury  notes  which  may  be  issued 
under  this  act,  and  for  no  other  purpose. 
And  a  further  issue,  if  necessary,  for  the 
payment  of  the  army  and  nayy,  and  other 
creditors  of  the  Government,  of  $150,000,- 
000  in  United  States  notes,  which  amount 
includes  the  $100,000,000  authorized  by 
the  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  January 
17,  1863,  The  whole  amount  of  bonds, 
treasury  notes,  and  United  States  notes 
issued  under  this  act  not  to  exceed  the 
sum  of  $900,000,000. 

March  3 — Authorized  to  issue  not  ex- 
ceeding $50,000,000  in  fractional  cur- 
rency, (in  lieu  of  postage  or  other  stamps,) 
exchangeable  for  United  States  notes  in 
sums  not  less  than  three  dollars,  and  re- 
ceivable for  any  dues  to  the  United  States 
less  than  five  dollars,  except  duties  on  im- 
ports. The  whole  amount  issued,  includ- 
ing postage  and  other  stamps  issued  as 
currency,  not  to  exceed  $50,000,000. 
Authority  was  given  to  prepare  it  in  the 
Treasury  Department,  under  the  supervi- 
sion of  the  Secretary. 

1864,  March  3 — Authorized,  in  lieu  of  so 
much  of  the  loan  of  March  3, 1863,  a  loan 
of  $200,000,000  for  the  current  fiscal  year, 
for  which  may  be  issued  bonds  redeemable 


BOOK  I.] 


INTERNAL    TAXES. 


151 


after  five  and  within  forty  years,  principal 
and  interest  payable  in  coin,  bearing  interest 
at  a  rate  not  exceeding  6  per  cent,  per  an- 
num, payable  annually  on  bonds  not  over 
$100,  and  on  all  others  semi-annually. 
These  bonds  to  be  exempt  from  taxation 
by  or  under  State  or  municipal  authority. 

1864,  June  30 — Authorized  a  loax  of 
$100,000,000.  for  which  may  be  issued 
bonds,  redeemable  after  five  nor  more  than 
thirty  years,  or  if  deemed  expedient,  made 
payable  at  any  period  not  more  than  forty 
years  from  date — interest  not  exceeding  six 
per  cent,  semi-annually,  in  coin. 

Pending  the  loan  bill  of  June  22,  1862, 
before  the  House  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  and  the  question  being  on  the  first 
section,  authorizing  a  loan  of  $400,000,000, 
closing  with  this  clause : 

And  all  bonds.  Treasury  notes,  and  oth- 
er obligations  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
exempt  from  taxation  by  or  under  state  or 
municipal  authority. 

There  was  a  sharp  political  controversy 
on  this  question,  but  the  House  finally 
agreed  to  it  by  77  to  71.  Party  lines  were 
not  then  distinctly  drawn  on  financial  issues. 

INTERNAL  TAXES. 

The  system  of  internal  revenue  taxes 
imposed  during  the  war  did  not  evenly 
divide  parties  until  near  its  close,  when 
Democrats  were  generally  arrayed  against 
these  taxes.  Tiiey  cannot,  from  the  record, 
be  correctly  classed  as  political  issues,  yet 
their  adoption  and  the  feelings  since  en- 
gendered by  them,  makes  a  brief  summary 
of  the  record  essential. 

First  Session,  Thlrty-Se-ventli  Congress. 

The  bill  to  provide  increased  revenue 
from  imports,  &c.,  passed  the  House  August 
2,  1861— yeas  89,  nays  39. 

Same  day,  it  passed  the  Senate — yeas  34, 
nays  8,  (Messrs.  Breckinridge,  Bright,  John- 
ton,  of  Missouri,  Kennedy,  Latham,  Polk, 
Powell,  Saulsbury.)* 

Second  Session,  Thlrty-Seventli  Congress. 

The  Internal  Revenue  Act  of  1862. 

1862,  April  8— The  House  passed  the  bill 
to  provide  internal  revenue,  support  the 
Grovernment,  and  pay  interest  on  the  public 
debt — yeas  126,  nays  15.  The  Nays  were: 

Messrs.  William  Allen,  George  H.  Browne, 
Buffinton,  Cox,  Kerrigan,  Knapp,  Law, 
Norton,  Pendleton,  Richardson,  Shiel.  Val- 
landigham,  Voorhees,  Chilton  A.  White, 
Wickliffe—lb. 

June  6— The  bill  passed  in  the  Senate — 
yeas  37,  nay  1,  (Mr.  Powell.) 

First  Session  Thlrtjr-Elghth  Congress. 

Internal  Revenue  Act  o/1864. 

April  28 — The  House  passed  the  act  of 
1864— yeas  110,  nays  39.  The  Nays  were : 
Messrs.  James  C.  Allen,  William  J.  Allen, 
*  Democrats  in  italics. 


Ancona,  Brooks,  Chanler,  Cox,  Dawson, 
Denison,  Eden,  Eldridge,  Finch,  Harring- 
ton, Benjamin  G.  Harris,  Herrick,  Philip 
Johnson,  William  Johnson,  Knapp,  Imw,  Le 
Blond,  Long,  Marcy,  McDowell,  McKin- 
netj,  James  R.  Morris,  Morrison,  Noble,  John 
O'Neil,  Pendleton,  Perry,  Robinson,  Ross, 
Stiles,  Strouse,  Stuart,  Voorhees,  Ward,  Chil- 
ton A.  White,  Joseph  W.  White,  Fernando 
Wood—Z^. 

June  6— The  Senate  amended  and  passed 
the  bill — ^yeas  22,  nays  3,  (Messrs.  Davis, 
Hendricks,  Powell.) 

The  bill,  as  finally  agreed  upon  by  a 
Committee  of  Conference,  passed  without 
a  division. 

Second  Session,  Thlrty-Seventli  Congress. 

Tariff  Act  of  18G2. 

In  House— 1862,  July  1— The  House 
passed,  without  a  division,  a  bill  increasing 
temporarily  the  duties  on  imports,  and  for 
other  purposes. 

July  8— The  Senate  passed  it  without  a 
division. 

THE  TARIFF  ACT  OF  1864. 

June  4 — The  House  passed  the  bill — 
yeas  81,  nays  28.    The  Nays  were : 

Messrs.  James  C.  Allen,  Bliss,  James  S. 
Brown,  Cox,  Edgerton,  Eldridge,  Finck, 
Grider,  Harding,  Harrington,  Chas.  M, 
Harris,  Herrick,  Holman,  Hut  chins,  Lie 
Blond,  Long,  Mallory,  Marcy,  McDowell, 
Morrison,  Noble,  Pendleton,  Perry,  Pruyn, 
Ross,  Wadsworth,  Chilton  A.  White,  Joseph 
W.  White -2%. 

June  17 — The  Senate  passed  the  bill — 
yeas  22,  nays  5,  (Messrs.  Buckalew,  Hen- 
dricks, McDougall,  Powell,  Richardson.) 

Second  Session,  Tlilrty-Seventh  Congress. 

Taxes  in  Insurrectionary  Districli,  1862. 

1862,  May  12— The  bill  for  the  collec- 
tion of  taxes  in  the  insurrectionary  dis- 
tricts passed  the  Senate — yeas  32,  nays  3, 
as  follows : 

Yeas  —  Messrs.  Anthony,  Browning, 
Chandler,  Clark,  Davis,  Dixon,  Doolittle, 
Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster,  Harlan,  Harris, 
Henderson,  Howe,  King,  Lane  of  Indiana, 
Lane  of  Kansas,  Latham,  McDougall,  Mor- 
rill, Nesmith,  Pomeroy,  Rice,  Sherman, 
Sumner,  Ten  Eyck,.  Trumbull,  Wade, 
Wilkinson,  Willey,  Wilson,  of  Massachu- 
setts, Wright— S2. 

Nays — Messrs.  Howard,  Powell,  Sauls- 
bury — 3. 

May  28 — ^The  bill  passed  House— yeas 
98,  nays  17.    The  Nays  were : 

Messrs.  Biddle,  Calvert,  Craves,  Johnson, 
Kerrigan,  Law,  Mallorij,  Menzies,  Noble, 
Norton,  Pendleton,  Perru.  Francis  Thomas 
Vallandigham,  Ward,  Wickliffe,  Wood — 17. 

The  Democrats  who  voted  Aye  were : 

Messrs.  Ancona,  Baily,  Cobb,  English, 
Haight,  Holman,  Lehman,    Oddl,  Phelps, 

*  Democrats  io  italics. 


152 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Richardson,  James  S.   Rollins,    Sheffidd, 
SmOh,  John  B.  Steele,  Wm.  G.  Steele. 

TAXES   IN   IXSUEBECTIONARY   DI8TBICT8, 
1864. 

In  Senate,  June  27 — The  bill  passed  the 
Senate  without  a  division. 

July  2 — It  passed  the  House  without  a 
division. 

Many  financial  measures  and  proposi- 
tions were  rejected,  and  we  shall  not  at- 
tempt to  give  the  record  on  these.  All 
that  were  passed  and  went  into  operation 
can  be  more  readily  understood  by  a  glance 
at  our  Tabulated  History,  in  Book  VII., 
which  gives  a  full  view  of  the  financial 
history  and  sets  out  all  the  loans  and  reve- 
nues., We  ought  not  to  close  this  review, 
however,  without  giving  here  a  tabulatecl 
statement,  from  "  McPherson's  History  of 
the  Great  Rebellion,"  of 


The  Confederate  Debt. 

December  31,  1862,  the  receipts  of  the 
Treasury  from  the  commencement  of  the 
"  Permanent  Grovernment,"  (February  18, 
1862,)  were  as  follows : 

RECEIPTS. 

Patent  fund  . $13,920  00 

Customs 668,666  00 

Miscellaneous 2,291,812  00 

Repayments  of  disbursing  offi- 
cers    8,839,263  00 

Interest  on  loans 26,583  00 

Call  loan  certificates  ....  59,742,796  00 

One  hundred  million  loan  .    .  41,398,286  00 

Treasury  notes 215,654,885  00 

Interest  bearing  notes  .    .   .  113,740.000  00 

War  tax 16,664,513  00 

Loan  28th  of  February,  1861 ,  1,376,476  00 
Coin   received  from   Bank  of 

Louisiana 2,539,799  00 

Total $457,855,704  00 

Total  debt  up  to  December  81, 

1862 566,106,100  00 

Estimated  amount  at  that  date 
necessary  to  support  the  Gov- 
ernment to  July,  1863,  was  857,929.229  00 

Up  to  December  31, 1862,  the  issues  of 
the  Treasury  were : 

Notes .*  .    .   .  $440,678,510  00 

Redeemed 80,193,479  60 

Outstanding $410,485,030  50 

From  January  1,  1863,  to  September  30, 
1863,  the  receipts  of  the  Treasury  were : 

For  8  per  cent,  stock  ....  $107,292,900  70 

For  7  per  cent,  stock  ....  38,757,6.50  70 

For  6  per  cent,  stock  ....  6,810,050  00 

For  6  per  cent,  stock  ....  22,992,900  00 

For  4  per  cent,  stock  ....  482,200  00 

Cotton  certificates  .....  2,000,000  00 

Interest  on    loans 140,210  00 

War  tax 4,128,988  97 


Treasury  notes 891,623,530  00 

Sequestration 1,862,550  27 

Customs 934,798  68 

Export  duty  on  cotton  .    .   .  8,101  78 

Patent  fund 10,794  04 

Miscellaneous,  including  re- 
payments by  disbursing  offi- 
cers   24,498,217  93 

Total $601,522,893  12 

EXPENDITUBES  DrBIMQ  THAT   TIMl. 

War  Department $377,988,244  00 

Navy    Department 38,437,661  00 

Civil,  miscellaneous,  etc  .   .   .      11,629,278  00 

Customs 56,636  00 

Public  debt 32,212,290  00 

Notes  cancelled  and  redeemed    59,044,449  00 

Total  expenditures  ....  $519,368,659  00 
Total  receipts 601,622,893  00 


Balance  in   treasury 


$82,154,334  00 


But  from  this  amount  is  to  be  deducted  the 
amount  of  all  Treasury  notes  that  have  been 
funded,  but  which  have  not  yet  received  a  true 
estimation,  $65,000,000  ;  totol  remaining,  $17,- 
164,334. 

CONDITION  OF  THE  TREASURY,  JANUARY 

1,  1864. 

Jan.  25 — The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
(C.  G.  Memminger)  laid  before  the  Senate 
a  statement  in  reply  to  a  resolution  of  the 
20th,  asking  information  relative  to  the 
funded  debt,  to  call  certificates,  to  non-in- 
terest and  interest-bearing  Treasury  notes, 
and  other  financial  matters.  From  this  it 
appears  that,  January,  1864,  the  funded 
debt  was  as  follows: 

Act  Feb  28, 1861, 8^  cent.,    15,000,000  00 

Act  May  16, 1861, 8  Ijl  cent ,    8,774.900  00 

Act  Aug.  19, 1861, 8  f  cont.,  100,0"0,000  00 

Act  Apr.  12, 1 862, 8  f  c-nt.,     3,612,300  00 

Act  Fob.  20, 1 86:-l,  8  i^  cent. ,    96,785,fKX)  00 

Act  Feb.  20, 1863, 7  'fi  cent.,    63,615,750  00 

Act  Mar  23,186:<,6ipcent.,     2,831,700  00 

Act  April  ;«),  1863  (cotton 

interest  coupons; 8,252,000  00 

$297,871,650  00 

Call  certificates 89,208,770  00 

Non-interest  bearing  Treasury  notes  out- 
standing: 

Act  May  16, 1861— Payable 
two  years  after  date 8,320,875  00 

Act  Aug.  19, 1861-  General 
currency 189,719,251  00 

Act  Oct.  13, 1861— All  de- 
nominations  131,028,366  60 

Act  March  23— All  denomi- 
nations  391,829,702  60 

720,898,095  00 

Interest-bearing  Treasury  notes  outstand- 
ing    102,465,460  00 

Amount  of  Treasury  notes 
under  S  5,  outstanding 
Jan.  1,  1864,  Tiz: 

Act  April  17, 1862,denomi- 
natioBs  of  S 1  and  8  2 4,860,277  60 

Act  Oct.  13, 1862,  $  1  and  S  2    2,344,800  00 

Act    March    23,    1863,    60 

cento ~    3,419,000  00 

Total  UDder$5 10,424,077  60 

Total  debt,  Jan.  1, 1864 $1,220,866,042  60 


BOOK  I.] 


CONFEDERATE    TAXES. 


163 


ITS  CONDITION,  MA'RCH  31,  1864. 

The  Register  of  the  Treasury,  Robert 
Tyler,  gave  a  statement,  which  appeared 
in  the  Richmond  Sentinel  after  the  passage 
of  the  funding  law,  which  gives  the  amount 
of  outstanding  non-interest-bearing  Trea- 
sury notes,  March  31, 1864,  as  $796,264,403, 
as  follows : 

Act  May  16,  1861— Ten-year 

notes 17,201,376  00 

Act  Aug.   19,   1861— General 

currency 154,365,631  00 

Act  Apr.  19,  1862— ones  and 

twos 4,516,509  00 

Act    Oct.   18,   1862— General 

currency 118,997,321  50 

Act  Mar.   23,   1863— Genera! 

currency 511,182,566  50 


Total $796,264,403  00 

He  also  publishes  this  statement  of  the 
issue  of  non-interestnbearing  Treasury 
notes  since  the  organization  of  the  "  Con- 
federate "  government : 

Fifty  cents $911,258  50 

Ones 4,882,000  00 

Twos 6,086,320  00 

Fives 79,090,315  00 

Tens 157,982,750  00 

Twenties 217,425,120  00 

Fifties 188,088,200  00 


Total $973,277,363  50 


Confederate  Taxes. 

We  also  append  as  full  and  fair  a  state- 
ment of  Confederate  taxes  as  can  be  pro- 
cured, beginning  with  a  summary  of  the 
act  authorizing  the  issue  of  Treasury  notes 
and  bonds,  and  providing  a  war  tax  for 
their  redemption : 

THE  TAX  ACT  OF  JULY,  1861. 

The  Richmond  Enquirer  gives  the  fol- 
lowing summary  of  the  act  authorizing 
the  issue  of  Treasury  notes  and  bonds,  and 
providing  a  war  tax  for  their  redemption : 

Section  one  authorizes  the  issue  of 
Treasury  notes,  payable  to  bearer  at  the 
expiration  of  six  months  after  the  ratifica- 
tion of  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  Con- 
federate States  and  the  United  States. 
The  notes  are  not  to  be  of  a  less  denomi- 
nation than  five  dollars,  to  be  re-issued  at 
pleasure,  to  be  received  in  payment  of  all 
public  dues,  except  the  export  duty  on  cot- 
ton, and  the  whole  issue  outstanding  at 
one  time,  including  the  amount  issued 
under  former  acts,  are  not  to  exceed  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars. 

Section  two  provides  that,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  funding  the  said  aotes,  or  for  the 
purpose  of  purchasing  specie  or  military 
stores,  &c.,  oonds  may  be  issued,  payable 
not  more  than  twenty  years  after  date,  to 


the  amount  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars, and  bearing  an  interest  of  eight  per 
cent,  per  annum.  This  amount  includes 
the  thirty  millions  already  authorized  to 
be  issued.  The  bonds  are  not  to  be  issued 
in  less  amounts  than  $100,  except  when  the 
subscription  is  for  a  less  amount,  when 
they  may  be  issued  as  low  as  $50. 

Section  three  provides  that  holders  of 
Treasury  notes  may  at  any  time  exchange 
them  for*  bonds. 

Section  four  provides  that,  for  the  special 
purpose  of  paying  the  principal  and  inter- 
est of  the  public  debt,  and  of  supporting 
the  Grovernment,  a  war  tax  shall  be  as- 
sessed and  levied  of  fifty  cents  upon  each 
one  hundred  dollars  in  value  of  the  follow- 
ing property  in  the  Confederate  States, 
namely :  Real  estate  of  all  kinds ;  slaves ; 
merchandise ;  bank  stocks ;  railroad  and 
other  corporation  stocks;  money  at  in- 
terest or  invested  by  individuals  in  the 
purchase  of  bills,  notes,  and  other  securi- 
ties for  money,  except  the  bonds  of  the 
Confederate  States  of  America,  and  cash 
on  hand  or  on  deposit  in  bank  or  elsewhere ; 
cattle,  horses,  and  mules ;  gold  watches, 
gold  and  silver  plate ;  pianos  and  pleasure 
carriages :  Provided,  however,  That  when 
the  taxable  property,  herein  above  enu- 
merated, of  any  head  of  a  family  is  of  value 
less  than  five  hundred  dollars,  such  tax- 
able property  shall  be  exempt  from  taxa- 
tion under  this  act.  It  provides  further 
that  the  property  of  colleges,  schools,  and 
religious  associations  shall  be  exempt. 

The  remaining  sections  provide  for  the 
collection  of  the  tax. 

THE  TAX  ACT  OF  DECEMBER  19,  1861. 

An  act  supplementary  to  an  act  to  authorize 
the  issue  of  Treasury  notes,  and  to  pro- 
vide a  war  tax  for  their  redemption. 
Sec.  1.  The  Congress  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America  do  enact,  That  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  authorized 
to  pay  over  to  the  several  banks,  which 
have  made  advances  to  the  Government, 
in  anticipation  of  the  issue  of  Treasury 
notes,  a  sufficient  amount,  not  exceeding 
$10,000,000,  for  the  principal  and  interest 
due  upon  the  said  advance,  according  to 
the  engagements  made  with  them. 

Sec.  2.  The  time  affixed  by  the  said  act 
for  making  assignments  is  hereby  extend- 
ed to  the  Ist  day  of  January  next,  and  the 
time  for  the  completion  and  delivery  of  the 
lists  is  extended  to  the  1st  day  of  March 
next,  and  the  time  for  the  report  of  the 
said  lists  to  the  chief  collector  is  extended 
to  the  1st  day  of  May  next ;  and  in  cases 
where  the  time  thus  fixed  shall  be  found 
insufficient,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
shall  have  power  to  make  ftirther  'exten- 
sion, as  circumstances  may  require. 

Sec.  3.  The  cash  on  hand,  or  on  deposit 
in  the  bank,  or  elsewhere,  mentioned  in 


154 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  l 


the  fourth  section  of  said  act,  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  subject  to  assessment  and  tax- 
ation, and  the  money  at  interest,  or  invest- 
ed by  individuals  in  the  purchase  of  bills, 
notes,  and  other  securities  for  money,  shall 
be  deemed  to  include  securities  for  money 
belonging  to  non-residents,  and  such  se- 
curities shall  be  returned,  and  the  tax 
thereon  paid  by  any  agent  or  trustee  hav- 
ing the  same  in  possession  or  under  his 
control.  The  term  merchandise  shall  be 
construed  to  include  merchandise  belong- 
ing to  any  non-resident,  and  the  property 
shall  be  returned,  and  the  tax  paid  by  any 
person  having  the  same  in  possession  as 
agent,  attorney,  or  consignee:  Provided, 
That  the  words  "money  at  interest,"  as 
used  in  the  act  to  which  this  act  is  an 
amendment,  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  in- 
clude all  notes,  or  other  evidences  of  debt, 
bearing  interest,  without  reference  to  the 
consideration  of  the  same.  The  exception 
allowed  by  the  twentieth  section  for  agri- 
cultural products  shall  be  construed  to  em- 
brace such  products  only  when  in  the 
hands  of  the  producer,  or  held  for  his  ac- 
count. But  no  tax  shall  be  assessed  or 
levied  on  any  money  at  interest  when  the 
notes,  bond,  bill,  or  other  security  taken 
for  its  payment,  shall  be  worthless  from 
the  insolvency  and  total  inability  to  pay 
of  the  payer  or  obligor,  or  person  liable  to 
make  such  payment ;  and  all  securities  for 
money  payable  under  this  act  shall  be 
assessed  according  to  their  value,  and  the 
assessor  shall  have  the  same  power  to  as- 
certain the  value  of  such  securities  as  the 
law  confers  upon  him  with  respect  to  other 
property. 

Sec.  4.  That  an  amount  of  money,  not 
exceeding  $25,000,  shall  be  and  the  same 
is  hereby  appropriated,  out  of  any  money 
in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated., 
to  be  disbursed  under  the  authority  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  the  chief 
State  tax  collectors,  for  such  expenses  as 
shall  be  actually  incurred  for  salaries  of 
clerks,  oflSce  hire,  stationery,  and  inciden- 
tal charges;  but  the  books  and  printing 
required  shall  be  at  the  expense  oi  the  de- 
partment, and  subject  to  its  approval. 

Sec.  5.  The  lien  for  the  tax  shall  attach 
from  the  date  of  the  assessment,  and  shall 
follow  the  same  into  every  State  in  the 
Confederacy ;  and  in  case  any  person  shall 
attempt  to  remove  any  property  which  may 
be  liaole  to  tax,  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  State  in  which  the  tax  is  payable, 
without  payment  of  the  tax,  the  collector 
of  the  district  may  distrain  upon  and  sell 
the  same,  in  the  same  manner  as  is  pro- 
vided in  cases  where  default  is  made  in 
the  payment  of  the  tax. 

Sec.  6.  On  the  report  of  any  chief  col- 
lector, that  any  county,  town  or  district, 
or  any  part  thereof,  is  occupied  by  the 
public  enemy,  or  has  been  so  occupied  as 


to  occasion  destruction  of  crops  or  property, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  suspend 
the  collection  of  tax  in  such  region  until 
the  same  can  be  reported  to  Congress,  and 
its  action  had  thereon. 

Sec.  7.  In  case  any  of  the  Confederate 
States  shall  undertake  to  pay  the  tax  to  be 
collected  within  its  limits  before  the  time 
at  which  the  district  collectors  shall  enter 
upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  suspend  the 
appointment  of  such  collectors,  and  may 
direct  the  chief  collector  to  appoint  assess- 
ors, and  to  take  proper  measures  for  the 
making  and  perfecting  the  returns,  assess- 
ments and  lists  required  by  law ;  and  the 
returns,  assessments  and  lists  so  made, 
shall  have  the  same  legal  validity,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  as  if  made  according 
to  the  provisions  of  the  act  to  which  this 
act  is  supplementary. 

Sec.  8.  That  tax  lisvs  already  given, 
varying  from  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
shall  be  corrected  so  as  to  conform  thereto. 

THE  TAX  ACT  OF  APRIL  24,  1863. 
[From  the  Kichmond  Whig,  April  21.] 

We  present  below  a  synopsis  of  the  bill 
to  lay  taxes  for  the  common  defence  and 
to  carry  on  the  government  of  the  Confed- 
erate States,  which  has  passed  both 
branches  of  Congress.  It  is  substantially 
the  bill  proposed  by  the  committee  on 
conference : 

1.  The  first  section  imposes  a  tax  of 
eight  per  cent,  upon  the  value  of  all  naval 
stores,  salt,  wines  and  spirituous  liquors, 
tobacco,  manufactured  or  unmanufactured, 
cotton,  wool,  flour,  sugar,  molasses,  syrup, 
rice,  and  other  agricultural  products,  held 
or  owned  on  the  1st  day  of  July  next,  and 
not  necessary  for  family  consumption  for 
the  unexpired  portion  of  the  year  1863, 
and  of  the  growth  or  production  of  any 
year  preceding  the  year  1863 ;  and  a  tax 
of  one  per  cent,  upon  all  moneys,  bank 
notes  or  other  currency  on  hand  or  on  de- 
posit on  the  1st  day  of  July  next,  and  on 
the  value  of  all  credits  on  which  the  in- 
terest has  not  been  paid,  and  not  employed 
in  a  business,  the  income  derived  from 
which  is  taxed  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act:  Provided,  That  all  moneys  owned, 
held  or  deposited  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Confederate  States  shall  be  valued  at  the 
current  rate  of  exchange  in  Confederate 
treasury  notes.  The  tax  to  be  assessed  on 
the  first  day  of  July  and  collected  on  the 
first  day  of  October  next,  or  as  soon  there- 
after as  may  be  practicable. 

2.  Every  person  engaged,  or  intending 
to  engage,  in  any  business  named  in  the 
fifth  section,  shall,  within  sixty  days  after 
the  passage  of  the  act,  or  at  the  time  of  be- 
ginning business,  and  on  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary in  each  year  thereafter,  register  with 
the  district  collector  a  true  account  of  the 


BOOK  I.] 


CONFEDERATE  '«"AXES. 


156 


name  and  residence  of  each  person,  firm, 
or  corporation  engaged  or  interested  in  the 
business,  with  a  statement  of  the  time  for 
which,  and  the  place  and  manner  in  which 
the  same  is  to  be  conducted,  &c.  At  the 
time  of  the  registry  there  shall  be  paid  the 
specific  tax  for  the  year  ending  on  the 
next  31st  of  December,  and  such  other  tax 
as  may  be  due  upon  sales  or  receipts  in 
such  business. 

3.  Any  person  failing  to  make  such 
registry  and  pay  such  tax,  shall,  in  addi- 
tion to  all  other  taxes  upon  his  business  im- 
posed by  the  act,  pay  double  the  amount 
of  the  specific  tax  on  such  business,  and  a 
like  sum  for  every  thirty  days  of  such 
failure. 

4.  Requires  a  separate  registry  and  tax 
for  each  business  mentioned  in  the  fifth 
section,  and  for  each  place  of  conducting 
the  same ;  but  no  tax  for  mere  storage  of 
goods  at  a  place  other  than  the  registered 
place  of  business.  A  new  registry  required 
upon  every  change  in  the  place  of  conduct- 
ing a  registered  business,  upon  the  death 
of  any  person  conducting  the  same,  or 
upon  the  transfer  of  the  business  to  an- 
other, but  no  additional  tax. 

5.  Imposing  the*  following  taxes  for  the 
year  ending  31st  of  December,  1863,  and 
for  each  year  thereafter : 

Bankers  shall  pay  $500. 

Auctioneers,  retail  dealers,  tobacconists, 
pedlers,  cattle  brokers,  apothecaries,  pho- 
tographers, and  confectioners,  $50,  and 
two  and  a  half  per  centum  on  the  gross 
amount  of  sales  made. 

Wholesale  dealers  in  liquors,  $200,  and 
five  per  centum  on  gross  amount  of  sales. 
Retail  dealers  in  liquors,  $100,  and  ten  per 
centum  on  gross  amount  of  sales. 

Wholesale  dealers  in  groceries,  goods, 
wares,  merchandise,  &c.,  $200,  and  two 
and  a  half  per  centum. 

Pawnbrokers,  money  and  exchange  bro- 
kers, $200. 

Distillers,  $200,  and  twenty  per  centum. 
Brewers,  $100,  and  two  and  a  half  per  cen- 
tum. 

Hotels,  inns,  taverns,  and  eating-houses, 
first  class,  $500 ;  second  class,  $300 ;  third 
class,  $200 ;  fourth  class,  100 ;  fifth  class, 
$30.  Every  house  where  food  or  refresh- 
ments are  sold,  and  every  boarding  house 
where  there  shall  be  six  boarders  or  more, 
shall  be  deemed  an  eating  house  under 
this  act. 

Commercial  brokers  or  commission  mer- 
chants, $200,  and  two  and  a  half  per  cen- 
tum. 

Theatres,  $500,  and  five  per  centum  on 
all  receipts.  Each  circus,  $100,  and  $10 
for  each  exhibition.  Jugglers  and  other 
persons  exhibiting  shows,  $50. 

Bowling  alleys  and  billiard  rooms,  $40 
for  each  alley  or  table  registered. 


Livery  stable  keepers,  lawyers,  physi- 
cians, surgeons,  and  dentists,  ^0. 

Butchers  and  bakers,  $50,  and  one  per 
centum. 

6.  Every  person  registered  and  taxed  is 
required  to  make  returns  of  the  gross 
amount  of  sales  from  the  passage  of  the  act 
to  the  30th  of  June,  and  every  three  months 
thereafter. 

7.  A  tax  upon  all  salaries,  except  of  per- 
sons in  the  military  or  naval  service,  of  one 
per  cent,  when  not  exceeding  $1,500,  and 
two  per  cent,  upon  an  excess  over  that 
amount :  Provided,  That  no  taxes  shall  be 
imposed  by  virtue  of  this  act  on  the  salary 
of  any  person  receiving  a  salary  not  ex^ 
ceeding  $1,000  per  annum,  or  at  a  like  rate 
for  another  period  of  time,  longer  or 
shorter. 

8.  Provides  that  the  tax  on  annual  in- 
comes, between  $500  and  $1,500,  shall  be 
five  per  cent. ;  between  $1,500  and  $3,000, 
five  per  cent,  on  the  first  $1,500  and  ten 
per  cent,  on  the  excess ;  between  $3,000 
and  $5,000,  ten  per  cent. ;  between  $5,000 
and  $10,000,  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent.  ; 
over  $10,000,  fifteen  per  cent.,  subject  to 
the  following  deductions :  On  incomes  de- 
rived from  rents  of  real  estate,  manufac- 
turing, and  mining  establishments,  &c.,  a 
sum  sufl[icient  for  necessary  annual  repairs ; 
on  incomes  from  any  mining  or  manufac- 
turing business,  the  rent,  (if  rented,)  cost 
of  labor  actually  hired,  and  raw  material ; 
on  incomes  from  navigating  enterprises, 
the  hire  of  the  vessel,  or  allowance  for 
wear  and  tear  of  the  same,  not  exceeding 
ten  per  cent. ;  on  incomes  derived  from  the 
sale  of  merchandise  or  any  other  property, 
the  prime  cost  of  transportation,  salaries  of 
clerks,  and  rent  of  buildings ;  on  incomes 
from  any  other  occupation,  the  salaries  of 
clerks,  rent,  cost  of  labor,  material,  &c. ; 
and  in  case  of  mutual  insurance  compa- 
nies, the  amount  of  losses  paid  by  them 
during  the  year.  Incomes  derived  from 
other  sources  are  subject  to  no  deductions 
whatever. 

All  joint  stock  companies  and  corpora- 
tions shall  pay  one  tenth  of  the  dividend 
and  reserved  fund  annually.  If  the  an- 
nual earnings  shall  give  a  profit  of  more 
than  ten  and  less  than  twenty  per  cent,  on 
capital  stock,  one  eighth  to  be  paid ;  if 
more  than  twenty  per  cent.,  one  sixth. 
The  tax  to  be  collected  on  the  1st  of  Janu^ 
ary  next,  and  of  each  year  thereafter. 

9.  Relates  to  estimates  and  deductions, 
investigations,  referees,  &c. 

10.  A  tax  of  ten  per  cent,  on  all  profits 
in  1862  by  the  purchase  and  sale  of  flour, 
corn,  bacon,  pork,  oats,  hay,  rice,  salt,  iron 
or  the  manufactures  of  iron,  sugar,  mo- 
lasses made  of  cane,  butter,  woolen  cloths, 
shoes,  boots,  blankets,  and  cotton  cloths. 
Does  not  apply  to  regular  retail  business. 

11.  Each  farmer,  after  reserving  for  hia 


156 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


own  use  fifty  bushels  sweet  and  fifty 
bushels  Irish  potatoes,  one  hundred  bushels 
corn  or  fifty  bushels  wheat  produced  this 
year,  shall  pay  and  deliver  to  the  Con- 
federate Government  one  tenth  of  the 
grain,  potatoes,  forage,  sugar,  molasses,  cot- 
ton, wool,  and  tobacco  produced.  After 
reserving  twenty  bushels  peaa  or  beans  he 
shall  deliver  one  tenth  thereof 

12.  Every  farmer,  planter,  or  grazier,  one 
tenth  of  the  hogs  slaughtered  by  him,  in 
cured  bacon,  at  the  rate  of  sixty  pounds  of 
bacon  to  one  hundred  pounds  of  pork ;  one 

Eer  cent,  upon  the  value  of  all  neat  cattle, 
orses,  mules,  not  used  in  cultivation,  and 
asses,  to  be  paid  by  the  owners  of  the  same ; 
beeves  sold  to  be  taxed  as  income. 

13.  Gives  in  detail  the  duties  of  post 
quartermasters  under  the  act. 

14.  Relates  to  the  duties  of  assessors  and 
collectors. 

15.  Makes  trustees,  guardians,  &c.,  re- 
sponsible for  taxes  due  from  estates,  &c., 
under  their  control. 

16.  Exempts  the  income  and  moneys  of 
hospitals,  asylums  churches,  schools,  and 
colleges  from  taxation  under  the  act. 

17.  Authorizes  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury to  make  all  rules  and  regulations  ne- 
cessary to  the  operation  of  the  act. 

18.  Provides  that  the  act  shall  be  in 
force  for  two  years  from  the  expiration  of 
the  present  year,  unless  sooner  repealed ; 
that  the  tax  on  naval  stores,  flour,  wool, 
cotton,  tobacco,  and  other  agricultural  pro- 
ducts of  the  growth  of  any  year  preceaing 
1863,  imposed  in  the  first  section,  shall  be  le- 
vied ana  collected  only  for  the  present  year. 

The  tax  act  of  February  17,  1864,  levies, 
in  addition  to  the  above  rates,  the  follow- 
ftig,  as  stated  in  the  Richmond  Sentinel  of 
February,  1864: 

Sec.  1.  Upon  the  value  of  real,  personal, 
and  mixed  property,  of  every  kind  and  de- 
scription, except  the  exemptions  hereafter 
to  be  named,  five  per  cent. ;  the  tax  levied 
on  property  employed  in  agriculture  to  be 
credited  by  the  value  of  property  in  kind. 

On  gold  and  silver  ware,  plate,  jewels, 
and  watches,  ten  per  cent. 

The  tax  to  be  levied  on  the  value  of 
propertv  in  1860,  except  in  the  case  of 
land,  slaves,  cotton,  and  tobacco,  pur- 
chased since  January  1st,  1862,  upon  which 
the  tax  shall  be  levied  on  the  price  paid. 

Sec.  2.  A  tax  of  five  per  cent,  on  the 
▼alue  of  all  shares  in  joint  stock  companies 
of  any  kind,  whether  incorporated  or  not. 
The  shares  to  be  valued  at  their  market 
value  at  the  time  of  assessment. 

Sec.  3.  Upon  the  market  value  of  gold 
and  silver  coin  or  bullion,  five  per  cent. ; 
also  the  same  upon  moneys  held  abroad,  or 
all  bills  of  exchange  drawn  therefor. 

A  tax  of  five  per  cent,  on  all  solvent 
credits,  and  on  all  bank  bills  and  papers 
used  as  currency,  except  non-interest-bear- 


ing Confederate  Treasury  notes,  and  not 
employed  in  a  registered  business  taxed 
twenty-five  per  cent. 

Sec.  4.  Profits  in  trade  and  business 
taxed  as  follows : 

On  the  purchase  and  sale  of  agricultural 
products  and  mercantile  wares  generally, 
from  January  1,  1863,  to  January  1,  1865, 
ten  per  cent,  in  addition  to  the  tax  under 
the  act  of  April  24,  1863. 

The  same  on  the  purchase  and  sale  of 
coin,  exchange,  stocks,  notes,  and  credits 
of  any  kind,  and  any  property  not  in- 
cludea  in  the  foregoing. 

On.  the  amount  of  profits  exceeding 
twenty -five  per  cent,  of  any  bank,  banking 
company,  or  joint  stock  company  of  any  de- 
scription, incorporated  or  not,  twentj'-five 
per  cent,  on  such  excess. 

Sec  5.  The  following  aie  exempted 
from  taxation. 

Five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  property 
for  each  head  of  a  family,  and  a  hundred 
dollars  additional  for  each  minor  child; 
and  for  each  son  in  the  army  or  navy,  or 
who  has  fallen  in  the  service,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  family  when  he  enlisted,  the 
further  sum  of  $500. 

One  thousand  dollaij  of  the  property 
of  the  widow  or  minor  children  oi  any 
officer,  soldier,  sailor,  or  marine,  who  has 
died  in  the  service. 

A  like  amount  of  property  of  any  oflS- 
cer,  soldier,  sailor,  or  marine,  engaged  in 
the  service,  or  who  has  been  disabled 
therein,  provided  said  property,  exclusive 
of  furniture,  does  not  exceed  in  value  $1,000. 

When  property  has  been  injured  or  de- 
stroyed by  the  enemy,  or  the  owner  unable 
temporarily  to  use  or  occupy  it  by  reason 
of  the  presence  or  proximity  of  the  enemy, 
the  assessment  may  be  reduced  in  propor- 
tion to  the  damage  sustained  by  the  owner, 
and  the  tax  in  the  same  ratio  by  the  dis- 
trict collector. 

Sec.  6.  The  taxes  on  property  for  1864 
to  be  assessed  as  on  the  day  of  the  passage 
of  this  act,  and  collected  the  1st  of  June 
next,  with  ninety  days  extension  west  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  additional  tax  on 
incomes  or  profits  for  1863,  to  be  paid 
forthwith ;  the  tax  on  incomes,  &c.,  for  1864, 
to  be  collected  according  to  the  acts  of  1863, 

Sec.  7.  Exempts  from  tax  on  income  for 
1864,  all  property  herein  taxed  ad  valorem. 
The  tax  on  Confederate  bonds  in  no  case 
to  exceed  the  interest  payable  on  the 
same;  and  said  bonds  exempt  from  tax 
when  held  by  minors  or  lunatics,  if  the  in- 
terest do  not  exceed  one  thousand  dollars. 

THE  TAX   LAW. 

We  learn  that,  according  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  recent  tax  law  in  the  Treasury 
Department,  tax  payers  will  be  required  to 
state  the  articles  and  objects  subjected  to  a 
specific  or  ad  valorem  tax,  held,  owned,  or 


BOOK  I.] 


CONFEDERATE    TAXES. 


157 


possessed  by  them  on  the  17th  day  of  Febru- 
ary, 1864,  the  date  of  the  act. 

The  daily  wages  of  detailed  soldiers  and 
other  employes  of  the  Government  are  not 
liable  to  taxation  as  income,  although  they 
mav  amount,  in  the  aggregate,  to  the  sum 
of  |l,000  per  annum. 

A  tax  additional  to  both  the  above  was 
imposed  as  follows,  June  1,  1864 : 

A  bill  to  provide  supplies  for  the  army,  and 
to  prescribe  the  mode  of  making  im- 
pressments. 

Sec.  1.  The  Congress  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America  do  enact,  Every  person 
required  to  pay  a  tax  in  kind,  under  the 
provisions  of  the  "  Act  to  lay  taxes  for  the 
common  defense  and  carry  on  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Confederate  States,"  approved 
April  24,  1863,  and  the  act  amendatory 
thereof,  approved  February  17, 1864,  shall, 
in  addition  to  the  one  tenth  required  by 
said  acts  to  be  paid  as  a  tax  in  kind,  de- 
liver to  the  Confederate  Government,  of 
the  products  of  the  present  year  and  of  the 
year  1865,  one  other  tenth  of  the  several 
products  taxed  in  kind  by  the  acts  afore- 
said, which  additional  one  tenth  shall  be 
ascertained,  assessed  and  collected,  in  all 
respects,  as  is  provided  by  law  for  the  said 
tax  in  kind,  and  shall  be  paid  for,  on  de- 
livery, by  the  Post-Quartermasters  in  the 
several  districts  at  the  assessed  value  there- 
of, except  that  payment  for  cotton  and  to- 
bacco shall  be  made  by  the  agents  of  the 
Treasury  Department  appointed  to  receive 
the  same. 

Sec.  2.  The  supplies  necessary  to  the 
support  of  the  producer  and  his  family,  and 
to  carry  on  his  ordinary  business,  shall  be 
exempted  from  the  contribution  required 
by  the  preceding  section,  and  from  the  ad- 
ditional impressments  authorized  by  the 
act :  Provided,  however,  That  nothing  here- 
in contained  shall  be  construed  to  repeal 
or  affect  the  provisions  of  an  act  entitled 
"  An  act  to  authorize  the  impressment  of 
meat  for  the  use  of  the  army,  under  certain 
circumstances,''  approved  Feb.  17,  1864, 
and  if  the  amount  of  any  article  or  product 
so  necessary  cannot  be  agreed  upon  be- 
tween the  assessor  and  the  producer,  it 
shall  be  ascertained  and  determined  by 
disinterested  freeholders  of  the  vicinage,  as 
is  provided  in  cases  of  disagreement  as  to 
the  estimates  and  assessments  of  tax  in 
kind.  If  required  by  the  assessor,  such 
freeholder  shall  ascertain  whether  a  pro- 
ducer, who  is  found  unable  to  furnish  the 
additional  one  tenth  of  any  one  product, 
cannot  supply  the  deficiency  by  the  de- 
livery of  an  equivalent  in  other  products, 
and  upon  what  terms  such  commutation 
shall  be  made.  Any  commutation  thus 
awarded  shall  be  enforced  and  collected,  in 
all  respects,  as  is  provided  for  any  other 
contribution  required  by  this  act. 


Sec.  3.  The  Secretary  of  "War  may,  at 
his  discretion,  decline  to  assess,  or,  after 
assessment,  may  decline  to  collect  the 
whole  or  any  part  of  the  additional  one 
tenth  herein  provided  for,  in  any  district 
or  locality;  and  it  shall  be  his  duty 
promptly  to  give  notice  of  any  such  de- 
termination, specifying,  with  reasonable 
certainty,  the  district  or  locality  and  the 
product,  or  the  proportion  thereof,  as  to 
which  he  so  declines. 

Sec.  4.  The  products  received  for  the 
contribution  herein  required,  shall  be  dis- 
posed of  and  accounted  for  in  the  same 
manner  as  those  received  for  the  tax  in 
kind ;  and  the  Secretary  of  War  may, 
whenever  the  exigencies  of  the  public  ser- 
vice will  allow,  authorize  the  sale  of  pro- 
ducts received  from  either  source,  to  pub- 
lic officers  or  agents  charged  in  any  State 
with  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  families 
of  soldiers.  Such  sale  shall  be  at  the 
prices  paid  or  assessed  for  the  products 
sold,  including  the  actual  cost  of  collec- 
tions. 

Sec.  5.  If,  in  addition  to  the  tax  in  kind 
and  the  contribution  herein  required,  the 
necessities  of  the  army  or  the  good  of  the 
service  shall  require  other  supplies  of  food 
or  forage,  or  any  other  private  property, 
and  the  same  cannot  be  procured  by  con- 
tract, then  impressments  may  be  made  of 
such  supplies  or  other  property,  either  for 
absolute  ownership  or  for  temporary  use, 
as  the  public  necessities  may  require.  Such 
impressments  shall  be  made  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions,  and  subject  to  the  re- 
strictions of  the  existing  impressment  laws, 
except  so  far  as  is  herein  otherwise  pro- 
vided. 

Sec.  6.  The  right  and  the  duty  of  mak- 
ing impressments  is  hereby  confided  exclu- 
sively to  the  officers  and  agents  charged  in 
the  several  districts  with  the  assessment 
and  collection  of  the  tax  in  kind  and  of 
the  contribution  herein  required ;  and  all 
officers  and  soldiers  in  any  department  of 
the  army  are  hereby  expressly  prohibited 
from  undertaking  in  any  manner  to  inter- 
fere with  these  officers  and  agents  in  any 
Eart  of  their  duties  in  respect  to  the  tax  in 
ind,  the  contribution,  or  the  impressment 
herein  provided  for :  Provided,  That  this 
prohibition  shall  not  be  applicable  to  any 
district,  county,  or  parish  in  which  there 
shall  be  no  officer  or  agent  charged  with 
the  appointment  and  collection  of  the  tax 
in  kind. 

Sec.  7.  Supplies  or  other  property  taken 
by  impressment  shall  be  paid  for  by  the 
post  quartermasters  in  the  several  districts, 
and  snail  be  disposed  of  and  accounted  for 
by  them  as  is  required  in  respect  to  the  tax 
in  kind  and  the  contribution  herein  re- 
quired ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
post  quartermasters  to  equalize  and  appor- 
tion the  impressments  within  their  die* 


158 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


tricts,  as  far  as  practicable,  so  as  to  avoid 
oppressing  any  portion  of  the  community. 

Sec.  8.  If  any  one  not  authorized  by  law 
to  collect  the  tax  in  kind  or  the  contribu- 
tion herein  required,  or  to  make  impress- 
ments, shall  undertake,  on  any  pretence  of 
such  authority,  to  seize  or  impress,  or  to 
collect  or  receive  any  such  property;,  or 
shall,  on  any  such  pretence,  actually  obtain 
such  property,  he  shall,  upon  conviction 
thereof,  be  punished  bv  fine  not  exceeding 
five  times  tne  value  of  such  property,  and 
be  imprisoned  not  exceeding  five  years,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  court  having  jurisdic- 
tion. And  it  shall  be  the  duty  Oi  all  ofl5- 
cers  and  agents  charged  with  the  assess- 
ment and  collection  of  the  tax  in  kind 
and  of  the  contribution  herein  required, 
promptly  to  report,  through  the  post  quar- 
termasters in  the  several  districts,  any  vio- 
lation or  disregard  of  the  provisions  of  this 
act  by  any  ofticer  or  soldier  in  the  service 
of  the  Confederate  States. 

Sec.  9.  That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  to 
impress  any  sheep,  milch  cows,  brood  mares, 
stud  horses,  jacks,  bulls,  or  other  stock 
kept  or  necessary  for  raising  horses,  mules, 
or  cattle. 

The  following  is  the  vote  by  which  the 
bill  passed  the  Senate : 

Yeas  —  Messrs.  Caperton,  Graham, 
Haynes,  Jemison,  Johnson  (Ark.),  John- 
son (Mo.),  Mitchell,  Orr,  Walker,  Watson 
—10. 

Nays — Messrs.  Baker,  Burnett,  Henry, 
Hunter,  Maxwell,  Semmes,  Sparrow — 7. 


Admitting  IVeat  Vli^lnla. 

An  important  political  movement  in  the 
early  years  of  the  war  was  the  separation 
of  West  Virginia  from  the  mother  State, 
which  had  seceded,  and  her  admission  in- 
to the  Union. 

SECOND   SESSION,    THIRTY-SEVENTH   CON- 
GRESS. 

In  Senate,  1862,  July  14.— The  bill  pro- 
viding for  the  admission  "of  the  State  of 
West  Virginia  into  the  Union,  passed — 
yeas  23,  nays  17,  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Anthony,  Clark,  Colla- 
mer,  Fesscnden,  Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Hale, 
Harlan,  Harris,  Howe,  Lane  of  Indiana, 
Lane  of  Kansas,  Morrill,  Pomeroy,  Rice, 
Sherman,  Simmons,  Ten  Evck,  Wade, 
Wilkinson,  Willey,  Wilson  oi  Massachu- 
setts—23. 

Nays— Messrs.  Bayard,  Browning,  Car- 
lile,  Chandler,  Cowan,  Dan's,  Howard, 
Kennedy,  King,  McDougal,  Powell,  Sauls- 
bury,  Stark,  Sumner,  Trumbull,  Wilson  of 
Missouri,    Wright— 17. 

During  the  pendency  of  this  bill,  July 
14,  1862,  Mr.  Sumner  moved  to  strike  from 
the  first  section  of  the  second  article  the 
words:  "the  children  of  all  slaves  bom 


within  the  limits  of  said  State  shall  be  free," 
and  insert: 

Within  the  limits  of  the  said  State  there 
shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude,  otherwise  than  in  punishment  of 
crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  be  duly 
convicted. 

Which  was  rejected — yeas  11,  nays  24,  as 
follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Chandler,  Clark,  Grimes, 
King,  Lane  of  Kansas,  Pomeroy,  Sumner, 
Trumbull,  Wilkinson,  Wilmot,  Wilson, 
of  Massachusetts-ll. 

Nays— Messrs.  Anthony,  JBayar(i,Brown- 
ing,  Carlile,  Collamer,  Doolittle,  Foot  Fos- 
ter, Harris,  Henderson,  Howe,  Kennedy, 
Lane  of  Indiana,  Powell,  Rice,  Saulsbury, 
Sherman,  Simmons,  Stark,  Ten  Eyck, 
Wade,  Wiley,  Wilson  of  Missouri,  Wright 
-  -24. 

Mr.  Willey  proposed  to  strike  out  all 
after  the  word  "That"  in  the  first  section, 
and  insert : 

That  the  State  of  West  Virginia  be,  and 
is  hereby,  declared  to  be  one  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  admitted  into  the 
Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  origi- 
nal States  in  all  respects  whatever,  and  un- 
til the  next  general  census  shall  be  entitled 
to  three  members  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States :  Provided 
always.  That  this  act  shall  not  take  effect 
until  after  the  proclamation  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  hereinafter  pro- 
vided for. 

Sec.  2.  It  being  represented  to  Congress 
that  since  the  convention  of  the  26tn  of 
November,  1861,  that  framed  and  proposed 
the  constitution  for  the  said  State  of  West 
Virginia,  the  people  thereof  have  expressed 
a  wish  to  change  the  seventh  section  of  the 
eleventh  article  of  said  constitution  by 
striking  out  the  same,  and  inserting  the 
following  in  its  place,  namely,  "  The  chil- 
dren of  slaves  born  within  the  limits  of 
this  State  after  the  4th  day  of  July,  1863, 
shall  be  free,  and  no  slave  shall  be  permit- 
ted to  come  into  the  State  for  permanent 
residence  therein :"  therefore. 

Be  it  further  enacted,  That  whenever 
the  people  of  West  Virginia  shall,  through 
their  said  convention,  and  by  a  vote  to  be 
taken  at  an  election  to  be  held  within  the 
limits  of  the  State  at  such  time  as  the  con- 
vention may  provide,  make  and  ratify  the 
change  aforesaid  and  properly  certify  the 
same  under  the  hand  of  the  president  of 
the  convention,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to  issue  his 
proclamation  stating  the  fact,  and  there- 
upon this  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in 
force  from  and  after  sixty  days  from  the 
date  of  said  proclamation. 

Mr  Lane  of  Kansas  moved  to  amend  the 
amendment  by  inserting  after  the  word 
"Heiein,'  and  before  the  word,  '* There- 
fore" the  words: 


BOOS  I.] 


COLOR   IN    WAR   POLITICS. 


359 


And  that  all  slaves  within  the  said  State 
who  shall  at  the  time  aforesaid  be  under 
the  age  of  ten  years  shall  be  free  when 
they  arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  ; 
and  all  slaves  over  ten  and  under  twenty- 
one  years  shall  be  free  when  they  arrive  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years. 

Which  was  agreed  to — ^yeas  25,  nays  12, 
as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Anthony,  Clark,  Colla- 
mer,  Doolittle,  Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Har- 
lan, Harris,  Howard,  Howe,  King,  Lane  of 
Indiana,  Lane  of  Kansas,  Morrill,  Pome- 
roy,  Sherman,  Simmons,  Sumner,  Ten  Eyck, 
Trumbull,  Wade,  Wilkinson,  Wilmot,  Wil- 
son, of  Massachusetts — 25. 

Nays — Messrs.  Browning,  Carlile,  Davis, 
Henderson,  Kennedtj,  McDougall,  Powell, 
Saulsburj/,  Stark  Willey,  Wilson  of  Mis- 
souri, Wright — 12. 

The  amendment  as  amended  was  then 
agreed  to. 

A  motion  to  postpone  the  bill  to  the  first 
Monday  of  the  next  December  was  lost — 
yeas  17,  nays  23. 

In  House,  July  16 — The  bill  was  post- 
poned until  the  second  Tuesday  of  the 
next  December — yeas  63,  nays  33. 

THIED  SESSION,    THIRTY-SEVENTH      CON- 
GRESS. 

1863,  Dec.  10,  the  House  passed  the  bill 
—yeas  96,  nays  57. 

1863,  April   20,  the  President  issued  a 

groclamation  announcing  the  compliance, 
y  West  Virginia,  of  the  conditions  of  ad- 
mission. 


COLOR  IN  WAR  POLITICS. 

Emancipation  and  its  attendant  agita- 
tions brought  to  the  front  a  new  class  of 
political  questions,  which  can  best  be 
grouped  under  the  above  caption.  The 
following  is  a  summary  of  the  legislation  : 

Second.  Session,  Ttilrty-Se-venth  Congress. 

To  Remove  Disqiudijication  of  Color  in  Garrying  the  MuiU. 

In  Senate,  1862,  April  11  -The  Senate 
considered  a  bill  "  to  remove  all  disquali- 
fication of  color  in  carrying  the  mails  of 
the  United  States."  It  directed  that  after 
the  passage  of  the  act  no  person,  by  reason 
of  color,  shall  be  disqualified  from  em- 
ployment in  carrying  the  mails,  and  all 
acts  and  parts  of  acts  establishing  such  dis- 
qualification, including  especially  the 
seventh  section  of  the  act  of  March  3, 1825, 
are  hereby  repealed. 

The  vote  in  the  Senate  was,  veas  24,  nays 
11,  as  follows: 

Yeas  —  Messrs.  Anthony,  Browning 
Chandler,  Clark,  Collamer,  Dixon,  Doolit- 
tle. Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Hale, 
Howard,  Howe,  King,  Lane  of  Kansas, 
tionC}     Pomeroy,    Sherman,    Simmons, 


Sumner,  Wade,  Wilkinson,  and  Wilson  of 
Massachusetts— 24. 

Nays — Messrs.  Davis,  Henderson,  Ken- 
nedy, Lane  of  Indiana,  Latham,  Nesmith, 
Powell,  Stark,  Willey,  Wilson  of  Missouri, 
Wright— 11.* 

In  House,  May  21 — It  was  considered  in 
the  House  and  laid  on  the  table— yeas  83, 
nays  43. 

First  Session,  Thlrty-Elglitli  Coni^ess. 

1864,  February  26— The  Senate  con- 
sidered the  bill — the  question  being  on 
agreeing  to  a  new  section  proposed  by  the 
Committee  on  Post  Offices  and  Post  Roads 
— as  follows : 

Sec.  2.  That  in  the  courts  of  the  United 
States  there  shall  be  no  exclusion  of  any 
witness  on  account  of  color. 

Mr.  Powell  moved  to  amend  by  inserting 
after  the  word  "States"  the  words:  "in 
all  cases  for  robbing  or  violating  the  mails 
of  the  United  States." 

No  further  progress  was  made  on  the 
bill. 

NEGRO    SUFFRAGE    IN    MONTANA   TERRI- 
TORY. 

1864,  March  18 — The  House  passed,with- 
out  a  division,  a  bill  in  the  usual  form,  to 
provide  a  temporary  government  for  the 
Territory  of  Montana. 

March  31 — The  Senate  considered  it, 
when  Mr.  Wilkinson  moved  to  strike  from 
the  second  line  of  the  fifth  section,  (defin- 
ing the  qualifications  of  voters,)  the  words 
"white  male  inhabitant "  and  insert  the 
words :  "  male  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  those  who  have  declared  their  inten- 
tion to  become  such ;"  which  was  agreed 
to— yeas  22,  nays  17,  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Brown,  Chandler,  Clark, 
Collamer,  Conness,  Dixon,  Fessenden,  Foot, 
Foster,  Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan,  Harris, 
Howard,  Howe,  Morgan,  Morrill,  Pome- 
roy, Sumner,  Wade,  Wilkinson,  Wilson — 
22. 

Nays— Messrs.  Burkalew,  Carlile,  Cowan, 
Davis,  Harding  Henderson,  Johnson,  Lane 
of  Indiana,  Nesmith,  Powell,  Riddle,  Sauls- 
htiry,  Sherman,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Van 
Winkle,  Willey— 17. 

The  bill  was  then  passed — ^yeas  29,  nays 
8,  (Messrs.  Buckalew,  Davis,  Johnson,  Powell. 
Riddle,  Saulshury,  Van  Winkle,  Willey.) 

April  15 — The  Senate  adopted  the  report 
of  the  Committee  of  Conference  on  the 
Montana  bill,  which  recommended  the 
Senate  to  recede  from  their  second  amend- 
ment, and  the  House  to  agree  to  the  first 
and  third  amendments  of  the  Senate,  (in- 
cluding the  above.) 

April  15 — Mr.  Beaman  presented  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  of  Conference  on 
the  Montana  bill,  a  feature  of  which  was 
that  the  House  should  recede  from  its  dis- 

*  Republicaiu  ia  roman ;  Democnita  in  ItaliOK 


160 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


agreement  to  the  Senate  amendment  strik- 
ing out  the  word  "  white"  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  those  authorized  to  vote. 

Mr.  Holman  moved  that  the  report  be 
tabled ;  which  was  lost  by  the  casting  vote 
of  the  Speaker — yeas  66,  nays  66. 

Upon  agreeing  to  the  report  the  yeas 
were  64,  nays  85. 

On  motion  to  adhere  to  its  amendments, 
and  ask  another  Committee  of  Conference, 
Mr.  Webster  moved  instructions : 

And  that  said  committee  be  instructed 
to  agree  to  no  report  that  authorizes  any 
other  than  free  white  male  citizens,  and 
those  who  have  declared  their  intention  to 
become  such,  to  vote. 

Which  was  agreed  to — ^veas  75,  nays  67. 

April  15— The  Senate  declined  the  con- 
ference upon  the  terms  proposed  by  the 
House  resolution  of  that  day. 

April  18 — The  House  proposed  a  further 
free  conference,  to  which,  April  25,  the 
Senate  acceded. 

May  17 — In  Senate,  Mr.  Morrill  sub- 
mitted a  report  from  the  Conference  Com- 
mittee who  recommend  that  qualified 
voters  shall  be : 

All  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and 
those  who  have  declared  their  intention  to 
become  such,  and  who  are  otherwise  de- 
scribed and  qualified  under  the  fifth  sec- 
tion of  the  act  of  Congress  providing  for  a 
temporary  government  for  the  Territory  of 
Idaho  approved  March  3,  1863. 

The  report  was  concurred  in — yeaa  26, 
navs  13. 

May  20 — The  above  report  was  made  by 
Mr.  Webster  in  the  House,  and  agreed  to 
—yeas  102,  nays  26. 

IN  WASHINGTON  CITY.* 

1864,  May  6 — The  Senate  considered  the 
bill  for  the  registration  of  voters  in  the  city 
of  Washington,  when 

Mr.  Cowan  moved  to  insert  the  word 
"  white  "  in  the  first  section,  so  as  to  con- 
fine the  right  of  voting  to  white  male 
citizens.  a 

May  12 — Mr.  Morrill  moved  to  amend 
the  amendment  by  striking  out  the  words — 

*  In  ISfiO  a  Tote  waa  had  In  the  State  of  New  York  on 
•  proposition  topermlt  nei;ro  BufTraKe  without  a  property 
4ualiflcation.  The  result  of  the  city  was— yeaa  1,640 
naya  37,47  .  In  the  State— yeaa  197,606.  naya  337,984! 
In  1864  a  like  proposition  waa  defeated— yeaa  85,406,  nays 
2--'4,336.  .      .      J 

In  1862,  in  Aufpiat,  a  vote  waa,  hnul  in  the  State  of  Illi- 
noia,  on  aevt-ral  proposition*  relating  to  negroea  and 
mnlattoee,  with  this  result : 

For  exclnding  them  from  the  State 171  893 

Agalnat 71.306 

100,687 

Against  granting  them  anfTrage  or  right 

to  office 21  ,920 

For .%,649 

-       ^  ..  176,271 

For  the  enactment  of  laws  to  prohibit 
them  from  going  to,  or  Totlng  In,  the 
State — 198,988 

Againat.. „ 44,414 

164,624 

— JVom  JMcPfcaraon'f  Hittorf  of  tkt  Grtat  BtbeUkm. 


And  shall  have  paid  all  schr«<jl  taxes  and 
all  taxes  on  personal  property  properly  as- 
sessed against  him,  shall  be  entitled  to 
vote  for  mayor,  collector,  register,  members 
of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  board  of 
common  council,  and  assessor,  and  for 
every  officer  authorized  to  be  elected  at 
any  election  under  any  act  or  acts  to  which 
this  is  amendatory  or  supplementary, 
and  inserting  the  words  — 

And  shall  within  the  year  next  preced- 
ing the  election  have  paid  a  tax,  or  been 
assessed  with  a  part  of  the  revenue  of  the 
District,  county,  or  cities,  therein,  or  been 
exempt  from  taxation  having  taxable 
estate,  and  who  can  read  and  write  with 
facility,  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  of  an 
elector. 

May  26 — Mr.  Sumner  moved  to  amend 
the  bill  by  adding  this  proviso : 

Provided,  That  there  shall  be  no  exclu- 
sion of  any  person  from  the  registry  on  ac 
count  of  color. 

May  27 — Mr.  Harlan  moved  to  amend 
the  amendment  by  making  the  word  "  per' 
son"  read  "persons,"  and  adding  the 
words — 

Who  have  borne  arms  in  the  militarv 
service  of  the  United  States,  and  have  been 
honorably  discharged  therefrom. 

Which  was  agreed  to  yeas  26,  nays  12, 
as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Anthony,  Chandler, 
Clark,  Collamer,  Conness,  £)ixon,  Fessen- 
den.  Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan, 
Harris,  Johnson,  Lane  of  Indiana,  Lane 
of  Kansas,  Morgah,  Morrill,  Pomeroy, 
Ramsey,  Sherman,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull, 
Wade,  Willey,  Wilson— 26. 

Nays — Messrs.  Buckaletc,  Carlile,  Cow- 
an, Davis,  Hendricks,  McDougall,  Powell 
Richardson,  Saulshury,  Sumner,  Van 
Winkle,  Wilkinson— 12. 

May  28 — Mr.  Sumner  moved  to  add 
these  words  to  the  last  proviso: 

And  provided  further,  That  all  persons, 
without  distinction  of  color,  who  shall, 
within  the  year  next  preceding  the  election, 
have  paid  a  tax  on  any  estate,  or  been  as- 
sessed with  a  part  of  the  revenue  of  said 
District,  or  been  exempt  from  taxation 
having  taxable  estate,  and  who  can  read 
and  write  with  facility,  shall  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  an  elector.  But  no  person 
now  entitled  to  vote  in  the  said  District, 
continuing  to  reside  therein,  shall  be  dis- 
franchised hereby. 

Which  was  rejected — ^yeas  8,  nays  27,  as 
follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Anthony,  Clark,  Lane  of 
Kansas,  Morgan,  Pomeroy,  Ramsey,  Sum- 
ner, Wilkinson — 8. 

Nays — Messrs.  Buckalew,  Carlile,  Colla- 
mer, Cowan,  Davis,  Dixon,  Fessenden, 
Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan,  Har- 
ris, Hendricks,  Hicks,  Johnson,  Lane  d 
Indiana,  McDougall,  Morrill,  Powell,  iSautf 


BOOK  I.] 


COLOR    IN    WAR    POLITICS. 


161 


bury,  Sherman  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Van 
Winkle,  Willey,  Wilson— 27. 

The  other  proposition  of  Mr.  Sumner, 
amendeJ  on  motion  of  Mr.  Harlan,  was 
then  rejected — ^yeas  18,  nays  20,  as  follows: 

Yeas  —  Messrs.  Anthony,  Chandler, 
Clark,  Dixon,  Foot,  Foster,  Hale,  Harlan, 
Howard,  Howe,  Lane  of  Kansas,  Morgan, 
Pomeroy,  Ramsey,  Sherman,  Sumner, 
Wilkinson,  Wilson — 18. 

Nays — Messrs.  Buckalew,  Cariile,  Co- 
wan, Davis,  Grimes,  Harris,  Hendricks, 
^icks,  Johnson,  Lane  of  Indiana,  McDou- 
gall,  Morrill,  Nesmith,  Powell,  Richardson, 
Saidshury,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Van 
Winkle,  Willey— 20. 

The  bill  then  passed  the  Senate,  and 
afterward  the  House,  without  amendment. 

Third  Session,  Thlrty-SeT-eiitli  Congress. 

Excluding  Colored  Persons  from  Cars. 

In  Senate — 1863,  February  27 — Pending 
a  supplement  to  the  charter  of  the  Wash- 
ington and  Alexandria  Railroad  Company, 
Mr.  Sumner  offered  this  proviso  to  the 
first  sect  ion : 

That  no  person  shall  be  excluded  from 
the  cars  on  account  of  color. 

Which  was  agreed  to — ^yeas  19,  naya  18, 
as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Arnold,  Chandler,  Clark, 
Fessenden,  Foot,  Grimes,  Harris,  Howard, 
King,  Lane  of  Kansas,  Morrill,  Pomerov, 
Sumner,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Wade,  Wil- 
kinson, Wilmot,  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts 
—19. 

Nays — Messrs.  Anthony,  Bayard,  Car- 
lUe,  Cowan,  Davis,  Henderson,  Hicks, 
Howe,  Kennedy,  Lane  of  Indiana,  Latham, 
McDougall,  Powell,  Richardson,  Saulsbury, 
Turpie,  Willey,  Wilson  of  Missouri — 18. 

March  2. — The  House  concurred  in  the 
amendment  without  debate,  under  the  pre- 
vious question. 

First  Session,  Tlilrty-Elghtli  Congress. 

In  Senate— 1864,  February  10  — Mr. 
Sumner  offered  the  following  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  tJie 
District  oi  Columbia  be  directed  to  con- 
sider the  expediency  of  further  providing 
by  law  against  the  exclusion  of  colored 
persons  from  the  equal  enjoyment  of  all 
railroad  privileges  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia. 

Which  was  agreed  to — ^yeas  30,  nays  10, 

February  24— Mr.  Willey,  from  the 
Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia, 
made  this  report,  and  the  committee  were 
discharged . 

The  Committee  on  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, who  were  required  by  resolution 
of  the  Senate,  passed  February  8,  1864, 
"  to  consider  the  expediency  of  further 
providing  by  law  against  the  exclu.^ion  of 
colored  persons  from  the  equal  enjoyment 
of  all  radroad  privileges  in  the  District  of 
11 


Columbia,"  have  had  the  matter  thus  re- 
ferred to  them  under  consideration,  and 
beg  leave  to  report : 

The  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  incorporate 
the  Washington  and  Georgetown  Railroad 
Company,"  approved  May  17,  1862,  mfi\kes 
no  distinction  as  to  passengers  over  aaid 
road  on  account  of  the  color  of  the  pas- 
sengers, and  that  in  the  opinion  of  the 
committee  colored  persons  are  entitled  to 
all  the  privileges  of  said  road  which 
other  persons  have,  and  to  all  remedies  for 
any  denial  or  breach  of  such  privileges 
which  belongs  to  any  person. 

The  committee  therefore  ask  to  be  dis- 
charged from  the  further  consideration  of 
the  premises. 

March  17 — The  Senate  considered  the 
bill  to  incorporate  the  Metropolitan  Rail- 
road Company,  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
the  pending  question  being  an  amendment, 
offered  by  Mr.  Sumner,  to  add  to  the  four- 
teenth section  the  words : 

Provided,  That  there  shall  be  no  regula- 
tion excluding  any  person  from  any  car  od 
account  of  color. 

Which  was  agreed  to — yeas  19,  nays  17, 
as  follows : 

YEAS^-Messrs.  Anthony,  Brown,  Clark, 
Conness,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster,  Grimes, 
Harlan,  Howe,  Lane  of  Kansas,  Morgan, 
Morrill,  Pomeroy,  Ramsey,  Sumner,  Wade, 
Wilkinson,  Wilson — 19. 

Nays — Messrs.  Buckalew,  Cariile,  Davis, 
Doolittle,  Harding,  Harris,  Hendricks, 
Johnson,  Lane  of  Indiana,  Powell,  Riddle, 
Saulsbury,  Sherman,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull, 
Van  Winkle,  Willey— 17. 

The  bill  then  passed  the  Senate. 

June  19 — The  House  refused  to  strike 
out  the  proviso  last  adopted  in  the  Senate 
—yeas  60,  nays  76, 

And  the  bill  passed  the  House  and  was 
approved  by  the  President, 

Second  Session,  Tlilrty-Seventl*  Congrewk 

Colored  Persons  as  Witnesses. 

In  Senate — Pending  the  confiscation  hill, 
June  28,  1862, 

Mr.  Sumner  moved  these  words  as  an 
addition  to  the  14th  section : 

And  in  all  the  proceedings  under  this 
act  there  shall  be  no  exclusion  of  any  wit- 
ness on  account  of  color. 

Which  was  rejected — yeas  14,  nays  25, 
as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Chandler,  Grimes,  Har- 
lan, Howard,  King,  Lane  of  Kansas,  Mor- 
rill, Pomeroy,  Sumner,  Trumbull,  Wade, 
Wilkinson,  Wilmot — 14. 

Nays — Messrs.  Anthony,  Browning, 
Cariile,  Clark,  Collamer,  Cowan,  Davi*, 
Dixon,  Doolittle,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster, 
Harris,  Henderson,  Lane  of  Indiana,  iVe»- 
mith,  Pearcc,  Powell,  Sherman,  Simmons, 
Stark,  Ten  Eyck,  Willey,  Wilson  of  Mis- 
souri, Wright — 25. 


162 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Pending  the  consideration  of  the  supple- 
ment to  the  emancipation  bill  for  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia, 

1862,  July  7 — Mr.  Sumner  moved  a  new 
section : 

That  in  all  the  judicial  proceedings  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  there  shall  be  no 
exclusion  of  any  witness  on  account  ol 
color. 

Which  was  adopted— yeas  25,  nays  11. 

The  bill  then  passed — yeas  29,  nays  6  ; 
(Messrs.  Carlile,  Davis,  Kennedy,  Powell, 
Wilson,  of  Missouri,  Wright.) 

July  9 — The  bill  passed  the  House — 
yeas  69,  nays  36.  There  was  no  separate 
vote  on  the  above  proposition. 

Pending  the  consideration  in  the  Senate 
of  the  House  bill  in  relation  to  the  com- 
petency of  witnesses  in  trials  of  equity  and 
admiralty, 

1862,  Julv  15 — Mr.  Sumner  offered  this 
proviso  to  the  first  section : 

Provided,  That  there  shall  be  no  exclu- 
«on  of  any  witness  on  account  of  color. 

Which  was  rejected — ^yeas  14,  nays  23. 

First  S«««lon,  Tlilrt]r-El«;Iith   Congreu. 

1864,  June  25 — Pending  the  civil  appro- 
Driation  bill,  in  Committee  of  the  Wnole, 
Mr.  Sumner  offered  this  proviso : 

Provided,  That  in  the  courts  of  the 
United  States  there  shall  be  no  exclusion 
of  any  witness  on  account  of  color. 

Mr.  Buckalew  moved  to  add : 

Nor  in  civil  actions  because  he  is  a  party 
to  or  interested  in  the  issue  tried. 

Which  was  agreed  to ;  and  the  amend- 
ment as  amended  was  agreed  to — yeas  22, 
Days  16. 

The  Senate  subsequently  concurred  in 
tihis  amendment — ^yeas  29,  nays  10. 

IN  HOUSE. 

June  29 — The  question  being  on  agree- 
ing to  the  amendment, 

Mr.  Mallory  moved  to  add  this  proviso 
to  the  section  amended  in  the  Senate ; 

Provided,  That  negro  testimony  shall 
only  be  taken  in  the  United  States  courts 
in  those  States  the  laws  of  which  authorize 
Buch  testimony. 

Which  was  rejected— yeas  47,  nays  66. 

The  amendment  of  the  Senate  was  then 
agreed  to— yeas  67,  nays  48. 

COLORED  SCHOOLS. 

June  8. — ^The  House  passed  a  bill  to  pro- 
vide for  the  public  instruction  of  vouth  in 
Washington  city,  with  an  amendment  pro- 
viding for  separate  schools  for  the  colored 
children,  by  setting  apart  such  a  propor- 
tion of  the  entire  school  fund  as  the  num- 
ber of  colored  children  between  the  ages  of 
six  and  seventeen  bear  to  the  whole  num- 
ber of  children  in  the  District.  The  bill, 
with  amendmenta,  passed  both  Houses 
without  a  division. 


On  all  of  these  questions  of  color,  the 
Democrats  invariably,  on  test  votes,  were 
found  against  any  concession  of  rights  to 
the  negro.  These  were  frequently  aided 
by  some  Republicans,  more  conservative 
than  their  colleagues,  or  representing  closer 
districts  where  political  prejudices  would 
affect  their  return  to  their  seats.  It  will 
be  observed  that  on  nearly  all  these  ques- 
tions Senator  Charles  Sumner  took  the 
lead.  He  was  at  that  time  pre-eminently 
the  Moses  of  the  colored  man,  and  led  him 
from  one  right  to  another  through  Sena- 
torial difficulties,  which  by  the  way,  were 
never  as  strong  as  that  in  the  House,  where 
Thaddeus  Stevens  was  the  boldest  cham- 
pion of  "  the  rights  of  the  black  man."  In 
the  field,  rather  in  the  direction  of  what 
should  be  done  with  the  "  contrabands " 
and  escaped  slaves,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
General  Cameron,  was  their  most  radical 
friend,  and  his  instructions  were  so  out^ 
spoken  that  Lincoln  had  to  modify  them. 
As  early  as  December  1, 1861,  General 
Cameron  wrote : 

"  While  it  is  plain  that  the  slave  prop- 
erty of  the  South  is  justly  subjected  to  all 
the  consequences  of  this  rebellious  war, 
and  that  the  Government  would  be  untrue 
to  its  trust  in  not  employing  all  the  rights 
and  powers  of  war  to  bring  it  to  a  speedy 
close,  the  details  of  the  plan  for  doing  so, 
like  all  other  military  measures,  must,  in 
a  great  degree,  be  left  to  be  determined  by 
particular  exigencies.  The  disposition  ot 
other  property  belonging  to  the  rebels  that 
becomes  subject  to  our  arms  is  governed  by 
the  circumstances  of  the  case.  The  CJov- 
ernment  has  no  power  to  hold  slaves,  none 
to  restrain  a  slave  of  his  liberty,  or  to  ex- 
act his  service.  It  has  a  right,  howe\  er, 
to  use  the  voluntary  service  of  slaves  I  ib- 
erated  by  war  from  their  rebel  masters,  like 
any  other  property  of  the  rebels,  in  what- 
ever mode  may  be  most  efficient  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  Government,  the  prosecution 
of  the  war,  and  the  suppression  of  rebel- 
lion. It  is  clearly  a  right  of  the  govern- 
ment to  arm  slaves  when  it  may  become 
necessary  as  it  is  to  take  gunpowder  from 
the  enemy.  Whether  it  is  expedient  to  do 
so  is  purely  a  military  question.  The  right 
is  unquestionable  by  the  laws  of  war.  The 
expediency  must  be  determined  by  circum- 
stances, keeping  in  view  the  great  object 
of  overcoming  the  rebels,  re-establishing 
the  laws,  and  restoring  peace  to  the  na- 
tion. 

"  It  is  vain  and  idle  for  the  Government 
to  carry  on  this  war,  or  hope  to  maintain 
its  existence  against  rebellious  force,  with- 
out enjoying  all  the  rights  and  powers  of 
war.  As  has  been  said,  the  right  to  dc' 
prive  the  rebels  of  their  property  in  slaves 
and  slave  labor  is  as  clear  and  absolute  as 
the  right  to  take  forage  from  the  field,  or 
cotton  from  the  warehouse,  or  powder  and 


BOOK  I.] 


COLOR   IN    WAR   POLITICS. 


168 


arms  from  the  magazine.  To  leave  the 
enemy  in  the  possession  of  such  property 
as  forage  and  cotton  and  military  stores, 
and  the  means  of  constantly  reproducing 
them,  would  be  madness.  It  is,  therefore, 
equal  madness  to  leave  them  in  peaceful 
and  secure  possession  of  slave  property, 
more  valuable  and  efficient  to  them  for  war 
than  forage,  cotton  and  military  stores. 
Such  policy  would  be  national  suicide. 
What  to  do  with  that  species  of  property 
is  a  question  that  time  and  circumstances 
will  solve,  and  need  not  be  anticipated 
further  than  to  repeat  that  they  cannot  be 
held  by  the  Government  as  slaves.  It  would 
be  useless  to  keep  them  as  prisoners  of  war ; 
and  self-preservation,  the  highest  duty  of 
a  Government,  or  of  individuals,  demands 
that  they  should  be  disposed  of  or  em- 
ployed in  the  most  effective  manner  that 
will  tend  most  speedily  to  suppress  the  in- 
surrection and  restore  the  authority  of  the 
Government.  If  it  shall  be  found  that  the 
men  who  have  been  held  by  the  rebels  as 
slaves  are  capable  of  bearing  arms  and  per- 
forming efficient  military  service,  it  is  the 
right,  and  may  become  the  duty,  of  this 
Government  to  arm  and  equip  them,  and 
employ  their  services  against  the  rebels, 
under  proper  military  regulations,  disci- 
pline and  command. 

"  But  in  whatever  manner  they  may  be 
used  by  the  Government,  it  is  plain  that, 
once  liberated  by  the  rebellious  act  of  their 
masters,  they  should  never  again  be  re- 
stored to  bondage.  By  the  master's  trea- 
son and  rebellion  he  forfeits  all  right  to 
the  labor  and  service  of  his  slave  ;  and  the 
slave  of  the  rebellious  master,  by  his  ser- 
vice to  the  Government,  becomes  justly  en- 
titled to  freedom  and  protection. 

"The  disposition  to  be  made  of  the 
slaves  of  rebels,  after  the  close  of  the  war, 
can  be  safely  left  to  the  wisdom  and  pat- 
riotism of  Congress.  The  representatives 
of  the  people  will  unquestionably  secure 
to  the  loyal  slaveholders  every  right  to 
which  they  are  entitled  under  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  country." 

[Subsequent  events  proved  the  wisdom 
of  this  policy,  and  it  was  eventually  adopt- 
ed by  an  Administration  which  proclaimed 
its  policy  "  to  move  not  ahead  but  with  the 
people."] 

President  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet  mod- 
ified the  above  language  so  as  to  make  it 
read: 

"It  is  already  a  grave  question  what 
shall  be  done  with  those  slaves  who  were 
abandoned  by  their  owners  on  the  advance 
of  our  troops  into  southern  territory,  as  at 
Beaufort  district,  in  South  Carolina.  The 
number  left  within  our  control  at  that 
point  is  very  considerable,  and  similar 
cases  will  probably  ofccur.  What  shall  be 
done  with  them  ?  Can  we  afford  to  send 
them  forward  to  their  masters,  to  be  by 


them  armed  against  us,  or  used  in  pro- 
ducing supplies  to  sustain  the  rebellion  ? 
Their  labor  may  be  useful  to  us ;  withheld 
from  the  enemy  it  lessens  his  militarj"^  re- 
sources, and  withholding  them  has  no  ten- 
dency to  induce  the  horrors  of  insurrec- 
tion, even  in  the  rebel  communities.  They 
constitute  a  military  resource,  and,  being 
such,  that  thejf  should  not  be  turned  over 
to  the  enemy  is  too  plain  to  discuss.  Why 
deprive  him  of  supplies  by  a  blockade,  and 
voluntarily  give  nim  men  to  produce 
them? 

"  The  disposition  to  be  made  of  the 
slaves  of  rebels,  after  the  close  of  the  war, 
can  be  safely  left  to  the  wisdom  and  pat- 
riotism of  Congress.  The  Representatives 
of  the  people  will  unquestionably  secure  to 
the  loyal  slaveholders  every  right  to  which 
they  are  entitled  imder  the  Constitution  of 
the  country." 

Secretary  Cameron  was  at  all  times  vn 
favor  of  "  carrjdng  the  war  into  Africa," 
and  it  was  this  stern  view  of  the  situafit-a 
which  eventually  led  him  to  sanctiun 
measures  which  brought  him  into  plainer 
differences  with  the  Administration.  I^vn- 
coln  took  offense  at  the  printing  of  his  re- 
port before  submitting  it  to  him.  As  a  re- 
sult he  resigned  and  went  to  Russia  as 
Minister,  on  his  return  being  again  elected 
to  the  United  States  Senate — ^a  place  which 
he  filled  until  the  winter  of  1877,  when  he 
resigned,  and  his  son,  J.  Donald  Cameron, 
was  elected  to  the  vacancy,  and  re-elected 
for  the  term  ending  in  1885.  General  B. 
F.  Butler  was  the  author  of  the  "  contra- 
band "  idea.  A  year  later  the  views  of  \;he 
Administration  became  more  radical  on 
questions  of  color,  and  July  22,  1862,  Sec- 
retary Stanton  ordered  all  Generala  in 
command  "  to  seize  and  use  any  property, 
real  or  personal,  which  may  be  necessary 
or  convenient  for  their  several  commands, 
for  supplies,  or  for  other  military  purposes ; 
and  that  while  property  may  be  destroyed 
for  proper  military  objects,  none  shall  be 
destroyed  in  wantonness  or  malice. 

"  Second.  That  military  and  naval  com- 
manders shall  employ  as  laborers,  within 
and  from  said  States,  so  many  persons  of 
African  descent  as  can  be  advantageously 
used  for  military  or  naval  purposes,  giving 
them  reasonable  wages  for  their  labor. 

"  Third.  That,  as  to  both  property,  and 

Eersons  of  African  descent,  accounts  shall 
e  kept  sufficiently  accurate  and  in  detail 
to  show  quantities  and  amounts,  and  from 
whom  both  property  and  such  persons 
shall  have  come,  as  a  basis  upon  which 
compensation  can  be  made  in  proper  cases ; 
and  the  several  departments  of  this  Gov- 
ernment shall  attend  to  and  perform  their 
appropriate  parts  towards  the  execution  of 
these  orders." 

The  manner  and  language  employed  by 
General  McClellan  in  promulgating  tiiis 


164 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  r. 


order  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  led  to 
his  political  dilTererces  with  the  Adminis- 
tration, and  in  the  end  caused  him  to  be 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  President  in 
1864,  against  Lincoln.  His  language  is 
peculiar  and  some  of  it  worthy  of  presenta- 
tion as  of  political  importance.    He  said: 

"  Inhabitants,  especially  women  and 
children,  remaining  peaceably  at  their 
homes,  must  not  be  molested;  and  wher- 
ever commanding  officers  find  families 
peculiarly  exposed  in  their  persons  or 
property  to  marauding  from  this  army,  they 
will,  as  heretofore,  so  far  as  they  can  do 
with  safety  and  without  detriment  to  the 
service,  post  guards  for  their  protection. 

'*  In  protecting  private  property,  no  refer- 
ence is  intendea  to  persons  held  to  service 
or  labor  by  reason  of  African  descent. 
Such  persons  will  be  regarded  by  this 
army,  as  they  heretofore  have  been,  as  oc- 
cupying simply  a  peculiar  legal  status 
under  State  laws,  which  condition  themili- 
tarj'  authorities  of  the  United  States  are 
not  required  to  regard  at  all  in  districts 
where  military  operations  are  made  neces- 
sary by  the  rebellious  action  of  the  State 
governments. 

"  Persons  subject  to  suspicion  of  hostile 
purposes,  residing  or  bein^  near  our  forces, 
will  be,  as  heretofore,  subject  to  arrest  and 
detention,  until  the  cause  or  necessity  is 
removed.  All  such  arrested  parties  will 
be  sent,  as  usual,  to  the  Provost  Marshal 
General,  with  a  statement  of  the  facts  in 
each  case. 

"The  general  commanding  takes  this 
occasion  to  remind  the  officers  and  soldiers 
of  this  army  that  we  are  engaged  in  sup- 
porting the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  and  suppressing  rebel- 
lion against  their  authority;  that  we  are 
not  engaged  in  a  war  of  rapine,  revenge, 
or  subjugation ;  that  this  is  not  a  contest 
against  populations,  but  against  armed 
forces  and  political  organizations;  that  it 
is  a  struggle  carried  on  with  the  United 
States,  and  should  be  conducted  by  us  upon 
the  highest  principles  known  to  Christian 
civilization. 

At  this  time  such  were  the  prejudices  of 
Union  soldiers  against  negroes,  because  of 
growing  political  agitation  in  the  North, 
that  many  would  loudly  jeer  them  when 
seen  within  the  lines.  The  feeling  was 
even  greater  in  the  ranks  of  civilians,  and 
yet  Congress  moved  along,  step  by  step. 
The  .37th  abolished  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia ;  prohibited  it  in  all  the  terri- 
tories ;  confirmed  the  freedom  of  the  slaves 
owned  by  those  in  arms  against  the  govern- 
ment; authorized  the  employment  of 
colored  men  in  fortifications,  their  enlist- 
ment, etc. ;  and  enacted  an  additional 
article  of  war,  which  prohibited  any  officer 
from  returning  or  aiding  the  return  of  any 
ftigitive  slave.    These  were  rapid  strides. 


but  not  as  rapid  as  were  demanded  by  the 
more  radical  wing  of  the  Republican  party. 
We  have  shown  that  most  of  them  were 
opposed  by  the  Democrats,  not  solidly  sure 
where  they  were  plainly  political,  but  this 
party  became  less  solid  as  the  war  ad- 
vanced. 

Senator  Wilson  was  the  author  of  the 
bill  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  It  excited  much  debate,  and 
the  range  of  the  speeches  covered  the  en- 
tire question  of  slaverj'.  Those  from  the 
Border  States  opposed  it  (a  few  Republicans 
and  all  Democrats)  but  some  of  the  Demo- 
crats of  the  North  supported  it.  The  vote 
in  the  Senate  was  29  for  to  6  against.  In 
the  House  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  advocated 
colonization  in  connection  with  the  bill, 
but  his  idea  met  with  little  favor.  Crit- 
tenden, Wickliffe  and  Vallandigham  were 
prominent  in  opposition.  Its  most  promi- 
nent advocates  were  Stevens  of  Pennsy  1- 
vania,  and  Bingham  of  Ohio.  The  vole 
was  92  for  to  38  against. 

The  bill  of  Arnold,  of  Illinois,  "  to  ren- 
der freedom  national  and  slavery  sectional," 
the  leading  idea  in  the  platform  of  the 
convention  which  nominated  Lincoln,  pro- 
hibited slavery  in  "  all  the  Territories  of 
the  United  States  then  existing,  or  there- 
after to  be  formed  or  acquired  in  any  way," 
It  was  vehemently  opposed,  but  passed 
with  some  modifications  by  68  ayes  to  50 
noes,  and  it  also  passed  the  Senate. 

In  the  Spring  of  1862  General  David 
Hunter  brought  the  question  of  the  enlist- 
ment of  colored  troops  to  a  direct  issue  by 
raising  a  regiment  of  them.  On  the  9th  of 
June  following,  Mr.  Wicklifie  of  Ken- 
tucky, succeeded  in  getting  the  House  to 
adopt  a  resolution  of  inquiry.  Corres- 
pondence followed  with  General  Hunter. 
He  confessed  the  fact,  stated  that "  he  found 
his  authority  in  the  instructions  of  Secre- 
tary Cameron,  and  said  that  he  hoped  by 
fall  to  enroll  about  fifty  thousand  of  these 
hardy  and  devoted  soldiers."  When  this 
reply  was  read  in  the  House  it  was  greeted 
with  shouts  of  laughter  from  the  Republi- 
cans, and  signs  of  anger  from  the  others. 
A  great  debate  followed  on  the  amendment 
to  the  bill  providing  for  the  calling  out  of 
the  militia,  clothing  the  President  with  full 
power  to  enlist  colored  troops,  and  to  pro- 
claim "he,  his  mother,  and  wife  and  chil- 
dren forever  free,"  after  such  enlistment. 
Preston  King,  of  New  York,  was  the  author 
of  this  amendment.  Davis,  of  Kentucky, 
and  Carlisle  of  West  Virginia,  were  promi- 
nent Senators  in  opposition ;  while  Ten 
Eyck,  of  New  Jersey,  Sherman  of  Ohio, 
and  Browning  of  Illinois  sought  to  modify 
it.     Garrett  Davis  said  in  opposition : 

"  Do  you  expect  ys  to  give  our  sanc- 
tion and  approval  to  these  things  ?  No,  no  1 
We  would  regard  their  authors  as  our  worst 
enemies ;  and  there  is  no  foreign  despot- 


BOOK  I.] 


COLOR    IN    WAR    POLITICS. 


165 


ism  that  could  come  to  our  rescue,  that  we 
would  not  fondly  embrace,  before  we  would 
submit  to  any  such  condition  of  things." 

Senator  Fessenden  of  Maine,  in  advo- 
cacy of  the  amendment,  said  : 

''I  tell  the  President  from  my  place  here 
as  a  Senator,  and  I  tell  the  generals  of  our 
army,  they  must  reverse  their  practices' 
and  course  of  proceeding  on  this  subject. 
*  *  *  Treat  your  enemies  as  enemies,  as 
the  worst  of  enemies,  and  avail  yourselves 
like  men  of  every  power  which  God  has 
placed  in  your  hands,  to  accomplish  your 
purpose,  within  the  rules  of  civilized  war- 
fare." 

The  bill  passed,  so  modified,  as  to  give 
freedom  to  all  who  should  perform  military 
service,  but  restricting  liberty  to  the  fami- 
lies of  such  only  as  belonged  to  rebel  mas- 
ters. It  passed  the  House  July  16th,  1862, 
and  received  the  sanction  of  the  President, 
who  said  : — "And  the  promise  made  must 
be  kept!"  General  Hunter  for  his  part  in 
beginning  colored  enlistments,  was  out- 
lawed by  the  Confederate  Congress.  Hunter 
followed  with  an  order  freeing  the  slaves 
in  South  Carolina. 

In  January,  1883,  pursuant  to  a  sugges- 
tion in  the  annual  report  of  Secretary 
Stanton,  who  was  by  this  time  as  radical 
as  his  predecessor  in  office,  the  House 
passed  a  bill  authorizing  the  President  to 
enroll  into  the  land  and  naval  service  such 
number  of  volunteers  of  African  descent 
as  he  might  deem  useful  to  suppress  the 
rebellion,  and  for  such  term  as  he  might 
prescribe,  not  exceeding  five  years.  The 
slaves  of  loyal  citizens  in  the  Border 
States  were  excluded  from  the  provisions 
of  this  bill.     In  the  Senate  an  adverse  re- 

?ort  was  made  on  the  ground  that  the 
resident  already  possessed  these  powers. 
In  January,  1863,  Senator  Wilson,  who 
was  by  this  time  chairman  of  the  Military 
Committee  of  the  Senate,  secured  the  pas- 
sage of  a  bill  which  authorized  a  draft  for 
the  National  forces  from  the  ranks  of  all 
male  citizens,  and  those  of  foreign  birth 
who  had  declared  their  intentions,  etc. 
The  bill  contained  the  usual  exemp- 
tions. 

COXFEDERATE  USE  OF  COLOKED  MEH. 

In  June,  1861,  the  rebel  Legislature  of 
Tennessee  passed  this  enlistment  bill, 
which  became  a  law : 

Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  hy  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  That 
from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act  the 
Governor  shall  be,  and  he  is  hereby, 
authorized,  at  his  discretion,  to  receive 
into  the  military  service  of  the  State  all 
male  free  persons  of  color  between  the  ages 
of  fifteen  and  fifty,  or  such  numbers  as 
may  be  necessary,  who  may  be  sound  in 
mind  and  body,  and  capable  of  actual  ser- 
vice. 


2.  That  such  free  persons  of  color  shall 
receive,  each,  eight  dollars  per  month,  as 
pay,  and  such  persons  shall  be  entitled  to 
draw,  each,  one  ration  per  day,  and  shall 
be  entitled  to  a  yearly  allowance  each  for 
clothing. 

3.  That,  in  order  to  carry  out  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
sheriffs  of  the  several  counties  in  this 
State  to  collect  accurate  information  as  to 
the  number  and  condition,  with  the  names 
of  free  persons  of  color,  subject  to  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act,  and  shall,  as  it  is  prac- 
ticable, report  the  same  in  writing  to  the 
Governor. 

4.  That  a  failure  or  refiisal  of  the 
sheriffs,  or  any  one  or  more  of  them,  to 
perform  the  duties  reauired,  shall  be 
deemed  an  offence,  ana  on  conviction 
thereof  shall  be  punished  as  a  misde- 
meanor. 

5.  That  in  the  event  a  sufficient  number 
of  free  persons  of  color  to  meet  the  wants 
of  the  State  shall  not  tender  their  services, 
the  Governor  is  empowered,  through  the 
sheriffs  of  the  different  counties,  to  press 
such  persons  until  the  requisite  number  is 
obtained. 

6.  That  when  any  mess  of  volunteers 
shall  keep  a  servant  to  wait  on  the  mem- 
bers of  the  mess,  each  servant  shall  be  al- 
lowed one  ration. 

This  act  to  take  effect  from  and  after  its 
passage. 

W.  C.  Whitthorxe, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

B.  L.  Stovall, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate, 
Passed  June  28,  1861. 

1862,  November  2 — Governor  Joseph  E. 
Brown,  of  Georgia,  issued  a  call  announc- 
ing that  if  a  sufficient  supply  of  negroes  be 
not  tendered  within  ten  days.  General 
Mercer  will,  in  pursuance  of  authority 
given  him,  proceed  to  impress,  and  asking 
of  every  planter  of  Georgia  a  tender  of  one 
fifth  of  his  negroes  to  complete  the  fortifi- 
cations around  Savannah.  This  one  fifth 
is  estimated  at  15,000. 

1863.  The  Governor  of  South  Carolina 
in  July,  issued  a  proclamation  for  3,000 
negroes  to  work  on  the  fortifications,  "  the 
need  for  them  being  pressing." 

THE  CHAXGING  8EXTIMENT  OF  CONGRESS. 

In  the  Rebel  House  of  Representatives, 
December  29th,  Mr.  Dargan,  of  Alabama, 
introduced  a  bill  to  receive  into  the  mili- 
tary service  all  that  portion  of  population 
in  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and 
Florida,  known  as  "  Creoles." 

Mr.  Dargan  supported  the  bill  in  some 
remarks.  He  sam  the  Creoles  were  a 
mixed-blooded  race.  Lender  the  treaty  of 
Paris  in  1803,  and  the  treaty  of  Spain  in 
1810,  they  were  recognized  as  freemen. 


166 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  r. 


Many  of  them  owned  large  estates,  and  |  copy  of  "  An  act  to  increase  the  efficiency 
were  intelligent  men.  They  were  as  much  of  the  army  by  the  employment  of  free 
devoted  to  our  cause  as  any  class  of  men  in  negroes  c-nd  slaves  in  certain  capacities," 
the  South,  and  were  even  anxious  to  go  |  lately  passed  by  the  Rebel  Congress.  The 
into  service.  They  had  applied  to  him  to  •  negroes  are  to  perform  "  such  duties  as  the 
be  received  into  service,  and  he  had  ap-  j  Secretary  of  War  or  Commanding  General 
plied  to  Mr.  Randolph,  then  Secretary  of^may  prescribe."  The  first  section  is  as 
yJ&i.    Mr.  Randolph  decided  against  the   follows 


application,  on  the  ground  that  it  might 
l^nish  to  the  enemy  a  pretext  of  arming  our 
slaves  against  us.  Some  time  after  this 
he  was  again  applied  to  by  them,  and  he 
•went  to  die  present  Secretary  of  War,  Mr. 
Seddon,  and  laid  the  matter  before  him. 
Mr.  Seddon  refused  to  entertain  the 
proposition,  on  the  ground  that  it  did  not 
come  up  before  him  through  the  military 
authorities.  To  obviate  this  objection. 
Gen.  Maury,  at  Mobile,  soon  afterwards 
represented  their  wishes  to  the  War  De- 
partment. Mr.  Seddon  refused  the  offer  of 
their  services,  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
be  incompatible  with  the  position  we  occu- 

Sied  before  the  world ;  that  it  could  not  be 
one. 

Mr.  Darean  said  he  diflfered  with  the 
Secretary  of  War.  He  cared  not  for  "  the 
world."  He  cared  no  more  for  their 
opinions  than  they  did  for  ours.  He  was 
anxious  to  bring  into  service  every  free 
man,  be  he  who  ne  may,  willing  to  strike 
for  our  cause.  He  saw  no  objection  to 
employing  Creoles ;  they  would  form  a 
potent  element  in  our  army.  In  his  dis- 
trict alone  a  brigade  of  them  could  be 
niised.  The  crisis  had  been  brought  upon 
us  by  the  enemy,  and  he  believed  the  time 
would  yet  come  when  the  question  would 
not  be  the  Union  or  no  Union,  but 
whether  Southern  men  should  be  permitted 
to  live  at  all.  In  resisting  subjugation  by 
such  a  barbarous  foe  he  was  for  employing 
all  our  available  force.  He  would  go 
J'urther  and  say  that  he  teas  for  arming  and 
].<vtfing  the  slaves  into  military  service.  He 
was  in  furor  even  of  emlpoying  them  as  a 
military  arm  in  the  defence  of  the  country. 

1864.  The  Mayor  of  Charleston,  Charles 
Macbeth,  summons  all  slaveholders  within 
the  city  to  furnish  to  the  military  authori- 
ties forthwith,  one-fourth  of  all  their  male 
slaves  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  fifty, 
to  labor  upon  the  fortifications.  The  penalty 
announced,  in  case  of  failure  to  comply 
with  this  requisition  is  a  fine  of  $200  for 
every  slave  not  forthcoming.  Compensa- 
^on  is  allowed  at  the  rate  of  $400  a  year. 

All  free  male  persons  of  color  between 
the  ages  of  fifteen  and  fifty  are  required  to 
give  themselves  up  for  the  same  purpose. 
Those  not  complying  will  be  imprisoned, 
and  set  to  work  upon  the  fortifications 
along  the  coast.  To  free  negroes  no  other 
compensation  than  rations  is  allowed. 

XEGROES  IN  THE   ARMY. 

The  Richmond  pre^  publish  the  official 


The  Congress  oj  the  Confederate  States  of 
America  do  enact,  That  all  male  free  ne- 
groes, and  other  free  persons  of  color,  not 
including  those  who  are  free  under  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  of  1803,  or  under  the  treaty 
of  Spain,  of  1819,  resident  in  the  Confed- 
erate States,  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  fifty  years,  shall  be  held  liable  to  per- 
form such  duties  with  the  army,  or  in  con- 
nection with  the  militarj'  defences  of  the 
country,  in  the  way  of  work  upon  the 
fortifications,  or  in  government  works  for 
the  production  or  preparation  of  materials 
of  war,  or  in  military  hospitals,  as  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  or  the  Commanding  General 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Department  may, 
from  time  to  time,  prescribe;  and  while 
engaged  in  the  performances  of  such  duties 
shall  receive  rations  and  clothing  and 
compensation  at  the  rate  of  eleven  dollars 
a  month,  under  such  rules  and  regulations 
as  the  said  Secretary  may  establish :  Pro- 
vided, That  the  Secretary  of  War  or  the 
Commanding  General  of  the  Trans-Missis- 
sippi Department,  with  the  approval  of  the 
President,  may  exempt  from  the  opera- 
tions of  this  act  such  free  negroes  as  the 
interests  of  the  country  may  require  should 
be  exempted,  or  smh  as  he  may  think 
proper  to  exempt  on  the  ground  of  justice, 
equity  or  necessity. 

The  third  section  provides  that  when 
the  Secretary  of  War  shall  be  unable  to 
procure  the  services  of  slaves  in  any  mili- 
tary department,  then  he  is  authorized  to 
impress  the  services  of  as  many  male 
slaves,  not  to  exceed  twenty  thousand,  as 
may  be  required,  from  time  to  time,  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  indicated  in  the  first  sec- 
tion of  the  act. 

The  owner  of  the  slave  is  to  be  paid  for 
his  services ;  or,  if  he  be  killed  or  escape 
to  the  enemy,"  the  owner  shall  receive  his 
full  value. 

Governor  Smith,  of  Virginia,  has  made 
a  call  for  five  thousand  male  slaves  to  work 
on  the  batteries,  to  be  drawn  from  fifty 
counties.  The  call  for  this  force  has  been 
made  by  the  President  under  a  resolution 
of  Congress. 

"  CONFEDERATE  "  LEGISLATION  UPON  NE- 
GRO PRISONERS  AND  THEIR  WHITE 
OFFICERS  WHEN  CAPTURED.* 

1863,  May  1 — An  act  was  approved  de- 
claring that  the  commissioned  officers  of 

•December  23. 1862 — .Teffernon  Darig  iwiued  a  procl*- 
matlon  of  outlawry  aptiiist  Major  General  B.  F.  Butlei; 
the  last  two  clausea  of  which  are : 


BOOK  I.] 


COLOR   IN   WAR   POLITICS. 


167 


the  enemy  ou^ht  not  to  be  delivered  to  the 
authorities  of  the  respective  States,  (as 
suggested  in  Davis's  message ;)  but  all  cap- 
tives taken  by  the  Confederate  forces  ought 
to  be  dealt  with  and  disposed  of  by  the 
Confederate  Government. 

President  Lincoln's  emancipation  pro- 
clamations of  September  22,  1862,  an^ 
January  1,  1863,  were  resolved  to  be  in- 
consistent with  the  usages  of  war  among 
civilized  nations,  and  should  be  re- 
pressed by  retaliation ;  and  the  President 
13  authorized  to  cause  full  and  complete 
retaliation  for  every  such  violation,  in  such 
manner  and  to  such  extent  as  he  may  think 
proper. 

Every  white  commissioned  officer  com- 
manding negroes  or  mulattoes  in  arms 
against  the  Confederate  States  shall  be 
deemed  as  inciting  servile  insurrection, 
and  shall,  if  captured,  be  put  to  death,  or 
be  otherwise  punished,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  court. 

jSvery  person  charged  with  an  offence 
made  punishable  under  the  act  shall  be 
trii^d  by  the  military  court  of  the  army  or 
corps  of  troops  capturing  him ;  and,  after 
conviction,  the  President  may  commute  the 
punishment  in  such  manner  and  on  such 
terms  as  he  may  deem  proper. 

All  negroes  and  mulattoes  who  shall  be 
engaged  in  war  or  taken  in  arms  against 
the  Confederate  States,  or  shall  give  aid  or 
comfort  to  the  enemies  of  the  Confederate 
States,  shall,  when  captured  in  the  Con- 
fe<lerate  States,  be  delivered  to  the  author- 
ities of  the  State  or  States  in  which  they 
shall  be  captured,  to  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ing to  the  present  or  future  laws  of  such 
State  or  States. 


Passage  of  the  Tlilrteentli  Amendment. 

The  first  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
growing  out  of  the  war,  and  one  of  its  di- 
rect results,  was  that  of  abolishing  slavery. 
It  was  first  introduced  to  the  House  De- 
cember 14th,  1863,  by  James  M.  Ashley  of 
Ohio.  Similar  measures  were  introduced 
by  James  M.  Wilson,  Senators  Henderson, 
Sumner  and  others.  On  the  10th  of  Feb- 
ruary, Senator  Trumbull  reported  Hen- 
derson's joint  resolution  amended  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  That  the  following  article  be  proposed 
to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  as 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which,  when  ratified  by 
three-fourths  of  said  Legislatures,  shall  be 

Third.  That  aU  negro  slaves  captured  in  arms  be  at 
once  delivered  over  to  the  executive  authorities  of  the 
respective  States  to  which  they  belong,  to  be  dealt  with 
according  to  the  laws  of  said  States. 

Fourth.  Tiiat  the  like  orders  be  executed  in  all  cases 
with  respect  to  all  commissioned  officers  of  the  United 
States  when  found  serving  in  company  with  said  slaves 
In  insurrection  against  the  authoritiea  of  the  different 
States  of  this  CoDJfederacy. 


valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  a  part 
of  the  said  Constitution,  namely  : 

"  Art,  13,  Sec.  1.  Neither  slavery  nor 
involuntary  servitude  except  as  a  punish- 
ment for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall 
have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  with- 
in the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject 
to  their  jurisdiction. 

Sec.  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legisla- 
tion.'' 

The  Senate  began  the  consideration  of 
the  question  March  28th,  Senator  Trumbull 
opening  the  debate  in  favor  of  the  amend- 
ment. He  predicted  that  within  a  year 
the  necessary  number  of  States  would  rat- 
ify it.  Wilson  of  Massachusetts  made  a 
long  and  able  speech  in  favor.  Davis  of 
Kentucky  and  Saulsbury  of  Delaware  led 
the  opposition,  but  Reverdy  Johnson,  an 
independent  Democratic  Senator  from 
Maryland,  surprised  all  by  his  bold  sup- 
port of  the  measure.  Among  other  things 
he  said : 

"  I  think  historjr  will  bear  me  out  in  the 
statement,  that  if  the  men  by  whom  that 
Constitution  was  framed,  and  the  people 
by  whom  it  was  adopted,  had  anticipated 
the  times  in  which  we  live,  they  would 
have  provided  by  constitutional  enactment, 
that  that  evil  and  that  sin  should  in  some 
comparatively  unremote  day  be  removed. 
Without  recurring  to  authority,  the  writ- 
ings public  or  private  of  the  men  of  that 
day,  it  is  sufficient  for  my  purpose  to  state 
what  the  facts  will  justify  me  in  saying, 
that  every  man  of  them  who  largely  par- 
ticipated in  the  deliberations  of  the  Con- 
vention by  which  the  Constitution  was 
adopted,  earnestly  desired,  not  only  upon 
grounds  of  political  economy,  not  only  up- 
on reasons  material  in  their  character,  but 
upon  grounds  of  morality  and  religion, 
that  sooner  or  later  the  institution  should 
terminate." 

Senator  McDougall  of  California,  op- 
posed the  amendment.  Harlan  of  Iowa, 
Hale  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Sumner, 
made  characteristic  speeches  in  favor. 
Saulsbury  advocated  the  divine  right  of 
slavery.  It  passed  April  8th,  by  38  ayes  to 
6  noes,  the  latter  comprising  Davis  and 
Powell  of  Kentucky ;  McDougall  of  Cali- 
fornia ;  Hendricks  of  Indiana ;  Saulsbury 
and  Riddle  of  Delaware. 

Arnold  of  Illinois,  was  the  first  to  se- 
cure the  adoption  in  the  House  (Feb.  15, 
1864,)  of  a  resolution  to  abolish  slavery  ; 
but  the  Constitutional  amendment  required  . 
a  two-thirds  vote,  and  this  it  was  difficult 
to  obtain,  though  all  the  nower  of  the  Ad- 
ministration was  bent  to  that  purpose.  The 
discussion  began  May  31st ;  the  vote  was 
reached  June  15th,  but  it  then  failed  of 
the  required  two-thirds — 93  for  to  65 
against,  23  not  voting.  Its  more  pro- 
nounced advocates  were  Arnold,  Ashley, 


168 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Broomall,  Stevens,  and  Kelly  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; Farnsworth  and  Ingersoll  of  Illi- 
nois, and  many  others.  Its  ablest  oppo- 
nents were  Holman,  Wood,  Mallory,  Cox 
and  Pendleton— the  latter  rallying  nearly 
all  of  the  Democrats  against  it.  Its  Dem- 
ocratic friends  were  McAllister  and  Bailey 
of  Pennsylvania;  Cobb  of  Wisconsin; 
Griswold  and  Odell  of  New  York.  Before 
the  vote  was  announced  Ashley  changed 
his  vote  80  as  to  move  a  reconsideration  and 
keep  control  of  the  auestion.  At  the  next 
session  it  was  passed,  receiving  every  Re- 
publican and  l(j  Democratic  votes,  8  Dem- 
ocrats purposely  refraining,  so  that  it  would 
surely  pass. 


AdmlMilon  ot  Representjitlves 
firom  lioulslaua. 

The  capture  of  New  Orleans  by  Admiral 
Farragut,  led  to  the  enrollment  of  60,000 
citizens  of  Louisiana  as  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  The  President  thereupon 
appointed  a  Militarj'  Governor  for  the  en- 
tir<!  State,  and  this  Governor  ordered  an 
election  for  members  of  Congress  under 
the  old  State  constitution.  This  was  held 
Dec.  3,  1862,  when  Messrs.  Flanders  and 
Hahn  were  returned,  neither  receiving 
3,000  votes.  They  received  certificates,  pre- 
sented them,  and  thus  opened  up  a  new 
and  grave  political  question.  The  Demo- 
crats opposed  their  admission  on  grounds 
80  well  stated  by  Voorhees  of  Indiana,  that 
we  Quote  them : 

"  Understand  this  principle.  If  the 
Southern  Confederacy  is  a  foreign  power, 
an  independent  nationality  to-day,  and  you 
have  conquered  back  the  territory  of  Lou- 
isiana, you  may  then  substitute  a  new  sys- 
t<jm  of  laws  in  the  place  of  the  laws  of  that 
State.  You  may  then  supplant  her  civil  in- 
stitutions by  institutions  made  anew  for  her 
by  the  proper  authority  of  this  Government 
— not  by  the  executive — ^but  by  the  legisla- 
tive branch  of  the  Government,  assisted  by 
the  Executive  simply  to  the  extent  of  sign- 
ing his  name  to  the  bills  of  legislation.  If 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means,  (Mr.  Stevens)  is  correct;  if  the 
gentleman  from  Kansas  (Mr.  Conway)  is 
correct,  and  this  assumed  power  in  the 
South  is  a  power  of  the  earth,  and  stands 
to-day  upon  equal  terms  of  nationality 
with  ourselves,  and  reconquer  back  State 
by  State  its  territory  by  the  power  of  arms, 
then  we  may  govern  them  independently 
of  their  local  laws.  But  if  the  theory  we 
have  been  procee<ling  upon  here,  that  this 
Union  is  unbroken ;  that  no  States  have 
sundered  the  bonds  that  bind  us  together; 
that  no  successful  disunion  has  yet  taken 
place, — if  that  theory  is  still  to  prevail  in 
tbeHe  halls,  then  this  cannot  be  done.  You 
are  as  much  bound  to  uphold  the  laws  of 
Iioulsiana  in  all  their  extent  and  in  ^1 


their  parts,  as  y^ou  are  to  uphold  the  laws 
of  Pennsylvania  or  New  York,  or  any 
other  State  whose  civil  policy  has  not  been 
disturbed." 

Michael  Hahn,  one  of  the  Representa- 
tives elect,  closed  a  very  effective  speech, 
which  secured  the  personal  good  will  of 
the  House  in  favor  of  his  admission,  in 
these  words : 

"And  even,  sir,  within  the  limits  of  the 
dreary  and  desolated  region  of  the  rebel- 
lion itself,  despair,  which  has  already  tak- 
en hold  of  the  people,  will  gain  additional 
power  and  strength,  at  the  reception  of  the 
news  that  Louisiana  sends  a  message  of 
peace,  good-will,  and  hearty  fellowship  to 
the  Union.  This  intelligence  will  sound 
more  joyful  to  patriot  ears  than  all  the 
oft  repeated  tidings  of  'Union  victories.' 
And  of  all  victories,  this  will  be  the  most 
glorious,  useful  and  solid,  for  it  speaks  of  re- 
organization, soon  to  become  the  great  and 
difficult  problem  with  which  our  statesmen 
will  have  to  familiarize  ■  themselves,  and 
when  this  shall  have  commenced,  we  will 
be  able  to  realize  that  God,  in  his  infinite 
mercy  has  looked  down  upon  our  misfor- 
tunes, and  in  a  spirit  of  paternal  love  and 
pity,  has  addressed  us  in  the  language  as- 
cribed to  him  by  our  own  gifted  Longfel- 
low: 

"  I  am  weary  of  your  quarrels, 
"Weary  of  your  wars  h  nd  bloodshed, 
Weary  of  your  priiyers  for  vengeance, 
Of  3'our  wranglings  nnd  dissensions ; 
All  your  strength  is  in  your  Union, 
All  your  danger  is  in  disrord. 
Therefore,  be  at  peace,  henceforward, 
And  as  brothers  live  together." 

Mr.  Speaker,  Louisiana — ever  loyal,  hon- 
orable Louisiana — seeks  no  greater  bles- 
sing in  the  future,  than  to  remain  a  part  of 
this  great  and  glorious  Union.  She  has 
stood  by  you  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the 
rebellion  ;  and  she  intends  to  stand  by  you. 
Sir,  raise  your  eyes  to  the  gorgeous  ceil- 
ings which  ornament  this  Hall,  and  look 
upon  her  fair  and  lovely  escutcheon.  Care- 
ftilly  read  the  patriotic  words  which  sur- 
round her  affectionate  pelican  family,  and 
you  will  find  there  inscribed,  'Justice, 
Union,  Confidence.'  Those  words  have 
with  us  no  idle  meaning;  and  would  to 
God  that  other  members  of  this  Union, 
could  properly  appreciate  our  motto,  our 
motives  and  our  position  1 " 

The  debate  attracted  much  attention, 
because  of  the  novelty  of  a  question  upon 
which,  it  has  since  been  contended,  would 
have  turned  a  different  plan  of  reconstruct- 
ing the  rebellious  States  if  the  President's 
plans  had  not  been  destroyed  by  his  assas- 
sination. Dawes,  of  Massachusetts,  was 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Elec- 
tions, and  he  closed  the  debate  in  favor  of 
admission.  The  vote  stood  92  for  to  44 
against,  almost  a  strict  party  test^  the 
Democrats  voting  no. 


BOOK  I.] 


RECONSTRUCTION. 


169 


RBCONSTBUCTION. 

In  the  House  as  early  as  Dec.  15,  1863, 
Heary  Winter  Davis  moved  that  so  much 
of  the  President's  message  as  relates  to 
the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  guaranty 
a  Republican  form  of  government  to  the 
States  in  which  the  governments  recog- 
nized by  the  United  States  have  been  ab- 
rogated or  overthrown,  be  referred  to  a 
select  committee  of  nine  to  report  the  bills 
necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  ex- 
ecution the  foregoing  guarantee, was  passed, 
and  on  May  4th,  18(34,  the  House  adopted 
the  first  reconstruction  bill  by  74  yeas  to 
66  nays — a  strict  party  vote.*  The  Senate 
passed  it  by  yeas  18,  nays  14 — Doolittle, 
Henderson,  Lane  of  Indiana,  Ten  Eyck, 
Trumbull,  and  Van  Winkle  voting  with 
the  Democrats  against  it. 

The  bill  authorizes  the  President  to  ap- 
point in  each  of  the  States  declared  in  re- 
bellion, a  Provisional  Governor, ^with  the 
pay  and  emoluments  of  a  brigadier ;  to  be 
charged  with  the  civil  administration  until 
a  State  government  therein  shall  be  recog- 
nized. As  soon  as  the  military  resistance 
to  the  United  States  shall  have  been  sup- 
pressed, and  the  people  sufficiently  re- 
turned to  their  obedience  to  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws,  the  Governor  shall  direct 
the  marshal  of  the  United  States  to  enroll 
all  the  white  male  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  resident  in  the  State  in  their  re- 
sjjective  counties,  and  whenever  a  majority 
of  them  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  the 
loyal  people  of  the  State  shall  be  entitled 
to  elect  delegates  to  a  convention  to  act 
upon  the  re-establishment  of  a  State  gov- 
ernment— the  proclamation  to  contain  de- 
tails prescribed.  Qualified  voters  in  the 
army  may  vote  in  their  camps.  No  person 
who  has  held  or  exercised  any  civil,  mili- 
tiiry,  State,  or  Confederate  office,  under  the 
rebel  occupation,  and  who  has  voluntarily 
borne  arms  against  the  United  States,  shall 
vote  or  be  eligible  as  a  delegate.  The 
convention  is  required  to  insert  in  the  con- 
stitution provisions — 

1st.  No  person  who  has  held  or  exercised 
any  civil  or  military  office,  (except  offices 
merely  ministerial  and  military  ofiices  be- 
low a  colonel,)  State  or  Confederate,  under 
the  usurping  power,  shall  vote  for,  or  be 
a  member  of  the  legislature  or  governor. 

2d.  Involuntary  servitude  is  forever  pro- 
hibited, and  the  freedom  of  all  persons  is 
guarantied  in  said  State. 

3d.  No  debt.  State  or  Confederate,  cre- 
ated by  or  under  the  sanction  of  the  usurp- 
ing power,  shall  be  recognized  or  paid  by 
the  State. 

Upon  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  by 
the  convention,  and  its  ratification  by  the 
electors  of  the  State,  the  Provisional  Gov- 

.   •  McPherson'B  History,  page  317. 


ernor  shall  so  certify  to  the  President,  who, 
after  obtaining  the  assent  of  Congress, 
shall,  by  proclamation,  recognize  the  gov- 
ernraent  as  established,  and  none  other,  as 
the  constitutional  government  of  the  State ; 
and  from  the  date  of  such  recognition,  and 
not  before.  Senators  and  Representatives 
and  electors  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent may  be  elected  in  such  State.  Until 
re-organization  the  Provisional  Governor 
shall  enforce  the  laws  of  the  Union  and  of 
the  State  before  the  rebellion. 

The  remaining  sections  are  as  follows : 

Sec.  12.  That  all  persons  held  to  invol- 
untary servitude  or  labor  in  the  States 
aforesaid  are  hereby  emancipated  and  dis- 
charged therefrom,  and  they  and  their  pos- 
terity shall  be  forever  free.  And  if  any 
such  persons  or  their  posterity  shall  be  re- 
strained of  liberty,  under  pretence  of  any 
claim  to  such  service  or  labor,  the  courts 
of  the  United  States  shall,  on  habeas  cor' 
pus,  discharge  them. 

Sfic.  13.  That  if  any  person  declared  free 
by  this  act,  or  any  law  of  the  United  States, 
or  any  proclamation  of  the  President,  be 
restrained  of  liberty,  with  intent  to  be  held 
in  or  reduced  to  involuntary  servitude  or 
labor,  the  person  convicted  before  a  court 
of  competent  jurisdiction  of  such  act  shall 
be  punished  by  fine  of  not  less  than  $1,500, 
and  be  imprisoned  not  less  than  five,  nor 
more  than  twenty  years. 

Sec.  14.  That  every  person  who  shall 
hereafter  hold  or  exercise  any  office,  civil 
or  military,  except  offices  merely  minis- 
terial and  military  offices  below  the  grade 
of  colonel,  in  the  rebel  service.  State  or 
Confederate,  is  hereby  declared  not  to  be 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 


lilncoln'8  Proclamation  on  Reconstruction 

President  Lincoln  failed  to  sign  the  above 
bill  because  it  reached  him  less  than  one 
hour  before  final  adjournment,  and  there- 
upon issued  a  proclamation  which  closed 
as  follows : 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States,  do  pro- 
claim, declare,  and  make  known,  that, 
while  I  am  (as  I  was  in  December  last, 
when  by  proclamation  I  propounded  a  plan 
for  restoration)  unprepared,  by  a  formal 
approval  of  this  bill,  to  be  inflexibly  com- 
mitted to  any  single  plan  of  restoration  ; 
and,  while  I  am  also  unprepared  to  declare 
that  the  free  State  constitutions  and  gov- 
ernments already  adopted  and  installed  in 
Arkansas  and  Louisiana  shall  be  set  aside 
and  held  for  nought,  thereby  repelling  and 
discouraging  the  loyal  citizens  who  have 
set  up  the  same  as  to  further  effort,  or  to 
declare  a  constitutional  competency  in 
Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  States,  but 
am  at  the  same  time  sincerelv  hoping  and 


170 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


expecting  that  a  constitutional  amendment 
abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  nation 
may  be  adopted,  nevertheless  I  am  fully 
satisfied  with  the  system  for  restoration 
contained  in  the  bill  as  one  very  proper 
^>lan  for  the  loyal  people  of  any  State 
choosing  to  adopt  it,  and  that  I  am,  and  at 
all  times  shall  be,  prepared  to  give  the  Ex- 
ecutive aid  and  assistance  to  any  such  peo- 
ple, so  soon  as  the  military  resistance  to 
the  United  States  shall  have  been  sud- 
pressed  in  any  such  State,  and  the  people 
thereof  shall  ^ave  sufficiently  returned  to 
their  obedience  to  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States,  in  which  cases 
Military  Governors  will  be  appointed,  with 
directions  to  proceed  according  to  the  bill." 


AdmlMlon   of  ArkanMM. 

On  the  10th  of  June,  1864,  introduced  a 
joint  resolution  for  the  recognition  of  the 
firee  State  government  of  Arkansas.  A 
new  State  government  had  then  been  or- 
ganized, with  Isaac  Murphy,  Governor, 
who  was  reported  to  have  received  nearly 
16,000  votes  at  a  called  election.  The 
other  State  officers  are : 

Lieutenant  Governor,  C  C.  Bliss ;  Secre- 
tary of  State,  R.  J.  T.  White ;  Auditor,  J. 
B.  Berry  ;  Treasurer,  E.  D.  Ayers ;  Attor- 
ney General,  C.  T.  Jordan ;  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  T.  D.  W.  Yowley,  C.  A. 
Harper,  E.  Baker. 

The  Legislature  also  elected  Senators, 
but  neither  Senators  nor  Representatives 
obtained  their  seats.  Trumbull,  from  the 
Senate  Judiciary  Committee,  made  a  long 
report  touching  the  admission  of  the  Sen- 
ators, which  closed  as  follows : 

"  When  the  rebellion  in  Arkansas  shall 
ijave  been  so  far  suppressed  that  the  loy- 
al inhabitants  thereof  shall  be  free  to  re- 
establish their  State  government  upon  a 
republican  foundation,  or  to  recognize  the 
one  already  set  up,  and  by  the  aid  and  not 
in  subordination  to  the  military  to  main- 
tain the  same,  they  will  then,  and  not  be- 
fore, in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  be 
entitled  to  a  representation  in  Congress, 
and  to  participate  in  the  administration  of 
the  Federal  Government.  Believing  that 
such  a  state  of  things  did  not  at  the  time 
the  claimants  were  elected,  and  does  not 
now,  exist  in  the  State  of  Arkansas,  the 
committee  recommend  for  adoption  the 
following  resolution : 

"  Revived,  That  William  M.  Fish'back 
and  Elisha  Baxter  are  not  entitled  to  seats 
as  Senators  from  the  State  of  Arkansas." 

1864^  June  29— The  resolution  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Judiciary  was  adopted 
— ^yeas  27,  nays  6. 

President  Lincoln  was  known  to  favor 
the  immediate  admiasion  of  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana,  but  the  refusal  of  the  Senate  to 


admit  the  Arkansas  Senators  raised  an  is- 
sue which  partially  divided  the  Republi- 
cans in  both  Houses,  some  of  whom  fa- 
vored forcible  reconstruction  through  the 
aid  of  Military  Governors  and  the  machin- 
ery of  new  State  governments,  while  others 
opposed.  The  views  of  those  opposed  to 
the  President's  policy  are  well  stated  in  a 
paper  signed  by  Benjamin  F.  Wade  and 
Henry  Winter  Davis,  published  in  the  New 
York  Tribune,  August  5th,  1864.  From 
this  we  take  the  more  pithy  extracts  : 

The  President,  by  preventing  this  bill 
from  becoming  a  law,  holds  the  electoral 
votes  of  the  rebel  States  at  the  dictation  of 
his  personal  ambition. 

If  those  votes  turn  the  balance  in  his 
favor,  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  his  compe- 
titor, defeated  by  such  means,  will  ac- 
quiesce ? 

If  the  rebel  majority  assert  their  su* 
premacy  in  those  States,  and  send  votes 
which  elect  an  enemy  of  the  Government, 
will  we  not  repel  his  claims  ? 

And  is  not  civil  war  for  the  Presidency 
inaugurated  by  the  votes  of  rebel  States  ? 
Seriously  impressed  with  these  dangers, 
Congress,  "  the  proper  constitutional  aU' 
thority"  formally  declared  that  there  are 
no  State  governments  in  the  rebel  States, 
and  provided  for  their  erection  at  a  proper 
time  ;  and  both  the  Senate  and  the  House 
X)f  Representatives  rejected  the  Senators 
and  Representatives  chosen  under  the  au- 
thority of  what  the  President  calls  the 
free  constitution  and  government  of  Ar- 
kansas. 

The  President's  proclamation  "holds  for 
naught "  this  judgment,  and  discards  the 
authority  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  strides 
headlong  toward  the  anarchy  his  pro- 
clamation of  the  8th  of  December  inaugu- 
rated. 

If  electors  for  President  be  allowed  to 
be  chosen  in  either  of  those  States,  a  sinis- 
ter light  will  be  cast  on  the  motives  which 
induced  the  President  to  "  hold  for  naught" 
the  will  of  Congress  rather  than  his  gov- 
ernment in  Louisiana  and  Arkansas. 

That  judgment  of  Congress  which  th* 
President  defies  was  the  exercise  of  an 
authority  exclusively  vested  in  Congress 
by  the  Constitution  to  determine  what  is 
the  established  government  in  a  State,  and 
in  its  own  nature  and  by  the  highest  judi- 
cial authority  binding  on  all  other  depart- 
ments of  the  Government.      *    ♦    *    * 

A  more  studied  outrage  on  the  legisla- 
tive authority  of  the  people  has  never  Deen 
perpetrated. 

Congress  passed  a  bill ;  the  President  re- 
fused to  approve  it,  and  then  by  proclama- 
tion puts  as  much  of  it  in  force  as  he  sees 
fit,  and  proposes  to  execute  those  parts  by 
officers  unknown  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  and  not  subject  t'^  ''-^  confirmation 
of  the  Senate  I 


BOOK.  I. 


EECONSTRUCTION. 


171 


The  bill  directed  the  appointment  of 
Provisional  Governors  by  and  Avith  the  ad- 
vice and  consent  of  the  Senate. 

The  President,  after  defeating  the  law, 
proposes  to  appoint  without  law,  and  with- 
out the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
Military  Governors  for  the  rebel  States  I 

He  has  already  exercised  this  dictatorial 
usurpation  in  Louisiana,  and  he  defeated 
'  the  bill  to  prevent  its  limitation.    *    *    * 

The  President  has  greatly  presumed  on 
the  forbearance  which  the  supporters  of 
his  Administration  have  so  long  practiced, 
in  view  of  the  arduous  conflict  in  which 
we  are  engaged,  and  the  reckless  ferocity 
of  our  political  opponents. 

But  he  must  understand  that  our  sup- 
port is  of  a  cause  and  not  of  a  man ;  that 
the  authority  of  Congress  is  paramount 
and  must  be  respected;  that  the  whole 
body  of  the  Union  men  of  Congress  will 
not  submit  to  be  impeached  by  him  of 
rash  and  unconstitutional  legislation ;  and 
if  he  wishes  our  support,  he  must  confine 
himself  to  his  executive  duties — to  obey 
and  execute,  not  make  the  laws — to  sup- 
pr:"33  by  arms  armed  rebellion,  and  leave 
political  reorganization  to  Congress. 

If  the  supporters  of  the  Government 
fail  to  insist  on  this,  they  become  responsi- 
ble for  the  usurpations  which  they  fail  to 
rebuke,  and  are  justly  liable  to  the  indig- 
nation of  the  people  whose  rights  and 
security,  committed  to  their  keeping,  they 
sacrifice. 

liCt  them  consider  the  remedy  for  these 
usurpations,  and,  having  found  it,  fear- 
lessly execute  it. 

The  question,  as  presented  in  1864,  now 
passed  temporarily  from  public  considera- 
tion because  of  greater  interest  in  the 
closing  events  of  the  war  and  the  Presi- 
de.utial  succession.  The  passage  of  the 
14th  or  anti-slavery  amendment  by  the 
Si;ates  also  intervened.  This  was  officially 
announced  on  the  18th  of  December  1865, 
by  Mr.  Seward,  27  of  the  then  36  States 
having  ratified,  as  follows  :  Illinois,  Ehode 
Island,  Michigan,  Maryland,  New  York, 
West  Virginia,  Maine,  Kansas,  Massachu- 
setts^ Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Ohio,  Mis- 
souri, Nevada,  Indiana,  Louisiana,  Minne- 
sota, Wisconsin,  Vermont,  Tennessee,  Ar- 
kansas, Connecticut,  New  Hampshire, 
South  Carolina,  Alabama,  North  Carolina, 
and  Georgia. 


TEXT  OF  THE  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES. 

14th  Constltntlonal  Amendment. 

M^  BetohUion  proporiiig  an  Amendment  to  the  OonstUa- 
tion  of  the  United  State*. 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  Congress  assembled,  (two- 
thirds  of  both  houses  concurring,)  That 


the  following  article  be  proposed  to  the 
Legislatures  of  the  several  States  as  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which,  when  ratified  by 
three-fourths  of  said  Legislatures,  shall  be 
valid  as  part  of  the  Constitution,  namely : 
[Here  follows  the  14th  amendment.  See 
Book  IV.] 


Reconstruction  Act  of  Tliirt7--Nlnth  Con- 
gress. 

An  Act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient  govermnent  of  the 
rebel  Slates.     , 

Whereas  no  legal  State  governments  or 
adequate  protection  for  life  or  property  now 
exists  in  the  rebel  States  of  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Florida, 
Texas,  and  Arkansas ;  and  whereas  it  is 
necessary  that  peace  and  good  order 
should  be  enforced  in  said  States  until 
loyal  and  republican  State  governments 
can  be  legally  established :  Therefore 

Be  it  enacted,  dec,  That  said  rebel  States 
shall  be  divided  into  military  districts  and 
made  subject  to  the  military  authority  of 
the  United  States,  as  hereinafter  prescribed, 
and  for  that  purpose  Virginia  shall  consti- 
tute the  first  district ;  North  Carolina  and 
South  Carolina  the  second  district ;  Geor- 
gia, Alabama,  and  Florida  the  third  dis- 
trict ;  Mississippi  and  Arkansas  the  fourth 
district ;  and  Louisiana  and  Texas  the  fifth 
district. 

Sec.  2.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
President  to  assign  to  the  command  of- 
each  of  said  districts  an  officer  of  the  army, 
not  below  the  rank  of  brigadier  general, 
and  to  detail  a  sufficient  military  force  to 
enable  such  officer  to  perform  his  duties 
and  enforce  his  authority  within  the  dis- 
trict to  which  he  is  assigned. 

Sec.  3.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  each 
officer  assigned  as  aforesaid  to  protect  all 
persons  in  their  rights  of  person  and 
property,  to  suppress  insurrection,  disor- 
der, and  violence,  and  to  punish,  or  cause 
to  be  punished,  all  disturbers  of  the  public 
peace  and  criminals,  and  to  this  end  he 
majr  allow  local  civil  tribunals  to  take 
jurisdiction  of  and  to  try  oflfenders,  or, 
when  in  his  judgment  it  may  be  necessary 
for  the  trial  of  offenders,  he  shall  have 
power  to  organize  military  commissions 
or  tribunals  for  that  purpose ;  and  all  in 
terference  under  color  of  State  authority 
with  the  exercise  of  military  authority  un- 
der this  act  shall  be  null  and  void. 

Sec.  4.  That  all  persons  put  under  mili- 
tary arrest  by  virtue  of  this  act  shall  be 
tried  without  unnecessary  delay,  and  no 
cruel  or  unusual  punishment  shall  be  in- 
flicted ;  and  no  sentence  of  any  militanr 
commission  or  tribunal  hereby  authorized, 
affecting  the  life  or  liberty  of  any  person, 
shall  be  executed  until  it  is  approved  by 
the  officer  in  command  of  the  district,  and 


172 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  1. 


the  laws  and  regulations  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  army  shall  not  be  affected  by 
this  act,  except  in  so  far  as  they  conflict 
with  its  provisions :  Provided,  That  no 
sentence  of  death  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act  shall  be  carried  into  effect  without 
the  approval  of  the  President. 

Sec.  5.  That  when  the  people  of  any  one 
of  said  rebel  States  shall  have  formed  a 
constitution  of  government  in  conformity 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
in  all  respects,  framed  by  a  convention  of 
delegates  elected  by  the  male  citizens  of 
said  State  twenty-one  years  old  and  up- 
ward, of  whatever  race,  color,  or  previous 
condition,  who  have  been  resident  in  said 
State  for  one  year  previous  to  the  day  of 
such  election,  except  such  as  may  be  dis- 
franchised for  participation  in  the  rebel- 
lion, or  for  felony  at  common  law,  and 
when  such  constitution  shall  provide  that 
the  elective  franchise  shall  be  enjoyed  by 
all  such  persons  as  have  the  qualitications 
herein  stated  for  electors  of  delegates,  and 
when  such  constitution  shall  be  ratified  by 
a  majority  of  the  persons  voting  on  the 
question  of  ratification  who  are  qualified  as 
electors  for  delegates,  and  when  such  con- 
stitution shall  nave  been  submitted  to 
Congress  for  examination  and  approval, 
and  Congress  shall  have  approved  the 
same,  and  when  said  State,  by  a  vote  of  its 
legislature  elected  under  said  constitution, 
shall  have  adopted  the  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  ot  the  United  States,  proposed 
by  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  and  known 
as  article  fourteen,  and  when  said  article 
shall  have  become  a  part  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  said  S'ate  shall 
be  declared  entitled  to  representation  in 
Congress,  and  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives shall  be  admitted  therefrom  on  their 
taking  the  oaths  prescribed  by  law,  and 
then  and  thereafter  the  preceding  sections 
of  this  act  shall  be  inoperative  in  said 
State :  Provided,  That  no  person  excluded 
from  the  privilege  of  holding  office  by  said 
proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  phall  be  eligible  to 
election  as  a  member  of  the  convention  to 
frame  a  constitution  for  any  of  said  rebel 
States,  nor  shall  any  such  person  vote  for 
members  of  such  convention. 

Sec.  6.  That  until  the  people  of  said  rebel 
States  shall  be  by  law  admitted  to  repre- 
sentation in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  any  civil  governments  which  may 
I  exist  therein  shall  be  deemed  provisional 
only,  and  in  all  respects  subject  to  the 
paramount  authority  of  the  IJnited  States 
at  any  time  to  abolish,  modify,  control,  or 
supersede  the  same ;  and  in  all  elections  to 
any  office  under  such  provisional  govern- 
ments all  persons  shall  be  entitled  to  vote, 
and  none  others,  who  are  entitled  to  vote 
under  the  provisions  of  the  fifth  section  of 
this  act ;  and  no  person  shall  be  eligible  to 


any  office  under  any  such  provisional  gov- 
ernments who  would  be  disqualified  from 
holding  office  under  the  provisions  of  the 
third  article  of  said  constitutional  amend- 
ment. 
Passed  March  2, 1867. 


Supplemental  Reconstruction  Act  ot  For» 
tietli  CongpreM. 

An  Act  supplementary  to  an  act  entitled 
"  An  act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient 
government  of  the  rebel  States,"  passed 
March  second,  eighteen  hundred  and 
sixty-seven,  and  to  facilitate  restora- 
tion.    . 

Be  it  enacted,  <fc.,  That  before  the  first 
day  of  September,  eighteen  hundred  and 
sixty-seven,  the  commanding  general  in 
each  district  defined  by  an  act  entitled 
"  An  act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient 
government  of  the  rebel  States,"  passed 
March  second,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven,  shall  cause  a  registration  to  be 
made  of  the  male  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  up- 
wards, resident  in  each  county  or  parish 
in  the  State  or  States  included  in  his  dis- 
trict, which  registration  shall  include  only 
those  persons  who  are  qualified  to  vote  for 
delegates  by  the  act  aforesaid,  and  who 
shall  have  taken  and  subscribed  the  fol- 
lowing oath  or  affirmation  :     "  I,  , 

do  solemnly  swear,  (or  affirm,)  in  the 
presence  of  Almightv  God,  that  I  am  a 

citizen  of  the  State  of ;  that  I  have 

resided  in  said  State  for months 

next  preceding  this  day,  and  now  reside  in 

the  county  ot ,  or    the    parish    of 

,  in  said  State,  (as  the  case  maybe;) 

that  I  am  twenty-one  years  old ;  that  I 
have  not  been  disfranchised  for  participa- 
tion in  any  rebellion  or  civil  war  against 
the  United  States,  nor  for  felony  commited 
against  the  laws  of  any  State  or  of  the 
United  States ;  that  I  have  never  been  a 
member  of  any  State  legislature,  nor  held 
any  executive  or  judicial  office  in  any 
State  and  afterwards  engaged  in  insurrec- 
tion or  rebellion  against  the  United  States, 
or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies 
thereof;  that  I  have  never  taken  an  oath 
as  a  member  of  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States, 
or  as  a  member  of  any  State  legislature,  or 
as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any 
State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  afterwards  engaged  in 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the 
United  States  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to 
the  enemies  thereof;  that  I  will  faithfully 
support  the  Constitution  and  obey  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  and  will,  to  the 
best  of  my  ability,  encourage  others  so  to 
do,  so  help  me  God;"  which  oath  or  affirm- 
ation may  be  administered  by  any  register- 
ing officer. 


BOOK  I.] 


RECONSTRUCTION. 


173 


Bec.  2.  That  after  the  completion  of  the 
registration  hereby  provided  for  in  any 
State,  at  such  time  and  phices  therein  as 
the  commanding  general  shall  appoint  and 
direct,  of  which  at  least  thirty  days'  public 
notice  shall  be  given,  an  election  shall  be 
held  of  delegates  to  a  convention  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  a  constitution  and 
civil  government  for  such  State  loyal  to 
the  Union,  said  convention  in  each  State, 
except  Virginia,  to  consist  of  the  same 
number  of  members  as  the  most  numerous 
branch  of  the  State  legislature  of  such 
State  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
sixty,  to  be  apportioned  among  the  several 
districts,  counties,  or  parishes  of  such 
State  by  the  commanding  general,  giving 
to  each  representation  in  the  ratio  of  voters 
or  registered  as  aforesaid,  as  nearly  as  may 
be.  The  convention  in  Virginia  shall  con- 
sist of  the  same  number  of  members  as 
represented  the  territory  now  constituting 
Virginia  in  the  most  numerous  branch  of 
the  legislature  of  said  State  in  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty,  to  be  ap- 
pointed as  aforesaid. 

Sec.  3.  That  at  said  election  the  regis- 
tered voters  of  each  State  shall  vote  for  or 
against  a  convention  to  form  a  constitution 
therefor  under  this  act.  Those  voting  in 
favor  of  such  a  convention  shall  have 
written  or  printed  on  the  ballots  by  which 
they  vote  for  delegates,  as  aforesaid,  the 
words  "  For  a  convention,"  and  those  vot- 
ing against  such  a  convention  shall  have 
written  or  printed  on  such  ballots  the 
words  "  Against  a  convention."  The  per- 
son appointed  to  superintend  said  election, 
and  to  make  return  of  the  votes  given 
thereat,  as  herein  provided,  shall  count 
and  make  return  of  the  votes  given  for  and 
against  a  convention ;  and  the  command- 
ing general  to  whom  the  same  shall  have 
been  returned  shall  ascertain  and  declare 
the  total  vote  in  each  State  for  and  against 
a  convention.  If  a  majority  of  the  votes 
given  on  that  question  shall  be  for  a  con- 
vention, then  such  convention  shall  be  held 
as  hereinafter  provided;  but  if  a  majority 
of  said  votes  shall  be  against  a  convention, 
then  no  such  convention  shall  be  held  un- 
der this  act ;  Provided,  That  such  con- 
vention shall  not  be  held  unless  a  maj  ority 
of  all  such  registered  voters  shall  have 
voted  on  the  question  of  holding  such  con- 
vention. 

Sec.  4.  That  the  commanding  general  of 
each  district  shall  appoint  as  many  boards 
of  registration  as  may  be  necessary,  con- 
sisting of  three  loyal  officers  or  persons,  to 
make  and  complete  the  registration,  su- 
perintend the  election,  and  make  return  to 
him  of  the  votes,  lists  of  voters,  and  of  the 
persons  elected  as  delegates  by  n  plurality 
of  the  votes  cast  at  said  election  ;  and  upon 
receiving  said  returns  he  shall  open  the 
P*nae,  ascertain  the  persons  elected  as  dele- 


gates according  to  the  returns  of  the  offi- 
cers who  conducted  said  election,  and 
make  proclamation  thereof;  and  if  a  ma- 
jority of  the  votes  given  on  that  question 
shall  be  for  a  convention,  the  commanding 
general,  within  sixty  days  from  the  date  of 
election,  shall  notify  the  delegates  to  as- 
semble in  convention,  at  a  time  and  place 
to  be  mentioned  in  the  notification,  and 
said  convention,  when  organized,  shall  pro- 
ceed to  frame  a  constitution  and  civil  gov- 
ernment according  to  the  provisions  of  this 
act  and  the  act  to  which  it  is  supplement- 
ary ;  and  when  the  same  shall  nave  been 
so  framed,  said  constitution  shall  be  sub- 
mitted by  the  convention  for  ratification  to 
the  persons  registered  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act  at  an  election  to  be  conducted 
by  the  officers  or  persons  appointed  or  to 
be  appointed  by  the  commanding  general, 
as  hereinbefore  provided,  and  to  be  held 
after  the  expiration  of  thirty  days  from  tl  le 
date  of  notice  thereof,  to  be  given  by  said 
convention  ;  and  the  returns  thereof  sluiU 
be  made  to  the  commanding  general  of  tlie 
district. 

Sec.  5.  That  if,  according  to  said  re- 
turns, the  constitution  shall  oe  ratified  by 
a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  registered 
electors  qualified  as  herein  specified,  cast 
at  said  election,  (at  least  one-half  of  all  the 
registered  voters  voting  upon  the  questi(»n 
of  such  ratification,)  the  president  of  the 
convention  shall  transmit  a  copy  of  the 
same,  duly  certified,  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  who  shall  forthwith 
transmit  the  same  to  Congress,  if  then  iu 
session,  and  if  not  in  session,  then  imme- 
diately upon  its  next  assembling;  and  if  it 
shall,  moreover,  appear  to  Congress  that 
the  election  was  one  at  which  all  the  reg- 
istered and  qualified  electors  in  the  State 
had  an  opportunity  to  vote  freely  and  with- 
out restraint,  fear,  or  the  influence  of  fraud; 
and  if  the  Congress  shall  be  satisfied  that 
such  constitution  meets  the  approval  of  a 
majority  of  all  the  qualified  electors  in  the 
State,  and  if  the  said  constitution  shall  be 
declared  by  Congress  to  be  in  conformity 
with  the  provisions  of  the  act  to  which  this 
is  supplementary,  and  the  other  provisions 
of  said  act  shall  have  been  complied  with, 
and  the  said  constitution  shall  be  approved 
by  Congress,  the  State  shall  be  declared 
entitled  to  representation,  and  Senators 
and  Representatives  shall  be  admitted 
therefrom  as  therein  provided. 

Sec.  6.  That  all  elections  in  the  States 
mentione(^  in  the  said  "  Act  to  provide  for 
the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel 
States,"  shall,  during  the  operation  of  said 
act,  be  by  ballot ;  and  all  officers  making 
the  said  registration  of  voters  and  conduct- 
ing said  elections  shall,  before  entering 
upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  take 
and  subscribe  the  oath  prescribed  by  the 
act  approved  July  second,  eighteen  bun* 


174 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  1. 


dred  and  sixty-two,  entitled  "An  act  to 
prescribe  an  oath  of  ofl5ce :  *  Provided,  That 
if  any  person  shall  knowingly  and  falsely 
take  and  subscribe  any  oath  in  this  act 
prescribed,  such  person  so  offending  and 
oeing  thereof  duly  convicted,  shall  be  sub- 
ject to  the  pains,  penalties,  and  disabilities 
which  by  law  are  provided  for  the  punish- 
ment of  the  crime  of  w'lful  and  corrupt 
perjury. 

Sec.  7.  That  all  expenses  incurred  by 
the  several  commanding  generals,  or  by 
virtue  of  any  orders  issued,  or  appoint- 
ments made,  by  them,  under  or  by  virtue 
of  this  act,  shall  be  paid  out  of  any  moneys 
in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

Sec.  8.  That  the  convention  for  each 
State  shall  prescribe  the  fees,  salary,  and 
compensation  to  be  paid  to  all  delegates 
and  other  officers  and  agentd  herein  au- 
thorized or  necessary  to  carry  into  effect 
the  purposes  of  this  act  not  herein  other- 
wise provided  for,  and  shall  provide  for 
the  levy  and  collection  of  such  taxes  on 
the  property  in  such  State  as  may  be  ne- 
cessary to  pay  the  same. 

Sec.  9.  That  the  word  article,  in  the 
sixth  section  of  the  act  to  which  this  is 
supplementary,  shall  be  construed  to  mean 
section. 

Passed  March  23, 1867. 


Votea  of  State  Iie^slatnres  on  the  Four- 
teenth  Constitutional  Amendnient.t 

LOYAL   STATES. 
Batifiedr—Tusmtty-one  8tate$. 

ifoiTic— Senate,  January  16, 1867,  yeas 

•  This  act  is  In  these  words : 

Be  il  fnacltd,  <tc.,  That  hereafter  every  person  elected 
or  appointed  to  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  nnder  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  either  in  the  civil,  mili- 
tary, or  naval  departments  of  the  public  service,  except- 
ing the  President  of  the  United  States,  shall,  before  en- 
tering upon  the  duties  of  such  office,  and  before  being 
entitled  to  any  of  the  salary  or  other  emoluments  there- 
of, take  and  gulwcrilw  the  following  oath  or  affirmation : 
"  I,  A  B,  do  soU-mnly  swear  'or  affirm)  that  I  have  never 
voluntarily  borne  arms  against  the  United  States  since  I 
have  been  a  citizen  thereof;  that  I  have  voluntarily 
given  no  aid,  countenance,  counsel,  or  encouragement  to 
peraons  engage<l  in  armed  hoxtility  thereto;  that  I  have 
never  sought  nor  accepted  nor  attfmpte<i  to  exercise  the 
fbnctiotu  of  any  office  whatever,  undiT  any  authority  or 
pretended  authority,  in  hostility  to  the  United  States; 
that  I  have  not  yieMe<l  a  voluntary  support  to  any  pre- 
tended g»>vpmmi-nt,  authority,  power,  or  conntitution 
within  the  United  States,  h'wtile  or  inimical  thereto; 
and  I  do  further  swear  'or  affirm)  that,  to  the  best  of  my 
knowledge  and  ability,  I  will  supjKjrt  and  defend  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  Stat<"«,  against  all  enemies, 
foreign  and  rldmei-tic;  that  I  will  bear  tnie  faith  and  al- 
legiance to  the  same;  that  I  take  this  obligation  freely, 
without  any  mental  reservation  or  purpose  of  evasion, 
and  that  I  will  wi-11  and  faithfully  diH<;harge  the  duties 
of  the  office  on  which  I  am  altont  to  enter;  so  help  me 
God ;"  which  said  oath,  so  taken  and  siimed,  shall  be 
preeerred  among  the  flies  of  the  Court,  House  of  Con- 
greM,  or  Department  to  which  the  said  office  may  apper- 
tain. And  any  [wrson  who  sl>all  falsely  take  the  said 
oath  shall  be  (fullty  of  perjury,  and  im  amvlrtion.  in  ad- 
dition to  the  penalties  now  prescribed  for  that  oBen-<e, 
shall  be  deprived  of  his  office,  and  rendernl  incapable 
forever  after,  of  holding  any  office  or  place  under  the 
United  States. 

t  Compiled  by  Hon.  Fdward  McPhenon  in  hia  Hand 
Book  of  PoUtIc*  for  1808. 


31,  nays  0 ;  House,  January  11, 1867,  yeas 
126,  nays  12. 

New  'Hampshire — Senate,  July  6,  1866, 
yeas  9,  navs  3 ;  House,  June  28,  1866,  yeas 
207,  nays  112. 

Vermont — SENATE,  October  23,  1866, 
yeas  28,  nays    0;     House,  October  30, 

1866,  yeas  199,  nays  11. 
Massachusetts — Senate,  March  20, 1867, 

yeas  27,  nays  6 ;  House,  March  14, 1867, 
yeas  120,  nays  20. 
Rhode    Island — Senate,  February   5, 

1867,  yeas  26,  nays  2 ;  House,  February  7, 
1867,  yeas  60,  nays  9 

Connecticut  —  Senate,  June  25,  1866, 
yeas  11,  nays  6 ;  House,  June  29,  1866, 
yeas  131,  nays  92. 

Keic  York — Senate,  January  3,  1867, 
yeas  23,  nays  3 ;  House,  January  10,  1867, 
yeas  76,  nays  40. 

New  7ers«/— Senate,  September  11, 1866, 
yeas  11,   nays  10;  House,  September  1\, 

1866,  yeas  34,  nays  24. 

Pennsylvania  —  Senate,    January     IT, 

1867,  yeas  20,  nays  9 ;  House,  February  6, 
1867,  yeas  58,  nays  29. 

West  Virginia — Senate,  January  15, 
1867,  yeas  16,  nays  3 ;  House,  Januarv  16, 
1867,  yeas  43,  nays  11. 

Ohio — Senate,  January  3, 1867,  yeas  21, 
nays  12;  House,  January  4, 1867,  yeas  54, 
nays  25. 

Tennessee — Senate,  July  11, 1866,  yeas 
15,  nays  6 ;  House,  July  12,  1866,  yeas 
43,  nays  11. 

Indiana — Senate,  January  16,  1867, 
yeas  29,  nays  18 ;  House,  January  23, 
1867,  yeas — ,  nays — . 

Illinois — Senate,  January  10,  1867, 
yeas  17,  nays  7 ;  House,  January  15, 1867, 
yeas  59,  nays  25. 

Michigan — SeNATE, 1867,  yeas  25, 

nays  1 ;   House, 1867,  yeas  77,  nays 

15. 

Missouri — Senate,  January  5,  1867, 
yeas  26,  nays  6 ;  House,  January  8, 1867, 
yeas  85,  nays  34. 

Minnesota — Senate,  January  16,  1867, 
yeas  16,  nays  5 ;  House,  January  15, 1867, 
yeas  40,  nays  6. 

.Kansas— Senate,  January  11,  1867, 
unanimously;  House,  January  10,  1867, 
yeas,  75,  nays  7. 

Wisconsin — Senate,  January  23,  1867, 
yeas  22,  nays  10;  House,  February  7, 
1867,  yeas  72,  nays  12. 

Oregon — *  Senate, ,  1866,  yeas    13, 

nays  7;  House,  September  19,  1866,  yeas 
25,  nays  22. 

Nevada — *  Senate,  January  22,  1867, 
yeas  14,  nays  2;  House,  January  11, 1867, 
yeas  34,  nays  4. 

B^ected—Tkr^  State*. 

Delaware — Senate, ;  HOTISB, 

February  7,  1867,  yeas  6,  nays  15. 

•UnofBdaJ. 


BOOi  1.] 


GENERAL  McCLELLAN'S  LETTERS. 


175 


Maryland— Senate,  March  23,  1867, 
yeas  4,  nays  13 ;  House,  March  23,  1867, 
yeas  12,  nays  45. 

Kentucky — Senate,  January  8,  1867, 
yeas  7,  nays  24 ;  House,  January  8,  1867, 
yeas  26,  nays  62. 

Not  acted— Three  States. 

Iowa,  California,  Nebraska. 

IXSURRECTIONABY  STATES. 
Rejected— Ten  State*. 

Virginia — Sexate,  January  9,  1867, 
unanimously ;  House,  January  9, 1867,  1 
for  amendment. 

North  Carolina — Senate,  December  13, 
1866,  yeas  1,  navs  44  ;  House,  December 
13,  1866,  yeas  10,  nays  93. 

South  Carolina — SENATE ; 

House,  December  20, 1866,  yeas  1,  nays  95. 

Ceorgria— Senate,  November  9,  1866, 
yeas  0,  nays  36 ;  House,  November  9, 1866, 
yeas  2,  nays  131. 

Florida — Senate,  December  3,  1866, 
yeas  0,  nays  20  ;  House,  December  1, 1866, 
yeas  0,  nays  49. 

Alabama — SENATE,  December  7,  1866, 
yeas  2,  navs  27;  House,  December  7, 
1866,  yeas  8,  nays  69. 

Mississippi — Senate,  January  30,  1867, 
yeas  0,  nays  27 ;  House,  January  25, 1867, 
yeas  0,  nays  88. 

Louisiana  Senate,  February  5,  1867, 
unanimously ;  House,  February  6, 1867, 
unanimously. 

Texas — Senate, ;  House,  Oc- 
tober 13,  1866,  yeas  6,  nays  67. 

ArkansasSK'S AT^,  December  15,  1866, 
yeas  1,  nays  24 ;  House,  December  17, 
1866,  yeas  2,  nays  68. 

The  passage  of  the  14th  Amendment  and 
of  the  Reconstruction  Acts,  was  followed 
by  Presi  dential  proclamations  dated  August 
20,  1866,  declaring  the  insurrection  at  an 
end  in  Texas,  and  civil  authority  existing 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  United 
States. 

presidential  election  op  1864. 

The  Republican  National  Convention 
met  at  Baltimore,  June  7th,  1864,  and  re- 
nominated President  Lincoln  unanimous- 
ly, save  the  vote  of  Missouri,  which  was 
cast  for  Gen.  Grant.  Hannibal  Hamlin, 
the  old  Vice-President,  was  not  re-nomi- 
nated, because  of  a  desire  to  give  part  of 
the  ticket  to  the  Union  men  of  the  South, 
who  pressed  Senator  Andrew  Johnson  of 
Tennessee.  "Parson"  Brownlow  made  a 
strong  appeal  in  his  behalf,  and  by  his  elo- 
quence captured  a  majority  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention 
met  at  Chicago,  August  29th,  1864,  and 
nominated  General  George  B.  McClellan, 
of  New  Jersey,  for  President,  and  George 
H.  Pendleton,  of  Ohio,  for  Vice-President. 
General  McClellan  was  made  available  for 
tte  Democratic  nomination  through  cer- 


tain political  letters  which  he  had  written 
on  points  of  difference  between  himself  and 
the  Lincoln  administration.  Two  of  these 
letters  are  sufficient  to  show  his  own  and 
the  views  of  the  party  which  nominated 
him,  in  the  canvass  which  followed : 


Gen.  McClellan '8  Ijetters. 

On  Political  Administration,  Jvly  7,  1862. 
Headquarters  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
Camp  near  Harrison's  Landino,  Va.,  July  7, 1862. 

Mb.  President  : — You  have  been  fully 
informed  that  the  rebel  army  is  in  the 
front,  with  the  purpose  of  overwhelming 
us  by  attacking  our  positions  or  reducing 
us  by  blocking  our  river  communications. 
I  cannot  but  regard  our  condition  as  criti- 
cal, and  I  earnestly  desire,  in  view  of  pos- 
sible contingencies,  to  lay  before  your  ex- 
cellency, for  your  private  consideration, 
my  general  views  concerning  the  existing 
state  of  the  rebellion,  although  they  do 
not  strictly  relate  to  the  situation  of  this 
army,  or  strictly  come  within  the  scope  of 
my  official  duties.  These  views  amount  to 
convictions,  and  are  deeply  impressed  upon 
my  mind  and  heart.  Our  cause  must  never 
be  abandoned ;  it  is  the  cause  of  free  in- 
stitutions and  self-government.  The  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union  must  be  preserved, 
whatever  may  be  the  cost  in  time,  treasure, 
and  blood.  If  secession  is  successful,  other 
dissolutions  are  clearly  to  be  seen  in  the 
future.  Let  neither  military  disaster,  polit- 
ical faction,  nor  foreign  war  shake  your 
settled  purpose  to  enforce  the  equal  opera- 
tion of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  upon 
the  people  of  every  State. 

The  time  has  come  when  the  govern- 
ment must  determine  upon  a  civil  and 
military  policy,  covering  the  whole  ground 
of  our  national  trouble. 

The  responsibility  of  determining,  de* 
daring,  and  supporting  such  civil  and  mil- 
itary policy,  and  of  directing  the  whole 
course  of  national  affairs  in  regard  to  the 
reballion,  must  now  be  assumed  and  exer- 
cised by  you,  or  our  cause  will  be  lost.  The 
Constitution  gives  you  power,  even  for  the 
present  terrible  exigency*. 

This  rebellion  has  assumed  the  charac- 
ter of  a  war ;  as  such  it  should  be  regarded, 
and  it  should  be  conducted  upon  the  high- 
est principles  known  to  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. It  should  not  be  a  war  looking  to 
the  subjugation  of  the  people  of  any  State, 
in  any  event.  It  should  not  be  at  all  a 
war  upon  population,  but  against  armed 
forces  and  political  organizations.  Neither 
confiscation  of  property,  political  execu- 
tions of  persons,  territorial  organization  of 
States,  or  forcible  abolition  of  slavery, 
should  be  contemplated  for  a  moment. 

In  prosecuting  the  war,  all  private 
property  and  unarmed  persons  should  be 
strictly  protected,  subject  only  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  military  operations ;  all  prirate 


176 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


property  taken  for  military  use  should  be 
paid  or  receipted  for;  pillage  and  waste 
should  be  treated  as  high  crimes ;  all  un- 
necessary trespass  sternly  prohibited,  and 
offensive  demeanor  by  the  military  towards 
citizens  promptly  rebuked.  Military  ar- 
rests should  not  be  tolerated,  except  in 
places  where  active  hostilities  exist ;  and 
oaths,  not  required  by  enactments,  consti- 
tutionally made,  should  be  neither  de- 
manded nor  received. 

Military  government  should  be  confined 
to  the  preservation  of  public  order  and  the 
protection  of  political  right.  Military 
power  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere 
with  the  relations  of  servitude,  either  by 
supporting  or  impairing  the  authority  of 
the  master,  except  for  repressing  disorder, 
aa  in  other  cases.  Slaves,  contraband  under 
the  act  of  Congress,  seeking  military  pro- 
tection, should  receive  it.  The  right  of 
the  government  to  appropriate  permanent- 
ly to  its  own  service  claims  to  slave  labor 
should  be  asserted,  and  the  the  right  of  the 
owner  to  compensation  therefor  should  be 
recognized.  This  principle  might  be  ex- 
tended, upon  grounds  of  military  necessity 
and  security,  to  all  the  slaves  of  a  particu- 
lar State,  thus  working  manumission  in 
such  State ;  and  in  Missouri,  perhaps  in 
Western  Virginia  also,  and  possibly  even 
in  Maryland,  the  expediency  of  such  a 
measure  is  only  a  question  of  time.  A 
system  of  policy  thus  constitutional,  and 
pervaded  by  the  influences  of  Christianity 
and  freedom,  would  receive  the  support  of 
almost  all  truly  loyal  men,  would  deeply 
impress  the  rebel  masses  and  all  foreign 
nations,  and  it  might  be  humbly  hoped 
that  it  would  commend  itself  to  the  favor 
of  the  Almighty. 

.  Unless  the  principles  governing  the 
future  conduct  of  our  struggle  shuU  be 
made  known  and  approved,  the  effort  to 
obtain  requisite  forces  will  be  almost  hope- 
less. A  declaration  of  radical  views,  es- 
pecially upon  slavery,  will  rapidly  disin- 
tegrate our  present  armies.  Tne  policy  of 
the  government  must  be  supported  by  con- 
centrations of  nfilitary  power.  The  na- 
tional forces  should  not  be  dispersed  in 
expeditions,  posts  of  occupation,  and  nu- 
merous armies,  but  should  be  mainly  col- 
lected into  masses,  and  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  armies  of  the  Confederate  States. 
Tnose  armies  thoroughly  defeated,  the 
political  structure  which  they  support 
would  soon  cease  to  exist. 

In  carrying  out  any  system  of  policy 
which  you  may  form,  you  will  require  k 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  one  who 
possesses  your  confidence,  understands 
your  views,  and  who  is  competent  to  exe- 
cute your  ordersj  by  directing  the  military 
forces  of  the  nation  to  the  accomplishment 
of  the  objects  by  you  proposed.  I  do  not 
ask  that  place  for  myself.    I  am  wilUng  to 


serve  you  in  such  position  as  you  may  as- 
sign me,  and  I  will  do  so  as  faithfully  as 
ever  subordinate  served  superior. 

I  may  be  on  the  brink  of  eternity ;  and 
as  I  hope  forgiveness  from  my  Maker,  I 
have  written  this  letter  with  sincerity  to- 
wards you  and  from  love  for  my  country. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
Geokge  B.  McClellan, 
Major-  General  Commanding. 
His  Excellency  A.  Lincoln,  President. 


IN  FAVOR  OF  THE  ELECTION  OP  GEORGE 
W.  WOODWARD  AS  GOVERNOR  OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
Obanoe,  New  Jebsey,  October  12, 1863. 

Dear  Sir: — My  attention  has  been 
called  to  an  article  in  the  Philadelphia 
Press,  asserting  that  I  had  written  to  the 
managers  of  a  Democratic  meeting  at 
Allentown,  disapproving  the  objects  of  the 
meeting,  and  that  if  I  voted  or  spoke  it 
would  be  in  favor  of  Governor  Curtin,  and 
I  am  informed  that  similar  assertions  Lave 
been  made  throughout  the  State. 

It  has  been  my  earnest  endeavor  hereto- 
fore to  avoid  participation  in  party  politics. 
1  had  determined  to  adhere  to  this  course, 
but  it  is  obvious  that  I  cannot  longer 
maintain  silence  under  such  misrepresen- 
tations. I  therefore  request  you  to  deny 
that  I  have  written  any  such  letter,  or 
entertained  any  such  views  as  those  at- 
tributed to  me  in  the  Philadelphia  Press, 
and  I  desire  to  state  clearly  and  distinctly, 
that  having  Fome  days  ago  had  a  full  con- 
versation with  Judge  Woodward,  I  find 
that  our  views  agree,  and  I  regard  his  elec- 
tion as  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  called 
for  by  the  interests  of  the  nation. 

I  understand  Judge  Wocdward  to  be  in 
favor  of  the  prosecution  of  the  war  with  all 
the  means  at  the  command  of  the  loyal 
States,  until  the  military  power  of  the  re- 
bellion is  destroyed.  I  understand  him  to 
be  of  the  opinion  that  while  the  war  is 
urged  with  all  possible  decision  and 
energy,  the  policy  directing  it  should  be 
in  consonance  with  the  principles  of 
humanity  and  civilization,  working  no  in- 
jury to  private  rights  and  property  not 
demanded  by  military  necessity  and  recog- 
nized by  military  law  among  civilized  na- 
tions. 

And,  finally,  I  understand  him  to  agree 
with  me  in  the  opinion  that  the  'sole  great 
objects  of  this  war  are  the  restoration  of 
the  unity  of  the  nation,  the  preservation  of 
the  Constitution,  and  the  supremacy  of 
the  laws  of  the  country.  Believing  our 
opinions  entirely  agree  upon  these  points, 
I  would,  were  it  in  my  power,  give  to 
Judge  Woodward  my  voice  and  vote. 

^  am,  very  respectfully,  yours, 

George  B.  McClellaf. 
Hon.  Charles  J.  Biddle. 


BooKi.]  LINCOLN'S    SECOND    ADMINISTRATION. 


177 


The  views  of  Mr.  Lincoln  were  well 
known ;  they  were  felt  in  the  general  con- 
duct of  the  war.  The  Republicans  adopted 
as  one  of  their  maxims  the  words  of  their 
candidate,  "  that  it  was  dangerous  to  swap 
horses  while  crossing  a  stream."  The  cam- 
paign was  exciting,  and  was  watched  by 
both  armies  with  interest  and  anxiety.  In 
this  election,  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  Con- 
gress, the  soldiers  in  the  field  were  per- 
mitted to  vote,  and  a  large  majority  of 
every  branch  of  the  service  sustained  the 
Adniinistration,  though  two  years  before 
General  McClellan  had  been  the  idol  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Lincoln  and 
Johnson  received  212  electoral  votes, 
against  21  for  McClellan  and  Pendleton. 


Xilncoln's  Second  Admlnlstratla  a. 

In  President  Lincoln's  second  inaugural 
address,  deliveretl  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1865,  he  spoke  the  following  words,  since 
oft  quoted  as  typical  of  the  kindly  disposi- 
tion of  the  man  believed  by  his  party  to  be 
the  greatest  President  since  Washington: 
"  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity 
for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  God 

fives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to 
nish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the 
Nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall 
have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow 
and  orphans — to  do  all  which  may  achieve 
a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves 
and  with  all  nations." 

Lincoln  could  well  afford  to  show  that 
generosity  which  never  comes  more  prop- 
erly than  from  the  hands  of  the  victor. 
His  policy  was  about  to  end  in  a  great 
triumph.  In  less  than  five  weeks  later  on 
General  Lee  had  surrendered  the  main 
army  of  the  South  to  General  Grant  at 
Appomattox,  on  terms  at  once  magnani- 
mous and  so  briefly  stated  that  they  won 
the  admiration  of  both  armies,  for  the 
rebels  had  been  permitted  to  retain  their 
horses  and  side  arm>;,  and  to  go  at  once  to 
their  homes,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  United 
States  authority  so  long  as  they  observed 
their  paroles  and  the  laws  in  force  where 
they  resided.  Lee's  surrender  was  rapidly 
followed  by  that  of  all  Southern  troops. 

Next  came  a  grave  political  work — the 
actual  reconstruction  of  the  States  lately  in 
rebellion.  This  work  gave  renewed  fresh- 
ness to  the  leading  political  issues  incident 
to  the  war,  and  likewise  gave  rise  to  new 
issues.  It  was  claimed  at  once  that  Lin- 
coln had  a  reconstruction  policy  of  his 
own,  because  of  his  anxiety  for  the  prompt 
admission  of  Louisiana  and  Arkansas,  but 
it  had  certainly  never  taken  definite  shape, 
nor  wa-i  there  time  to  get  such  a  policy  in 
shape,  between  the  surrender  of  Lee  and 
his  own  ass'issination.  On  the  night  of 
the  15th  of  April,  six  days  after  the  sur- 
render, J.  Wilkes  Booth  shot  him  while 

12 


sitting  in  a  box  in  Ford's  theatre.  The 
nation  stood  appalled  at  the  deed.  No 
man  was  ever  more  sincerely  mourned  in 
all  sections  and  by  all  classes.  The  South- 
ern leaders  thought  that  this  rash  act  had 
lost  to  them  a  life  which  had  never  been 
harsh,  and  while  firm,  was  ever  generous. 
The  North  had  looked  upon  him  as  "Father 
Abraham,"  and  all  who  viewed  the  result 
of  the  shooting  from  sectional  or  partisan 
standpoints,  thought  his  policy  of  "  keep- 
ing with  the  people,"  would  have  shielded 
every  proper  interest.  No  public  man  ever 
felt  less  "  pride  of  opinion"  than  Lincoln, 
and  we  do  believe,  had  he  lived,  that  he 
would  have  shaped  events,  as  he  did  dur- 
ing the  war,  to  the  best  interests  of  the, 
victors,  but  without  unnecessarj'  agitation 
or  harshness.  All  attempts  of  writers  to 
evolve  from  his  proclamation  a  reconstruc- 
tion policy,  applicable  to  peace,  have  been 
vain  and  impotent.  He  had  none  which 
would  not  have  changed  with  changing 
circumstances.  A  "  policy  "  in  an  execu- 
tive office  is  too  often  but  another  name  for 
executive  egotism,  and  Lincoln  was  almost 
absolutely  free  from  that  weakness. 

On  the  morning  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  death, 
indeed  within  the  same  hour  (and  very 
properly  so  under  the  circumstances),  the 
Vice  President  Andrew  Johnson  was  in-  • 
augurated  as  President.  The  excitement 
was  painfully  high,  and  the  new  President, 
in  speeches,  interviews  and  proclamations 
if  possible  added  to  it.  From  evidence 
in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice  he 
thought  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  and 
the  attempted  assassination  of  Secretary 
Seward  had  been  procured  by  Jefferson 
Davis,  Clement  C.  Clay,  Jacob  Thompson, 
Geo.  N.  Saunders,  Beverly  Tucker,  Wm.  C. 
Cleary,  and  "  other  rebels  and  traitors 
harbored  in  Canada."  The  evidence,  how- 
ever, fully  drawn  out  in  the  trial  of  the  co^ 
conspirators  of  J.  Wilkes  Booth,  showed 
that  the  scheme  was  hair-brained,  and 
from  rio  responsible  political  source.  The 
proclamation,  however,  gave  keenness  to 
the  search  for  the  fugitive  Davis,  and  he 
was  soon  captured  while  making  his  way 
through  Georgia  to  the  Florida  coast  with 
the  intention  of  escaping  from  the  country. 
He  was  imprisoned  in  Fortress  Monroe, 
and  an  indictment  for  treason  was  found ' 
against  him,  but  he  remained  a  close  pris- 
oner for  nearly  two  years,  until  times  when 
political  policies  had  been  changed  or 
modified.  Horace  Greeley  was  one  of  his 
bondsmen.  By  this  time  there  was  grave 
doubt  whether  he  could  be  legally  con- 
victed, *  "  now  that  the  charge  of  inciting 
Wilkes  Booth's  crime  had  been  tacitly 
abandoned.  Mr.  Webster  (in  his  Bunker 
Hill  oration)  had  only  given  clearer  ex- 
pression to  the  American  doctrine,  that, 

*  Fron  Greeley's  RcooUeotlons  of  »  Busy  Life,  page  41X 


ITS 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


after  a  rerolt  has  leried  a  regular  army, 
and  fought  therewith  a  pitched  battle,  its 
champions,  even  though  utterly  defeated, 
ciinnot  be  tried  and  convicted  as  traitors. 
This  may  be  an  extreme  statement;  but 
surely  a  rebellion  which  has  for  years  main- 
tained great  armies,  levied  taxes  and  con- 
scriptions, negotiated  loans,  fought  scores 
of  sanguinary  battles  with  alternate  suc- 
cesses and  reverses,  and  exchanged  tens  of 
thousands  of  prisoners  of  war,  can  hardly  fail 
to  have  achieved  thereby  the  position  and 
the  rights  of  a  lawful  belligerent."  This 
view,  as  then  presented  by  Greeley,  was 
accepted  by  President  Johnson,  who  from 
intemperate  denunciation  had  become  the 
friend  of  his  old  friends  in  the  South. 
Greeley's  view  was  not  generally  accepted 
by  the  North,  though  most  of  the  leading 
n)en  of  both  parties  hoped  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  trial  would  be  avoided  by  the 
escape  and  flight  of  the  prisoner.  But  he 
was  confident  by  this  time,  and  sought  a 
trial.  He  was  never  tried,  and  the  best 
reuflon  for  the  fact  is  given  in  Judge  Un- 
derwood's testimony  before  a  Congressional 
Committee  (and  the  Judge  Avas  a  Republi- 
can) "that  no  conviction  was  possible,  ex- 
cept by  packing  a  jury." 


Andrc^ir  Johnson. 

On  the  29th  of  April,  1865,  President 
Johnson  issued  a  proclamation  removing 
all  restrictions  upon  internal,  domestic  and 
coastwise  and  commercial  intercourse  in 
all  Southern  States  east  of  the  Mississippi; 
the  blockade  was  removed  May  22,  ana  on 
May  29  a  proclamation  of  amnesty  was 
issued,  witn  fourteen  classes  excepted 
therefrom,  and  the  requirement  or  an 
"  iron-clad  oath "  from  those  accepting  its 

f>rovi8ions.  Proclamations  rapidly  fol- 
owed  in  shaping  the  lately  rebellious 
States  to  the  conditions  of  peace  and  re- 
storation to  the  Union.  These  States  were 
required  to  hold  conventions,  repeal  seces- 
sion ordinances,  accept  the  abolition  oi 
slavery,  repudiate  Southern  war  debts,  pro- 
vide for  Congressional  representation,  and 
elect  new  State  Officers  and  Legislatures. 
The  several  constitutional  amendments 
were  of  course  to  be  ratified  by  the  vote  of  the 
people.  These  conditions  were  eventually 
all  complied  with,  some  of  the  States  being 
more  tardy  than  others.  The  irreconcila- 
bles  charged  upon  the  Military  officers, 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  the  stern  ap- 
plication of  the  reconstruction  acts,  these 
results,  and  many  of  them  .showed  a  politi- 
cal hostility  which,  after  the  election  of 
the  new  Legislatures,  took  shape  in  what 
were  in  the  North  at  the  time  denounced  as 

"the  black  codes." 
These  were  passed  by  all  of  the  eleven 
States  in  the  rebellion.    The  codes  varied 


in  severity,  according  to  the  views  of  the 
Legislatures,  and  for  a  time  they  seriously 
interfered  with  the  recognition  of  the 
States,  the  Republicans  charging  that  the 
design  was  to  restore  slavery  under  new 
forms.  In  South  Carolina  Gen'l  Sickles 
issued  military  orders,  as  late  as  January 
17,  1866,  against  the  enforcement  of  such 
laws. 

To  assure  the  rights,  of  the  freedmen 
the  14th  amendment  of  the  Constitution 
was  passed  by  Congress,  June  18th,  1866. 
President  Johnson  opposed  it,  refused  to 
sign,  but  said  he  would  submit  it  to  the 
several  States.  This  was  done,  and  it  was 
accepted  by  the  required  three-fourths, 
January  28th,  1868.  This  had  the  effect 
to  do  away  with  many  of  the  "black 
codes,"  and  the  States  which  desired  re- 
admission  to  the  Union  had  to  finally  give 
them  up.  Since  reconstruction,  and  the 
political  ousting  of  what  were  called  the 

carpet  bag  governments,"  some  of  the 
States,  notably  Georgia,  has  passed  class 
laws,  which  treat  colored  criminals  differ- 
ently from  white,  under  what  are  now^ 
known  as  the  "  conduct  laws."  Terms  of 
sentence  are  served  out,  in  any  part  of  the 
State,  under  the  control  of  public  and 
private  contractors,  and  "  vagrants "  are 
subjected  to  sentences  which  it  is  believed 
would  be  less  extended  under  a  system  of 
confinement. 


Jolinson's  Policy. 

While  President  Johnson's  policy  did 
not  materially  check  reconstruction,  it  en- 
couraged Southern  politicians  to  political 
effort,  and  with  their  well  known  tact  they 
were  not  long  in  gaining  the  ascendancy 
in  nearly  every  State.  This  ascendancy 
excited  the  fears  and  jealousies  of  the 
North,  and  the  Republicans  announced  as 
their  object  and  platform  "  that  all  the  re- 
sults of  the  war"  should  be  secured  before 
Southern  reconstruction  and  representa- 
tion in  Congress  should  be  completed.  On 
this  they  were  almost  solidly  united  in 
Congress,  but  Horace  Greeley  trained  an 
independent  sentiment  which  favored  com- 

Slete  amnesty  to  the  South,  President 
ohnson  sought  to  utilize  this  sentiment, 
and  to  divide  the  Republican  party 
through  his  policy,  which  now  looked  to 
the  same  ends.  He  had  said  to  a  delega- 
tion introduced  by  Gov.  Oliver  P.  Morton, 
April  21,  1865 : 

"Your  slavery  is  dead,  but  I  did  not 
murder  it.  As  Macbeth  said  to  Banquo's 
bloody  ghost : 

'  Never  shake  thy  gory  locks  at  me  ; 
Thou  canst  not  gay  I  did  it' 

"  Slavery  is  dead,  and  you  must  pardon 
me  if  I  do  not  mourn  over  its  dead  body  ; 
you  can  bury  it  out  of  sight.    In  restoring 


BOOK  I.] 


IMPEACHMENT    TRIAL    OF    JOHNSON. 


179 


the  State,  leave  out  that  disturbing  and 
dangerous  element,  and  use  only  those 
parts  of  the  macliinery  which  will  move  in 
harmony. 

"  But  in  calling  a  convention  to  restore 
the  State,  who  shall  restore  and  re-estab- 
lish it?  Shall  the  man  who  gave  his  in- 
fluence and  his  means  to  destroy  the 
Government?  Is  he  to  participate  in  the 
great  work  of  reorganization  ?  Shall  he 
who  brought  this  misery  upon  the  State  be 
permitted  to  control  its  destinies  ?  If  this 
be  so,  then  all  this  precious  blood  of  our 
brave  soldiers  and  officers  so  freely  poured 
out  will  have  been  wantonly  spilled.  All 
the  glorious  victories  won  by  our  noble  ar- 
mies will  go  for  nought,  and  all  the  battle- 
fields which  have  been  sown  with  dead 
heroes  during  the  rebellion  will  have  been 
made  memorable  in  vain." 

In  a  speech  at  Washington,  Feb.  22nd, 
1866,  Johnson  said : 

"  The  Government  has  stretched  forth 
its  strong  arm,  and  with  its  physical  power 
it  has  put  down  treason  in  the  field.  That 
is,  the  section  of  country  that  arrayed  itself 
against  the  Government  has  been  con- 
quered by  the  force  of  the  Government  itself. 
Now,  what  had  we  said  to  those  people  ? 
We  said,  '  No  compromise ;  we  can  settle 
this  question  with,  the  South  in  eight  and 
forty  hours.' 

"  I  have  said  it  again  and  again,  and  I 
repeat  it  now,  'disband  your  armies,  ac- 
knowledge the  supremacy  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  tlie  United  States,  give  obedience 
t-)  the  law,  and  the  whole  question  is  set- 
tled.' 

"  What  has  been  done  since  ?  Their  ar- 
mies have  been  disbanded.  They  come 
now  to  meet  us  in  a  spirit  of  magnanimity 
and  say,  '  We  were  mistaken ;  we  made 
the  effort  to  carry  out  the  doctrine  of  se- 
cession and  dissolve  this  Union,  and  hav- 
ing traced  this  thing  to  its  logical  and 
physical  results,  we  now  acknowledge  the 
flag  of  our  country,  and  promise  obedience 
to  the  Constitution  and  +\ie  supremacy  of 
the  law.' 

"  I  say,  then,  when  you  comply  with  the 
Constitution,  when  you  yield  to  the  law, 
when  you  acknowledge  allegiance  to  the 
Government — I  say  let  the  door  of  the 
Union  be  opened,  and  the  relation  be  re- 
stored to  those  that  had  erred  and  had 
strayed  from  the  fold  of  our  fathers." 

It  is  not  partisanship  to  say  that  John- 
son's views  had  undergone  a  change.  He 
did  not  admit  this  in  his  speeches,  but  the 
fact  was  accepted  in  all  sections,  and  the 
leaders  of  parties  took  position  accordingly 
— nearly  all  of  the  Republicans  against 
him,  nearly  all  of  the  Democrats  for  him. 
So  radical  had  this  difference  become  that 
he  vetoed  nearly  all  of  the  political  bills 
passed  by  the  Republicans  from  1866  until 
the  end  of  his  administration,  but  such  was 


the  Republican  preponderance  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress  that  they  passed  them 
over  his  head  by  the  necessary  two-thirds 
vote.  He  vetoed  the  several  Freedmen's 
Bureau  Bills,  the  Civil  Rights  Bill,  that 
for  the  admission  of  Nebraska  and  Colo- 
rado, the  Bill  to  permit  Colored  Suffrage 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  one  of  the 
Reconstruction  Bills,  and  finally  made  a 
direct  issue  with  the  powers  of  Congress  by 
his  veto  of  the  Civil  Tenure  Bill,  March  2, 
1867,  the  substance  of  which  is  shown  in 
the  third  section,  as  follows : 

Sec.  3.  That  the  President  shall  have 
power  to  fill  all  vacancies  which  may  hap- 
pen during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  rea- 
son of  death  or  resignation,  by  granting 
commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  end 
of  their  next  session  thereafter.  And  if 
no  appointment,  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  be  made 
to  such  office  so  vacant  or  temporarily 
filled  as  aforesaid  during  such  next  session 
of  the  Senate,  such  office  shall  remain  in 
abeyance  without  any  salary,  fees,  or 
emoluments  attached  thereto,  until  the 
same  shall  be  filled  by  appointment 
thereto,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  Senate  ;  and  during  such  time 
all  the  powers  and  duties  belonging  to  such 
office  shall  be  exercised  by  such  other  offi- 
cer as  may  by  law  exercise  such  powers  and 
duties  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in  such  office. 

The  bill  originally  passed  the  Senate  by 
22  to  10 — all  of  the  nays  Democrats  save 
Van. Winkle  and  Willey.  It  passed  the 
House  by  112  to  41 — all  of  the  yea^  Re- 
publicans ;  all  of  the  nays  Democrats  save 
Hawkins,  Latham  and  Whaley.  The 
Senate  passed  it  over  the  veto  by  35  to  11 
— a  strict  party  vote ;  the  House  by  138  to 
40 — a  strict  party  vote,  except  Latham 
(Rep.)  who  voted  nay. 

The  refusal  of  the  President  to  enforce 
this  act,  and  his  attempted  removal  of 
Secretary  Stanton  from  the  Cabinet  when 
against  the  wish  of  the  Senate,  led  to  the 
effort  to  impeach  him.  Stanton  resisted 
the  President,  and  General  Grant  took  an 
active  part  in  sustaining  the  War  Secre- 
tary. He  in  fact  publicly  advised  him  to 
"  stick,"  and  his  attitude  showed  that  in 
the  great  political  battle  which  must  fol- 
low, they  would  surely  have  the  support  of 
the  ariny  and  its  great  commander. 


Impeachment  Trial  ot   Andreiv  Johnson. 

*  The  events  which  led  to  the  impeach- 
ment of  President  Johnson,  maybe  briefly 
stated  as  follows :  On  thfe  21st  of  Febru- 
ary, 1868,  the  President  issued  an  order  to 
Mr.  Stanton,  removing  him  from  office  as 
Secretary  of  War,  and  another  to  General 
Lorenzo  Thomas,  Adjutant-General  of  the 

•  From  the  Century  of  Independence  by  John  Sully, 
Botton. 


180 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Army,  appointing  him  Secretary  of  War 
ad  interim,  directing  the  one  to  surrender 
and  the  other  to  receive,  all  the  books,  pa- 
pers, and  public  property  belonging  to  the 
War  Department.  As  these  orders  fill  an 
important  place  in  the  history  of  the  im- 
jieachment,  we  give  them  here.  The  or- 
der to  Mr,  Stanton  reads  : 

"  By  virtue  of  the  power  and  authority 
vested  in  me  as  President  by  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  the  United  States,  you  are 
hereby  removed  from  office  as  Secretary 
for  the  Department  of  War,  and  your 
functions  as  such  will  terminate  upon  the 
receipt  of  this  communication.  You  will 
transfer  to  Brevet  Major-General  Lorenzo 
Thomas,  Adjutant-General  of  the  Army, 
who  has  this  day  been  authorized  and  em- 
jiowered  to  act  as  Secretary  of  War  ad 
interim,  all  records,  books,  papers,  and  other 
public  property  now  in  your  custody  and 
iharge." 

The  order  to  General  Thomas  reads  : 

"The  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton  having 
been  this  day  removed  from  office  as  Secre- 
tary for  the  Department  of  War,  you  are 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  act 
&A  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  and  will 
immediately  enter  upon  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  pertaining  to  that  office.  Mr. 
Stanton  has  been  instructed  to  transfer  to 
you  all  the  records,  books,  and  other  public 
property  now  in  his  custody  and  charge." 

These  orders  having  been  officially  com- 
municated to  the  Senate,  that  body,  after 
an  earnest  debate,  passed  the  following 
resolution : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  That  under  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States  the  President 
has  no  power  to  remove  the  Secretary  of 
War  ana  designate  any  other  officer  to  per- 
form the  duties  of  that  office." 

The  President,  upon  the  24th,  sent  a 
message  to  the  Senate,  arguing  at  length 
that  not  only  under  the  Constitution,  but 
also  under  the  laws  as  now  existing,  he  had 
the  right  of  removing  Mr.  Stanton  and 
appointing  another  to  fill  his  place.  The 
point  of  his  argumentis:  That  by  a  special 
proviso  in  the  Tenure-of-Office  Bill  the  va- 
rious Secretaries  of  Departments  "shall 
hold  their  offices  respectively  for  and  dur- 
ing the  term  of  the  President  bv  whom 
they  may  have  been  appointed,  ancl  for  one 
month  thereafter,  subject  to  removal  by 
and  with  the  advice  of  the  Senate."  The 
President  affirms  that  Mr.  Stanton  wa.s  ap- 
pointed not  by  him,  but  by  his  predeces- 
sor. Mr.  Lincoln,  and  held'  office  onlv  by 
the  sufferance,  nol  the  api)ointment,  of  the 
present  Executive ;  and  that  therefore  his 
tenure  is,  by  the  express  reading  of  the 
law  excepted  from  tne  general  provision, 
that  every  person  dulv  appointed  to  office, 
"  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate,"  etc.,  shall  be  "  entitled  to  hold 


office  until  a  successor  shall  have  been  in 
like  manner  appointed  and  duly  qualified, 
except  as  herein  otherwise  provided."  The 
essential  point  of  the  President's  argument, 
therefore,  is  that,  as  Mr.  Stanton  was  not 
appointed  by  him,  he  had,  under  the  Ten- 
ure-of-Office Bill,  the  right  at  any  time  to 
remove  him  ;  the  same  right  which  his  own 
successor  would  have,  no  matter  whether 
the  incumbent  had,  by  sufferance,  not  by 
appointment  of  the  existing  Executive, 
held  the  office  for  weeks  or  even  years. 
"If,"  says  the  President,  "my  successor 
would  have  the  power  to  remove  Mr.  Stan- 
ton, after  permitting  him  to  remain  a  peri- 
od of  two  weeks,  because  he  was  not  ap- 
pointed by  him,  I  who  have  tolerated  Mr. 
Stanton  for  more  than  two  years,  certainly 
have  the  same  right  to  remove  him,  upon 
the  same  ground,  namely  that  he  was  not 
appointed  by  me  but  by  my  i  redecessor," 

In  the  meantime  General  Thomas  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  War  Department  and 
demanded  to  be  placed  in  the  position  to 
which  he  had  been  assigned  by  the  Pres- 
ident. Mr.  Stanton  refused  to  surrender 
his  post,  and  ordered  General  Thomas  to 
proceed  to  the  apartment  which  belonged 
to  him  as  Adjutant-General.  This  order 
was  not  obeyed,  and  so  the  two  claimants 
to  the  Secretaryship  of  War  held  their 
ground.  A  sort  of  legal  by-play  then  en- 
sued. Mr.  Stanton  entered  a  formal  com- 
plaint before  Judge  Carter,  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  charging  that  General  Thomas 
had  illegally  exercised  and  attempted  to 
exercise  the  duties  of  Secretary  of  War; 
and  had  threatened  to  "  forcibly  remove  the 
complainant  from  the  buildings  and  apart- 
ments of  the  Secretary  of  War  in  the  War 
DepaSrtment,  and  forcibly  take  possession 
and  control  thereof  under  his  pretended 
appointment  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  as  Secretary  of  War  ad  in- 
terim ;  "  and  praying  that  he  might  be  ar- 
rested and  held  to  answer  this  charge. 
General  Thomas  was  accordinglv  arrested, 
and  held  to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $15,000  to 
appear  before  the  court  on  the  24th.  Ap- 
pearing on  that  day  he  was  discharged 
from  custody  and  bail ;  whereuj>on  he  en- 
tered an  action  against  Mr.  Stanton  for 
false  imprisonment,  laying  his  damages  at 
$150,000. 

On  the  22d  of  I'ebruary  the  House 
Committee  on  Reconstruction,  through  its 
Chairman,  Mr.  Stevens,  presented  a  brief 
report,  merely  stating  the  fact  of  the  at- 
tempted removal  by  the  President  of  Mr. 
Stanton,  and  closing  as  follows : 

"Upon  the  evidience  collected  by  the 
Committee,  which  is  hereafter  presented, 
and  in  virtue  of  the  powers  Avith  which 
they  have  been  invested  by  the  House, 
they  are  of  the  opinion  that  Andrew  John- 
eon,  President  of  the  United  States,  should 


BOOK  I.] 


TMPEACHMENT    TRIAL    OF    JOHNSON. 


181 


be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors. They,  therefore,  recommend  to 
the  House  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  Andrew  Johnson,  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States  be  impeached  of 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors." 

After  earnest  debate,  the  question  on  the 
resolution  was  adopted,  on  the  24th,  by  a 
vote  of  126  to  47.  A  committee  of  two 
members — Stevens  and  Bingham — were  to 
notify  the  Senate  of  the  action  of  the 
House ;  and  another  committee  of  seven — 
Boutwell,  Stevens,  Bingham,  Wilson,  Lo- 
gan, Julian,  and  Ward — to  prepare  the 
articles  of  impeachment.  On  the  25th 
(February)  Mr.  Stevens  thus  announced 
to  the  Semte  the  action  which  had  been 
taken  by  the  House : 

"  In  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  House 
of  Repre.>entatives  we  have  appeared  be- 
fore you,  and  in  the  name  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  of  all  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  we  do  irayieach  Andrew 
Johnson,  President  of  the  tjnited  States, 
of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  in  office. 
And  we  further  inform  the  Senate  that  the 
House  of  Representatives  will  in  due  time 
exhibit  particular  articles  of  impeachment 
against  him,  to  make  good  the  same;  and 
in  their  name  we  demand  that  the  Senate 
tike  due  order  for  the  appearance  of  the 
said  Andrew  Johnson  to  answer  to  the 
said  impeachment." 

The  Senate  tliereupon,  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  resolved  that  this  message  from  the 
House  should  be  referred  to  a  select  Com- 
mittee of  Seven,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
chair,  to  consider  the  same  and  report 
thereon.  The  Committee  subsequently 
made  a  report  laying  down  the  rules  of 
procedure  to  be  observ-ed  on  the  trial. 

On  the  29th  of  February  the  Committee 
of  the  11") use  appointed  for  that  purpose 
presented  the  articles  of  impeachment 
which  they  h:id  drawn  up.  These,  with 
slight  modification,  were  accepted  on  the 
2d  of  March.  They  comprise  nine  articles, 
eight  of  which  are  based  upon  the  action 
of  the  President  in  ordering  the  removal 
of  Mr.  Stanton,  and  the  appointment  of 
General  Thomas  as  Secretary  of  War.  The 
general  title  to  the  impeachment  is : 

"  Articles  exhibited  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States,  in 
the  name  of  themselves  and  all  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  against  Andrew 
Johnson,  President  of  the-  United  States, 
IS  maintenance  and  support  of  their  im- 
peachment against  him  for  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors  in  office." 

Each  of  the  articles  commences  with  a 
preamble  to  the  effect  that  the  President, 
"unmindful  of  the  high.duties  of  his  office, 
of  his  oath  of  office,  and  of  the  require- 
ments of  the  Constitution  that  he  should 
take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  exe- 


cuted, did  unlawfully  and  in  violation  of  the 
laws  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
perform  the  several  act«  specified  in  the 
articles  respectively ;  "  closing  with  the  de- 
claration :  "  Whereby  the  said  Andrew 
Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
did  then  and  there  commit  and  was  guilty 
of  a  high  misdemeanor  in  office."  The 
phraseology  is  somewhat  varied.  In  some 
cases  the  otfense  is  designated  as  a  "mis- 
demeanor," in  others  as  a  "  crime."  The 
whole  closes  thus : 

"And  the  House  of  Representatives,  by 
protestation,  saving  to  themselves  the  lib- 
erty of  exhibiting  at  any  time  hereafter 
any  further  articles  or  other  accusation  or 
impeachment  against  the  said  Andrew 
Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  also  of  replying  to  Ms  answers  which 
he  shall  make  to  the  articles  herein  pre- 
ferred against  him,  and  of  offering  proof 
to  the  saniB  and  every  part  thereof,  and  to 
all  and  every  other  article,  accusation,  or 
impeachment  which  shall  be  exhibited  by 
them  as  the  case  shall  require,  do  demand 
that  the  said  Andrew  Johnson  may  be  put 
to  answer  the  high  crimes  and  misdemean- 
ors in  office  herein  charged  against  him, 
and  that  such  proceedings,  examinations, 
trials,  and  judgments  may  be  thereupon 
had  and  given  as  may  be  agreeable  to  law 
and  justice." 

The  following  is  a  summary  in  brief  of 
the  points  in  the  articles  of  impeachment, 
legal  and  technical  phraseology  oeing  omit- 
ted: 

Article  1.  Unlawfully  ordering  the  re- 
moval of  Mr.  Stanton  as  Secretary  of  War, 
in  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  Tenure 
of-Office  Act. — Article  2.  Unlawfully  ap- 
pointing General  Lorenzo  Thomas  as  Sec- 
retary of  War  ad  interim. — Article  3  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  Article  2,  with  the 
addition  that  there  was  at  the  time  of  the 
appointment  of  General  Thomas  no  va- 
cancy in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War. — 
Article  4  charges  the  President  with  "  coii- 
spiring  with  one  Lorenzo  Thomas  and  other 
persons,  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
unknown,"  to  prevent,  by  intimidation  and 
threats,  Mr.  Stanton,  the  legally-appointed 
Secretary  of  War,  from  holding  that  office. 
— Article  5  charges  the  President  with  con- 
spiring with  General  Thomas  and  others 
to  hinder  the  execution  of  the  Tenure-of- 
Office  Act ;  and,  in  pursuance  of  this  con- 
spiracy, attemjiting  to  prevent  Mr.  Stanton 
from  acting  as  Secretarv  of  War. — Article  6 
charges  that  the  President  conspired  with 
General  Thomas  and  othersto  take  forcible 
possession  of  the  War  Department. — Arti- 
cle 7  repeats  the  charge,  in  other  terms, 
that  the  President  conspired  with  General 
Thomas  and  others  to  hinder  the  execution 
of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act,  and  to  pre- 
vent Mr.  Stanton  from  executing  the  office 
of  Secretary    of  W^^.^Article   8  again 


182 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  J. 


charges  the  President  with  conspiring  with 
General  Thomas  and  others  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  property  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment.— Article  9  charges  that  the  President 
called  before  him  General  Emory,  who  was 
in  command  of  the  forces  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Washington,  and  declared  to  him 
that  a  law,  passed  on  the  30th  of  June, 
1867,  directing  that  "  all  orders  and  in- 
structions relating  to  military  operations, 
issued  by  the  President  or  Secretary  of 
War,  shall  be  issued  through  the  General 
of  the  Army,  and,  in  case  of  his  inability, 
through  the  next  in  rank,"  was  unconsti- 
tutional, and  not  binding  upon  General 
Emory  ;  the  intent  being  to  induce  General 
Emory  to  violate  the  law,  and  to  obey  or- 
ders issued  directly  fromi  the  President. 

The  foregoing  articles  of  impeachment 
were  adopted  on  the  2d  of  March,  the 
votes  upon  each  slightly  varying,  the  aver- 
age being  125  ayes  to  40  nays.  The  ques- 
tion then  came  up  of  appointment  of  man- 
agers on  the  part  of  the  House  to  conduct 
the  impeachment  before  the  Senate.  Upon 
this  question  the  Democratic  members  did 
not  vote ;  118  votes  were  cast,  60  being 
necessary  to  a  choice.  The  following  was 
the  result,  the  number  of  votes  cast  for 
eavh  elected  manager  being  given :  Stevens 
of  Penn.,  106;  Butler,  of  Mass.,  108;  Bing- 
ham, of  Ohio,  114;  Boutwell,  of  Mass., 
113;  Wilson,  of  Iowa,  112;  Williams,  of 
Pean.,  107  ;  Logan,  of  111.,  106.  The  fore- 
going seven  Representatives  were,  there- 
fore, duly  chosen  as  Managers  of  the  Bill 
of  Impeachment.  The  great  body  of  the 
Democratic  members  of  the  House  entered 
a  formal  protest  against  the  whole  course 
of  proceeding  involved  in  the  impeach- 
ment of  the  President.  They  claimed  to 
represent  "  directlv  or  in  principle  more 
than  one-half  of  the  people  of  the  United 
Spates."  This  protest  was  signed  by  forty- 
five  Representatives. 

On  the  3d  the  Board  of  Managers  pre- 
sented two  additional  articles  of  impeach- 
ment, which  were  adopted  by  the  House. 
The  first  charges,  in  substance,  that 

"  The  President,  unmindful  of  the  liigh 
duties  of  his  office  and  of  the  harmony 
and  courtesies  which  ought  to  be  main- 
tiined  between  the  executive  and  legisla- 
tive branches  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  designing  to  set  aside  the 
rightful  authority  and  powers  of  Congress, 
did  attempt  to  bring  into  disgrace  the  Con- 
cress  of  the  United  States  and  the  several 
branches  thereof,  to  impair  and  destroy  the 
regard  and  respect  of  all  the  good  people 
of  the  United  States  for  the  Congress  and 
leeislative  power  thereof,  and  to  excite  the 
oiJium  ana  resentment  of  all  the  pood 
people  of  the  United  States  against  Con- 
gress and  the  laws  by  it  enacted ;  and  in 
pursuance  of  his  said  design  openly  and 
publicly,  and  before  divers  assemblages 


convened  in  divers  parts  thereof  to  meet 
and  receive  said  Andrew  Johnson  as  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States,  did 
on  the  18th  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1866,  and  on  divers  other  days 
and  times,  as  well  before  as  afterward, 
make  and  deliver  with  a  loud  voice  certain 
intemperate,  inflammatory,  and  scandalous 
harangues,  and  did  therein  utter  loud 
threats  and  bitter  menaces  as  well  against 
Congress  as  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
duly  enacted  thereby." 

To  this  article  are  appended  copious  ex- 
tracts from  speeches  ol  Mr.  Johnson.  The 
second  article  is  substantiallv  as  follows : 

"  The  President  did,  on  the  18th  day  of 
August,  1866,  at  the  City  of  Washington, 
by  public  speech,  declare  and  affirm  in 
substance  that  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress 
of  the  United  States  was  not  a  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  authorized  by  the 
Constitution  to  exercise  legislative  power 
under  the  same,  but,  on  the  contrary,  was 
a  Congress  of  only  a  part  of  the  States, 
thereby  denying  and  intending  to  deny 
that  the  legislation  of  said  Congress  was 
valid  or  obligatory  upon  him,  except  in  so 
far  as  he  saw  fit  to  approve  the  same,  and 
did  devise  and  contrive  means  by  which  he 
might  prevent  Edwin  M.  Stanton  from 
forthwith  resuming  the  liinctions  of  the 
office  of  Secretary  for  the  Department  o' 
War ;  and,  also,  by  further  unlawfully  de- 
vising and  contriving  means  to  prevent  the 
execution  of  an  act  entitled  '  An  act  mak- 
ing appropriations  for  the  support  of  the 
army  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 
1868,  and  for  other  purposes,'  approved 
March  2,  1867 ;  and  also  to  prevent  the 
execution  of  an  act  entitled  'An  act  to 
provide  for  the  more  efficient  government 
of  the  rebel  States,'  passed  March  2,  1867, 
did  commit  and  was  guilty  of  a  high  mis- 
demeanor in  office." 

On  the  4th  of  March  the  Senate  notified 
the  House  that  they  were  ready  to  receive 
the  Managers  of  the  Impeachment.  They 
appeared,  and  the  articles  were  formallv 
read.  The  Senate  had  meanwhile  adopted 
the  rules  of  procedure.  Chief  Justice  Chase 
sent  a  communication  to  the  Senate  to  the 
effect  that  this  body,  when  acting  upon  an 
impeachment,  was  a  Court  presided  over  by 
the  Chief  Justice,  and  that  all  orders  and 
rules  should  be  framed  by  the  Court.  On 
the  5th  the  Court  was  formally  organized. 
An  exception  was  taken  to  the  eligibility 
of  Mr.  Wade  as  a  member  of  the  Court,  on 
the  ground  that  he  was  a  party  interested, 
since,  in  the  event  of  the  impeachment  be- 
ing sustained,  he,  as  President  of  the  Senate, 
would  become  Acting  President  of  the 
United  States.  This  objection  was  with- 
drawn, and  Mr.  Wade  was  sworn  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Court.  On  the  7th  the  summons 
for  the  President  to  appear  was  formally 
served  upon  him.    On  tne  13th  the  Court 


COOK  I.] 


IMPEACHMENT  TRIAL  OF  JOHNSON, 


183 


was  again  formally  reopened.  The  Presi- 
dent appeared  by  his  counsel,  Hon.  Henry 
Stanbery,  of  Ohio;  Hon.  Wm.  M.  Evarts, 
of  New  York ;  Hon.  Win.  S.  Groesbeck,  of 
Ohio ;  Hon.  Benjamin  R.  Curtis,  of  Massa- 
chusetts; Hon.  Thomas  A.  R.  Nelson,  of 
Tennessee,  who  asked  for  forty  days  to  pre- 
pare an  answer  to  the  indictment.  This 
was  refused,  and  ten  days  granted ;  it  be- 
ing ordered  that  the  proceedings  should 
reopen  on  the  23d.  tjpon  that  day  the 
President  appeared  by  his  counsel,  and 
presented  his  answer  to  the  articles  of  im- 
peachment. This  reply  was  in  substance 
as  follows : 
The  first  eight  articles  in  the  Bill  of  Im- 

f»eachment,  as  briefly  summed  up  in  our 
ast  record,  are  based  upon  the  action  of 
the  President  in .  ordering  the  removal  of 
Mr.  Stanton,  and  the  temporary  appoint- 
ment of  General  Thomas  as  Secretary  of 
War.  The  gist  of  them  is  contained  in  the 
first  article,  charging  the  unlawful  removal 
of  Mr.  Stanton  ;  for,  this  failing,  the  others 
would  fail  also.  To  this  article  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  President's  answer 
is  devoted.  It  is  mainly  an  amplifica- 
tion of  the  points  put  forth  in  the  Mes- 
sage of  February  24th,  in  which  he  gave 
his  reasons  for  his  orders.  The  President 
citeB  the  laws  by  which  this  department  of 
the  administration  was  created,  and  the 
rules  laid  down  for  the  duties  pertaining  to 
it ;  prominent  among  which  are :  that  the 
Secretary  shall  "conduct  the  business  of 
the  department  in  such  manner  as  the 
President  of  the  United  States  shall  from 
time  to  time  order  and  instruct;  "  and  that 
he  should  "  hold  the  office  during  the  plea- 
sure of  the  President ;  "  and  that  Congress 
had  no  legal  right  to  deprive  the  President 
of  the  power  to  remove  the  Secretary.  He 
was,  however,  aware  that  the  design  of  the 
Tenure-of-Office  Bill  was  to  vest  this  power 
of  removal,  in  certain  cases,  jointly  in  the 
Executive  and  the  Senate ;  and  that,  while 
believing  this  act  to  be  unconstitutional, 
yet.it  having  been  passed  over  his  veto  by 
Uie  requisite  majority  of  two-thirds,  he  con- 
sidered it  to  be  his  duty  to  ascertain  in  how 
far  the  case  of  Mr.  Stanton  came  within  the 

Krovisions  of  this  law ;  after  consideration, 
e  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  case  did 
not  come  within  the  prohibitions  of  the 
law,  and  that,  by  that  law  he  still  had  the 
right  of  removing  Mr.  Stanton  ;  but  that, 
wishing  to  have  the  case  decided  by  the  Su- 
preme Court,  he,  on  the  12th  of  August, 
issued  the  order  merely  suspending,  not 
removing,  Mr.  Stanton,  a  power  expresly 
granted  by  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act,  and 
appointed  General  Grant  Secretary  of  War 
ad  interim.  The  President  then  recites 
the  subsequent  action  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Stanton ;  and,  as  he  avers,  still  believing 
that  he  had  the  constitutional  power  to  re- 
move him  from  office,  issued  the  order  of 


February  21st,  for  such  removal,  designing 
to  thus  bring  the  matter  before  the  Su- 
preme Court.  He  then  proceeds  formally 
to  deny  that  at  this  time  Mr.  Stanton  was 
in  lawful  possession  of  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  War ;  and  that,  consequently,  the 
order  for  his  removal  was  in  violation  of  the 
Tenure-of-Office  Act;  and  that  it  was  in 
violation  of  the  Constitution  or  of  any  law ; 
or  that  it  constituted  any  official  crime  or 
misdemeanor. 

In  regard  to  the  seven  succeeding  arti- 
cles of  impeachment  the  President,  while 
admitting  the  facts  of  the  order  appointing 
General  Thomas  as  Secretary  of  War  ad 
interim,  denies  all  and  every  of  the  crimi- 
nal charges  therein  set  forth.  So  of  the 
ninth  article,  charging  an  effort  to  induce 
General  Emory  to  violate  the  law,  the 
President  denies  all  such  intent,  and  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  while,  for  urgent 
reasons,  he  signed  the  bill  prescribing  that 
orders  to  the  army  should  be  issued  only 
through  the  General,  he  at  the  same  time 
declared  it  to  be,  in  his  judgment,  unconsti- 
tutional ;  and  affirms  that  in  his  interview 
with  General  Emory  he  said  no  more  than 
he  had  before  officially  said  to  Congress — 
that  is,  that  the  law  was  unconstitutional. 

As  to  the  tenth  article,  the  first  of  the 
supplementary  ones,  the  President,  while 
admitting  that  he  made  certain  public 
speeches  at  the  times  and  places  specified, 
does  not  admit  that  the  passages  cited  are 
fair  reports  of  his  remark^ ;  denies  that  he 
has  ever  been  unmindful  of  the  courtesies 
which  ought  to  be  maintained  between 
the  executive  and  legislative  departments ; 
but  he  claims  the  perfect  right  at  all  times 
to  express  his  views  as  to  all  public  matters. 

The  reply  to  the  eleventh  article,  the 
second  supplementary  one,  is  to  the  same 
general  purport,  denying  that  he  ever  af- 
firmed that  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  was 
not  a  valid  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  its  acts  obligatory  only  as  they  were 
approved  by  him ;  and  denying  that  he 
had,  as  charged  in  the  article,  contrived 
unlawful  means  for  preventing  Mr.  Stanton 
from  resuming  the  functions  of  Secretary 
of  War,  or  for  preventing  the  execution  of 
the  act  making  appropriations  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  army,  or  that  to  provide  for  the 
more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel 
States.  In  his  answer  to  this  article  the 
President  refers  to  his  reply  to  the  first  ar- 
ticle, in  which  he  sets  forth  at  length  all 
the  steps,  and  the  reasons  therefor,  relating 
to  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton.  In  brier, 
the  answer  of  the  President  to  the  articles 
of  impeachment  is  a  general  denial  of  each 
and  every  criminal  act  charged  in  the  ar- 
ticles of  impeachment. 

The  counsel  for  the  President  then  asked 
for  a  delay  of  thirty  days  after  the  replication 
of  the  managers  of  the  impeachment  should 
have  been  rendered,  before  the  trial  shoulc?- 


18-4 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


formally  proceed.  This  was  refused,  and 
the  managers  of  the  impeachment  stated 
that  their  replication  would  be  presented 
the  next  day  :  it  was  that, 

"  The  Senate  will  commence  the  trial  of 
the  President  upon  the  articles  of  impeach- 
ment exhibited  against  him  on  Monday, 
the  30th  day  of  March,  and  proceed  there- 
in with  all  dispatch  under  the  rules  of  the 
Senate,  sitting  upon- the  trial  of  an  im- 
peachment." 

The  replication  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  a  simple  denial  of  each  and 
every  averment  in  the  answer  of  the  Pres- 
ident, closing  thus : 

"  The  House  of  Representatives  ....  do 
say  that  the  said  Andrew  Johnson,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  is  guilty  of  the 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  mentioned 
in  the  said  articles,  and  that  the  said  House 
of  Representatives  are  ready  to  prove  the 
same." 

The  trial  began,  as  appointed,  on  March 
30.  There  being  twenty-seven  States  rep- 
resented, there  were  fifty-foxir  Senators, 
who  constituted  the  Court,  presided  over 
by  Chief  Justice  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of 
dhio.  Sexators  :  California,  Cole,  Con- 
ness  ;  Connecticut,  Dixon,  Ferry ;  Delaware, 
Bayard,  Saulsbury;  Indiana,  Hendricks, 
Morton  ;  Illinois,  Trumbull,  Yates ;  loica. 
Grimes,  Harlan  ;  Kansas,  Pomeroy,  Ross ; 
Kentucky,  Davis,  McCreery  ;  Maine,  Fes- 
senden,  Morrill  (LotM.) ;  Mai-yland,  John- 
son, Vickers;  Massachusetts,  ^xim-aer,  Wil- 
son; JficA/yan,  Chandler,  Howard  ;  Minne- 
sota, Norton,  Ramsay ;  Missouri,  Drake, 
Henderson  ;  Nebraska,  Thayer,  Tipton  ; 
Nevada,  Nye,  Stewart;  New  Hampshire, 
Cragin,  Patterson  (J.  W.) ;  New  Jersey, 
Cattell,  Frelinghuysen  ;  New  York,  Conk- 
lin,  Morgan ;  Ohio,  Sherman,  Wade ;  Ore- 

fon,  Corbett,  Williams ;  Pennsylvania, 
luckalew,  Cameron ;  Rhode  Island,  An- 
thony, Sprague  ;  Tennessee,  Fowler,  Patter- 
son (David);  Vermont,  Edmunds,  Merrill, 
{ J.  8.) ;  West  Virqinia,  Van  Winkle,  Wil- 
ley;  Wisconsin,  £>oolittle,  Howe. 

Managers  for  the  Prosecution:  Messrs. 
Bingham,  Boutwell,  Butler,  Logan,  Ste- 
vens, Williams,  Wilson. 

Oiunsel  for  the  President.  Messrs.  Cur- 
tis, Evarts,  Groesbeck,  Nelson,  Stanbery, 
The  following  was  the  order  of  proce- 
dure: The  Senate  convened  at  11  or  12 
o'clock,  and  was  called  to  order  by  the 
president  of  that  body,  who,  after  prayer, 
would  leave  the  chair,  which  was  immedi- 
ately assumed  by  the  Chief  Justice,  who 
wore  his  official  robes.  The  prosecution 
was  mainly  conducted  by  Mr.  I3utler,  who 
examined  the  witnesses,  and,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  others,  argued  the  points  of 
law  which  came  up.  The  defense,  during 
the  early  part  of  the  trial,  was  mainly  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Stanbery,  who  had  resigned 
the  office  of  Attorney -General  for  this  pur- 


pose, but,  being  taken  suddenly  ill,  Mr. 
Evarts  took  his  place.  According  to  the 
rule  at  first  adopted,  the  trial  was  to  be 
opened  by  one  counsel  on  each  side,  and 
summed  up  by  two  on  each  side ;  but  this 
rule  was  subsequently  modified  so  as  to  al- 
low as  many  of  the  managers  and  counsel 
as  chose  to  sum  up,  either  orally  or  by 
filing  written  arguments. 

THE  PROSECUTION. 

The  whole  of  the  first  day  (March  30) 
was  occupied  by  the  opening  speech  of  Mr. 
Butler.  After  touching  upon  the  import- 
ance of  the  case,  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  in  providing  for 
itb  possible  occurrence,  he  laid  down  the  fol- 
lowing proposition,  supporting  it  by  a  copi- 
ous array  of  authorities  and  precedents : 

"  We  define,  therefore,  an  impeachable 
high  crime  or  misdemeanor  to  be  one,  in 
its  nature  or  consequences,  subversive  of 
some  fundamental  or  essential  principle  of 
government,  or  highly  prejudicial  to  the 
public  interest,  and  this  may  consist  of  a 
violation  of  the  Constitution,  of  law,  of  an 
official  oath,  or  of  duty,  by  an  act  com- 
mitted or  omitted,  or,  without  violating  a 
positive  law,  by  the  abuse  of  discretionary 
powers  from  improper  motives,  or  for  any 
improper  purpose." 

He  then  proceeded  to  discuss  the  nature 
and  functions  of  the  tribunal  before  which 
the  trial  is  held.  He  asked  :  "  Is  this  pro- 
ceeding a  trial,  as  that  term  is  understood, 
so  far  as  relates  to  the  rights  and  duties  of 
a  court  and  jury  upon  an  indictment  for 
crime  ?  Is  it  not  rather  more  in  the  nature 
of  an  inquest?"  The  Constitution,  he 
urged,  "  seems  to  have  determined  it  to  be 
the  latter,  because,  under  its  provisions, 
the  right  to  retain  and  hold  office  is  the 
only  subject  to  be  finally  adjudicated ;  all 
preliminary  inquiry  being  carried  on  solely 
to  determine  that  question,  and  that  alone." 
He  then  proceeded  to  argue  that  this  body 
now  sitting  to  determine  the  accusation,  is 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  not  a 
court.  This  question  is  of  consequence, 
he  argued,  because,  in  the  latter  case,  it 
would  be  bound  by  the  rules  and  prece- 
dents of  common  law-statutes ;  the  mem- 
bers of  the  court  would  be  liable  to  chal- 
lenge on  many  grounds ;  and  the  accused 
might  claim  that  he  could  only  be  convicted 
when  the  evidence  makes  the  fact  clear  be- 
yond reasonable  doubt,  instead  of  bv  a  pre- 
ponderance of  the  evidence.  The  /act  that 
in  this  case  the  Chief  Justice  presides,  it 
was  argued,  does  not  constitute  the  Senate 
thus  acting  a  court,  for  in  all  cases  of  im- 
peachment, save  that  of  the  President,  its 
regular  presiding  officer  presides.  Moreo- 
ver, the  procedures  have  no  analogy  to 
those  of  an  ordinarj'  court  of  justice.  The 
accused  merely  receives  a  notice  of  the 
case  pending  against  him.    He  is  not  re- 


BOOK  I.] 


IMPEACHMENT    TRIAL    OF    JOHNSON. 


186 


quired  to  appear  personally,  and  the  case 
will  go  on  without  his  presence.  Mr. 
Butler  thus  summed  up  his  position  in  this 
regard : 

"A  constitutional  tribunal  solely,  you 
are  bound  by  no  law,  either  statute  or  com- 
mon, which  may  limit  your  constitutional 
prerogative.  You  consult  no  precedents 
save  those  of  the  law  and  custom  of  par- 
liamentary bodies.  You  are  a  law  unto 
yourselves,  bound  only  by  the  natural 
principles  of  equity  and  justice,  and  that 
salus  populi  suprema  est  lex." 

Mr.  Butler  then  proceeded  to  consider 
the  articles  of  impeachment.  The  first 
eight,  he  says,  ''  set  out,  in  several  distinct 
forms,  the  acts  of  ihe  President  in  remov- 
ing Mr.  Stanton  and  appointing  General 
Thomas,  differing,  In  legal  effect,  in  the 
purposes  for  which,  and  the  intent  with 
which,  either  or  both  of  the  acts  were 
done,  and  the  legal  duties  and  rights  in- 
fringed, and  the  Acts  of  Congress  violated 
In  so  doing."  In  respect  to  all  of  these 
articles,  Mr.  Butler  says,  referring  to  his 
iormer  definition  of  what  constituved  an 
impeachable  high  crime : 

"  All  the  articles  allege  these  acts  to  be 
in  contravention  of  his  oath  of  office,  and 
in  disregard  of  the  duties  thereof.  If  they 
are  so,  however,  the  President  might  hdve 
the  power  to  do  them  under  the  law.  Still, 
being  so  done,  they  are  acts  of  official  mis- 
conduct, and,  as  we  have  seen,  impeacha- 
ble. The  President  has  the  legal  power  to 
do  many  acts  which,  if  done  in  disregard 
of  his  duty,  or  for  improper  purposes,  then 
the  exercise  of  that  power  is  an  official 
misdemeanor.  For  example,  he  has  the 
power  of  pardon ;  if  exercised,  in  a  given 
case,  for  a  corrupt  motive,  as  for  the  pay- 
ment of  money,  or  wantonly  pardoning  all 
criminals,  it  would  be  a  misdemeanor." 

Mr.  Butler  affirmed  that  every  fact 
charged  in  the  first  article,  and  substan- 
tially in  the  seven  following,  is  admitted 
in  the  reply  of  the  President ;  and  also 
that  the  general  intent  to  set  aside  the 
Tenure-of-Office  Act  is  therein  admitted 
and  justified.  He  then  proceeded  to  dis- 
cuss the  whole  question  of  the  power  of 
the  President  for  removals  from  office,  and 
especially  his  claim  that  this  power  was 
imposed  upon  the  President  by  the  Consti- 
tution, ana  that  it  could  not  be  taken  from 
him,  or  be  vested  jointly  in  him  and  the 
Senate,  partly  or  in  whole.  This,  Mr. 
Butler  affirmed,  was  the  real  question  at 
issue  before  the  Senate  and  the  American 
people.     He  said  : 

"Has  the  President, und^r  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  more  than  royal  prerogative  at 
will  to  remove  from  office,  or  to  suspend 
from  office,  all  executive  officers  or  the 
United  States,  either  civil,  military  or 
naval,  and  to  fill  the  vacancies,  without 
any  restraint  whatever,  or  possibility  of  re- 


straint, by  the  Senate  or  by  Congress, 
through  laws  duly  enacted  ?  The  House 
of  Representatives,  in  behalf  of  the  people, 
join  issue  by  affirming  that  the  exercise  of 
such  powers  is  a  high  misdemeanor  in 
office.  If  the' affirmative  is  maintained  by 
the  respondent,  then,  so  far  as  the  first 
eight  articles  are  concerned — unless  such 
corrupt  purposes  are  shown  as  will  of 
themselves  make  the  exercise  of  a  legal 
power  a  crime — the  respondent  must  go, 
and  ought  to  go,  quit  and  free. 

This  point  as  to  the  legal  right  of  the 
President  to  make  removals  from  office, 
which  constitutes  the  real  burden  of  the 
articles  of  impeachment,  was  argued  at 
length.  Mr.  Butler  assumed  that  the  Sen- 
ate, by  whom,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Plouse,  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act  had  been 
passed  over  the  veto  of  the  President, 
would  maintain  the  law  to  be  constitu- 
tional. The  turning  point  was  whether 
the  special  case  of  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Stanton  came  within  the  provisions  of  this 
law.  This  rested  upon  the  proviso  of  that 
law,  that — 

"  The  Secretaries  shall  hold  their  office 
during  the  term  of  the  President  by  whom 
they  may  have '  been  appointed,  and  for 
one  month  thereafter,  subject  to  removal 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate." 

The  extended  argument  upon  this  point, 
made  by  Mr.  Butler,  was  to  the  effect  that 
Mr.  Stanton  having  been  appointed  by  Mr. 
Lincoln,  whose  term  of  office  reached  to 
the  4th  of  March,  1869,  that  of  Mr.  Stanton 
existed  until  a  month  later,  unless  he  was 
previously  removed  by  the  concurrent  ac- 
tion of  the  President  and  Senate.  The 
point  of  the  argument  is,  that  Mr.  Johnson 
is  merely  serving  out  the  balance  of  the 
term  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  cut  short  by  his  as- 
sassination, so  that  the  Cabinet  officers  ap- 
pointed by  Mr.  Lincoln  held  their  places, 
by  this  very  proviso,  during  that  term  and 
for  a  month  thereafter ;  for,  he  argued,  if 
Mr.  Johnson  was  not  merely  serving  out 
the  balance  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  term,  then  he 
is  entitled  to  the  office  of  President  for  four 
full  years,  that  being  the  period  for  which 
a  President  is  elected.  If,  continues  the 
argument,  Mr.  Stanton's  commission  was 
vacated  by  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act,  it 
ceased  on  the  4th  of  April,  1865 ;  or,  if  the 
act  had  no  retroactive  effect,  still,  if  Mr. 
Stanton  held  his  office  merely  under  his 
commission  from  Mr.  Lincoln,  then  his 
functions  would  have  ceased  upon  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  March  2,  1867 ;  and, 
consequently,  Mr.  Johnsofl,  in  "employ- 
ing" him  after  that  date  as  Secretary  of 
War,  was  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor, 
which  would  give  ground  for  a  new  arti- 
cle of  impeachment. 

After  justifying  the  course  of  Mr.  Stan- 
ton in  holding  on  to  the  secretaryship  in 


180 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


opposition  to  the  wish  of  the  President, 
on  thQ  ground  that  "to  desert  it  now 
would  be  to  imitate  the  treachery  of  his 
accidental  chief,"  Mr.  Butler  proceeded  to 
discuss  the  reasons  assigned  hy  the  Presi- 
dent in  his  answer  to  the  articles  of  im- 
Seachment  for  the  attempt  to  remove  Mr. 
tanton.  These,  in  substance,  were,  that 
the  President  believed  the  Tenure-of-Of- 
fice  Act  was  unconstitutional,  and,  there- 
fore, void  and  of  no  effect,  and  that  he 
had  the  right  to  remove  him  and  appoint 
another  person  in  his  place.  Mr.  Butler 
urged  that,  in  all  of  these  proceedings,  the 
President  professed  to  act  upon  the  as- 
sumption tnat  the  act  was  valid,  and  that 
his  action  was  in  accordance  with  its  pro- 
visions. He  then  went  on  to  charge  that 
the  appointment  of  General  Thomas  as 
Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  was  a  sepa- 
rate violation  of  law.  By  the  act  of  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1863,  which  repealed  all  previous 
laws  inconsistent  with  it,  the  President 
was  authorized,  in  case  of  the  "  death, 
resignation,  absence  from  the  seat  of  Gov- 
ernment, or  sickness  of  the  head  of  an 
executive  department,"  or  in  any  other 
case  where  these  officers  could  not  perform 
their  respective  duties,  to  appoint  the  head 
of  any  other  executive  department  to  ful- 
fil the  duties  of  the  office  "  until  a  succes- 
sor be  appointed,  or  until  such  absence  or 
disability  shall  cease."  Now,  urged  Mr. 
Butler,  at  the  time  of  the  appointment  of 
General  Thomas  as  Sectary  of  War  ad 
interim,  Mr.  Stanton  "had  neither  died 
nor  resigned,  was  not  sick  nor  absent," 
and,  consequently.  General  Thomas,  not 
being  the  head  of  a  department,  but  only 
of  a  bureau  of  one  of  them,  was  not  eligi- 
ble to  this  appointment,  and  that,  there- 
fore, his  appointment  was  illegal  and  void. 
The  ninth  article  of  impeachment, 
wherein  the  President  is  charged  with  en- 
deavoring to  induce  General  Emory  to 
take  orders  directly  from  himself,  is  dealt 
with  in  a  rather  slight  manner.  Mr.  But- 
ler says,  "  If  the  transaction  set  forth  in 
this  article  stood  alone,  we  might  well  ad- 
mit that  doubts  might  arise  as  to  the  suffi- 
ciency of  the  proof;"  but,  he  adds,  "  the 
surroundings  are  so  pointed  and  signifi- 
cant as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of 
an  impartial  man  as  to  the  intents  and 
purposes  of  the  President " — these  intents 
being,  according  to  Mr.  Butler, "to  induce 
Greneral  Emory  to  take  orders  directly 
from  himself,  and  thus  to  hinder  the  exe- 
cution of  the  Civil  Tenure  Act,  and  to 
prevent  Mr.  Stanton  from  holding  his 
office  of  Secretary  of  War." 

As  to  the  tenth  article  of  impeachment, 
based  upon  various  speeches  of  the  Presi- 
dent, Mr.  Butler  undertook  to  show  that 
the  reports  of  these  speeches,  as  given  in 
the  article,  were  substantially  correct; 
and  accepted  the  issue  made  thereupon  as 


to  whether  they  are  "  decent  and  becom« 
ing  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  do  not  tend  to  bring  the  office  into 
ridicule  and  disgrace." 

After  having  commented  upon  the 
eleventh  and  closing  article,  which  charges 
the  President  with  having  denied  the  au- 
thority of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  its  acts  were  approved  by 
him,  Mr.  Butler  summed  up  the  purport 
of  the  articles  of  impeachment  in  these 
words : 

"  The  acts  set  out  in  the  first  eight  arti- 
cles are  but  the  culmination  of  a  series  of 
wrongs,  malfeasances,  and  usurpations 
committed  by  the  respondent,  and,  there- 
fore, need  to  be  examined  in  the  light  of 
his  pi^cedent  and  concomitant  acts  to 
grasp  their  scope  and  design.  The  last 
three  articles  presented  show  the  perver- 
sity and  malignity  with  which  he  acted, 
so  that  the  man  as  he  is  known  may  be 
clearly  spread  upon  record,  to  be  seen  and 

known  of  all  men  hereafter 

We  have  presented  the  facts  in  the  con- 
stitutional manner  ;  we  have  brought  the 
criminal  to  your  bar,  and  demand  judg- 
ment for  his  so  great  crimes." 

The  remainder  of  Monday,  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  following  day,  were  devoted  to 
the  presentation  of  documentary  evidence 
as  to  the  proceedings  involved  in  the  order 
for  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton  and  the 
appointment  of  General  Thomas.  The 
prosecution  then  introduced  witnesses  to 
testify  to  the  interviews  between  Mr. 
Stanton  and  General  Thomas.  They  then 
brought  forward  a  witness  to  show  that 
General  Thomas  had  avowed  his  deter- 
mination to  take  forcible  possession  of  the 
War  Office.  To  this  Mr.  Stanbery,  for  the 
defense,  objected.  The  Chief  Justice  de- 
cided the  testimony  to  be  admissible. 
Thereupon  Senator  Drake  took  exception 
to  the  ruling,  on  the  ground  that  this  ques- 
tion should  be  decided  by  the  Senate — not 
by  the  presiding  officer.  The  Chief  Jus- 
tice averred  that,  in  his  judgment,  it  was 
his  duty  to  decide,  in  the  first  instance, 
upon  any  question  of  evidence,  and  then, 
if  any  Senator  desired,  to  submit  the  deci- 
sion to  the  Senate.  Upon  this  objection 
and  appeal  arose  the  first  conflict  in  the 
Senate  as  to  the  powers  of  its  presiding 
officer.  Mr.  Butler  argued  at  len^h  in 
favor  of  the  exception.  Although,  in  this 
case,  the  decision  was  in  favor  of  the 
prosecution,  he  objected  to  the  power  of 
the  presiding  officer  to  make  it.  This 
point  was  argued  at  length  by  the  mana- 
gers for  the  impeachment,  who  denied  the 
right  of  the  Chief  Justice  to  make  such 
decision.  It  was  then  moved  that  the 
Senate  retire  for  private  consultation  on 
this  point.  There  was  a  tie  vote — 25  ayei 
and  25  nays. — The  Chief  Justice  gave  his 
casting  vote  in  fayor  of  the  motion  foi 


BOOK  I.] 


IMPEACHMENT    TRIAL    OF    JOHNSON. 


187 


consultation.  The  Senate,  by  a  vote  of  31 
to  19,  sustained  the  Chief  Justice,  deciding 
that  "  the  presiding  officer  may  rule  on  all 
questions  of  evidence  and  on  incidental 
questions,  which  decision  will  stand  as  tlie 
judgment  of  the  Senate  for  decision,  or  he 
may,  at  his  option  in  the  first  instance, 
submit  any  such  question  to  a  vote  of  the 
members  of  the  Senate."  In  the  further 
progress  of  the  trial  the  Chief  Justice,  in 
most  important  cases,  submitted  the  ques- 
tion directly  to  the  Senate,  without  him- 
self giving  any  decision.  Next  morning 
(April  1)  Mr.  Sumner  offered  a  resolution 
to  the  effect  that  the  Chief  Justice,  in  giv- 
ing a  casting  vote,  "  acted  without  author- 
ity of  the  Constition  of  the  United  States." 
This  was  negatived  by  a  vote  of  27  to  21, 
thus  deciding  that  the  presiding  officer 
had  the  right  to  give  a  casting  vote. 
The  witness  (Mr.  Burleigh,  delegate  from 
Dakotah,)  who  had  been  called  to  prove 
declarations  of  General  Thomas,  was  then 
a^ked  whether,  at  an  interview  between 
them.  General  Thomas  had  said  anything 
as  "  to  the  means  by  which  he  intended  to 
obtain,  or  was  directed  by  the  President  to 
obtain,  posession  of  the  War  Department." 
To  this  question  Mr.  Stanbery  objected,  on 
the  ground  that  any  statements  made  by 
General  Thomas  could  not  be  used  as  evi- 
dence against  the  President.  Messrs.  But- 
ler and  Bingham  argUed  that  the  testi- 
mony was  admissible,  on  the  ground  that 
there  was,  as  charged,  a  conspiracy  be- 
tween the  President  and  General  Thomas, 
and  that  the  acts  of  one  conspirator  were 
binding  upon  the  other ;  and,  also,  that  in 
these  acts  General  Thomas  was  the  agent 
of  the  President.  The  Senate,  by  39  to  11, 
decided  that  the  question  was  admissible. 
Mr.  Burleigh  thereupon  testified  sub- 
stantially that  General  Thomas  informed 
him  that  he  had  been  directed  by  the  Pres- 
ident to  take  possession  of  the  War  De- 
partment ;  that  he  was  bound  to  obey  his 
superior  officer;  that,  if  Mr.  Stanton  ob- 
jected, he  should  use  force,  and  if  he  bolt- 
ed the  doors  they  would  be  brpken  down. 
The  witness  was  then  asked  whether  he 
had  heard  General  Thomas  make  any 
statement  to  the  clerks  of  the  War  Office, 
to  the  effect  that,  when  he  came  into  con- 
trol, he  would  relax  or  rescind  the  rules  of 
Mr.  Stanton.  To  this  question  objection 
was  made  by  the  counsel  of  the  President 
on  the  ground  of  irrelevancy.  The  Chief 
Justice  was  of  opinion  that  the  question 
was  not  admissible,  but,  if  any  Senator  de- 
manded, he  would  submit  to  the  Senate 
whether  it  should  be  asked.  The  demand 
having  been  made,  the  Senate,  by  a  vote 
of  28  to  22,  allowed  the  question  to  be  put, 
whereupon  Mr.  Burleigh  testified  that 
General  Thomas,  in  his  presence,  called 
before  him  the  heads  of  the  divisions,  and 
told  them  that  the  rules  laid  down  by  Mr. 


Stanton  were  arbitrary,  and  that  he  should 
relax  them — that  he  should  not  hold  them 
strictly  to  their  letters  of  instruction,  but 
should  consider  them  as  gentlemen  who 
would  do  their  duty — that  they  could  come 
in  or  go  out  when  they  chose.  Mr.  Bur- 
leigh further  testified  that,  subsequently, 
General  Thomas  had  said  to  him  tnat  the 
only  thing  which  prevented  him  from  tak- 
ing possession  of  the  War  Department  was 
his  arrest  by  the  United  States  marshal. 
Other  witnesses  were  called  to  prove  the 
declarations  of  General  Thomas.  Mr. 
Wilkeson  testified  that  General  Thomas 
said  to  him  that  he  should  demand  possess- 
ion of  the  War  Department,  and,  in  case 
Mr.  Stanton  should  refuse  to  give  it  up,  he 
should  call  upon  General  Grant  for  a  suf- 
ficient force  to  enable  him  to  do  so,  and  he 
did  not  see  how  this  could  be  refused. 
Mr.  Karsener,  of  Delaware,  testified  that 
he  saw  General  Thomas  at  the  President's 
house,  told  him  that  Delaware,  of  which 
State  General  Thomas  is  a  citizen,  expect- 
ed him  to  stand  firm  ;  to  which  General 
Thomas  replied  that  he  was  standing  firm, 
that  he  would  not  disappoint  his  friends, 
but,  that,  in  a  few  days,  he  would  "  kick 
that  fellow  out,"  meaning,  as  the  witness 
supposed,  Mr.  Stanton. 

Thursday,  April  2d. — Various  witnesses 
were  introduced  to  testify  to  the  occur- 
rences when  General  Thomas  demanded 
possession  of  the  War  Department.  After 
this  General  Emory  was  called  to  testify 
to  the  transactions  which  form  the  ground 
of  the  ninth  article  of  impeachment.  His 
testimony  was  to  the  effect  that  the  Presi- 
dent, on  the  22d  of  February,  requested 
him  to  call ;  that,  upon  so  doing,  the  Pres- 
ident asked  respecting  any  changes  that 
had  been  made  in  the  disposition  of  the 
troops  around  Washington ;  that  he  in- 
formed the  President  that  no  important 
changes  had  been  made,  and  that  none 
could  be  made  without  an  order  from  Gen- 
eral Grant,  as  provided  for  in  an  order 
founded  upon  a  law  sanctioned  by  the 
President.  The  President  said  that  this 
law  was  unconstitutional.  Emory  replied 
that  the  President  had  approved  of  it,  and 
that  it  was  not  the  prerogative  of  the  officers 
of  the  army  to  decide  upon  the  constitu- 
tionality of  a  law,  andinthatopinionhe  was 
justified  by  the  opinion  of  eminent  counsel, 
and  thereupon  the  conversation  ended. 

The  prosecution  then  endeavored  to  in- 
troduce testimony  as  to  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  Edmund  Cooper,  the  Private  Sec- 
retary of  the  President,  as  Assistant  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  in  support  of  the 
eighth  and  eleventh  articles  of  impeach- 
ment, which  charge  the  President  with  an 
unlawful  attempt  to  control  the  disposition 
of  certain  public  funds.  This  testimony, 
by  a  vote  of  27  to  22,  was  ruled  out. 

The  prosecution  now,  in  support  of  the 


1S8 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


tenth  and  eleventh  articles  of  impeach- 
ment, charging  the  President  with  endeav- 
oring to  "  set  a:5ide  the  rightlui  autliority 
of  Congrei-S,"  offered  a  telegraphic  dis- 
patch from  the  President  to  Sir.  Parsons, 
at  that  time  (January  17, 1867)  Provisional 
Governor  of  Alabama,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  the  essential  part: 

"I  do  not  believe  the  people  of  the 
whole  country  will  sustain  any  set  of  in- 
dividuals in  the  attempt  to  change  the 
whole  character  of  our  Government  oy  en- 
cabling  acts  in  this  way,  I  believe,  on  the 
contrar}',  that  they  will  eventually  uphold 
all  who  have  patriotism  and  courage  to 
stand  by  the  Constitution,  and  who  place 
their  confidence  in  the  people.  There  should 
be  no  faltering  on  the  part  of  those  who 
are  honest  in  their  determination  to  sustain 
the  several  coordinate  departments  of  the 
Government  in  accordance  with  its  origi- 
nal design."  The  introduction  of  this  was 
objected  to  by  the  counsel  for  the  Presi- 
dent, but  admitted  by  the  Senate,  the  vote 
being  27  to  17. 

The  whole  Friday,  and  a  great  part  of 
Saturday,  (April  3d  and  4th,)  were  occu- 
pied in  the  examination  of  the  persons 
who  reported  the  various  speeches  of  the 
President  which  form  the  basis  of  the  tenth 
article,  the  result  being  that  the  reports 
were  shown  to  be  either  substantially  or 
verbally  accurate.  Then,  after  some  tes- 
timony relating  to  the  forms  in  which 
commissions  to  office  were  made  out,  the 
managers  announced  that  the  case  for  the 
prosecution  was  substantially  closed.  The 
counsel  for  the  President  thereupon  asked 
that  three  working  days  should  be  granted 
them  to  prepare  for  the  defense.  This, 
after  some  discussion,  was  granted  by  the 
Senate  by  a  vote  of  36  to  9,  and  the  trial 
was  adjourned  to  Thursday,  April  9th. 

THE  DEFENSE, 

The  opening  speech  for  the  defense,  oc- 
cupying the  whole  of  Thursday,  and  a 
Eart  of  Friday,  was  made  by  Mr.  Curtis, 
ieserving,  for  a  time,  a  rejoinder  to  Mr. 
Butler's  argument  as  to  the  functions  of 
the  Senate  when  sitting  as  a  Court  of  Im- 
peachment, Mr.  Curtis  proceeded  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  articles  of  impeachment, 
in  their  order,  his  purpose  being  "  to  ascer- 
tain, in  the  first  place,  what  the  substantial 
allegations  in  each  of  them  are,  what  is  the 
legal  proof  and  effect  of  these  allegations, 
ami  what  proof  is  necessary  to  be  adduced 
in'order  to  sustain  them."  The  speech  is 
substantially  an  elaboration  of  and  argu- 
ment for  the  points  embraced  in  the  an- 
swer of  the  President.  The  main  stress  of 
the  argument  related  to  the  first  article, 
which,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Curtis,  when 
stripped  of  all  technical  language,  amounts 
exactly  to  these  things : 

*'  First.  That  the  order  set  out  in  the  ar- 


ticle for  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton,  if 
executed,  would  have  been  a  violation  of 
the  Tenure-of-Office  Act. 

"  Second.  That  it  was  a  violation  of  the 
Tenure-of-Office  Act. 

"  Third.  That  it  was  an  intentional  vio- 
lation of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act. 

"Fourth.  That  it  was  in  violation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"lyth.  That  it  was  intended  by  the 
President  to  be  so. 

"  Or,  to  draw  all  these  into  one  sentence, 
which  I  hope  may  be  intelligible  and  clear 
enough,  I  suppose  the  substance  of  this 
first  article  is  that  the  order  for  the  remo- 
val of  Mr.  Stanton  was,  and  was  intended 
to  be,  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  These  are  the  allega- 
tions which  it  is  necessary  for  the  honor- 
able managers  to  make  out  in  order  to 
support  that  article." 

Mr.  Curtis  proceeded  to  argue  that  the 
case  of  Mr.  Stanton  did  not  come  within 
the  provisions  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act, 
being  expressly  excepted  by  the  proviso 
thai  Cabinet  officers  should  hold  their 
places  during  the  term  of  the  President  by 
whom  they  were  appointed,  and  for  one 
month  thereafter,  unless  removed  by  the 
consent  of  the  Senate.  Mr.  Stanton  was 
appointed  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  whose  term  of 
office  came  to  an  end  by  his  death.  He 
argued  at  length  against  the  proposition 
that  Mr.  Johnson  was  merely  serving  out 
the  remainder  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  term.  The 
object  of  this  exception,  he  said,  was  evi- 
dent. The  Cabinet  officers  were  to  be 
"the  immediate  confidential  assistants  of 
the  President,  for  whose  acts  he  was  to  be 
responsible,  and  in  whom  he  was  expected 
to  repose  the  gravest  honor,  trust,  and  con- 
fidence ;  therefore  it  was  that  this  act  has 
connected  the  tenure  of  office  of  these  offi- 
cers with  that  of  the  President  by  whom 
they  were  appointed."  Mr.  Curtis  gave  a 
new  interpretation  to  that  clause  m  the 
Constitution  which  prescribes  that  the 
President  "  may  require  the  opinion,  in 
writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of 
the  executive  departments  upon  any  sub- 
ject relating  to  the  duties  of  their  several 
offices."  He  understood  that  the  word 
"  their  "  included  the  President,  so  that  he 
might  call  upon  Cabinet  officers  for  advice 
"  relating  to  the  duties  of  the  office  of  these 
principal  officers,  or  relating  to  the  duties 
of  the  President  himself."  This,  at  least, 
he  affirmed,  had  been  the  practical  inter- 
pretation put  upon  this  clause  from  the 
beginning.  To  confirm  his  position  as  to 
the  intent  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act  in 
this  respect,  Mr.  Curtis  quoted  from 
speeches  made  in  both  houses  at  the  time 
when  the  act  was  passed.  Thus,  Senator 
Sherman  said  that  the  act,  as  passed — 

"  Would  not  prevent  the  present  Presi- 
dent from  removing  the  Secretary  of  War, 


EOOK  I.] 


IMPEACHMENT    TRIAL    OF    JOHNSON. 


189 


tlu  Secretarj'  of  the  Navy,  or  the  Secretary 
of  State ;  and,  if  I  supposed  that  either  of 
these  gentlemen  was  so  wanting  in  man- 
hood, in  honor,  as  to  hold  his  place  after 
the  politest  intimation  from  the  President 
.  of  the  United  States  that  his  services  were 
no  longer  needed,  I  certainly,  as  a  Senator, 
would  consent  to  his  removal  at  any  time, 
and  so  would  we  all." 

Mr.  Curtis  proceeded  to  argue  that  there 
was  really  no  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton ;  he 
still  held  his  place,  and  so  there  was  "  no 
case  of  removal  within  the  statute,  and, 
therefore,  no  case  of  violation  by  removal." 
But,  if  the  Senate  should  hold  that  the  or- 
der for  removal  was,  in  effect,  a  removal, 
then,  unless  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act  gave 
Mr.  Stanton  a  tenure  of  office,  this  removal 
Would  not  have  been  contrary  to  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act.  He  proceeded  to  argue 
that  there  was  room  for  grave  doubt 
whether  Mr.  Stanton's  case  came  within 
the  provisions  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act, 
and  that  the  President,  upon  due  conside- 
ration, and  having  taken  the  best  advice 
within  his  power,  considering  that  it  did 
not,  and  acting  accordingly,  did  not,  even 
if  he  was  mistaken,  commit  an  act  "  so  wil- 
ful and  wrong  that  it  can  be  justly  and 
properly,  and  for  the  purposes  of  this 
prosecution,  termed  a  high  misdemeanor." 
He  argued  at  length  that  the  view  of  the 
President  was  the  correct  one,  and  that 
''  the  Senate  had  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton,  whether 
the  Senate  was  in  session  or  not." 

Mr.  Curtis  then  went  on  to  urge  that  the 
President,  being  sworn  to  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed,  must  carry  out 
any  law,  even  though  passed  over  his  veto, 
except  in  cases  where  a  law  which  he  be- 
lieved to  be  unconstitutional  has  cut  off  a 
power  confided  to  him,  and  in  regard  to 
which  he  alone  could  make  an  issue  which 
would  bring  the  matter  before  a  court,  so 
as  to  cause  "a  judicial  decision  to  come 
between  the  two  branches  of  the  Govern- 
ment, to  see  which  of  them  is  right."  This, 
said  he,  is  what  the  President  has  done. 
This  argument,  in  effect,  was  an  answer  to 
the  first  eight  articles  of  impeachment. 

The  ninth  article,  charging  the  Presi- 
dent with  endeavoring  to  induce  General 
Emory  to  violate  the  Taw  by  receiving  or- 
ders directly  from  him,  was  very  briefly 
touched  upon,  it  being  maintained  that,  as 
shown  by  the  evidence,  "  the  reason  why 
the  President  sent  for  General  Emory  was 
not  that  he  might  endeavor  to  seduce  that 
distinguished  officer  from  his  allegiance  to 
J  the  laws  and  Constitution  of  his  country, 
but  because  he  wished  to  obtain  informa- 
tion about  military  movements  which 
might  require  his  personal  attention."    . 

As  to  the  tenth  article,  based  upon  the 
President's  speeches,  it  was  averred  *h  "t 
they  were  in  no  way  in  viol:it"o'i  of  t'le 


Constitution,  or  of  any  law  existing  at  the 
time  when  they  were  made,  and  were  not 
therefore,  impeachable  offenses. 

The  reply  to  the  eleventh  article  was  very 
brief.  The  managers  had  "  compounded  it 
of  the  materials  which  they  had  previously 
worked  up  into  others,"  and  it  "  contained 
nothing  new  that  needed  notice."  Mr. 
Curtis  concluded  his  speech  by  si}ying  that 
— "  This  trial  is  and  will  be  the  most  con- 
spicuous instance  that  has  ever  been,  or 
even  can  be  expected  to  be  found,  of 
American  justice  or  of  American  injustice ; 
of  that  justice  which  is  the  great  policy  of 
all  civilized  States ;  of  that  injustice  which 
is  certain  to  be  condemned,  which  makes 
even  the  wisest  man  mad,  and  which,  in 
the  fixed  and  unalterable  order  of  God's 
providence,  is  sure  to  return  and  plague 
the  inventor." 

At  the  close  of  this  opening  speech  for 
the  defense.  General  Lorenzo  Thomas  was 
brought  forward  as  a  witness.  His  testi- 
mony, elicited  upon  examination  and  cross- 
examination,  was  to  the  effect  that,  having 
received  the  order  appointing  him  Secre- 
tary of  War  ad  interim,  he  presented  it  to 
Mr.  Stanton,  who  asked,  "  Do  you  wish 
me  to  vacate  the  office  at  once,  or  will  you 
give  me  time  to  get  my  private  property 
together?"  to  which  Thomas  replied,  "Act 
your  pleasure."  Afterward  Stanton  said, 
"  I  don't  know  whethei*  I  will  obey  your 
instructions."  Subsequently  Thomas  said 
that  he  should  issue  orders  as  Secretary  of 
War.  Stanton  said  he  should  not  do  so, 
and  afterward  gave  him  a  written  direc- 
tion, not  to  issue  any  order  except  as  Ad- 
jutant-General. During  the  examination 
of  General  Thomas  a  question  came  up 
which,  in  many  ways,  recurred  upon  the 
trial.  He  was  asked  to  tell  what  occurred 
at  an  interview  between  himself  and  the 
President.  Objection  was  made  by  Mr. 
Butler,  and  the  point  was  argued.  The 
question  was  submitted  to  the  Senate, 
which  decided,  by  a  vote  of  42  to  10,  that 
it  was  admissible.  The  testimony  of  Gen- 
eral Thomas,  from  this  point,  took  a  wide 
range,  and,  being  mainly  given  in  response 
to  questions  of  counsel,  was,  apparently, 
somewhat  contradictory.  The  substance 
was  that  he  was  recognized  ])y  the  Presi- 
dent as  Secretary  of  War  ;  th'it,  since  the 
impeachment,  he  had  acted  as  such  only 
in  attending  Cabinet  meetings,  but  had 
given  no  orders  ;  thnt,  when  he  reported  to 
the  President  that  Mr.  Stanton  would  not 
vacate  the  War  Department,  the  President 
directed  him  to  "take  possession  of  the 
office;"  that,  without  orders  from  the 
President,  he  had  intended  to  do  this  by 
force,  if  necessary ;  that,  finding  that  this 
course  might  involve  bloodshed,  he  had 
abandoned  this  pHr;wse,  but  that,  after 
this,  he  had,  in  several  cases,  affinned  his 
pur;io«e  to  do  so,  but  that  these  declara- 


100 


A.MERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


tions  were  "  merely  boast  and  brag."  On 
the  following  day  General  Thomas  was  re- 
called as  a  witness,  to  enable  him  to  cor- 
rect certain  points  in  his  testimony.  The 
first  was  the  date  of  an  unimportant  trans- 
action ;  he  had  given  it  as  taking  place  on 
the  2l8t  of  February,  whereas  it  should 
have  been  the  2  2d.  The  second  was  that 
the  words  of  the  President  were  that  he 
should  "  take  charge,"  not  "  take  posses- 
sion "  of  tiie  War  Department.  In  expla- 
nation of  the  fact  that  he  had  repeatedly 
sworn  to  the  words  "  take  possession,"  he 
said  that  these  were  "  put  into  his  mouth." 
Finally,  General  Thomas,  in  reply  to  a  di- 
rect question  from  Mr.  Butler,  said  that 
his  testimony  on  these  points  was  "all 
wrong." 

Lieutenant-General  Sherman  was  then 
called  as  a  witness.  After  some  unim- 
portant questions,  he  was  asked  in  refer- 
ence to  an  interview  between  himself  and 
the  President  which  took  place  on  the  14th 
of  January:  "At  that  interview  what 
conversation  took  place  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  you  in  reference  to  Mr.  Stan- 
ton ? "  To  this  question  objection  was 
made  by  Mr.  Butler,  and  the  point  was 
elaborately  argued.  The  Chief  Justice 
decided  that  the  question  was  admissible 
within  the  vote  of  the  Senate  of  the  pre- 
vious day ;  the  question  then  was  as  to  the 
admissibility  of  evidence  as  to  a  conversa- 
tion between  the  President  and  General 
Thomas  ;  the  present  question  was  as  to  a 
conversation  oetween  the  President  and 
General  Sherman.  "  Both  questions,"  said 
the  Chief  Justice,  "  are  asked  for  the  pur- 
pose of  procuring  the  intent  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  remove  Mr,  Stanton."  The  ques- 
tion being  submitted  to  the  Senate,  it  was 
decided,  by  a  vote  of  28  to  23,  that  it 
should  not  be  admitted.  The  examina- 
tion of  General  Sherman  was  lontinued, 
the  question  of  the  conversation  aforesaid 
being  frequently  brought  forward,  and  as 
often  rulea  out  by  the  Senate.  The  only 
important  fact  elicited  was  that  the  Presi- 
dent had  twice,  on  the  25th  and  30th  of 
January,  tendered  to  General  Sherman  the 
oflSce  of  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim. 

On  Monday,  April  13th,  after  transac- 
tions of  minor  importance,  the  general 
matter  of  the  conversations  between  the 
President  and  General  Sherman  again 
came  up,  upon  a  qiie*<tion  propounded  by 
Senator  Jonnson — "When  the  President 
tendered  to  you  the  oflSce  of  Secretary 
of  War  ad  interim,  did  he,  at  the  very 
time  of  making  such  tender,  state  to  you 
what  his  purpose  in  so  doing  was  ?  "  This 
was  admitted  by  the  Senate,  by  a  vote  of 
26  to  22.  Senator  Johnson  then  added  to 
his  question,  "  If  he  did,  what  did  he  state 
his  purpose  was?  "  This  was  admitted  by 
a  vote  of  2.")  to  26.  The  testimony  of  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  relating   to  several   inter- 


views, was  to  the  effect  that  the  President 
said  that  the  relations  between  himself  and 
Mr.  Stanton  were  such  that  he  could  not 
execute  the  office  of  President  without 
making  provision  to  appoint  a  Secretary 
of  War  ad  interim,  and  he  offered  that  . 
office  to  him  (General  Sherman),  but  did 
not  state  that  his  purpose  was  to  bring  the 
matter  directly  into  the  courts.  Sherman 
said  that,  if  Mr.  Stanton  would  retire,  he 
might,  although  against  his  own  wishes, 
undertake  to  administer  the  office  ad 
interim,  but  asked  what  would  be  done  in 
case  Mr.  Stanton  would  not  yield.  To 
this  '  the  President  replied,  "  He  will 
make  no  opposition ;  you  present  the  or- 
der, and  he  will  retire.  I  know  him  bet- 
ter than  you  do ;  he  is  cowardly."  General 
Sherman  asked  time  for  reflection,  and 
then  gave  a  written  answer,  declining  to 
accept  the  appointment,  but  stated  that 
his  reasons  were  mostly  of  a  personal  na- 
ture. 

On  the  14th  the  Senate  adjourned,  on 
account  of  the  sudden  illness  of  Mr.  Stan- 
bery.  It  re-assembled  on  the  15th,  but 
the  proceedings  touched  wholly  upon  for- 
mal points  of  procedure  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  unimportant  documentary  evidence. 
On  the  16th  Mr.  Sumner  moved  that  all 
evidence  not  trivial  or  obviously  irrelevant 
shall  be  admitted,  the  Senate  to  judge  of 
its  value.  This  was  negatived  by  a  vote 
of  23  to  11. 

The  17th  was  mainly  taken  up  by  testi- 
mony as  to  the  reliability  of  the  reports  of 
the  President's  speeches.  Mr.  Welles,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  was  then  called  to  tes- 
tify to  certain  proceedings  in  Cabinet 
Council  at  the  time  of  the  appointment  of 
General  Thomas.  This  was  objected  to. 
The  Chief  Justice  decided  that  it  was  ad- 
missible, and  his  decision  was  sustained  by 
a  vote  of  26  to  23.  The  defense  then  en- 
deavored to  introduce  several  members  of 
the  Cabinet,  to  show  that,  at  meetings  pre- 
vious to  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton,  it 
was  considered  whether  it  was  not  desira- 
ble to  obtain  a  judicial  determination  of 
the  unconstitutionality  of  the  Tenure-of- 
Office  Act.  This  Question  was  raised  in 
several  shapes,  ana  its  admission,  after 
thorough  argument  on  both  sides,  as  often 
reftiscd,  in  the  last  instance  by  a  decisive 
vote  of  30  to  19.  The  defense  considered 
this  testimony  of  the  utmost  importance, 
as  going  to  show  that  the  President  haa 
acted  upon  the  counsel  of  his  constitu- 
tional advisers,  while  the  prosecution 
claimed  that  he  could  not  plead  in  justifi- 
cation of  a  violation  of  the  law  that  he 
had  been  advised  by  his  Cabinet,  or  any 
one  else,  that  the  law  was  unconstitutional. 
His  duty  was  to  execute  the  laws,  and,  if 
he  failed  to  do  this,  or  violated  them,  he 
did  so  at  his  own  risk  of  the  consequences. 
With  the  refusal  of   this  testimony,  the 


BOOK  I.] 


GRANT. 


l&l 


case,  except  the  final  summings  up  and  the 
rerdict  of  the  Senate,  was  virtually  closed. 

The  case  had  been  so  fully  set  forth  in 
the  opening  speeches  of  Messrs.  Butler  and 
Curtis,  and  in  the  arguments  which  came 
up  upon  points  of  testimony,  that  there 
remained  little  for  the  other  counsel  except 
to  restate  what  had  before  been  said. 

After  the  evidence  had  been  closed  the 
case  was  summed  up,  on  the  part  of  the 
managers  by  Messrs.  Boutwell,  Williams, 
Stevens,  and  Bingham  in  oral  arguments, 
and  Mr.  Logan,  who  filed  a  written  argu- 
ment, and  on  the  part  of  the  President  by 
Messrs.  Nelson,  Groesbeck,  Stanbery,  and 
Evarts.  Many  of  these  speeches  were  dis- 
tinguished by  great  brilliancy  and  power, 
but,  as  no  new  points  were  presented,  we 
omit  any  summary. 

The  Court  decided  to  take  a  vote  upon 
the  articles  on  Tuesday,  the.  12th  of  May, 
at  12  o'clock,  M.  A  secret  session  was 
held  on  Monday,  during  which  several 
Senators  made  short  speeches,  giving  the 
grounds  upon  which  they  expected  to  cast 
their  votes.  On  Tuesday  the  Court  agreed 
to  postpone  the  vote  until  Saturday,  the 
16th.  Upon  that  day,  at  12  o'clock,  a  vote 
was  taken  upon  the  eleventh  article,  it 
having  been  determined  to  vote  on  that 
article  first.  The  vote  resulted  in  35  votes 
for  conviction,  and  19  for  acquittal. 

The  question  being  put  to  each  Senator, 
"  How  say  you,  is  the  respondent,  Andrew 
Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
guilty  or  not  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor 
as  charged  in  the  article  ?" — those  who  re- 
sponded guilty  were  Senators  Anthony, 
Cameron,  Cattell,  Chandler,  Cole,  Conk- 
ling,  Conness,  Corbett,  Cragin,  Drake,  Ed- 
munds, Ferry,  Frelinghuysen,  Harlan, 
Howard,  Howe,  Morgan,  Morrill,  of  Ver- 
mont, Morrill,  of  Maine,  O.  P.  Morton, 
Nye,  Patterson,  N.  H.  Pomeroy,  Sherman, 
Sprague,  Stewart,  Sumner,  Thayer,  Tipton, 
Wade,  Willey,  Williams,Wilson  and  Yates. 

Those  who  responded  not  guilty  were 


Senators  Bayard,  Buckalew,  Davis,  Dixon, 
Doolittle,  Fessenden,  Fowler,  Grimes,  Hen- 
derson, Hendricks,  Johnson,  M'Creery, 
Norton,  Patterson  of  Tennessee,  Ross,  Sauls- 
bury,  Trumbull,  Van  Winkle  and  Vickers. 

The  Constitution  requiring  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  to  convict,  the  President  waa 
acquitted  on  this  article.  After  taking 
this  vote  the  Court  adjourned  until  Tues- 
day, May  26th,  when  votes  were  taken 
upon  the  second  and  third  articles,  with 
precisely  the  same  result  as  on  the  elev- 
enth, the  vote  in  each  case  standing  35  for 
conviction  and  19  for  acquittal.  A  verdict 
of  acquittal  on  the  second,  third,  and  elev- 
enth articles  was  then  ordered  to  be  en- 
tered on  the  record,  and,  without  voting 
on  the  other  articles,  the  Court  adjourned 
sine  die.  So  the  trial  was  ended,  and  the 
President  acquitted. 

The  political  differences  between  Presi- 
dent Johnson  and  the  Republicans  were 
not  softened  by  the  attempted  impeach- 
ment, and  singularly  enough  the  failure  of 
their  effort  did  not  weaken  the  Republi- 
cans as  a  party.  They  were  so  well  united 
that  those  who  disagreed  with  them  passed 
at  least  temporarily  from  public  life,  some 
of  the  ablest,  like  Senators  Trumbull  and 
Fessenden  retiring  permanently.  Presi- 
dent Johnson  pursued  his  policy,  save 
where  he  was  hedged  by  Congress,  until 
the  end,  and  retired  to  his  native  State,  ap- 
parently having  regained  the  love  of  his 
early  political  associates  there. 

Grant. 

The  Republican  National  Convention 
met  at  Chicago,  111.,  May  20th,  1868,  and 
nominated  with  unanimity,  Ulysses  S. 
Grant,  of  Illinois,  for  President,  and  Schuy- 
ler Colfax,  of  Indiana,  for  Vice  President. 
The  Democratic  Convention  met  in  New 
York  City,  July  4th,  and  after  repeated 
ballots  finally  compromised  on  its  presiding 
officers,*  notwithstanding  repeated  and  ap- 


*  The  following  is  a  correct  table  of  the  ballots  in  the  New  York  Democratic  Convention  ; 


Candidates. 


'■ 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

104 

lioU 

9 
118H 

122 

122K 

137M 

156J^ 

144 

147V$ 

52 

32 

24 

21 

I2U 

6 

b]4 

34J4 

6 

40V< 

43l/f 

46 

47 

^•i>A 

28 

34 

33 

33 

33 

33 

33 

33 

26 

26 

26 

27 

?7 

26 

26 

261^ 

27  v<; 

15H 

13 

13 

13 

13 

7 

7 

7 

7 

uXi 

T4 

i'4 

7 

6 

6 

6 

6 

1  H 

12 

12 

15 

12 

12 

12 

12 

12 

8 

11 

8 

91^ 

-. 

2 

1 

1 

19}| 
"l 

30 
6 

3 

75 
)4 

!^ 

82U 

Horatio  Seymour 

George  H.  Pendleton 105 

Andrew  Johnson 65 

Winfield  S.  Hancock 33^ 

Sanford  E  Church 33 

Asa  Packer 26 

.Joel  Parker I  13 

James  E.  English  !  16 

James  R.  Doolittle 13 

Reverdy  Johnson |  8V 

Thomas  A.  Hendricks 2V 

F.  P.  Blair  Jr 1  \ 

Thomas  Bwing •  |  ... 

J.  Q.  Adams 

George  B.  McClellan •  ... 

Salmon  P.  Chase \  ... 

Franklin  Pierce , 

John  T.  Hoffman , 

Stephen  J.  Field , 

Thomas  H.  Seymour 


33^ 

26 
7 

88 


l02 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Earently  decided  declarations  on  his  part, 
[oratio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  was  there- 
fore nominated  lor  President,  and  Francis 
P.  Blair,  Jr.,  of  Missouri,  for  Vice  Presi- 
dent.* 

An  active  canvass  followed,  in  which  the 
brief  expression — "  let  us  have  peace" — in 
Grant's  letter  of  acceptance,  was  liberally 
employed  by  Republican  journals  and  ora- 
tors to  tone  down  what  were  regarded  as 
rapidly  growing  race  and  .'>ectional  difTer- 
erences,  and  with  such  effect  that  Grant 
carried  all  of  the  States  save  eight,  receiv- 
ing an  electoral  vote  of  214  against  80. 

Grant  inaugurated,  and  the  Congres- 
sional plan  of  reconstruction  was  rapidly 
pushed,  with  at  first  very  little  opposition 
save  that  manifested  by  the  Democrats  in 
Congress.  The  conditions  of  readmission 
were  the  ratification  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  constitutional  amendments. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1869,  the  fif- 
teenth amendment  was  added  to  the  list  by 
its  adoption  in  Congress  and  submission  to 
the  States.  It  conferred  the  right  of  suf- 
frage on  all  citizens,  without  distinction  of 
"  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of  servi- 
tude." By  the  30th  of  March,  1870,  it  was 
ratified  by  twenty-nine  States,  the  required 
three-fourths  of  all  in  the  Union.  There 
was  much  local  agitation  in  some  of  the 
Northern  States  on  this  new  advance,  and 
many  who  had  never  manifested  their  hos- 
tility to  the  negroes  before  did  it  now,  and 
a  portion  of  these  passed  over  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  The  issue,  however,  was 
shrewdly  handled,  and  in  most  instances 
met  Legislatures  ready  to  receive  it.  Many 
of  the  Southern  Stat«s  were  specially  inter- 
ested in  its  passage,  since  a  denial  of  suf- 
frage would  abridge  their  representation  in 
Congress.  This  was  of  course  true  of  all 
the  States,  but  its  force  was  indisputable 
in  sections  containing  large  colored  popu- 
lationa. 


The  41st  Congress  met  in  extra  session 
March  4th,  1869,  with  a  large  Republican 
majority  in  both  branches.  In  the  Senate 
there  were  58  Republicans,  10  Democrats 
and  8  vacancies ;  m  the  House  149  Repub« 
licans,  64  Democrats  and  25  vacancies, 
Mississippi,  Texas,  Virginia  and  Georgia 
not  being  represented.  James  G.  Blaine, 
for  several  years  previous  its  leading  parlia- 
mentarian and  orator,  was  Speaker  of  the 
House.  All  of  Grant's  nominations  for 
Cabinet  places  were  confirmed,  except  A. 
T.  Stewart,  of  New  York,  nominated  for 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  being  en« 
gaged  in  foreign  commerce  he  was  ineligi- 
ble under  the  law,  and  his  name  was  with- 
drawn. The  names  of  the  Cabinet  will  be 
found  in  the  list  of  all  Cabinet  oflBcers 
elsewhere  given.  Their  announcement  at 
first  created  the  impression  that  the  Grant 
administration  was  not  intended  to  be  par- 
tisan, rather  personal,  but  if  there  ever 
was  such  a  purpose,  a  little  political  ex- 

f)erience  on  the  part  of  the  President  quick- 
y  changed  it.  A  political  struggle  soon 
followed  in  Congress  as  to  the  admission  of 
Virginia,  Mississippi  and  Texas,  which  had 
not  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  or 
been  reconstructed.  A  bill  was  passed 
April  10th,  authorizing  their  people  to 
vote  on  the  constitutions  already  prepared 
by  the  State  conventions,  to  elect  members 
o'^  Congress  and  State  officers,  and  requir- 
ing before  readmission  to  the  Union,  their 
Legislatures  to  ratify  both  the  Fourteenth 
and  Fifteenth  Amendments.  This  work 
done,  and  the  extra  session  adjourned. 

In  all  of  the  Southern  States,  those  who 
then  prided  themselves  in  being  "  unrecon- 
structed" and  "irreconcilable,"  bitterly 
opposed  both  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 
Amendments,  and  on  these  issues  excited 
new  feelings  of  hostility  to  the  "  carpet 
baggers"  and  negroes  of  the  South.  With 
th«  close  of  the  war  thousands  of  North- 


Candidates. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

16. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

Horatio  Sevmour 

145'^ 
4>| 
30 

2«i 
7 

80 

i 

48^1 

20 

7 

i'3 

81 

130 

66 

26 
7 

13 
M}4 

129U 
79>l 

"i 

12 
«2H 

107  V^ 
113>| 

"7 
12 

6 
137)^ 

"7  ' 

12 

80 

'"'A 
"3 

144J4 

"i^A 

12 

si 

'"'A 
"3 

135H 
22 

"e 

12 

i'6 

4 

142^^ 

16 
12 

lii 

13 

"9 

2 

136J^ 

19 
12 

132 

317 

(i'OTv;e  H.  'Pendleton 

Andrew  .Johnson 

Winfield  8.  Hnnco<-k 

^nnford  R  Ctiurch 

A  a  Pa<ker 

Jnc\  Parker 

.I>»mps  E.  Enulinh _ 

.James  R.  Doolittle - 

Rev.-rdy  John!<on _ 

Thomas  A.  Hendricki 

::: 

V.  P.  Blair,  Jr 

Thoroaa  Ewlng    

J.  Q.  Adnnn*> 

Georjte  B.  MoClellan 

Salmon  P.  Cha«e 

Trnnklin  Pieroe 

John  T.  Hoffman 

Stephen  J.  Fii-ld 

Thomai  H.  Seyniour 

Necessary  to  choice .212 

•  Qtfneral  Blair  was  nominated  unanimouMy  on  the  first  ballot. 


BooKi.]  READMISSION    OF   REBELLIOUS    STATES. 


193 


ern  men  had  settled  in  the  South.  All  of 
them  were  now  denounced  as  political  ad- 
venturers bv  the  rebels  who  oppose(>  the 
amendments,  reconstruction  and  freedman's 
bureau  acts.  Many  of  these  organized 
themselves  first  into  Ku  Klux  Kians,  secret 
societies,  organized  with  a  view  to  affright 
negroes  from  participancy  in  the  elections, 
and  to  warn  white  men  of  opposing  politi- 
cal views  to  leave  the  country.  The  object 
of  the  organization  broadened  with  the 
troubles  which  it  produced.  Efforts  to 
affright  were  followed  by  midnight  assaults, 
by  horrible  whippings,  outrages  and  mur- 
ders, hardly  a  fraction  of  which  could  be 
traced  to  the  perpetrators.  Doubtless 
many  of  the  stories  current  at  the  time 
were  exaggerated  by  partisan  newspapers, 
but  all  of  the  official  reports  made  then 
and  since  go  to  show  the  dangerous  exces- 
ses which  political  and  race  hostilities 
may  reach.  In  Georgia  the  whites,  by 
these  agencies,  soon  gained  absolute  politi- 
cal control,  and  this  they  used  with  more 
wisdom  than  in  most  Southern  States,  for 
under  the  advice  of  men  like  Stevens  and 
Hill,  they  passed  laws  providing  for  free 
public  schools,  etc.,  but  carefully  guarded 
their  newly  acquired  power  by  also  passing 
tax  laws  which  virtually  disfranchised  more 
than  half  the  blacks.  Later  on,  several 
Southern  States  imitated  this  form  of  po- 
litical sagacity,  and  soon  those  in  favor  of 
"  a  white  man's  government,"  (the  popular 
battle  cry  of  the  period)  had  undisputed 
control  in  Virginia,  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Arkansas  and  Texas — States  which  the  Re- 
publicans at  one  time  had  reason  to  believe 
they  could  control. 


The  Enforcement  Acts. 

To  repress  the  Ku  Klux  outrages,  Con- 
gress in  May  31, 1870,  passed  an  act  giving 
to  the  President  all  needed  powers  to  pro- 
tect the  freedmen  in  their  newly  acquired 
rights,  and  to  punish  the  perpetrators  of 
all  outrages,  whether  upon  whites  or  blacks. 
This  was  called  in  Congress  the  Enforce- 
ment Act,  and  an  Amendatory  Enforce- 
ment Act  was  inserted  in  the  Sundry  Civil 
Bill,  June  10,  1872.  The  Ku  Klux  Act 
was  passed  April  20,  1871.  All  of  these 
measures  were  strongly  advocated  by  Sena- 
tor Oliver  P.  Morton,  who  through  this 
advocacy  won  new  political  distinction  as 
the  special  champion  of  the  rights  of  the 
blacks.  Later  on  James  G.  Blaine,  then 
the  admitted  leader  of  the  House,  opposed 
some  of  the  supplements  for  its  better  en- 
forcement, and  to  this  fact  is  traceable  the 
refusal  on  the  part  of  the  negroes  of  the 
South  to  ^ive  him  thit  warm  support  as  a 
Presidential  candidate  which  his  high  abili- 
ties commanded  in  otlier  sections. 

The  several  Enforcement  Acts  and  their 
•upplements  are  too  voluminous  for  inser- 
13 


tio'n  here,  and  they  are  of  little  u  e  eave  as 
relics  of  the  bitter  days  of  reconstruction. 
They  have  little  force  now,  although  some 
of  them  still  stand.  They  became  a  dead 
letter  after  the  defeat  of  the  "  carpet-bag 
governments,"  but  the  l*re.sident  enforced 
them  as  a  rule  with  moderation  and  wisdom. 
The  enforcement  of  the  Ku  Klux  Act 
led  to  the  disbanding  of  that  oiganization 
after  the  trial,  arrest  and  conviction  of 
many  of  the  leaders.  These  trials  brought 
out  the  facts,  and  awakened  many  South- 
ern minds,  theretofore  incredulous,  to  the 
enormity  of  the  secret  political  crimej 
which  had  been  committed  in  all  the  South- 
ern States,  and  for  a  time  popular  senti- 
ment even  in  the  South,  ancl  amongst  for- 
mer rebel  soldiers,  ran  strongly  against  the 
Klan.  With  fresh  political  excitements, 
however,  fresh  means  of  intimidation  were 
employed  at  elections.  Rifle  clubs  were 
formed,  notably  in  South  Carolina  and 
Mississippi,  while  in  Louisiana  the  "  White 
League'-  sprang  into  existence,  and  was 
organized  in  all  of  the  neighboring  States. 
These  were  more  difficult  to  deal  with. 
They  were  open  organizations,  created  un- 
der the  semblance  of  State  militia  acts. 
They  became  very  popular,  especially 
among  the  younger  men,  and  from  this 
time  until  the  close  of  the  Presidential 
election  in  1876,  were  potent  factors  in 
several  Southern  States,  and  we  shall  have 
occasion  further  on  to  describe  their  more 
important  movements. 


Readmlsfilou  of  Rebellions  States. 

Before  the  close  of  1869  the  Supreme 
Court,  in  the  case  of  Texas  vs.  White,  sus- 
tained the  constitutionality  of  the  Recon- 
struction acts  of  Congress.  It  held  that 
the  ordinances  of  secession  had  been  "  ab- 
solutely null ; "  that  the  seceding  States 
had  no  right  to  secede  and  had  never  been 
out  of  the  Union,  but  that,  during  and 
after  their  rebellion,  they  had  no  govern- 
ments "  competent  to  represent  these  States 
in  their  relations  with  the  National  gov- 
ernment," and  therefore  Congress  had  the 
power  to  re-establish  the  relations  of  any 
rebellious  State  to  the  Union.  This  de- 
cision fortified  the  position  of  the  Repub- 
licans, and  did  much  to  aid  President 
Grant  in  the  difficult  work  of  reconstruc- 
tion. It  modified  the  assaults  of  the  Dem- 
ocrats, and  in  some  measure  changed  their 
purpose  to  make  Reconstruction  the  pivot 
around  which  smaller  political  issues 
should  revolve. 

The  regular  session  of  the  41st  Congress 
met  Dec.  4th,  1869,  and  before  its  close 
Virginia,  Georgia,  Texas,  and  Mississippi 
had  all  complied  with  the  conditions  of  re- 
construction, and  were  re-admitted  to  the 
Union.  This  practically  completed  the 
work  of  reconstruction.    To  summarise :— 


194 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Tennessee  was  re-admitted  July  24th, 
1866;  Arkansas,  June  22d,  1868;  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Louisiana, 
Georgia  and  Florida  under  the  act  of  June 
25th,  1868,  which  provided  that  as  soon  as 
they  fulfilled  the  conditions  imposed  by 
the  acts  of  March,  1^  67,  they  should  be  re- 
admitted. All  did  this  promptly  except 
Georgia.  Virginia  was  re-admitted  Jan- 
uary 25th,  1870;  Mississippi,  Feb.  23d, 
1870 ;  Texas,  March  30th,  1870.  Georgia, 
the  most  powerful  and  stubborn  of  all,  had 
passed  State  laws  declaring  negroes  incapa- 
ble of  holding  office,  in  addition  to  what 
was  known  as  the  "  black  code,"  and  Con- 
gress refiised  full  admission  until  she  had 
revoked  the  laws  and  ratified  the  15th 
Amendment.  The  State  finally  came  back 
into  the  Union  July  15th,  1870. 

The  above  named  States  completed  the 
ratification  of  the  15th  amendment,  and 
the  powers  of  reconstruction  were  plainly 
used  to  that  end.  Some  of  the  Northern 
States  had  held  back,  and  for^  time  its 
ratification  by  the  necessary  three-fourths 
was  a  mutter  of  grave  doubt.  Congress 
next  pa-«sed  a  bill  to  enforce  it,  May  30th, 
1870.  This  made  penal  any  interference, 
by  force  or  fraud,  with  the  right  of  free 
and  full  manhood  suffrage,  and  authorized 
the  President  to  use  the  army  to  prevent 
violations.  The  measure  was  generally 
supported  by  the  Republicans,  and  opposed 
by  all  of  the  Democrats. 

The  Republicans  through  other  guards 
about  the  ballot  by  passing  an  act  to 
amend  the  naturalization  laws,  which  made 
it  penal  to  use  false  naturalization  papers, 
authorized  the  appointment  of  Federal 
supervisors  of  elections  in  cities  of  over 
20,000  inhabitants ;  gave  to  these  power  of 
arrest  for  any  offense  committed  in  their 
view,  and  gave  alien  Africans  the  right  to 
naturalize.  The  Democrats  in  their  oppo- 
sition laid  particular  stress  upon  the  extra- 
ordinary powers  given  to  Federal  super- 
visors, while  the  Republicans  charged  that 
Seymour  had  carriea  New  York  by  gigan- 
tic naturalization  frauds  in  New  York  city, 
and  sought  to  sustain  these  charges  by  the 
unprecedented    vote    polled.     A    popular 

2uotation  of  the  time  was  from  Horace 
treelev,  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  who 
showed  thnt  under  the  manipulations  of 
the  Tweed  ring,  more  votes  had  been  cast 
for  Seymour  i  n  one  of  the  warehouse  wards 
of  the  city,  "than  there  were  men,  women, 
children,  and  cats  and  dogs  in  it." 


The  IjCI^I  Tender  Df^lalon. 

The  Act  of  Congress  of  1862  had  made 
"  greenback  "  notes  a  legal  tender,  and  they 
passed  a.s  such  until  1869  against  the  pro- 
tests of  the  Democrats  in  Congress,  who 
had  questioned  the  right  of  Congress  to 
iflsue  paper  money.    It  was  on  this  issue 


that  Thaddeus  Stevens  admitted  the  Re- 
publicans were  travelling  "  outside  of  the 
coniAitution  "  with  a  view  to  preserve  the 
government,  and  this  soon  became  one  of 
his  favorite  ways  of  meeting  partisan  ob- 
jections to  war  measures.  At  the  Decem- 
ber term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  1869,  a 
decision  was  rendered  that  the  action  of 
Congress  was  unconstitutional,  the  Court 
then  being  accidentally  Democratic  in  its 
composition.  The  Republicans,  believing 
they  could  not  afford  to  have  their  favorite, 
and  it  must  be  admitted  most  useful  finan- 
cial measure  questioned,  secured  an  in- 
crease of  two  in  the  number  of  Supreme 
Justices — one  under  a  law  creating  an  ad- 
ditional Justiceship,  the  other  in  place  of 
a  Justice  who  had  resigned — and  in  March, 
1870,  after  the  complexion  of  the  Court 
had  been  changed  through  Republican  ap- 
pointments made  by  President  Grant,  the 
constitutionality  of  the  legal  tender  act 
was  again  raised,  and,  with  Chief  Justice 
Chase  (who  had  been  Secretary  of  tfie 
Treasury  in  1862  presiding)  the  previous 
decision  was  reversed.  This  was  clearly  a 
partisan  struggle  before  the  Court,  and  on 
the  part  of  the  Republicans  an  abandon- 
ment of  old  landmarks  impressed  on  the 
country  by  the  Jackson  Democrats,  but  it 
is  plain  that  without  the  greenbacks  the 
war  could  not  have  been  pressed  with  half 
the  vigor,  if  at  all.  Neither  party  was 
consistent  in  this  struggle,  for  Southern 
Democrats  who  sided  with  their  North- 
ern colleagues  in  the  plea  of  uncon- 
stitutionality, had  when  "out  of  the 
Union,"  witnessed  and  advocated  the  issue 
of  the  same  class  of  money  by  the  Con- 
federate Congress.  The  difference  was 
only  in  the  ability  to  redeem,  and  this 
ability  depended  upon  success  in  arms — 
the  very  thing  the  issue  was  designed  to 
promote.  The  last  decision,  despite  its 
partisan  surroundings  and  opposition,  soon 
won  popularity,  and  this  popularity  was 
subsequently  taken  as  the  groundwork  for 
the  establishment  of 

Tbe  Greenback  Partjr. 

.This  party,  with  a  view  to  ease  the 
rigors  of  the  monetary  panic  of  1873,  ad- 
vocated an  unlimited  issue  of  greenbacks, 
or  an  "  issue  based  upon  the  resources  of 
the  country."  So  vigorously  did  dis- 
contented leaders  of  both  parties  press  this 
idea,  that  they  soon  succeeded  in  demoral- 
izing the  Democratic  minority— which 
was  by  this  time  such  a  plain  minority, 
and  so  greatly  in  need  ol^  new  issues  to 
make  the  people  forget  the  war,  that  it  is 
not  surprising  they  yielded,  at  least  par- 
tially, to  new  theories  and  alliances.  The 
present  one  took  them  away  from  the 
principles  of  Jackson,  from  the  hard- 
money  theories  of  the  early  days,  and  would 
land  them  they  knew  not  where,  nor  did 


BOOK  I.J 


THE    GREENBACK    PARTY. 


195 


many  of  them  care,  if  they  could  once 
more  get  upon  their  feet.  Some  resisted, 
and  comparatively  few  of  the  Democrats 
in  the  Middle  States  yielded,  but  in  part 
of  New  England,  the  great  West,  and 
nearly  all  of  the  South,  it  was  for  several 
years  quite  difficult  to  draw  a  line  between 
trreenbackers  and  Democrats.  Some  Re- 
publicans, too,  who  had  tired  of  the  "  old 
war  issues,"  or  discontented  with  the  man- 
agement and  leadership  of  their  party, 
aided  in  the  construction  of  the  Green- 
back bridge,  and  kept  upon  it  as  long  as  it 
was  safe  to  do  so.  In  State  elections  up 
to  as  late  as  1880  this  Greenback  element 
was  a  most  important  factor.  Ohio  was 
carried  by  an  alliance  of  Greenbackers  and 
Democrats,  Allen  being  elected  Governor, 
only  to  be  supplanted  by  Hayes  (after- 
wards President)  after  a  most  remarkable 
contest,  the  alliance  favoring  the  Green- 
back, the  Republicans  not  quite  the  hard- 
money,  but  a  redeemable-in-gold  theory. 
Indiana,  always  doubtful,  passed  over  to 
the  Democratic  column,  while  in  the 
Southern  States  the  Democratic  leaders 
made  open  alliances  until  the  Greenback- 
ers became  over-confident  and  sought  to 
win  Congressional  and  State  elections  on 
their  own  merits.  They  fancied  that  the 
desire  to  repudiate  ante-war  debts  would 
greatly  aid  them,  and  they  openly  advo- 
cated the  idea  of  repudiation  there,  but 
they  had  experienced  and  wise  leaders  to 
cope  with.  They  were  not  allowed  to 
monopolize  this  issue  by  the  Democrats, 
and  their  arrogance,  if  such  it  may  be 
called,  was  punished  by  a  more  complete 
assertion  of  Democratic  power  in  the  South 
than  was  ever  known  before.  The  theory 
in  the  South  was  welcomed  where  it  would 
suit  the  Democracy,  crushed  where  it 
would  not,  as  shown  in  the  Presidential 
election  of  1880,  when  Garfield,  Hancock 
and  Weaver  (Greenbacker)  were  the  can- 
didates. Tlie  latter,  in  his  stumping  tour 
of  the  South,  proclaimed  that  he  and  his 
friends  were  Jis  much  maltreated  in  Ala- 
bama and  other  States,  as  the  Republicans, 
and  for  some  cause  thereafter  (the  Demo- 
crats alleged  "a  bargain  and  sale")  he 
practically  threw  his  aid  to  the  Repub- 
licans— this  when  it  became  apparent  that 
the  Greenbackers,  in  the  event  of  the  elec- 
tion going  to  the  House,  could  have  no 
chance  even  there. 

G«n'l  Weaver  went  from  the  South  to 
Maine,  the  scene  pf  what  was  regarded  at 
that  moment  as  a  pivotal  struggle  for  the 
Presidency.  Blaine  had  twice  been  the 
most  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency—1876  and  1880— and  had  both 
times  been  defeated  by  compromise  candi- 
dates. He  was  still,  as  he  had  been  for 
many  years,  Chairman  of  the  Republican 
State  Committee  of  Maine,  and  now  as 
fcver  before  swallowed  the  mortification  of 


defeat  with  true  political  grace.  The 
Greenbackers  had  the  year  before  formed 
a  close  alliance  with  the  Democrats,  and 
in  the  State  election  made  the  result  so 
close  that  for  many  weeks  it  remained  a 
matter  of  doubt  who  was  elected  Governor, 
the  Democratic  Greenbacker  or  the  Re- 
publican. A  struggle  followed  in  the 
Legislature  and  before  the  Returning 
Board  composed  of  State  officers,  who 
were  Democrats,  (headed  by  Gov.  Gar- 
celon)  and  sought  to  throw  out  returns  on 
slight  technicalities.  Finally  the  Repub- 
licans won,  but  not  without  a  struggle 
which  excited  attention  all  over  the  Union 
and  commanded  the  presence  of  the  State 
militia.  Following  Garfield's  nomination 
another  struggle,  as  we  have  stated,  was 
inaugurated,  with  Davis  as  the  Republican 
nominee-for  Governor,  Plaisted  the  Demo- 
cratic-Greenback, (the  latter  a  former  I{,e- 
publican).  All  eyes  now  turned  to  Maine, 
which  voted  in  September.  Gen'l  Weaver 
was  on  the  stump  then,  as  the  Greenback 
candidate  for  President,  and  all  of  his 
efforts  were  bent  to  breaking  the  alliance 
between  the  Greenbackers  and  Demo- 
crats. 

He  advocated  a  straight-out  policy  for  his 
Greenback  friends,  described  his  treatment 
in  the  South,  and  denounced  the  Demo- 
cracy with  such  plainness  that  it  displayed 
his  purpose  and  defeated  his  object. 
Plaisted  was  elected  by  a  close  vote,  and 
the  Republicans  yielded  after  some  threats 
to  invoke  the  "'  Garcelon  precedents." 
This  was  the  second  Democratic-Green- 
back victory  in  Maine,  the  first  occurring 
two  years  before,  when  through  an  alli- 
ance in  the  Legislature  (no  candid.st€ 
having  received  a  majority  of  all  the  popu- 
lar vote)  Garland  was  returned. 

The  victory  of  Plaisted  alarmed  the  Re- 
publicans and  enthused  the  Democrats, 
who  now  denounced  Weaver,  but  still 
sought  alliance  with  his  followers.  Gene- 
ral B.  F.  Butler,  long  a  brilliant  Republi- 
can member  of  Congress  from  Massachu- 
setts, for  several  years  advocated  Green- 
back ideas  without  breaking  from  his  Re- 
publican Congreasional  colleagues.  Be- 
cause of  this  fact  he  lost  whatever  of 
chance  he  had  for  a  Republican  nomination 
for  Governor,  "his  only  remaining  politi- 
cal ambition,"  and  thereupon  headed  the 
Greenbackers  in  Massachusetts,  and  in 
spite  of  the  protests  of  the  hard-money 
Democrats  in  that  State,  captured  the  De- 
mocratic organization,  and  after  these  tac- 
tics twice  ran  for  Governor,  and  was  de- 
feated both  times  by.  the  Republicans, 
though  he  succeeded,  upon  State  and 
"anti-blue  blood"  theories,  in  greatly  re- 
ducing their  majority.  In  the  winter  of 
1882  he  still  held  control  of  the  Demo- 
cratic State  Committee,  after  tlie  Green- 
back organization  had  passed  from  view, 


196 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


and  "  what  will  he  do  next?"  is  one  of  the 
political  questions  of  the  hour. 

The  Greenback  labor  party  ceased  all 
Congressional  alliance  with  the  Democrats 
after  their  quarrel  with  General  Weaver, 
and  as  late  as  the  47th  session — 1881-82 — 
refused  all  alliance,  and  abstained  from 
exercising  what  some  still  believe  a  "  bal- 
ance of  power"  in  the  House,  though 
nearly  half  of  their  numb'^r  were  elected 
more  as  Republicans  than  Greenbackers. 

As  a  party,  the  Greenbackers,  standing 
alone,  never  carried  either  a  State  or  a 
Congressional  district.  Their  local  suc- 
cesses were  due  to  alliances  with  one  or 
other  of  the  great  parties,  and  with  the 
passage  of  the  panic  they  dissolved  in 
many  sections,  and  where  they  still  obtain 
it  is  in  alliance  with  labor  unions,  or  in 
strong  mining  or  workingmen's  districts. 
In  the  Middle  States  they  won  few  local 
successes,  but  were  strong  in  the  coal 
regions  of  Pennsylvania.  Advocates  of 
similar  theories  have  not  been  wanting  in 
all  the  countries  of  Western  Europe  follow- 
ing great  wars  or  panics,  but  it  was  re- 
served to  the  genius  of  Americans  to  estab- 
lish an  aggressive  political  party  on  the 
basis  of  theories  which  all  great  political 
economists  have  from  the  beginning  an- 
tagonized as  unsafe  and  unsound. 


Tlte  Problbitoiy  Party. 

The  attempt  to  establish  a  third  party  in 
the  Greenback,  begot  that  to  establish  a 
National  Prohibitory  Party,  which  in  1880 
ran  James  Black  of  Pennsylvania,  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and  four 
years  previous  ran  Neal  Dow  of  Maine. 
lie,  however,  commanded  little  attention, 
and  received  but  sparsely  scattered  votes 
in  all  the  States.  The  sentiment  at  the 
base  of  this  party  never  thrived  save  as  in 
States,  particularly  in  New  England,  where 
it  sought  to  impress  itself  on  the  prevail- 
ing political  party,  and  through  it  to  influ- 
ence legislation.  Neal  Dow  of  Maine,  first 
advocated  a  prohibitory  law,  and  by  his 
eloguent  advocacy,  secured  that  of  Maine, 
which  has  stoocl  for  nearly  thirty  years. 
That  of  Mas.sachusetts  has  recently  been 
repealed.  The  prohibitory  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  of  Kansas  was  adopted  in 
1881,  etc.  The  Prohibitory  Party,  how- 
ever, never  accomplished  anything  by  sep- 
arate political  action,  and  though  fond  of 
nominating  candidates  for  State  and  local 
officers,  has  not  as  yet  succeeded  in  hold- 
ing even  a  balance  of  power  between  the 
political  parties,  though  it  has  often  con- 
hiaed  political  calculations  as  to  results  in 
New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Connecti- 
cut, Massachusette,  etc.  It  seems  never  to 
have  taken  hold  in  any  of  the  Southern 
States,  and    comparatively  little   in  the 


Western,  until  the  whole  country  was  sur- 
prised in  1880  by  the  passage  of  the  Kan- 
sas amendment  by  over  20,000  majority  in 
a  vote  of  the  people  invoked  by  the  Legis- 
lature. An  effort  followed  to  submit  a  sim- 
ilar amendment  through  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature  in  1881.  It  passed  the  House 
by  a  large  majority,  but  after  discussion  in 
the  Senate,  and  amendmente  to  indemnify 
manufacturers  and  dealers  in  liquor  (an 
amendment  which  would  cripple  if  it  would 
not  bankrupt  the  State)  was  adopted.  Gov- 
ernor St.  John  of  Kansas,  a  gentleman  fond 
of  stumping  for  this  amendment,  insists 
that  the  results  are  good  in  his  State,  while 
its  enemies  claim  that  it  has  made  many 
criminals,  that  liquor  is  every  where  smug- 
gled and  sold,  and  that  the  law  has  turned 
the  tide  of  immigration  away  from  that  great 
State.  The  example  of  Kansas,  however, 
will  probably  be  followed  in  other  States, 
and  the  Prohibitory  Party  will  hardly  pass 
from  view  until  this  latest  experiment  haa 
been  fairly  tested.  It  was  also  the  authc»r 
of  "  Local  Option,"  which  for  a  time  swept 
Pennsylvania,  but  was  repealed  by  a  large 
majority  after  two  years'  trial. 


Annexation  of  San  Doniln§;o. 

The  second  session  of  the  41st  Congress 
began  December  5th,  1870,  With  all  of 
the  States  represented,  reconstruction  be- 
ing complete,  the  body  was  now  divided 
politically  as  follows :  Senate,  61  Repub- 
licans, 13  Democrats  ;  House  172  Republi- 
cans, 71  Democrats.  President  Grant's  an- 
nual message  discussed  a  new  question, 
and  advocated  the  annexation  of  San  Do- 
mingo to  the  United  States.  A  treaty  had 
been  negotiated  between  President  (jrrunt 
and  the  President  of  the  Republic  of  San 
Domingo  as  early  as  September  4th,  1869, 
looking  to  annexation,  but  it  had  been  re- 
jected by  the  Senate,  Charles  Sumner  be- 
ing prominent  in  his  opposition  to  the 
measure.  He  and  Grant  experienced  a 
growing  personal  unpleasantness,  because 
of  the  President's  attempt  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  without  consulting  Mr.  Sumner,  who 
was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  For- 
eign Affairs,  and  it  was  charged  that 
through  the  influence  of  the  President  he 
was  removed  by  the  Republican  caucus 
from  this  Chairmanship,  and  Senator  Si- 
mon Cameron  put  in  his  place.  Whether 
this  was  true  or  not,  the  differences  be- 
tween Grant  and  Sumner  were  universally 
remarked,  and  Sumner's  imperious  pride 
led  him  into  a  very  vindictive  assault  up- 
on the  proposition.  Grant  gave  few  other 
reasons  for  annexation  than  military  ones, 
suggested  that  as  a  naval  station  it  would 
facilitate  all  home  operations  in  the  Gulf, 
while  in  the  hands  of  a  foreign  power,  in 
the  event  of  war,  it  would  prove  the  depot 
for  many  and  dangerous  warlike  prepa- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    FORCE    BILL. 


197 


rations.  The  question  had  little  political 
significance,  if  it  was  ever  designee!  to  have 
any,  and  this  second  attempt  to  bring  tiie 
scheme  to  the  attention  of  Congress,  was 
that  a  joint  resolution  (as  in  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas)  might  be  passed.  This 
would  require  but  a  majority,  but  the  ob- 
jection was  met  that  no  Territory  could  be 
annexed  without  a  treaty,  and  this  must 
be  ratified  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate.  A 
middle  course  was  taken,  and  the  Presi- 
dent was  authorized  to  appoint  three  Com- 
missioners to  visit  San  Domingo  and  as- 
certain the  desires  of  its  people.  These 
reported  favorably,  but  the  subject  was 
finally  dropped,  probably  because  the  pro- 
position could  not  command  a  two-thirds 
vote,  and  has  not  since  attracted  attention. 


Amendatory  Enforcement  Acts. 

The  operation  of  the  15th  Amendment, 
being  still  resisted  or  evaded  in  portions 
of  the  South,  an  Act  was  passed  to  enforce 
it.  This  extended  the  powers  of  the  Fed- 
eral supervisors  and  marshals,  authorized 
in  the  first,  and  gave  the  Federal  Circuit 
Courts  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  all  cases 
tried  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act  and 
its  supplements.  It  also  empowered  these 
Courts  to  punish  any  State  ofiicer  who 
should  attempt  to  interfere  with  or  try 
such  cases  as  in  contempt  of  the  Court's 
jurisdiction.  The  Republicans  sustained, 
the  Democrats  opposed  the  measure,  but 
it  was  passed  and  approved  February  28, 
1871,  and  another  supplement  was  insert- 
ed in  the  Sundry  Civil  Bill,  and  approved 
June  10th,  1872,  with  continued  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  Democrats.  After  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  investi- 
gate the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  South- 
ern States,  Congress  adjourned  March  4th, 
1871. 


The  Alabama  Clatm#. 

During  this  year  the  long  disputed  Ala- 
bama Claims  of  the  United  States  against 
Great  Britain,  arising  from  the  depreda- 
t  ons  of  the  Anglo-rebel  privateers,  built 
and  fitted  out  in  British  waters,  were  re- 
ferred by  the  Treaty  of  Washington,  dated 
May  8th,  1871,  to  arbitrators,  and  this 
was  the  first  and  most  signal  triumph 
of  the  plan  of  arbitration,  so  far  as  the 
Grovernment  of  the  United  States  was 
concerned.  The  arbitrators  were  appointed, 
at  the  invitation  of  tlie  governments  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  from 
these  powers,  and  from  Brazil,  Italy,  and 
Switzerland.  On  September  14th,  1872, 
they  gave  to  the  United  States  gross  dam- 
ages to  the  amount  of  $15,500,000,  an 
amount  which  has  subsequently  proved  to 
be  really  in  excess  of  the  demands-of  mer- 
chants and   others  claiming  the  loss  of 


property  through  the  depredations  of  the 
rebel  ram  Alabama  and  other  rebel  priva- 
teers. We  append  a  list  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  several  governments : 

Arbitrator  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States — Charles  Francis  Adams. 

Arbitrator  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain — 
The  Right  Honorable  Sir  Alexander 
CoCKBURN,  Baronet,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
England. 

Arbitrator  on  the  part  of  Italy — His  Ex- 
cellency Senator  Count  Sclopis. 

Arbitrator  on  the  part  of  Switzerland — 
Mr.  Jacob  Stampfli. 

Arbitrator  on  the  part  of  Brazil — Baron 
D'Itajuba. 

Agent  on  the  part  of  the  United  States — J. 
C.  Bancroft  Davis. 

Agent  on  the  part  of  Or  eat  Britain — 
Eight  Honorable  Lord  Tenterden. 

Counsel  for  the  United  States — Caleb 
CusHiNG,  William  M.  Evarts,  Morri- 
son R.  Waite. 

Counsel  for  Great  Britain — Sir  ROUN- 
dell  Palmer. 

Solicitor  for  the  United  States — Charles 
C.  Beaman,  Jr. 


The  Force  Bill. 

The  42d  Congress  met  March  4,  1871, 
the  Republicans  having  suffered  somewhat 
in  their  representation.  In  the  Senate 
there  were  57  Republicans,  17  Democrats; 
in  the  House  138  Republicans,  103  Demo- 
crats. James  G.  Blaine  was  again  chosen 
Speaker.  The  most  exciting  political 
question  of  the  session  was  the  passage  of 
the  "  Force  Bill,"  as  the  Democrats  called 
it.  The  object  was  more  rigidly  to  enforce 
observance  of  the  provisions  of  the  14th 
Amendment,  as  the  Republicans  claim; 
to  revive  a  waning  political  power  in  the 
South,  and  save  the  "  carpet-bag  "  govern- 
ments there,  as  the  Democrats  claimed. 
The  Act  allowed  suit  in  the  Federal  courts 
against  any  person  who  should  deprive 
another  of  the  rights  of  a  citizen,  and  it 
made  it  a  penal  offense  to  conspire  to  take 
away  any  one's  rights  as  a  citizen.  It  also 
provided  that  inability,  neglect,  or  refusal 
by  any  State  governments  to  suppress  such 
conspiracies,  or  their  refusal  to  call  upon 
the  President  for  aid,  should  be  deemed  a 
denial  by  such  State  of  the  equal  protec- 
tion of  the  laws  under  the  14th  Amend- 
ment. It  further  declared  such  conspira- 
cies "  a  rebellion  against  the  government 
of  the  United  States,"  and  autliorized  the 
President,  when  in  his  judgment  the  pub- 
lic safety  required  it,  to  suspend  the  privi- 
lege of  habeas  corpus  in  any  district,  and 
suppress  any  such  insurrection  by  the 
army  and  navy. 


:98 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Piffildeut  H»)rcs'a  Cl^-U  Service  Order. 

EiECCTivE  Mansion,  Washington,  June 22, 1877. 

Sir  : — I  desire  to  call  your  attention  to 
t.h-6  following  paragraph  in  a  letter  ad- 
dressed by  me  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  on  the  conduct  to  be  observed  by 
th?  officers  of  the  General  Government  in 
relation  to  the  elections  : 

"No  officer  should  be  required  or  per- 
mitted to  take  part  in  the  management  of 
political  organizations,  caucuses,  conven- 
tion <  or  election  campaigns.  Their  right  to 
▼ote  and  to  express  their  views  on  public 
questions,  either  orally  or  through  the 
press,  is  not  denied,  provided  it  does  not 
interfere  with  the  discharge  of  their  offi- 
cial duties.  No  assessment  for  political 
purposes  on  officers  or  subordinates  should 
oe  allowed." 

This  rule  is  applicable  to  every  depart- 
ment of  vhe  Civil  Service-  It  should  be 
understood  by  every  officer  of  the  General 
Government  that  he  is  expected  to  conform 
his  t;onduct  to  its  requirements. 

Very  respectfully,  E.  B.  Hayes. 

S  3me  of  the  protests  were  strong,  and  it 
ia  difficult  to  say  whether  Curtis,  Julian, 
or  Edton — its  three  leading  advocates — or 
the  politicians,  had  the  best  of  the  argu- 
ment. It  was  not  denied,  however,  that  a 
strong  and  very  respectable  sentiment  had 
been  created  in  favor  of  the  reform,  and  to 
thi^  sentiment  all  parties,  and  the  President 
a.«  well,  made  a  show  of  bowing.  It  was 
fasliionable  to  insert  civil  service  planks 
ic  National  and  State  platforms,  but  it  was 
w;is  not  such  an  insue  as  could  livein  the 
presence  of  more  exciting  ones;  and  while 
to  this  day  it  has  earnest  and  able  advo- 
catss,  it  has  from  year  to  year  fallen  into 
gtf-ater  disuse.  Actual  trial  showed  the 
HI' practicability  of  some  of  the  rules,  and 
President  Grant  lost  interest  in  £he  subject, 
aa  did  Congress,  for  in  several  instances  it 
neglected  to  appropriate  the  funds  necessary 
to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  law. 
President  Arthur,  in  his  message,  to  Con- 
gress in  December,  1381,  argued  against 
Its  fill!  application,  and  showed  that  it 
blocked  the  way  to  preferment,  certainly 
of  the  middle-aged  and  older  persons,  who 
could  not  recall  their  early  lessons  ac- 
quired by  rote;  that  its  effect  was  to  ele- 
vate the  inexperienced  to  positions  which 
required  executive  ability,  sound  judgment 
business  aptitude,  and  experience.  The 
feature  of  the  message  met  the  endorsment 
of  nearly  the  entire  Republican  pre=«,  and 
at  this  writing  the  sentiment,  at  least  of 
the  Republican  party,  appears  to  favor  a 
partial  modification  of  the  rules. 

The  system  was  begun  January  1st,  1872, 
but  in  December,  1874,  Congre.S8  refused  to 
make  any  typpropriations,  and  it  was  for  a 
time  abandoned,  with  slight  and  spasmodic 


revivals  under  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Hayes,  who  issued  the  foregoing  order. 

By  letter  from  the  Attorney-General, 
Charles  Devens,  August  1, 1877,  this  order 
was  held  to  apply  to  the  Pennsylvania  Re- 
publican Association  at  Washington.  Still 
later  there  was  a  further  exposition,  in 
which  Attorney- General  Devens,  writing 
from  Washington  in  October  1,  1877,  ex- 
cuses himself  from  active  participation  in 
the  Massachusetts  State  campaign,  and 
says  :  "  I  learn  with  surprise  and  regret 
that  any  of  the  Republican  officials  hesitate 
either  to  speak  or  vote,  alleging  as  a  reason 
the  President's  recent  Civil  Service  order. 
In  distinct  terms  that  order  states  that  the 
right  of  officials  to  vote  and  express  their 
views  on  public  questions,  either  orally  or 
through  the  press,  is  not  denied,  provided 
it  does  not  interfere  with  the  discharge  of 
their  official  duties.  If  such  gentlemen 
choose  not  to  vote,  or  not  to  express  or  en- 
force their  views  in  support  of  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party,  either  orally 
or  otherwise,  they,  at  least,  should  give  a 
reason  for  such  a  course  which  is  not  jus- 
tified by  the  order  referred  to,  and  which 
is  simply  a  perversion  of  it.'' 

Yet  later,  when  the  interest  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania election  became  general,  because 
of  the  sharp  struggle  between  Governor 
Hoyt  and  Senator  Dill  for  Governor,  a 
committee  of  gentlemen  (Republicans) 
visited  President  Hayes  and  induced  him 
to  "  suspend  the  operation  of  the  order  "  as 
to  Pennsylvania,  where  political  contribu- 
tions were  collected. 

And  opposition  was  manifested  afl^r  even 
the  earlier  trials.  Benjamin  F.  Butler  de- 
nounced the  plan  as  English  and  anti-Re- 
publican, and  before  long  some  of  the  more 
radical  Republican  papers,  which  had  in- 
deed given  little  attention  to  the  subject, 
began  to  denounce  it  as  a  plan  to  exclude 
faithful  Republicans  from  and  permit 
Democrats  to  enter  the  offices.  These 
now  argued  that  none  of  the  vagaries  of 
political  dreamers  could  ever  convince 
them  that  a  free  Government  can  be  run 
without  political  parties  ;  that  while  rota- 
tion in  office  may  not  be  a  fundamental 
element  of  republican  government,  yet  the 
right  of  the  people  to  recommend  is  its 
corner-stone ;  that  civil  service  would  lead 
to  the  creation  of  rings,  and  eventually  to 
the  purchase  of  places;  that  it  would  es- 
tablish an  aristocracy  of  office-holders,  who 
could  not  be  removed  at  times  when  it 
might  be  important,  as  in  the  rebellion  fot 
the  Administration  to  have  only  friends  in 
public  office ;  that  it  would  establish  grades 
and  life-tenures  in  civic  positions,  etc. 

For  later  particulars  touching  civil  ser- 
vice,  see  the  Act  of  Congress  of  1883,  and 
the  regulations  made  pursuant  to  thesami? 
in  Book  V. 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    LIBERAL    REPUBLICANS. 


199 


Amneaty. 

The  first  regular  session  of  the  42d  Con- 
gress met  Dec.  4th,  1871.  The  Democrats 
consumed  much  of  the  time  in  efforts  to 
pass  bills  to  remove  the  political  disabilities 
of  former  Southern  rebels,  and  they  were 
materially  aided  by  the  editorials  of  Hor- 
ace Greeley,  in  the  New  York  Tribmie, 
which  had  long  contended  for  universal 
amnesty.  At  this  session  all  such  efforts 
were  defeated  by  the  Republicans,  who  in- 
variably amended  such  propositions  by  ad- 
ding Sumner's  Supplementary  Civil  Rights 
Bill,  which  was  intended  to  prevent  any  dis- 
crimination against  colored  persons  by 
common  carriers,  hotels,  or  other  chartered 
or  licensed  servants.  The  Amnesty  Bill, 
however  was  passed  May  22d,  1872,  after  an 
an  agreement  to  exclude  from  its  provisions 
all  who  held  the  higher  military  and  civic 
positions  under  the  Confederacy — in  all 
about  350  persons.  The  following  is  a  copy  : 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  (two-thirds  of  each 
House  concurring  therein,)  That  all  legal 
and  political  disabilities  imposed  by  the 
third  section  of  the  fourteenth  article  of 
the  amendments  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  are  hereby  removed  from 
all  persons  whomsoever,  except  Senators 
and  Representatives  of  the  Thirty-sixth 
and  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  officers  in 
the  judicial,  military,  and  naval  service  of 
the  United  States,  heads  of  Departments, 
and  foreign  ministers  of  the  United  States. 

Subsequently  many  acts  removing  the 
disabilities  of  all  excepted  (save  Jefferson 
Davis]  from  the  provisions  of  the  above, 
were  passed. 


The  Iilbera.1  Republicans. 

An  issue  raised  in  Missouri  gave  imme- 
diate rise  to  the  Liberal  Republican  party, 
though  the  course  of  Horace  Greeley  had 
long  pointed  toward  the  organization  of 
sometning  of  the  kind,  and  with  equal 
plainness  it  pointed  to  his  desire  to  be  its 
champion  and  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency. In  1870  the  Republican  party, 
then  in  control  of  the  Legislature  of^  Mis- 
souri, split  into  two  parts  on  the  question 
of  the  removal  of  the  disqualifications  im- 
posed upon  rebels  by  the  State  Constitu- 
tion during  the  war.  Those  favoring  the 
removal  of  disabilities  were  headed  by  B. 
Gratz  Brown  and  Carl  Schurz,  and  they 
called  themselves  Liberal  Republicans; 
those  opposed  were  called  and  accepted 
the  name  of  Radical  Republicans.  The 
former  quickly  allied  themselves  with  the 
Democrats,  and  thus  carried  the  State, 
though  Grant's  administration  "  stood  in" 
with  the  Radicals.  As  a  result  the  dis- 
abilities were  quickly  removed,  and  those 
who  believed  with  Greeley  now  sought  to 
promote  a  reaction  in  Republican  senti- 


ment all  over  the  country.  Greeley  was 
the  recognized  head  of  this  movement,  and 
he  was  ably  aided  by  ex-Governor  Curtin 
and  Col.  A.  K.  McClure  in  Pennsylvania ; 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  Massachusetts ; 
Judge  Trumbull,  in  Illinois ;  Reuben  E. 
Fenton,  in  New  York ;  Brown  and  Schurz 
in  Missouri,  and  in  fact  by  leading  Re- 
publicans in  nearly  all  of  the  States,  who 
at  once  began  to  lay  plans  to  carry  the 
next  Presidential  election. 

They  charged  that  the  Enforcement  Acts 
of  Congress  were  designed  more  for  the 
political  advancement  of  Grant's  adherents 
than  for  the  benefit  of  the  country ;  that , 
instead  of  suppressing  they  were  calcula- 
ted to  promote  a  war  of  races  in  the  South ; 
that  Grant  was  seeking  the  establishment 
of  a  military  despotism,  etc.  These  leaders 
were,  as  a  rule,  brilliant  men.  They  had 
tired  of  unappreciated  and  unrewarded 
service  in  the  Republican  party,  or  had  a 
natural  fondness  for  "  pastures  new,"  and, 
in  the  language  of  the  day,  they  quickly 
succeeded  in  making  political  movements 
"  lively." 

In  the  spring  of  1871  the  Liberal  Repub- 
licans and  Democrats  of  Ohio — and  Ohio 
seems  to  be  the  most  fertile  soil  for  new 
ideas — prepared  for  a  fusion,  and  after  fre- 
quent consultations  of  the  various  leaders 
with  Mr.  Greeley  in  New  York,  a  call  was 
issued  from  Missouri  on  the  24th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1872,  for  a  National  Convention  of 
the  Liberal  Republican  party  to  be  held 
at  Cincinnati,  May  1st.  The  well-matured 
plans  of  the  leaders  were  carried  out  in  the 
nomination  of  Hon.  Horace  Greeley  for 
President  and  B.  Gratz  Brown  for  Vice- 
President,  though  not  without  a  serious 
struggle  over  the  chief  nomination,  which 
was  warmly  contested  by  the  friends  of 
Charles  Francis  Adams.  Indeed  he  led 
in  most  of  the  six  ballots,  but  finally  all 
the  friends  of  other  candidates  voted  for 
Greeley,  and  he  received  482  to  187  for 
Adams.  Dissatisfaction  followed,  and  a 
later  effort  was  made  to  substitute  Adams 
for  Greeley,  but  it  failed.  The  original 
leaders  now  prepared  to  capture  the  Demo- 
cratic Convention,  which  met  at  Baltimore, 
June  9th.  By  nearly  an  unanimous  vote 
it  was  induced  to  endorse  the  Cincinnati 
platform,  and  it  likewise  finally  endorsed 
Greeley  and  Brown — though  not  without 
many  bitter  protests.  A  few  straight-out 
Democrats  met  later  at  Louisville,  Ky., 
Sept.  3d,  and  nominated  Charles  O'Couor, 
of  New  York,  for  President,  and  John 
Quincy  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice- 
President,  and  these  were  kept  in  the  race 
to  the  end,  receiving  a  popular  vote  of 
about  30,000. 

The  regular  Republican  National  Con- 
vention was  held  at  Philadelphia,  June 
5th.  It  renominated  President  Grant 
unanimously,  and  Henry  Wilson,  of  Mas- 


200 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


Bachusetts,  for  Vice-President  by  364J 
votes  to  321  i  for  Schuyler  Colfax,  who 
thus  shared  the  fate  of  Hannibal  Hamlin 
in  his  second  candidacy  for  Vice-President 
on  the  ticket  with  Abraham  Lincoln. 
This  change  to  Wilson  was  to  favor  the 
solid  Republican  States  of  New  England, 
and  to  prevent  both  candidates  coming 
from  the  West. 


Cl-rll  Sei-t-lcc  Reform. 

After  considerable  and  very  able  agita- 
tion by  Geo.  W.  Curtis,  the  editor  of 
Harper's  Weekly,  an  Act  was  passed  March 
8d,  1871,  authorizing  the  President  to  be- 
gin a  reform  in  the  civil  service.  He  ap- 
pointed a  Commission  headed  by  Mr.  Cur- 
tis, and  after  more  than  a  year's  prejparation 
this  body  defeated  a  measure  which  se- 
cured Congressional  approval  and  that  of 
President  Grant. 

The  civil  service  law  (and  it  is  still  a 
law  though  more  honored  now  in  the 
breach  than  the  observance)  embraced  in 
a  single  section  of  the  act  making  appropri- 
ati<'>ns  for  sundry  civil  expenses  for  the 
yearending  June  30, 1872,  and  authorize  the 
President  to  prescribe  such  rules  and  reg- 
ulations for  admission  into  the  civil  ser- 
vice as  will  best  promote  the  efficiency 
thereof,  and  ascertain  the  fitness  of  eacn 
candidate  for  the  branch  of  service  into 
which  he  seeks  to  enter.  Under  this  law 
a  commission  was  appointed  to  draft  rules 
and  regulations  which  were  approved  and 
are  now  being  enforced  by  the  President. 
All  applicants  for  position  in  anv  of  the 
government  departments  come  under  these 
rules : — all  classes  of  clerks,  copyists,  coun- 
ters ;  in  the  customs  service  all  from  deputy 
collector  down  to  inspectors  and  clerks 
with  the  Salaries  of  $1200  or  more ;  in  ap- 
praisers' offices  all  assistants  and  clerks ; 
in  the  naval  service  all  clerks ;  all  light- 
house keepers ;  in  the  revenue,  supervisors, 
collectors,  assessors,  assistants ;  in  the  pos- 
tal really  all  postmasters  whose  pay  is  over 
$200,  and  all  mail  messengers.  The  rules 
apply  to  all  new  appointments  in  the  de- 
partments or  grades  named,  except  that 

nothing  shall  prevent  the  reappointment 
at  discretion  of  the  incumbents  of  any  of- 
fice the  term  of  which  is  fixed  by  law." 
So  that  a  postmaster  or  other  officer 
escapes  their  application.  Those  specially 
exempt  are  the  Heads  of  Departments; 
their  immediate  assistants  and  deputies,  the 
diplomatic  service,  the  judiciary,  and  the 
district  attorneys.  Each  branch  of  the 
service  is  to  be  grouped,  and  admission 
shall  always  be  to  the  lowest  grade  of  any 
group.  Such  appointments  are  made  for  a 
probationary  term  of  six  months,  when  if 
the  Board  of  Examiners  approve  the  in- 
cumbent is  continued.  This  Board  of  Ex- 
aminers, three  in  number  in  each  case, 


shall  be  chosen  by  the  President  from  the 
several  Deoartments,  and  they  shall  e.r 
amine  at  Washington  for  any  position 
there,  or,  when  directed  by  an  Advisory 
Board,  shall  assign  places  for  examination 
in  the  several  States.  Examinations  are 
in  all  cases  first  made  of  applicants  within 
the  office  or  dej)artment,  and  from  the  list 
three  reported  in  the  order  of  excellence  ; 
if  those  within  fail,  then  outside  applicants 
may  be  examined.  In  the  Federal  Blue 
Book,  which  is  a  part  of  this  volume,  we 
give  the  Civil  Service  Rules. 

When  first  proposed,  partisan  politics 
had  no  part  or  place  in  civil  service  re- 
form, and  the  author  of  the  plan  was  him- 
self a  distinguished  Republican.  In  fact 
both  parties  thought  something  good  had 
been  reached,  and  there  was  practically  no 
resistance  at  first  to  a  trial. 

The  Democrats  resisted  the  passage  of 
this  bill  with  even  more  earnestness  than 
any  which  preceded  it,  but  the  Republi- 
can discipline  was  almost  perfect,  and 
when  passed  it  received  the  prompt  ap- 
proval of  President  Grant,  who  by  this 
time  was  classed  as  "  the  most  radical  of 
the  radicals."  Opponents  denounced  it  as 
little  if  any  less  obnoxious  than  the  old 
Sedition  law  of  1798,  while  the  Republi- 
cans claimed  that  it  was  to  meet  a  state  of 
growing  war  in  the  South — a  war  of  races 
— and  that  the  form  of  domestic  violence 
manifested  was  in  the  highest  degree  dan- 
gerous to  the  peace  of  the  Union  and  the 
safety  of  the  newly  enfranchised  citizens. 


The  Credit  Slobiller. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  42d  Con- 
gress, beginning  Dec.  2,  1872,  the  speaker 
(Blaine)  on  the  first  day  called  attention 
to  the  charges  made  by  Democratic  orators 
and  newspapers  during  the  Presidential 
campaign  just  closed,  that  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent (Colfax),  the  Vice  President  elect 
(Wilson),  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
several  Senators,  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
and  alarge  number  of  Representatives  had 
been  bribed,  during  the  years  1867  and 
1868,  by  Oakes  Ames,  a  member  of  the 
House  from  Massachusetts ;  tliat  he  and 
his  agents  had  given  them  presents  of 
stock  m  a  corporation  known  as  the  Credit 
Mobilier,  to  influence  their  legislative  ac- 
tion for  the  benefit  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Compay. 

Upon  Speaker  Blaine's  motion,  a  com- 
mittee of  investigation  was  appointed  by 
Hon.  S.  S.  Cox,  of  New  York,  a  noted 
Democrat  temporarily  called  to  the  Chair. 

After  the  close  of  tne  campaign,  (as  was 
remarked  by  the  Republic  Magazine  at  the 
time)  the  dominant  party  might  well  have 
claimed,  and  would  nave  insisted  had  they 
been  opposed  to  a  a  thorough  investigation 


BOOK  1.] 


THE    CREDIT    MOBILIER. 


201 


and  a  full  exposure  of  corruption,  that  the 
verdict  of  the  people  in  the  late  canvss 
w:i3  sufficient  answer  to  these  charges ;  but 
tbe  Republican  party  not  merely  granted 
all  the  investigations  sought,  but  sum- 
moned on  the  leading  committee  a  ma- 
jority of  its  political  foes  to  conduct  the 
inquest. 

The  committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  Po- 
land, of  Vermont;  McCreary,  of  Iowa; 
Banks,  of  Massachusetts ;  Niblack,  of  Indi- 
ana, and  Merrick,  of  Maryland. 

Messrs.  Poland  and  McC'*eary — the  two 
Republicans — were  gentlemen  of  ability 
and  standing,  well  known  for  their  integ- 
rity, moderation,  and  impartiality.  Gen- 
eral Banks  was  an  earnest  supporter  of 
Horace  Greeley,  upon  the  alleged  ground 
that  the  Republican  organization  had  be- 
come effete  and  corrupt :  while  Messrs. 
Niblack  and  Merrick  are  among  the  ablest 
representatives  of  the  Democratic  party; 
in  fact,  Mr.  Merrick  belonged  to  the  ex- 
treme Southern  schood  of  political  thought. 

Having  patiently  and  carefully  exam- 
ined and  sifted  the  entire  testimony — often 
"  painfully  conflicting,"  as  the  committee 
remarked — their  report  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered a  judicial  document  commanding 
universal  approval,  yet  scraps  of  the  testi- 
mony and  not  the  report  itself  were  used 
witli  painful  frequency  against  James  A. 
Garfield  in  his  Presidential  canvass  of 
1880.  There  has  not  been  a  state  paper 
submitted  for  many  years  upon  a  similar' 
subject  that  carried  with  it^reater  weight, 
or  which  bore  upon  its  face  a  fuller  reali- 
zation of  the  grave  responsibilities  assumed, 
and  it  is  the  first  time  in  the  political  his- 
tory of  the  United  States  that  an  all-im- 
portant investigation  has  been  entrusted  by 
the  dominant  party  to  a  majority  of  its  po- 
litical foes. 

The  report  of  the  committee  gives  the 
boi5t  and  by  far  the  most  reliable  history  of 
the  whole  affair,  and  its  presentation  here 
may  aid  in  preventing  partisan  misrepre- 
sentations in  the  future — misrepresenta- 
tions made  in  the  heat  of  contest,  and 
doubtless  regretted  afterwards  by  all  who 
had  the  facilities  for  getting  at  the  facts. 
We  therefore  give  the 

OFFICIAL    REPORT    OF    THE    CREDIT    MO- 
BILIER INVESTIGATING  COMMITTEE. 

Mr.  Poland,  from  the  select  committee 
to  investigate  the  alleged  Credit  Mobilier 
bribery,  made  the  following  report  Febru- 
ary 18,  1873 : 

The  special  committee  appointed  under 
the  following  resolutions  of  the  House  to 
toit : 

Whereas,  Accusations  have  been  made 
in  the  public  press,  founded  on  alleged 
letters  of  Oakes  Ames,  a  Representative  of 
Massachusetts,  and  upon  the  alleged  afl[i- 
davits  of  Henry  S.  MxComb,  a  citizen  of 


Wilmington,  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  to 
the  effect  that  members  of  this  House 
were  bribed  by  Oakes  Ames  to  perform 
certain  legislative  acts  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  by 
presents  of  stock  in  the  Credit  Mobilier  of 
America,  or  by  presents  of  a  valuable  char- 
acter derived  therefrom :  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  a  special  committee  of 
five  members  be  appointed  by  the  Speaker 
pro  tempore,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  in- 
vestigate whether  any  member  of  this 
House  was  bribed  by  Oakes  Ames,  or  any 
other  person  or  corporation,  in  any  matter 
touching  his  legislative  duty. 

Resolved,  further,  That    the    committee 
have  the  right  to  employ  a  stenographer, 
and  that  they  be  empowered  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers ; 
beg  leave  to  make  the  following  report  : 

In  order  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
facts  hereinafter  stated  as  to  contracts  and 
dealings  in  reference  to  stock  of  the  Credit 
Mobilier  of  America,  between  Mr.  Oakes 
Ames  and  others,  and  members  of  Con- 
gress, it  is  necessary  to  make  a  preliminary 
statement  of  the  connection  of  that  com- 
pany with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  their  relations  to  each  other. 

The  company  called  the  "  Credit  Mo- 
bilier of  America "  was  incorporated  by 
the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in 
1864  control  of  its  charter  and  franchises 
had  been  obtained  by  certain  persons  in- 
terested in  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  for  the  purpose  of  using  it  as  a 
construction  company  to  build  the  Union 
Pacific  road.  In  September,  1864,  a  con- 
tract was  entered  into  between  the  Union 
Pacific  Company  and  H.  M.  Hoxie,  for  the 
building  by  said  Hoxie  of  one  hundred 
miles  of  said  road  from  Omaha  west. 

This  contract  was  at  once  assigned  by 
Hoxie  to  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company,  as 
it  was  expected  to  be  when  made.  Under 
this  contract  and  extensions  of  it  some  two 
or  three  hundred  miles  of  road  were  built 
by  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company,  but  no 
considerable  profits  appear  to  have  been 
realized  therefrom.  The  enterprise  of 
building  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  was  of 
such  vast  magnitude,  and  was  beset  by  so 
many  hazards  and  risks  that  the  capitalists 
of  the  country  were  generally  averse  to  in- 
vesting in  it,  and,  notwithstanding  the  lib- 
eral aid  granted  by  the  Government  it 
seemed  likely  to  fail  of  completion. 

In  1865  or  1866,  Mr.  Oakes  Ames,  then 
and  now  a  member  of  the  House  from  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  and  his  brother 
Oliver  Ames  became  interested  in  the 
Union  Pacific  Company  and  also  in  the 
Credit  Mobilier  Company  as  the  agents  for 
the  construction  of  the  road.  The  Mes- 
srs. Ames  were  men  of  very  large  capital, 
and  of  known  character  and  integrity  in 
business.     By  their  example  and  credit) 


202 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


and  the  personal  efforts  of  Mr.  Oakes 
Ames,  many  men  of  capital  were  induced 
to  embark  in  the  enterprise,  and  to  take 
stock  in  the  Union  Pacific  Company  and 
also  in  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company. 
Among  them  were  the  firm  of  S.  Hooper 
&  Co.,  of  Boston,  the  leading  member  of 
which,  Mr.  Samuel  Hooper,  was  then  and 
is  now  a  member  of  the  House ;  Mr.  John 
B.  Alley,  then  a  member  of  the  House 
from  Massachusetts,  and  Mr.  Grimes,  then 
s  Senator  from  the  State  of  Iowa.  Not- 
withstanding the  vigorous  efforts  of  Mr. 
Ames  and  others  interested  with  him,  great 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  securing  the 
required  capital. 

In  the  spring  of  1867  the  Credit  Mo- 
bilier Company  voted  to  add  50  per  cent. 
to  their  capital  stock,  which  was  then  two 
and  a  half  millions  of  dollars ;  and  to  cause 
it  to  be  readily  taken  each  subscriber  to  it 
was  entitled  to  receive  as  a  bonus  an  equal 
amount  of  first  mortgage  bonds  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Company.  The  old  stock- 
holders were  entitled  to  take  this  increase, 
but  even  the  favorable  terms  offered  did 
not  induce  all  the  old  stockholders  to  take 
it,  and  the  stock  of  the  Credit  Mobilier 
Company  was  never  considered  worth  its 

gar  value  until  after  the  execution  of  the 
lakes  Ames   contract    hereinafter  men- 
tioned. 

On  the  16th  day  of  August,  1867,  a  con- 
tra(;t  was  executed  between  the  Union  Pa- 
cific Railroad  Company  and  Oakes  Ames, 
by  which  Mr.  Ames  contracted  to  build  six 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  miles  of  the  Union 
Pacific  road  at  prices  ranging  from  $42,000 
to  $96,000  per  mile,  amounting  in  the  ag- 
gregate to  $47,000^000.  Before  the  con- 
tract was  entered  into  it  was  understood 
tfciat  Mr.  Ames  was  to  transfer  it  to  seven 
trustees,  who  were  to  execute  it,  and  the 
profits  of  the  contract  were  to  be  divided 
among  the  stockholders  in  the  Credit  Mo- 
bilier Company,  who  should  comply  with 
certain  conditions  set  out  in  the  instru- 
ment transferring  the  contract  to  the  trus- 
tees. The  Ames  contract  and  the  trans- 
fer to  trustees  are  incorporated  in  the  evi- 
dence submitted,  and  therefore  further  re- 
cital of  their  terms  is  not  deemed  neces- 
sary. 

Substantially,  all  the  stockholders  of  the 
Credit  Mobilier  complied  with  the  condi- 
tions named  in  the  transfer,  and  thus  be- 
came entitled  to  share  in  any  profits  said 
trustees  might  make  in  executing  the  con- 
tract. 

All  the  large  stockholders  in  the  Union 
Pacific  were  also  stockholders  in  the  Credit 
Mobilier,  and  the  Ames  contract  and  its 
transfer  to  trustees  were  ratified  by  the 
Union  Pacific,  and  received  the  assent  of 
the  great  body  of  stockholders,  but  not  of 
»11. 
After  the  Ames  contract  had  been  exe- 


cuted, it  was  expected  by  those  interested 
that  by  reason  of  the  enormous  prices 
agreed  to  be  paid  for  the  work  very  large 
profits  would  be  derived  from  building  the 
road,  and  very  soon  the  stock  of  the  Cred- 
it Mobilier  was  understood  by  those  hold- 
ing it  to  be  worth  much  more  than  its  par 
value.  The  stock  was  not  in  the  market 
and  had  no  fixed  market  value,  but  the 
holders  of  it,  in  December,  1867,  consid- 
ered it  worth  at  least  double  the  par  value, 
and  in  January  and  February,  1868,  three 
or  four  times  the  par  value,  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  these  facts  were  generally  or 
publicly  known,  or  that  the  holders  of  the 
stock  desired  they  should  be. 

The  foregoing  statement  the  committee 
think  gives  enough  of  the  historic  details, 
and  condition  and  value  of  the  stock,  to 
make  the  following  detailed  facts  intelli- 
gible. 

Mr.  Oakes  Ames  was  then  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  came  to 
Washington  at  the  commencement  of  the 
session,  about  the  beginning  of  December, 
1867.  During  that  month  Mr.  Ames  en- 
tered into  contracts  with  a  considerable 
number  of  members  of  Congress,  both  Sen- 
ators and  Representatives,  to  let  them  have 
shares  of  stock  in  the  Credit  Mobilier 
Company  at  par,  with  interest  thereon  from 
the  first  day  of  the  previous  July.  It  does 
not  appear  that  in  any  instaace  he  asked 
any  of  these  persons  to  pay  a  higher  price 
than  the  par  value  and  interest,  nor  that 
Mr.  Ames  used  any  special  effort  or  ur- 
gency to  get  these  persons  to  take  it.  In 
all  these  negotiations  Mr.  Ames  did  not 
enter  into  any  details  as  to  the  value  of 
the  stock  or  the  amount  of  dividend  that 
might  be  expected  upon  it,  but  stated  gen- 
erally that  it  would  be  good  stock,  and  in 
several  instances  said  he  would  guarantee 
that  they  should  get  at  least  10  per  cent, 
on  their  money. 

Some  of  these  gentlemen,  in  their  con- 
versations with  Mr.  Ames,  raised  the  ques- 
tion whether  becoming  holders  of  this 
stock  would  bring  them  into  any  embar- 
rassment as  members  of  Congress  in  their 
legislative  action.  Mr.  Ames  quieted  such 
suggestions  by  saying  it  could  not,  for  the 
Union  Pacific  had  received  from  Congress 
all  the  grants  and  legislation  it  wanted, 
and  they  should  ask  for  nothing  more.  In 
some  instances  those  members  who  con- 
tracted for  stock  paid  to  Mr.  Ames  the 
.noney  for  the  price  of  the  stock,  par  and 
interest;  in  others,  where  they  had  not  the 
money,  Mr.  Ames  agreed  to  carry  the 
stock  for  them  until  they  could  get  the 
money  or  it  should  be  met  by  the  divi- 
dends. 

Mr.  Ames  was  at  this  time  a  large  stock- 
holder in  the  Credit  Mobiler,  but  he  did 
not  intend  any  of  these  transactions  to  be 
sales  of  his  own  stock,  but  intended  to  fill- 


BOOK  I  ] 


THE    CREDIT    MOBILIER. 


203 


fill  all  these  contracts  from  stock  belong- 
ing to  the  company. 

At  this  time  there  were  about  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty  shares  of  the  stock  of  thecom- 
ps.ny,  which  had  for  some  reason  been 
pLiced  in  the  name  of  Mr.  T.  C.  Durant, 
one  of  the  leading  and  active  men  of  the 
concern. 

Mr.  Ames  claimed  that  a  portion  of  this 
stock  should  be  assigned  to  him  to  enable 
him  to  fulfill  engagements  he  had  made 
for  stock.  Mr.  Durant  claimed  that  he 
had  made  similar  engagements  that  he 
should  be  allowed  stock  to  fulfill.  Mr. 
McComb,  who  was  present  at  the  time, 
claimed  that  he  had  also  made  engage- 
ments for  stock  which  he  should  have 
stock  given  him  to  carry  out.  This  claim 
of  McComb  was  refused,  but  after  the 
stock  was  assigned  to  Mr.  Ames,  McComb 
insisted  that  Ames  should  distribute  some 
of  the  stock  to  his  (McComb's)  friends,  and 
named  Senators  Bayard  and  Fowler,  and 
Representatives  Allison  and  Wilson,  of 
Iowa. 

It  was  finally  arranged  that  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-i;hree  shares  of  the  stock  of 
the  company  should  be  transferred  to  Mr. 
Ames  to  enp,ble  him  to  perform  his  engage- 
ments,  and  that  number  of  shares  were  set 
o^'er  on  the  books  of  the  company  to  Oakes 
Ames,  trustee,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
stjck  heFd  by  him  before.  Mr.  Ames  at 
the  time  paid  to  the  company  the  par  of 
the  stock  and  interest  from  the  July  pre- 
vious, and  this  stock  still  stands  on  the 
books  in  the  name  of  Oakes  Ames,  trustee, 
except  thirteen  shares  which  have  been 
transferred  to  parties  in  no  way  connected 
with  Congress.  The  committee  do  not  find 
that  Mr.  Ames  had  any  negotiation  what- 
ever with  any  of  these  members  of  Con- 
giess  on  the  subject  of  this  stock  prior  to 
tb.e  commencement  of  the  session  of  De- 
ctmber,  1867,  except  Mr.  Scofield,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  it  was  not  claimed  that  any 
obligation  existed  from  Mr.  Ames  to  him 
as  the  result  of  it. 

In  relation  to  the  purpose  and  motives 
of  Mr.  Ames  in  contracting  to  let  members 
of  Congress  have  Credit  Mobilier  stock  at 
par,  which  he  and  all  other  owners  of  it 
considered  worth  at  least  double  that  sum, 
the  committee,  upon  the  evidence  taken 
by  them  and  submitted  to  the  House,  can- 
not entertain  doubt.  When  he  said  he  did 
not  suppose  the  Union  Pacific  Company 
would  ask  or  need  further  legislation,  he 
stated  what  he  believed  to  be  true.  But 
he  feared  the  interests  of  the  road  might 
suffer  by  adverse  legislation,  and  what  he 
desired  to  accomplish  was  to  enlist  strength 
and  friends  in  Congress  who  would  resist 
any  encroachment  upon  or  interference 
with  the  rights  and  privileges  already  se- 
cured, and  to  that  end  wished  to  create  in 
them  an  interest  identical  with  his  own. 


This  purpose  is  clearly  avowed  in  his  let- 
ters to  McComb,  copied  in  the  evidence. 
He  says  he  intends  to  place  the  stock 
"  where  it  will  do  most  good  to  us."  And 
again,  "  we  want  more  friends  in  this  Con- 
gress." In  his  letter  to  McComb,  and  also 
in  his  statement  prepared  by  counsel,  he 
gives  the  philosophy  of  his  action,  to  wit, 
"  That  he  has  found  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  getting  men  to  look  after  their  own 
property."  The  committee  are  also  satis- 
fied that  Mr.  Ames  entertained  a  fear  that, 
when  the  true  relations  between  the  Credit 
Mobilier  Company  and  the  Union  Pacific 
became  generally  known,  and  the  means, 
by  which  the  great  profits  expected  to  be 
made  were  fully  understood,  there  was 
danger  that  congressional  investigation  and 
action  would  be  invoked. 

The  members  of  Congress  with  whom  he 
dealt  were  generally  those  who  had  been 
friendly  and  favorable  to  a  Pacific  Rail- 
road, and  Mr.  Ames  did  not  fear  or  expect 
to  find  them  favorable  to  movements  hos- 
tile to  it;  but  he  desired  to  stimulate  their 
activity  and  watchfulness  in  opposition  to 
any  unfavorable  action  by  giving  them  a 
personal  interest  in  the  success  of  the  en- 
terjirise,  especially  so  far  as  it  affected  the 
interest  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company. 
On  the  9th  day  of  December,  1867,  Mr.  C.  C. 
Washburn,  of  Wisconsin,  introduced  in  the 
House  a  bill  to  regulate  by  law  the  rates 
of  transportation  over  the  Pacific  Railroad. 

Mr.  Ames,  as  well  as  others  interested  in 
the  Union  Pacific  road,  was  opposed  to 
this,  and  desired  to  defeat  it.  Other  mea- 
sures apparently  hostile  to  that  company 
were  subsequently  introduced  into  the 
House  by  Mr.  Washburn  of  Wisconsin,  and 
Mr.  Washburne  of  Illinois  The  commit- 
tee believe  that  Mr.  Ames,  in  his  distribu- 
tions of  stock,  had  specially  in  mind  the 
hostile  efforts  of  the  Messrs.  Washburn, 
and  desired  to  gain  strength  to  secure  their 
defeat.  The  reference  in  one  of  his  letters 
to  "  Washburn's  move "  makes  this  quite 
apparent. 

The  foregoing  is  deemed  by  the  commit- 
tee a  sufficient  statement  of  facts  as  to  Mr. 
Ames,  taken  in  connection  with  what  will 
be  subsec[uently  stated  of  his  transactions 
with  particular  persons.  Mr.  Ames  made 
some  contracts  for  stock  in  the  Credit 
Mobilier  with  members  of  the  Senate.  In 
public  discussions  of  this  subject  the  names 
of  members  of  both  Houses  have  been  so 
connected,  and  all  these  transactions  were 
so  nearly  simultaneous,  that  the  committee 
deemed  it  their  duty  to  obtain  all  evidence 
in  their  power,  as  to  all  persons  then  mem- 
bers of  either  House,  and  to  report  the 
same  to  the  House.  Having  done  this,  and 
the  House  having  directed  that  evidence 
transmitted  to  the  Senate,  the  committee 
consider  their  own  power  and  duty,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  House,  fully  performed,  so 


204 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  f 


far  as  members  of  the  Senate  are  concerned. 
Borne  of  Mr.  Ames's  contracts  to  sell  stock 
were  with  gentlemen  who  were  then  mem- 
bers of  the  House,  but  are  not  members  of 
the  present  Congress. 

The  committee  have  sought  for  and  ta- 
ken all  the  evidence  within  their  reach  as 
to  those  gentlemen,  and  reported  the  same 
to  the  House.  As  the  House  has  ceased 
to  have  jurisdiction  over  tliem  as  members, 
the  committee  have  not  deemed  it  their 
duty  to  make  any  special  finding  of  facts 
as  to  each,  leaving  the  House  and  the 
country  to  their  own  conclusions  upon  the 
testimony. 

In  regard  to  each  oi  the  members  of  the 
present  House,  the  committee  deem  it 
their  duty  to  state  specially  the  facts  they 
find  proved  by  the  evidence,  which,  in 
some  instances,  is  painfully  conflicting. 

ME.  JAMES  G.  BLAINE,  OF  MAINE. 
Among  those  who  have  in  the  public 
press  been  charged  with  improper  ])artici- 
pation  in  Credit  Mobilier  stock  is  the  pre- 
sent Speaker,  Mr.  Blaine,  who  moved  the 
resolution  for  this  investigation.  The  com- 
mittee have,  therefore,  taken  evidence  in 
regard  to  him.  They  find  from  it  that  Mr. 
Ames  had  conversation  with  Mr.  Blaine  in 
regard  to  taking  ten  shares  of  the  stock, 
and  recommended  it  as  a  good  investment. 
Upon  considc-ation  Mr.  Blaine  concluded 
not  to  take  the  stock,  and  never  did  take 
it,  and  never  paid  or  received  anything  on 
account  of  it;  and  Mr.  Blaine  never  had 
any  interest,  direct  or  indirect,  in  Credit 
Mobilier  stock  or  stock  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  Company. 

MIt.  HENRY  L.  DAWES,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Mr.  Dawes  had,  prior  to  December,  1867, 
made  some  small  investments  in  railroad 
Ivmds  through  Mr.  Ames.  In  December, 
1867,  Mr.  Dawes  applied  to  Mr.  Ames  to 
purchase  a  thousand-dollar  bond  of  the 
Cedar  Rapids  road,  in  Iowa.  Mr.  Ames 
informed  him  that  he  had  sold  them  all, 
but  that  he  would  let  him  have  for  his 
thousand  dollars  ten  shares  of  Credit  Mo- 
bilier stock,  which  he  thought  was  better 
than  the  railroad  bond.     In  answer  to  in- 

Juiries  by  Mr.  Dawes  Mr.  Ames  said  the 
!redit  Mobilier  Company  had  the  con- 
tract to  build  the  Union  Pacific  road,  and 
thought  they  would  make  money  out  of  it, 
and  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing ;  that  he 
would  guarantee  that  he  should  ^et  10  per 
cent,  on  his  money,  and  that  if  at  any 
time  Mr.  Dawes  did  not  want  the  stock  he 
would  pay  back  his  money  with  10  per 
cent,  interest.  Mr.  Dawes  made  some  fur- 
ther inquiry  in  relation  to  the  stock  of  Mr. 
John  B.  Alley,  who  said  he  thought  it  was 
good  stock,  but  not  as  good  as  Mr.  Ames 
thought,  but  that  Mr.  Ames's  guarantee 
would  make  it  a  perfectly  safe  investment. 


Mr.  Dawes  thereupon  concluded  to  pur- 
chase the  ten  shares,  and  on  the  11th  of 
January  he  paid  Mr.  Ames  $800,  and  in  a 
few  days  thereafter  the  balance  of  the 
price  of  this  stock,  at  par  and  interest  from 
July  previous.  In  June,  1868,  Mr.  Ames 
received  a  dividend  of  60  per  cent,  in 
money  on  this  stock,  and  of  it  paid  to  Mr. 
Dawes  $400,  and  applied  the  balance  of 
$200  upon  accounts  between  them.  This 
$400  was  all  that  was  paid  over  to  Mr. 
Dawes  as  a  dividend  upon  this  stock.  At 
some  time  prior  to  December,  1868,  Mr. 
Dawes  was  informed  that  a  suit  had  been 
commenced  in  the  courts  of  Pennsylvania 
by  former  owners  of  the  charter  of  the 
Credit  Mobilier,  claiming  that  those  then 
claiming  and  using  it  had  no  right  to  do 
so.  Mr.  Dawes  thereupon  informed  Mr. 
Ames  that  as  there  was  a  litigation  about 
the  matter  he  did  not  desire  to  keep  the 
stock.  On  the  9th  of  December,  1868,  Mr. 
Ames  and  Mr.  Dawes  had  a  settlement  of 
their  matters  in  which  Mr.  Dawes  was  al- 
lowed for  the  money  he  paid  for  the  stock 
with  10  per  cent,  interest  upon  it,  and  ac- 
counted to  Mr.  Ames  for  the  $400  he  had 
received  as  a  dividend.  Mr.  Dawes  re- 
ceived no  other  benefit  under  the  contract 
than  to  get  10  per  cent,  upon  his  money, 
and  after  the  settlement  had  no  further  in- 
terest in  the  stock. 

MR.  GLENNI  W.  SCOFIELD,  OF  PENN- 
SYLVANIA. 

In  1866  Mr.  Scofield  purchased  some 
Cedar  Rapids  bonds  of  Mr.  Ames,  and  in 
that  year  they  had  conversations  about 
Mr.  Scofield  taking  stock  in  the  Credit 
Mobilier  Company,  but  no  contract  was 
consummated.  In  December,  1867,  Mr. 
Scofield  applied  to  Mr.  Ames  to  purchase 
more  Cedar  Rapids  bonds,  when  Mr.  Ames 
suggested  he  should  purchase  some  Credit 
Mobilier  stock,  and  explained  generally 
that  it  was  a  contracting  company  to  build 
the  Union  Pacific  road;  that  it  was  a 
Pennsylvania  corporation,  and  he  would 
like  to  have  some  Pennsylvanians  in  it ; 
that  he  would  sell  it  to  him  at  par  and  in- 
terest, and  that  he  would  guarantee  he 
should  get  8  per  cent,  if  Mr,  Scofield  would 
give  him  half  the  dividends  above  that. 
Sir.  Scofield  said  he  thought  he  would 
take  $1,000  of  the  stock ;  but  before  any- 
thing further  was  done  Mr.  Scofield  was 
called  home  by  sickness  in  his  family.  On 
his  return,  the  latter  part  of  January, 
1868,  he  spoke  to  Mr.  Ames  about  the 
stock,  when  Mr,  Ames  said  he  thought  it 
was  all  sold,  but  he  would  take  his  money 
and  give  him  a  receipt,  and  get  the  stock 
for  him  if  he  could.  Mr.  Scofield  there- 
upon paid  Mr.  Ames  $1,041,  and  took  his 
receipt  therefor. 

Not  long  after  Mr.  Ames  informed  Mr. 
Scofield  he  could  have  the  stock,  but  could 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CREDIT    MOBILIER. 


205 


not  give  him  a  certificate  for  it  until  he 
could  get  a  larger  certificate  dividend. 
Mr.  Scofield  received  the  bond  dividend  of 
80  per  cent.,  which  was  payable  January  3, 
1868,  taking  a  bond  for  $1,0(»0  and  paying 
Mr.  Ames  the  difference.  Mr.  Ames  re- 
ceived the  60  per  cent,  cash  dividend  on 
the  stock  in  June,  1868,  and  paid  over  to 
Mr.  Scofield  $600,  the  amount  of  it. 

Before  the  close  of  that  session  of  Con- 

fress,  which  was  toward  the  end  of  July, 
_Ir.  Scofield  became,  for  some  reason,  dis- 
inclined to  take  the  stock,  and  a  settlement 
was  made  between  them,  by  which  Mr. 
Ames  was  to  retain  the  (!redit  Mobilier 
stock  and  Mr.  Scofield  took  a  thousand 
dollars  Union  Pacific  bond  and  ten  shares 
of  Union  Pacific  stock. 

The  precise  basis  of  the  settlement  does 
not  appear,  neither  Mr.  Ames  nor  Mr. 
Scofield  having  any  full  date  in  reference 
to  it ;  Mr.  Scofield  thinks  that  he  only  re- 
ceived back  his  money  and  interest  upon 
it,  while  Mr.  Ames  states  that  he  thinks 
Mr.  Scofield  had  ten  shares  of  Union 
Pacific  stock  in  addition.  The  committee 
do  not  deem  it  specially  important  to  settle 
this  difference  of  recollection.  Since  that 
settlement  Mr.  Scofield  has  had  no  interest 
in  the  Credit  Mobilier  stock  and  derived 
no  benefit  therefrom. 

MR.  JOHN  A.  BIXGHAM,  OF  OHIO. 

In  December,  1867,  Mr.  Ames  advised 
Mr.  Bingham  to  invest  in  the  stock  of  the 
Credit  Mobilier,  assuring  him  that  it  would 
return  him  his  money  with  profitable  divi- 
dends. Mr.  Bingham  agreed  to  take 
twenty  shares,  and  about  the  1st  of  Febru- 
ary, 1868,  paid  to  Mr.  Ames  the  par  value 
of  the  stock,  for  which  Mr.  Ames  executed 
to  him  some  receipt  or  agreement.  Mr. 
Ames  received  all  the  dividends  on  the 
stock,  whether  in  Union  Pacific  bonds,  or 
stock,  or  money;  some  were  delivered  to 
Mr.  Bingham  and  some  retained  by  Mr. 
Ames.  The  matter  was  not  finally  ad- 
justed between  them  until  February,  1872, 
when  it  was  settled,  Mr.  Ames  retaining 
the  twenty  shares  of  Credit  Mobilier  stock, 
and  accounting  to  Mr.  Bingham  for  such 
dividends  upon  it  as  Mr.  Bingham  had  not 
already  received.  Mr.  Bingham  was 
treated  as  the  real  owner  of  the  stock  from 
the  time  of  the  agreement  to  take  it,  in 
December,  1867,  to  the  settlement  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1872,  and  had  the  benefit  of  all  the 
dividends  upon  it.  Neither  Mr.  Ames  nor 
Mr.  Bingham  had  such  records  of  their 
dealing  as  to  be  able  to  give  the  precise 
amount  of  those  dividends. 

ME.  WILLIAM    D.  KELLEY,  OF    PEXXSYL- 
VANIA. 

The  committee  find  from  the  evidence 
that  in  the  early  part  of  the  second  session 
of  the  Fortieth  Cfongress,  and  probably  in 


December,  1867,  Mr.  Ames  agreed  with 
Mr.  Kelley  to  sell  him  ten  shares  of  Credit 
Mobilier  stock  at  par  and  interest  from 
July  1,  1867.  Mr.  Kelley  was  not  then 
prepared  to  pay  for  the  stock,  and  Mr. 
Ames  agreed  to  carry  the  stock  for  him 
until  he  could  pay  for  it.  On  the  third 
day  of  January,  1868,  there  was  a  dividend 
of  80  per  cent,  on  Credit  Mobilier  stock  in  . 
Union  Pacific  bonds.  Mr.  Ames  received 
the  bonds,  as  the  stock  stood  in  his  name, 
and  sold  them  for  97  per  cent,  of  their  face. 
In  June,  1868,  there  was  a  cash  dividend 
of  60  per  cent.,  which  Mr.  Ames  also  re- 
ceived. The  proceeds  of  the  bonds  sold, 
and  the  cash  dividends  received  by  Mr. 
Ames,  amounted  to  $1,376.  The  par  value 
of  the  stock  and  interest  thereon  from  the 
previous  July  amounted  to  $1,047  ;  so  that, 
after  paying  for  the  stock,  there  was  a 
balance  of  dividends  due  Mr.  Kelley  of 
$329.  On  the  23d  day  of  June,  1868,  Mr. 
Ames  gave  Mr,  Kelley  a  check  for  that 
sum  on  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives,  and  Mr.  Kelley  re- 
ceived the  money  thereon. 

The  committee  find  that  Mr.  Kelley  then 
understood  that  the  money  he  thus  re- 
ceived was  a  balance  of  dividends  due  him 
after  paying  for  the  stock. 

All  the  subsequent  dividends  upon  the 
stock  were  either  in  Union  Pacific  stock 
or  bonds,  and  they  were  all  received  by 
Mr.  Ames.  In  September,  1868,  Mr. 
Kelley  received  from  Mr.  Ames  $750  in 
money,  which  was  understood  between 
them  to  be  an  advance  to  be  paid  out  of 
dividends.  There  has  never  been  any  ad- 
justment of  the  matter  between  them,  and 
there  is  now  an  entire  variance  in  the  tes- 
timony of  the  two  men  as  to  what  the 
transaction  between  them  was,  but  the 
committee  are  unanimous  in  finding  the 
facts  above  stated.  The  evidence  reported 
to  the  House  gives  some  subsequent  con- 
versations and  negotiations  between  Mr. 
Kelley  and  Mr.  Ames  on  this  subject.  The 
committee  do  not  deem  it  material  to  refer 
to  it  in  their  report. 

MR.  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,   OF  OHIO. 

The  facts  in  regard  to  Mr.  Garfield,  aa 
found  by  the  committee,  are  identical  with 
the  case  of  Mr.  Kelley  to  the  point  of  re- 
ception of  the  check  lor  $329.  He  agreed 
with  Mr.  Ames  to  take  ten  share h  of  Credit 
Mobilier  stock,  but  did  n  )t  pay  for  the 
same.  Mr.  Ames  received  the  80  per  cent, 
dividend  in  bonds  and  sold  them  for  97 
per  cent.,  and  also  received  the  60  per  cent, 
cash  dividend,  which   together  paid   the 

Erice  of  the  stock  and  interest,  and  left  a 
alance  of  $329.  This  sum  was  paid  over 
to  Mr.  Garfield  by  a  check  on  the  Sergeant- 
at-Arms,  and  Mr.  Garfield  then  understood 
this  sum  was  the  balance  of  dividends  after 
paying  for  the  stock.    Mr.  Ames  received 


206 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


all  the  subsequent  dividends,  and  the  cora- 
mittee  do  not  find  that,  since  the  payment 
of  the  $329,  there  has  been  any  communi- 
cation between  Mr.  Ames  and  Mr.  Garfield 
on  the  subject  until  this  investigation  be- 
gan. Some  correspondence  between  Mr. 
Garfield  and  Mr.  Ames,  and  some  conver- 
sations between  them  during  this  investi- 
,  gation,  will  be  fov-ud  in  the  reported  testi- 
mony. 

The  committee  do  not  find  that  Mr. 
Ames,  in  his  negotiations  with  the  persons 
above  named,  entered  into  any  detail  of 
the  relations  between  the  Credit  Mobilier 
Company  and  the  Union  Pacific  Company, 
or  gave  them  any  specific  information  as 
to  the  amount  of  dividends  they  would  be 
likely  to  receive  further  than  has  been  al- 
ready stated.  They  all  knew  from  him,  or 
otherwise,  that  the  Credit  Mobilier  was  a 
contracting  company  to  build  the  Union 
Pacific  road,  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
any  of  them  knew  that  the  profits  and 
dividends  were  to  be  in  stock  and  bonds  of 
that  company. 

The  Credit  Mobilier  Company  was  a 
State  corporation,  not  subject  to  congres- 
sional legislation,  and  the  fact  that  its  pro- 
fits were  expected  to  be  derived  from 
building  the  Union  Pacific  road  did  not, 
apparently,  create  such  an  interest  in  that 
company  as  to  disqualify  the  holder  of 
Credit  Mobilier  stock  from  participating 
in  any  legislation  affecting  the  railroad 
company.  In  his  negotiations  with  these 
members  of  Congress,  Mr.  Ames  made  no 
suggestion  that  he  desired  to  secure  their 
fevorable  influence  in  Congress  in  favor  of 
the  railroad  company,  and  whenever  the 
question  was  raised  as  to  whether  the 
ownership  of  this  stock  would  in  any  way 
interfere  with  or  embarrass  them  in  their 
action  as  members  of  Congress,  he  assured 
them  it  would  not. 

The  committee,  therefore,  do  not  find, 
as  to  the  members  of  the  present  House 
above  named,  that  they  were  aware  of  the 
object  of  Mr.  Ames,  or  that  they  had  any 
other  purpose  in  taking  this  stock  than  to 
make  a  profitable  investment.  It  is  appa- 
rent that  those  who  advanced  their  money 
to  pay  for  their  stock  present  more  the  ap- 
pearance of  ordinary  investors  than  those 
who  did  not,  but  the  committee  do  not  feel 
at  liberty  to  find  any  corrupt  purpose  or 
knowledge  founded  upon  the  fact  of  non- 
payment alone. 

it  ought  also  to  be  ob3er\ed  that  those 
gentlemen  who  surrendered  their  stock  to 
Mr.  Ames  before  there  was  any  public  ex- 
citement upon  the  subject,  do  not  profess 
to  have  done  so  upon  any  idea  of  impro- 
priety in  holding  it,  but  for  reasons  affect- 
ing the  value  and  security  of  the  invest- 
ment. But  the  committee  believe  that 
they  must  have  frit  that  there  was  some- 
thing so  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of 


business  in  the  extraordinary  dividends 
they  were  receiving  as  to  render  the  in- 
vestment itself  suspicious,  and  that  this 
was  one  of  the  motives  of  their  action. 

The  committee  have  not  been  able  to 
find  that  any  of  these  members  ot  Congress 
have  been  affected  in  their  oflicial  action 
in  consequence  of  their  interest  in  Credit 
Mobilier  stock. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  fact  that 
none  of  this  stock  was  transferred  to  those 
with  whom  Mr,  Ames  contracted  was  a 
circumstance  from  which  a  sense  of  impro- 
priety, if  not  corruption,  was  to  be  infer- 
red. The  committee  believe  this  is  capable 
of  explanation  without  such  inference. 
The  profits  of  building  the  road,  under  the 
Ames  contract,  were  only  to  be  divided 
among  such  holders  of  Credit  Mobilier 
stock  as  should  come  in  and  become  par- 
ties to  certain  conditions  set  out  in  the 
contract  of  transfer  to  the  trustees,  so  tbut 
a  transfer  from  Mr.  Ames  to  new  holders 
would  cut  off"  the  right  to  dividends  from 
the  trustees,  unless  they  also  became  par- 
ties to  the  agreement ;  and  this  the  cora- 
mittee  believe  to  be  the  true  reason  why 
no  transfers  were  made. 

The  committee  are  also  of  opinion  that 
there  was  a  satisfactory  reason  for  delay 
on  Mr.  Ames's  part  to  close  settlements 
with  some  of  these  gentlemen  for  slock 
and  bonds  he  had  received  as  dividen  ds 
upon  the  stock  contracted  to  them.  In  tlie 
fall  of  1868  Mr.  McComb  commenced  a 
suit  against  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company, 
and  Mr.  Ames  and  others,  claiming. to  be 
entitled  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  shares 
of  the  Credit  Mobilier  stock  upon  a  sub- 
scription for  stock  to  that  amount.  That 
suit  is  still  pending.  If  McComb  pre- 
vailed in  that  suit,  Mr.  Ames  might  be 
compelled  to  surrender  so  much  of  the 
stock  assigned  to  him  as  trustee,  and  he 
was  not  therefore  anxious  to  have  the 
stock  go  out  of  his  hands  until  that  suit 
was  terminated.  It  ought  also  to  be  stated 
that  no  one  of  the  present  members  of  the 
House  above  named  appears  to  have  had 
any  knowledge  of  the  dealings  of  Mr. 
Ames  with  other  members. 

The  committee  do  not  find  that  either 
of  the  above-named  gentlemen,  in  contract- 
ing with  Mr.  Ames,  had  any  corrupt  mo- 
tive or  purpose  himself,  or  was  aware  that 
Mr.  Ames  had  any,  nor  did  either  of  them 
suppose  he  was  guilty  of  any  impropriety 
or  even  indelicacy  in  becoming  a  purchaser 
of  this  stock.  Had  it  appeared  that  these 
gentlemen  were  aware  of  the  enormous  di- 
vidends upon  this  stock,  and  how  they 
were  to  be  earned,  we  could  not  thus  ac- 
quit them.  And  here  as  well  as  anywhere, 
tne  committee  may  allude  to  that  subject. 
Congress  had  chartered  the  Union  Pacific 
road,  given  to  it  a  liberal  grant  of  lands, 
and  promised  a  liberal  loan  of  Government 


BOOK  1.] 


THE    CREDIT    MOBILIER. 


207 


bonds,  to  be  delivered  as  fast  as  sections  of 
the  road  were  completed.  As  these  alone 
might  not  be  sufficient  to  complete  the 
road,  Congress  authorized  the  company  to 
issue  their  own  bonds  for  the  deficit,  and 
secured  them  by  a  mortgage  upon  the  road, 
which  should  be  a  lien  prior  to  that  of  the 
Government,  Congress  never  intended 
that  the  owners  of  the  road  should  execute 
a  mortgage  on  the  road  prior  to  that  of  the 
Government,  to  raise  money  to  put  into  their 
own  pockets,  but  only  to  build  the  road. 

The  men  who  controlled  the  Union 
Pacific  seem  to  have  adopted  as  the  basis 
of  their  action  the  right  to  incumber  the 
road  by  a  mortgage  prior  to  that  of  the 
Government  to  the  full  extent,  whether 
the  money  was  needed  for  the  construction 
of  the  road  or  not. 

It  was  clear  enough  they  could  not  do 
this  directly  and  in  terms,  and  therefore 
they  resorted  to  the  device  of  contracting 
with  themselves  to  build  the  road,  and  fix 
a  price  high  enough  to  require  the  issue  of 
bonds  to  the  full  extent,  and  then  divide 
the  bonds  or  the  proceeds  of  them  under 
+iie  name  of  profits  on  the  contract.  All 
those  acting  in  the  matter  seem  to  have 
been  fiiUy  aware  of  this,  and  that  this  was 
to  be  the  effect  of  the  transaction.  The 
sudden  rise  of  value  of  Credit  Mobilier 
atock  was  the  result  of  the  adoption  of  this 
scheme.  Any  undue  and  unreasonable 
profits  thus  made  by  themselves  were  as 
much  a  fraud  upon  the  Government  as  if 
they  had  sold  their  bonds  and  divided  the 
money  without  going  through  the  form  of 
denominating  them  profits  on  building  the 
road. 

Now  had  these  facts  been  known  to 
these  gentlemen,  and  had  they  understood 
they  were  to  share  in  the  proceeds  of  the 
scheme,  they  would  have  deserved  the 
severest  censure. 

Had  they  known  only  that  the  profits 
were  to  be  paid  in  stock  and  bonds  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Company,  and  so  make  them 
interested  in  it,  we  cannot  agree  to  the 
doctrine,  which  has  been  urged  before  us 
and  elsewhere,  that  it  was  perfectly  legiti- 
mate for  members  of  Congress  to  invest  in 
a  corporation  deriving  all  its  rights  from 
and  subject  at  all  times  to  the  action  of 
Congress. 

In  such  case  the  rules  of  the  House,  as 
well  as  the  rules  of  decency,  would  require 
such  member  to  abstain  from  voting  on 
any  question  affecting  his  interest.  But, 
after  accepting  the  position  of  a  member  of 
Congress,  we  do  not  think  he  has  the 
right  to  disqualify  himself  from  acting 
upon  subjects  likely  to  come  before  Con- 
gress without  some  higher  and  more  urgent 
motive  than  merely  to  make  a  p|ofitable 
investment.  But  it  is  not  so  much  to  be 
feared  that  in  such  case  an  interested  mem- 
ber would  vote  as  that  he  would  exercise 


his  influence  by  personal  appeal  to  his  fel- 
low-members, and  by  other  modes,  which 
often  is  far  more  potent  than  a  single  silent 
vote. 

We  do  not  think  any  member  ought  to 
feel  so  confident  of  his  own  strength  as  to 
allow  himself  to  be  brought  into  this  temp- 
tation. We  think  Mr.  Ames  judged 
shrewdly  in  saying  that  a  man  is  much 
more  likely  to  be  watchful  of  his  own  in- 
terests than  those  of  other  people  But 
there  is  a  broader  view  still  which  we  think 
ought  to  be  taken.  This  country  is  fast 
becoming  filled  with  gigantic  corporations, 
wielding  and  controlling  immense  aggrega- 
tions of  money,  and  thereby  commanding 
great  influence  and  power.  It  is  notorious 
in  many  State  legislatures  that  these  in- 
fluences are  often  controlling,  so  that  in 
effect  they  become  the  ruling  power  of  the 
State.  Within  a  few  years  Congress  has, 
to  some  extent,  been  brought  within  similar 
influences,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  pul)- 
lic  on  that  subject  has  brought  great  diH- 
ciedit  upon  the  body,  far  more,  we  belit.ve, 
than  there  were  facts  to  justify. 

But  such  is  the  tendency  of  the  time,  and 
the  belief  is  far  too  general  that  all  men 
can  be  ruled  with  money,  and  that  the  use 
of  such  means  to  carry  public  measures  is 
legitimate  and  proper.  No  member  of  Con- 
gress ought  to  place  himself  in  circum- 
stances of  suspicion,  so  that  any  discredit 
of  the  body  shall  arise  on  his  account.  It 
is  of  the  highest  importance  that  the  na- 
tional legislature  should  be  free  of  all  taint 
of  corruption,  and  it  is  of  almost  equal 
necessity  that  the  people  should  feel  confi- 
dent that  it  is  so. 

In  a  free  government  like  ours,  we  can- 
not expect  the  people  will  long  respect  the 
laws,  if  they  lose  respect  for  the  law- 
makers. 

For  these  reasons  we  think  it  behooves 
every  man  in  Congress  or  in  any  public 
position  to  hold  himself  aloof,  as  far  as 
possible,  from  all  such  influences,  that  he 
may  not  only  be  enabled  to  look  at  every 
public  question  with  an  eye  only  to  the 
})ublic  good,  but  that  his  conduct  and  mo- 
tives be  not  suspected  or  questioned.  The 
only  criticism  the  committee  feel  compelled 
to"  make  on  the  action  of  these  members  in 
taking  this  stock  is  that  they  were  not  suf- 
ficiently careful  in  ascertaining  what  they 
were  getting,  and  that  in  their  judgment 
the  assurance  of  a  good  investment  was  all 
the  assurance  they  needed.  We  commend 
to  them,  and  to  all  men,  the  letter  of  the 
venerable  Senator  Bayard,  in  response  to 
an  offer  of  some  of  this  stock,  found  on 
page  74  of  the  testimony. 

The  committee  find  nothing  in  the  con- 
duct or  motives  of  either  of  these  members 
in  taking  this  stock,  that  calls  for  any 
recommendation  by  the  committee  of  th« 
House. 


208 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


KB.  JABIES  BROOKS,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

The  case  of  Mr.  Brooks  stands  upon  a 
different  state  of  facts  from  any  of  those  al- 
ready given.  The  committee  find  irom  the 
evidence  as  follows :  Mr.  Brooks  had  been 
a  warm  advocate  of  a  Pacific  Railroad,  both 
in  Congress  and  in  the  public  press.  After 
persons  interested  in  the  Union  Pacific 
road  had  obtained  control  of  the  Credit 
Mobil  ier  charter  and  organized  under  it 
for  the  purpose  of  making  it  a  construction 
company  to  build  the  road.  Dr.  Durant, 
who  was  then  the  leading  man  in  the  en- 
terprise, made  great  efforts  to  get  the  stock 
of  the  Credit  Mobilier  taken.  Mr.  Brooks 
was  a  friend  of  Dr.  Durant,  and  he  made 
some  efforts  to  aid  Dr.  Durant  in  getting 
subscriptions  for  the  stock,  introduced  the 
matter  to  some  capitalists  of  New  York, 
but  his  eflbrta  w^ere  not  crowned  with  suc- 
cess. 

During  this  period  Mr.  Brooks  had 
talked  with  Dr.  Durant  about  taking  some 
of  the  stock  for  himself,  and  had  spoken  of 
taking  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  dollars 
of  it,  but  no  definite  contract  was  made 
between  them,  and  Mr.  Brooks  was  under 
no  legal  obligation  to  take  the  stock,  or 
Durant  to  give  it  to  him.  In  October, 
1867,  Mr.  Brooks  was  appointed  by  the 
President  one  of  the  Government  directors 
of  the  Union  Pacific  road.  In  December, 
1867,  after  the  stock  of  the  Credit  Mobilier 
was  understood,  by  those  familiar  with  the 
affairs  between  the  Union  Pacific  and  the 
Credit  Mibilier,  to  be  worth  very  much 
more  than  par,  Mr.  Brooks  applied  to  Dr. 
Durant,  and  claimed  that  he  should  have 
two  hundred  shares  of  Credit  Mobilier 
stock.  It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Brooks 
claimed  he  had  any  legal  contract  for 
stock  that  he  could  enforce,  or  that  Durant 
considered  himself  in  any  way  legally 
bound  to  let  him  have  any,  but  still,  on 
account  of  what  had  been  said,  and  the 
efforts  of  Mr.  Brooks  to  aid  him,  he  con- 
sidered himself  under  obligations  to  satisfy 
Mr.  Brooks  in  the  matter. 

The  stock  had  been  so  far  taken  up,  and 
was  then  in  such  demand,  that  Durant 
could  not  well  comply  with  Brooks's  de- 
mand for  two  hundred  shares.  After  con- 
siderable negotiation,  it  was  finally  ad- 
justed between  them  by  Durant's  agreeing 
to  let  Brooks  have  one  hundred  shares  of 
Credit  Mobilier  stock,  and  criving  him  with 
it  $5,000  of  Union  Pacific  bonds,  and  $20,- 
000  of  Union  Pacific  stock.  Dr.  Durant 
testifies  that  he  then  considered  Credit 
Mobilier  stock  worth  double  the  par 
value,  and  that  the  bonds  and  stock  he 
wa.s  to  give  Mr.  Brooks  worth  about  $9,000, 
80  thut  he  saved  about  $1,000  by  not  giving 
Brooks  the  additional  hundred  shares  he 
claimed.  After  the  negotiation  had  been 
concluded  between  Mr.  Brooks  and  Dr. 
Dnrant,  Mr.  Brooks  said  that  as  he  was  a 


Government  director  of  the  Union  Pacifi". 
road,  and  as  the  law  provided  such  direc- 
tors should  not  be  stockholders  in  that 
company,  he  would  not  hold  this  stock, 
and  directed  Dr.  Durant  to  transfer  it  to 
Charles  H.  Neilson,  his  son-in-law.  The 
whole  negotiation  with  Durant  was  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Brooks  himself,  and  Neilson 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  transaction, 
except  to  receive  the  transfer.  The  $10,- 
000  to  pay  for  the  one  hundred  shares  was 
paid  by  Mr.  Brooks,  and  he  received  the 
^,000  of  Pacific  bonds  which  came  with 
the  stock. 

The  certificate  of  transfer  of  the  hun- 
dred shares  from  Durant  to  Neilson  is 
dated  December  26,  1867.  On  the  3d  of 
January,  1868,  there  was  a  dividend  of  80 
per  cent,  in  Union  Pacific  bonds  paid  on 
the  Credit  Mobilier  stock.  The  bonds 
were  received  by  Neilson,  but  passed  over 
at  once  to  Mr.  Brooks.  It  is  claimed,  boih 
by  Mr.  Brooks  and  Neilson,  that  the  $10,- 
000  paid  by  Mr.  Brooks  for  the  stock  was  a 
loan  of  that  sum  by  him  to  Neilson,  nnd, 
that  the  bonds  he  received  from  Durar.t, 
and  those  received  for  the  dividend,  were 
delivered  and  held  by  him  as  collateriil 
security  for  the  loan. 

No  note  or  obligation  was  given  for  the 
money  by  Neilson,  nor,  so  far  as  we  can 
learn  from  either  Brooks  or  Neilson,  wjis 
any  account  or  memorandum  of  the  trans- 
action kept  by  either  of  them.  At  tiie 
time  of  the  arrangement  or  settlement 
above  spoken  of  between  Brooks  and  Du- 
rant, there  was  nothing  said  about  Mr. 
Brooks  being  entitled  to  have  60  per  cent, 
more  stock  by  virtue  of  his  ownership  of 
the  hundred  shares.  Neither  Brooks  nor 
Durant  thought  of  any  such  thing. 

Some  time  after  the  transfer  of  the 
shares  to  Neilson,  Mr.  Brooks  called  on 
Sidney  Dillon,  then  the  president  of  the 
Credit  Mobilier,  and  claimed  he  or  Neilson 
was  entitled  to  fifty  additional  shares  of 
the  stock,  by  virtue  of  the  purchase  of  the 
one  hundred  shares  of  Durant. 

This  was  claimed  by  Mr.  Brooks  as  his 
right  by  virtue  of  the  60  per  cent,  increase 
ot  the  stock  hereinbefore  described.  Mr. 
Dillon  said  he  did  not  know  how  that  was, 
but  he  would  consult  the  leading  stock- 
holders, and  be  governed  by  them.  Mr. 
Dillon,  in  order  to  justify  himself  in  the 
transaction,  got  up  a  paper  authorizing  the 
issue  of  fiftv  shares  of^  the  stock  to  Mr. 
Brooks,  and  procured  it  to  be  signed  by 
most  of  the  principal  shareholders.  After 
this  had  been  done,  an  entry  of  fifty  shares 
was  made  on  the  stock-ledger  to  some  per- 
son other  than  Neilson.  The  name  in  two 
places  on  the  book  has  been  erased,  and 
the  name  of  Neilson  inserted.  The  com- 
mittee are  satisfied  that  the  stock  was  firet 
entered  on  the  books  in  Mr.  Brooks's  nameu 

Mr.  Neilson  soon  after  called  for  the  cer» 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CREDIT    MOBILIER. 


209 


tificate  for  the  fifty  shares,  and  on  the  29th 
of  February,  18G8,  the  certificate  was  issued 
to  him,  and  the  entry  on  the  stock-book 
was  changed  to  Neilson. 

Neilson  procured  Mr.  Dillon  to  advance 
the  money  to  pay  for  the  stock,  and  at  the 
same  time  delivered  to  Dillon  $4,000  Union 
Pacific  bonds,  and  fift;y  shares  of  Union 
Pacific  stock  as  collateral  security.  These 
bonds  and  stock  were  a  portion  of  divi- 
dends received  at  the  time,  as  he  was  al- 
lowed to  receive  the  same  per  centage  of 
dividends  on  these  fifty  shares  that  had 
previously  been  paid  on  the  hundred. 
This  matter  has  never  been  adjusted  be- 
tween Neilson  and  Dillon.  Brooks  and 
Neilson  both  testify  they  never  paid  Dillon. 
Dillon  thinks  he  has  received  his  pay,  as 
he  has  not  now  the  collaterals  in  his  pos- 
session. If  he  has  been  paid  it  is  probable 
that  it  was  from  the  collaterals  in  some 
form.  The  subject  has  never  been  named 
between  Dillon  and  Neilson  since  Dillon 
advanced  the  money,  and  no  one  connected 
with  the  transaction  seems  able  to  give  any 
fnrther  light  upon  it.  The  whole  business 
by  which  these  fifty  shares  were  procured 
was  done  by  Mr.  Brooks.  Neilson  knew 
nothing  of  any  right  to  have  them,  and 
only  went  for  the  certificate  when  told  to 
do  so  by  Mr.  Brooks. 

The  committee  find  that  no  such  right  to 
fifty  shares  additional  stock  passed  by  the 
transfer  of  the  hundred.  And  from  Mr. 
Brooks's  familiarity  with  the  affairs  of  the 
company,  the  committee  believe  he  must 
have  known  his  claim  to  them  was  un- 
founded. The  question  naturally  arises, 
How  was  he  able  to  procure  them  ?  The 
stock  at  this  time  by  the  stockholders  was 
considered  worth  three  or  four  times  its 
par  value.  Neilson  sustained  no  relations 
to  any  of  these  people  that  commanded 
any  favor,  and  if  he  could  have  used  any 
influence  he  did  not  attempt  it;  if  he  had 
this  right  he  was  unaware  of  it  till  told  by 
Mr.  Brooks,  and  left  the  whole  matter  in 
his  hands.  It  is  clear  that  the  shares  were 
procured  by  the  sole  efforts  of  Mr.  Brooks, 
and,  as  the  stockholders  who  consented  to 
it  supposed,  for  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Brooks. 
What  power  had  Mr.  Brooks  to  enforce  an 
unfounded  claim,  to  have  for  $5,000,  stock 
worth  $15,000  or  $20,000?  Mr.  McComb 
swears  that  he  heard  conversation  between 
Mr.  Brooks  and  Mr.  John  B.  Alley,  a  large 
stockholder,  and  one  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, in  which  Mr.  Brooks  urged  that  he 
should  have  the  additional  fifty  shares,  be- 
cause he  was  or  would  procure  himself  to 
be  made  a  Government  director,  and  also 
that,  being  a  member  of  Congress,  he 
"  would  take  care  of  the  democratic  side  of 
the  House." 

Mr.  Brooks  and  Mr.  Alley  both   deny 
having  had  any  such  conversation,  or  that 
Mr.  Brooks  ever  made  such  a  statement  to 
14 


Mr.  Alley.  If,  therefore,  this  matter  rtsted 
wholly  upon  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Comb, the  committee  would  not  feel  justi- 
fied in  finding  that  Mr.  Brooks  procured 
the  stock  by  such  use  of  his  official  posi- 
tion; but  all  the  circumstances  seem  to 
point  exactly  in  that  direction,  and  we  can 
find  no  other  satisfactory  solution  of  the 
question  above  propounded.  Whatever 
claim  Mr.  Brooks  had  to  stock,  either 
legal  or  moral,  had  been  adjusted  and 
satisfied  by  Dr.  Durant.  Whether  he  was 
getting  this  stock  for  himself  or  to  give 
to  his  son-in-law,  we  believe,  from  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  the  whole  transac- 
tion, that  he  obtained  it  knowing  that  it 
was  yielded  to  its  official  position  and  in- 
fluence, and  with  the  intent  to  secure  his 
favor  and  influence  in  such  positions.  Mr. 
Brooks  claims  that  he  has  had  no  interest 
in  this  stock  whatever^  that  the  benefit 
and  advantage  of  his  right  to  have  it  he 
gave  to  Mr.  Neilson,  his  son-in-law,  and 
that  he  has  had  all  the  dividends  upon  it. 
The  committee  are  unable  to  find  this  to 
be  the  case,  for  in  their  judgment  all  the 
facts  and  circumstances  show  Mr.  Brooks 
to  be  the  real  and  substantial  owner,  and 
that  Neilson's  ownership  is  merely  nominal 
and  colorable. 

In  June,  1868,  there  was  a  cash  dividend 
of  $9,000  upon  this  one  hundred  and  fifty 
shares  of  stock.  Neilson  received  it,  of 
course,  as  the  stock  was  in  his  name  ;  but 
on  the  same  day  it  was  paid  over  to  Mr. 
Brooks,  as  Neilson  says,  to  pay  so  much  of 
the  $10,000  advanced  by  Mr.  Brooks  to 
pay  for  the  stock.  This,  then,  repaid  all 
but  $1,000  of  the  loan;  but  Mr.  Brooks 
continued  to  hold  $16,000  of  Union  Pacific 
bonds,  which  Neilson  says  he  gave  him  as 
collateral  security,  and  to  draw  the  inteirest 
upon  all  but  $5,000.  The  interest  upon  the 
others,  Neilson  says,  he  was  permitted  to 
draw  and  retain,  but  at  one  time  in  his. 
testimony  he  spoke  of  the  amount  he  was 
allowed  as  being  Christmas  and  New 
Year's  presents.  Neilson  says  that  during 
the  last  summer  he  borrowed  $14,000  of 
Mr.  Brooks,  and  he  now  owes  Mr.  Brooks 
nearly  as  much  as  the  collaterals ;  but,  ac- 
cording to  his  testimony,  Mr.  Brooks  for 
four  years  held  $16,000  in  bonds  as 
security  for  $1,000,  and  received  the  inter- 
est on  $11,000  of  the  collaterals.  No  ac- 
counts appear  to  have  been  kept  between 
Mr.  Brooks  and  Neilson,  and  doubtless 
what  sums  he  has  received  from  Mr. 
Brooks,  out  of  the  dividends,  were  intended 
as  presents  rather  than  as  deliveries  of 
money  belonging  to  him. 

Mr.  Brooks's  efforts  procured  the  stock ; 
his  money  paid  for  it ;  all  the  cash  divi- 
dends he  has  received ;  and  he  holds  all 
the  bonds,  except  those  Dillon  received, 
which  seem  to  have  been  applied  toward 
paying    for    the   fifty   shares.     Without 


210 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


further  comment  on  the  evidence,  the 
committee  find  that  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  sharea  of  stock  appearing  on  the 
books  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  in  the  name 
of  Neilson  were  really  the  stock  of  Mr. 
Brooks,  and  subject  to  his  control,  and 
that  it  was  so  understood  by  both  the  par- 
ties. Mr.  Brooks  had  taken  such  an  inter- 
est in  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company,  and 
was  so  connected  with  Dr.  Durant,  that  he 
must  be  regarded  as  having  full  knowledge 
of  the  relations  between  that  company  and 
the  railroad  company,  and  of  the  contracts 
between  them.  He  must  have  known  the 
cause  of  the  sudden  increase  in  value  of 
the  Credit  Mobilier  stock,  and  how  the 
large  expected  profits  were  to  be  made. 
We  have  already  expressed  our  views  of 
the  propriety  of  a  member  of  Congress  be- 
coming the  owner  of  stock,  possessing  this 
knowledge. 

But  Mr.  Brooks  was  not  only  a  member 
of  Congress,  but  he  was  a  Government 
director  of  the  Union  Pacific  Company. 
As  such  it  was  his  duty  to  guard  and 
watch  over  the  interests  of  the  Govern- 
ment in. the  road  and  to  see  that  they  were 
protected  and  preserved.  To  insure  such 
laithfulaess  on  the  part  of  Government 
directors,  Congress  wisely  provided  that 
they  should  not  be  stockholders  in  the 
road.  Mr.  Brooks  readily  saw  that,  though 
becoming  a  stockholder  in  the  Credit 
Mobilier  was  not  forbidden  by  the  letter  of 
the  law,  yet  it  was  a  violation  of  its  spirit  and 
essence,  and  therefore  had  the  stock  placed 
in  the  name  of  his  son-in-law.  The  trans- 
fer of  the  Oakes  Ames  contract  to  the 
trustees  and  the  building  of  the  road  un- 
der that  contract,  from  which  the  enormous 
dividends  were  derived,  were  all  during 
Mr.  Brooks's  ofiicial  life  as  a  Government 
director,  must  have  been  within  his  know- 
ledge, and  yet  passed  without  the  slightest 
opposition  from  him.  The  committee  be- 
lieved this  could  not  have  been  done 
without  an  entire  disregard  of  his  ofiicial 
obligation  and  duty,  and  that  while  ap- 
pointed to  guard  the  public  interests  m 
the  road  he  joined  himself  with  the  pro- 
moters of  a  scheme  whereby  the  Govern- 
ment was  to  be  defrauded,  and  shared  in 
the  spoil. 

In  the  conclusions  of  fact  upon  the 
evidence,  the  committee  are  entirely 
agreed. 

In  considering  what  action  we  ought  to 
recommend  to  the  House  upon  these  facts, 
the  committee  encounter  a  question  which 
has  been  much  debated  :  Ha-s  this  House 
power  and  jurisdiction  to  inquire  concern- 
ing offenses  committed  by  its  members  prior 
to  their  election,  and  to  punish  them  by  cen- 
sure or  expulsion?  The  committee  are 
unanimous  upon  the  right  of  jurisdiction 
of  this  House  over  the  cases  of  Mr.  Ames 
and  Mr.  Brooks,  upon  the  facts  found  in 


regard  to  them.  Upon  the  question  of 
jurisdiction  the  committee  present  the  fol- 
lowing views : 

The  Constitution,  in  the  fifth  section  of 
the  first  article,  defines  the  power  of  either 
House  as  follows : 

"  Each  House  may  determine  the  rules 
of  its  proceedings,  punish  its  members  for 
disorderly  behavior,  and  Avith  the  concur- 
rence of  two-thirds  expel  a  member.' 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  no  qual- 
ification of  the  power,  but  there  is  an  im- 
portant qualification  of  the  manner  of  its 
exercise — it  must  be  done  "  with  the  con- 
currence of  two-thirds." 

The  close  analogy  between  this  power 
and  the  power  of  impeachment  is  deserv- 
ing of  consideration. 

The  great  purpose  of  the  power  of  im- 
peachment is  to  remove  an  unfit  and  un- 
worthy incumbent  from  office,  and  though  a 
judgment  of  impeachment  may  to  some 
extent  operate  as  punishment,  that  is  not 
its  principal  object.  Members  of  Congroiis 
are  not  subject  to  be  impeached,  but  may 
be  expelled,  and  the  principal  purpose  of 
expulsion  is  not  as  punishment,  but  to  re- 
move a  member  whose  character  and  con- 
duct show  that  he  is  an  unfit  man  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  deliberations  and  decisions 
of  the  body,  and  whose  presence  in  it  tends 
to  bring  the  body  into  contempt  and  dis- 
grace. 

In  both  cases  it  is  a  power  of  purgation 
and  purification  to  be  exercised  for  the 
public  safety,  and,  in  the  case  of  expulsion, 
for  the  protection  and  character  of  the 
House.  The  Constitution  defines  the 
causes  of  impeachment,  to  wit,  "  treason, 
bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  mis- 
demeanors." The  office  of  the  power  of 
expulsion  is  so  much  the  same  as  that  of 
the  power  to  impeach  that  we  think  it 
may  be  safely  assumed  that  whatever 
would  be  a  good  cause  of  impeachment 
would  also  be  a  good  cause  of  expulsion. 

It  hits  never  been  contended  that  the 
power  to  impeach  for  any  of  the  causes 
enumerated  was  intended  to  be  restricted 
to  those  which  might  occur  after  appoint- 
ment to  a  civil  office,  so  that  a  civil  officer 
who  had  secretly  committed  such  offense 
before  his  appointment  should  not  be  sub- 
ject upon  detection  and  exposure  to  be 
convicted  and  removed  from  office.  Every 
consideration  of  justice  and  sound  policy 
would  seem  to  require  that  the  public  in- 
terests be  secured,  and  those  chosen  to  be 
their  guardians  be  free  from  the  pollution 
of  high  crimes,  no  matter  at  what  time 
that  pollution  had  attached. 

If  this  be  so  in  regard  to  other  civil  of- 
ficers, under  institutions  which  rest  upon 
the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people, 
can  it  well  be  claimed  that  the  law-making 
Representative  may  be  vile  and  criminal 
with  impunity,  provided  the  evidences  of 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CREDIT    MOBILIER. 


211 


his  corruption  are  found  to  antedate  his 
slection  ? 

In  the  report  made  to  the  Senate  by  John 
Quincy  Adams  in  December,  1807,  upon 
the  case  of  John  Smith,  of  Ohio,  the  fol- 
lowing language  is  used:  "The  power  of 
expelling  a  member  for  misconduct  results, 
on  the  principles  of  common  sense,  from 
the  interests  of  the  nation  that  the  high 
trust  of  legislation  shall  be  invested  in 
pure  hands.  When  the  trust  is  elective, 
it  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  the  constitu- 
ent body  will  commit  the  deposit  to  the 
keeping  of  worthless  characters.  But  when 
a  man  whom  his  fellow-citizens  have  hon- 
ored with  their  confidence  on  a  pledge  of 
a  spotless  repution,  has  degraded  himself 
by  the  commission  of  infamous  crimes, 
which  become  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
revealed  to  the  world,  defective  indeed 
would  be  that  institution  which  should  be 
impotent  to  discard  from  its  bosom  the  con- 
tagion of  such  a  member ;  which  should 
have  no  remedy  of  amputation  to  apply 
until  the  poison  had  reached  the  heart." 

The  case  of  Smith  was  that  of  a  Senator, 
who,  after  his  election,  but  not  during  a 
session  of  the  Senate,  had  been  involved 
in  the  treasonable  conspiracy  of  Aaron 
Burr.  Yet  the  reasoning  is  general,  and 
was  to  antagonize  some  positions  which 
had  been  taken  in  the  case  of  Marshall, 
a  Senator  from  Kentucky;  the  Senate  in 
that  case  having,  among  other  reasons,  de- 
clined to  take  jurisdiction  of  the  charge  for 
the  reason  that  the  alleged  offence  had  been 
committed  prior  to  the  Senator's  election, 
and  was  matter  cognizable  by  the  criminal 
courts  of  Kentucky.  None  of  the  com- 
mentators upon  the  Constitution  or  upon 
parliamentary  law  assign  any  such  limita- 
tion as  to  the  time  of  the  commission  of 
the  offense,  or  the  nature  of  it,  which  shall 
control  and  limit  the  power  of  expulsion. 
On  the  contrary  they  all  assert  that  the 
power  in  its  very  nature  is  a  discretionary 
one,  to  be  exercised  of  course  with  grave 
circumspection  at  all  times,  and  only  for 
good  cause.  Story,  Kent,  and  Sergeant, 
all  seem  to  accept  and  rely  upon  the  ex- 
position of  Mr.  Adams  in  the  Smith  case 
as  sound.  May,  in  his  Parliamentary 
Practice,  page  59,  enumerates  the  causes 
for  expulsion  from  Parliament,  but  he  no- 
where intimates  that  the  offense  must  have 
been  committed  subsequent  to  the  election. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  framers^ 
of  our  Constitution  were  familiar  with  the 

Earliamentary  law  of  England,  and  must 
ave  had  in  mind  the  then  recent  contest 
over  Wilkes's  case,  it  is  impossible  to  con- 
clude that  they  meant  to  limit  the  discre- 
tion of  the  Houses  as  to  the  causes  of  ex- 
pulsion. It  is  a  received  principle  of  con- 
struction that  the  Constitution  is  to  be  in- 
terpreted according  to  the  known  rules  of 
law  at  the  time  of  its  adoption,  and  there- 


fore, when  we  find  them  dealing  with  a 
recognized  subject  of  legislative  authority, 
and  while  studiously  (jualifying  and  re- 
stricting the  manner  of  its  exercise,  assign- 
ing no  limitations  to  the  subject-matter 
itself,  they  must  be  assumed  to  have  in- 
tended to  leave  that  to  be  determined  ac- 
cording to  established  principles,  as  a  high 
prerogative  power  to  be  exercised  accord' 
ing  to  the  sound  discretion  of  the  body. 
It  was  not  to  be  apprehended  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  Representatives  of  the  people 
would  ever  exercise  this  power  in  any 
capricious  or  arbitrary  manner,  or  trifle 
with  or  trample  upon  constitutional  rights. 
At  the  same  time  it  could  not  be  foreseen 
what  necessities  for  self-preservation  or 
sel-f-purification  might  arise  in  the  legisla- 
tive body.  Therefore  it  was  that  they  did 
not,  and  would  not,  undertake  to  limit  or 
define  the  boundaries  of  those  necessities. 

The  doctrine  that  the  jurisdiction  of  tbe 
House  over  its  members  is  exclusively  con- 
fined to  matters  arising  subsequent  to  theiir 
election,  and  that  the  body  is  bound  to  rt)- 
tain  the  vilest  criminal  as  a  member  if  his 
criminal  secret  was  kept  until  his  election 
was  secured,  has  been  supposed  by  many 
to  have  been  established  and  declared  in 
the  famous  case  of  John  Wilkes  before  al- 
luded to.  A  short  statement  of  that  case 
will  show  how  fallacious  is  that  suppoiii- 
tion.  Wilkes  had  been  elected  a  member 
of  Parliament  for  Middlesex,  and  in  1764 
was  expelled  for  having  published  a  libel 
on  the  ministry.  He  was  again  elected 
and  again  expelled  for  a  similar  offense  on 
the  3d  of  February,  1769.  Being  again 
elected  on  the  17th  of  February,  1769,  the 
commons  passed  the  following  resolution : 
"  That  John  Wilkes,  Esq.,  having  been  in 
this  session  of  Parliament  expelled  this 
house  was  and  is  incapable  of  being  elected 
a  member  to  serve  in  this  present  Parlia- 
ment." Wilkes  was  again  elected,  but  the 
House  of  Commons  declared  the  seat  va- 
cant and  ordered  a  new  election.  At  this 
election  Wilkes  was  again  elected  by  1,143 
votes,  against  296  for  his  competitor,  Lut- 
trell. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  1769,  the  house 
decided  that  by  the  previous  action  Wilkes 
had  become  ineligible,  and  that  the  votes 
given  for  him  were  void  and  could  not  be 
counted,  and  gave  the  seat  to  Luttrell. 
Subsequently,  in  1783,  the  House  of  Com- 
mons declared  the  resolution  of  February 
17,  1769,  which  had  asserted  the  incanaoity 
of  an  expelled  member  to  be  re-elei.ted 
to  the  same  Parliament,  to  be  subversive  of 
the  rights  of  the  electors,  and  expungeil  it 
from  the  journal.  It  will  be  seen  from 
this  concise  statement  of  Wilkes's  case 
that  the  question  was  not  raised  as  to  the 
power  of  the  house  to  expel  a  member 
for  offenses  committed  prior  to  his  election  ; 
the    point  decided,  and  afterward   most 


!(12 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


properly  expunged,  was  that  expulsion  per 
$e  rendered  the  expelled  member  legally 
ineligible,  and  that  votes  cast  for  him  could 
not  be  cou!ited.  Wilkes's  oftense  was  of 
purely  a  political  character,  not  involving 
moral  turpitude;  he  had  attacked  the 
ministry  in  the  press,  and  the  proceedings 
against  him  in  Parliament  were  then 
claimed  to  be  a  partisan  political  persecu- 
tion, subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  people 
and  of  the  liberty  of  tlie  press.  These 
proceedings  in  Wilkes's  case  took  place 
during  the  appearance  of  the  famous  Juni- 
us letters,  ana  several  of  them  are  devoted 
to  the  discussion  of  them.  The  doctrine 
that  expulsion  creates  ineligibility  was  at- 
tacked and  exposed  by  him  with  great 
force.  But  he  concedes  that  if  the  caUse 
of  expulsion  be  one  that  renders  a  man 
unfit  and  unworthy  to  be  a  member,  he 
may  be  expelled  for  that  cause  as  often  as 
he  shall  be  elected. 

The  case  of  Matteson,  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  has  also  often  been  quoted 
as  a  precedent  for  this  limitation  of  juris- 
diction. In  the  proceedings  and  debates 
of  the  House  upon  that  case  it  will  be  seen 
that  this  was  one  among  many  grounds 
taken  in  the  debate ;  but  as  the  whole  sub- 
ject was  ended  by  being  laid  on  the  table, 
it  is  quite  impossible  to  say  what  was  de- 
cided by  the  House.  It  appeared,  how- 
ever, in  that  case  that  the  charge  against 
Matteson  had  become  public,  and  his  letter 
upon  which  the  whole  charge  rested  had 
been  published  and  circulated  through  his 
district  during  the  canvass  preceding  his 
election.  This  fact,  we  judge,  had  a  most 
important  influence  in  determining  the 
action  of  the  House  in  his  case. 

The  committee  have  no  occasion  in  this 
report  to  discuss  the  question  as  to  the 
power  or  duty  of  the  House  in  a  case  where 
a  constituency,  with  a  full  knowledge  of 
the  objectionable  character  of  a  man,  have 
selected  him  to  be  their  Representative. 
It  is  hardly  a  case  to  be  supposed  that  any 
constituency,  with  a  full  knowledge  that  a 
man  had  been  guilty  of  an  offense  involv- 
ing moral  turpitude,  would  elect  him.  The 
majority  of  the  committee  are  not  pre- 
pared to  concede  such  a  man  could  be 
forced  upon  the  House,  and  would  not  con- 
sider the  expulsion  of  such  a  man  any  vio- 
lation of  the  rights  of  the  electors,  for 
while  the  electors  have  rights  that  should 
be  respected,  the  House  as  a  bodv  has  rights 
also  that  should  be  protected  and  preserved. 
But  that  in  such  case  the  judgment  of  the 
constituency  would  be  entitled  to  the  great- 
est consideration,  and  that  this  should  form 
an  importjint  element  in  its  determination, 
is  readily  admitted. 

It  is  universally  conceded,  as  we  believe, 
that  the  House  has  ample  jurisdiction  to 
punish  or  expel  a  member  for  an  offense 
committed  during  his  term  as  a  member, 


though  committed  during  a  vacation  o^ 
Congress  and  in  no  way  connected  with 
his  duties  as  a  member.  Upon  what  prin- 
ciple is  it  that  such  a  jurisdiction  can  be 
maintained  ?  It  must  be  upon  cue  or  both 
of  the  following:  that  the  offense  shows 
him  to  be  an  unworthy  and  improper  man 
to  be  a  member,  or  that  his  conduct  brings 
odium  and  reproach  upon  the  body.  But 
suppose  the  offense  has  been  committed 
prior  to  his  election,  but  comes  to  light 
afterward,  is  the  effect  upon  his  own 
character,  or  the  reproach  and  disgrace 
upon  the  body,  if  they  allow  him  to  remain 
a  member,  any  the  less  ?  We  can  see  no 
difference  in  principle  in  the  two  cases,  and 
to  attempt  any  would  be  to  create  a  purely 
technical  and  arbitrary  distinction,  having 
no  just  foundation.  In  our  judgment,  the 
time  is  not  at  all  material,  except  it  be 
coupled  with  the  further  fact  that  he  w:is 
re-elected  with  a  knowledge  on  the  part  of 
his  constituents  of  what  he  had  been  guill y, 
and  in  such  event  we  have  given  our  vieiiis 
of  the  effect. 

It  seems  to  us  absurd  to  say  that  an  elec- 
tion has  given  a  man  political  absolutidn 
for  an  ofliense  which  was  unknown  to  his 
constituents.  If  it  be  urged  again,  an  it 
has  sometimes  been,  that  this  view  of  the 
power  of  the  House,  and  the  truegroujjd 
of  its  proper  exercise,  may  be  laid  hold  of 
and  used  improperly,  it  may  be  answered 
that  no  rule,  however  narrow  and  limited, 
that  may  be  adopted  can  prevent  it.  If 
two-thirds  of  the  House  shall  see  fit  to  ex- 
pel a  man  because  they  do  not  like  Lis 
political  or  religious  principles,  or  with  out 
any  reason  at  all,  they  have  the  power,  jind 
there  is  no  remedy  except  by  appeal  to  i'lie 
people.  Such  exercise  of  the  power  woh  Id 
be  wrongful,  and  violative  of  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Constitution,  but  we  see  no 
encouragement  of  such  wrong  in  the  views 
we  hold. 

It  is  the  duty  of  each  House  to  exercise 
its  rightful  functions  upon  appropriate  oc- 
casions, and  to  trust  that  those  who  come 
after  them  will  be  no  less  faithful  to  duty, 
and  no  less  jealous  for  the  rights  of  free 
popular  representation  than  themselves. 
It  will  be  quite  time  enough  to  square 
other  cases  with  right  reason  and  principle 
when  they  arise.  Perhaps  the  best  way  to 
prevent  tnem  will  be  to  maintain  strictly 
public  integrity  and  public  honor  in  all 
cases  as  they  piesent  themselves.  Nor  dp 
we  imagine  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  will  charge  their  servants  with  in- 
vading their  privileges  when  they  confine 
themselves  to  the  preservation  of  a  stand- 
ard of  official  integrity  which  the  common 
instincts  of  humanity  recognize  as  essen- 
tial to  all  social  order  and  good  govern- 
ment. 

The  foregoing  are  the  views  which  we 
deem  proper  to  submit  upon  the  general 


B005  I.] 


THE    CREDIT    MOBILIER. 


218 


qiKistion  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  House 
ov«ir  its  members.  But  apart  from  these 
geueral  views,  the  committee  are  of  opin- 
ion that  the  facts  found  in  the  present  case 
amply  justify  tlie  taking  jurisdiction  over 
them,  for  the  following  reasons: 

The  subject-matter  upon  which  the  ac- 
tion of  members  was  intended  to  be  influ- 
enced was  of  a  continuous  character,  and 
was  aa  likely  to  be  a  subject  of  congres- 
sional action  in  future  Congresses  as  in  the 
Fortieth.  The  influences  .brought  to  bear 
on  members  were  as  likely  to  be  operative 
upon  them  in  the  future  as  in  the  present, 
and  were  so  intended.  Mr.  Ames  and  Mr. 
Brooks  have  both  continued  members  of 
the  House  to  the  present  time,  and  so  have 
most  of  the  members  upon  whom  these  in- 
fluences were  sought  to  be  exerted.  The 
committee  are,  therefore,  of  opinion  that 
the  acts  of  these  men  may  properly  be 
treated  as  offenses  against  the  present 
House,  and  so  within  its  jurisdiction  upon 
th(j  most  limited  rule. 

Two  members  of  the  committee,  Messrs. 
Nib  lack  and  McCrary,  prefer  to  express 
no  opinion  on  the  general  jurisdictional 
qutfiitions  discussed  in  the  report,  and  rest 
their  judgment  wholly  on  the  ground  last 
stat<;d. 

In  relation  to  Mr.  Ames,  he  sold  to  sev- 
enil  members  of  Congress  stock  of  the 
Credit  Mobilier  Company,  at  par,  when  it 
was  worth  double  that  amount  or  more, 
with,  the  purpose  and  intent  thereby  to  in- 
flfjeijce  their  votes  and  decisions  upon 
matters  to  come  before  Congress. 

The  facts  found  in  the  report  as  to  Mr. 
Brooks,  show  that  he  used  the  influence  of 
hi:*  ofiicial  positions  as  member  of  Congress 
and  Government  director  in  the  Union 
I'acific  Railroad  Company,  to  get  fifty 
shires  of  the  stock  of  the  Credit  Mobilier 
C'jmpany,  at  par,  when  it  was  worth  three 
cr  four  times  that  sum,  knowing  that  it 
was  given  to  him  with  intent  to  influence 
his  votes  and  decisions  in  Congress,  and 
his  action  as  a  Government  director. 

The  sixth  section  of  the  act  of  February 
26,  1853,  10  Stat.  United  States,  171,  is  in 
the  following  words: 

"  If  any  person  or  persons  shall,  directly 
or  indirectly,  promise,  offer,  or  give,  or 
cause  or  procure  to  be  promised,  offered,  or 

fiven,  any  money,  goods,  right  in  action, 
ribe,  present,  or  reward,  or  any  promise, 
contract,  undertaking,  obligation,  or  se- 
curity for  the  payment  or  delivery  of  any 
money,  goods,  right  in  action,  bribe,  pres- 
ent, or  reward,  or  any  other  valuable  thing 
whatever,  to  any  member  of  the  Senate  or 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States,  after  his  election  aa  such  member, 
and  either  before  or  after  he  shall  have 
qualified  and  taken  his  seat,  or  to  any  offi- 
cer of  the  United  States,  or  person  holding 
any  place  of  trust  or  profit,  or  discharging 


any  official  function  under  or  in  connec- 
tion with  any  Department  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the*  United  States,  or  under  the 
Senate  or  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States,  after  the  passage  of  this  act, 
with  intent  to  influence  his  vote  or  de- 
cision on  any  question,  matter,  cause,  or 
proceeding  which  may  then  be  pending,  or 
may  by  law,  or  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  be  brought  before  him 
in  his  official  capacity,  or  in  his  place  of 
trust  or  profit,  and  shall  thereof  be  con- 
victed, such  person  or  persons  so  offering, 
promising,  or  giving,  or  causing  or  pro- 
curing to  be  promised,  offered,  or  given, 
any  such  money,  goods,  right  in  action, 
bribe,  present,  or  reward,  or  any  promise, 
contract,  undertaking,  obligation,  or  se- 
curity for  the  payment  or  delivery  of  any 
money,  goods,  right  in  action,  bribe,  pres- 
ent, or  reward,  or  other  valuable  thing 
whatever,  and  the  member,  officer,  or  per- 
son who  shall  in  anywise  accept  or  receive 
the  same,  or  any  part  thereof,  shall  be 
liable  to  indictment  as  for  a  high  crime 
and  misdemeanor  in  any  of  the  courts  of 
the  United  States  having  jurisdiction  for 
the  trial  of  crimes  and  misdemeanors ;  and 
shall,  upon  conviction  thereof,  be  fined  not 
exceeding  three  times  the  amount  so 
offered,  promised,  or  given,  and  imprisoned 
in  the  penitentiary  not  exceeding  three 
years ;  and  the  person  so  convicted  of  so 
accepting  or  receiving  the  same,  or  any 
part  thereof,  if  an  officer  or  person  holding 
any  such  place  of  trust  or  profit  as  afore- 
said, shall  forfeit  his  office  or  place ;  and 
any  person  so  convicted  under  this  section 
shall  forever  be  disqualified  to  hold  any 
office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the 
United  States." 

In  the  judgment  of  the  committee,  the 
facts  reported  in  regard  to  Mr.  Ames  and 
Mr.  Brooks  would  have  justified  their  con- 
viction under  the  above-recited  statute  an^. 
subjected  them  to  the  penalties  therein 
provided. 

The  committee  need  not  enlarge  npo» 
the  dangerous  character  of  these  offenses. 
The  sense  of  Congress  is  shown  by  the 
severe  penalty  denounced  by  the  statute 
itself  The  offenses  were  not  violations  of 
private  rights,  but  were  against  the  very 
life  of  a  constitutional  Government  by 
poisoning  the  fountain  of  legislation. 

The  duty  devolved  upon  the  committee 
has  been  of  a  most  painful  and  delicate 
character.  They  have  performed  it  to  the 
best  of  their  ability.  They  have  proceeded 
with  the  greatest  care  and  deliberation, 
for  while  thev  desired  to  do  their  full  dutj' 
to  the  House  and  the  country,  they  were 
most  anxious  not  to  do  injustice  to  any 
man.  In  forming  their  conclusions  they 
have  intended  to  oe  entirely  cool  and  dis- 
passionate, not  to  allow  themselves  to  be 
swerved  by  any  popular  fervor  on  the  one 


214 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  r. 


hand,,  or  any  feeline  of  personal  favor  and 
sympathy  on  the  other. 

The  committee  submit  to  the  House  and 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions. 

*'  1.  Whereas  Mr.  Oakes  Ames,  a  Repre- 
sentative in  this  House  from  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  has  been  guilty  of  selling 
to  members  of  Congress  shares  of  stock  in 
the  Credit  Mobilier  of  America,  for  prices 
much  below  the  true  vahie  of  such  stock, 
with  intent  thereby  to  influence  the  votes 
and  decisions  of  such  members  in  matters 
to  be  brought  before  Congress  for  action  : 
Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  Oakes  Ames  be,  and 
he  is  hereby,  expelled  from  his  seat  as  a 
member  of  this  House. 

2.  Whereas  Mr.  James  Brooks,  a  Repre- 
sentative in  this  House  from  the  State  of 
New  York,  did  procure  the  Credit  Mo- 
bilier Company  to  issue  and  deliver  to 
Charles  H.  Neilson,  for  the  use  and  bene- 
fit of  said  Brooks,  fifty  shares  of  the  stock 
of  said  company,  at  a  price  much  below  its 
reaJ  value,  well  knowing  that  the  same 
was*  so  issued  and  delivered  with  intent  to 
influence  the  votes  and  decisions  of  said 
Brooks,  as  a  member  of  the  House,  in  mat- 
ters to  be  brought  before  Congress  for  ac- 
tion, and  also  to  influence  the  action  of 
said  Brooks  as  a  Government  director  in 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company: 
Tlierefore, 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  James  Brooks  be, 
and  he  is  herebv,  expelled  from  his  seat  as 
a  member  of  this  House." 

The  House,  after  much  discussion,  modi- 
fied the  propositions  of  the  committee  of 
investigation,  and  subjected  Oakes  Ames 
and  James  Brooks  to  the  "  absolute  con- 
demnation of  the  House."  Both  members 
died  within  three  months  thereafter. 

The  session  was  full  of  investigations, 
but  all  the  others  failed,  to  develop  any 
tangible  scandals.  The  Democrats  de- 
manded and  secured  the  investigation  of 
the  New  York  custom-house ;  the  United 
States  Treasury ;  the  use  of  Seneca  sand- 
stone; the  Cliorpenning  claim,  and  the 
Navy  Department,  etc.  They  were,  as 
•tated,  fruitless. 


The  "SafanT-  Grab." 

At  the  same  session— 1871-73,  acts  were 
passed  to  abolish  the  franking  privilege,  to 
increase  the  President's  salary  from  $25- 
000  to  |60,0(X),  and  that  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  from  $5,000  to  $7,500.  The 
last  proved  quite  unpomilar,and  was  gene- 
rally denounced  as  "  Tlie  Salary  Grab," 
because  of  the  feature  Avliich  made  it  ap- 

Ely  to  the  Congressmen  who  passed  the 
ill,  and  of  course  to  go  backward  to  the 
beginning  of  the  term.  This  was  not 
new,  as  earlier  precedents  were  found  to 


excuse  it,  but  the  people  were  neverthe- 
less dissatisfied,  and  it  was  made  an  issue 
by  both  parties  in  the  nomination  and 
election  of  Representatives.  Many  were 
defeated,  but  probably  more  survived  the 
issue,  and  are  still  enjoying  public  life. 
Yet  the  agitation  was  kept  up  until  the 
obnoxious  feature  of  the  bill  and  the  Con- 
gressional increase  of  salary  were  repealed, 
leaving  it  as  now  at  the  rate  of  $5,000  a 
year  and  mileage. 

A  House  committee,  headed  by  B.  F. 
Butler,  on  Feb.  7th,  1873,  made  a  report 
which  gave  a  fair  idea  of  the  expenses  un- 
der given  circumstances — the  increase  to 
be  preserved,  but  the  franking  privilege 
and  mileage  to  be  repealed.  We  quote 
the  figures: 

Increase  of  President's  salary  $25,000  00 
Increase  of  Cabinet  ministers' 

salary 14,000  00 

Increase  of  salary  of  judges 

United  States  Supreme 

Court 18,500  00 

Increase  of  salary  of  Senators, 

Members,  and  Delegates...     972,000  00 

Totalincrease $1,029,500  00 

Saving  to  the  Government,  ac- 
cording to  the  oflicial  state- 
ment of  the  Postmaster- 
General,  per  annum,  by  the 
abolition  of  the  franking 
privilege $2,543,327  72 

Saving  to  the  Government  by 
abolition  of  mileage,  sta- 
tionery, postage,  and  news- 
paper accounts  (estimated)    200  000  00 

$2,753,327  72 
1,029,500  00 

Total  net  saving $1,713,827  72 

The  House  passed  a  bill  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  mileage,  but  in  the  Senate  it  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Civil  Service 
and  Retrenchment,  and  not  again  heard 
from.  So  that  the  increased  pay  no  longer 
obtains,  the  franking  privilege  only  to  the 
extent  of  mailing  actual  Congressional 
documents,  and  mileage  remains. 

The  following  curious  facts  relating  to 
these  questions  we  take  from  Hon.  Edward 
McPherson's  admirable  compilation  in  his 
"  Hand- Book  of  Politics  "  for  1874. 


statement  of  Compensation  and  Mileage. 

Drawn  by  U.  8.  Senator*  under  Oie  variotu  Compentaiion 
Acts. 

Mr.  Gorham,  Secretar)'  of  the  Senate, 
prepared,  under  date  of  January  3, 1874,  a 
statement,  in  answer  to  a  resolution  of  the 
Senate,  covering  these  points : 


BOOK  I.] 


COMPENSATION    AND    MILEAGE. 


215 


I, — The  several  rates  of  compensation  fixed 
by  various  laws,  and  the  cases  in  which 
the  same  toere  retroactive,  and  for  what 
length  of  time. 

1.  By  the  act  of  September  22,  1789,  the 
compensation  of  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives in  Congress  was  fixed  at  six  dollars  a 
day,  and  thirty  cents  a  mile  for  traveling 
to  and  from  the  seat  of  Government.  This 
rate  was  to  continue  until  March  4,  1795. 
The  same  act  fixed  the  compensation 
firom  March  4,  1795,  to  March  4,  1796,  (at 
which  last-named  date,  by  its  terms,  it  ex- 
pired,) at  seven  dollars  a  day,  and  thirty- 
five  cents  a  mile  for  travel.  This  act  was 
retroactive,  extending  back  six  months 
and  eighteen  days,  namely,  to  March  4, 
1789. 

2.  The  act  of  March  10,  1796,  fixed  the 
compensation  at  six  dollars  a  day,  and 
thirty  cents  a  mile  for  travel.  (This  act 
extended  back  over  six  days  only.) 

3.  The  act  of  March  19,  1816,  fixed  the 
compensation  at$l,500  a  year,  "instead  of 
the  daily  compensation,"  and  left  the  mile- 
age unchanged.  This  act  was  retroactive, 
extending  back  one  year  and  fifteen  days, 
namely  to  March  4,  1815.  (This  act  was 
repealed  by  the  act  of  February  6, 1817, 
but  it  was  expressly  declared  that  no 
former  act  was  thereby  revived.) 

4.  The  act  of  January  22,  1818,  fixed  the 
compensation  at  eight  dollars  a  day,  and 
forty  cents  a  mile  for  travel.  This  act  was 
retroactive,  extending  back  fifty-three  days, 
namely,  to  the  assembling  of  Congress, 
December  1, 1817. 

5.  The  act  of  August  16,  1856,  fixed  the 
compensation  at  $3,000  a  year,  and  left  the 
mileage  unchanged.  This  act  was  retroac- 
tive, extending  back  one  year,  five  months, 
aad  twelve  days,  namely,  to  March  4, 1855. 

6.  The  act  of  July  28,  1866,  fixed  the 
compensation  at  $5,000  a  year,  and  twenty 
cents  a  mile  for  travel,  (not  to  affect  mile- 
age accounts  already  accrued.)  This  act 
was  retroactive,  extending  back  one  year, 
four  months,  and  twenty-four  days,  namely, 
to  March  4,  1865. 

7.  The  act  of  March  3,  1873,  fixed  the 
compensation  at  $7,500  a  year,  and  actual 
traveling  expenses;  the  mileage  already 
paid  for  the  Forty-Second  Congress  to  be 
deducted  from  the  pay  of  those  who  had 
received  it.  This  act  was  retroactive,  ex- 
tending back  two  years,  namely,  to  March 
4, 1871. 

Note. — Stationery  was  allowed  to  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  without  any 
special  limit  until  March  3,  1868,  when 
the  amount  for  stationery  and  newspapers 
for  each  Senator  and  Member  was  limited 
to  $125  a  session.  This  was  changed  by  a 
subsequent  act,  taking  efiect  July  1,  1869, 
to  $125  a  year.  The  act  of  1873  abolished 
all  allowance  for  stationery  and  news- 
papers. 


II. — Names  of  Senators  who  drew  pay  un- 
der the  retroactive  provisions  of  the 
several  laws,  amounts  drawn,  and  dates  of 
same. 

Act  of  1789. — ^The  records  of  my  office 
do  not  fiirnish  the  exact  information  de- 
sired under  this  head  concerning  the 
First  Congress,  the  compensation  of  which 
was  fixed  by  act  of  September  22,  1789.  It 
appears,  however,  that  the  account  of  each 
Senator  was  made  up,  and  that  each  re- 
ceived the  amount  allowed  by  law.  The 
following  is  a  copy  from  the  record : 

January  19,  1790. — That  there  is  due  to 
the  Senators  of  the  United  States  for- 
attendance  in  Congress  the  present  session, 
to  the  31st  of  March  inclusive,  and  ex- 
penses of  travel  to  Congress  ,  as  allowed 
by  law,  as  follows,  to  wit : 

Messrs.  Richard  Basset,  $496.50 ;  Pierce 
Butler,  $796;  Charles  Carroll,  $186; 
Tristram  Dalton,  $612 ;  Oliver  Ellsworth, 
$546.50;  Jonathan  Elmer,  $414  ;  William 
Few,  $833.50 ;  John  Henry,  $596.50 ;  Ben- 
jamin Hawkins,  $615  ;  William  S.  John- 
son, $544 ;  Samuel  Johnson,  $534 ;  Rufus 
King,  $522 ;  John  Langdon,  $618 ;  William 
Maclay,  $585;  Robert  Morris,  $430.50; 
William  Paterson,  $514.50 ;  George  Read, 
$195;  Caleb  Strong,  $575.50;  Philip 
Schuyler,  $571,50 ;  PaineWingate,  $616.60. 

Act  of  1816. — ^The  record  contains  no 
showing  as  to  the  amount  paid  to  Senators 
under  the  retroactive  provision  of  the  act 
of  March  19,1816.  The  following,  taken 
from  the  books,  shows  the  amount  of  com- 
pensation paid  to  each  Senator  for  the  en- 
tire Congress,  exclusive  of  mileage : 

Messrs.  Eli  P.  Ashmun,  $920 ;  James 
^arbour,  $2,850  ;  William  T.  Barry,  $2,080; 
William  W.  Bibb,  $2,070  ;  James  Brown, 
$2,980 ;  George  W.  Campbell,  $2,950 ;  Dud- 
ley Chace,  $3,000;  John  Condit,  $2,980 ; 
David  Daggett,  $3,000 ;  Samuel  W.  Dana, 
$2,640 ;  Elegius  Fromentin,  $3,000 ;  John 
Gaillard,  President,  $6,000;  Robert  H. 
Goldsborough,  $2,840 ;  Christopher  Gore, 
$1,940;  Alexander  Contee  Hanson,  $530; 
Martin  D.  Hardin,  $900  ;  Robert  G.  Har- 
per, $1,450;  Outerbridge  Horsey,  $3,000; 
Jeremiah  B.  Howell,  $3,000;  William 
Hunter,  $2,930;  Rufus  King,  $2,660; 
Abner  Lacock,  $3,000  ;  Nathaniel  Macon, 
$2,946 ;  Jeremiah  Mason  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, $2,680  ;  Armistead  T.  Mason  of  Vir- 
ginia, $2,360  ;  Jeremiah  Morrow,  $3,000 ; 
James  Noble,  $920;  Jonathan  Roberts, 
$3,000  ;  Benjamin  Ruggles,  $3,000  ;  Nathan 
Sanford,  $2,720;  William  Smith,  $540; 
Montfort  Stokes,  $810;  Charles  Tait, 
$3,000 ;  Isham  Talbot,  $2,730 ;  John  Tay- 
lor of  South  Carolina,  $1,990  ;  Waller  Tay- 
lor of  Indiana,  $920 ;  Thomas  W.  Thomp- 
son, $2,850  ;'Isaac  Tichenor,  $3,000 ;  Georgo 
M.  Troup,  $830 ;  James  Turner,  $2,060 ; 
Joseph  B.  Varnum,  $3,000;  William  H. 


216 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[booki. 


Wells,  $2,610;  John  "Williaina,  $3,000; 
James  J.  Wilson,  $3,000. 

Act  of  1818. — Under  the  retroactive 
provision  of  the  act  of  January  22,  1818, 
the  following  named  Senators  drew  the 
amounts  for  compensation  and  mileage  op- 
posite their  respeetive  names : 

Messrs.  Eli  1*.  Ashmun,  $068;  James 
Barbour,  $520  ;  Jame-s  Ikirril,  $762  ;  (jeorge 
W.  Campbell,  $1,008  ;  John  J.  Crittenden, 
$1,007.20 ;  David  Daggett,  $690.40 ;  Samuel 
W.  Dana,  $283.20;  Mahlon  Dickerson, 
$628.80;  John  W.  Eppes,  $584;  James 
Fisk,  $848 ;  Elegius  Fromentin,  $1,393.60 ; 
John  Gaillard,  $880 ;  Robert  H.  Golds- 
borough,  $483.20;  Outerbridge  Horsey, 
$485.60  ;  William  Hunter,  $543.20 ;  Henry 
Johnson,  $1,273.60 ;  Rufus  King,  $627.20 ; 
Abner  Lacock,  $649.60;  Walter  Leake, 
$1,384;  Nathaniel  Macon,  $600  ;  David  L. 
Morril,  $876;  Jeremiah  Morrow,  $776; 
James  Noble,  $918.40  ;  Harrison  Gray  Otis, 
$792.80 ;  Jonathan  Roberts,  $564.80  ;  Ben- 
jamin Ruggles,  $688;  Nathan  Sanford, 
$616  ;  William  Smith,  $774.40 ;  Montfort 
Stokes,  $745.60  ;  Clement  Storer,  $875.20 ; 
Charles  Tait,  $952;  Isham  Talbot,  $872; 
Waller  Taylor,  $1,080;    Isaac  Tichenor, 

$784;    George   M.   Troup,  $952; Van 

Dyke,  $380.80;  Thomas  H.  Williams  of 
Mississippi,  $1,433.60 ;  John  W^illiams  of 
Tennessee,  $861.60;  James  J.  Wilson, 
$568. 

Act  of  1856. — Under  the  retroactive 
provision  of  the  act  of  August  16,  1856, 
the  following  named  Senators  drew  the 
amounts  opposite  their  respective  names: 

Messrs.  Stephen  Adams,  $2,243.77 ; 
Philip  Allen,  $2,202.79 ;  James  A.  Bayard, 
$2,088.03;  James  Bell,  $1,083.93;  John 
Bell,  $2,268.36;  J.  P.  Benjamin,  $2,210.99; 
Asa  Biggs,  $2,161.81 ;  William  Bigler,  $1,- 
594.24;  Jesse  D.  Bright,  president  pro 
tempore,  $6,772.40 ;  R.  Brodhead,  $2,261.- 
97 ;  A.  G,  Brown,  $2,251.97 ;  A.  P.  Butler, 
$2,202.70 ;  Lewis  Cass,  $2,251.97 ;  C.  C. 
Clay,  jr.,  $2,251.97  ;  J.  M.  Clayton,  $2,292.- 
95  ;  J.  Collamer,  $2,219.18  ;  J.  J.  Critten- 
den, $2,243.79 ;  H.  Dodge,  $2,292.95 ;  S.  A. 
Douglas,  $2,268.36 ;  C.  Durkee,  $2,235.56  ; 
J.  J.  Evans,  $2,121.70  ;  W.  S.  Fessenden, 
$2,276.56  ;  H.  Fish,  $2,237.28  ;  B.  Fitzpat- 
rick,  $2,194.50 ;  S.  Foot,  $2,292.94 ;  L.  F. 
S.  Foster,  $2,112.62 ;  H.  S.  Gever,  $2,276.- 
66  ;  J.  P.  Hale,  $887.10 ;  H.  Hamlin,  $1,- 
989.68;  J.  Harlan,  $2,268.36;  S.  Houston, 
$2,292.95;  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  2,210.99;  A. 
Iverson,  $2,210.99 ;  C.  T.James,  $2,210.99; 
R.  W.  Johnson,  $632.21 ;  G.  W.  Jones, 
$2,235.58 ;  J.  C.  Jones,  $2,047.05 ;  S.  R. 
Mallory,  $2,276.66;  J.  M.  Mason,  $2,1^3; 
J.  A.  Pearce,  $2,194.59;  T.  G.  Pratt,  $2,- 
129.02;  G.  E.  Pugh,  $2,096.21 ;  D.  S.Reid, 
$2,235.58;  T.  J.  Rusk,  $2,292.95 ;  W.  K. 
Sebastian,  $2,137.22  ;  W.  H.  Seward,  $2,- 
29.2.95;  John  Slidell,  $2,276.66;  C.  E. 
Stuart,  $2,292.95;  C.  Sumner,  $2,292.95; 


J.  B.  Thompson,  $2,235.67;  John  R. 
Thomson,  $2.022.46 ;  Robert  Toombs,  $2,- 
006.07  ;  Isaac  Toucey,  $2,292.65 ;  L.  Trum- 
bull, $2,251.97  ;  B.  F.  Wade,  $2,202.79  ;  J. 

B.  Weller,  $2,251  97 ;  H.  Wilson,  $2,178.- 
20;  W.  Wright,  $2,120.82;  D.  L.  Yulee, 
$2,194.59. 

Act  of  1866. — Under  the  retroactive 
provision  of  the  act  of  July  28,  1866,  the 
following  named  Senators  received  the 
amounts  opposite  their  respective  names : 

Messrs.  H.  B.  Anthony,  $2,805  56 ;  B. 
Gratz  Brown,  $2,805  66 ;  C.  R.  Buckalew 
$2,805  56;  Z.  Chandler,  $2,805  56;  D'. 
Clark,  $2,805  56  ;  J.  Collamer,  $1,366  15 ; 
J.  Conness,  $2,805  66;  E.  Cowan,  $2,- 
805  56 ;  A.  H.  Cr^igin,  $2,805  56 ;  J.  A.  J. 
Creswell,  $2,806,  56  ;  G.  Davis,  $2,805  56 ; 
J.  Dixon,  $2,805  56;  J.  R.  Doolittle,  $2,- 
805  66;  W.  P.  Fessenden,  $2,805  56;  S. 
Foot,  $2,136  76  ;  L.  F.  S.  Foster,  President 
pro  tempore,  $261  93 ;  J.  W.  Grimes,  $2,- 
805  66 ;  J.  Guthrie,  $2,805  66  ;  I.  Harris, 
$2,805  56 ;  J.  B.  Henderson,  $2,805  66 ;  T. 
A.  Hendricks,  $2,806.56 ;  J.  M.  Howard, 
$2,805  66 ;  T.  O.  Howe,  $2,806  66 ;  R.  John- 
son, $2,805  66;  H.  S.  Lane,  $2,806  66; 
J.  H.  Lane,  $2,710  49;  James  A.  Mc- 
Dougall,  $2,806  66 ;  E.  D.  Morgan,  $2,- 
805  56 ;  L.  M.  Morrill,  $2,805  56 ;  J.  W. 
Nesmith,  $2,805  56;  D.  S.  Norton,  $2,- 
805  66 ;  J.  W.  Nye,  $2,805  56;  S.  C.  Pome- 
roy,  $2,  805  56 ;  A.  Ramsey,  $2,806  66  ;  G. 
R.  Riddle,  $2,806  56 ;  W.  Saulsbury,  $2,- 
805  56;  J.  Sherman,  $2,805  56;  W.  M. 
Stewart,  $2,805  56 ;  C.  Sumner,  $2,806  66 ; 
L.  Trumbull,  $2,805  66 ;  P.  G.  Van  Winkle, 
$2,805  66;  B.  Wade,  $2,806  66;  W.  T. 
Wiiley,  $2,806  66 ;  G.  H.  Williams,  $2,- 
805  66;  H.  Wilson,  $2,805  56 ;  W.  Wright, 
$2,805  56  ;  R.  Yates,  $2,805  66 ;  J.  Harlan, 
$350 ;  L.  P.  Poland,  $1,361 ;  John  P.  Stock- 
ton, $2,131  20;  S.  J.  Kirkwood,  $2,361  10; 
G.  F.  Edmunds,  $666  66;  E.  G.  Ross, 
$180  40. 

Act  of  1873. — Under  the  retroactive 
provision  of  the  act  of  March  3,  1873,  the 
following  named  Senators  received  the 
sums  set  opposite  their  respective  names : 

Messrs.  A.  Ames,  $2,840;  J.  L.  Alcorn, 
$2,312  39;  J.  T.  Bayard,  $4,866  60;  F.  P. 
Blair,  $3,76160;  A.  L  Boreman,  $4,614; 
W.  G.  Brownlow,  $4,688 ;  A.  Caldwell,  $2,- 
647  60;  S.  Cameron,  $4,856  ;M.  H.  Cai* 
penter,  $3,887  60 ;  E.  Casserlv,  $970  40 ;  4 
Chandler,  $3,906  80;  P.  Clayton,  $2,600; 

C.  Cole,  $970  40 ;  H.  Cooper,  $3,760  ;  H. 
G.  Davis,  $4,635  20 ;  0.  S.  Ferry,  $4,652 ; 
T.  W.  Ferrv,  $3,920 ;  J.  W.  Flanagan,  $2,- 
000;  A.  Gilbert,  $3,680;  George  Goldth- 
waite,  $3,924  80 ;  M.  C.  Hamilton,  $2,480 ; 
Joshua  Hill,  $4,083  20 ;  P.  W.  Hitchcock, 
$2,852  80 ;  T.  O.  Howe,  $3,689  60 ,  J.  W. 
Johnston,  $4,706  60 ;  John  T.  Lewis,  $4,- 
804  40;  John  A.  Logan,  $3,800;  W.  B. 
Machen,  $552  98 ;  L.  M.  Morrill,  $4,190 ; 
J.  S.  Morrill,  (draft  in  favor  of  the  treas' 


BOOK  I.] 


RETURNING    BOARDS. 


217 


urer  of  the  State  of  Vermont,)  $4,386  80  ; 
T.  M.  Norwood,  $4,169  60 ;  J.  W.  Nye,  $2,- 
076  80;  T.  W.  Osborn,  $3,440;  J.  W.  Pat- 
terson, $4,280;  S.  C.  Pomeroy,  $3,320; 
John  Pool,  $4,620  80 ;  M.  W.  Ransom,  $4,- 
817  60 ;  B.  F.  Rice,  $3,200 ;  T.  J.  Robert- 
son, $4,374  80 ;  F.  A.  Sawyer,  $4,294  40  ; 
George  E.  Spencer,  $4,106;  W.  Sprague, 
H508 ;  W.  M.  Stewart,  $1,486  40 ;  J.  P. 
Stockton,  $4,790 ;  T.  W.  Tipton,  $3,358 ; 
Lyman  Trumbull,  $3,980 ;  G.  Vickers,  $4,- 
880;  J.  R.  West,  $2,468  80. 
III. — Names  of  Senators  who  covered  into 
the  Treasury  amounts  due  them  under  re- 
troactive provisions  of  law,  with  date  of 
such  action. 

There  is  no  record  in  my  office  showing 
that  any  Senator  covered  into  the  Trea- 
sury any  money  to  which  he  was  entitled 
by  the  retroactive  provisions  of  either  of 
the  acts  of  September  22,  1789,  March  19, 
1816,  January  22,  1818,  August  16,  1856.  or 
July  28, 1866. 

The  following  Senators  covered  into  the 
Treasury  the  amounts  due  them  under  the 
retroactive  provision  of  the  act  of  March  3, 
1873,  namely: 

1873.— May  26,  H.  B.  Anthony,  $4,497 
20 ;  June  23,  W.  A.  Buckingham,  $4,553  60 ; 
Mav  21,  R.  E.  Fenton,  $4,184;  June  2,  F. 
T.  Frelinghuysen,  $4,644  80 ;  May  19,  H. 
Hamlin,  $4,136 ;  August  14,  O.  P.  Morton, 
$3,922  40  ;  April  9,  D.  D.  Pratt,  $4,121  60  ; 
August  25,  A.  Ramsey,  $3,041  40 ;  March 
28,  C.  Schurz,  $3,761  60 ;  May  9,  John 
Scott,  $4,733  06;  July  11,  John  Sherman, 
$4,336  40  ;  May  2,  C.  Sumner,  $4,445  60 ; 
May  22,  A.  G.Tliurman,  $4,359  20 ;  March 
28,  Henry  Wilson,  $4,448 ;  September  6, 
George  G.  Wright,  $3,140  80. 

Note. — Several  of  these  Senators,  as 
•well  as  others  who  have  not  either  drawn 
or  covered  into  the  Treasury  the  amounts 
due  them  under  the  retroactive  provision 
of  the  act  of  1873,  expressed  to  me  their 
intention  to  allow  the  money  to  lapse  into 
the  Treasury  by  the  ordinary  operation  of 
law,  which  they  supposed  would  occur 
July  3,  1873.  After  learning  that  it  could 
not  be  covered  in,  except  by  their  order, 
before  July  3,  1875,  some  gave  me  written 
instructions  to  anticipate  the  latter  date. 
I  am  unable  to  furnish  from  any  informa- 
tion in  my  office  the  names  of  Senators 
who  themselves  paid  into  the  Treasury 
salary  drawn  under  the  act  of  1873  or  pre- 
vious acts.  I  have  not  furnished  the 
names  of  Senators  who  have  left  increased 
salary  undrawn,  as  this  information  was 
not  called  for  in  the  resolution. 

IV. — A  Comparative  Statement. 
Total  compensation  and  allowance  of 
Senators,  under  act  of  July  28,  1866,  from 
March  4,  1871,  to  March  3,  1872 :  Com- 
pensation, $370,000 ;  mileage,  $37,041  20 ; 
stationery  and  newspapers,  $9,250;  total, 


$416,29120;    average   per   Senator,    $5,- 
625  55|^ 

Under  same  act,  from  March  4,  1872,  to 
March  3,  1873,  during  which  year  members 
of  the  Senate  received  mileage  for  attend- 
ing the  special  session  of  the  Senate,  held 
in  May,  1872,  the  following  amounts  were 
paid:  Compensation,  $370,000;  mileage, 
$59,002  80 ;  newspapers  and  stationery,  $9,- 
250 ;  total,  $438,252  80 ;  average  per  Sen- 
ator, $5,922  23if. 

Total  compensation  and  allowance  of 
Senators  under  act  of  March  3,  1873: 
Compensation,  $555,000;  traveling  ex- 
penses, based  upon  the  certificates  of  forty- ' 
six  Senators,  (twenty-eight  having  pre- 
sented none,)  amounting  to  $4,607  95,  giv- 
ing an  average  of  $100  17x74=$7,412  58 ; 
total,  $562,412  58;  average  per  Senator. 
$7,600  17. 

In  connection  with  this  were  statements, 
prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate, 
and  laid  before  that  body  by  Senator 
Cameron,  January  9, 1874,  of  the  amounts 
of  mileage  paid  in  dollars  (cents  omitted) 
at  particular  dates  under  the  acts  of  1856 
and  1866,  are  given.  The  act  of  1856  fixed 
mileage  at  forty  cents  per  mile  each  way, 
and  the  act  of  1866  fixed  it  at  twenty  cents 
per  mile  each  way. 


Retumliig  Boards, 

At  the  second  session  of  the  42d  Con- 
gress that  body,  and  the  President  as  well, 
were  compelled  to  consider  a  new  question 
in  connection  with  politics — an  actual  con- 
flict of  State  Governments.  There  had  al- 
ways been,  in  well  regulated  State  govern- 
ments, returning  boards,  but  with  a  view 
the  better  to  guard  the  newly  enfranchised 
citizens  of  the  South  from  intimidation, 
the  Louisiana  Republicans,  under  very 
bold  and  radical  leaders,  had  greatly 
strengthened  the  powers  of  her  returning 
boards.  It  could  canvass  the  votes,  reject 
the  returns  in  part  or  as  a  whole  of 
parishes  where  force  or  fraud  had  been 
used,  and  could  declare  results  after  such 
revision.  The  Governor  of  Louisiana  had 
made  several  removals  and  appointments 
of  State  officers  for  the  purpose  mainly  of 
making  a  friendly  majority  in  the  return- 
ing board,  and  this  led  to  the  appointment 
of  two  bodies,  both  claiming  to  be  the  le-. 
gitimate  returning  board.  There  soon 
followed  two  State  governments  and  legis- 
latures, the  Democratic  headed  by  Gover- 
nor John  McEnery,  the  Republican  by 
Governor  Wm.  Pitt  Kellogg,  later  in  the 
U.  S.  Senate.  Kellogg  brought  suit 
against  the  Democratic  officers  before 
Judge  Durell,  of  the  Federal  District 
Court,  and  obtained  an  order  that  the 
U.  S.  Marshal  (S.  B.  Packard,  afterwards 
Governor),  should  seize  the  State  House 
and  prevent  the  meetings  of  the  McEnery 


218 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


legislature.  Then  both  governments  were 
hastily  inaugurated,  and  claimed  the  re- 
cognition of  Congress.  The  Senate  Com- 
mittee reported  that  Judge  Durell's  deci- 
sion was  not  warranted,  but  the  report 
refused  a  decisive  recognition  of  either 
government.  A  bill  was  introduced  de- 
claring the  election  of  Nov.  4,  1872,  on 
which  this  condition  of  affairs  was  based, 
null  and  void,  and  providing  for  a  new 
election,  but  this  bill  was  defeated  by  a 
close  vote.  Later  on,  Louisiana  claimed 
a  large  share  in  National  politics.  Some- 
what similar  troubles  occurred  in  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  and  Texas,  but  they  were  settled 
with  far  greater  ease  than  those  of  Louisi- 
ana. The  correspondence  in  all  of  these 
cases  was  too  voluminous  to  reproduce 
here,  and  we  shall  dismiss  the  subject 
until  the  period  of  actual  hostilities  were 
reached  in  Louisiana. 


The  Granger*. 

So  early  as  1867  a  secret  society  had 
been  formed  first  in  Washington,  known 
as  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  and  it  soon 
succeeded  in  forming  subordinate  lodges 
or  granges  in  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  other 
States.  It  was  declared  not  to  be  politi- 
cal ;  that  its  object  was  co-operation  among 
farmers  in  purchasing  supplies  from  first 
hands,  so  as  to  do  away  with  middle-men, 
but,  like  many  other  secret  organizations, 
it  was  soon  perverted  to  political  purposes, 
and  for  a  time  greatly  disturbed  tne  politi- 
cal parties  of  the  Western  States.  This 
was  especially  true  of  the  years  1873-74, 
when  the  Grangers  announced  a  contem- 
plated war  on  railroad  corporations,  and 
succeeded  in  carrying  the  legislatures  of 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  and  inducing  them 
subsequently  to  pass  acts,  the  validity  of 
which  the  Supreme  Courts  of  the  State, 
under  a  temporary  popular  pressure  which 
was  apparently  irresistible,  could  not  sus- 
tain. The  effect  of  these  laws  was  to  al- 
most bankrupt  the  Illinois  Central,  there- 
tofore wealthy,  to  cripple  all  railroads, 
to  interfere  largely  with  foreign  exports, 
and  to  react  against  the  interests  of  the 
people  of  the  States  passing  them,  that  the 
demand  for  repeal  was  soon  very  much 
greater  than  the  original  demand  for  pas- 
sage. As  these  laws,  though  repealed,  are 
still  often  referred  to  in  the  discussion  of 
political  and  corporate  questions,  we  give 
the  text  of  one  ot  them : 

nilnoU  Railroad  Act    of  1873. 

An  Act  to  prevent  extortion  and  unjust 
discrimination  in  the  rates  charged  for 
the  transportation  of  passengers  and 
freights  on  railroads  in  tnis  State,  and  to 
punish  the  same,  and  prescribe  a  mode 
of  procedure  and  rules  of  evidence  in 


relation  thereto,  and  to  repeal  an  aot  en- 
titled "  An  act  to  prevent  unjust  discrim- 
ination and  extortions  in  the  rates  to  ba 
charged  by  the  different  railroads  in 
this  State  for  the  transportation  of  freights 
on  said  roads,"  approved  April  7,  A.  D. 
1871. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People 
of  the  State  of  Illinois,  represented  in  the 
General  Assembly,  If  any  railroad  corpo- 
ration, organized  or  doing  business  in  this 
State  under  any  act  of  incorporation,  or 
general  law  of  this  State  now  in  force,  or 
which  may  hereafter  be  enacted,  or  any 
railroad  corporation  organized  or  which 
may  hereafter  be  organizes  under  the  law& 
of  any  other  State,  and  doing  business  in 
this  State,  shall  charge,  collect,  demand, 
or  receive  more  than  a  fair  and  reasonable 
rate  of  toll  or  compensation  for  the  trans- 
portation of  passengers  or  freight  of  any 
description,  or  for  the  use  and  transporta- 
tion of  any  railroad  car  upon  its  track,  or 
any  of  the  branches  thereof,  or  upon  any 
railroad  within  this  State  which  it  has  the 
right,  license,  or  permission  to  use,  oper- 
ate, or  control,  the  same  shall  be  deemed 
guilty  of  extortion,  and  upon  conviction 
thereof  shall  be  dealt  with  as  hereinafter 
provided. 

Sec.  2.  If  any  such  railroad  corporation 
aforesaid  shall  make  any  unjust  discrimi- 
nation in  its  rates  or  charges  of  toll,  or 
compensation,  for  the  transportation  of 
passengers  or  freight  of  any  description, 
or  for  the  use  and  transportation  of  any 
railroad  car  upon  its  said  road,  or  upon 
any  of  the  branches  thereof,  or  upon  rail- 
roads connected  therewith,  which  it  has 
the  right,  license,  or  permission  to  operate, 
control,  or  use,  within  this  State,  the  same 
shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  having  violated 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  upon  con- 
viction thereof  shall  be  dealt  with  as  here- 
inafter provided. 

Sec.  3.  If  any  such  railroad  corporation 
shall  charge,  collect,  or  receive  for  the 
transportation  of  any  passenger,  or  freight 
of  any  description,  upon  its  railroad,  for 
any  distance  within  this  State,  the  same 
or  a  greater  amount  of  toll  or  compensa- 
tion than  is  at  the  same  time  charged,  col- 
lected, or  received  for  the  transportation, 
in  the  same  direction,  Of  any  passenger,  or 
like  quantity  of  freight  of  the  same  class, 
over  a  greater  distance  of  the  same  rail- 
road ;  or  if  it  shall  charge,  collect,  or  re- 
ceive at  any  point  upon  this  railroad  a 
higher  rate  of  toll  or  compensation  for  re- 
ceiving, handling,  or  delivering  freight  of 
the  same  class  and  quantity  than  it  shall 
at  the  same  time  charge,  collect,  or  receive 
at  anjr  other  point  upon  the  same  railroad ; 
or  if  it  shall  charge,  collect  or  receive  for 
the  transportation  of  any  passenger,  or 
freight  of  any  description,  over  its  railroad 
a  greater  amount  as  toll  or  compensatioa 


BOOK  I.] 


ILLINOIS   RAILROAD    ACT    OF    1873. 


219 


than  shall  at  the  same  time  be  charged, 
collected,  or  received  by  it  for  the  trans- 
portation of  any  passenger  or  like  quantity 
of  freight  of  the  same  class,  being  trans- 
ported in  the  same  direction  over  any  por- 
tion of  the  same  railroad  of  equal  distance ; 
or  if  it  shall  charge,  collect,  or  receive  from 
any  person  or  persons  a  higher  or  greater 
amount  of  toll  or  compensation  than  it 
shall  at  the  same  time  charge,  collect,  or 
receive  from  any  other  person  or  persons 
for  receiving,  handling,  or  delivering  freight 
of  the  same  class  and  like  quantity  at  the 
same  point  upon  its  railroad ;  or  if  it  shall 
charge,  collect,  or  receive  from  any  person 
or  persons  for  the  transportation  of  any 
freight  upon  its  railroad  a  higher  or  great- 
er rate  of  toll  or  compensation  than  it  shall 
at  the  same  time  charge,  collect,  or  receive 
from  any  other  person  or  persons  for  the 
transportation  of  the  like  quantity  of  freight 
of  the  same  class  being  transported  from 
the  same  direction  over  equal  distances  of 
the  same  railroad ;  or  if  it  shall  charge, 
collect,  or  receive  from  any  person  or  per- 
sons for  the  use  and  transportation  of  any 
railroad  car  or  cars  upon  its  railroad  for  any 
distance  the  same  or  a  greater  amount  of 
toll  or  compensation  than  is  at  the  same 
time  charged,  collected,  or  received  from 
any  person  or  persons  for  the  use  and  trans- 
portation of  any  railroad  car  of  the  same 
class  or  number,  for  a  like  purpose,  being 
transported  in  the  same  direction  over  a 
greater  distance  of  the  same  railroad; or 
if  it  shall  charge,  collect,  or  receive  from 
any  person  or  persons  for  the  use  and  trans- 
portation of  any  railroad  car  or  cars  upon 
Its  railroad  a  higher  or  greater  rate  of  toll 
or  compensation  than  it  shall  at  the  same 
time  charge,  collect,  or  receive  from  any 
other  person  or  persons  for  the  use  and 
transportation  of  any  railroad  car  or  cars 
of  the  same  class  or  number,  for  a  like 
purpose,  being  transported  from  the  same 
point  in  the  same  direction  over  an  equal 
distance  of  the  same  railroad ;  all  such  dis- 
criminating rates,  charges,  collections,  or 
receipts,  whether  made  directly  or  by  means 
of  any  rebate,  drawback,  or  other  shift  or 
evasion,  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  against 
such  railroad  corporation  as  prima  facie 
evidence  of  the  unjust  discriminations 
prohibited  by  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
and  it  shall  not  be  deemed  a  sufficient  ex- 
cuse or  justification  of  such  discriminations 
on  the  part  of  such  railroad  corporation, 
that  the  railway  station  or  point  at  which 
it  shall  charge,  collect,  or  receive  the  same 
or  less  rates  of  toll  or  compensation  for  the 
transportation  of  such  passenger  or  freight, 
or  for  the  use  and  transportation  of  such 
railroad  car  the  greater  distance  than  for 
the  shorter  distance,  is  a  railway  station  or 
point  at  which  there  exists  competition 
with  any  other  railroad  or  means  of  trans- 
portation.   This  section  shall  not  be  con- 


strued so  as  to  exclude  other  evidence  tend- 
ing to  show  any  unjust  discrimination  in 
freight  and  passenger  rates.  The  pro- 
visions of  this  section  shall  extend  and  ap- 
ply to  any  railroad,  the  branches  thereof, 
and  any  road  or  roads  which  any  railroad 
corporation  has  the  right,  license,  or  per- 
mission to  use,  operate,  or  control,  wholly 
or  in  part,  within  the  State:  Provided, 
however,  That  nothing  herein  c  )ntained 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  railroad 
corporations  from  issuing  commutation, 
excursion,  or  thousand  mile  tickets,  as  the 
same  are  now  issued  by  such  corporations. 

Sec.  4.  Any  such  railroad  corporation . 
guilty  of  extortion,  or  of  making  any  un- 
just discrimination  as  to  passenger  or 
freight  rates,  or  the  rates  for  the  use  and 
transportation  of  railroad  cars,  or  in  re- 
ceiving, handling,  or  delivering  freights 
shall,  upon  conviction  thereof,  be  fined  in 
any  sum  not  less  than  one  thousand  dol- 
lars ($1,000)  nor  more  than  five  thousand 
dollars  ($5,000)  for  the  first  offense;  and 
for  the  second  offense  not  less  than  five 
thousand  dollars  ($5,000)  nor  more  than 
ten  thousand  dollars  ($10,000;)  and  for 
the  third  offense  not  less  than  ten 
thousand  dollars  ($10,000)  nor  more  than 
twenty  thousand  dollars  ($20,000;)  and 
for  every  subsequent  offense  and  convic- 
tion thereof  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  ($25,000:) 
Provided,  That  in  all  cases  under  this  act 
either  party  shall  have  the  right  of  trial 
by  jury. 

Sec.  5.  The  fines  hereinbefore  provided 
for  may  be  recovered  in  an  action  of  debt 
in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  and  there  may  be  several  counts 
joined  in  the  same  declaration  as  to  extor- 
tion and  unjust  discrimination,  and  as  to 
passenger  and  freight  rates,  and  rates  for 
the  use  and  transportation  of  railroad  cars, 
and  for  receiving,  handling,  or  delivering 
freights.  If,  upon  the  trial  of  any  case 
instituted  under  this  act,  the  jury  shall 
find  for  the  people,  they  shall  assess  and 
return  with  their  verdict  the  amount  of 
the  fine  to  be  imposed  upon  the  defendant, 
at  any  sum  not  less  than  one  thousand 
dollars  ($1,000)  nor  more  than  five  thou- 
sand dollars  ($5,000,)  and  the  court  shall 
render  judgment  accordingly ;  and  if  the 
jury  shall  find  for  the  people,  and  that  the 
defendant  has  been  once  before  convicted 
of  a  violation  of  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
they  shall  return  such  finding  with  tht^ir 
verdict,  and  shall  assess  and  return  with 
their  verdict  the  amount  of  the  fine  to  be 
imposed  upon  the  defendant,  at  any  sum 
not  less  than  five  thousand  dollars  ($5,000) 
nor  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars  ($10,- 
000,)  and  the  court  shall  render  judgment 
accordingly;  and  if  the  jury  shall  find  for 
the  people,  and  that  the  defendant  has 
been  twice  beiore  convicted  of  a  violation 


220 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  with  respect 
to  extortion  or  unjust  discrimination,  they 
shall  return  such  finding  with  their  ver- 
dict, and  shall  assess  and  return  with  their 
verdict  the  amount  of  the  fine  to  be  im- 
posed upon  the  defendant,  at  any  sum  not 
less  than  ten  thousand  dollars  ($10,000) 
nor  more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars 
($20,000;)  and  in  like  manner  for  every 
subsequent  otfense  and  conviction  such  de- 
fendant shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  ($25,000.)  Provided, 
That  in  all  cases  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act  a  preponderance  of  evidence  in 
favor  of  the  people  shall  be  sufficient  to 
authorize  a  verdict  and  judgment  for  the 
people. 

Sec.  6.  If  any  such  railroad  corporation 
ehall,  in  violation  of  any  of  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  ask,  demand,  charge,  or  receive 
of  any  person  or  corporation,  any  extor- 
tionate charge  or  charges  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  any  passengers,  goods,  mer- 
chandise, or  property,  or  for  receiving, 
handling,  or  delivering  freights,  or  shall 
miil;e  any  unjust  discrimination  against 
any  person  or  corporation  in  its  charges 
theiefor,  the  person  or  corporation  so  of- 
feiided  against  may  for  each  offense  re- 
cover of  such  railroad  corporation,  in  any 
form  of  action,  three  times  the  amount  of 
th«  damages  sustained  by  the  party  ag- 
grieved, together  with  cost  of  suit  and  a 
re&sonable  attorney's  fee,  to  be  fixed  by 
the  court  where  tbe  same  is  heard,  on  ap- 
peal or  otherwise,  and  taxed  as  a  part  of 
the  costs  of  the  case. 

Bec.  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  rail- 
road and  warehouse  commissioners  to  per- 
sonally investigate  and  ascertain  whether 
the  provisions  of  this  act  are  violated  by 
any  railroad  corporation  in  this  State,  and 
to  visit  the  various  stations  upon  the  line 
of  each  railroad  for  that  purpose,  as  often 
as  practicable;  and  whenever  the  facts  in 
any  manner  ascertained  by  said  commis- 
sioners ehall  in  their  judgment  warrant 
such  prosecution,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
•aid  commissioners  to  immediately  cause 
suits  to  be  commenced  and  prosecuted 
against  any  railroad  corporation  which 
may  violate  the  provisions  of  this  act. 
Such  suits  and  prosecutions  may  be  insti- 
tuted in  any  county  in  the  State,  through 
or  into  which  the  line  of  the  railroad  cor- 
poration sued  for  violating  this  act  may 
extend.  And  such  railroad  and  ware- 
house commissioners  are  hereby  author- 
ized, when  the  facts  of  the  case  presented 
to  them  shall,  in  their  judgment,  warrant 
the  commencement  of  such  action,  to  em- 
ploy counsel  to  assist  the  Attorney  General 
in  conducting  such  suit  on  behalf  of  the 
State.  No  such  suits  commenced  by  said 
commissioners  shall  be  dismissed,  except 
said  railroad  and  warehouse  commissioners  i 


and  the  Attorney  General  shall  consent 
thereto. 

Sec.  8.  The  railroad  and  warehouse 
commissioners  are  hereby  directed  to  make 
for  each  of  the  railroad  corporations  doing 
business  in  this  State,  as  soon  as  practi- 
cable, a  schedule  of  reasonable  maximum 
rates  of  charges  for  the  transportation  oi 
passengers  and  freight  and  cars  on  each  o\ 
said  railroads ;  and  said  schedule  shall,  in 
all  suits  brought  against  any  such  railroad 
corporations,  wherein  is  in  any  way  in- 
volved the  charges  of  any  such  railroad 
corporation  for  the  transportation  of  any 
passenger  or  freight  or  cars,  or  unjust  dis- 
crimination in  relation  thereto,  be  deemed 
and  taken,  in  all  courts  of  this  State,  as 
prima  facie  evidence  that  the  rates  therein 
fixed  are  reasonable  maximum  rates  of 
charges  for  the  transportation  of  passen- 
gers and  freights  and  cars  upon  tne  rail- 
roads for  which  said  schedules  may  have 
been  respectively  prepared.  Said  commis- 
sioners shall,  from  time  to  time,  and  as 
often  as  circumstances  may  require,  change 
and  revise  said  schedules.  When  such 
schedules  shall  have  been  made  or  revised 
as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said 
commissioners  to  cause  publication  thereof 
to  be  made  for  three  successive  weeks,  in 
some  public  newspaper  published  in  the 
city  01  Springfield  in  this  state :  "  Provided, 
That  the  scJbedules  thus  prepared  shall 
not  be  taken  as  prima  facie  evidence  as 
herein  provided  until  schedules  shall  have 
been  prepared  and  published  as  aforesaid 
for  all  the  railroad  companies  now  organ- 
ized under  the  laws  of  this  State,  and  until 
the  fifteenth  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1874, 
or  until  ten  days  after  the  meeting  of  the 
next  session  of  this  General  Assembly, 
provided  a  session  of  the  General  Assembly 
shall  be  held  previous  to  the  fifteenth  day 
of  January  aforesaid."  All  such  schedules, 
purporting  to  be  printed  and  published  as 
aforesaid,  shall  be  received  and  held,  in 
all  such  suite,  as  prima  facie  the  schedules 
of  said  commissioners,  without  further 
proof  than  the  production  of  the  paper  in 
which  they  were  published,  togetner  with 
the  certificate  of  the  publisher  of  said 
paper  that  the  schedule  therein  contained 
IS  a  true  copy  of  the  schedule  furnished 
for  publication  by  said  commissioners,  and 
that  it  has  been  published  the  above  speci- 
fied time ;  and  any  such  paper  purporting 
to  have  been  published  at  said  city,  and  to 
be  a  public  newspaper,  shall  be  presumed 
to  have  been  so  published  at  the  date 
thereof,  and  to  be  a  public  newspaper. 

Sec.  10.  In  all  cases  under  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act,  the  rules  of  evidence  shall 
be  the  same  as  in  other  civil  actions,  ex- 
cept as  hereinbefore  otherwise  provided. 
All  fines  recovered  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act  shall  be  paid  into  the  coun^ 
treasury  of  the  county  in  which  the  suit  is 


BOOKi.]  SUPPLEMENTARY    CIVIL    RIGHTS    BILL. 


221 


tried,  by  the  person  collecting  the  same, 
in  the  manner  now  provided  by  law,  to  be 
used  for  county  purposes.  The  remedies 
hereby  given  shall  be  regarded  as  cumula- 
tive to  the  remedies  now  given  by  law 
against  railroad  corporations,  and  this  act 
shall  not  be  construed  as  repealing  any 
statute  giving  such  remedies.  Suits  com- 
menced under  the  provisions  of  this  act 
shall  have  precedence  over  all  other  busi- 
ness, except  criminal  business. 

Sec.  11.  The  term  "railroad  corpora- 
tion," contained  in  this  act,  shall  be 
deemed  and  taken  to  mean  all  corpora- 
tions, companies,  or  individuals  now  own- 
ing or  operating,  or  which  may  hereafter 
own  or  operate  any  railroad,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  in  this  State ;  and  the  provisions 
of  this  act  shall  apply  to  all  persons,  firms, 
an  1  companies,  and  to  all  associations  of 
per-ions,  whether  incorporated  or  other- 
wise, that  shall  do  business  as  common 
carriers  upon  any  of  the  lines  of  railways 
in  this  State  (street  railways  excepted)  the 
same  as  to  railroad  corporations  therein- 
before mentioned. 

Sec.  12.  An  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  pre- 
vent unjust  discriminations  and  extortions 
in  the  rates  to  be  charged  by  the  different 
railroads  in  this  State  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  freight  on  said  roads,"  approved 
April  7,  A.  D.  1871,  is  hereby  repealed, 
but  such  repeal  shall  not  affect  nor  repeal 
any  penalty  incurred  or  right  accrued 
under  said  act  prior  to  the  time  this  act 
takes  effect,  nor  any  proceedings  or  prose- 
cutions to  enforce  such  rights  or  penalties. 

Approved  May  2,  1873. 

S.  M.  CULLOM, 

Speaker  House  of  Representatives. 
John  Early, 

President  of  the  Senate. 
John  L.  Beveeidge, 

Governor, 

The  same  spirit,  if  not  the  same  organi- 
zation, led  to  many  petitions  to  Congress 
for  the  regulation  of  inter-state  commerce 
and  freight  rates,  and  to  some  able  reports 
on  the  subject.  Those  which  have  com- 
manded most  attention  were  by  Senator 
Windom  of  Minnesota  and  Representative 
Reagan  of  Texas,  the  latter  being  the  au- 
thor of  a  bill  which  commanded  much 
consideration  from  Congress  in  the  sessions 
of  1878-'80,  but  which  has  not  yet  secured 
favorable  action.  In  lieu  of  such  bill 
Senator  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  intro- 
duced a  joint  resolution  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Commission  to  investigate  and 
report  upon  the  entire  question.  Final 
action  has  not  yet  been  taken,  and  at  this 
writing  interest  in  the  subject  seems  to 
have  nagged. 

The  disastrous  political  action  attempted 
by  the  Grangers  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin, 
led  to  such  general  condemnation  that  sub- 


sequent attempts  were  abandoned  save  in 
isolated  cases,  and  as  a  rule  the  society  has 
passed  away.  The  principle  upon  which 
It  was  based  was  wholly  unsound,  and  if 
strictly  carried  out,  would  destroy  all  home 
improvements  and  enterprise.  Parties  and 
societies  based  upon  a  class,  and  directed 
or  perverted  toward  political  objects,  are 
very  happily  short-lived  in  this  Republic 
of  ours.  If  they  could  thrive,  the  Repub- 
lic could  not  long  endure. 


Sapplementary  Civil  Rights  BUI. 

Senator  Sumner's  Supplementary  Civil 
Rights  Bill  was  passed  by  the  second  ses- 
sion of  the  43d  Congress,  though  its  great 
author  had  died  the  year  before — March 
11th,  1874.  The  text  of  the  Act  is  given 
in  Book  V.  of  this  volume,  on  Existing 
Political  Laws.  Its  validity  was  sustain(5a 
by  the  U.  S.  District  Courts  in  their  im- 
structions  to  grand  juries.  The  first  con- 
viction under  the  Act  was  in  Philadelphia, 
in  February,  1876.  Rev.  Fields  Cook, 
pastor  of  the  Third  Baptist  colored  chun^h 
of  Alexandria,  Virginia,  was  refused  sleep- 
ing and  eating  accommodations  at  the  Bing- 
ham House,  by  Upton  S.  Newcomer,  o:ie 
of  its  clerks ;  and  upon  the  trial  of  the 
case,  in  the  U.  S.  District  Court,  John 
Cadwalader,  Judge,  instructed  the  jury 
as  follows : 

The  fourteenth  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  makes  all 
persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction 
thereof,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  nnd 
provides  that  no  State  shall  make  or  .en- 
force any  law  which  shall  abridge  Ihe 
privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States ;  nor  shall  any  State  *  *  * 
deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction 
the  equal  protection  of  the  laws.  This 
amendment  expressly  gives  to  Congress 
the  power  to  enforce  it  by  appropriate 
legislation.  An  act  of  Congress  of  March 
1,  1875,  enacts  that  all  persons  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
entitled  to  the  full  and  equal  enjoyment  of 
the  accommodations,  advantages,  facilities 
and  privileges  of  inns,  public  conveyances 
on  land  or  water,  theatres  and  other  places 
of  public  amusement,  subject  only  to  the 
conditions  and  limitations  established  by 
law,  and  applicable  alike  to  citizens  of 
every  race  and  color,  and  makes  it  a  crimi- 
nal offense  to  violate  these  enactments  by 
denying  to  any  citizen,  except  for  reasons 
by  law  applicable  to  citizens  of  every  race 
and  color,  *  *  *  the  full  enjoyment  of  any 
of  the  accommodations,  advantages,  facili- 
ties or  privileges  enumerated.  As  the  law 
of  Pennsylvania  had  stood  until  the22d  of 
March,  1867,  it  was  not  wrongful  for  inn- 
keepers or  carriers  by  land  or  water  to  dia^ 


222 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


criminate  against  travelers  of  the  colored 
race  to  such  an  extent  as  to  exclude  them 
from  any  part  of  the  inns  or  public  con- 
veyances which  was  set  apart  for  the  ex- 
clusive accommodation  of  white  travelers. 
The  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  by  an 
act  of  22d  of  March,  18G7,  altered  the  law 
in  this  respect  as  to  passengers  on  railroads. 
But  the  law  of  the  State  was  not  changed 
as  to  inns  by  any  act  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture. Therefore,  independently  of  the 
amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  act  of  Congress 
now  in  question,  the  conduct  of  the  de- 
fendant on  the  occasion  in  question  might, 
perhaps,  have  been  lawful.  It  is  not  ne- 
cessary to  express  an  opinion  upon  this 
point,  because  the  decision  of  the  case  de- 
pends upon  the  effect  of  this  act  of  Con- 
fress.  I  am  under  opinion  that  under  the 
'ourteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitu- 
tion the  enactment  of  this  law  was  within 
the  legislative  power  of  Congress,  and  that 
we  are  bound  to  give  effect  to  the  act  of 
Congress  according  to  its  fair  meaning. 
According  to  this  meaning  of  the  act  I  am 
of  opinion  that  if  this  defendant,  being  in 
charge  of  the  business  of  receiving  travelers 
in  this  inn,  and  of  providing  necessaiy  and 
proper  accommodations  for  them  in  it,  re- 
fused such  accommodations  to  the  witness 
Cook,  then  a  traveler,  by  reason  of  his 
color,  the  defendant  is  guilty  in  manner 
and  form  as  he  stands  indicted.  If  the 
case  depended  upon  the  unsupported  tes- 
timony of  this  witness  alone,  there  might 
be  some  reason  to  doubt  whether  this  de- 
fendant was  the  person  in  charge  of  this 
part  of  the  business.  But  under  this  head 
the  additional  te-stimony  of  Mr.  Annan 
seems  to  be  sufficient  to  remove  all  reason- 
able doubt.  If  the  jury  are  convinced  of 
the  defendant's  identity,  they  will  con- 
sider whether  any  reasonable  doubt  of  his 
conduct  or  motives  in  refusing  the  accom- 
modations to  Fields  Cook  can  exist.  The 
case  appears  to  the  court  to  be  proved ;  but 
this  question  is  for  the  jury,  not  for  the 
court.  If  the  jury  have  any  reasonable 
doubt,  they  should  find  the  clefendant  not 
guilty;  otherwise  thejr  will  find  him  guilty. 
The  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty, 
March  1,  1876,  and  the  Court  imposed  a 
fine  of  $500. 


The  Morton  Amendment. 

In  the  session  of  '73,  Senator  Morton,  of 
Indiana,  introduced  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  providing  for  the  general 
choice  of  Presidential  Electors  by  Con- 
gressional districts,  and  delivered  several 
speeches  on  the  subject  which  attracted 
much  attention  at  the  time.  Since  then 
manv  amendments  have  been  introduced 
on  the  subject,  and  it  is  a  matter  for  an- 
nual discussion.    We  quote  the  Morton 


Amendment  as  the  one  most  likely  to  com- 
mand favorable  action : 

*'  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  ofRep' 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  (two-thirds  of  each 
House  concurring  therein :)  That  the  fol- 
lowing article  is  hereby  proposed  as  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and,  when  ratified  by  the 
Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  several 
States,  shall  be  valid,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  as  a  part  of  the  Constitution,  to 
wit: 

"  Article  — . 

"I.  The  President  and  Vice-President 
shall  be  elected  by  the  direct  vote  of  the 
people  in  the  manner  following:  Each 
State  shall  be  divided  into  districts,  equal 
in  number  to  the  number  of  Eepresenta- 
tives  to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled 
in  the  Congress,  to  be  composed  of  con- 
tiguous territory,  and  to  be  as  nearly  equal 
in  population  as  may  be ;  and  the  person 
having  the  highest  number  of  votes  in  each 
district  for  President  shall  receive  the  vote 
of  that  district,  which  shall  count  one  pres- 
idential vote. 

"  II.  The  person  having  the  highest 
number  of  votes  for  President  in  a  State 
shall  receive  two  presidential  vote^  from 
the  State  at  large. 

"  III.  The  person  having  the  highest 
number  of  presidential  votes  in  the  United 
States  shall  be  President. 

"  IV.  If  two  persons  have  the  same 
number  of  votes  in  any  State,  it  being  the 
highest  number,  they  shall  receive  each 
one  presidential  vote  from  the  State  at 
large ;  and  if  more  than  two  persons  shall 
have  each  the  same  number  of  votes  in  any 
State,  it  being  the  highest  number,  no 
presidential  vote  shall  be  counted  from  the 
State  at  large.  If  more  persons  than  one 
shall  have  the  same  number  of  votes,  it 
being  the  highest  number  in  any  district, 
no  presidential  vote  shall  be  counted  from 
that  district. 

"  V.  The  foregoing  provisions  shall  ap- 
ply to  the  election  of  Vice-President. 

"  VI.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
provide  for  holding  and  conducting  the 
elections  of  President  and  Vice-President, 
and  to  establish  tribunals  for  the  decision 
of  such  elections  as  may  be  contested." 

VII.  The  States  shall  be  divided  into 
districts  by  the  legislatures  thereof,  but  the 
Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law  make  or 
alter  the  same. 

The  present  mode  of  election  is  given  in 
Book  V.  of  this  volume. 


The  Whisky  Ring. 

During  1875  an  extensive  Whiskjr  Ring, 
organized  to  control  revenue  legislation 
and  avoidance  of  revenue  taxes,  was  dia- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    WHITE    LEAGUE. 


223 


coTered  in  the  West.  It  was  an  associa- 
tion of  distillers  in  collusion  with  Federal 
officers,  and  for  a  time  it  succeeded  in  de- 
frauding the  government  of  the  tax  on  dis- 
tilled spirits.  This  form  of  corruption, 
after  the  declaration  by  President  Grant — 
•'let  no  guilty  man  escape" — was  traced 
by  detectives  to  the  portals  of  the  White 
House,  but  even  partisan  rancor  could  not 
connect  the  President  therewith,  O.  E. 
Babcock,  however,  was  his  private  Secre- 
tary, and  upon  him  was  charged  complicity 
with  the  fraud.  He  was  tried  and  acquit- 
ted, but  had  to  resign.  Several  Federal 
officers  were  convicted  at  St.  Louis. 


Impeacluneiit  of  Belluiap. 

Another  form  of-  corruption  was  dis- 
covered in  1876,  when  the  House  im- 
peached Wm.  W.  Belknap,  the  Secretary 
of  War,  on  the  charge  of  selling  an  Indian 
trading  establishment.  The  first  and  main 
specification  was,  that — 

On  or  about  the  second  day  of  Novem- 
ber, eighteen  hundred  and  seventy,  said 
William  W.  Belknap,  while  Secretary  of 
War  as  aforesaid,  did  receive  from  Caleb 
P.  Marsh  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  in  con- 
sideration of  his  having  appointed  said 
John  S.  Evans  to  maintain  a  trading- 
establishment  at  Fort  Sill  aforesaid,  and 
for  continuing  him  therein. 

The  following  summary  of  the  record 
shows  the  result,  and  that  Belknap  escaped 
punishment  by  a  refusal  of  two-thirds  to 
vote  "  guilty : " 

The  examination  of  witnesses  was  be- 
gun, and  continued  on  various  days,  till 
July  26,  when  the  case  was  closed. 

August  1. — ^The  Senate  voted.  On  the 
first  article,  thirty-five  voted  guilty,  and 
twenty-five  not  guilty.  On  the  second, 
third  and  fourth,  Mr.  Maxey  made  the 
thirty-sixth  who  voted  guilty.  On  the  fifth, 
Mr.  Morton  made  the  thirty-seventh  who 
voted  guilty.    The  vote  on  first  was : 

Voting  Guilty  —  Messrs.  Baijard, 
Booth,  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  Cockrell, 
Cooper,  Davis,  Dawes,  Dennis,  Edmunds, 
Gordon,  Hamilton,  Harvey,  Hitchcock, 
Kelly,  Kernan,  Key,  McCreery,  McDonald, 
Merrimon,  Mitchell,  Morrill  of  Vermont, 
Norwood,  Oglesby,  Randolph,  Ransom, 
Robertson,  Sargent,  Saulshury,  Sherman, 
Stevenson,  Thurman,  Wadleigh,  Wallace, 
Whyte,  Withers— ^b. 

Voting  Not  Guilty — Messrs.  Allison, 
Anthony,  Boutwell,  Bruce,  Cameron  of 
Wisconsin,  Christiancy,  Conkling,  Cono- 
ver,  Cragin,  Dorsey,  Eaton,  Ferry  of  Michi- 
gan, Frelinghuysen,  Hamlin,  Howe,  In- 
falls,  Jones  of  Nevada,  Logan,  McMillan, 
'addock,  Patterson,  Spencer,  West,  Win- 
dom,  Wright— 25. 

Mr.  Jokes  of  Florida  declined  to  vote. 


Those  "  voting  not  guilty"  generally  de- 
nied jurisdiction,  and  so  voted  accordingly. 
Belknap  had  resigned  and  the  claim  was 
set  up  that  he  was  a  private  citizen. 


The  Vnilte  Iieague. 

By  1874  the  Democrats  of  the  South, 
who  then  generally  classed  themselves  as 
Conservatives,  had  gained  control  of  all 
the  State  governments  except  those  of 
Louisiana,  Florida  and  South  Carolina. 
In  nearly  all,  the  Republican  governments 
had  called  upon  President  Grant  for  mili- 
tary aid  in  maintaining  their  positions,  but 
this  was  declined  except  in  the  presence  of 
such  outbreak  as  the  proper  State  authori- 
ties could  not  suppress.  In  Arkansas, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Texas,  Grant 
declined  to  interfere  save  to  cause  the 
Attorney  General  to  give  legal  advice. 
The  condition  of  all  these  governments 
demanded  constant  attention  from  the  Ex- 
ecutive, and  his  task  was  most  difiicult  and 
dangerous.  The  cry  came  from  the  Demo- 
cratic partisans  in  the  South  for  home-rule ; 
another  came  from  the  negroes  that  they 
were  constantly  disfranchised,  intimidated 
and  assaulted  by  the  White  League,  a  body 
of  men  organized  in  the  Gulf  States  for 
the  purpose  of  breaking  up  the  "carpet- 
bag governments.''  So  conflicting  were 
the  stories,  and  so  great  the  fear  of  a  final 
and  destructive  war  of  races,  that  the  Con- 
gressional elections  in  the  North  were  for 
the  first  time  since  the  war  greatly  in- 
fluenced. The  Forty-fourth  Congress,  which 
met  in  December,  1875,  had  been  changed 
by  what  was  called  "  the  tidal  wave,"  from 
Republican  to  Democratic,  and  M.  C.  Kerr, 
of  Indiana,  was  elected  Speaket.  The 
Senate  remained  Republican  with  a  re- 
duced margin. 

The  troubles  in  the  South,  and  especially 
in  Louisiana,  had  been  in  the  year  previous 
and  were  still  of  the  gravest  character. 
Gen'l  Sheridan  had  been  sent  to  New  Or- 
leans and  on  the  10th  of  January,  1875, 
made  a  report  which  startled  the  country 
as  to  the  doings  of  the  White  League.  As 
it  still  remains  a  subject  for  frequent  quo- 
tation we  give  its  text: 

SHERIDAN'S  REPORT. 

New  Orleans,  January  10, 1875. 
Hon.  W.  W.  Belknap,  Secretary  of  War  • 
Since  the  year  1866,  nearly  thirty -five 
hundred  persons,  a  great  majority  of  whom 
were  colored  men,  have  been  killed  and 
wounded  in  this  State.  In  1868  the  official 
record  shows  that  eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-four  were  killed  and  wounded. 
From  1868  to  the  present  time,  no  official 
investigation  has  been  made,  and  the  civil 
authorities  in  all  but  a  few  cases  have  been 


224 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


unable  to  arrest,  convict  and  punish  per- 
petrators. Consequently,  there  are  no  cor- 
rect records  to  be  consulted  for  informa- 
tion. There  is  ample  evidence,  however, 
to  show  that  more  than  twelve  hundred 
persons  have  been  killed  and  wounded  du- 
ring this  time,  on  account  of  their  political 
sentiments.  Frightful  massacres  have  oc- 
curred in  the  parishes  of  Bossier,  Caddo, 
Catahoula,  Saint  Bernard,  Saint  Landry, 
Grant  and  Orleans.  The  general  charac- 
ter of  the  massacres  in  the  above  named 
parishes  is  so  well  known  that  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  describe  them.  The  isolated  cases 
can  best  be  illustrated  by  the  following  in- 
stances which  I  have  taken  from  a  mass 
of  evidence  now  lying  before  me  of  men 
killed  on  account  of  their  political  princi- 
ples. In  Natchitoches  Parish,  the  num- 
Der  of  isolated  cases  reported  is  thirty- 
three.  In  the  parish  of  Bienville,  the 
number  of  men  killed  is  thirty.  In  Red 
River  Parish  the  number  of  isolated  cases 
of  men  killed  is  thirty-four.  In  Winn  Par- 
ish the  number  of  isolated  cases  where  men 
were  killed  is  fifteen.  In  Jackson  Parish 
the  number  killed  is  twenty ;  and  in  Cata- 
houla Parish  the  number  of  isolated  cases 
reported  where  men  were  killed  is  fifty  ; 
and  most  of  the  country  parishes  through- 
out the  State  will  show*-  a  corresponding 
state  of  affairs.  The  following  statement 
will  illustrate  the  character  and  kind  of 
these  outrages.  On  the  29th  of  August, 
1874,  in  Red  River  Parish,  six  State  and 
parish  officers,  named  Twitchell,  Divers, 
Holland,  Howell,  Edgerton  and  Willis, 
■were  taken,  together  with  four  negroes, 
under  guard,  to  be  carried  out  of  the  State, 
and  were  deliberately  murdered  on  the  30th 
of  August,  1874.  The  White  League  tried, 
sentenced,  and  hung  two  negroes  on  the 
28th  of  August,  1874.  Three  negroes  were 
shot  and  killed  at  Brownsville,  just  before 
the  arrival  of  the  United  States  troops  in 
the  parish.  Two  White  Leaguers  rode  up 
to  a  negro  cabin  and  called  for  a  drink  of 
water.  When  the  old  colored  man  turned 
to  draw  it,  they  shot  him  in  the  back  and 
killed  him.  The  courts  were  all  broken 
up  in  this  district,  and  the  district  judge 
driven  out.  In  the  parish  of  Caddo,  prior 
to  the  arrival  of  the  United  States  troops, 
all  of  the  officers  at  Shreveport  were  com- 
pelled to  abdicate  by  the  White  League, 
which  took  possession  of  the  place.  Among 
those  obliged  to  abdicate  were  Walsh,  the 
mayor,  Rapers,  the  sheriff,  Wheaton,  clerk 
of  the  court,  Durant,  the  recorder,  and 
Ferguson  and  Renfro,  administrators.  Two 
colored  men,  who  had  given  evidence  in 
regard  to  frauds  committed  in  the  parish, 
were  compelled  to  flee  for  their  lives  and 
reached  this  city  last  night,  having  been 
smuggled  through  in  a  cargo  of  cotton.  In 
the  parish  of  Bossier  the  White  League 
haye  attempted  to  force  the  abdication  of 


Judge  Baker,  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner and  parish  judge,  together  with 
O'Neal,  the  sheriff,  and  Walker,  the  clerk 
of  the  court ;  and  they  have  compelled  the 
parish  and  district  courts  to  suspend  opera- 
tions. Judge  Baker  states  that  the  White 
Leaguers  notified  him  several  times  that  if 
he  became  a  candidate  on  the  republican 
ticket,  or  if  he  attempted  to  organize  the 
republican  party,  he  should  not  live  until 
election. 

They  also  tried  to  intimidate  him  through 
his  family  by  making  the  same  threats  to 
his  wife,  and  when  told  by  him  that  he  was 
a  United  States  commissioner,  they  notified 
him  not  to  attempt  to  exercise  the  functions 
of  his  office.  In  but  few  of  the  country 
parishes  can  it  be  truly  said  that  the  law  is 
properly  enforced,  and  in  some  of  the  par- 
ishes the  judges  have  not  been  able  to  hold 
court  for  the  past  two  years.  Human  life 
in  this  State  is  held  so  cheaply,  that  when 
men  are  killed  on  account  of  political 
opinions,  the  murderers  are  regarded  rather 
as  heroes  than  as  criminals,  in  the  locali- 
ties where  they  reside,  and  by  the  White 
League  and  their  supporters.  An  illuftra- 
tion  of  the  ostracism  that  prevails  in  the 
State  may  be  found  in  a  resolution  of  a 
White  League  club  in  the  parish  of  De 
Soto,  which  states,  "  That  they  pledge 
themselves  under  (no?)  circumstances  after 
the  coming  election  to  employ,  rent  land 
to,  or  in  any  other  manner  give  aid,  com- 
fort, or  credit,  to  any  man,  white  or  black, 
who  votes  against  the  nominees  of  the 
white  man's  party."  Safety  for  individuals 
who  express  their  opinion  in  the  isolated 
portion  of  this  State  has  existed  only  when 
that  opinion  was  in  favor  of  the  principles 
and  party  supported  by  the  Ku-Klux  aod 
White  League  organizations.  Only  yes- 
terday Judge  Myers,  the  parish  judge  of 
the  parish  of  Natchitoches,  called  on  me 
upon  his  arrival  in  this  city,  and  stated 
that  in  order  to  reach  here  alive,  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  his  home  by  stealth,  and 
after  nightfall,  and  make  his  way  to  Little 
Rock,  Arkansas,  and  come  to  this  city  by 
way  of  Memphis.  He  further  states  that 
while  his  father  was  lying  at  the  point  of 
death  in  the  same  village,  he  was  unable 
to  visit  him  for  fear  of  assassination  ;  and 
yet  he  is  a  native  of  the  parish,  and  pro- 
scribed for  his  political  sentiments  only. 
It  is  more  than  probable  that  if  bad  gov- 
ernment has  existed  in  this  State  it  is  the 
result  of  the  armed  organizations,  which 
have  now  crystallized  into  w'hat  is  called  the 
White  League  ;  instead  of  bad  government 
developing  them,  they  have  by  their  ter- 
rorism prevented  to  a  considerable  extent 
the  collection  of  taxes,  the  holding  of 
courts,  the  punishment  of  criminals,  and 
vitiated  public  sentiment  by  familiarizing 
it  with  the  scenes  above  described.  I  am 
now  engaged  in  compiling  evidence  for  a 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    WHITE   LEAGUE. 


225 


detailed  report  upon  the  above  subject,  but 
it  will  be  some  time  before  I  can  obtain 
all  the  requisite  data  to  cover  the  cases 
that  have  occurred  throughout  the  State. 
I  will  also  report  in  due  time  upon  the  same 
subject  in  the  States  of  Arkansas  and  Mis- 
sissippi. 

P.  H.  Sheridan, 
Lieutenant-  General. 

President  Grant  said  in  a  special  mes- 
eage  to  Congress,  January  13,  1875 : — 

"It  has  been  bitterly  and  persistently 
alleged  that  Kellogg  was  not  elected. 
Whether  he  was  or  not  is  not  altogether 
certain,  nor  is  it  any  more  certain  that  his 
competitor,  McEnery,  was  chosen.  The 
election  was  a  gigantic  fraud,  and  there  are 
no  reliable  returns  of  its  result.  Kellogg 
obtained  possession  of  the  office,  and  in 
my  opinion  has  more  right  to  it  than  his 
competitor. 

"  On  the  20th  of  February,  1873,  the 
Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections  of 
the  Senate  made  a  report,  in  which  they 
say  they  were  satisfied  by  testimony  that 
the  manipulation  of  the  election  machinery 
by  Warmoth  and  others  was  equivalent  to 
twenty  thousand  votes ;  and  they  add,  to 
recognize  the  McEnery  government 
'  would  be  recognizing  a  government  based 
upon  fraud,  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  and 
intention  of  the  voters  of  the  State.'  As- 
suming the  correctness  of  the  statements 
in  this  report,  (and  they  seem  to  have  been 
generally  accepted  by  the  country,)  the 
great  crime  in  Louisiana,  about  which  so 
much  has  been  said,  is,  that  one  is  holding 
the  office  of  governor  who  was  cheated  out 
of  twenty  thousand  votes,  against  another 
whose  title  to  the  office  is  undoubtedly 
based  on  fraud,  and  in  defiance  of  the 
wishes  and  intentions  of  the  voters  of  the 
State. 

"  Misinformed  and  misjudging  as  to  the 
nature  and  extent  of  this  report,  the  sup- 
porters of  McEnery  proceeded  to  displace 
oy  force  in  some  counties  of  the  State  the 
appointees  of  Governor  Kellogg;  and  on 
the  13th  of  April,  in  an  effijrtof  that  kind, 
a  butchery  of  citizens  was  committed  at 
Colfax,  which  in  blood-thirstiness  and  bar- 
barity is  hardly  surpassed  by  any  acts  of 
savage  warfare. 

"  To  put  this  matter  beyond  controversy, 
I  quote  from  the  charge  of  Judge  Woods, 
of  the  United  States  circuit  court,  to  the 
jury  in  the  case  of  the  United  States  vs. 
Cruikshank  and  others,  in  New  Orleans, 
in  March,  1874.     He  said : 

" '  In  the  case  on  trial  there  are  many 
facta  not  in  controversy.  I  proceed  to 
state  some  of  them  in  the  presence  and 
hearing  of  counsel  on  both  sides ;  and  if  I 
state  as  a  conceded  fact  any  matter  that  is 
disputed,  they  can  correct  me.' 

After  stating  the  origin  of  the  diffi- 

15 


culty,  which  grew  out  of  an  attempt  of 
white  persons  to  drive  the  parish  judge 
and  sheriiF,  appointees  of  Kellogg,  from 
office,  and  their  attempted  protection  by 
colored  persons,  which  led  to  some  fight- 
ing in  which  quite  a  number  of  negroes 
were  killed,  the  judge  states: 

"  *  Most  of  those  who  were  not  killed 
were  taken  prisoners.  Fifteen  or  sixteen 
of  the  blacks  had  lifted  the  boards  and 
taken  refuge  under  the  floor  of  the  court- 
house. They  were  all  captured.  About 
thirty-seven  men  were  taken  prisoners ; 
the  number  is  not  definitely  fixed.  They 
were  kept  under  guard  until  dark.  They 
were  led  out,  two  by  two,  and  shot.  Most 
of  the  men  were  shot  to  death.  A  few 
were  wounded,  not  mortally,  and  by  pre- 
tending to  be  dead  were  afterward,  during 
the  night,  able  to  make  their  escape. 
Among  them  was  the  Levi  Nelson  named 
in  the  indictment. 

"  '  The  dead  bodies  of  the  negroes  killed 
in  this  affair  were  left  unburied  until  Tues- 
day, April  15,  when  they  were  buried  by  a 
deputy  marshal  and  an  officer  of  the 
militia  from  New  Orleans.  These  persons 
found  fifty-nine  dead  bodies.  They  show- 
ed pistol-shot  wounds,  the  great  majority 
in  the  head,  and  most  of  them  in  the  back 
of  the  head.  In  addition  to  the  fifty-nine 
dead  bodies  found,  some  charred  reniains 
of  dead  bodies  were  discovered  near  the 
court-house.  Six  dead  bodies  were  found 
under  a  warehouse,  all  shot  in  the  head 
but  one  or  two,  which  were  shot  in  the 
breast. 

" '  The  only  white  men  injured  from  the 
beginning  of  these  troubles  to  their  close 
were  Hadnot  and  Harris.  The  court- 
house and  its  contents  were  entirely  con- 
sumed. 

"  '  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  one  in 
the  crowd  of  whites  bore  any  lawful  war- 
rant for  the  arrest  of  any  of  the  blacks. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  either  Nash  or 
Cazabat,  after  the  affair,  ever  demanded 
their  offices,  to  which  they  had  set  up 
claim,  but  Register  continued  to  act  as 
parish  judge,  and  Shaw  as  Sheriff. 

" '  These  are  facts  in  this  case,  as  I  under- 
stand them  to  be  admitted.' 

"  To  hold  the  people  of  Louisiana  gen- 
erally responsible  for  these  atrocities  would 
not  be  just ;  but  it  is  a  lamentable  fact  that 
insuperable  obstructions  were  thrown  in 
the  way  of  punishing  these  murderers,  and 
the  so-called  conservative  papers  of  the 
State  not  only  justified  the  massacre,  but 
denounced  as  Federal  tyranny  and  despot- 
ism the  attempt  of  the  United  States  offi- 
cers to  bring  them  to  justice.  Fierce  de- 
nunciations ring  through  the  country 
about  office-holding  and  election  matters 
in  Louisiana,  while  everyone  of  the  Colfax 
miscreants  goes  unwhipped  of  justice,  and 
no  way  can  be  found  in  this  boasted  land 


226 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


of  civilization  and  Christianity  to  punish 
the  perpetrators  of  this  bloody  ana  mon- 
strous crime. 

"  Not  unlike  this  was  the  massacre  in 
August  last.  Several  northern  young  men 
of  capital  and  enterprise  had  started  the 
little  and  flourishing  town  of  Coushatta. 
Some  of  them  were  republicans  and  office- 
holders under  Kellogg.  They  were  there- 
fore doomed  to  death.  Six  of  them  were 
seized  and  carried  awav  from  their  homes 
and  murdered  in  cold  Wood.  No  one  has 
been  punished ;  and  the  conservative  press 
of  the  State  denounced  all  efforts  to  that 
end,  and  boldly  justified  the  crime." 

The  House  on  the  1st  of  March,  1875, 
by  a  strict  party  vote,  155  Republicans  to 
86  Democrats,  recognized  the  Kellogg  gov- 
ernment. The  Senate  did  the  same  on 
March  5th,  by  33  to  23,  also  a  party  vote. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  resolution 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
recommending  that  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  that  State  seat  the  persons 
rightfully  entitled  thereto  from  certain 
districts,  the  whole  subject  was,  by  consent 
of  parties,  referred  to  the  Special  Commit- 
tee of  the  House  who  examined  into 
Louisiana  affairs,  viz. :  Messrs.  George  F. 
HoaXj  William  A.  Wheeler,  William  P. 
Frye,  Charles  Foster,  William  Walter 
Phelps,  Clarkson  N.  Potter  and  Samuel  S. 
Marsnall,  who,  after  careful  examination, 
made  an  award,  which  was  adopted  by  the 
Legislature  in  April,  1875.  It  is  popularly 
known  as  the  "  Wheeler  Compromise." 


Text  of  the  AVheeler  Compromise. 

New  Orleans,  March,  1875. 

Whereas,  It  is  desirable  to  adjust  the 
difficulties  growing  out  of  the  general  elec- 
tion in  this  State,  in  1872,  the  action  of 
the  Returning  Board  in  declaring  and  pro- 
mulgating the  results  of  the  general  elec- 
tion, in  the  month  of  November  last,  and 
the  organization  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, on  the  4th  day  of  January  last, 
such  adjustment  being  deemed  necessary 
to  the  re-establishment  of  peace  and  order 
in  this  State. 

Now,  therefore,  the  undersigned  mem- 
bers of  the  Conservative  party,  claiming  to 
have  been  elected  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  that  their  certifi- 
cates of  election  have  been  illegally  with- 
held by  the  Returning  Board,  hereby 
severally  agree  to  submit  their  claims  to 
seats  in  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
the  award  and  arbitrament  of  George  F. 
Hoar,  William  A.  Wheeler,  William  P. 
Frye,  Charles  Foster,  William  Walter 
Phelns,  Clarkson  N.  Potter,  and  Samuel  8." 
Marsnall,  who  are  hereby  authorized  to 
examine  and  determine  the  same  upon  the 
equities  -of  the  sever.il  cases ;   and  when 


such  awards  shall  be  made,  we  hereby 
severally  agree  to  abide  bv  the  same : 

And  such  of  us  as  may  become  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  under 
this  arrangement,  hereby  severally  agree 
to  sustain  by  our  influence  and  votes  the 
joint  resolution  herein  set  forth. 

[Here  follow  the  signatures  of  the  Demo- 
crats who  claimed  that  their  certificates  of 
election  as  members  of  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives had  been  illegally  withheld 
by  the  Returning  Board.] 

And  the  undersigned  claiming  to  have 
been  elected  Senators  from  the  Eighth  and 
Twenty-Second  Senatorial  Districts,  hereby 
agree  to  submit  their  claims  to  the  fore- 
going award  and  arbitrament,  and  in  all 
respects  to  abide  the  results  of  the  same. 

[Here  follow  the  signatures  of  the  Demo- 
crats, who  made  a  like  claim  as  to  seats  in 
the  Senate.] 

And  the  undersigned,  holding  certifi- 
cates of  election  from  the  Returning  Board, 
hereby  severally  agree  that  upon  the  com- 
ing in  of  the  award  of  the  foregoing  arbi- 
trators they  will,  when  the  same  shall  have 
been  ratified  by  the  report  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Elections  and  Qualifications  of  the 
body  in  session  at  the  State  House  claim- 
ing to  be  the  House  of  Representatives, 
attend  the  sitting  of  the  said  House  for  the 
purpose  of  adopting  said  report,  and  if 
said  report  shall  be  adopted,  and  the  mem- 
bers embraced  in  the  foregoing  report 
shall  be  seated,  then  the  undersigned  seve- 
rally agree  that  immediately  upon  the 
adoption  of  said  report  they  will  vote  for 
the  following  joint  resolution  : 

[Here  follow  the  signatures  of  the  Demo- 
cratic members  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives in  relation  to  whose  seats  there  was 
no  controversy.] 

JOINT  EESOLUnON. 
Resolved,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Louisiana,  That  said  Assembly, 
without  approving  the  same,  will  not  dis- 
turb the  present  State  Government  claim- 
ing to  have  been  elected  in  1872,  known  as 
the  Kellogg  Government,  or  seek  to  im- 
peach the  Governor  for  any  past  official 
acts,  and  that  henceforth  it  will  accord  to 
said  Governor  all  necessary  and  legitimate 
support  in  maintaining  the  laws  and  ad- 
vancing the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the 
people  of  this  State :  and  that  the  House 
of  Representatives,  as  to  its  members,  as 
constituted  under  the  award  of  George  F. 
Hoar,  W.  A.  Wheeler,  W.  P.  Frye,  Charles 
Foster,  Samuel  S.  Marshall,  Clarkson 
N.  Potter,  and  William  Walter  Phelps, 
shall  remain  without  change  except  oy 
resignation  or  death  of  members  until  a 
new  general  election,  and  that  the  Senate, 
as  now  organized,  shall  also  remain  un- 
changed except  so  far  as  that  body  shall 
make  changes  on  contests. 


uooKi.]  TEXT    OF    THE    WHEELER    COMPROMISE, 


227 


TEXT  OF  THE  AWARD. 

New  York,  March  13, 1875. 
The  undersigned  having  been  requested 
to  examine  the  claima  of  the  persons  here- 
inafter named  to  seats  in  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  State 
of  Louisiana,  and  having  examined  the  re- 
turns and  the  evidence  relating  to  such 
claims,  are  of  opinion,  and  do  hereby  find, 
award  and  determine,  that  F.  S.  Goode  is 
entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  from  the 
Twenty-second  Senatorial  District ;  and 
that  J.  B.  Elam  is  not  entitled  to  a  seat  in 
the  Senate  from  the  Eighth  Senatorial 
District;  and  that  the  following  named 
persons  are  entitled  to  seats  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  from  the  following 
named  parishes  respectively:  From  the 
Parish  of  Assumption,  R.  R.  Beaseley,  E. 
F.  X.  Dugas ;  from  the  Parish  of  Bien- 
ville, James  Brice ;  from  the  Parish  of  De 
Soto,  J.  S.  Scales,  Charles  Schuler;  from 
the  Parish  of  Jackson,  E.  Kidd ;  from  the 
Parish  of  Rapides,  James  Jeflfries,  R.  C. 
Luckett,  G.  W.  Stafford ;  from  the  Parish 
of  Terrebone,  Edward  McCollum,  W.  H. 
Keyes ;  from  the  Parish  of  Winn,  George 
A.  Kelley.  And  that  the  following  named 
persons  are  not  entitled  to  seats  which 
they  claim'  from  the  following  named 
parishes  respectively,  but  that  the  persons 
now  holding  seats  from  said  parishes  are 
entitled  to  retain  the  seats  now  held  by , 
them ;  from  the  Parish  of  Avoyelles,  J.  O. 
Quinn  ;  from  the  Parish  of  Iberie,  W.  F. 
Schwing ;  from  the  Parish  of  Caddo,  A. 
D.  Land,  T.  R.  Vaughan,  J,  J.  Horan. 
We  are  of  opinion  that  no  person  is  en- 
titled to  a  seat  from  the  Parish  of  Grant. 

In   regard  to   most  of   the  cases,   the 
undersigned   are    unanimous;    as    to   the 
others  the  decision  is  that  of  a  majority. 
George  F.  Hoar, 
W.  A.  Wheeler, 
W.  P.  Frye, 
Charles  Foster, 
Clarkson  N.  Potter, 
William  Walter  Phelps, 
Samuel  S.  Marshall. 

This  adjustment  and  award  were  accept- 
ed and  observed,  until  the  election  in  No- 
vem'^er,  1876,  when  a  controversy  arose  as 
to  the  result,  the  Republicans  claiming  the 
election  of  Stephen  B.  Packard  as  Govern- 
or by  about  3,500  majority,  and  a  Republi- 
can Legislature  ;  and  the  Democrats  claim- 
ing the  election  of  Francis  T.  Nicholls  as 
Governor,  by  about  8,000  majority,  and  a 
Democratic  Legislature.  Committees  of 
gentlemen  visited- New  Orleans,  by  request 
of  President  Grant  and  of  various  politi- 
cal organizations,  to  witness  the  count  of 
the  votes  by  the  Returning  Board.  And 
in  December,  1876,  on  the  meeting  of  Con- 
gress, committees  of  investigation  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Senate  and  by  the  House  of 


Representatives.  Exciting  events  were 
now  daily  transpiring.  On  the  Ist  of  Jan- 
uary, 1877,  the  Legislature  organized  in  the 
State  House  without  exhibitions  of  vio- 
lence. The  Democrats  did  not  unite  in  the 
proceedings,  but  met  in  a  separate  build- 
ing, and  organized  a  separate  Legislature. 
Telegraphic  communication  was  had  be- 
tween tie  State  House  and  the  Custom 
House,  where  was  the  office  of  Marshal 
Pitkin,  who  with  the  aid  of  the  United 
States  troops,  was  ready  for  any  emergency. 
About-noon  the  Democratic  members,  ac- 
companied by  about  500  persons,  called  at 
the  State  House  and  demanded  admission. 
The  officer  on  duty  replied  that  the  mem- 
bers could  enter,  but  the  crowd  could  not. 
A  formal  demand  was  then  made  upon 
General  Badger  and  other  officials,  by  the 
spokesman,  for  the  removal  of  the  obstruc- 
tions, barricades,  police,  etc.,  which  pre- 
vented the  ingress  of  members,  which  bein^ 
denied,  Col.  Bush,  in  behalf  of  the  crowd, 
read  a  formal  protest,  and  the  Democrats 
retired.  Gov.  Kellogg  was  presented  by  a 
committee  with  a  copy  of  the  j)rotest,  and 
he  replied,  that  as  cliief  magistrate  and 
conservator  of  the  peace  of  the  State,  be- 
lieving that  there  was  danger  of  the  or- 
ganization of  the  General  Assembly  being 
violentlv  interfered  with,  he  had  caused  a 
police  force  to  be  stationed  in  the  lower 
portion  of  the  building ;  that  he  had  no 
motive  but  to  preserve  the  peace  ;  that  no 
member  or  attache  of  either  house  will  be 
interfered  with  in  any  way,  and  that  no 
United  States  troops  are  stationed  in  the 
capitol  building.  Clerk  Trezevant  declined 
to  call  the  House  to  order  unless  the  police- 
men were  removed.  Upon  the  refusal  to  do 
so,  he  withdrew,  when  Louis  Sauer,  a  mem- 
ber, called  the  roll,  and  68  members — a  full 
House  being  120 — answered  to  their  names. 
Ex-Gov.  Hahn  was  elected  Speaker,  re- 
ceiving 53  votes  as  against  15  for  Ex-Qov. 
Warmoth. 

The  Senate  was  organized  by  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Antoine  with  19  present — a  full 
Senate  being  30 — eight  of  whom  held  over, 
and  11  were  returned  by  the  Board.  Gov. 
Kellogg's  message  was  presented  to  each 
House. 

The  Democrats  organized  their  Legisla- 
ture in  St.  Patrick's  hall.  The  Senators 
were  called  to  order  by  Senator  Ogden. 
Nineteen  Senators,  including  nine  holding 
over,  and  four,  who  were  counted  out  by 
the  board,  were  present. 

The  Democratic  members  of  the  House 
were  called  to  order  by  Clerk  Trezevant, 
and  61  answered  to  their  names.  Louis 
Bush  was  elected  Speaker. 

January  3d— Republican  Legislature 
passed  a  resolution  asking  for  military  pro- 
tection against  apprehended  Democratic 
violence,  and  it  was  telegraphed  to  the 
,  President. 


228 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


On  Sunday,  January  8th,  Gov.  Kellogg 
telegraphed  to  President  Grant  to  the  same 
effect. 

January  8th — Stephen  B.  Packard  took 
the  oath  of  office  as  Governor,  and  C.  C. 
Antoine  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  at  the 
State  House  at  1 :  30,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Legislature. 

January  8 — Francis  T.  Nicholls  and  L. 
A.  Wiltz  to-day  took  the  oath  of  office  of 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor,  re- 
spectively, on  the  balcony  of  St.  Patrick's 
hall. 

By  the  11th  of  January  both  parties  were 
waiting  for  the  action  of  the  authorities  at 
Washington.  Gov.  Packard  to-day  com- 
missioned A.  S.  Badger  Major-General  of 
the  State  National  Guard,  and  directed  him 
to  organize  the  first  division  at  once.  Two 
members  of  the  Packard  Legislature,  Mr. 
Barrett,  of  Rapides,  and  Mr.  Kennedy,  of 
St.  Charles,  had  withdrawn  from  that 
body  and  gone  over-to  the  Nicholls  Legis- 
lature, 

Messrs.  Breux,  Barrett,  Kennedy,  Es-" 
topival,.  Wheeler,  and  Hamlet,  elected  as 
Republicans,  under  the  advice  of  Pinch- 
back — a  defeated  Republican  candidate  for' 
U.  S.  Senator,  left  the  Packard  or  Repub- 
lican, and  joined  the  Nicholls  Legislature. 

On  the  15th,  Governor  Packard,  after 
receiving  a  copy  of  the  telegram  of  the 
President  to  Cfeneral  Augur,  issued  a 
proclamation  aimed  at  the  "  organized  and 
armed  combination  and  conspiracy  of  men 
now  offering  unlawful  and  violent  resist- 
ance to  the  lawful  authority  of  the  State 
government." 

The  Nicholls  court  issued  an  order  to 
Sheriff  Handy  to  provide  the  means  for 
protecting  the  court  from  any  violence  or 
intrusion  on  the  part  of  the  adherents  of 
"  S.  B.  Packard,  a  wicked  and  shameless 
impostor." 

Governor  Packard  on  the  16th,  in  a  let- 
ter to  Gen.  Augur,  acknowledges  the  re- 
ceipt of  a  communication  from  his  aide- 
de-camp  asking  for  assurances  from  him 
that  the  President's  wishes  concerning  the 
preservation  of  the  present  status  be  re- 
spected, and  says  that  the  request  would 
have  been  more  appropriate  if  made  im- 
mediately after  his  installation  as  Gov- 
ernor and  before  many  of  the  main 
branches  of  the  Gk)vernment  had  been 
forcibly  taken  possession  of  by  the  oppo- 
sition. He  says:  "I  had  scarcely  taken 
the  oath  of  office  when  the  White  League 
were  called  to  arms;  the  Court  room  and 
the  records  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  were  forcibly  taken  possession  of, 
and  various  precinct  police-stations  were 
captured  in  like  manner  by  overwhelm- 
ing forces.  Orders  had  been  issued  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  early  on  that  day  that 
all  unauthorized  armea  bodies  should  de- 
sist   A  dispatch  from  yourself  of  the  same 


date  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  conveyed 
the  assurances  that  Nicholls  had  promised 
the  disbandment  of  his  armed  forces.     * 

*  *  *  It  was  my  understanding,  that 
neither  side  should  be  permitted  to  inter- 
fere with  the  status  of  the  other  side.  Yet 
the  day  after  this  order  was  received  and 
the  pledge  given  by  Nicholls,  a  force  of 
several  hundred  armed  White  Leaguers 
repaired  to  the  State  Arsenal  and  took  there- 
from into  their  own  keeping  five  pieces  of 
artillery,  and  a  garrison  of  armed  men  was 

E laced  in  and  around  the  Supreme  Court 
uilding.  That  on  the  following  day,  Jan- 
uary 11,  an  armed  company  of  the' White 
League  broke  into  and  took  possession  of 
the  office  of  the  Recorder  of  Mortgages. 

*  *  *  *  In  view  of  all  these  facts  it 
seemed  to  me  that  to  give  the  pledge  ver- 
bally asked  of  me  this  morning  would 
be  to  sanction  revolution,  and  by  acquies- 
cence give  it  the  force  of  accomplished 
fact,  and  I  therefore  declined." 

Many  telegrams  followed  between  the 
Secretary  of  War,  J.  Don.  Cameron,  Gen'l 
Augur  and  Mr.  Packard,  the  latter  daily 
complaining  of  new  "outrages  by  the 
White  League,"  while  the  Nicholls  gov- 
ernment professed  to  accord  rights  to  all 
classes,  and  to  obey  the  instructions  from 
Washington,  to  faithfully  maintain  the 
status  of  affairs  until  decisive  action  should 
be  taken  by  the  National  government. 
None  was  taken.  President  Grant  being 
unwilling  to  outline  a  Southern  policy  for 
his  successor  in  office. 


ElectloM  of  Hayes  and  Wheeler. 

The  troubles  in  the  South,  and  the  al- 
most general  overthrow  of  the  "  carpet  bag 
government,"  impressed  all  with  the  fact 
that  the  Presidential  election  of  1876  would 
be  exceedingly  close  and  exciting,  and  the 
result  confirmed  this  belief.  The  Green- 
backers  were  the  first  to  meet  in  National 
Convention,  at  Indianapolis,  May  17th. 
Peter  Cooper  of  New  York  was  nominated 
for  President,  and  Samuel  F.  Cary  of  Ohio, 
for  Vice  President. 

The  Republican  National  Convention 
met  at  Cincinnati,  June  14th,  with  James 
G.  Blaine  recognized  as  the  leading  candi- 
date. Grant  had  been  named  for  a  third 
term,  and  there  was  a  belief  that  his  name 
would  be  presented.  Such  was  the  feeling 
on  this  ouestion  that  the  House  of  Con- 
gress ana  a  Republican  State  Convention 
m  Pennsylvaijia,  had  passed  resolutions 
declaring  that  a  third  tejm  for  President 
would  be  a  violation  of  the  "  unwritten 
law  "  handed  down  through  the  examples 
of  Washington,  and  Jackson.  His  name, 
however,  was  not  then  presented.  The  "unit 
rule"  at  this  Convention  was  for  the^ifirst 
time  resisted,  and  by  the  friends  of  Blaine, 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    ELECTORAL    COUNT. 


229 


with  a  view  to  release  from  instructions  of 
State  Conventions  some  of  his  friends. 
New  York  had  instructed  for  Conkling, 
and  Pennsylvania  for  Hartranft.  In  both 
of  these  states  some  delegates  had  been 
chosen  by  their  respective  Congressional 
districts,  in  advance  of  any  State  action, 
and  these  elections  were  as  a  rule  confirmed 
by  the  State  bodies.  Where  they  were  not, 
there  were  contests,  and  the  right  of  dis- 
trict representation  was  jeopardized  if  not 
destroyed  by  the  reinforcement  of  the 
unit  rule.  It  was  therefore  thought  to  be 
a  question  of  much  importance  by  the  war- 
ring interests.  Hon.  Edw.  MclPherson  was 
the  temporary  Chairman  of  the  Conven- 
tion, and  he  took  the  earliest  opportunity 
presented  to  decide  against  the  binding 
force  of  the  unit  rule,  and  to  assert  the  lib- 
erty of  each  delegate  to  vote  as  he  pleased. 
The  Convention  sustained  the  decision  on 
an  appeal. 

Ballots  of  the  Cincinnati  Kepublican 
Convention,  1876 : 

Ballots,  12  3  4      5      6      7 

Blaine,  285  296  292  293  287  308  351 

Conkling,  113  114  121  126  114  111     21 

Bristow,  99    93  90  84    82    81 

Morton,  124  120  113  108    95    85 

Hayes,  61     64  67  68  102  113  384 

Hartranft,  58    63  68  71    69    50 

Jewell,  11 

Washb'ne,  113      3      4 

Wheeler,  3      3  2  2      2      2 

Gen.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  of  Ohio,  was 
nominated  for  President,  and  Hon.  Wm.  A. 
Wheeler,  of  New  York,  for  Vice  President. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention 
met  at  St.  Louis,  June  28th.  Great  interest 
was  excited  by  the  attitude  of  John  Kel- 
ly, the  Tammany  leader  of  New  York, 
who  was  present  and  opposed  with  great 
bitterness  the  nomination  of  Tilden,  He 
afterwards  bowed  to  the  will  of  the  major- 
ity and  supported  him.  Both  the  unit  and 
the  two-thirds  rule  were  observed  in  this 
body,  as  they  have  long  been  by  the  Dem- 
ocratic party.  On  the  second  ballot,  Hon. 
Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of  New  York,  had  535 
votes  to  203  for  all  others.  His  leading 
competitor  was  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks, of  Indiana,  who  wais  nominated  for 
Vice  President. 


Tbe  Electoral  Count. 

The  election  followed  Nov.  7th,  1876, 
Hayes  and  Wheeler  carrying  all  of  the 
Northern  States  except  Connecticut,  New 
York,  New  Jersey  and  Indiana;  Tilden 
and  Hendricks  carried  all  of  the  Southern 
Stp.tes  except  South  Carolina,  Florida  and 
Louisiana,  The  three  last  named  States 
were  claimed  by  the  Democrats,  but  their 
members  of  the  Congressional  Investiga- 


ting Committee  quieted  rival  claims  as  to 
South  Carolina  by  agreeing  that  it  had 
fairly  chosen  the  Republican  electors.  So 
close  was  the  result  that  success  or  failure 
hinged  upon  the  returns  of  Florida  and 
Louisiana,  and  for  days  and  weeks  conflict- 
ing stories  and  claims  came  from  these 
States.  The  Democrats  claimed  that  they 
had  won  on  the  face  of  the  returns  from 
Louisiana,  and  that  there  was  no  authority 
to  go  behind  these.  The  Republicans  pub- 
licly alleged  frauds  in  nearly  all  of  the 
Southern  States ;  that  the  colored  vote  had 
been  violently  suppressed  in  the  Gulf 
States,  but  they  dia  not  formally  dispute 
the  face  of  the  returns  in  any  State  save 
where  the  returning  boards  gave  them  the 
victory.  This  doubtful  state  of  affairs  in- 
duced a  number  of  prominent  politicians 
of  both  the  great  parties  to  visit  the  State 
capitals  of  South  Carolina,  Florida  and 
Louisiana  to  witness  the  count.  Some  of 
these  were  appointed  by  President  Grant  ; 
others  by  the  Democratic  National  Com- 
mittee, and  both  sets  were  at  the  time 
called  the  "  visiting  statesmen,"  a  phrase 
on  which  the  political  changes  were  rung 
for  months  and  years  thereafter. 

The  electoral  votes  of  Florida  were  de- 
cided by  the  returning  board  to  be  Repub- 
lican by  a  majority  of  926, — this  after 
throwing  out  the  votes  of  several  districts 
where  fraudulent  returns  were  alleged  to  be 
apparent  or  shown  by  testimony.  The 
Board  was  cited  before  the  State  Supreme 
Court,  which  ordered  a  count  of  the  face 
of  the  returns ;  a  second  meeting  only  led 
to  a  second  Republican  return,  and  the 
Republican  electors  were  then  declared  to 
have  been  chosen  by  a  majority  of  206, 
though  before  this  was  done,  the  Electoral 
College  of  the  State  had  met  and  cast  their 
four  votes  for  Hayes  and  Wheeler.  Both 
parties  agreed  very  closely  in  their  counts, 
except  as  to  Baker  county,  from  which  the 
Republicans  claimed  41  majority,  the  Dem- 
ocrats 95  majority — the  returning  board  ac- 
cepting the  Republican  claim. 

In  Louisiana  the  Packard  returning 
board  was  headed  by  J.  Madison  Wells, 
and  this  body  refused  to  permit  the  Demo- 
crats to  be  represented  therein.  It  was  in 
session  three  weeks,  the  excitement  all  the 
time  being  at  fever  heat,  and  finally  made 
the  following  average  returns :  Republican 
electors,  74,436 ;  Democratic,  70,505 ;  Re- 
publican majority,  3,931.  McEnery,  who 
claimed  to  be  Governor,  gave  the  Demo- 
cratic electors  a  certificate  based  on  an 
average  vote  of  83,635  against  76,759,  a 
Democratic  majority  of  7,876. 

In  Oregon,  the  three  Republican  electors 
had  an  admitted  majority  of  the  popular 
vote,  but  on  a  claim  that  one  of  the  number 
was  a  Federal  office-holder  and  therefore 
ineligible,  the  Democratic  Governor  gave 
a  certificate  to  two  of  the  Republican  elec- 


230 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


tors,  and  a  Mr.  Cronin,  Democrat.  The 
three  Republican  electors  were  certified  by 
the  Secretary  of  State,  who  was  the  can- 
vassing officer  by  law.  This  Oregon  busi- 
ness led  to  grave  suspicions  against  Mr. 
Tilden,  who  was  therealter  freely  charged 
by  the  Republicans  with  the  use  of  his 
immense  private  fortune  to  control  the  re- 
sult, and  thereafter,  the  New  York  Tribune, 
with  unexampled  enterprise,  exposed  and 
reprinted  the  "cipher  dispatches"  from 
Gramercy,  which  Mr.  Pelton,  the  nephew 
and  private  secretary  of  Mr.  Tilden,  had 
sent  to  Democratic  "  visiting  statesmen  "  in 
the  four  disputed  sections.  In  1878,  the 
Potter  Investigating  Committee  subse- 
quently confirmed  the  "  cipher  dispatches  " 
but  Mr.  Tilden  'denied  any  knowledge  of 
them. 

The  second  session  of  the  44th  Congress 
met  on  Dec.  5th,  1876,  and  while  by  that 
time  all  knew  the  dangers  of  the  approach- 
ing electoral  count,  yet  neither  House 
would  consent  to  the  revision  of  the  joint 
rule  regulating  the  count.  The  Republi- 
cans claimed  that  the  President  of  the  Sen- 
ate had  the  sole  authority  to  open  and  an- 
nounce the  returns  in  the  presence  of  the 
two  Houses ;  the  Democrats  plainly  disputed 
tius  right,  and  claimed  that  the  joint  body 
could  control  the  count  under  the  law. 
Some  Dtimocrats  went  so  far  as  to  say  that 
the  House  (which  was  Democratic,  with 
Samuel  J.  Randall  in  the  Speaker's  chair) 
could  for  itself  decide  when  the  emergency 
had  arrived  in  which  it  was  to  elect  a 
President. 

There  was  grave  danger,  and  it  was  as- 
serted that  the  Democrats,  fearing  the 
President  of  the  Senate  would  exercise 
the  power  of  declaring  the  result,  were 
preparing  first  to  forcibly  and  at  least  with 
secrecy  swear  in  and  inaugurate  Tilden. 
Mr.  Watterson,  member  of  the  House  from 
Kentucky,  boasted  that  he  had  completed 
arrangements  to  have  100,000  men  at 
Washington  on  inauguration  day,  to  see 
that  Tilden  was  installed.  President  Grant 
and  Secretary  of  War  Cameron,  thought 
the  condition  of  affairs  critical,  and  both 
made  active  though  secret  preparations  to 
secure  the  safe  if  not  the  peaceful  inaugu- 
ration of  Hayes.  Grant,  in  one  of  his  sen- 
tentious utterances,  said  he  "  would  have 
peace  if  he  had  to  fight  for  it."  To  this 
end  he  sent  for  Gov.  Hartranft  of  Penn- 
sylvania, to  know  if  he  could  stop  any  at- 
temj)ted  movement  of  New  York  troops  to 
Washington,  as  he  had  information  that 
the  purpose  was  to  forcibly  install  Tilden. 
Grov.  Hartranft  replied  that  he  could  do  it 
with  the  National  Guard  and  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  He  was  told  to 
return  to  Harrisburg  and  prepare  for  such 
an  emergency.  This  he  did,  and  as  the 
Legislature  was  then  in  session,  a  Repub- 
lican caucus  was  called,  and  it  resolved, 


without  knowing  exactly  why,  to  sustain 
any  action  of  the  Governor  with  the  re- 
sources of  the  State.  Secretary  Cameron 
also  sent  for  Gen'l  Sherman,  and  for  a 
time  went  on  with  comprehensive  prepa- 
rations, which  if  there  had  been  need  for 
completion,  would  certainly  have  put  a 
speedy  check  upon  the  madness  of  any 
mob.  There  is  a  most  interesting  unwrit- 
ten history  of  events  then  transpiring 
which  no  one  now  living  can  fully  relate 
without  unjustifiable  violations  of  political 
and  personal  confidences.  But  the  danger 
was  avoided  by  the  patriotism  of  prominent 
members  of  Congress  representing  both  of 
the  great  political  parties.  These  gentle- 
men held  several  important  and  private 
conferences,  and  substantially  agreed  upon 
u  result  several  days  before  the  exciting 
struggle  which  followed  the  introduction 
of  the  Electoral  Commission  Act.  The 
leaders  on  the  part  of  the  Republicans  in 
these  conferences  were  Conkling,  Edmunds, 
Frelinghuysen  ;  on  the  part  of  the  Demo- 
crats Bayard,  Gordon,  Randall  and  Hewitt, 
the  latter  a  member  of  the  House  and 
Chairman  of  the  National  Democratic 
Committee. 

The  Electoral  Commission  Act,  the  basis 
of  agreement,  was  supported  by  Conkling 
in  a  speech  of  great  power,  and  of  all  men 
engaged  in  this  great  work  he  was  at  the 
time  most  suspected  by  the  Republicans, 
who  feared  that  his  admitted  dislike  to 
Hayes  would  cause  him  to  favor  a  bill 
which  would  secure  the  return  of  Tilden, 
and  as  both  of  the  gentlemen  were  JTew 
Yorkers,  there  was  for  several  days  grave 
fears  of  a  combination  between  the  two. 
The  result  showed  the  injustice  done,  and 
convinced  theretofore  doubting  Republi- 
cans that  Conkling,  even  as  a  partisan,  was 
faithful  and  far-seeing.  The  Electoral 
Commission  measure  was  a  Democratic 
one,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  character 
of  the  votes  cast  for  and  against  it.  In  the 
Senate  the  vote  stood  47  for  to  17  against. 
There  were  21  Republicans  for  it  and  16 
against,  while  there  were  also  26  Demo- 
crats for  it  to  only  1  (Eaton)  against.  In 
the  House  much  the  same  proportion  was 
maintained,  the  bill  passing  that  bodv  by 
191  to  86.   The  following  is  the  text  of  the 

ELECTORAL  C0MMI8SI0X  ACT. 

An  at  to  provide  for  and  regulate  the 
counting  of  votes  for.  President  and  Vice- 
President,  and  the  decision  of  questions 
arising  thereon,  for  the  term  commencing 
March  fourth.  Anno  Domini  eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy-seven. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  shall 
meet  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, at  the  hour  of  one  o'clock  post 


BOOK  I.] 


THE   ELECTORAL    COUNT. 


231 


meridian,  on  the  first  Thursday  in  Febru- 
ary, Anno  Domini  eighteen  hundred  and 
seventy-seven ;  the  President  of  the  Senate 
shall  be  their  presiding  officer.  Two  tellers 
shall  be  previously  appointed  on  the  part 
of  the  Senate,  and  two  on  the  part  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  to  whom  shall 
be  handed,  as  ihey  are  opened  by  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  Senate,  all  the  certificates, 
and  papers  purporting  to  be  certificates,  of 
the  electoral  votes,  which  certificates  and 
papers  shall  be  opened,  presented  and 
acted  upon  in  the  alphabetical  order  of  the 
States,  beginning  with  the  letter  A;  and 
said  tellers  having  then  read  the  same  in 
presence  and  hearing  of  the  two  Houses, 
shall  make  a  list  of  the  votes  as  they  shall 
appear  from  the  said  certificates  ;  and  the 
votes  having  been  ascertained  and  counted 
as  in  this  act  provided,  the  result  of  the 
same  shall  be  delivered  to  the  President  of 
the  Senate,  who  shall  thereupon  announce 
the  state  of  the  vote,  and  the  names  of  the 
persons,  if  any  elected,  which  announce- 
ment shall  be  deemed  a  sufficient  declara- 
tion of  the  pCTsons  elected  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and, 
together  with  a  list  of  the  votes,  be  entered 
on  the  journals  of  the  Houses.  Upon  such 
reading  of  any  such  certificate  or  paper 
when  there  shall  only  be  one  return  from 
a  State,  the  President  of  the  Senate  shall 
call  for  objections,  if  any.  Every  objection 
shall  be  made  in  writing,  and  shall  state 
cleas-ly  and  concisely,  and  without  argu- 
ment, the  ground  thereof,  and  shall  be 
signed  by  at  least  one  Senator  and  one 
Member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
before  the  same  shall  be  received.  When 
all  objections  so  made  to  any  vote 
or  paper  from  a  State  shall  have  been  re- 
ceived and  read,  the  Senate  shall  there- 
upon withdraw,  and  such  objections  shall 
be  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  its  decision ; 
and  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives shall,  in  like  manner,  submit  such 
objections  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
for  its  decision ;  and  no  electoral  vote  or 
votes  from  any  State  from  which  but  one 
return  has  been  received  shall  be  rejected, 
except  by  the  affirmative  vote  of  the  two 
Houses.  When  the  two  Houses  have 
votes,  they  shall  immediately  again  meet, 
and  the  presiding  officer  shall  then  an- 
nounce the  decision  of  the  question  sub- 
mitted. 

Sec.  2.  That  if  more  than  one  return,  or 
paper  purporting  to  be  a  return  from  a  State, 
shall  have  been  received  by  the  President 
of  the  Senate,  purporting  to  be  the  cer- 
tificate of  electoral  votes  given  at  the  last 
preceding  election  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  in  such  State  (unless  they  shall 
be  duplicates  of  the  same  return),  all  such 
returns  and  papers  shall  be  opened  by  hinj 
in  the  presence  of  the  two  Houses  when  met 
as  afcresaid,  and  r«ad  by  the  tellers,  and 


all  such  returns  and  papers  shall  thereupon 
be  submitted  to  the  judgment  and  decision 
as  to  which  is  the  true  and  lawful  electoral 
vote  of  such  State,  of  a  commission  consti- 
tuted as  follows,  namely :  During  the  ses- 
sion of  each  House,  on  the  Tuesday  next 
preceding  the  first  Thursday  in  February, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  each 
House  shall,  by  viva  voce  vote,  appoint 
five  of  its  members,  with  the  five  associate 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  to  be  ascertained  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided, shall  constitute  a  commission  for  the 
decision  of  all  questions  upon  or  in  respect 
of  such  double  returns  named  in  this  sec- 
tion. On  the  Tuesday  next  preceding  the 
first  Thursday  in  February,  Anno  Domini, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  or  as 
soon  thereafter  as  may  be,  the  associate 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  now  assigned  to  the  first,  third, 
eighth,  and  ninth  circuits  shall  select,  in 
such  manner  as  a  majority  of  them 
shall  deem  fit,  another  of  the  associ- 
ate justices  of  said  court,  which  five  per- 
sons shall  be  members  of  said  commission ; 
and  the  person  longest  in  commission  of 
said  five  justices  shall  be  the  president  of 
said  commission.  The  members  of  said 
commission  shall   respectively  take    and 

subscribe  the  following  oath  :  "  I 

do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm,  as  the  case 
maybe,)  that  I  will  impartially  examine 
and  consider  all  questions  submitted  to  the 
commission  of  wliich  I  am  a  member,  and 
a  true  judgment  give  thereon,  agreeably 
to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws :  so  help 
me  God ;  "  which  oath  shall  be  filed  with 
the  Secretary  of  the  Senate.  When  the 
commission  shall  have  been  thus  organized, 
it  shall  not  be  in  the  power  of  either 
House  to  dissolve  the  same,  or  to  with- 
draw any  of  its  members ;  but  if  any  such 
Senator  or  member  shall  die  or  become 
physically  unable  to  perform  the  duties 
required  by  this  act,  the  fact  of  such  death 
or  physical  inability  shall  be  by  said 
commission,  before  it  shall  proceed  fur- 
ther, communicated  to  the  Senate  or 
House  of  Representatives,  as  the  case  may 
be,  which  body  shall  immediately  and 
without  debate  proceed  by  viva  voce  vote 
to  fill  the  place  so  vacated,  and  the  person 
so  appointed  shall  take  and  subscribe  the 
oath  hereinbefore  prescribed,  and  become 
a  member  of  said  commission  ;  and  in  like 
manner,  if  any  of  said  justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  shall  die  or  become  physically 
incapable  of  performing  the  duties  re- 
quired by  this  act,  the  other  of  said  jus- 
tices, members  of  the  said  commission, 
shall  immediately  appoint  another  justice 
of  said  court  a  member  of  said  commission, 
and  in  like  manner,  if  any  of  said  justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  die  or  become 
physically  incapable  of  performing  the 
duties  required  by  this  act,  the  other  of  said 


232 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Justices,  members  of  the  said  commission, 
shall  immediately  appoint  another  justice 
of  said  court  a  member  of  said  commission, 
and,  in  such  appointment,  regard  shall  be 
had  to  the  impartiality  and  freedom  from 
bias  sought  by  the  original  appointments 
to  said  commission,  who  shall  thereupon 
immediately  take  and  subscribe  the  oath 
hereinbefore  prescribed,  and  become  a 
member  of  said  commission  to  fill  the 
vacancy  so  occasioned.  All  the  certificates 
and  papers  purporting  to  be  certificates  of 
the  electoral  votes  of  each  State  shall  be 
of>ened,  in  the  alphabetical  order  of  the 
States,  as  providea  in  section  one  of  this 
act ;  and  when  there  shall  be  more  than 
one  such  certificate  or  paper,  as  the  certifi- 
cates and  papeis  from  such  State  shall  so  be 
opened  (excepting  duplicates  of  the  same 
return),  they  shall  be  read  by  the  tellers, 
and  thereupon  the  Bresident  of  the  Senate 
shall  call  for  objections,  if  any.  Every 
objection  shall  be  made  in  writing,  and 
shall  state  clearly  and  concisely,  and  with- 
out argument,  the  ground  thereof,  and 
shall  be  signed  by  at  least  one  Senator  and 
one  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives before  the  same  shall  be  received. 
When  all  such  objections  so  made  to  any 
certificate,  vote,  or  paper  from  a  State  shall 
have  been  received  and  read,  all  such  cer- 
tificates, votes  and  papers  so  objected  to, 
and  all  papers  accompanying  the  same, 
together  with  such  objections,  shall  be 
forthwith  submitted  to  said  commission, 
which  shall  proceed  to  consider  the  same, 
with  the  same  powers,  if  any,  now  possessed 
for  that  purpose  by  the  two  Houses  acting 
separately  or  together,  and,  by  a  majority 
or  votes,  decide  whether  any  and  what 
votes  from  such  State  are  the  votes  provid- 
ed for  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  how  many  and  what  persons 
were  duly  appointed  electors  in  such  State, 
and  may  therein  take  into  view  such  peti- 
tions, depositions,  and  other  papers,  if  any, 
as  shall,  oy  the  Constitution  and  now  exist- 
ing law,  be  competent  and  pertinent  in  such 
consideration;  which  decision  shall  be 
made  in  writing,  stating  briefly  the  ground 
thereof,  and  signed  by  the  members  of  said 
commission  agreeing  therein  ;  whereupon 
the  two  Houses  shall  again  meet,  and 
such  decision  shall  be  read  and  entered  in 
the  journal  of  each  house,  and  the  count- 
ing of  the  vote  shall  proceed  in  conformity 
therewith,  unless,  upon  objection  made 
thereto  in  writing  by  at  least  five  Senators 
and  five  members  oi  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, the  two  Houses  shall  separately 
concur  in  ordering  otherwise,  in  which  case 
»uch  concurrent  order  shall  govern.  No 
votes  or  papers  from  any  other  State  shall 
be  acted  upon  until  the  objections  previ- 
ously maae  to  the  votes  or  papers  from 
any  State  shall  have  been  finally  disposed 


Sec.  3.  That,  while  the  two  Houses  shall 
be  in  meeting,  as  provided  in  this  act,  no 
debate  shall  be  allowed  and  no  question 
shall  be  put  by  the  presiding  officer,  except 
to  either  House  on  a  motion  to  withdraw  , 
and  he  shall  have  power  to  preserve  order. 

Sec.  4.  That  when  the  two  Houses  sepa- 
rate to  decide  upon  an  objection  that  may 
have  been  made  to  the  counting  of  any 
electoral  vote  or  votes  from  any  State,  or 
upon  objection  to  a  report  of  said  commis- 
sion, or  other  question  arising  under  this 
act,  each  Senator  and  Representative  may 
speak  to  such  objection  or  question  ten  min- 
utes, and  not  oftener  than  once ;  but  after 
such  debate  shall  have  lasted  two  hours,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  each  House  to  put  the 
main  question  without  further  debate. 

Sec.  5.  That  at  such  joint  meeting  of  the 
two  Houses,  seats  shall  be  provided  as  fol- 
lows :  For  the  President  of  the  Senate,  the 
Speaker's  chair ;  for  the  Speaker,  immedi- 
ately upon  his  left;  the  Senators  in  the 
body  of  the  hall  upon  the  right  of  the  pre- 
siding ofiicer ;  for  the  Representatives,  in 
the  body  of  the  hall  not  provided  for  the 
Senators ;  for  the  tellers,  Secretary  of  the 
Senate,  and  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, at  the  Clerk's  desk  ;  for  the  other 
officers  of  the  two  Houses,  in  front  of  the 
Clerk's  desk  and  upon  each  side  of  the 
Speaker's  platform.  Such  joint  meeting 
shall  not  be  dissolved  until  the  count  of 
electoral  votes  shall  be  completed  and  the 
result  declared ;  and  no  recess  shall  be 
taken  unless  a  question  shall  have  arisen  in 
regard  to  counting  any  such  votes,  or  other- 
wise under  this  act,  in  which  case  it  shall 
be  competent  for  either  House,  acting  sepa- 
rately, in  the  manner  hereinbefore  provid- 
ed, to  direct  a  recess  of  such  House  not  be- 
yond the  next  day,  Sunday  excepted,  at  the 
hour  of  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  And 
while  any  question  is  being  considered  by 
said  commission,  either  House  may  pro- 
ceed with  its  legislative  or  other  business. 

Sec.  6.  That  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be 
held  to  impair  or  affect  any  right  now  ex- 
isting under  the  Constitution  and  laws  to 
question,  by  proceeding  in  the  judicial 
courts  of  the  United  States,  the  right  or 
title  of  the  person  who  shall  be  declared 
elected,  or  who  shall  claim  to  be  President 
or  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  if . 
any  such  light  exists. 

Sec.  7.  That  said  commission  shall  make 
its  own  rules,  keep  a  record  of  its  proceed- 
ings, and  shall  have  power  to  employ  such 
persons  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  trans- 
action of  its  business  and  the  execution  of 
its  powers. 

Approved,  January  29,  1877. 


Members  of  tbe  CommUslon. 

Hon.  Nathan  Clifford,  Associate  Ju(h 
tice  Supreme  Court,  First  Circuit. 


XOOK  I.] 


THE    TITLE    OF    PRESIDENT    HAYES. 


233 


Hon.  William  Smoy^Q,  Associate  Justice 
Supreme  Court,  Third  Circuit. 

Hon.  Samuel  F.  Miller,  Associate 
Justice  Supreme  Court,  Eighth  Circuit. 

Hon.  Stephen  J.  Field,  Associate  Jus- 
tice Supreme  Court,  Ninth  Circuit. 

Hon.  Joseph  P.  Bradley,  Associate 
Justice  Supreme  Court,  Fifth  Circuit. 

Hon.  George  F.  Edmunds,  United 
States  Senator. 

Hon.  Oliver  P.  Morton,  Uniied  States 
Senator. 

Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen, 
United  States  Senator, 

Hon.  Allen  G.  Thurman,  United 
States  Senator. 

Hon.  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  United  States 
Senator. 

Hon.  Henry  B.  Payne,  United  States 
Representative. 

Hon.  Eppa  Hunton,  United  States  Rep- 
resentative. 

Hon.  JosiAH  G.  Abbott,  United  States 
Representative. 

Hon.  James  A.  Garfield,  United  States 
Representative. 

Hon.  George  F.  Hoar,  United  States 
Representative. 

The  Electoral  Commission  met  Febru- 
ary 1st,  and  by  uniform  votes  of  8  to  7,  de- 
cided all  objections  to  the  Electoral  votes 
of  Florida,  Louisiana,  South  Carolina,  and 
Oregon,  in  favor  of  the  Republicans,  and 
while  the  two  Houses  disagreed  on  nearly 
all  of  these  points  by  strict  party  votes,  the 
electoral  votes  were,  under  the  provisions 
of  the  law,  given  to  Hayes  and  Wheeler, 
and  the  final  result  declared  to  be  185 
electors  for  Hayes  and  Wheeler,  to  184  for 
Tilden  and  Hendricks.  Questions  of  eligi- 
bility had  been  raised"  against  individual 
electors  from  Michigan,  Nevada,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Rhode  Island,  Vermont  and  Wis- 
consin, but  the  Commission  did  not  sustain 
any  of  them,  and  as  a  rule  they  were  un- 
supported by  evidence.  Thus  closed  the 
gravest  crisis  which  ever  attended  an  elec- 
toral count  in  this  country,  so  far  as  the 
Nation  was  concerned ;  and  while  for  some 
weeks  the  better  desire  to  peacefully  settle 
all  differences  prevailed,  in  a  few  weeks 
partisan  bitterness  was  manifested  on  the 
part  of  a  great  majority  of  Northern  Demo- 
.crats,  who  believed  their  party  had  been 
deprived  by  a  partisan  spirit  of  its  right- 
ful President. 


nrhe  Title  or  President  Hayea. 

The  uniform  vote  of  8  to  7  on  all  im- 
portant propositions  considered  by  the 
Electoral  Commission,  to  their  minds 
showed  a  partisan  spirit,  the  existence  of 
which  it  was  difficult  to  deny.  The  action 
of  the  Republican  "  visiting  statesmen  "  in 
Louisiana,  in  practically  overthrowing  the 


Packard  or  Republican  government  there, 
caused  distrust  and  dissatisfaction  in  the 
minds  of  the  more  radical  Republicans, 
who  contended  with  every  show  of  reason 
that  if  Hayes  carried  Louisiana,  Packard 
must  also  have  done  so.  The  only  sensible 
excuse  for  seating  Hayes  on  the  one  side 
and  throwing  out  Governor  Packard  on 
the  other,  was  a  patriotic  desire  for  peace 
in  the  settlement  of  both  Presidential  and 
Southern  State  issues.  This  desire  was 
plainly  manifested  by  President  Hayes  on 
the  day  of  his  inauguration  and  for  two 
years  thereafter.  He  took  early  occasion 
to  visit  Atlanta,  Ga.,and  while  at  that  point' 
and  en  route  there  made  the  most  concilia- 
tory speeches,  in  which  he  called  those 
who  had  engaged  in  the  Rebellion,  "  broth- 
ers," "  gallant  soldiers,"  etc.  These  speech- 
es excited  much  attention.  They  had  lit- 
tle if  any  effect  upon  the  South,  while  the 
more  radical  Republicans  accused  the 
President  of  "  slopping  over."  They  did 
not  allay  the  hostility  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  did  not  restore  the  feeling  in 
the  South  to  a  condition  better  than  that 
which  it  had  shown  during  the  exciting 
days  of  the  Electoral  count.  The  South 
then,  under  the  lead  of  men  like  Stephens, 
Hill  and  Gordon,  in  the  main  showed  every 
desire  for  a  peaceful  settlement.  As  a  rule 
only  the  Border  States  and  Northern  Demo- 
crats manifested  extreme  distrust  and  bit- 
terness, and  these  were  plainly  told  by 
some  of  the  leaders  from  the  Gulf  States, 
that  so  far  as  they  were  concerned,  they 
had  had  enough  of  civil  war. 

As  late  as  April  22,  1877,  the  Maryland 
Legislature  passed  the  following : 

Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
Maryland,  That  the  Attorney  General  of 
the  State  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  instructed, 
in  case  Congress  shall  provide  for  expe- 
diting the  action,  to  exhibit  a  bill  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  on 
behalf  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  with 
proper  parties  thereto,  setting  forth  the 
fact  that  due  effect  has  not  been  given  to 
the  electoral  vote  cast  by  this  State  on  the 
6th  day  of  December,  1876,  by  reason  of 
fraudulent  returns  made  from  other  States 
and  allowed  to  be  counted  provisionally  by 
the  Electoral  Commission,  and  subject  to 
judicial  revision,  and  praying  said  court  to 
make  the  revision  contemplated  by  the  act 
establishing  said  commission ;  and  upon 
such  revision  to  declare  the  returns  from 
the  States  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  which 
were  counted  for  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  and 
William  A.  Wheeler,  fraudulent  and  void, 
and  that  the  legal  electoral  votes  of  said 
States  were  cast  for  Samuel  J.  Tilden  as 
President,  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  as 
Vice  President,  and  that  by  virtue  there- 
of and  of  184  votes  cast  by  other  States, 
of  which  8  were  cast  by  the  State  of  Mary- 
land, the  said  Tilden  and  Hendricks  w(»r© 


234 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


duly  elected,  and  praying  said  Court  to 
decree  accordingly. 

P  It  was  this  resolution  which  induced  the 
Clarkson  N.  Potter  resolution  of  investi- 
gation, a  resolution  the  passage  of  which 
was  resisted  by  the  Republicans  through 
filibustering  for  many  days,  but  was  finally 
passed  by  146  Democratic  votes  to  2  Demo- 
cratic votes  (Mills  and  Morse)  against,  the 
Republicans  not  voting. 


Tbe  Cipher  Despatches. 

An  amendment  offered  to  the  Potter 
resolution  but  not  accepted,  and  defeated 
by  the  Democratic  majority,  cited  some 
fair  specimens  of  the  cipher  dispatches 
exposed  by  the  New  York  Tribune.  These 
are  matters  of  historical  interest,  and  con- 
vey information  as  to  the  methods  which 
politicians  will  resort  to  in  desperate  emer- 
gencies. We  therefore  quote  the  more  per- 
tinent portions. 

Resolved,  That  the  select  committee  to 
•whom  this  House  has  committed  the  in- 
vestigation of  certain  matters  affecting,  as 
is  alleged,  the  legal  title  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  the  high  oflBce 
which  he  now  holds,  be  and  is  hereby  in- 
structed in  the  course  of  its  investigations 
to  fullv  inquire  into  all  the  facts  connected 
with  tfie  election  in  the  State  of  Florida  in 
November,  1876,  and  especially  into  the 
circumstances  attending  the  transmission 
and  receiving  of  certain  telegraphic  dis- 
patches sent  in  said  year  between  Tallahas- 
see in  said  State  and  New  York  City,  viz. : 

"Tallahassee,  November  9, 1876. 
"  A.  S.  Hewitt,  New  York  : 
"  Comply  if  possible  with  my  telegram. 
"Geo.  P.  Rarey." 

Also  the  following : 

"  Tallahassee,  December  1, 1876. 
•*W.  T.  Pelton,  New  York  : 

"Answer  Mac's  dispatch  immediately, 
or  we  will  be  embarrasssed  at  a  critical 
time.  Wilkinson  Call." 

Also  the  following : 

"  Tallahassee,  December  4, 1876. 
"W.  T.  Peltox: 

"Things  culminating  here.  Answer 
Mac's  despatch  to-day.  W.  Call." 

And  also  the  facts  connected  with  all 
telegraphic  dispatches  between  one  John 
F.  Coyle  and  said  Pelton,  under  the  lat- 
ters  real  or  fictitious  name,  and  with  any 
and  all  demands  for  money  on  or  about 
December  1,  1876,  from  said  Tallahassee, 
on  said  Pelton,  or  said  Hewitt,  or  with  any 
attempt  to  corrupt  or  bribe  any  official  of 
the  said  State  or  Florida  by  any  person 


acting  for  said  Pelton,  or  in  the  interest  of 
Samuel  J.  Tilden  as  a  presidential  candi- 
date. 

Also  to  investigate  the  charges  of  in- 
timidation at  Lake  City,  in  Columbia 
county,  where  Joel  Niblack  and  other 
white  men  put  ropes  around  the  necks  of 
colored  m^  and  proposed  to  hang  them, 
but  released  them  on  their  promise  to  join 
a  Democratic  club  and  vote  for  Samuel  J. 
Tilden. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Jackson 
county,  where  the  ballot-boxes  were  kept 
out  of  the  sight  of  voters,  who  voted  through 
openings  or  holes  six  feet  above  the  ground, 
and  where  many  more  Republican  votes 
were  thus  given  into  the  hands  of  the  De- 
mocratic inspectors  than  were  counted  or 
returned  by  them. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Waldo 
precinct,  in  Alachua  county,  where  the 
passengers  on  an  emigrant-train,  passing 
through  on  the  day  of  election,  were  al- 
lowed to  vote. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Manatee 
county,  returning  235  majority  for  the 
Tilden  electors,  where  there  were  no  county 
officers,  no  registration,  no  notice  of  the 
election,  and  where  the  Republican  party, 
therefore,  did  not  vote. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  the  third 
precinct  of  Key  West,  giving  342  Demo- 
cratic majority  where  the  Democratic  in- 
spector carried  the  ballot-box  home,  and 
pretended  to  count  the  ballots  on  the  next 
day,  outside  of  the  precinct  and  contrary 
to  law. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Hamil- 
ton, where  the  election-officers  exercised 
no  control  over  the  ballot-box,  but  left  it 
in  unauthorized  hands,  that  it  might  be 
tampered  with. 

Also  the  reasons  why  the  Attorney». 
General  of  the  State,  Wm.  Archer  Cocke, 
as  a  member  of  the  Canvassing  Board,  offi- 
cially advised  the  board,  and  himself  voted, 
to  exclude  the  Hamilton  county  and  Key 
West  precinct  returns,  thereby  giving,  in 
any  event,  over  500  majority  to  the  Re- 
publican electoral  ticket,  and  afterwards 
protested  against  the  result  which  he  had 
voted  for,  and  whether  or  not  said  Cocke 
was  afterward  rewarded  for  such  protest 
by  being  made  a  State  Judge. 

OREGON. 

And  that  said  committee  is  further  in- 
structed and  directed  to  investigate  into 
all  the  facts  connected  with  an  alleged  at- 
tempt to  secure  one  electoral  vote  in  the 
State  of  Oregon  for  Samuel  J.  Tilden  for 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  Thom- 
as A.  Hendricks  for  Vice-President,  by  un- 
lawfully setting  up  the  election  of  E.  A. 
Cronin  as  one  of  such  presidential  electors 
elected  from  the  State  of  Oregon  on  the 
7th  of  November,  the  candidates  for  the 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CIPHER    DESPATCHES. 


235 


presidential  electors  on  the  two  tickets  be- 
ing as  follows : 

On  the  Republican  ticket:  W.  C.  Odell, 
J.  C.  Cartwright,  and  John  W.  Watts. 

On  the  Democratic  ticket ;  E.  A.  Cronin, 
W.  A.  Laswell,  and  Henry  Klippel. 

The  votes  received  by  each  candidate,  as 
shown  by  the  official  vote  as  canvassed, 
declared,  and  certified  to  by  the  Secretary 
of  State  under  the  seal  of  the  State, — the 
Secretary  being  under  the  laws  of  Oregon 
sole  canvassing-officer,  as  will  be  shown 
hereafter, — being  as  follows : 

W.  K.  Odell  received 15,206  votes 

John  C.  Cartwright  received.... 15,214    " 

John  W.  Watts  received 15,206     " 

E.  A.  Cronin  received 14,157     " 

W.  A.  Laswell  receiyed 14,149    " 

Henry  Klippel  received 14,136     " 

And  by  the  unlawful  attempt  to  bribe  one 
of  said  legally  elected  electors  to  recognize 
said  Cronin  as  an  elector  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  in  order  that  one  of  the 
electoral  votes  of  said  State  might  be  cast 
for  said  Samuel  J.  Tilden  as  President  and 
for  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent ;  and  especially  to  examine  and  inquire 
into  all  the  facts  relating  to  the  sending  of 
money  from  New  York  to  some  place  in 
said  Oregon  for  the  purposes  of  such 
bribery,  the  parties  sending  and  receiving 
the  same,  and  their  relations  to  and 
agency  for  said  Tilden,  and  more  particu- 
larly to  investigate  into  all  the  circum- 
stances attending  the  transmission  of  the 
following  telegraphic  despatches : 

"Portland,  Oregon,  Nov.  14, 1876. 
"  Gov.  L.  F.  Grover  : 
"  Come  down  to-morrow  if  possible. 
"  W.  H.  Effinger, 

"  A.  NOLTNER, 

"  C.  p.  Bellinger." 
"  Portland,  November  16, 1876. 
**  To  Gov.  Grover,  Sal€7n  .- 

"  We  want  to  see  you  particularly  on 
account  of  despatches  from  the  East. 
"  William  Strong,     S.  H.  Reed, 
"C.  P.  Bellinger,      W.  W.  Thayer, 
"  C.  E.  Bronaugh." 

Also  the  following  cipher  despatch  sent 
from  Portland,  Oregon,  on  the  28th  day  of 
November,  1876,  to  New  York  City : 

"  Portland,  November  28, 1876. 
"To  W.  T.  Pelton,  No.  15  Gramercy  Park, 

New  York: 

"  By  vizier  association  innocuous  negli- 
gence cunning  minutely  previously  read- 
mit doltish  to  purchase  afar  act  with 
cunning  afar  sacristy  unweighed  afar 
pointer  tigress  cattle  superannuated  sylla- 
bus dilatoriness  misapprehension  contra- 
band Kountz  bisulcuous  top  usher  spinifer- 
•us  answer.  J.  H.  N.  Patrick. 


"  I  fully  endorse  this. 

"  James  K.  Kelly." 

Of  which,  when  the  key  was  discovered, 
the  following  was  found  to  be  the  true  in* 
tent  and  meaning: 

"  Portland,  November  28, 1876. 
"  To  W.T.  Pelton,  iVb.  15  Gramercy  Park 

New  York: 

"  Certificate  will  be  issued  to  one  Demo 
crat.  Must  purchase  a  Republican  electoj 
to  recognize  and  act  with  Democrats  and 
secure  the  vote  and  prevent  trouble.  De^ 
posit  $10,000  to  my  credit  with  Kountz 
Brothers,  Wall  Street.    Answer. 

J.  H.  N.  Patrick. 

"  I  fully  endoree  this. 

"  James  K.  Kelly." 

Also  the  following : 

"  New  York,  November  25, 1876. 
"A.  Bush,  Salem : 

"Use  all  means  to  prevent  certificate. 
Very  important.  C.  E.  Tilton." 

Also  the  following : 

"  December  1,  1876. 
"  To  Hon.  Sam.  J.  Tilden,  No.  15  Gra- 
mercy Park,  New  York : 
"  I  shall  decide  every  point  in  the  case 
of  post-office  elector  in  favor  of  the  highest 
Democratic  elector,  and  grant  certificate 
accordingly  on  morning  of  6th  instant. 
Confidential.  Governor." 

Also  the  following : 

"  San  Francisco,  December  5. 
"  Ladd  &  Bush,  Salem : 

"  Funds  from  New  York  will  be  de- 
posited to  your  credit  here  to-morrow  when 
bank  opens.  I  know  it.  Act  accordingly. 
Answer.  W.  C.  Griswold." 

Also  the  following,  six  days  before  the 
foregoing : 

"  New  York,  November  29, 1876. 
"  To  J.  H.  N.  Patrick,  Portland,  Oregon : 
"  Moral  hasty  sideral  vizier  gabble  cramp 
by  hemistic  welcome  licentiate  muskeete 
compassion  neglectful  recoverable  hathouse 
live  innovator  brackish  association  dim« 
afar  idolator  session  hemistic  mitre." 

[No  signature.] 

Of  which  the  interpretation  is  as  follows: 
"  New  York,  November  29,  1876. 
"  To  J.  H.  N.  Patrick,  Portland,  Oregon  .- 
"  No.  How  soon  will  Governor  decide 
certificate?  If  you  make  obligation  con- 
tingent on  the  result  in  March,  it  can  be 
done,  and  slightly  if  necessary." 

[No  signature.] 

Also  the  following,  one  day  later : 


236 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


"  Portland,  November  30, 1876, 
"  To  W.  T.  Pelton,  No.  15  Gramercy  Park, 

New  York  : 

"Governor  all  right  without  reward. 
Will  issue  certificate  Tuesday.  This  is  a 
secret.  Republicans  threaten  if  certificate 
issued  to  ignore  Democratic  claims  and  fill 
vacancy,  and  thus  defeat  action  of  Gover- 
nor. One  elector  must  be  paid  to  recog- 
nize Democrat  to  secure  majority.  Have 
employed  three  lawyers,  editor  of  only  Re- 
publican paper  as  one  lawyer,  fee  $3,000. 
twill  take  $5,000  for  Republican  elector ; 
must  raise  money ;  can't  make  fee  contin- 
gent. Sail  Saturday.  Kelly  and  Bellin- 
ger will  act.  Communicate  with  them. 
Must  act  promptly."        [No  signature]. 

Also  the  following : 
"  San  Francisco,  December  5, 1876. 
•'  To  KouNTZE  Bros.,  No.  12  Wall  St.,  New 
York  : 

"  Has  my  account  credit  by  any  funds 
lately  ?    How  much  ? 

"  J.  H.  N.  Patrick." 

Also  the  following : 

"  New  York,  December  6. 
"J.  H.  N.  Patrick,  San  Francisco : 

"  Davis  deposited  eight  thousand  dollars 
December  first.  Kountze  Bros." 

Also  the  following : 

"  San  Francisco,  December  6. 
"  To  James  K.  Kelly  : 

"The  eight  deposited  as  directed  this 
morning.  Let  no  technicality  prevent 
winning.    Use  your  discretion." 

[No  signature.] 

And  the  following: 

"New  York,  December  6. 
"Hon.  Jas.  K.  Kelly: 

"Is  your  matter  certain?    There  must 

be  no  mistake.  All  depends  on  you.  Place 

no  reliance  on  any  favorable  report  from 

three  southward.  Sonetter.  Answer  quick." 

[No  signature.] 

Also  the  following: 

"December  6,  1876. 
"To  Col.  W.  T.-  Pelton,  15    Gramercy 
Park,  N.  Y.  : 

"Glory  to  God  I  Hold  on  to  the  one 
vote  in  Oregon!  I  have  one  hundred 
thousand  men  to  back  it  up  I 

"Corse." 

And  said  committee  is  further  directed 
to  inquire  into  and  bring  to  light,  so  far  as  it 
may  be  possible,  the  entire  correspondence 
and  conspiracy  referred  to  in  the  above 
telegraphic  despatches,  and  to  ascertain 
what  were  the  relations  existing  between 
any  of  the  parties  sending  or  receiving  said 


despatches  and  W.  T.  Pelton,  of  New  York, 
and  also  what  relations  existed  between 
said  W.  T.  Pelton  and  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of 
New  York. 

April  15, 1878,  Mr.  Kimmel  introduced 
a  bill,  which  was  never  finally  acted  upon, 
to  provide  a  mode  for  trying  and  deter- 
mining by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  the  title  of  the  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States  to  take  their 
respective  offices  when  their  election  to 
such  offices  is  denied  by  one  or  more  of  the 
States  of  the  Union. 

The  question  of  the  title  of  President 
was  finally  settled  June  14,  1878,  by  the 
following  report  of  the  House  Judiciary 
Commitee : 


Report  of  tlie  Judiciary  CouMulttee. 

June  14 — Mr.  Hartridge,  from  the 
Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  made  the  fol- 
lowing report : 

The  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  to 
whom  were  referred  the  bill  (H.  R.  No. 
4315)  and  the  resolutions  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  Maryland  directing 
judicial  proceedings  to  give  effect  to  the 
electoral  vote  of  that  State  in  the  last  elec- 
tion of  President  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States,  report  back  said  bill 
and  resolutions  with  a  recommendation 
that  the  bill  do  not  pass. 

Your  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that 
Congress  has  no  power,  under  the  Consti- 
tution, to  confer  upon  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  the  ^original  juris- 
diction sought  for  it  by  this  bill.  The 
only  clause  of  the  Constitution  which 
could  be  plausibly  invoked  to  enable  Con- 
gress to  provide  the  legal  machinery  for 
the  litigation  proposed,  is  that  which  gives 
the  Supreme  Court  original  jurisdiction 
in  "cases"  or  "controversies"  betvveen  a 
State  and  the  citizens  of  another  State. 
The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  this 
expression  "  cases  "  and  "  controversies  " 
was  not  intended  by  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  to  embrace  an  original  pro- 
ceeding by  a  State  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  to  oust  any  incum- 
bent from  a  political  office  filled  by  the  de- 
claration and  decision  of  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress  clothed  with  the  constitutional 
power  to  count  the  electoral  votes  and  de- 
cide as  a  final  tribunal  upon  the  election 
for  President  and  Vice-President.  The 
Forty-fourth  Congress  selected  a  commis- 
sion to  count  the  votes  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  reserving  to  itself  the  riguc 
to  ratify  or  reject  such  count,  in  the  way 
prescribed  in  the  act  creating  such  com- 
mission. By  the  joint  action  of  the  two 
Houses  it  ratified  the  count  made  by  the 
commission,  and  thus  made  it  the  expres- 
sion of  its  own  judgment. 

All   the   Departments  of  the  Federal 


B©OK  I.] 


THE    HAYES    ADMINISTRATION. 


237 


Government,  all  the  State  governments  in 
their  relations  to  Federal  authority,  for- 
eign nations,  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  all  the  material  interests  and  indus- 
tries of  the  country,  have  acquiesced  in, 
and  acted  in  accordance  with,  the  pro- 
nounced finding  of  that  Congress,  In  the 
opinion  of  this  committee,  the  present 
Congress  has  no  power  to  undo  the  work 
of  its  predecessor  in  counting  the  electoral 
I  vote,  or  to  confer  upon  any  judicial  tri- 
bunal the  right  to  pass  upon  and  perhaps 
set  a^ide  the  action  of  that  predecessor  in 
reference  to  a  purely  political  question,  the 
decision  of  which  is  confided  by  the  Con- 
stitution in  Congress. 

But  apart  from  these  fundamental  ob- 
jections to  the  bill  under  consideration, 
there  are  features  and  provisions  in  it 
which  are  entirely  impracticable.  Your 
committee  can  find  no  warrant  of  authority 
to  summon  the  chief-justices  of  the 
supreme  courts  of  the  several  States  to  sit 
at  Washington  as  a  jury  to  try  any  case, 
however  grave  and  weighty  may  be  its 
nature.  The  right  to  summon  must  carry 
with  it  the  power  to  enforce  obedience  to 
the  mandate,  and  the  Committee  can  see 
no  means  by  which  the  judicial  oflicers  of 
a  State  can  be  compelled  to  assume  the 
functions  of  jurors  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States. 

■  There  are  other  objections  to  the  prac- 
tical working  of  the  bill  under  considera- 
tion, to  which  we  do  not  think  it  necessary 
to  refer. 

It  may  be  true  that  the  State  of  Mary- 
land has  been,  in  the  late  election  for 
President  and  Vice-President^  deprived  of 
her  just  and  full  weight  in  deciding  who 
were  legally  chosen,  by  reason  of  frauds 
perpetrated  by  returning  boards  in  some 
of  the  States.  It  may  also  be  true  that 
these  fraudulent  acts  were  countenanced 
or  encouraged  or  participated  in  by  Bome 
who  now  enjoy  high  offices  as  the  fruit  of 
such  frauds.  It  is  due  to  the  present  gen- 
eration of  the  people  of  this  country  and 
their  posterity,  and  to  the  principles  on 
which  our  Government  is  founded,  that 
all  evidence  tending  to  establish  the  fact 
of  such  fraudulent  practices  should  be 
cilmly,  carefully,  and  rigorously  examined. 

But  your  committee  are  of  the  opinion 
that  the  consequence  of  such  examination, 
if  it  discloses  guilt  upon  the  part  of  any  in 
high  official  position,  should  not  be  an  ef- 
f)rt  to  set  aside  the  judgment  of  a  former 
Congress  as  to  the  election  of  a  President 
and  Vice-President,  but  should  be  confined 
to  the  punishment,  by  legal  and  constitu- 
tional means,  of  the  offenders,  and  to  the 
preservation  and  perpetuation  of  the  evi- 
dences of  their  guilt,  so  that  the  American 
people  may  be  protected  from  a  recurrence 
of  the  crime. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  recommend 


the  adoption  of  the  accompanying  resolu- 
tion : 

Resolved,  That  the  two  Houses  of  the 
Forty-fourth  Congress  having  counted  the 
votes  cast  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  having  de- 
clared Rutherford  B.  Hayes  to  be  elected 
President,  and  William  A.  Wheeler  to  be 
elected  Vice-President,  there  is  no  power 
in  any  subsequent  Congress  to  reverse  that 
declaration,  nor  can  any  such  power  be 
exercised  by  the  courts  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  other  tribunal  that  Congress 
can  create  under  the  Constitution. 

We  agree  to  the  foregoing  report  so  far 
as  it  states  the  reasons  for  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  committee,  but  dissent  from 
the  concluding  portion,  as  not  having  re- 
ference to  such  reasons,  as  not  pertinent 
to  the  inquiry  before  us,  and  as  giving  an 
implied  sanction  to  the  propriety  of  the 
pending  investigation  ordered  by  a  ma- 
jority vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
to  which  we  were  and, are  opposed. 

Wm.  p.  Fbye. 

O.  D.  Conger. 

E.  G.  Lapham. 

Leave  was  given  to  Mr.  Knott  to  pre- 
sent his  individual  views,  also  to  Mr.  But- 
ler (the  full  committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Knott,  Lynde,  Harris,  of  Virginia, 
Hartridge,  Stenger,  McMahon,  Culberson, 
Frye,  Butler,  Conger,  Lapham.) 

The  question  being  on  the  resolution  re- 
ported by  the  committee,  it  was  agreed  to 
— ^yeas  235,  nays  14,  not  voting  42. 


The  Hayes  Administration. 

It  can  be  truthfully  said  that  from  the 
very  beginning  the  administration  of  Pre- 
sident Hayes  had  not  the  cordial  support 
of  the  Republican  party,  nor  was  it  solidly 
opposed  by  the  Democrats,  as  was  the  last 
administration  of  General  Grant.  His 
early  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  the 
Southern  States, — and  it  was  this  with- 
drawal and  the  suggestion  of  it  from  the 
"  visiting  statesmen  "  which  overthrew  the 
Packard  government  in  Louisiana, — em- 
bittered the  hostility  of  many  radical  Re- 
publicans. Senator  Conkling  was  conspi- 
cuous in  his  opposition,  as  was  Logan  of 
Illinois;  and  when  he  reached  Washing- 
ton, the  younger  Senator  Cameron,  of 
Pennsylvania.  It  was  during  this  admi- 
nistration, and  because  of  its  conservative 
tendencies,  that  these  three  leaders  formed 
the  purpose  to  bring  Grant  again  to  the 
Presidency.  Yet  the  Hayes'  administra- 
tion was  not  always  conservative,  and 
many  Republicans  believed  that  its  mode- 
ration had  afforded  a  much  needed  breath- 
ing spell  to  the  country.  Toward  its  close 
all  became  better  satisfied,  the  radical  poi* 


238 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


tion  by  the  President's  later  efforts  to  pre- 
vent the  intimidation  of  negro  voters  in 
the  South,  a  form  of  intimidation  which 
was  now  accomplished  by  means  of  rifle 
clubs,  still  another  advance  from  the  White 
League  and  the  Ku  Klux.  He  made  this 
a  leading  feature  in  his  annual  message  to 
the  Congress  which  began  December  2d, 
1878,  and  by  a  virtual  abandonment  of  his 
earlier  policy  he  succeeded  in  reuniting 
what  were  then  fast  separating  wings  of 
his  own  party.  The  conference  report  on 
the  Legislative  Appropriation  Bill  was 
adopted  by  both  Houses  June  18th,  and 
approved  the  21st.  The  Judicial  Expenses 
Bill  was  vetoed  by  the  President  June  23d, 
on  the  ground  that  it  would  deprive  him  of 
the  means  of  executing  the  election  laws. 
An  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Democrats 
to  pass  the  Bill  over  the  veto  failed  for 
want  of  a  two-thirds  vote,  the  Republicans 
voting  solidly  against  it.  June  26th  the 
veltoed  bill  was  divided,  the  second  division 
still  forbidding  the  pay  of  deputy  marshals 
at  elections.  This  was  again  vetoed,  and 
the  President  sent  a  special  message  urging 
the  necessity  of  an  appropriation  to  pay 
United  States  marshals.  Bills  were  accord- 
ingly introduced,  but  were  defeated.  This 
failure  to  appropriate  moneys  called  for 
continued  until  the  end  of  the  session. 
The  President  was  compelled,  therefore,  to 
call  an  extra  session,  which  he  did  March 
19th,  1879,  in  words  which  briefly  explain 
the  cause : — 

THE  EXTRA  SESSI02T  OF  1879. 

"The  failure  of  the  last  Congress  to 
make  the  requisite  appropriation  for  legis- 
lative and  judicial  purposes,  for  the  ex- 
penses of  the  several  executive  departments 
of  the  Government,  and  for  the  support  of 
the  Army,  has  mj  de  it  necessary  to  call 
a  special  session  of  the  Forty-sixth  Con- 
gress. 

"The  estimates  of  the  appropriations 
needed,  which  were  sent  to  Congress  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  at  the  opening 
of  the  last  session,  are  renewed,  and  are 
herewith  transmitted  to  both  the  Senate 
and  the  House  of  Representatives. 
'  "  Regretting  the  existence  of  the  emer- 
gency which  requires  a  special  session  of 
Congress  at  a  time  when  it  is  the  general 
judgment  of  the  country  that  the  public 
welfare  will  be  best  promoted  by  perma- 
nency in  our  legislation,  and  by  peace  and 
rest,  I  commend  these  few  necessary  mea- 
sures to  your  considerate  attention." 

By  this  time  both  Houses  were  Demo- 
cratic. In  the  Senate  there  were  42  De- 
mocrats, 33  Republicans  and  1  Independent 
(David  Davis).  In  the  Hou-e  149  Demo- 
crats, 130  Republicans,  and  14  Nationals — 
a  name  then  assumed  by  the  Greenbackers 
and  Labor-Reformers.  The  House  passed 
the  Warner  Silver  Bill,  providing  tor  the 


unlimited  coinage  of  silver,  the  Senate  Fi- 
nance Committee  refused  to  report  it,  the 
Chairman,  Senator  Bayard,  having  refused 
to  report  it,  and  even  after  a  request  to  do 
so  from  the  Democratic  caucus, — a  course 
of  action  which  heralded  him  every  where 
as  a  "  hard-money  "  Democrat. 

The  main  business  of  the  extra  session 
was  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  the 
Appropriation  Bills  which  the  regular  ses* 
sion  had  failed  to  pass.  On  all  of  these 
the  Democrats  added  "riders"  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  Federal  supervision 
of  the  elections,  and  all  of  these  political 
riders  were  vetoed  by  President  Hayes. 
The  discussions  of  the  several  measure? 
and  the  vetoes  were  highly  exciting,  an? 
this  excitement  cemented  afresh  the  Re 
publicans,  and  caused  all  of  them  to  act  in 
accord  with  the  administration.  The  De- 
mocrats were  equally  solid,  while  the  Na- 
tionals divided — Forsythe,  Gillette,  Kelley, 
Weaver,  and  Yocum  generally  voting  with 
the  Republicans;  De  La  Matyr,  Steven- 
son, Ladd  and  Wright  with  the  Demo- 
crats. 

President  Hayes,  in  his  veto  of  the  Army 
Appropriation  Bill,  said : 

"  I  have  maturely  considered  the  im- 
portant questions  presented  by  the  bill  en- 
titled 'An  Act  making  appropriations  for 
the  support  of  the  Army  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1880,  and  for  other  pur- 

Soses,'  and  I  now  return  it  to  the  House  of 
Lepresentatives,   in  which  it  originated, 
with  my  objections  to  its  approval. 

"  The  bill  provides,  in  the  usual  form,  for 
the  appropriations  required  for  the  support 
of  the  Army  during  the  next  fiscal  year. 
If  it  contained  no  other  provisions,  it  would 
receive  my  prompt  approval.  It  includes, 
however,  further  legislation,  which,  at- 
tached as  it  is  to  appropriations  which  are 
requisite  for  the  efficient  performance  of 
some  of  the  most  necessary  duties  of  the 
Government,  involves  questions  of  the 
gravest  character.  The  sixth  section  of  the 
bill  is  amendatory  of  the  statute  now  in 
force  in  regard  to  the  authority  of  persons 
in  the  civil,  military  and  naval  service  of 
the  United  States  *  at  the  place  where  any 

§eneral  or  special  election  is  held  in  any 
tate.*  This  statute  was  adopted  February 
25,  1865,  after  a  protracted  debate  in  the 
Senate,  and  almost  without  opposition  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  by  the  con- 
current votes  of  both  of  the  leading  political 
Earties  of  the  country,  and  became  a  law 
y  the  approval  of  President  Lincoln.  It 
was  re-enacted  in  1874  in  the  Revised  Sta- 
tutes of  the  United  States,  sections  2002 

and  5528. 
******* 

"  Upon  the  assembling  of  this  Congress, 
in  pursuance  of  a  call  for  an  extra  session, 
which  was  made  necessary  by  the  failure 
of  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  to  make  the 


BOOK  I.] 


THE   HAYES   ADMINISTRATION. 


239 


needful  appropriations  for  the  support  of 
the  Government,  the  question  was  presented 
whether  the  attempt  made  in  the  last  Con- 
gress to  engraft,  by  construction,  a  new 
principle  upon  the  Constitution  should  be 
persisted  in  or  not.  This  Congress  has 
ample  opportunity  and  time  to  pass  the 
appropriation  bills,  and  also  to  enact  any 
political  measures  which  may  be  deter- 
mined upon  in  separate  bills  by  the  usual 
and  orderly  methods  of  proceeding.  But 
the  majority  of  both  Houses  have  deemed 
it  wise  to  adhere  to  the  principles  asserted 
and  maintained  in  the  last  Congress  by  the 
majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
That  principle  is  that  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives has  the  sole  right  to  originate 
bills  for  raising  revenue,  and  therefore  has 
the  right  to  withhold  appropriations  upon 
which  the  existence  of  the  Government  may 
depend,  unless  the  Senate  and  the  Presi- 
dent shall  give  their  assent  to  any  legisla- 
tion which  the  House  may  see  fit  to  attach 
to  appropriation  bills.  To  establish  this 
principle  is  to  make  a  radical,  dangerous, 
and  unconstitutional  change  in  the  charac- 
ter of  our  institutions.  The  various  De- 
partments of  the  Government,  and  the 
Army  and  Navy,  are  established  by  the 
Constitution,  or  by  laws  passed  in  pursuance 
thereof  Their  duties  are  clearly  defined, 
aad  their  support  is  carefully  provided  for 
by  law.  The  money  required  for  this  pur- 
pose has  been  collected  from  the  people, 
and  is  noAV  in  the  Treasury,  ready  to  be 
paid  out  as  soon  as  the  'appropriation  bills 
are  passed.  Whether  appropriations  are 
made  or  not,  the  collection  of  the  taxes 
will  go  on.  The  public  money  will  accu- 
mulate in  the  Treasury.  It  was  not  the  in- 
tention of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
that  any  single  branch  of  the  Government 
should  have  the  power  to  dictate  conditions 
upon  which  this  treasure  should  be  applied 
to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  collected. 
Any  such  intention,  if  it  had  been  enter- 
tained, would  have  been  plainly  expressed 
in  the  Constitution." 

The  vote  in  the  House  on  this  Bill,  not- 
withstanding the  veto,  was  148  for  to  122 
against — a  party  vote,  save  the  division  of 
the  Nationals,  previously  given.  Not  re- 
ceiving a  two-thirds  vote,  the  Bill  failed. 

The  other  appropriation  bills  with  po- 
litical riders  shared  the  same  fate,  as  did 
the  bill  to  prohibit  military  interference  at 
elections,  the  modification  of  the  law  touch- 
ing supervisors  and  marshals  at  congres- 
sional elections,  etc.  The  debates  on  these 
measures  were  bitterly  partisan  in  their 
character,  as  a  few  quotations  from  the 
Congressional  Record  will  show : 

The  Republican  view  was  succinctly  and 
very  eloquently  stated  by  General  Garfield, 
when,  in  his  speech  of  the  29th  of  March, 
18f79,  he  said  to  the  revolutionary  Demo- 
oratic  House : 


"  The  last  act  of  Democratic  domination 
in  this  Capitol,  eighteen  years  ago,  waa 
striking  and  dramatic,  perhaps  heroic. 
Then  tlie  Democratic  party  said  to  the  Re- 
publicans, '  If  you  elect  the  man  of  your 
choice  as  President  of  the  United  States 
we  will  shoot  your  Government  to  death ; ' 
and  the  people  of  this  country,  refusing  to 
be  coerced  by  threats  or  violence,  voted  as 
they  pleased,  and  lawfully  elected  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  President  of  the  United 
States. 

"Then  your  leaders,  though  holding  a 
majority  in  the  other  branch  of  Congress, 
were  heroic  enough  to  withdraw  from  their 
seats  and  fling  down  the  gage  of  mortal 
battle.  We  called  it  rebellion ;  but  we 
recognized  it  as  courageous  and  manly  to 
avow  your  purpose,  take  all  the  risks,  and 
fight  it  out  on  the  open  field.  Notwith- 
standing your  utmost  efforts  to  destroy  it, 
the  Government  was  saved.  Year  by  year 
since  the  war  ended,  those  who  resisted  you 
have  come  to  believe  that  you  have  finally 
renounced  your  purpose  to  destroy,  and  are 
willing  to  maintain  the  Government.  In 
that  belief  you  have  been  permitted  to  re- 
turn to  power  in  the  two  Houses. 

"  To-day,  after  eighteen  years  of  defeat, 
the  book  of  your  domination  is  again 
opened,  and  your  first  act  awakens  every 
unhappy  memory  and  threatens  to  destroy 
the  confidence  which  your  professions  of 
patriotism  inspired.  You  turned  down  a  leaf 
of  the  history  that  recorded  your  last  act  of 
power  in  1861,  and  you  have  now  signal- 
ized your  return  to  power  by  beginning  a 
second  chapter  at  the  same  page ;  not  this 
time  by  a  heroic  act  that  declares  war  on 
the  battle-field,  but  you  say  if  all  the  legis- 
lative powers  of  the  Government  do  not 
consent  to  let  you  tear  certain  laws  out  of 
the  statute-book,  you  will  not  shoot  our 
Government  to  death  as  you  tried  to  do  in 
the  first  chapter ;  but  you  declare  that  if 
we  do  not  consent  against  our  will,  if  you 
cannot  coerce  an  independent  branch  of 
this  Government  against  its  will,  to  allow 
you  to  tear  from  the  statute-books  some  laws 
put  there  by  the  will  of  the  people,  you 
will  starve  the  Government  to  death.  [Great 
applause  on  the  Republican  side.] 

"  Between  death  on  the  field  and  death 
by  starvation,  I  do  not  know  that  the 
American  people  will  see  any  great  differ- 
ence. The  end,  if  successfully  reached, 
would  be  death  in  either  case.  Gentlemen, 
you  have  it  in  your  power  to  kill  this  Gov- 
ernment ;  you  have  it  in  your  power,  by 
withholding  these  two  bills,  to  smite  the 
nerve-centres  of  our  Constitution  with  the 
paralysis  of  death ;  and  you  have  declared 
your  purpose  to  do  this,  if  you  cannot  break 
down  that  fundamental  element  of  free 
consent  which  up  to  this  hour  has  always 
ruled  in  the  legislation  of  this  Govern- 
ment." 


240 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I 


The  Democratic  view  was  ably  given  by 
Representative  Tucker  of  Virginia,  April 
3,  1879:  "I  tell  you,  gentlemen  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  the  Army  dies 
on  the  30fA  day  ^f  June,  unless  we  resuscitate 
it  by  legislation.  And  what  is  the  question 
here  on  this  bill  ?  Will  you  resuscitate  the 
Army  after  the  30th  of  June,  with  the 
power  to  use  it  as  keepers  of  the  polls  ? 
That  is  the  question.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  repeal.  It  is  a  question  of  re-enact- 
ment. If  you  do  not  appropriate  this 
money,  there  will  be  no  Army  after  the 
30th  of  June  to  be  used  at  the  polls.  The 
only  way  to  secure  an  Army  at  the  polls  is 
to  appropriate  the  money.  Will  you  ap- 
propriate the  money  for  the  Army  in  order 
that  they  may  he  used  at  the  polls  f  We  say 
no,  a  thousand  times  no.  *  *  *  The 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  say  there  must 
be  no  coercion.  Of  whom  ?  Of  the  Presi- 
dent ?  But  what  right  has  the  President 
to  coerce  us  ?  There  may  be  coercion  one 
way  or  the  other.  He  demands  an  uncon- 
ditional supply.  We  say  we  will  give  him 
no  supply  but  upon  conditions.  *  *  * 
When,  therefore,  vicious  laws  have  fas- 
tened themselves  upon  the  statute-book 
which  imperil  the  liberty  of  the  people, 
this  House  is  bound  to  say  it  will  appro- 
priate no  money  to  give  effect  to  such  laws 
until  and  except  upon  condition  that  they 
are  repealed.  [Applause  on  the  Demo- 
cratic side.]  *  *  We  will  give  him  the 
Army  on  a  single  condition  that  it  shall 
never  be  used  or  be  present  at  the  polls 
when  an  election  is  held  for  members  of 
this  House,  or  in  any  presidential  election, 
or  in  any  State  or  municipal  election.  *  *  * 
Clothed  thus  with  unquestioned  power, 
bound  by  clear  duty,  to  expunge  these  vi- 
cious laws  from  the  statute-book,  following 
a  constitutional  method  sanctioned  by 
venerable  precedents  in  English  history, 
we  feel  that  we  have  the  undoubted  right, 
and  are  beyond  cavil  in  the  right,  in  de- 
claring that  with  our  grant  of  supply  there 
must  be  a  cessation  of  these  grievances, 
and  we  make  these  appropriations  condi- 
tioned on  securing  a  tree  ballot  and  fair 
juries  for  our  citizens." 

The  Senate,  July  1,  passed  the  House 
bill  placing  quinine  on  tne  free  list. 

The  extra  session  finally  passed  the  Ap- 
propriation bills  without  riders,  and  ad- 
journed July  Ist,  1879,  with  the  Republi- 
can party  far  more  firmly  united  than  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Hayes  administra- 
tion. The  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Demo- 
crats to  pa.ss  these  political  riders,  and  their 
threat,  in  the  words  of  Garfield,  who  had 
then  succeeded  Stevens  and  Blaine  as  the 
Republican  Commoner  of  the  House,  re- 
awakened all  the  partisan  animosities 
which  the  administration  of  President 
Hayes  had  up  to  that  time  allayed.  Even 
the  President  caught  its  spirit,  and  plainly 


manifested  it  in  his  veto  messages.  It  was 
a  losing  battle  to  the  Democrats,  for  they 
had,  with  the  view  not  to  "  starve  the  gov- 
ernment," to  abandon  their  position,  and 
the  temporary  demoralization  which  fol- 
lowed bridged  over  the  questions  pertain- 
ing to  the  title  of  President  Hayes,  over- 
shadowed the  claims  of  Tilden,  and  caused 
the  North  to  again  look  with  grave  con- 
cern on  the  establishment  of  Democratic 
power.  If  it  had  not  been  for  this  extra 
session,  it  is  asserted  and  believed  by 
many,  the  Republicans  could  not  have  so 
soon  gained  control  of  the  lower  House, 
which  they  did  in  the  year  following ;  and 
that  the  plan  to  nominate  General  Han- 
cock for  the  Presidency,  which  originated 
with  Senator  Wallace  of  Pennsylvania, 
could  not  have  otherwise  succeeded  if  Til- 
den's  cause  had  not  been  kept  before  his 
party,  unclouded  by  an  extra  session  which 
was  freighted  with  disaster  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party. 

Tbe  TIegTO  Exodus. 

During  this  summer  political  comment, 
long  after  adjournment,  was  kept  active  by 
a  great  negro  exodus  from  the  South  to  the 
Northwest,  most  of  the  emigrants  going  to 
Kansas.  The  Republicans  ascribed  this  to 
ill  treatment,  the  Democrats  to  the  opera- 
tions of  railroad  agents.  The  people  of 
Kansas  welcomed  them,  but  other  States, 
save  Indiana,  were  slow  in  their  manifes- 
tations of  hospitality,  and  the  exodus  soon 
ceased  for  a  time.  It  was  renewed  in  South 
Carolina  in  the  winter  of  1881-82,  the  de- 
sign being  to  remove  to  Arkansas,  but  at 
this  writing  it  attracts  comparatively  little 
notice.  The  Southern  journals  generally 
advise  more  liberal  treatment  of  the  blacks 
in  matters  of  education,  labor  contracts, 
etc.,  while  none  of  the  Northern  or  West- 
em  States  any  longer  make  efforts  to  get 
the  benefit  of  their  labor,  if  indeed  they 
ever  did. 


Closlni;  Honm  of  tbe  Hayea   Admlnlatra*' 
Uon. 

At  the  regular  session  of  Congress,  which 
met  December  1st,  1879,  President  Hayes 
advised  Congress  against  any  further  legis-  ' 
lation  in  reference  to  coinage,  and  favored 
the  retirement  of  the  legal  tenders. 

The  most  important  political  action  ta- 
ken at  this  session  was  the  passage,  for 
Congress  was  still  Democratic,  of  a  law  to 
prevent  the  use  of  the  army  to  keep  the 
peace  at  the  polls.  To  this  was  added  the 
Garfield  proviso,  that  it  should  not  be  con- 
strued to  prevent  the  Constitutional  use  of 
the  army  to  suppress  domestic  violence  in 
a  State — a  proviso  which  in  the  view  of 
the  Republicans  rid  the  bill  of  material 
partisan  objections,  and  it  was  therefore 


iJOOKi.]     CLOSING  HOURS  OF  HAYES'  ADMINISTRATION.        241 


passed  and  approved.  The  "  political  ri- 
ders" were  again  added  to  the  Appropria- 
tion and  Deficiency  bills,  but  were  again 
vetoed  and  failed  in  this  form  to  become 
laws.  Upon  these  questions  President 
Hayes  showed  much  firmness.  During  the 
session  the  Democratic  opposition  to  the 
General  Election  Law  was  greatly  tem- 
pered, the  Supreme  Court  having  made  an 
important  decision,  which  upheld  its  con- 
stitutionality. Like  all  sessions  under  the 
administration  of  President  Hayes  and 
since,  nothing  wa.s  done  to  provide  perma- 
nent and  safe  methods  for  completing  the 
electoral   count.     On  this    question  each 

?arty  seemed  to  be  afraid  of  the  other, 
he  session  adjourned  June  16th,  1880. 

The  second  session  of  the  46th  Congress 
began  December  1st,  1880.  The  last  an- 
nual message  of  President  Hayes  recom- 
mended the  earliest  practicable  retirement 
of  the  legal-tender  notes,  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  present  laws  for  the  accumula- 
tion of  a  sinking  fund  sufficient  to  extin- 
guish the  public  debt  within  a  limited  peri- 
od. The  laws  against  polygamy,  he  said, 
should  be  firmly  and  effectively  executed. 
In  the  course  of  a  lengthy  discussion  of 
the  civil  service  the  President  declared 
that  in  his  opinion  "  every  citizen  has  an 
equal  right  to  the  honor  and  profit  of  en- 
tering the  public  service  of  his  country. 
The  only  just  ground  of  discrimination  is 
the  measure  of  character  and  capacity  he 
has  to  make  that  service  most  useful  to  the 
people.  Except  in  cases  where,  upon  just 
and  recognized  principles,  as  upon  the 
theory  of  pensions,  offices  and  promotions 
are  bestowed  as  rewards  for  past  services, 
their  bestowal  upon  any  theory  which  dis- 
regards personal  merit  is  an  act  of  injus- 
tice to  the  citizen,  as  well  as  a  breach  of 
that  trust  subject  to  which  the  appointing 
power  is  held.  Considerable  space  was 
given  in  the  Message  to  the  condition  of 
the  Indians,  the  President  recommending 
the  passage  of  a  law  enabling  the  govern- 
ment to  give  Indians  a  title-fee,  inaliena- 
ble for  twenty-five  years,  to  the  farm  lands 
assigned  to  them  by  allotment.  He  also 
repeats  the  recommendation  made  in  a 
former  message  that  a  law  be  passed  admit- 
ting the  Indians  who  can  give  satisfactory 
proof  of  having  by  their  own  labor  sup- 
ported their  families  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  who  are  willing  to  detach  themselves 
from  their  tribal  relations,  to  the  benefit  of 
the  Homestead  Act,  and  authorizing  the 
government  to  grant  them  patents  contain- 
ing the  same  provision  of  inalienability 
for  a  certain  period. 

The  Senate,  on  the  19th,  appointed  a 
committee  of  five  to  investigate  the  causes 
of  the  recent  negro  exodus  from  the  South. 
On  the  same  day  a  committee  was  appoint- 
ed by  the  House  to  examine  into  the  sub- 
ject of  an  inter-oceanic  ship-canal. 

16 


The  payment  of  the  award  of  the  Hali- 
fax Fislieries  Commission— $5,500,000 — to 
the  British  government  was  made  by  the 
American  minister  in  London,  November 
23,  1879,  accompanied  by  a  communica- 
tion protesting  against  the  payment  being 
understood  as  an  acquiescence  in  the  re- 
sult of  the  Commission  "  as  furnishing  any 
just  measure  of  the  value  of  a  participa- 
tion by  our  citizens  in  the  inshore  fisheries 
of  the  British  Provinces." 

Oh  the  17th  of  December  1879,  gold  was 
sold  in  New  York  at  par.  It  was  first  sold 
at  a  premium  January  13, 1862.  It  reached 
its  highest  rate,  $2.85,  July  11, 1864. 

The  electoral  vote  was  counted  without 
any  partisan  excitement  or  disagreenient. 
Georgia's  electoral  college  had  met  on  the 
second  instead  of  the  first  Wednesday  of 
December,  as  required  by  the  Federal  law. 
She  actually  voted  under  her  old  Confed- 
erate law,  but  as  it  could  not  change  the 
result,  both  parties  agreed  to  the  count  of 
the  vote"  of  Georgia  in  the  alternative," 
i.  e. — "if  the  votes  of  Georgia  were  counted 
the  number  of  votes  for  A  and  B.  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President  would  be  so 
many,  and  if  the  votes  of  Georgia  were  not 
counted,  the  number  of  votes  for  A  and  B. 
for  President  and  Vice-President  would  be 
so  many,  and  that  in  either  case  A  and  B 
are  elected." 

Among  the  bills  not  disposed  of  by  this 
session  were  the  electoral  count  joint  rule ; 
the  funding  bill ;  the  Irish  relief  bill ;  the 
Chinese  indemnity  bill;  to  restrict  Chinese 
immigration ;  to  amend  the  Constitution 
as  to  the  election  of  President ;  to  regulate 
the  pay  and  number  of  supervisors  of  elec- 
tion and  special  deputy-marshals ;  to  abro- 
gate the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty ;  to  pro- 
hibit military  interference  at  elections  ;  to 
define  the  terms  of  office  of  the  Chief  Su- 
pervisors of  elections ;  for  the  appointment 
of  a  tariff  commission ;  the  political  assess- 
ment bill ;  the  Kellogg-Spofford  case ;  and 
the  Fitz-John  Porter  bill. 

The  regular  appropriation  bills  were  all 
completed.  The  total  amount  appropria- 
ted was  about  $186,000  000.  Among  the 
special  sums  voted  were  $30,000  for  the  cen- 
tennial celebration  of  the  Yorktown  vic- 
tory, and  $100,000  for  a  monument  to  com- 
memorate the  same. 

Congress  adjourned  March  3d,  1881,  and 
President  Hayes  on  the  following  day  re- 
tired from  office.  The  effect  of  his  admin- 
istration was,  in  a  political  sense,  to 
strengthen  a  growing  independent  senti- 
ment in  the  ranks  of  the  Republicans — an 
element  more  conservative  generally  in  its 
views  than  those  represented  by  Conkling 
and  Blaine.  This  sentiment  began  with 
Bristow,  who  while  in  the  cabinet  made  a 
show  of  seeking  out  and  punishing  all  cor- 
ruptions in  government  office  or  service. 
On  this  platform  and  record  he  had  con- 


242 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


tested  with  Hayes  the  honors  of  the  Presi- 
dential nominations,  and  while  the  latter 
was  at  the  time  believed  to  well  represent 
the  same  views,  they  were  not  urgently 
pressed  during  his  administration.  Indeed, 
without  the  knowledge  of  Hayes,  what  is 
believed  to  be  a  most  gigantic  "steal," 
and  which  is  now  being  prosecuted  under 
the  name  of  the  Star  Route  cases,  had  its 
birth,  and  thrived  so  well  that  no  import- 
ant discovery  was  made  until  the  incoming 
of  the  Garfield  administration.  The  Hayes 
administration,  it  is  now  fashionable  to 
say,  made  little  impress  for  good  or  evil 
upon  the  country,  but  impartial  historians 
will  give  it  the  credit  of  softening  party  as- 
perities and  aiding  very  materially  in  the 
restoration  of  better  feeling  between  the 
North  and  South.  Its  conservatism,  al- 
ways manifested  save  on  extraordinary  oc- 
casions, did  that  much  good  at  least. 


Tbe  Campaign  of  1880. 

The  Republican  National  Convention 
met  June  6th,  1880,  at  Chicago,  in  the  Ex- 
position building,  capable  of  seating  20,000 
people.  The  excitement  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Republicans  was  very  high,  because  of 
the  candidacy  of  General  Grant  for  what 
was  popularly  called  a  "third  term," 
thougn  not  a  third  consecutive  term.  His 
three  powerful  Senatorial  friends,  in  the 
face  of  bitter  protests,  had  secured  the  in- 
structions of  their  respective  State  Conven- 
tions for  Grant.  Conkling  had  done  this 
in  New  York,  Cameron  in  Pennsylvania, 
Logan  in  Illinois,  but  in  each  of  the  three 
States  the  opposition  was  so  impressive  that 
no  serious  attempts  were  made  to  substi- 
tute other  delegates  for  those  which  had 
previously  been  selected  by  their  Congres- 
sional districts.  As  a  result  there  was  a 
large  minority  in  the  delegations  of  these 
States  opposed  to  the  nomination  of  Gene- 
ral Grant,  and  the  votes  of  them  could  only 
be  controlled  by  the  enforcement  of  the 
unit  rule.  Senator  Hoar  of  Massachusetts, 
the  President  of  the  Convention,  decided 
against  its  enforcement,  and  as  a  result  all 
of  the  delegates  were  free  to  vote  upon  ei- 
ther State  or  District  instructions,  or  as  they 
chose.  The  Convention  was  in  session  three 
days.    We  present  herewith  the 

BALLOTS. 

BalloU.         12        3        4       5        6 

Grant,  304  305  305  305  305  305 
Blaine,  284  282  282  281  281  281 
Sherman,      93      94      93      95      95      95 


Edmunds, 

34 

32 

32 

32 

32 

31 

Waahbum< 

;,30 

32 

31 

81 

31 

31 

Windom, 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

Garfield, 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

jSarrison, 

1 

Ballots.        7        8  9  10  11  12 

Grant,         305  306  308  305  305  304 

Blaine,        281  284  282  282  281  283 

Sherman,      94      91  90  91  62  93 

Edmunds,     32      31  31  30  31  31 

Washburne,  31      32  32  22  32  33 

Windom,      10      10  10  10  10  10 

Garfield,         1112  2  1 

Hayes,  1  2 

Ballots,        13  14  15      16      17      18 

Grant,         305  305  309    306    303    305 

Blaine,        285  285  281     283     284    283 

Sherman,      89  89  88      88       90      92 

Edmunds,    31  31  31      31      31      31 

Washburne,  33  35  36      36      34      35 

Windom,      10  10  10      10      10      10 
Garfield,         1 

Hayes,            1  1 

Davis,  1 
McCrary,        1 

Ballots,        19      20      21      22  23  24^ 

Grant,"       305    308    305    305  304  305 

Blaine,        279    276     276    275  274  279 

Sherman,      95      93      96      95  98  93 

Edmunds,     31      31      31      31  31  31 

Washburne,  31      35      35      35  36  36 

Windom,      10      10      10      10  10  10 

Garfield,         11112  2 
Hartranft,      1111 

Ballots,        25  26  27 

Grant,         302  303  306 

Blaine,        281  280  277 

Sherman,      94  93  93 

Edmunds,     31  31  31 

Washburne,  36  35  36 

Windom,      10  10  10 

Garfield,         2  2  2 

There  was  little  change  from  the  27th 
ballot  until  the  36th  and  final  one,  which 
resulted  as  follows : 

Whole  number  of  votes 755 

Necessary  to  a  choice 378 

Grant 306 

Blaine 42 

Sherman 3 

Washburne 5 

Garfield 399 

As  shown.  General  James  A.  Garfield, 
of  Ohio,  was  nominated  on  the  36th  ballot, 
the  forces  of  General  Grant  alone  remain- 
ing solid.  The  result  was  due  to  a  sudden 
union  of  the  forces  of  Blaine  and  Sherman, 
it  is  believed  with  the  full  consent  of  both, 
for  both  employed  the  same  wire  leading 
from  the  same  room  in  Washington  in 
telegraphing  to  their  friends  at  Chicago. 
The  omect  was  to  defeat  Grant.  After 
Garfiela's  nomination  there  was  a  tempo- 
rary adjournment,  during  which  the 
friends  of  the  nominee  consulted  Conkling 
and  his  leading  friends,  and  the  result  was 
the  selection  of  General  Chester  A.  Arthur 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CAMPAIGN    OF    1880. 


243 


of  New  York,  for  Vice-President.  The 
object  of  this  selection  was  to  carry  New 
York,  the  great  State  which  was  tlien  al- 
most universally  believed  to  hold  the  key 
to  the  Presidential  position. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention 
met  at  Cincinnati,  June  22d.  Tilden  had 
up  to  the  holding  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  Convention  been  one  of  the  most 
prominent  candidates.  In  this  Convention 
there  was  a  bitter  struggle  between  the 
Wallace  and  Randall  factions,  the  former 
favoring  Hancock,  the  latter  Tilden.  Wal- 
lace, after  a  contest  far  sharper  than  he 
expected,  won,  and  bound  the  delegation 
by  the  unit  rule.  When  the  National 
Convention  met,  John  Kelly,  the  Tam- 
many leader  of  New  York,  was  again 
there,  as  at  St.  Louis  four  years  before,  to 
oppose  Tilden,  but  the  latter  sent  a  letter 
disclaiming  that  he  was  a  candidate,  and 
yet  really  inviting  a  nomination  on  the  is- 
sue of  "the  fraudulent  counting  in  of 
Hayes."  There  were  but  two  ballots,  as 
follows : 

FIRST  BALLOT. 


Randall 6 

Loveland 5 

McDonald 3 

McClellan 3 

English 1 

Jewett 1 

Black 1 

Lothrop 1 

Parker 1 


Hancock 171 

Bayard 153  J 

Payne 81 

Thurman 63  J 

Field 66 

Morrison 62 

Hendricks 46  i 

Tilden 38 

Ewing 10 

Seymour 8 

SECOND  BALLOT. 

Hancock 705 

Tilden 1 

Bayard 2 

Hendricks 30 

Thus  General  Winfield  S.  Hancock,  of 
New  York,  was  nominated  on  the  second 
ballot.  Wm.  H.  English,  of  Indiana,  was 
nominated  for  Vice-President. 

The  National  Greenback-Labor  Conven- 
tion, held  at  Chicago,  June  11,  nominated 
General  J.  B.  Weaver,  of  Iowa,  for  Presi- 
dent, and  General  E.  J.  Chambers,  of 
Texas,  for  Vice-President. 

In  the  canvass  which  followed,  -je  Re- 
publicans were  aided  by  such  orators  as 
Conkling,  Blaine,  Grant,  Logan,  Curtis, 
Boutwell,  while  the  Camerons,  father  and 
son,  visited  the  October  States  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  as  it  was  believed  that  these 
would  determine  the  result,  Maine  having 
in  September  very  unexpectedly  defeated 
the  Republican  State  ticket  by  a  small  ma- 
jority. The  Democrats  were  aided  bv 
Bayard,  Voorhees,  Randall,  Wallace,  Hill, 
Hampton,  Lamar,  and  hosts  of  their  best 
orators.  Every  issue  was  recalled,  but  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Repub- 
licans of  the  West,  they  accepted  the  tariff 


issue,  and  made  open  war  on  Watterson's 
plank  in  the  Democratic  platform — "  a 
tariff  for  revenue  only."  Iowa,  Ohio,  and 
Indiana,  all  elected  the  Republican  State 
tickets  with  good  margins ;  West  Virginia 
went  Democratic,  but  the  result  was,  not- 
withstanding this,  reasonably  assured  to 
the  Republicans.  The  Democrats,  how- 
ever, feeling  the  strong  personal  popularity 
of  their  leading  candidate,  persisted  with 
high  courage  to  the  end.  In  November 
all  of  the  Southern  States,  with  New  Jer- 
sey, California,*  and  Nevada  in  the  North, 
went  Democratic;  all  of  the  others  Re- 
publican. The  Greenbackers  held  only  a 
balance  of  power,  which  they  could  not 
exercise,  in  California,  Indiana,  and  New 
Jersey.  The  electoral  vote  of  Garfield  and 
Arthur  was  214,  that  of  Hancock  and  Eng- 
lish 155.  The  popular  vote  was  Republi- 
can, 4,442,950;  Democratic,  4,442,035; 
Greenback  or  National,  306,867  ;  scatter- 
ing, 12,576.  The  Congressional  elections 
in  the  same  canvass  gave  the  Republicans 
147  members ;  the  Democrats,  136 ;  Green- 
backers,  9 ;  Independents,  1. 

Fifteen  States  elected  Governors,  nine 
of  them  Republicans  and  six  Democrats. 

General  Garfield,  November  10,  sent  to 
Governor  Foster,  of  Ohio,  his  resignation 
as  a  Senator,  and  John  Sherman,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  was  in  the  win- 
ter following  elected  as  his  successor. 

The  third  session  of  the  Forty-sixth 
Congress  was  begun  December  6.  The 
President's  Message  was  read  in  both 
Houses.  Among  its  recommendations  to 
Congress  were  the  following :  To  create 
the  office  of  Captain-General  of  the  Army 
for  General  Grant ;  to  defend  the  inviola- 
bility of  the  constitutional  amendments ; 
to  promote  free  popular  education  by 
grants  of  public  lands  and  appropriations 
from  the  United  States  Treasury ;  to  ap- 
propriate $25,000  annually  for  the  expen- 
ses of  a  Commission  to  be  appointed  by 
the  President  to  devise  a  just,  uniform, 
and  efficient  system  of  competitive  exami- 
nations, and  to  supervise  the  application 
of  the  same  throughout  the  entire  civil 
service  of  the  government ;  to  pass  a  law 
defining  the  relations  of  Congressmen  to 
appointments  to  office,  so  as  to  end  Con- 
gressional encroachment  upon  the  appoint- 
ing power ;  to  repeal  the  Tenure-of- office 
Act,  and  pass  a  law  protecting  office- 
holders in  resistance  to  political  assess- 
ments ;  to  abolish  the  present  system  of 
executive  and  judicial  government  in 
Utah,  and  substitute  for  it  a  government 
by  a  commission  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  or, 
in  case  the  present  government  is  con- 
tinued, to  withhold  from  all  who  practice 


*  One  Democratic  elector  was  defeated,  being  cut  toy 
of  er  600  Toten  on  a  local  iasue. 


244 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


polygamy  the  right  to  vote,  hold  office,  and 
sit  on  juries  ;  to  repeal  the  act  authorizing 
the  coinage  of  the  silver  dollar  of  41 2i 
grains,  and  to  authorize  the  coinage  of  a 
new  silver  dollar  equal  in  value  as  bullion 
with  the  gold  dollar;  to  take  favorable  ac- 
tion on  the  bill  providing  for  the  allotment 
of  lands  on  the  different  reservations. 

Two  treaties  between  this  country  and 
China  were  signed  at  Pekin,  November  17, 
1881,  one  of  commerce,  and  the  other  se- 
curing to  the  United  States  the  control  and 
regulation  of  the  Chinese  immigration. 

President  Hayes,  Februarj''  1,  1881,  sent 
a  message  to  Congress  sustaining  in  the 
main  the  findings  of  the  Ponca  Indian 
Commission,  and  approving  its  recom- 
mendation that  they  remain  on  their  reser- 
vation in  Indian  Territory.  The  Presi- 
dent suggested  that  the  general  Indian 
policy  for  the  future  should  embrace  the 
following  ideas :  First,  the  Indians  should 
be  prepared  for  citizenship  by  giving  to 
their  young  of  both  sexes  that  industrial 
and  general  education  which  is  requisite 
to  enable  them  to  be  self-supporting  and 
capable  of  self-protection  in  civilized  com- 
munities ;  second,  lands  should  be  allot- 
ted to  the  Indians  in  severalty,  inalienable 
for  a  certain  period;  third,  the  Indians 
should  have  a  fair  compensation  for  their 
lands  not  required  for  individual  allot- 
ments, the  amount  to  be  invested,  with 
suitable  safeguards,  for  their  benefit ; 
fourth,  with  these  prerequisites  secured, 
the  Indians  should  be  made  citizens,  and 
invested  with  the  rights  and  charged  with 
the  responsibilities  of  citizenship. 

The  Senate,  February  4,  passed  Mr. 
Morgan's  concurrent  resolution  declaring 
that  the  President  of  the  Senate  is  not  in- 
vested by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  with  the  right  to  count  the  votes  of 
electors  for  President  and  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  so  as  to  determine 
what  votes  shall  be  received  and  counted, 
or  what  votes  shall  be  rejected.  An 
amendment  was  added  declaring  in  effect 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to  pass  a 
law  at  once  providing  for  the  orderly 
counting  of  the  electoral  vote.  The  House 
concurred  February  5,  but  no  action  by 
bill  or  otherwise  has  since  been  taken. 

Senator  Pendleton,  of  Ohio,  December 
15,  1881,  introduced  a  bill  to  regulate  the 
civil  service  and  to  promote  the  efficiency 
thereof,  and  also  a  bill  to  prohibit  Federal 
officers,  claimants,  and  contractors  from 
making  or  receiving  assessments  or  contri- 
butions for  political  purposes. 

The  Burnside  Educational  Bill  passed 
the  Senate  December  17,  1881.  It  pro- 
vides that  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  pub- 
lic land  and  tne  earnings  of  the  Patent 
Office  shall  be  funded  at  four  per  cent,, 
and  the  interest  divided  among  tne  States 
in   proportion   to   their   illiteracy.      An 


amendment  by  Senator  Morgan  provides 
for  the  instruction  of  women  in  the  State 
agricultural  colleges  in  such  branches  of 
technical  and  industrial  education  as  are 
suited  to  their  sex.  No  action  has  yet 
been  taken  bv  the  House. 

On  the  9th  of  February  the  electoral 
votes  were  counted  by  the  Vice-President 
in  the  presence  of  both  Houses,  and  Gar- 
field and  Arthur  were  declared  elected 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States.  There  was  no  trouble  as  to  the 
count,  and  the  result  previously  stated  was 
formally  announced. 


Tbe  Three  Per  Cent.  Funding  Bill. 

The  3  per  cent.  Funding  Bill  passed  the 
House  March  2,  and  was  on  the  following 
day  vetoed  by  President  Hayes  on  the 
ground  that  it  dealt  unjustly  with  the  Na- 
tional Banks  in  compelling  them  to  accept 
and  employ  this  security  for  their  circu- 
lation in  lieu  of  the  old  bonds.  This  fea- 
ture of  the  bill  caused  several  of  the  Banks 
to  surrender  their  circulation,  conduct 
which  for  a  time  excited  strong  political 
prejudices.  The  Republicans  in  Congress 
as  a  rule  contended  that  the  debt  could 
not  be  surely  funded  at  3  per  cent. ;  that 
3^  was  a  safer  figure,  and  to  go  below  this 
might  render  the  bill  of  no  effect.  The 
same  views  were  entertained  by  President 
Hayes  and  Secretary  Sherman.  The  Dem- 
ocrats insisted  on  3  per  cent.,  until  the 
veto,  when  the  general  desire  to  fund  at 
more  favorable  rates  broke  party  lines,  and 
a  3^  per  cent,  funding  bill  was  passed,  with 
the  feature  objectionable  to  the  National 
Banks  omitted. 

The  Republicans  were  mistaken  in  their 
view,  as  the  result  proved.  The  loan  was 
floated  so  easily,  that  in  the  session  of  1882 
Secretary  Sherman,  now  a  Senator,  him- 
self introduced  a  3  per  cent,  bill,  which 
passed  the  Senate  Feb.  2d,  1882,  in  this 
shape : — 

Be  it  enacted,  &c.  That  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  is  hereby  authorized  to 
receive  at  the  Treasury  and  at  the  office  of 
any  Assistant  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States  and  at  any  postal  money  order  of- 
fice, lawful  money  of  the  United  States  to  * 
the  amount  of  fifty  dollars  or  any  multiple 
of  that  sum  or  any  bonds  of  the  United 
States,  bearing  three  and  a-half  per  cent, 
interest,  which  are  hereby  declared  valid, 
and  to  issue  in  exchange  therefore  an 
equal  amount  of  registered  or  coupon 
bonds  of  the  United  States,  of  the  denom- 
ination of  fifty,  one  hundred,  five  hundred, 
one  thousand  and  ten  thou^^and  dollars,  of 
such  form  as  he  may  prescribe,  bearing  in- 
terest at  the  rate  three  per  centum  per 
annum,  payable  either  quarterlv  or  semi- 
annually, at  the  Treasury  of  the  United 


BOOK  I.] 


HISTORY    OF    THE    NATIONAL    LOANS. 


245 


States.  Such  bonds  shall  be  exempt  from 
all  taxation  by  or  under  state  authority, 
and  be  payable  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
United  States.  "  Provided,  That  the  bonds 
herein  authorized  shall  not  be  called  in  and 
paid  so  long  as  any  bonds  of  the  United 
iStates  heretofore  issued  bearing  a  higher 
rate  of  interest  than  three  per  centum,  and 
wiiich  shall  be  redeemable  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  outstanding 
and  uncalled.  The  last  of  the  said  bonds 
originally  issued  and  their  substitutes 
under  this  act  shall  be  first  called  in  and 
this  order  of  payment  shall  be  followed 
until  all  shall  have  been  paid." 

The  money  deposited  under  this  act 
shall  be  promptly  applied  solely  to  the  re- 
demption of  >he  bonds  of  the  United  States 
bearing  three  and  a-half  per  centum  in- 
terest, and  the  aggregate  amount  of  de- 
posits made  and  bonds  issued  under  this 
act  shall  not  exceed  the  sum  of  two  hun- 
dred million  dollars.  The  amount  of  law- 
ful money  so  received  on  deposit,  as  afore- 
said, shall  not  exceed,  at  any  time,  the 
sum  of  twenty-five  million  dollars.  Be- 
fore any  deposits  are  received  at  any  pos- 
tal money  offi:;e  under  this  act,  the  post- 
master at  such  office  shall  file  with  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  his  band,  with 
satisfactory  security,  conditioned  that  he 
will  promptly  transmit  to  the  Treasury  of 
th3  United  States  the  money  received  by 
him  in  conformity  with  regulations  to  be 
prascribed  by  such  secretary ;  and  the  de- 
posit with  any  postmaster  shall  not  at  any 
time,  exceed  the  amount  of  his  bond. 

Section  2.  Any  national  banking  asso- 
ciation now  organized  or  hereafter  or- 
ganized desiring  to  withdraw  its  circulat- 
ing notes  upon  a  deposit  of  lawful  money 
with  the  Treasury  or  the  United  States  as 
provided  in  section  4  of  the  Act  of  June 
20,  1874,  entitled  "  An  act  fixing  the 
amount  of  United  States  notes  providing 
for  a  redistribution  of  National  bank  cur- 
rency and  for  other  purposes,"  shall  be  re- 
quired to  give  thirty  days'  notice  to  the 
Controller  of  the  Currency  of  its  intention 
to  deposit  lawful  money  and  withdraw  its 
circulating  notes.;  provided  that  not  more 
than  five  million  of  dollars  of  lawful 
mmey  shall  be  deposited  during  any  cal- 
ender month  for  this  purpose ;  and  pro- 
vided further,  that  the  provisions  of  this 
section  shall  not  apply  to  bonds  called  for 
redemption  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury. 

SEcnoy  3.  That  nothing- in  this  act 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  authorize  an  in- 
crease of  the  public  debt. 

In  the  past  few  years  opinions  on  the 
rates  of  interest  have  undergone  wonderful 
changes.  Many  supposed — indeed  it  was 
a  "standard"  argument — that  rates  must 
ever  be  higher  in  new  than  old  countries, 
that  these  higher  rates  comported  with  and 


aided  the  higher  rates  jpaid  for  commodi- 
ties and  labor.  The  funding  operations 
since  the  war  have  dissipated  this  belief, 
and  so  shaken  political  theories  that  no 
party  can  now  claim  a  monopoly  of  sound 
financial  doctrine.  So  high  is  the  credit 
of  the  government,  and  so  abundant  are 
the  resources  of  our  people  after  a  com- 
paratively short  period  of  general  prosper- 
ity, that  they  seem  to  have  plenty  of  sur- 
plus funds  with  which  to  aid  any  fiinding 
operation,  however  low  the  rate  of  interest, 
if  the  government — State  or  National — 
shows  a  willingness  to  pay.  As  late  as 
February,  1882,  Pennsylvania  funded  seven 
millions  of  her  indebtedness  at  3,  3J  and  4 
per  cent.,  the  two  larger  sums  commanding 
premiums  sufficient  to  cause  the  entire 
debt  to  be  floated  at  a  little  more  than  3 
per  cent.,  and  thus  floating  commands  an 
additional  premium  in  the  money  ex- 
changes. 


History  of  the  National  Iioans. 

In  Book  VII  of  this  volume  devoted  to 
Tabulated  History,  we  try  to  give  the  read- 
er at  a  glance  some  idea  of  the  history  of 
our  National  finances.  An  attempt  to  go 
into  details  would  of  itself  fill  volumes,  for 
no  class  of  legislation  has  taken  so  much 
time  or  caused  such  a  diversity  of  opinion 
Yet  it  is  shown,  by  an  admirable  review  of 
the  loans  of  the  United  States,  by  Eafael 
A.  Bayley,  of  the  Treasury  Department 
published  in  the  February  (1882)  number 
of  the  International  Review,  that  the  "finan- 
cial  system  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States  has  continued  the  same  from 
its  organization  to  the  present  time."  Mr. 
Bayley  has  completed  a  history  of  our  Na- 
tional Loans,  which  will  be  published  in 
the  Census  volume  on  "Public  Debts." 
From  his  article  in  the  Review  we  con- 
dense the  leading  facts  bearing  on  the  his- 
tory of  our  national  loans. 

The  financial  system  ofthe  United  States, 
in  all  its  main  features,  is  simple  and  well 
defined,  and  its  very  simplicity  may  proba- 
bly be  assigned  as  the  reason  why  it  ap- 
pears so  difficult  of  comprehe  ision  by 
many  people  of  intelligence  and  education. 
It  is  based  upon  the  principles  laid  down 
by  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  the  practical 
adoption  of  the  fundamental  maxim  which 
he  regarded  as  the  true  secret  for  render- 
ing public  credit  immortal,  viz.,  "  that  the 
creation  of  the  debt  should  always  be  ac- 
companied with  the  means  of  extinguish- 
ment." A  faithful  adherence  to  this  sys- 
tem by  his  successors  has  stood  the  test  of 
nearly  a  century,  with  the  nation  at  peace 
or  at  war,  in  prosperity  or  adversity :  bo 
that,  with  all  the  change  that  progress  has 
entailed  upon  the  people  of  the  age,  no 
valid  grounds  exist  for  any  change  here. 

"  During  the  colonial  p«riod,  and  under 


246 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[bookJ 


the  confederation,  the  financial  operations 
of  the  Government  were  based  on  the  law 
of  necessity,  and  depended  for  success 
upon  the  patriotism  of  the  people,  the  co- 
operation of  the  several  States,  and  the 
assistance  of  foreign  powers  friendly  to  our 
cause. 

"  It  was  the  willingness  of  the  pecnle  to 
receive  the  various  kinds  of  paper  ijoney 
issued  under  authority  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  used  in  payment  for  services 
and  supplies,  together  with  the  issue  of 
similar  obligations  by  the  different  States, 
l©r  the  redemption  of  which  they  assumed 
the  responsibility  ;  aided  by  the  munificent 
gift  of  money  from  Louis  XVI.  of  France, 
followed  by  loans  for  a  large  amount  from 
both  France  and  Holland,  that  made  vic- 
tory possible,  and  laid  the  foundations  for 
the  republic  of  to-day,  with  its  credit  un- 
impaired, and  with  securities  command- 
ing a  ready  sale  at  a  high  premium  in  all 
the  principal  markets  of  the  world. 

"  Authorities  vary  as  to  the  amount  of 
paper  money  issued  and  the  cost  of  the  war 
ror  independence.  On  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber, 1779,  Congress  resolved  that  it  would 
'  on  no  account  whatever  emit  more  bills 
of  credit  than  to  make  the  whole  amount 
of  such  bills  two  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lais."  Mr.  Jefferson  estimates  the  value 
of  this  sum  at  the  time  of  its  emission  at 
$36,367,719.83  in  specie,  and  says  ;  '  If  we 
estimate  at  the  same  value  the  like  sum  of 
$200,000,000  •  supposed  to  have  been 
emitted  by  the  States,  and  reckon  the 
Federal  debt,  foreign  and  domestic,  at 
about  $43,000,000,  and  the  State  debt  at 
$25,000,000,  it  will  form  an  amount  of 
$140,000,000,  the  total  sura  which  the  war 
cost  the  United  States.  It  continued  eight 
years,  from  the  battle  of  Lexington  to  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  in  America.  The 
annual  expense  was,  therefore,  equal  to 
about  $17,500,000  in  specie.' 

"  The  first  substantial  aid  rendered  the 
colonies  by  any  foreign  power  was  a  free 
gift  of  money  and  military  supplies  from 
Louis  XVI.  of  France,  amounting  in  the 
aggregate  to  10,000,000  livres,  equivalent 
to  $1,815,000. 

"These  supplies  were  not  furnished 
openly,  for  the  reason  that  France  was  not 
in  a  position  to  commence  a  war  with 
Great  Britain.  The  celebrated  Caron  de 
Beaumarchais  was  employed  as  a  secret 
agent,  between  whom  and  Silas  Deane,  as 
the  political  and  commercial  agent  of  the 
United  States,  a  contract  was  entered  into 
whereby  the  former  agreed  to  furnish  a 
large  amount  of  military  supplies  from  *be 
arsenals  of  France,  and  to  receive  Ameri- 
can produce  in  payment  therefor. 

"  Under  this  arrangement  supplies  were 
furnished  bv  the  French  Government  to 
the  amount  of  2,000,000  livres.  An  addi- 
tional 1,000,000  was  contributed  by  t4ie 


Grovernment  of  Spain  for  the  same  pur- 

Eose,  and  through  the  same  agency.  The 
alance  of  the  French  subsidy  was  paid 
through  Benjamin  Franklin.  In  1777  a 
loan  of  1,000,000  livres  was  obtained  from 
the  'Farmers  General  of  France'  under 
a  contract  for  its  repayment  in  American 
tobacco  at  a  stipulated  price.  From  1778 
to  1783,  additional  loans  were  obtained 
from  the  French  King,  amounting  to  34,- 
000,000  livres.  From  1782  to  1789,  loans 
to  the  amount  of  9,000,000  guilders  were 
negotiated  in  Holland,  through  the  agency 
of  John  Adams,  then  the  American  Minis- 
ter to  the  Hague. 

"  The  indebtedness  of  the  United  States 
at  the  organization  of  the  present  form  of 
government  (including  interest  to  Decem- 
ber 31,  1790)  may  be  briefly  stated,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Foreign  debt $11,883,315.96 

Domestic  debt 40,256,802.45 

Debt  due  foreign  officers...         198,208.10 
Arrears  outstanding  (since 
discharged) 450,395.52 

Total $52,788,722.03 

To  this  should  be  added  the  individual 
debts  of  the  several  States,  the  precise 
amount  and  character  of  which  was  then 
unknown,  but  estimated  by  Hamilton  at 
that  time  to  aggregate  about  $25,000,000, 

"  The  payment  of  this  vast  indebtedness 
was  virtually  guarantied  by  the  provisions 
of  Article  VI.  of  the  Constitution,  which 
says :  *  All  debts  contracted,  and  engage- 
ments entered  into,  before  the  adoption  of 
this  Constitution  shall  be  as  valid  against 
the  United  States  under  this  Constitution 
as  under  the  confederation.'  On  the  2l6t 
of  September,  1789,  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  consider  an 
adequate  provision  for  the  support  of  the 
public  credit  as  a  matter  of  high  import 
ance  to  the  national  honor  and  prosperity. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  be  directed  to  prepare  a  plan  for 
that  purpose,  and  to  report  the  same  to 
this  House  at  its  next  meeting. 

"  In  reply  thereto  Hamilton  submitted 
his  report  on  the  9th  of  January,  1790,  in 
which  he  gave  many  reasons  for  assuming 
the  debts  of  the  old  Government,  and  of 
the  several  States,  and  furnished  a  plan 
for  supporting  the  public  credit.  His  rec- 
ommendatioiis  were  adopted,  and  embodied 
in  the  act  making  provision  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  debt  of  the  United  States, 
approved  August  4, 1790. 

''  This  act  authorized  a  loan  of  $12,000,- 
000,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  the 
foreign  debt,  principal  and  interest;  a  loan 
equal  to  the  full  amount  of  the  domestic 
debt,  payable  in  certificates  issued  for  its 


BOOK  I.] 


HISTORY    OF    THE    NATIONAL   LOANS. 


241 


amount  according  to  their  specie  value,' 
and  computing  tlie  interest  to  December 
31, 1791,  upon  such  as  bore  interest;  and  a 
further  loan  of  $21,500,000,  payable  in  the 
principal  and  interest  of  the  certificates  or 
notes  which,  prior  to  January  1,  1790, 
were  issued  by  the  respective  States  as  evi- 
dences of  indebtedness  incurred  by  them 
for  the  expenses  of  the  late  war.  *  In  the 
case  of  the  debt  of  the  United  States,  in- 
terest upon  two-thirds  of  the  principal 
only,  at  6  per  cent.,  was  immediately  paid  ; 
interest  upon  the  remaining  third  was  de- 
ferred for  ten  years,  and  only  three  per 
cent,  was  allowed  upon  the  arrears  of  in- 
terest, making  one-third  of  the  whole  debt. 
In  the  case  of  the  separate  debts  of  the 
States,  interest  upon  four-ninths  only  of 
the  entire  sum  was  immediately  paid ;  in- 
terest upon  two-ninths  was  deferred  for  ten 
years,  and  only  3  per  cent,  allowed  on  three- 
ninths.'  Under  this  authority  6  per  cent, 
stock  was  issued  to  the  amount  of  |30,060,- 
511,  and  deferred  8  per  cent,  stock,  bear- 
ing interest  from  January  1,  1800,  amount- 
ing to  $14,635,386.  This  stock  was  made 
subject  to  redemption  by  payments  not  ex- 
ceeding, in  one  year,  on  account  both  of 
principal  and  interest,  the  proportion  of 
eight  dollars  upon  a  hundred  of  the  sum 
mentioned  in  the  certificates ;  $19,719,237 
was  issued  in  3  per  cent,  stock,  subject  to 
redemption  whenever  provision  should  be 
made  by  law  for  that  purpose. 

"  The  money  needed  for  the  payment  of 
the  principal  and  interest  of  the  foreign 
debt  was  procured  by  new  loans  negotiated 
in  Holland  and  Antwerp  to  the  amount  of 
$9,400,000,  and  the  issue  of  new  stock  for 
the  balance  of  $2,024,900  due  on  the 
French  debt,  this  stock  bearing  a  rate  of 
interest  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  in  ad- 
vance of  the  rate  previously  paid,  and  re- 
deemable at  the  pleasure  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Subsequent  legislation  provided 
for  the  establishment  of  a  sinking  fund, 
under  the  management  of  a  board  of  com- 
missioners, consisting  of  the  President  of 
the  Senate,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  Secretary  of  State,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  Attorney  General,  for  the 
time  being,  who,  or  any  three  of  whom, 
were  authorized,  under  the  direction  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  to  make 
purchases  of  stock,  and  otherwise  provide 
for  the  gradual  liquidation  of  the  entire 
debt,  from  funds  set  apart  for  this  purpose. 
On  assuming  the  position  of  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  Hamilton  found  himself  en- 
tirely without  funds  to  meet  the  ordinary 
expenses  of  the  Government,  except  by 
borrowing,  until  such  time  as  the  revenues 
from  duties  on  imports  ^nd  tonnage  began 
to  come  into  the  Treasury.  Under  these 
circumstances,  he  waa  forced  to  make  ar- 
rangements with  the  Bank  of  New  York 
and  the  Bank  of  North  America  for  tem- 


porary loans,  and  it  was  from  the  moneya 
received  from  these  banks  that  he  paid  the 
first  installment  of  salary  due  President 
Washington,  Senators,  Representatives  and 
officers  of  Congress,  during  the  first  ses- 
sion under  the  Constitution,  which  begau 
at  the  city  of  New  York,  March  4,  1789. 

"  The  first '  Bank  of  the  United  States ' 
appears  to  have  been  proposed  by  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  in  December,  1790,  and  it 
was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  Congress, 
approved-  February  25,  1791,  with  a  capi- 
tal stock  of  $10,000,000  divided  into  25,- 
000  shares  at  $400  each.  The  government 
subscription  of  $2,000,000,  under  authority 
of  the  act,  was  paid  by  giving  to  the  bank 
bills  of  exchange  on  Holland  equivalent 
to  gold,  and  borrowing  from  the  bank  a 
like  sum  for  ten  years  at  6  per  cent,  inter- 
est. The  bank  went  into  operation  very 
soon  after  its  charter  was  obtained,  and 
declared  its  first  dividend  in  July,  1792. 
It  was  evidently  well  managed,  and  was  of 
great  benefit  to  the  Government  and  the 
people  at  large,  assisting  the  Government 
by  loans  in  cases  of  emergency,  and  forc- 
ing the  '  wildcat '  banks  of  the  country 
to  keep  their  issues  '  somewhere  within 
reasonable  bounds.'  More  than  $100,000,- 
000  of  Goverfiment  money  was  receiTed 
and  disbursed  by  it  without  the  loss  of  a 
single  dollar.  It  made  semi-annual  divi- 
dends, averaging  about  8}  per  cent.,  and 
its  stock  rose  to  a  high  price.  The  stock 
belonging  to  the  United  States  was  sold 
out  at  different  times  at  a  profit,  2,220 
shares  sold  in  1802  bringing  an  advance  of 
45  per  cent.  The  government  subscription, 
with  ten  years'  interest  amounted  to  $3,200- 
000,  while  there  was  received  in  dividends 
and  for  stock  sold  $3,773,580,  a  profit  of 
nearly  28.7  per  cent.  In  1796  the  credit  of 
the  Government  was  very  low,  as  shown  by 
its  utter  failure  to  negotiate  a  loan  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  a  debt  to  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  for  moneys  borrowed  and 
used,  partly  to  pay  the  expenses  of  sup- 
pressing the  whisky  insurrection  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  to  buy  a  treaty  with  the 
pirates  of  Algiers.  On  a  loan  authorized 
for  $5,000,000,  only  $80,000  could  be  ob- 
tained, and  this  at  a  discount  of  12J  per 
cent.;  and,  there  being  no  other  immediate 
resource,  United  States  Bank  stock  to  the 
amount  of  $1,304,260  waa  sold  at  a  pre- 
mium of  25  per  cent. 

"  Under  an  act  approved  June  30, 1798, 
the  President  waa  authorized  to  accept 
such  vessels  as  were  suitable  to  be  armed 
for  the  public  service,  not  exceeding  twelve 
in  number,  and  to  issue  certificates,  or 
other  evidences  of  the  public  debt  of  the 
United  States,  in  payment.  The  ships 
George  Washington,  Merrimack,  Marj^land 
and  Patapsco,  brig  Richmond,  and  frigates 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  John  Adams,  Essex 
and  New  York,  were  purchased,  and  6  per 


248 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


cent,  stock,  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of 
Congress,  was  issued  in  payment  to  the 
amount  of  $711,700. 

"The  idea  of  creating  a  navy  by  the 
purchase  of  vessels  builtljy  private  parties 
and  issuing  stock  in  payment  therefor, 
seems  to  have  orifrinated  with  Hamilton. 

"  In  the  years  1797  and  1798  the  United 
States,  though  nominally  at  peace  with  all 
the  world,  was  actually  at  war  with  France 
— ^a  war  not  formally  declared,  but  carried 
on  upon  the  ocean  with  very  great  viru- 
lence. John  Marshall,  Elbridge  Gerry  and 
Charles  C.  Pinckney  were  appointed  en- 
voys extraordinary  to  the  French  Repub- 
lic, with  power  for  terminating  all  differ- 
ences ana  restoring  harmony,  good  under- 
standing and  commercial  and  friendly  in- 
tercourse between  the  two  nations ;  but 
their  efforts  were  in  vain,  and  extensive 
preparations  were  made  to  resist  a  French 
invasion.  It  was  evident  that  the  ordinary 
revenues  of  the  country  would  be  inade- 
quate for  the  increased  expenditure,  and  a 
loan  of  $5,000,000  was  authorized  by  an 
act  approved  July  16,  1798,  redeemable  at 
pleasure  after  fifteen  years.  The  rate  of 
interest  was  not  specified  in  the  act,  and 
the  market  rate  at  the  time  being  8  per 
cent,  this  rate  was  paid,  and  ft  was  thought 
by  a  committee  of  Congress  that  the  loan 
was  negotiated  '  upon  the  best  terms  that 
could  be  procured,  and  with  a  laudable 
«ye  to  the  public  interest. '  A  loan  of 
$3^500,000  was  authorized  by  an  act  ap- 
proved May  7,  1800,  for  the  purpose  of 
meeting  a  large  deficit  in  the  revenues  of 
the  preceding  year,  caused  by  increased 
expenditures  rendered  necessary  on  ac- 
count of  the  difficulties  with  France,  and 
stock  bearing  8  per  cent,  interest,  reim- 
bursable after  fifteen  years,  was  issued  to 
the  amount  of  $1,481,700,  on  which  a  pre- 
mium was  realized  of  nearly  5^^  per  cent. 
These  are  the  only  two  instances  in  which 
the  Government  has  paid  ^  per  cent,  in- 
terest on  its  bonds. 

"  The  province  of  Louisiana  was  ceded 
to  the  United  States  by  a  treaty  with 
France,  April  30,  1803,  in  payment  for 
which  6  per  cent,  bonds,  payaole  in  fifteen 
years,  were  issued  to  the  amount  of  $11,- 
250,000,  and  the  balance  which  the  Gov- 
ernment agreed  to  pay  for  the  province, 
amounting  to  $3,750,000,  was  devoted  to 
reimbursing  American  citizens  for  French 
depredations  on  their  commerce.  These 
claims  were  paid  in  money,  and  the  stock 
redeemed  by  purchases  made  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sink- 
ing Fund  within  twelve  years.  Under  an 
act  approved  February  11,  1807,  a  portion 
of  the  '  old  6  per  cent.'  and  '  deferred 
stocks  "  was  refunded  into  new  stock,  bear- 
ing the  same  rate  of  interest,  but  redeema- 
ble at  the  pleasure  of  the  United  States. 
This  was  done  for  the  purpose  of  placing 


it  within  the  power  of  the  Government  to 
reimburse  the  amount  refunded  within  a 
short  time,  as  under  the  old  laws  these 
stocks  could  only  be  redeemed  at  the  rate 
of  2  per  cent,  annually.  Stock  was  issued 
amounting  to  $6,294,051,  nearly  all  of 
which  was  redeemed  within  four  years. 
Under  the  same  act  old  '  3  per  cent,  stock  ' 
to  the  amount  of  $2,861,309  was  converted 
into  6  per  cents.,  at  sixty-five  cents  on  the 
dollar,  but  this  was  not  reimbursable  with- 
out the  assent  of  the  holder  until  after  the 
whole  of  certain  other  stocks  named  in  the 
act  was  redeemed.  The  stock  issued  under 
this  authority  amourfted  to  $1,859,871.  It 
would  appear  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
holders  of  the  "'  old  stock  "  preferred  it  to 
the  new.  A  loan  equal  to  the  amount  of 
the  principal  of  the  public  debt  reimbursa- 
ble during  the  current  year  was  authorized 
by  an  act  approved  May  1,  1810,  and  $2,- 
750,000  was  borrowed  at  6  per  cent,  interest 
from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
purpose  of  meeting  any  deficiency  arising 
from  increased  expenditures  on  account  of 
the  military  and  naval  establishments. 
This  was  merely  a  temporary  loan,  which 
was  repaid  the  following  year. 

"  The  ordinary  expenses  for  the  year  1812 
were  estimated  by  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
at  $1,200,000  more  than  the  estimated  re- 
ceipts for  the  same  period,  and  the  impend- 
ing war  with  Great  Britain  made  it  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  some  measures  should 
be  adopted  to  maintain  the  public  credit, 
and  provide  the  requisite  funds  for  carrying 
on  the  Government.  Additional  taxes  were 
imposed  upon  the  people,  but  as  these 
could  not  be  made  immediately  available 
there  was  no  other  resource  but  new  loans 
and  the  issue  of  Treasury  notes.  This  was 
the  first  time  since  the  formation  of  the  new 
Government  that  the  issue  of  such  notes 
had  been  proposed,  and  they  were  objected 
to  as  engrafting  on  our  system  of  finance  a 
new  and  untried  measure. 

"  Under  various  acts  of  Congress  ap- 
proved between  March  4,  1812,  and  Feb- 
ruary 24, 1815,  6  per  cent,  bonds  were  is- 
sued to  the  amount  of  $50,792,674  Thes* 
bonds  were  negotiated  at  rates  varying  from 
20  per  cent,  discount  to  par,  the  net  cash 
realized  amounting  to  $44,530,123.  A  fur- 
ther sum  of  $4,025,000  was  obtained  by 
temporary  loans  at  par,  of  which  sum 
$225,000  was  for  the  purpose  of  repairing 
the  public  buildings  in  Washington,  dam- 
agea  by  the  enemy  on  the  night  of  August 
24,  1814.  These  *  war  loans '  were  all 
made  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
Government  after  a  specified  date,  and  the 
faith  of  the  United  States  was  solemnly 
pledged  to  provide  sufficient  revenues  for 
this  purpose.  The  '  Treasury  note  system ' 
was  a  new  feature,  and  its  success  was  re- 
garded as  somewhat  doubtful. 


BOOK  I.] 


HISTORY    OF    THE    NATIONAL    LOANS. 


249 


*'It8  subsequent  popularity,  Lowever, 
was  owing  to  a  variety  of  causes.  The 
notes  were  made  receivable  everywhere  for 
dues  and  customs,  and  in  payment  for  pub- 
lic lands.  They  were  to  bear  interest  from 
the  day  of  issue,  at  the  rate  of  5  2-5  per 
cent,  per  annum,  and  their  payment  was 
guaranteed  by  the  United  States,  principal 
and  interest,  at  maturity.  They  thus  fur- 
nished a  circulating  medium  to  the  coun- 
try, superior  to  the  paper  of  the  suspend- 
ed and  doubtful  State  banks.  These 
issues  w^ere  therefore  considered  more 
desirable  than  the  issue  of  additional 
stock,  which  could  be  realized  in  cash 
only  by  the  payment  of  a  ruinous  dis- 
count. The  whole  amount  of  Treasury 
notes  issued  daring  the  war  period  was 
$36,680,794.  The  Commissioners  of  the 
Sinking  Fund  were  authorized  to  provide 
for  their  redemption  by  purchase,  in  the 
same  manner  as  for  other  evidences  of  the 
public  debt,  and  by  authority  of  law  $10,- 
675,738  was  redeemed  by  the  issue  of  cer- 
tificates of  funded  stock,  bearing  interest  at 
from  6  to  7  per  cent,  per  annum,  redeema- 
ble at  any  time  after  1824. 

"  During  the  years  1812-13  the  sum  of 
$2,984,747  of  the  old  6  per  cent,  and  de- 
ferred stocks  were  refunded  into  new  6  per 
cent,  stock  redeemable  in  twelve  years ;  and 
by  an  act  approved  March  31,  1814,  Con- 
gress having  authorized  a  settlement  of  the 
Yazoo  claims '  by  an  issue  of  non-interest- 
bearing  stock,  payable  out  of  the  first  re- 
ceipts from  the  sale  of  public  lands  in  the 
Missisipi  territory,  $4,282,037  was  issued  for 
this  purpose.  On  the  24th  of  February, 
1815,  Secretary  Dallas  reported  to  Congress 
that  the  public  debt  had  been  increased,  in 
consequence  of  the  war  with  Great  Bri- 
tain, $68,783,122,  a  large  portion  of  which 
was  due  and  unpaid,  while  another  con- 
siderablj  proportion  was  fast  becoming 
due.  These  unpaid  or  accruing  demands 
were  in  part  for  temporaiy  loans,  and  the 
balance  for  Treasury  notes  either  due  or 
maturing  daily.  To  provide  for  their  pay- 
ment a  new  loan  for  the  full  amount 
needed  was  authorized  by  act  of  March  3, 
1815,  and  six  per.  cent  stock  redeemable  in 
fifteen  years,  was  issued  in  the  sum  of 
$12,288,148.  This  stock  was  sold  at  from 
95  per  cent,  to  par,  and  was  nearly  all  re- 
deemed in  1820  by  purchases  made  by  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund. 

"  The  Government  became  a  stockholder 
In  the  second  Bank  of  the  United  States,  to 
the  amount  of  70,000  shares,  under  the  act 
of  incorporation,  approved  April  10,  1816. 
Thecapital  stock  was  limited  to  $35,000,000, 
divided  into  350,000  shares  of  $100  each. 
TheGovernment  subscription  was  paid  by 
the  issue  of  5  per  cent,  stock  to  the  amount 
of  $7,000,000,  redeemable  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  Government.  This  waa  a  profitable 
investment  for  the  United  States,  as  in  ad- 


dition to  $1,500,000  which  the  bank  paid  as  a 
bonus  for  its  charter,  the  net  receipts  over 
and  above  disbursements  amounted  to 
$4,993,167.  The  available  funds  in  the 
Treasury  on  the  1st  of  January,  1820,  were 
less  than  $250,000,  and  the  esiiniated  defi- 
ciency for  the  year  amounted  to  nearly 
$4,000,000.  This  state  of  affairs  was  owing 
partly  to  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  com- 
mercial crisis  of  1819,  heavy  payments  foi 
the  redemption  of  the  public  debt,  contin- 
ued through  a  series  of  years,  and  large 
outstanding  claims,  amounting  to  over 
$30,000,000,  resulting  from  the  late  war 
with  Great  Britain.  To  meet  the  emer- 
gency, a  loan  was  authorized  by  act  of  May 
15,  1820,  and  $999,999.13  was  borrowed  at  5 
per  cent.,  redeemable  in  twelve  years,  and 
$2,0000,000  at  6  per  cent.,  reimbursable  at 
pleasure,  this  latter  stock  realizing  a  pre- 
mium of  2  per  cent.  By  act  of  March  3, 
1821, 5  percent,  stock  amounting  to  $4,735,- • 
276  was  issued  at  a  premium  of  over  5J  per 
cent.,  and  the  proceeds  used  in  payment  of 
the  principal  and  interest  of  the  public 
debt  falling  due  within  the  year. 

"  An  effort  was  made  in  1822  to  refund  a 
portion  of  the  6  per  cent,  war  loans  of 
1812-14  into  5  per  cents.,  but  only  $56,705 
could  be  obtained.  Two  years  later  the 
Government  was  more  successful,  and,  un- 
der the  act  of  May  26,  1824,  6  per  cent 
stock  of  1813  to  the  amount  of  $4,454,728 
was  exchanged  for  new  stock  bearing  4J 
per  cent,  interest,  redeemable  in  1833-34. 
During  the  same  year  $5,000,000  was  bor- 
rowed at  4J  per  cent,  to  provide  for  the 
payment  of  the  awards  made  by  the  Com- 
missioners under  the  treaty  with  Spain  of 
February  22,  1819,  and  a  like  amount,  at 
the  same  rate  of  interest,  to  be  applied  in 
paying  off  that  part  of  the  6  per  cent, 
stock  of  1812  redeemable  the  following 
year.  The  act  of  March  3,  1825,  author- 
ized a  loan  of  $12,000,000,  at  4J  per  cent, 
interest,  the  money  borrowed  to  be  applied 
in  paying  off  prior  loans,  but  only  $1,539,- 
336  was  exchanged  for  an  equal  amount  of 
6  per  cent,  stock  of  1813. 

"  In  the  year  1836  the  United  States  was, 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  coun- 
try, practically  out  of  debt.  Secretary 
Woodbury,  in  his  report  of  December  8, 
1836,  estimated  the  amount  of  public  debt 
still  outstanding  at  about  $328,582,  and  this 
remained  unpaid  solely  because  payment 
had  not  been  demanded,  ample  liinds  to 
meet  it  having  been  deposited  in  the 
United  States  Bank  and  loan  offices.  The 
debt  outstanding  consisted  mainly  of  un- 
claimed interest  and  dividends,  of  claims 
for  services  and  supplies  during  the  Revo- 
lution, and  of  old  Treasury  notes,  and  it  la 
supposed  that  payment  or  these  had  not 
been  aaked  for  solely  because  the  evidences 
of  the  debt  had  been  lost  or  destroyai 
The  estimates  showed  the  probability  of  * 


250 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


surplus  of  at  least  $14,000,000  iu  the  Trea- 
sury at  the  close  of  the  year  1836,  and  this 
estimate  proved  to  be  far  below  the  truth. 
In  this  favorable  condition  of  the  public 
finances,  Congress  adopted  the  extraordi- 
nary resolution  of  depositing  the  surplus 
over  $5,000,000  with  the  several  States,  and 
under  the  act  of  June  23,  1836,  surplus 
revenue  amounting  to  $28,101,644.91  was 
80  deposited. 

"In  1837,  however,  the  state  of  the 
country  had  changed.  The  '  flush '  times 
of  1835  and  1836  had  been  succeeded  by 
extraordinary  depression,  which  ultimately 
produced  a  panic.  In  May  most  of  the 
banks  suspended  specie  payments.  The 
Bales  of  public  lands,  and  the  duties  on  the 
importations  of  foreign  goods,  which  had 
helped  to  swell  the  balance  in  the  Treasury 
to  over  $42,000,000,  had  fallen  off  enor- 
mously. Even  on  the  goods  that  were  im- 
•  portea  it  was  difficult  to  collect  the  duties, 
lor  the  law  compelled  them  to  be  paid  in 
specie,  and  specie  was  hard  to  obtain.  It 
had  become  impossible  not  only  to  pay  the 
fourth  installment  of  the  surplus  at  the  end 
of  1836  to  the  several  States,  but  even  to 
meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  Govern- 
ment from  its  ordinary  revenues.  In  this 
emergency  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
suggested  that  contingent  authority  be 
given  the  President  to  cause  the  issue  of 
Treasury  notes.  This  measure  was  gener- 
ally supported  on  the  ground  of  absolute 
necessity,  as  there  was  a  large  deficit  al- 
ready existing,  and  this  was  likely  to  in- 
crease from  the  condition  of  the  country  at 
that  time.  The  measure  was  opposed, 
however,  by  some  who  thought  that  greater 
economy  in  expenditures  would  relieve 
the  Treasury,  while  others  denounced  it  as 
an  attempt  "  to  start  a  Treasury  bank." 

*'  However,  an  act  was  approved  October 
12,  1837,  authorizing  an  issue  of  $10,000,- 
000  in  Treasunr  notes  in  denominations 
not  less  than  fifty  dollars,  redeemable  in 
one  year  irom  date,  with  interest  at 
rates  fixed  by  the  Secretary,  not  exceed- 
^ing  6  per  cent.  These  notes,  as  usual, 
were  receivable  in  payment  of  all  duties 
and  taxes  levied  by  trie  United  States,  and 
in  payment  for  public  lands.  Prior  to 
1846,  the  issue  oi  notes  of  this  character 
amounted  to  $47,002,900,  bearing  interest 
at  rates  varying  from  one-tenth  of  one  per 
cent,  to  6  per  cent.  To  provide  in  part  ^or 
their  redemption,  authority  was  granted 
for  the  negotiation  of  several  loans,  and 
$21,021,004  was  borrowed  for  this  purpose, 
bonds  being  issued  for  a  like  sum,  bearing 
interest  at  from  5  to  6  per  cent.,  redeema- 
J  ble  at  specified  dates.  These  bonds  were 
^  sold  at  from  2J  per  cent,  discount  to  3|  per 
cent,  premium,  and  redeemed  at  from  par 
to  19}  per  cent,  advance. 

"  War  with  Mexico  was  declared  May  13, 
1849,  and  ia  order  to  provide  against  a 


deficiency  a  further  issue  of  $10,000,000  in 
Treasury  notes  was  authorized  by  act  of 
July  22,  1846,  under  the  same  limitations 
and  restrictions  as  were  contained  in  the  act 
of  October,  1837,  except  that  the  authority 
given  was  to  expire  at  the  end  of  one  year 
from  the  passage  of  the  act.  The  sum  of 
$7,687,800  was  issued  in  Treasury  notes, 
and  six  per  cent,  bonds  having  ten  years  to 
run  were  issued  under  the  same  act  to  the 
amount  of  $4,999,149.  These  were  sold  at 
a  small  advance,  and  redeemed  at  various 
rates  from  par  to  eighteen  and  two-thirds 
per  cent,  premium. 

"  The  expenses  incurred  on  account  of 
the  war  with  Mexico  were  much  greater 
than  the  original  estimates,  and  the  failure 
to  provide  additional  revenues  sufficient  to 
meet  the  increased  demands  made  a  new 
loan  necessary,  as  well  as  an  additional 
issue  of  notes,  which  had  now  become  a 
popular  method  of  obtaining  funds.  Under 
the  authority  granted  by  act  of  January 
28, 1847,  Treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of 
$26,122,100  were  issued  at  par,  redeemable 
one  and  two  years  from  date,  with  interest 
at  from  5  2-5  to  6  per  cent.  More  money 
still  being  needed,  a  6  per  cent,  loan,  hav- 
ing twenty  years  to  run,  was  placed  upon 
the  market,  under  the  authority  of  the 
same  act,  and  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $28,- 
230,350  were  sold  at  various  rates,  ranging 
from  par  to  2  per  cent,  premium.  Of  this 
stock  the  sum  of  $18,815,100  was  redeemed 
at  an  advance  of  from  1^  to  21 1^  per  cent, 
the  premium  paid  (exclusive  of  commis- 
sions) amounting  to  $3,466,107.  Under 
the  act  of  March  31,  1848,  6  per  cent, 
bonds,  running  twenty  years,  were  issued 
to  the  amount  of  $16,000,000,  and  sold  at  a 
premium  ranging  from  3  to  4,05  per  cent. 
This  loan  was  made  for  the  same  purpose 
as  the  preceding  one,  and  $7,091,658  was 
redeemed  by  purchase  at  an  advance 
ranging  from  8  to  22.46  per  cent.,  the 
premium  paid  amounting  to  $1,251,258. 

"  The  widespread  depression  of  trade 
and  commerce  which  occurred  in  1857  was 
severely  felt  by  the  Government,  as  well  as 
by  the  people,  and  so  great  was  the  de- 
crease in  the  revenues  from  customs  that  it 
became  absolutely  necessary  to  provide 
the  Treasury  with  additional  means  for 
meeting  the  demands  upon  it.  Treasury 
notes  were  considered  as  preferable  to  a 
new  loan,  and  by  the  act  oi  December  38, 
1867,  a  new  issue  was  authorized  for  such 
an  amount  as  the  exigencies  of  the  public 
service  might  require,  but  not  to  exceed  at 
any  one  time  $20,000,000.  These  notes 
were  receivable  in  payment  for  all  debts 
due  the  United  States,  including  customs, 
and  were  issued  at '  various  rates  of  inter- 
est, ranging  from  3  to  6  per  cent.,  to  the 
amount  of  $62,778,900,  redeemable  one 
year  from  date,  the  interest  to  cease  at  the 
expiration    of  sixty   days'    notice    aftei 


BOOK  I.] 


HISTORY    OF    THE   NATIONAL    LOANS. 


231 


maturity.  In  May,  1858,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  informed  Congress  that, 
owing  to  the  appropriations  having  been 
increased  by  legislation  nearly  $10,000,000 
over  the  estimates,  while  the  customs 
revenue  had  fallen  off  to  a  like  amount,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  provide  some  means 
to  meet  the  deficit.  In  these  circumstances, 
a  new  loan  was  authorized  by  act  of  June 
14,  1858,  and  5  per  cent,  bonds  amounting 
to  $20,000,000,  redeemable  in  fifteen  years, 
were  sold  at  an  average  premium  of  over 
3V  per  cent.  Under  the  act  of  December 
17,  1873,  $13,957,000  in  bonds  of  the  loan 
of  1881,  and  $260,000  in  bonds  of  a  loan  of 
19)7,  were  issued  in  exchange  for  a  like 
amount  of  bonds  of  this  loan. 

"  The  act  of  June  22,  1860,  authorized 
the  President  to  borrow  $21,000,000  on  the 
credit  of  the  United  States,  the  money  to 
be  used  only  in  the  redemption  of  Trea- 
sury notes,  and  to  replace  any  amount  of 
such  notes  in  the  Treasury  which  should 
have  been  paid  in  for  public  due3.  Only 
$7,022,000  was  borrowed  at  5  per  cent,  in- 
terest, the  certificates  selling  at  from  par 
to  1.45  per  cent,  premium.  The  failure  to 
realize  the  whole  loan  was  caused  by  the 
political  troubles  which  culminated  in  the 
civil  war.  In  September,  bids  were  in- 
vited for  $10,000,000,  and  the  whole  amount 
offered  was  speedily  taken.  It  soon  be- 
came evident,  however,  that  war  was  inevi- 
table, and  a  commercial  crisis  ensued,  dur- 
ing which  a  portion  of  the  bidders  forfeit- 
ed their  deposits,  and  the  balance  of  the 
loan  was  withdrawn  from  the  market.  Au- 
thority was  granted  by  the  act  of  Decem- 
ber 17,  1860,  for  a  new  issue  of  Treasury 
notes,  redeemable  in  one  year  from  date, 
but  not  to  exceed  $10,000,000  at  any  one 
time,  with  interest  at  such  rates  as  might 
be  offered  by  the  lowest  responsible  bid- 
ders after  advertisement.  An  unsuccess- 
ful attempt  was  made  to  pledge  the  receipts 
from  the  sale  of  public  lands  specifically 
for  their  redemption.  Tha  whole  amount 
of  notes  issued  under  this  act  was  $10,010,- 
900,  of  which  $4,840,000  bore  interest  at 
12  per  cent.  Additional  offers  followed, 
ranging  from  15  to  36  per  cent.,  but  the 
Treasury  declined  to  accept  them. 

"  Up  to  this  period  of  our  national  exist- 
ence the  obtaining  of  the  money  necessary 
for  carrying  on  the  Government  and  the 
preservation  inviolate  of  the  public  credit 
Jiad  been  comparatively  an  easy  task.  The 
people  of  the  several  States  had  contributed 
in  proportion  to  their  financial  resources  ; 
and  a  strict  adherence  to  the  ftindamental 
maxim  laid  down  by  Hamilton  had  been 
maintained  by  a  judicious  system  of  taxa- 
tion to  an  extent  amply  sufficient  to  pro- 
vide for  the  redemption  of  all  our  national 
securities  as  they  became  due.  But  the 
time  had  come  when  we  were  no  longer  a 
united  people,  and  the  means  required  for 


defraying  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the 
Government  were  almost  immediately  cur- 
tailed and  jeopardized  by  the  attitude  of 
the  States  which  attempted  to  secede.  The 
confusion  which  followed  the  inauguration 
of  the  administration  of  President  Lincoln 
demonstrated  the  necessity  of  providing 
unusual  resources  without  delay.  A  sys- 
tem of  internal  revenue  taxation  was  in- 
troduced, and  the  tariff  adjusted  with  a 
view  to  increased  revenues  from  customa 
As  the  Government  had  not  only  to  exist 
and  pay  its  way,  but  also  to  provide  for  an 
army  and  navy  constantly  increasing  in 
numbers  and  equipment,  new  and  extiaor-* 
dinary  methods  were  resorted  to  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  money  which  must 
be  had  in  order  to  preserve  the  integrity 
of  the  nation.  Among  these  were  the  issue 
of  its  own  circulating  medium  in  the  form 
of  United  States  notes*  and  circulating 
notes,  t  for  the  redemption  of  which  the 
faith  of  the  nation  was  solemnly  pledged. 
New  loans  were  authorized  to  an  amount 
never  before  known  in  our  history,  and 
the  success  of  our  armies  was  assured  by 
the  determination  manifested  by  the  peo- 
ple themselves  to  sustain  the  Government 
at  all  hazards.  A  brief  review  of  the  loan 
transactions  during  the  period  covered  by 
the  war  is  all  that  can  be  attempted  within 
the  limited  space  afforded  this  article.  The 
first  war  loan  may  be  considered  as  having 
been  negotiated  under  the  authority  of  an 
act  approved  February  8,  1861.  The  cred- 
it of  tlxe  Government  at  this  time  was  very 
low,  and  a  loan  of  $18,415,000,  having 
twenty  years  to  run,  with  6  per  cent,  inter- 
est, could  only  be  negotiated  at  a  discount 
of  $2,019,776.10,  or  at  an  average  rate  of 
$89.03  per  one  hundred  dollars.  From 
this  time  to  June  30, 1865,  Government  se- 
curities of  various  descriptions  were  issued 
under  authority  of  law  to  the  amount  of 
$3,888,686,575,  including  the  several  issues 
of  bonds,  Treasury  notes,  seven-thirties, 
legal  tenders  and  fractional  currency.  The 
whole  amount  issued  under  the  same  au- 
thority to  June  30, 1880,  was  $7,137,646,836, 
divided  as  follows : 

Six  per  cent,  bonds $1,130,279,000 

Five  per  cent,  bonds 196,118,300 

Temporary  loan  certificates..     969,992,250 

Seven-thirty  notes 716,099,247 

Treasury  notes  and  certifi- 
cates of  indebtedness 1,074,713,132 

Old  demand  notes,  legal  tend- 
ers, coin  certificates  and 
fractional  currency 3,050,444,907 

Total $7,137,646,836 

"This  increase  may  be  readily  accounted 
for  by  the  continued  "issue  of  legal  tenders,    ' 

•  Commonly  sailed  "  Grcenbacka,*'  or  "  Legal  TendaC 
notes  " 
t  Commonly  called  "  National  Bank  notM." 


252 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  r. 


compound  interest  notes,  fractional  cur- 
rency and  coin  certificates,  together  with  a 
large  amount  of  bonds  issued  in  order  to 
raise  the  money  necessary  to  pay  for  mili- 
tary supplies,  and  other  forms  of  indebted- 
ness growing  out  of  the  war.  The  rebel- 
lion was  practically  at  an  end  in  May, 
1865,  yet  the  large  amount  of  money  re- 
quired for  immediate  use  in  the  payment 
and  disbandment  of  otir  enormous  armies 
necessitated  the  still  further  negotiation  of 
loans  under  the  several  acts  of  Congress 
then  in  force,  and  it  was  not  until  after  the 
31st  of  August,  1865,  that  our  national 
debt  began  to  decrease.  At  that  time  the 
total  indebtedness,  exclusive  of  the  "  old 
funded  and  unfunded  debt "  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  of  cash  in  the  Treasury, 
amounted  to  $2,844,646,626.56.  The  course 
of  our  financial  legislation  since  that  date 
has  been  constantly  toward  a  reduction  of 
the  interest,  as  well  as  the  principal  of  the 
public  debt. 

"  By  an  act  approved  March  3, 1865,  a 
loan  of  $600,000,000  was  authorized  upon 
eimUar  terms  as  had  been  granted  for  pre- 
vious loans,  with  the  exception  that  no- 
thing authorized  by  this  act  should  be 
made  a  legal  tender,  or  be  issued  in  smaller 
denominations  than  fifty  dollars.  The  rate 
of  interest  was  limited  to  6  per  cent,  in 
coin,  or  7.3  per  cent,  in  currency,  the  bonds 
issued  to  be  redeemable  in  not  less  than 
five,  nor  more  than  forty,  years.  Authority 
was  also  given  for  the  conversion  of  Trea- 
sury notes  or  other  interest-bearing  obliga- 
tions into  bonds  of  this  loan.  An  amend- 
ment to  this  act  was  passed  April  12,  1886, 
authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
at  his  discretion,  to  receive  any  Treasury 
notes  or  other  obligations  issued  under  any 
act  of  Congress,  whether  bearing  interest 
or  not,  in  exchange  for  any  description  of 
bonds  authorized  by  the  original  act ;  and 
also  to  dispose  of  any  such  bonds,  either  in 
the  Unitea  States  or  elsewhere,  to  such  an 
amount,  in  such  manner,  and  at  such  rates 
as  he  might  deem  advisable,  for  lawful 
money,  Treasury  notes,  certificates  of  in- 
debtedness, certificates  of  deposit,  or  other 
representatives  of  value,  which  had  been  or 
might  be  issued  under  any  act  of  Congress ; 
the  proceeds  to  be  used  only  for  retiring 
Treasury  notes  or  other  national  obligations, 
provided  the  public  debt  was  not  increased 
thereby.  As  this  was  the  first  important 
measure  presented  to  Congress  since  the 
dose  of  the  war  tending  to  place  our  secu- 
rities upon  a  firm  basis,  the  action  of  Con- 
gress in  relation  to  it  was  looked  forward 
to  with  a  great  deal  of  interest.  The  dis- 
cussion took  a  wide  range,  in  which  the 
•whole  financial  administration  of  the  Go- 
vernment during  the  war  was  reviewed  at 
length.  After  a  long  and  exciting  debate 
the  bill  finally  passed,  and  was  approved  by 
the  President.     Under  the  authority  of 


these  two  acts,  6  per  cent,  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  $958,483,550  have  been  issued  to 
date.  These  bonds  were  disposed  of  at  an 
aggregate  premium  of  $21,522,074,  and  un- 
der the  acts  of  July  14,  1870,  and  January 
20,  1871,  the  same  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$725,582,400  have  been  refunded  into  other 
bonds  bearing  a  lower  rate  of  interest.  The 
success  of  these  several  loans  was  remarka- 
ble, every  exertion  being  used  to  provide  for 
their  general  distribution  among  the  people. 

"  In  1867  the  first  issue  of  6  per  cent, 
bonds,  known  as  five-twenties,  authorized 
by  the  act  of  Feb.  26,  1862,  became  re- 
deemable, and  the  question  of  refunding 
them  and  other  issues  at  a  lower  rate  of  in- 
terest had  been  discussed  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  in  his  annual  reports,  but 
the  agitation  of  the  question  as  to  the  kinds 
of  money  in  which  the  various  obligations 
of  the  Government  should  be  paid,  had  so 
excited  the  apprehension  of  investors  as  to 
prevent  the  execution  of  any  reftinding 
scheme. 

"  The  act  to  strengthen  the  public  credit 
was  passed  March  18,  1869,  and  its  eflfect 
was  such  as  secured  to  the  public  the  strong- 
est assurances  that  the  interest  and  princi- 
pal of  the  public  debt  outstanding  at  that 
time  woulcf  be  paid  in  coin,  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  bonds  issued,  without  any 
abatement. 

"  On  the  12th  of  January,  1870,  a  bill 
authorizing  the  reftinding  and  consolidation 
of  the  national  debt  was  introduced  in  the 
Senate,  and  extensively  debated  in  both 
Houses  for  several  months,  during  which 
the  financial  system  pursued  by  the  Go- 
vernment during  the  war  was  freely  re- 
viewed. The  adoption  of  the  proposed 
measure  resulted  in  an  entire  revolution  of 
the  refunding  system,  under  which  the 
public  debt  of  the  United  States  at  that 
time  was  provided  for,  by  the  transmission 
of  a  large  amount  of  debt  to  a  succeeding 
generation.  The  efiect  of  this  attempt  at 
refunding  the  major  portion  of  the  public 
debt  was  far  more  successful  than  any  si- 
milar effort  on  the  part  of  any  Government, 
so  far  as  known. 

The  act  authorizing  reftinding  certifi- 
cates convertible  into  4  per  cent,  bonds, 
approved  February  26,  1879,  was  merely 
intended  for  the  benefit  of  parties  of  limit- 
ed means,  and  was  simply  a  continuation 
of  the  refunding  scheme  authorized  by. 
previous  legislation. 

"  The  period  covered  precludes  any  at- 
tempt toward  reviewing  the  operation  by 
which  the  immediate  predecessor  of  the 
present  Secretary  reduced  the  interest  on 
some  six  hundred  millions  of  5  and  6  per 
cent,  bonds  to  3i  per  cent.  It  is  safe  to  say, 
however,  that  under  the  administration  of 
the  present  Secretary  tHere  will  be  no  de- 
viation from  the  original  law  laid  down  by 
Hamilton. 


BOOK  I.] 


REPUBLICAN    FACTIONS. 


253 


James  A.  Garfleld. 


James  A.  Garfield  and  Chester  A.  Ar- 
thur were  publicly  inaugurated  President 
and  Vice  President  of  the  United  States 
March  4,  1881. 

President  Garfield  in  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress promised  full  and  equal  protection  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws  for  the  negro, 
advocated  universal  education  as  a  safe- 
guard of  suffrage,  and  recommended  such 
an  adjustment  of  our  monetary  system 
"  that  the  purchasing  power  of  every  coined 
dollar  will  be  exactly  equal  to  its  debt- 
paying  power  in  all  the  markets  of  the 
world."  The  national  debt  should  be  re- 
funded at  a  lower  rate  of  interest,  without 
compelling  the  withdrawal  of  the  National 
Bank  notes,  polygamy  should  be  prohibit- 
ed, and  civil  service  regulated  by  law. 

An  extra  session  of  the  Senate  was 
opened  March  4.  On  the  5th,  the  follow- 
ing cabinet  nominations  were  made  and 
confirmed:  Secretary  of  State,  James  G. 
Blaine,  of  Maine ;  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, William  Windom,  of  Minnesota; 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  William  H.  Hunt, 
of  Louisiana ;  Secretary  of  War,  Robert 
T.  Lincoln,  of  Illinois ;  Attorney  General, 
Wayne  MacVeagh,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Post- 
master General,  Thomas  L.  James,  of  New 
York ;  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Samuel 
J.  Kirkwood,  of  Iowa. 

In  this  extra  session  of  the  Senate  Vice 
President  Arthur  had  to  employ  the  cast- 
ing vote  on  all  questions  where  the  parties 
divided,  and  he  invariably  cast  it  on  the 
side  of  the  Republicans.  The  evenness  of 
the  parties  caused  a  dead-lock  on  the  ques- 
tion of  organization,  for  when  David  Davis, 
of  Illinois,  voted  with  the  Democrats,  the 
Republicans  had  not  enough  even  with  the 
Vice  President,  and  he  was  not,  therefore, 
called  upon  to  decide  a  question  of  that 
kind.  The  Republicans  desired  new  and 
Republican  officers;  the  Democrats  de- 
sired to  retain  the  old  and  Democratic 
ones. 


Republican  Factions. 

President  Garfield,  March  23d,  sent  in  a 
large  number  of  nominations,  among  which 
was  that  of  William  H.  Robertson,  the 
•  leader  of  the  Blaine  wing  of  the  Republi- 
can party  in  New  York,  to  be  Collector  of 
Customs.  He  had  previously  sent  in  five 
names  for  prominent  places  in  New  York, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Senator  Conkling,  who 
had  been  invited  by  President  Garfield  to 
name  his  friends.  At  this  interview  it  was 
stated  that  Garfield  casually  intimated  that 
he  would  make  no  immediate  change  in 
the  New  York  CoUectorship,  and  both  fac- 
tions seemed  satisfied  to  allow  Gen'l  Edwin 
A.  Merritt  to  retain  that  place  for  a  time 
at  least.  There  were  loud  protests,  however, 
at  the  first  and  early  selection  of  the  friends 


of  Senator  Conkling  to  five  important 
places,  and  these  protests  were  heeded  by 
the  President.  With  a  view  to  meet  them, 
and,  doubtless,  to  quiet  the  spirit  of  faction 
rapidly  developing  between  the  Grant  and 
anti-Grant  elements  of  the  party  in  New 
York,  the  name  of  Judge  Robertson  was 
sent  in  for  the  CoUectorship.  He  had  bat- 
tled against  the  unit  rule  at  Chicago,  dis- 
avowed the  instructions  of  his  State  Con- 
vention to  vote  for  Grant,  and  led  the 
Blaine  delegates  from  that  State  while 
Blaine  was  in  the  field,  and  when  with- 
drawn went  to  Garfield.  Senator  Conkling 
now  sought  to  confirm  his  friends,  and  hold 
back  his  enemy  from  confirmation;  but 
these  tactics  induced  Garfield  to  withdraw 
the  nomination  of  Conkling's  friends,  and 
in  this  way  Judge  Robertson's  name  was 
alone  presented  for  a  time.  Against  this 
course  Vice-President  Arthur  and  Senators 
Conkling  and  Piatt  remonstrated  in  a  let- 
ter to  the  President,  but  he  remained  firm. 
Senator  Conkling,  under  the  plea  of  "  the 
privilege  of  the  Senate," — a  courtesy  and 
custom  which  leaves  to  the  Senators  of  a 
State  the  right  to  say  who  shall  be  con- 
firmed or  rejected  from  their  respective 
States  if  of  the  same  party — now  sought  to 
defeat  Robertson.  In  this  battle  he  had 
arrayed  against  him  the  influence  of  his 
great  rival,  Mr.  Blaine,  and  it  is  presumed 
the  whole  power  of  the  administration. 
He  lost,  and  the  morning  following  the 
secret  vote.  May  17th,  1881,  his  own  and 
the  resignation  of  Senator  Piatt  were  read. 
These  resignations  caused  great  excitement 
throughout  the  entire  country.  They  were 
prepared  without  consultation  with  any 
one — even  Vice-President  Arthur,  the  in- 
timate friend  of  both,  not  knowing  any- 
thing of  the  movement  until  the  letters 
were  opened  at  the  chair  where  he  pre- 
sided. Logan  and  Cameron — Conkling's 
colleagues  in  the  great  Chicago  battle — 
were  equally  unadvised.  The  resignations 
were  forwarded  to  Gov.  Cornell,  of  New 
York,  who,  by  all  permissible  delays, 
sought  to  have  them  reconsidered  and 
withdrawn,  but  both  Senators  were  firm. 
The  Senate  confirmed  Judge  Robertson 
for  Collector,  and  General  Merritt  as  Con- 
sul-General  at  London,  May  18th,  Pre?i- 
dent  Garfield  having  wisely  renewed  the 
Conkling  list  of  appointees,  most  of  whom 
declined  under  the  changed  condition  of 
affairs. 

These  events  more  widely  separated  the 
factions  in  New  York — one  wing  calling 
itself  "  Stalwart,"  the  other  "  Half^Breed," 
a  term  of  contempt  flung  at  the  Indepen- 
dents by  Conkling.  Elections  must  follow 
to  fill  the  vacancies,  the  New  York  Legis- 
lature being  in  session.  These  vacancies 
gave  the  Democrats  for  the  time  control  of 
the  United  States  Senate,  but  they  thought 
it  unwise  to  pursue  an  advantage  which 


254 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


would  compel  them  to  show  their  hands 
for  or  against  one  or  other  of  the  opjiosing 
Republican  factions.  The  extra  session  of 
the  Senate  adjourned  May  20th. 

The  New  York  Legislature  began  ballot- 
ing for  successors  to  Senators  Conlcling  and 
Piatt  on  the  31st  of  May.  The  majority  of 
the  Eepublicans  (Independents  or  "Half- 
breeds")  supported  Chauncey  M.  Depew 
as  the  successor  of  Piatt  for  the  long  term, 
and  William  A.  Wheeler  as  the  successor 
of  Conkling  for  the  short  term,  a  few  sup- 
porting Cornell.  The  minority  (Stalwarts) 
renominated  Messrs.  Conkling  and  Piatt. 
The  Democrats  nominated  Francis  Keman 
for  the  long  term,  and  John  C.  Jacobs  for 
the  short  term ;  and,  on  his  withdrawal, 
Clarkson  N.  Potter.  The  contest  lasted 
until  July  22,  and  resulted  in  a  compro- 
mise on  Warner  A.  Miller  as  Piatt's  suc- 
cessor, and  Elbridge  G.  Lapham  as  Conk- 
ling's  successor.  In  Book  VII.,  our  Tabu- 
lated History  of  Politics,  we  give  a  correct 
table  of  the  ballots.  These  show  at  a  sin- 
gle glance  the  earnestness  and  length  of 
the  contest. 

The  factious  feelings  engendered  thereby 
were  carried  into  the  Fall  nominations  for 
the  Legislature,  and  as  a  result  the  Demo- 
crats obtained  control,  which  in  part  they 
subsequently  lost  by  the  refusal  of  the 
Tammany  Democrats  to  support  their 
nominees  for  presiding  officers.  This  De- 
mocratic division  caused  a  long  and  tire- 
some deadlock  in  the  Legislature  of  New 
York.  It  was  broken  in  the  House  by  a 
promise  on  the  part  of  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  Speaker  to  favor  the  Tam- 
many men  with  a  just  distribution  of  the 
committees  —  a  promise  which  was  not 
satisfactorily  carried  out,  and  as  a  result 
the  Tammany  forces  of  the  Senate  joined 
hands  with  the  Republicans.  The  Repub- 
lican State  ticket  would  also  have  Deen 
lost  in  the  Fall  of  1881,  but  for  the  inter- 
position of  President  Arthur,  who  quickly 
succeeded  in  uniting  the  warring  factions. 
This  work  was  so  well  done,  that  all  save 
one  name  on  the  ticket  (Gen'l  Husted) 
succeeded. 

The  same  factious  spirit  was  manifested 
in  Pennsylvania  in  tne  election  of  U.  S. 
Senator  in  the  winter  of  1881,  the  two  wings 
biking  the  names  of  "  Regulars  "  and  "  In- 
Jependenta."  The  division  occurred  be- 
fore the  New  York  battle,  and  it  is  trace- 
ible  not  alone  to  the  bitter  nominating 
»nte8t  at  Chicago,  but  to  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Hayes  and  the  experi- 
ment of  civil  service  reform.  Administra- 
tions which  are  not  decided  and  firm  upon 
political  issues,  invariably  divide  tneir 
parties,  and  while  these  divisions  are  not 
always  to  be  deplored,  and  sometimes  lead 
to  good  results,  the  fact  that  undecided 
administrations  divide  the  parties  which 
they  represent,  ever  remains.    The  exam- 


ples are  plain :  Van  Buren's,  Tyler's,  Fill- 
more's, Buchanan's,  and  Hayes'.  The  lat- 
ter's  indecision  was  more  excusable  than 
that  of  any  of  his  predecessors.  The  in- 
exorable firmness  of  Grant  caused  the  most 
bitter  partisan  assaults,  and  despite  all  his 
efforts  to  sustain  the  "  carpet-bag  govern- 
ments "  of  the  South,  they  became  unpopu- 
lar and  were  rapidly  supplanted.  As  they 
disappeared,  Democratic  representation 
from  the  South  increased,  and  this  increase 
continued  during  the  administration  of 
Hayes — the  greatest  gains  being  at  times 
when  he  showed  the  greatest  desire  to  con- 
ciliate the  South.  Yet  his  administration 
did  the  party  good,  in  this,  that  while  at 
first  dividing,  it  finally  cemented  through 
the  conviction  that  experiments  of  that 
kind  with  a  proud  Southern  people  were 
as  a  rule  unavailing.  The  re -opening  of 
the  avenues  of  trade  and  other  natural 
causes,  apparently  uncultivated,  have  ac- 
complished in  this  direction  much  more 
than  any  political  effort. 

In  Pennsylvania  a  successor  to  U.  S. 
Senator  Wm.  A.  Wallace  was  to  be  chosen. 
Henry  W.  Oliver,  Jr.,  received  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  Republican  caucus,  the 
friends  of  Galusha  A.  Grow  refusing  to 
enter  after  a  count  had  been  made,  and 
declaring  in  a  written  paper  that  they 
would  not  participate  in  any  caucus,  and 
would  independently  manifest  their  choice 
in  the  Legislature.  The  following  is  the 
first  vote  in  joint  Convention  • 

OLIVER.  WALLACE. 

Senate 20     Senate 16 

House 75     House 77 

Total 95        Total 93 

GEOW.  AGNEW. 

Senate 12    Senate 1 

House 44    House 

Total 56        Total 1 

BREWSTER.  BAIRD. 

Senate Senate 

House 1     House 1 


Total 1 

m'veagh. 

Senate 

House —   1 


Total., 


Total. 


Whole  number  of  votes  cast,  248 ;  ne- 
cessary to  a  choice,  125. 

On  the  17th  of  January  the  two  factions 
issued  opposing  addresses.  From  these 
we  quote  the  leading  ideas,  which  divided 
the  factions.    The  "  Regulars  "  said : 

"Henry  W.  Oliver,  jr.,  of  Allegheny 
county,  was  nominated  on  the  third  ballot, 
receiving  79  of  the  95  votes  present.  Un- 
der the  rules  of  all  parties  Known  to  the 


BOOK  I.] 


REPUBLICAN   FACTIONS. 


255 


present  or  past  history  of  our  country,  a 
majority  of  those  participating  should  have 
been  sufficient ;  but  such  was  the  desire  for 
party  harmony  and  for  absolute  fairness, 
that  a  majority  of  all  the  Republican  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  and  House  was  required 
to  nominate.  The  effect  of  this  was  to 
give  those  remaining  out  a  negative  voice 
in  the  proceedings,  the  extent  of  any  priv- 
ilege given  them  in  regular  legislative  ses- 
sions by  the  Constitution.  In  no  other 
caucus  or  convention  has  the  minority  ever 
found  such  high  consideration,  and  we  be- 
lieve there  remains  no  just  cause  of  com- 
plaint against  the  result.  Even  captious 
faultfinding  can  find  no  place  upon  which 
to  hang  a  sensible  objection.  Mr.  Oliver 
was,  therefore,  fairly  nominated  by  the 
only  body  to  which  is  delegated  the  power 
of  nomination  and  by  methods  which  were 
more  than  just,  which,  from  every  stand- 
point, must  be  regarded  as  generous ;  and 
m  view  of  these  things,  how  can  we,  your 
Senators  and  Representatives,  in  fairness 
withhold  our  support  from  him  in  open 
sessions ;  rather  how  can  we  ever  abandon 
a  claim  established  by  the  rules  regulating 
the  government  of  all  parties,  accepted  by 
all  as  just,  and  which  are  in  exact  harmony 
with  that  fundamental  principle  of  our 
Government  which  proclaims  the  right  of 
the  majority  to  rule?  To  do  otherwise  is 
to  confess  the  injustice  and  the  failure  of 
that  principle — something  we  are  not  pre- 
pared to  do.  It  would  blot  the  titles  to 
our  own  positions.  There  is  not  a  Senator 
or  member  who  does  not  owe  his  nomina- 
tion and  election  to  the  same  great  prin- 
ciple. To  profit  by  its  acceptance  in  our 
own  cases  and  to  deny  it  to  Mr.  Oliver 
would  be  an  exhibition  of  selfishness  too 
flagrant  for  our  taste.  To  acknowledge 
the  right  to  revolt  when  no  unfairness  can 
be  truthfiilly  alleged  and  when  more  than 
a  majority  have  in  the  interest  of  harmony 
been  required  to  govern,  would  be  a  tra- 
vesty upon  every  American  notion  and 
upon  that  sense  of  manliness  which  yields 
wnen  fairly  beaten." 

The  "  Independent "  address  said  . 

"First.  We  recognrize  a  public  senti- 
ment which  demands  that  in  the  selection 
of  a  United  States  Senator  we  have  regard 
to  that  dignity  of  the  office  to  be  filled,  its 
important  duties  and  fiinctions,  and  the 
qualifications  of  the  individual  with  refer- 
ence thereto.  This  sentiment  is,  we  un- 
derstand, that  there  are  other  and  higher 
qualifications  for  this  distinguished  posi- 
tion than  business  experience  and  success, 
and  reckons  among  tnese  the  accomplish- 
ments of  the  scholar,  the  acquirements  of 
the  student,  the  mature  wisdom  of  experi- 
ence and  a  reasonable  familiarity  with 
public  affairs.  It  desires  that  Pennsylva- 
nia shall  be  distinguished  among  her  sister 
CkMnmonwealths,  not  only  by  her  populous 


cities,  her  prosperous  communities,  her 
vast  material  wealth  and  diversified  indus- 
tries and  resources,  but  that  in  the  wis- 
dom, sagacity  and  statesmanship  of  her 
representative  she  shall  occupy  a  corres- 
ponding rank  and  influence.  To  meet 
this  public  expectation  and  demand  we  are 
and  have  at  all  times  been  willing  to  su- 
bordinate our  personal  preferences,  all 
local  considerations  and  factional  differ- 
ences, and  unite  with  our  colleagues  in  the 
selection  of  a  candidate  in  whom  are  com- 
bined at  least  some  of  these  important  and 
essential  qualifications.  It  was  only  when 
it  became  apparent  that  the  party  caucus 
was  to  be  used  to  defeat  this  popular  desire 
and  to  coerce  a  nomination  which  is  con- 
spicuously lacking  in  the  very  essentials 
which  were  demanded,  that  we  determined 
to  absent  ourselves  from  it.  *  *  *  * 
"  Second,  Having  declined  to  enter  the 
caucus,  we  adhere  to  our  determination  to 
defeat,  if  possible,  its  nominee,  but  only  by 
the  election  of  a  citizen  of  unquestioned 
fidelity  to  the  principles  of  the  Republi- 
can party.  In  declaring  our  independency 
from  the  caucus  domination  we  do  not 
forget  our  allegiance  to  the  party  whose 
chosen  representatives  we  are.  The  only 
result  of  our  policy  is  the  transfer  of  the 
contest  from  the  caucus  to  the  joint  con- 
vention of  the  two  houses.  There  will  be 
afforded  an  opportunity  for  the  expression 
of  individual  preferences  and  honorable 
rivalry  for  an  honorable  distinction.  If 
the  choice  shall  fall  upon  one  not  of  ap- 

E roved  loyalty  and  merit,  the  fault  will  not 
e  ours." 

After  a  long  contest  both  of  the  leading 
candidates  withdrew,  and  quickly  the  Reg- 
ulars substituted  General  James  A.  Beaver, 
the  Independent  Congressman,  Thomas 
M.  Bayne.  On  these  names  the  dead-lock 
remained  unbroken.  Without  material 
change  the  balloting  continued  till  Febru- 
ary 17th,  when  both  Republican  factions 
agreed  to  appoint  conference  committees 
of  twelve  each,  with  a  view  to  selecting  by 
a  three-fourths  vote  a  compromise  candi- 
date. The  following  were  the  respective 
committees:  For  the  Independents:  Sena- 
tors Davis,  Bradford ;  Lee,  Venango ;  Stew- 
art, Franklin;  Lawrence,  Washington; 
Representatives  Wolfe,  Union;  Silver- 
thorne,  Erie;  Mapes,  Venango;  McKee, 
Philadelphia;  Slack,  Allegheny;  Stubs, 
Chester;  Niles,  Tioga;  and  Derickson, 
Crawford.  For  the  Regulars:  Senators 
Greer,  Butler;  Herr,  Dauphin;  Smith, 
Philadelphia;  Keefer,  Schuylkill;  Cooper, 
Delaware ;  Representatives  Pollock,  Phila- 
delphia; Moore,  Allegheny;  Marshall, 
Huntingdon;  Hill,  Indiana;  Eshleman. 
Lancaster;  Thomson,  Armstrong;  and 
Billingsley,  Washington. 

The  joint  convention  held  daily  sessions 
and  balloted  without  result  until  February 


256 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


22d,  when  John  I.  Mitchell,  of  Tioga, 
Congressman  from  the  16th  district,  was 
unanimously  agreed  upon  as  a  compro- 
mise candidate.  He  was  nominated  by  a 
full  Republican  caucus  on  the  morning  of 
February  23d,  and  elected  on  the  first  bal- 
lot in  joint  convention  on  that  day,  the 
vote  standing:  Mitchell,  150 ;  Wallace,  92; 
MacVeagh,  1;  Brewster,  1. 

The  spirit  of  this  contest  continued  until 
fall.  Senator  Da  vies,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Grow, 
was  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Repub- 
lican nomination  for  State  Treasurer.  He 
was  beaten  by  General  Silas  M.  Baily, 
and  Davies  and  his  friends  cordially  maae 
Baily's  nomination  unanimous.  Charles 
S.  Wolfe,  himself  the  winter  before  a  can- 
didate for  United  States  Senator,  was  dis- 
satisfied. He  suddenly  raised  the  Inde- 
Sendent  flag,  in  a  telegram  to  the  Phila- 
elphia  Press,  and  as  he  announced  was 
"  the  nominee  of  a  convention  of  one "  for 
State  Treasurer.  After  a  canvass  of  re- 
markable energy  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Wolfe, 
General  Baily  was  elected,  without  suffer- 
ing materially  from  the  division.  Mr. 
Wolfe  obtained  nearly  50,000  votes,  but  as 
almost  half  of  them  were  Democratic,  the 
result  was,  as  stated,  not  seriously  affected. 

The  Independents  in  Pennsylvania, 
however,  were  subdivided  into  two  wings, 
known  as  the  Continental  and  the  Wolfe 
men — the  former  having  met  since  the 
election  last  fall,  (State  Senator  John 
Stewart,  chairman)  and  proclaimed  them- 
selves willing  and  determined  to  abide  all 
Republican  nominations  fairly  made,  and 
to  advocate  "reform  within  the  party 
lines."  These  gentlemen  supported  Gen. 
Baily  and  largely  contributed  to  his  suc- 
cess, and  as  a  rule  they  regard  with  dis- 
favor equal  to  that  of  the  Regulars,  what 
is  known  as  the  Wolfe  movement.  These 
divisions  have  not  extended  to  other  States, 
nor  have  they  yet  assumed  the  shape  of 
third  parties  unless  Mr.  Wolfe's  individual 
canvass  can  be  thus  classed.  Up  to  this 
writing  (March  10,  1882,)  neither  wing 
has  taken  issue  with  President  Arthur  or 
his  appointments,  though  there  were  some 
temporary  indications  of  this  when  Attor- 
ney General  MacVeagh,  of  Pennsylvania, 
jiersisted  in  having  his  resignation  ac- 
cepted. President  Arthur  rerased  to  ac- 
cept, on  the  ^ound  that  he  desired  Mac- 
Veagh's  services  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
Star  Route  cases,  and  Mr.  MacVeagh  with- 
drew for  personal  and  other  reasons  not 
yet  fully  explained.  In  this  game  of  po- 
litical fence  the  position  of  the  President 
was  greatly  strengthened. 

Singularly  enough,  in  the  only  two 
States  where  factious  divisions  have  been 
recently  manifested  in  the  Republican 
ranks,  they  effected  almost  if  not  quite  as 
seriously  the  Democratic  party.  There 
can  be  but  one  deduction  drawn  from  this. 


to  wit: — ^That  a  number  in  both  of  the 
great  parties,  were  for  the  time  at  least, 
weary  of  their  allegiance.  It  is  possible 
that  nothing  short  of  some  great  issue  will 
restore  the  old  partisan  unity,  and  partisan 
unity  in  a  Republic,  where  there  are  but 
two  great  parties,  is  not  to  be  deplored  if 
relieved  of  other  than  mere  political  dif- 
ferences. The  existence  of  but  two  great 
parties,  comparatively  free  from  factions, 
denotes  government  health;  where  divi- 
sions are  numerous  and  manifest  increas- 
ing growth  and  stubbornness,  there  is  grave 
danger  to  Republican  institutions.  We 
need  not,  however,  philosophize  when 
Mexico  and  the  South  American  Repub- 
lics are  so  near. 


The  Cancns. 

Both  the  "Independents"  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  "  Half- Breeds  "  of  New  York 
at  first  proclaimed  their  opposition  to  the 
caucus  system  of  nominating  candidates 
for  U.  S.  Senators,  and  the  newspapers  in 
their  interest  wrote  as  warmly  for  a  time 
against  "  King  Caucus"  as  did  the  dissat- 
tisfied  Democratic  journals  in  the  %ys  of 
De  W^itt  Clinton.  The  eituation,  however, 
was  totally  different,  and  mere  declamation 
could  not  long  withstand  the  inevitable. 
In  Pennsylvania  almost  nightly  "  confer- 
ences "  were  held  by  the  Independents,  as 
indeed  they  were  in  New  York,  though  in 
both  States  a  show  of  hostility  was  kept  up 
to  nominating  in  party  caucus  men  who 
were  to  be  elected  by  representative,  more 
plainly  legislative  votes.  It  was  at  first 
claimed  that  in  the  Legislature  each  man 
ought  to  act  for  himself  or  his  constituents, 
but  very  shortly  it  was  found  that  the  cau- 
cuses ojt  the  separate  wings  were  as  binding 
upon  the  respective  wings  as  they  could 
have  been  upon  the  whole.  Dead-locks 
were  interminable  as  long  as  this  condition 
of  affairs  obtained,  and  hostility  to  the 
caucus  system  was  before  very  long  quietly 
discouraged  and  finally  flatly  abandoned, 
for  each  struggle  was  ended  by  the  ratifi- 
cation of  a  general  caucus,  and  none  of 
them  could  have  been  ended  without  it. 
The  several  attempts  to  find  other  means 
to  reach  a  result,  only  led  the  participants 
farther  away  from  the  true  principle,  under 
republican  forms  at  least,  of  the  right  of 
the  majority  to  rule.  In  Pennsylvania, 
when  Mr.  Oliver  withdrew,  fifty  of  his 
friends  assembled  and  informally  named 
General  Beaver,  and  by  this  action  sought 
to  bind  the  original  95  friends  of  Oliver. 
Their  conduct  was  excused  by  the  plea  that 
they  represented  a  majority  of  their  fac- 
tion. It  failed  to  bind  all  of  the  original 
number,  though  some  of  the  Independenta 
were  won.  The  Independents,  rather  the 
original  44,  bound  themselves  in  writing 
not  to  change  their  course  of  action  unless 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CAUCUS. 


257 


there  was  secured  the  previous  concurrence 
of  two-thirds,  and  this  principle  was  ex- 
tended to  the  06  who  suj)ported  Mr.  Bayne. 
Then  when  the  joint  committee  ol"  24  was 
agreed  upon,  it  was  bound  by  a  rule  re- 

3 Hiring  three-fuurths  to  recommend  a  can- 
idate.  All  of  these  were  plain  departures 
from  a  great  principle,  and  the  deeper  the 
contest  became,  the  greater  the  departure. 
True,  these  were  but  voluntary  forms,  but 
they  were  indel'ensible,  and  are  only  re- 
ferred to  now  to  show  the  danger  of  mad 
assaults  upon  great  principles  when  per- 
sonal and  factious  aims  are  at  stake.  Op- 
position to  the  early  Congressional  caucus 
was  plainly  right,  since  one  department  of 
the  Government  was  by  voluntary  agencies 
actually  controlling  another,  while  the  law 
gave  legal  forms  which  could  be  more  pro- 
perly initiated  through  voluntary  action. 
The  writer  believes,  and  past  contests  all 
confirm  the  view  that  the  voluntary  action 
can  only  be  safely  employed  by  the"  power 
by  the  law  with  the  right  of  selection. 
Thus  the  people  elect  township,  county  and 
State  officers,  and  it  is  their  right  and  duty 
by  the  best  attainable  voluntary  action  to 
indicate  their  choice.  This  is  done  through 
the  caucus  or  convention,  the  latter  not 
differing  from  the  former  save  in  extent 
and  possibly  breadth  of  representation. 
The  same  rule  applies  to  all  offices  elective 
by  the  people.  It  cannot  properly  apply 
to  appointive  offices,  and  while  the  attempt 
to  apply  it  to  the  election  of  U.  S.  Senators 
shows  a  strong  desire  on  the  part,  frequently 
of  the  more  public-spirited  citizens,  to  ex- 
ercise a  greater  sliare  in  the  selection  of 
these  officers  than  the  law  directly  gives 
them,  yet  their  representatives  can  very 
properly  be  called  upon  to  act  as  they  would 
act  if  they  had  direct  power  in  the  pre- 
mises, and  sucli  action  leads  them  into  a 
party  caucus,  where  the  will  of  the  majority 
of  their  respective  parties  can  be  fairly 
ascertained,  and  when  ascertained  re- 
spected. The  State  Legislatures  appoint 
U.  S.  Senators,  and  the  Eepresentatives 
and  Senators  of  the  States  are  bound  to 
consider  in  their  selection  the  good  of  the 
entire  State.  If  this  comports  with  the 
wish  of  their  respective  districts,  very 
well ;  if  it  does  not,  their  duty  is  not  less 
plain.  Probably  the  time  will  never  come 
when  the  people  will  elect  United  States 
Senators  ;  to  do  that  is  to  radically  change 
the  Federal  system,  and  to  practically  de- 
strov  one  of  the  most  important  branches 
of  the  Government ;  yet  he  is  not  a  careful 
observer  who  does  not  note  a  growing  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  the  people,  and 
largely  the  people  of  certain  localities,  and 
imaginary  political  sub-divisions,  to  control 
these  selections.  The  same  is  true  of 
Presidential  nominations,  where  masses  of 
people  deny  the  right  of  State  Conventions 
to  instruct  their  delegates-at-large.  In 
17 


many  States  the  people  composing  either 
of  the  great  parties  now  select  their 
own  representative  delegates  to  National 
Conventions,  and  where  their  selections 
are  not  respected,  grave  party  danger  is 
sure  to  follow.  There  is  nothing  wrong  in 
this,  since  it  points  to,  and  is  but  paving 
the  way  for  a  more  popular  selection  of 
Presidents  and  Vice  Presidents — to  an 
eventual  selection  of  Presidential  electors 
probably  by  Congressional  districts.  Yet 
those  to  be  selected  at  large  must  through 
practical  voluntary  forms  be  nominated  in 
that  way,  and  the  partisan  State  Conven- 
tion is  the  best  method  yet  devised  for  this 
work,  and  its  instructions  should  be  as 
binding  as  those  of  the  people  upon  their 
representatives.  In  this  government  of 
ours  there  is  voluntary  and  legal  work 
delegated  to  the  people  directly ;  there  is 
legal  work  delegated  to  appointing  powers, 
and  an  intelligent  discrimination  should 
ever  be  exercised  between  the  two.  "  Ren- 
der unto  Coesar  those  things  which  ai"e 
Caesar's,"  unless  there  be  a  plain  desire, 
backed  by  a  good  reason,  to  promote  popu- 
lar reforms  as  enduring  as  the  practices  and 
principles  which  they  are  intended  to 
support. 

Fredrick  W.  Whitridge,  in  an  able  re- 
view of  the  caucus  system  published  *  in  I^a- 
lor's  Enajclopcedia  of  Political  Science,  says : 

"A  caucus,  in  the  political  vocabulary 
of  the  United  States,  is  primarily  a  private 
meeting  of  voters  holding  similar  views, 
held  prior  to  an  election  fOr  the  purpose  of 
furthering  such  views  at  the  election. 
With  the  development  of  parties,  and  the 
rule  of  majorities,  the  caucus  or  some 
equivalent  has  become  an  indispensable 
adjunct  to  party  government,  and  it  may 
now  be  defined  as  a  meeting  of  the  majority 
of  the  electors  belonging  to  the  same  party 
in  any  political  or  legislative  body  .held 
preliminary  to  a  meeting  thereof,  for  the 
purpose  of  selecting  candidates  to  be 
voted  for,  or  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
termining the  cotirse  of  the  partj'  at 
the  meeting  of  the  whole  body.  The 
candidates  of  each  party  are  univer- 
sally^ selected  by  caucus,  either  directly  or 
indirectly  through  delegates  to  conven- 
tions chosen  in  caucuses.  In  legislative 
bodies  the  course  of  each  party  is  often 
predetermined  with  certainty  in  caucus, 
and  often  discussion  between  parties  has 
been,  in  consequence,  in  some  degree 
superseded.  The  caucus  system  is,  in 
short,  the  basis  of  a  complete  electoral 
system  which  has  grown  up  within  each 
party,  side  by  side  with  that  which  is  alone 
contemplated  by  the  laws.  This  condition 
has  in  recent  years  attracted  much  atten- 
tion, and  has  been  bitterly  announced  as 
an  evil.  It  was,  however,  early  foreseen. 
John  Adams,  in  1814,  wrote  in  the  "  Tenth 

*  By  Band  &  SlcNally,  Chicago,  III.,  1882. 


258 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Letter  on  Government:"  "Thej^  have 
invented  a  balance  to  all  balance  in  their 
caucuses.  We  have  congressional  caucuses, 
state  caucuses,  county  caucuses,  city  cau- 
cuses, district  caucuses,  town  caucuses, 
parish  caucuses,  and  Sunday  caucuses  at 
church  doors,  and  in  these  aristocratical 
caucuses  elections  have  been  decided."  The 
caucus  is  a  necessary  consequence  of 
majority  rule.  If  the  majority  is  to  define 
the  policy  of  a  party,  there  must  be  some 
method  within  each  party  of  ascertaining 
the  mind  of  the  majority,  and  settling  the 
party  programme,  before  it  meets  the  op- 
posing'party  at  the  polls.  The  Carlton 
and  Keiorm  clubs  discharge  for  the  Tories 
and  Liberals  many  of  the  functions  of  a 
congressional  caucus.  Meetings  of  the 
members  of  the  parties  in  the  reichstag, 
the  corps  legislatif  and  the  chamber  of 
deputies  are  not  unusual,  although  they 
have  generally  merely  been  for  consulta- 
tion, and  neither  in  England,  France, 
Germany  or  Italy,  has  any  such  authority 
been  conceded  to  the  wish  of  the  majority 
of  a  party  as  we  have  rested  in  the  deci- 
sion of  a  caucus.  What  has  been  called  a 
caucus  has  been  established  by  the 
Liberals  of  Birmingham,  England,  as  to 
which,  see  a  paper  by  W.  Eraser  E,ae,  in 
the  "  International  Review  "  for  August, 
1880.  The  origin  of  the  term  caucus  is 
obscure.  It  has  been  derived  from  the 
Algonquin  word  Kaw-kaw-wus — ^to  con- 
sult, to  speak — but  the  more  probable 
derivation  makes  it  a  corruption  of 
caulkers.  In  the  early  politics  of  Boston, 
and  particularly  during  the  early  difiicul- 
ties  between  the  townsmen  and  the  British 
troops,  the  seafaring  men  and  those  em- 
ployed about  the  ship  yards  were  promi- 
nent among  the  town-people,  and  there 
were  numerous  gatherings  which  may 
have  very  easily  come  to  be  called  by 
way  of  reproach  a  meeting  of  caulkers, 
after  the  least  influential  class  who  at- 
tended them,  or  from  the  caulking  house 
or  caulk  house  in  which  they  were  held. 
What  was  at  first  a  derisive  description, 
came  to  be  an  appellation,  and  the  gather- 
ings of  so-called  caulkers  became  a  cau- 
cus. John  Pickering,  in  a  vocabulary  of 
words  and  phrases  peculiar  to  the  United 
States  (Boston,  1816),  gives  this  derivation 
of  the  word,  and  says  several  gentlemen 
mentioned  to  him  that  they  had  heard 
this  derivation.  Gordon,  writing  in  1774, 
says :  "  More  thati  fifty  years  ago  Mr. 
Samuel  Adams'  father  and  twenty  others, 
one  or  two  from  t'le  north  end  of  the  town 
where  all  the  shi  business  is  carried  on, 
used  to  meet,  make  a  caucus  and  lay  their 
plan  for  introducing  certain  persons  into 
places  of  trust  and  power.  When  they  had 
settled  it  they  separated,  and  each  used 
their  particular  influence  within  his  own 
circle.    He  and  his  friends  would  furnish 


themselves  with  ballots,  including  the 
names  of  the  parties  fixed  upon,  which 
they  distributed  on  the  days  of  election. 
By  acting  in  concert,  together  with  a  care- 
ful and  extensive  distribution  of  ballots, 
they  generally  carried  their  elections  to 
their  own  mind.  In  like  manner  it  was 
that  Mr.  Samuel  Adams  first  became  a 
representative  for  Boston."  {History  oj 
the  American  Revolution,  vol.  i.,  p.  365.) 
February,  1763,  Adams  writes  in  his 
diary  :  "  This  day  I  learned  that  the  cau- 
cus club  meets  at  certain  times  in  the  gar- 
ret of  Tom  Dawes,  the  adjutant  of  the  Bos- 
ton regiment.  He  has  a  large  house  and 
he  has  a  movable  partition  in  his  garret 
which  he  takes  down  and  the  whole  club 
meets  in  his  room.  There  they  smoke 
tobacco  until  they  cannot  see  one  end  of 
the  room  from  another.  There  they  drink 
flip,  I  suppose,  and  there  they  choose  a 
moderator  who  puts  questions  to  the  vote 
regularly ;  and  selectmen,  assessors,  col- 
lectors, wardens,  fire  wards  and  representa- 
tives are  regularly  chosen  in  the  town. 
Uncle  Fairfield,  Story,  Ruddock,  Adams, 
Cooper,  and  a  rudis  indigestaques  moles  ot 
others,  are  members.  They  send  commit- 
tees to  wait  on  the  merchants'  club,  and  to 
propose  in  the  choice  of  men  and  measures. 
Captain  Cunningham  says,  they  have  of- 
ten solicited  him  to  go  to  the  caucuses ; 
they  have  assured  him  their  benefit  in  hia 
business,  etc."  (Adams'  Works,  vol.  ii.,  p. 
144.)  Under  the  title  caucus  should  be 
considered  the  congressional  nominating 
caucus ;  the  caucuses  of  legislative  assem- 
blies ;  primary  elections,  still  known  out- 
side the  larger  cities  as  caucuses  ;  the  evils 
which  have  been  attributed  to  the  latter, 
and  the  remedies  which  have  been  pro- 
posed. These  will  accordingly  be  men- 
tioned in  the  order  given. 

"  The  democratic  system  is  the  result  of 
the  reorganization  of  the  various  anti- 
Tammany  democratic  factions,  brought 
about,  in  1881,  by  a  practically  self-ap- 
pointed committee  of  100.  Under  this  sys- 
tem primary  elections  are  to  be  held  annu- 
ally in  each  of  678  election  districts,  at 
which  all  democratic  electors  resident  in 
the  respective  districts  may  participate,  pro- 
vided they  were  registered  at  the  last  gene- 
ral election.  The  persons  voting  at  any 
primary  shall  be  members  of  the  election 
district  association  for  the  ensuing  year, 
which  is  to  be  organized  in  January  of  each 
year.  The  associations  may  admit  demo- 
cratic residents  in  their  respective  districts, 
who  are  not  members,  to  membership,  and 
they  have  general  supervision  of  the  inte- 
rests of  the  party  within  their  districts. 
Primaries  are  held  on  not  less  than  four 
days'  public  notice,  through  the  newspa- 
pers, of  the  time  and  place,  and  at  the  ap- 
pointed time  the  meeting  is  called  to  order 
oy  the  chairman  of  the  election  district  as- 


BOOK  I.] 


•THE    CAUCUS. 


259 


sociation,  provided  twenty  persons  be  pre- 
sent; if  that  number  shall  not  be  present, 
the  meeting  may  be  called  to  order  with  a 
less  number,  at  the  end  of  fifteen  minutes. 
The  first  business  of  the  meeting  is  to  se- 
lect a  chairman,  and  all  elections  of  dele- 
gates or  committeemen  shall  take  place  in 
open  meeting.  Each  person,  as  he  offers  to 
vote,  states  his  name  and  residence,  which 
may  be  compared  with  the  registration  list 
at  the  last  election,  and  each  person  shall 
state  for  whom  he  votes,  or  he  may  hand  to 
the  judges  an  open  ballot,  having  designated 
thereon  the  persons  for  whom  he  votes,  and 
for  what  positions.  Nominations  are  all 
made  by  conventions  of  delegates  from  the 
districts  within  which  the  candidate  to  be 
cho  sen  is  to  be  voted  for.  There  is  an  as- 
sembly district  committee  in  each  assembly 
district,  composed  of  one  delegate  for  each 
100  votes  or  fraction  thereof,  from  each 
election  district  within  the  assembly  dis- 
trict. There  is  also  a  county  committee 
composed  of  delegates  from  each  of  the  as- 
sembly district  committees.  The  function 
of  these  committees  is  generally  to  look  af- 
ter the  interests  of  the  parties  within  their 
respective  spheres.  This  system  is  too  new 
for  its  workings  to  be  as  yet  fairly  criti- 
cised. It  may  prove  a  really  popular  sys- 
tem, or  it  may  prove  only  an  inchoate  form 
of  the  other  systems.  At  present  it  can 
only  be  said  that  the  first  primaries  under 
it  were  participated  in  by  27,000  electors. 

"The  evils  of  the  caucus  and  primary 
election  systems  lie  in  the  stringent  obliga- 
tion which  is  attached  to  the  will  of  a  for- 
mal majority ;  in  the  fact  that  the  process 
of  ascertaining  what  the  will  of  the  major- 
ity is,  has  been  surrounded  with  so  many 
restrictions  that  the  actual  majority  of  votes 
are  disfranchised,  and  take  no  part  in  that 
process,  so  that  the  formal  majority  is  in 
consequence  no  longer  the  majority  in  fact, 
although  it  continues  to  demand  recogni- 
tion of  its  decisions  as  such. 

"  The  separation  between  the  organiza- 
tion and  the  party,  between  those  who  no- 
minate and  those  who  elect,  is  the  sum  of 
the  evils  of  the  too  highly  organized  cau- 
cus system.  It  has  its  roots  in  the  notion 
that  the  majority  is  right,  because  it  is  the 
majority,  which  i^  the  popular  view  thus 
expressed  by  Hammond :  '  I  think  that 
when  political  friends  consent  to  go  into 
caucus  for  the  nomination  of  officers,  eveiy 
member  of  such  caucus  is  bound  in  honor 
to  support  and  carry  into  effect  its  deter- 
mination. If  you  suspect  that  determina- 
tion will  be  so  preposterous  that  you  can- 
not in  conscience  support  it,  then  you  ought 
on  no  account  to  become  one  of  its  mem- 
bers. To  try  your  chance  in  a  caucus,  and 
then,  because  your  wishes  are  not  gratified, 
to  attempt  to  defeat  the  result  of  the  deli- 
beration of  your  friends,  strikes  me  as  a 
palpable  violation  of  honor  and  good  faith. 


You  caucus  for  no  other  possible  purpose 
than  under  the  implied  argument  that  the 
opinion  and  wishes  of  the  minority  shall  be 
yielded  to  the  opinions  of  the  majority,  and 
ihe  sole  object  of  caucusing  is  to  ascertain 
what  is  the  will  of  the  majority.  I  repeat 
that  unless  you  intend  to  carry  into  effect 
the  wishes  of  the  majority,  however  con- 
trary to  your  own,  you  have  no  business  at 
a  caucus.'  {Political  History  of  New  York, 
vol.  i.,  p.  192). — In  accordance  with  this 
theory,  the  will  of  the  majority  becomes 
obligatory  as  soon  as  it  is  made  known,  and 
one  cannot  assist  at  a  caucus  in  m-der  to 
ascertain  the  will  of  the  majority,  ^thout 
thereby  being  bound  to  follow  it ;  and  the 
theory  is  so  deeply  rooted  that,  under  the 
caucus  and  primary  election  system,  it  has 
been  extended  to  cases  in  which  the  ma- 
jorities are  such  only  in  form. 

"  The  remedies  as  well  as  the  evils  of  tlie 
caucus  and  nominating  system  have  be^ai 
made  the  subject  of  general  discussion  in 
connection  with  civil  service  reform.  It  is 
claimed  that  that  reform,  by  giving  to  pub- 
lic officers  the  same  tenure  of  their  positions 
which  is  enjoyed  by  the  employes  of  a  cor- 
poration or  a  private  business  house,  or 
during  the  continuance  of  efficiency  or  good 
behaviour,  would  abolish  or  greatly  dir/ii- 
nish  the  evils  of  the  caucus  system  by  de- 
priving public  officers  of  the  illegitims^le 
incentive  to  maintain  it  under  which  they 
now  act.  Other  more  speculative  remedies 
have  been  suggested.  It  is  proposed,  (m 
the  one  hand,  to  very  greatly  diminish  the 
number  of  elective  officers,  and,  in  order  to 
do  away  with  the  pre-determination  of  elec- 
tions, to  restrict  the  political  action  of  the 
people  in  their  own  persons  to  districts  so 
small  that  they  can  meet  together  and  act 
as  one  body,  and  that  in  all  other  affairs 
than  those  of  these  small  districts  the 
people  should  act  by  delegates.  The  the-  • 
ory  here  seems  to  be  to  get  rid  of  the  ne- 
cessity for  election  and  nominating  ma- 
chinery. (See  'A  True  Republic,'  by  Al- 
bert Strickney,  New  York,  1879;  and  a  se- 
ries of  articles  in  Scribner's  Monthly  for 
1881,  by  the  same  writer).  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  proposed  to  greatly  increase  the 
number  of  elections,  by  taking  the  whole 
primary  system  under  the  protection  of  the 
law.*  This  plan  proposes :  1.  The  direct 
nomination  of  candidates  by  the  members 
of  the  respective  political  parties  in  place 
of  nominations  by  delegates  in  conventions. 
2.  To  apply  the  election  laws  to  primaiy 
elections.  3.  To  provide  that  both  politi- 
cal parties  shall  participate  in  the  same 
primary  election  instead  of  having  a  differ- 
ent caucus  for  each  party.  4.  To  provide 
for  a  final  election  to  be  held  between  two 
candidates,  each  representative  of  a  party 

•  This  was  partially  done  by  the  Legislature  of 
Pennsylvania  m  1881. 


260 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  r. 


■who  have  been  selected  by  means  of  the 

Srimary  election.  This  plan  would  un- 
oubtedly  do  away  with  the  evils  of  the 
present  caucus  system,  but  it  contains  no 
guarantee  that  a  new  caucus  system  would 
not  be  erected  for  the  purpose  of  influ- 
encing 'the  primary  election'  in  the  same 
manner  in  which  the  present  primary  sys- 
tem now  influences  the  final  election.  (Bee 
however  *  The  Elective  Franchise  in  the 
United  States,'  New  York,  1880,  by  D.  C. 
McClellan.) — The  effective  remedy  for  the 
evils  of  the  caucus  system  will  probably  be 
found  in  the  sanction  of  primary  elections 
by  law.*  *  *  *  Bills  for  this  purpose  were 
introduced  by  the  Hon.  Erastus  Brooks  in 
the  New  York  Legislature  in  1881,  Avhich 
provided  substantially  for  the  system  pro- 
posed by  Mr.  McClellan,  but  they  were  left 
unacted  upon,  and  no  legislative  attempt 
to  regulate  primaries,  except  by  providing 
for  their  being  called,  and  for  their  pro- 
cedeure,  has  been  made  elsewhere.  In 
Ohio  what  is  known  as  the  Baber  law  pro- 
vides that  where  any  voluntary  political 
a.ssociation  orders  a  primary,  it  must  be  by 
a  majority  vote  of  the  central  or  control- 
ling committee  of  such  party  or  association ; 
that  the  call  must  be  published  for  at  least 
five  days  in  the  newspapers,  and  state  the 
time  and  place  of  the  meeting,  the  autho- 
rity by  which  it  was  called,  and  the  name 
of  the  person  who  is  to  represent  that  au- 
thority at  each  poll.  The  law  also  provides 
for  challenging  voters,  for  punishment  of 
illegal  voting,  and  for  the  bribery  or  inter- 
vention of  electttrs  or  judges.  [Bev.  Stat. 
Ohio,  sees.  291(5-2921.)  A  similar  law  in 
Missouri  is  made  applicable  to  counties 
■  only  of  over  100,000  inhabitants,  but  by 
this  law  it  is  made  optional  with  the  volun- 
tary political  association  whether  it  will  or 
not  hold  its  primaries  under  the  law,  and 
•if  it  does,  it  is  provided  that  the  county 
shall  incur  no  expense  in  the  conduct  of 
such  elections.     {Laws  of  Missouri    1815, 

SK  54.)  A  similar  law  also  exists  .in  Cali- 
ornia.  ( Laws  of  California,  1865-1866,  p. 
438.)  These  laws  comprise  all  the  existing 
legislation  on  the  subject,  except  what  is 
known  as  the  Landis  Bill  of  1881,  which 
requires  primary  oflScers  to  take  an  oath, 
and  which  punishes  fraud." 


Assassination  of  President  Garfleld. 

At  9  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Satur- 
day, July  2d,  1881,  President  Garfield,  ac- 
companied by  Secretary  Blaine,  left  the 
Executive  Mansion- to  take  a  special  train 
from  the  Baltimore  and  Potomac  depot 
for  New  England,  where  he  intended  to 
visit  the  college  from  which  he  had  gradu- 
ated. Arriving  at  the  depot,  he  was  walk- 
ing arm-in-arm  through  the  main  waiting- 
room,  when  Charles  J.  Guiteau,  a  persist- 
ent applicant  for  an  office,  who  had  some 


time  previously  entered  through  the  main 
door,  advanced  to  the  centre  of  the  room, 
and  having  reached  within  a  few  feet  of 
his  victim,  fiited  two  shots,  one  of  which 
took  fatal  effect.  The  bullet  was  of  forty- 
four  calibre,  and  striking  the  President 
about  four  iuchas  to  the  right  of  the  spinal 
column,  struck  the  tenth  and  badly  shat- 
tered the  eleventh  rib.  The  President 
sank  to  the  floor,  and  was  conveyed  to  a 
room  where  temporary  conveniences  were 
attainable,  and  a  couch  was  improvised. 
Dr.  Bliss  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to' 
find  the  ball.  The  shock  to  the  President's 
system  was  very  severe,  and  at  first  appre- 
hensions were  felt  that  death  would  ensue 
speedily.  Two  hours  after  the  shooting, 
the  physicians  decided  to  remove  him  to 
the  Executive  Mansion.  An  army  ambu- 
lance was  procured,  and  the  removal  ef- 
fected. Soon  after,  vomiting  set  in,  and  the 
patient  exhibited  a  dangerous  degree  of 
prostration,  which  threatened  to  end  speed- 
ily in  dissolution.  This  hopeless  condition 
of  affairs  continued  until  past  midnight, 
when  more  favorable  symptoms  were  ex- 
hibited. Dr.  Bliss  was  on  this  Sunday 
morning  designated  to  take  charge  of  the 
case,  and  he  called  Surgeon  -  General 
Barnes,  Assistant  Surgeon-General  Wood- 
ward, and  Dr.  Reyburn  as  consulting  phy- 
sician. To  satisfy  the  demand  of  the 
country,  Drs.  Agnew,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Hamilton,  of  New  York,  were  also  sum- 
I  moned  by  telegraph,  and  arrived  on  a 
j  special  train  over  the  Pennsylvania  Eail- 
I  road,  Sunday  afternoon.  For  several  days 
;  immediately  succeeding  the  shooting,  the 
patient  suffered  great  inconvenience  i<nd 
pain  in  the  lower  limbs.  This  created  an 
I  apprehension  that  the  spinal  nerves  had 
I  been  injured,  and  death  was  momentarily 
exi)ected.  On  the  night  of  July  4th  a 
j  favorable  turn  was  observed,  and  the  morn- 
j  ing  of  the  5th  brought  with  it  a  vague  but 
!  undefined  hope  that  a  favorable  issue 
might  ensue.  Under  this  comforting  con- 
j  viction,  Drs.  Agnew  and  Hamilton,  after 
consultation  with  the  resident  medical  at- 
tendants, returned  to  their  homes ;  first 
having  published  to  the  country  an  in- 
dorsement of  the  treatment  inaugurated. 
During  July  5th  and  6th  the  patient  con- 
tinued to  improve,  the  pulse  and  respira- 
tion showing  a  marked  approach  to  the 
condition  of  healthfulness,  the  former 
being  reported  on  the  morning  of  the  6th 
at  98,  and  in  the  evening  it  only  increased 
to  104.  On  the  7th  Dr.  Bliss  became  very 
confident  of  ultimate  triumph  over  the 
malady.  In  previous  bulletins  meagrn 
hope  was  given,  and  the  chances  for  recO' 
ver>-  estimated  at  one  in  a  hundred. 

From  July  7th  to  the  16th  there  was  a 
slight  but  uninterrupted  improvement,  and 
the  country  began  to  entertain  a  confident 
hope  that  the  patient  would  recover. 


BOOK  I.] 


"BOSS   RULE." 


261 


Hope  and  fear  alternated  from  day  to 
day,  amid  the  most  painful  excitement. 
On  the  8th  of  August  Drs.  Agnew  and 
Hamilton  had  to  perform  their  second 
operation  to  allow  a  free  flow  of  pus  from 
the  wound.  This  Resulted  in  an  important 
discovery.  It  was  ascertained  that  the 
track  of  the  bullet  had  turned  from  its 
downward  deflection  to  a  forward  course. 
The  operation  lasted  an  hour,  and  ether 
was  administered,  the  eflect  of  which  was 
very  unfortunate.  Nausea  succeeded,  and 
vomiting  followed  every  effort  to  adminis- 
ter nourishment  for  some  time.  However, 
he  soon  rallied,  and  the  operation  was  pro- 
nounced successful,  and,  on  the  following 
day,  the  President,  for  the  first  time,  wrote 
his  name.  On  the  10th  he  signed  an  im- 
portant extradition  paper,  and  on  the  11th 
wrote  a  letter  of  hopefulness  to  his  aged 
mother.  On  the  12th  Dr.  Hamilton  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  the  further  at- 
tendance of  himself  and  Dr.  Agnew  was 
unnecessary.  The  stomach  continued 
weak,  however,  and  on  the  loth  nau-iea  re- 
turned, and  the  most  menacing  physical 
prostration  followed  the  frequent  vomiting, 
and  the  evening  bulletin  announced  that 
"  the  President's  condition,  on  the  whole, 
is  less  satisfactory." 

Next  a  new  complication  forced  itself 
upon  the  attention  of  the  physicians.  This 
was  described  as  "  inflammation  of  the 
right  parotid  gland."  On  August  24th  it 
was  decided  to  make  an  incision  below 
and  forward  of  the  right  ear,  in  order  to 
prevent  suppuration.  Though  this  opera- 
tion was  pronounced  satisfactorj',  the  pa- 
tient gradually  sank,  until  August  25th, 
when  all  hope  seemed  to  have  left  those 
in  attendance. 

Two  days  of  a  dreary  watch  ensued  ;  on 
the  27th  an  improvement  inspired  new 
hope.  This  continued  throughout  the 
week,  but  failed  to  build  up  the  system. 
Then  it  was  determined  to  remove  the  pa- 
tient to  a  more  favorable  atmosphere.  On 
the  6  th  of  September  this  design  was  exe- 
cuted, he  having  been  conveyed  in  a  car 
arranged  for  the  purpose  to  Long  Branch, 
where,  in  a  cottage  at  Elberon,  it  was 
hoped  vigor  would  return.  At  first,  indi- 
cations justified  the  most  sanguine  expec- 
tations. On  the  9th,  however,  fever  re- 
turned, and  a  cou^h  came  to  harass  the 
wasted  sufferer.  It  waai  attended  with 
purulent  expectoration,  and  became  so 
troublesome  as  to  entitle  it  to  be  regarded 
as  the  leading  feature  of  the  case.  The 
surgeons  attributed  it  to  the  septic  condi- 
tion of  the  blood.  The  trouble  increased 
until  Saturday,  September  10th,  when  it 
was  thought  the  end  was  reached.  He 
rallied,  however,  and  improved  rapidly, 
during  the  succeeding  few  days,  and  on 
Tuesday,  the  13th,  was  lifted  from  the  bed 
and  placed  in  a  chair  at  the  window.  The 


improvement  was  not  enduring,  however, 
and  on  Saturday,  September  17th,  the 
rigor  returned.  During  the  nights  and 
days  succeeding,  until  the  final  moment, 
hope  rose  and  fell  alternately,  and  though 
the  patient's  spirits  fluctuated  to  justify 
this  change  of  feeling,  the  improvement 
failed  to  bring  with  it  the  strength  neces- 
sary to  meet  the  strain. 

President  Garfield  died  at  10.35  on  the 
night  of  Sept.  19th,  1881,  and  our  nation 
mourned,  as  it  had  only  done  once  before, 
when  Abraham  Lincoln  also  fell  by  the 
hand  of  an  assassin.  The  assassin  Guiteau 
was  tried  and  convicted,  the  jury  rejecting 
his  plea  of  insanity. 


President  Arthur. 

Vice-President  Arthur,  during  the  long 
illness  of  the  President,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  deported  himself  so  well  that  he 
won  the  good  opinion  of  nearly  all  classes 
of  the  people,  and  happily  for  weeks  and 
months  all  factious  or  partisan  spirit  was 
hushed  by  the  nation's  great  calamity. 
At  midnight  on  the  19tli  of  September  the 
Cabinet  telegraphed  him  from  Long 
Branch  to  take  the  oath  of  office,  and  this 
he  very  properly  did  before  a  local  judge. 
The  Government  cannot  wisely  be  left 
without  a  head  for  a  single  day.  He  was 
soon  afterwards  again  sworn  in  at  Washing- 
ton, with  the  usual  ceremonies,  and  took 
occasion  to  make  a  speech  which  improved 
the  growing  better  feeling.  The  new 
President  requested  the  Cabinet  to  hold 
on  until  Congress  met,  and  it  would  have 
remained  intact  had  Secretary  Windom 
not  found  it  necessary  to  resume  his  place 
in  the  Senate.  The  vacancy  was  offbred 
to  ex-Governor  Morgan,  of  New  York, 
who  was  actually  nominated  and  confirmed 
before  he  made  up  his  mind  to  decline  it.  • 
Judge  Folger  now  fills  the  place.  The 
several  changes  since  made  will  be  found 
in  the  Tabulated  History,  Book  VII. 

It  has  thus  far  been  the  effort  of  Presi- 
dent Arthur  to  allay  whatever  of  factious 
bitterness  remains  in  the  Republican  party. 
In  his  own  State  of  New  York  the  terms 
"  Half- Breed "  and  "Stalwart"  are  pass- 
ing into  comparative  disuse,  as  are  the 
terras  "Regulars"  and  "Independents" 
in  Pennsylvania. 


«Boss  Rule." 

The  complaint  of  "  Boss  Rule  "  in  these 
States — by  which  is  meant  the  control  of 
certain  leaders — still  obtains  to  some  ex- 
tent. Wayne  MacVeagh  was  the  author  of 
this  very  telling  political  epithet,  and  he 
used  it  with  rare  force  in  his  street  speeches 
at  Chicago  when  opposing  the  nomination 
of  Grant.    It  was  still  further  cultivated 


262 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


bv  Ruftis  E.  Shapley,  Esq,,  of  Philadel- 
pLia,  the  author  of  "  Solid  for  Mulhooly," 
a  most  admirable  political  satire,  which 
ha<i  an  immense  sale.  Its  many  hits  were 
freely  quoted  by  the  Reformers  of  Phila- 
delphia, who  organized  under  the  Com- 
mittee of  One  Hundred,  a  body  of  mer- 
chants who  first  banded  themselves 
together  to  promote  reforms  in  the  munici- 
psu  government.  This  organization,  aided 
by  the  Democrats,  defeated  Mayor  Wm. 
S.  Stokley  for  his  third  term,  electing  Mr. 
King,  theretofore  a  very  popular  Demo- 
cratic councilman.  In  return  for  this  sup- 
port, the  Democrats  accepted  John  Hun- 
ter, Committee's  nominee  lor  Tax  Receiver, 
and  the  combination  succeeded.  In  the 
fall  of  1881  it  failed  on  the  city  ticket,  but 
in  the  spring  of  1882  secured  material  suc- 
cesses in  the  election  of  Councilmen,  who 
were  nominees  of  both  parties,  but  aided 
by  the  endorsement  of  the  Committee  of 
One  Hundred.  A  similar  combination 
failed  as  between  Brown  (Rep.)  and  Eisen- 
brown  (Dem.)  for  Magistrate.  On  this 
part  of  the  ticket  the  entire  city  voted,  and 
the  regular  Republicans  won  by  about  500 
majority. 

The  following  is  the  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples of  the  Citizens'  Republican  Associ- 
ation of  Philadelphia,  which,  under  the 
banner  of  Mr.  Wolfe,  extended  its  organi- 
zation to  several  counties : 

I.  We  adhere  to  the  platform  of  the 
National  Convention  of  the  Republican 
paity,  adopted  at  Chicago,  June  2d,  1880, 
and  we  proclaim  our  unswerving  alle- 
giance to  the  great  principles  upon  which 
that  party  was  founded,  to  wit :  national 
supremacy,  universal  liberty,  and  govern- 
mental probity. 

II.  The  Republican  party,  during  its 
glorious  career,  having  virtually  estab- 
lished its  principles  of  national  supremacy 
and  universal  liberty  as  the  law  of  the 
land,  we  shall,  while  keeping  a  vigilant 
watch  over  the  maintenance  of  those  prin- 
ciples, regard  the  third  one,  viz. :  govern- 
mental probity,  as  the  living  issue  to  be 
struggled  for  in  the  future ;  and  as  the 
pure  administration  of  government  is  es- 
sential to  the  permanence  of  Republican 
institutions,  we  consider  this  issue  as  in  no 
wav  inferior  in  importance  to  any  other. 

In.  The  only  practical  metliod  of  re-« 
storing  purity  to  administration  is  through 
the  adoption  of  a  system  of  civil  service, 
under  which  public  officials  shall  not  be 
the  tools  of  any  man  or  of  any  clique,  sub- 
ject to  dismissal  at  their  behest,  or  to  as- 
sessment in  their  service;  nor  appoint- 
ment to  office  be  "patronage"  at  the 
disposal  of  any  man  to  eoiiso'"  'ate  his 
power  within  the  party. 

IV.  It  is  the  abuse  of  this  appointing 
power  which  has  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  "  machine,"  and  the  subjection  of  the 


party  to  "  bosses."  Our  chosen  leader,  the 
late  President  Garfield,  fell  a  martyr  in  his 
contest  with  the  "  bosses."  We  take  up 
the  struggle  where  he  leit  it,  and  we  hereby 
declare  that  we  will  own  no  allegiance  to 
any  "  boss,"  nor  be  subservient  to  any 
"machine;"  but  that  we  will  do  our  ut- 
most to  liberate  the  party  from  the  "  boss" 
domination  under  wliich  it  has  fallen. 

V.  Recognizing  that  political  parties 
are  simply  instrumentalities  for  the  en- 
forcement of  certain  recognized  principles, 
we  shall  endeavor  to  promote  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party  by  means  of  that 
party,  disenthralled  and  released  from  the 
domination  of  its  "  bosses."  But  should 
we  fail  in  this,  we  shall  have  no  hesitation 
in  seeking  to  advance  the  jmnciples  of  the 
party  through  movements  and  organiza- 
tions outside  of  the  party  lines. 

The  idea  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hun- 
dred is  to  war  against "  boss  rule"  in  muni- 
cipal affairs.  James  McManes  has  long 
enjoyed  the  leadership  of  the  Republican 
party  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  reform  ele- 
ment has  directed  its  force  against  his 
power  as  a  leader,  though  he  joined  at 
Chicago  in  the  MacVeagh  war  against  the 
form  of  "  boss  rule,"  which  was  then  di- 
rected against  Grant,  Conkling,  Logan  and 
Cameron.  This  episode  has  really  little, 
if  anything,  to  do  with  Federal  politics, 
but  the  facts  are  briefly  recited  with  a  view 
to  explain  to  the  reader  the  leading  force 
which  supported  Mr.  Wolfe  in  his  inde- 
pendent race  in  Pennsylvania.  Summed 
up,  it  is  simply  one  of  those  local  wars 
against  leadership  which  precede  and  fol- 
low factions. 

The  factious  battles  in  the  Republican 
party,  as  we  have  stated,  seem  to  have 
spent  their  force.  The  assassination  of 
President  Garfield  gave  them  a  most  seri- 
ous check,  for  men  were  then  compelled  to 
look  back  and  acknowledge  that  his  plain 
purpose  was  to  check  divisions  and  heal 
wounds.  Only  haste  and  anger  assailed, 
and  doubtless  as  quickly  regretted  the  as- 
sault. President  Arthur,  with  commend- 
able reticence  and  discretion,  is  believed 
to  be  seeking  the  same  end.  He  has  made 
few  changes,  and  these  reluctantly.  His 
nomination  of  ex-Senator  Conkling  to  a 
seat  in  the  Supreme  Bench,  which,  though 
declined,  is  generally  accepted  a.s  an  assu- 
rance to  New  Yorkers  that  the  leader 
hated  by  one  side  and  loved  by  the  other, 
should  be  removed  from  partisan  politics 
peculiar  to  his  own  State,  but  removed 
with  the  dignity  and  honor  becoming  his 
high  abilities.  It  has  ever  been  the  policy 
of  wise  administrations,  as  with  wise  gene- 
rals, to  care  for  the  wounded,  and  Conk- 
ling was  surely  and  sorely  wounded  in  his 
battle  against  the  confirmation  of  Robert- 
son and  his  attempted  re-election  to  the 
Senate.    He  accepted  the  situation  with 


iOOK  I.] 


THE    READJUSTEES. 


263 


quiet  composure,  and  saw  his  friend  Ar- 
rtiur  unite  the  ranks  which  his  resignation 
had  sundered.  After  this  there  remained 
little  if  any  cause  for  further  quarrel,  and 
while  in  writing  history  it  is  dangerous  to 
attempt  a  prophecy,  the  writer  believes 
that  President  Arthur  will  succeed  in 
keeping  his  party,  if  not  fully  united,  at 
least  as  compact  as  the  opposing  Democra- 
tic forces. 


Tbe  Readjustenu 

This  party  was  founded  in  1878  by  Gen'l 
William  Mahone,  a  noted  Brigadier  in 
the  rebel  army.  He  is  of  Scotch-Irish  de- 
scent, a  man  of  very  small  stature  but 
most  remarkable  energy,  and  acquired 
wealth  in  the  construction  and  develop- 
ment of  Southern  railroads.  He  sounded 
the  first  note  of  revolt  against  what  he 
styled  the  Bourbon  rule  of  Virginia,  and 
being  classed  as  a  Democrat,  rapidly  di- 
vided that  party  on  the  question  of  the 
Virginia  debt.  His  enemies  charge  that 
he  sought  the  repudiation  of  this  debt,  but 
in  return  he  not  only  denied  the  charge, 
but  said  the  Bourbons  were  actually  re- 
pudiating it  by  making  no  provision  for 
Its  payment,  either  in  appropriations  or 
the  levying  of  taxes  needed  tor  the  pur- 
pose. Doubtless  his  views  on  this  ques- 
tion have  undergone  some  modification, 
and  that  earlier  in  the  struggle  the  uglier 
criticisms  were  partially  correct.  Certain 
it  is  that  he  and  his  friends  now  advocate 
full  payment  less  the  proportion  equitably 
assigned  to  West  Virginia,  which  sepa- 
rated from  the  parent  State  during  the 
war,  and  in  her  constitution  evaded  her 
responsibility  by  declaring  that  the  State 
should  never  contract  a  debt  except  one 
created  to  resist  invasion  or  in  a  war  for  the 
g(»vernment.  This  fact  shows  how  keenly 
alive  tlfe  West  Virginians  were  to  a  claim 
which  could  very  justly  be  pressed  in  the 
event  of  Virginia  being  restored  to  the 
Union,  and  this  claim  Gen'l  Mahone  has 
persistently  pressed,  and  latterly  urged  a 
funding  of  the  debt  of  his  State  at  a  3  per 
cent,  rate,  on  the  ground  that  the  State  is 
unable  to  pay  more  and  that  this  is  in  ac- 
cord with  proper  rates  of  interest  on  the 
bonds  of  State  governments — a  view  not 
altogether  fair  or  sound,  since  it  leaves  the 
creditors  powerless  to  do  otherwise  than 
accept.  The  regular  or  Bourbon  Demo- 
crats proclaimed  in  favor  of  full  payment, 
and  in  this  respect  differed  from  their 
party  associates  as  to  ante-war  debts  in 
most  other  Southern  States. 

Gen.  Mahone  rapidly  organized  his  re- 
volt, and  as  the  Republican  party  wa.s  then 
in  a  hopeless  minority  in  Virginia,  public- 
ly invited  an  alliance  by  the  passage  of  a 
platform  which  advocated  free  schools  for 
the  blacks  and  a  full  enforcement  of  the 


National  laws  touching  their  c'vil  rights. 
The  Legislature  was  won,  and  on  the  16th 
of  December,  1880,  Gen'l  Mahone  was 
elected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate  to  succeed  Sen- 
ator Withers,  whose  term  expired  March 
4,  1881. 

In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1880, 
the  Readjusters  supported  Gen'l  Hancock, 
but  on  a  separate  electoral  ticket,  while 
the  Republicans  supported  Garfield  on  an 
electoral  ticket  of  their  own  selection. 
This  division  was  pursuant  to  an  under- 
standing, and  at  the  time  thought  advi- 
sable by  Mahone,  who,  if  his  electors  won, 
could  go  for  Hancock  or  not,  as  circum- 
stances might  suggest ;  while  if  he  failed ' 
the  Republicans  might  profit  by  the  sepa- 
ration. There  was,  however,  a  third  horn 
to  this  dilemma,  for  the  regular  Democratic 
electors  were  chosen,  but  the  political 
complexion  of  the  Legislature  was  not 
changed.  Prior  to  the  Presidential  nomi- 
nations Mahone's  Readjuster  Convention 
had  signified  their  willingness  to  support 
Gen'l  Grant  if  he  should  be  nominated  at 
Chicago,  and  this  fact  was  widely  quoted 
by  his  friends  in  their  advocacy  of  Grant's 
nomination,  and  in  descanting  upon  his 
ability  to  carry  Southern  States. 

The  Readjuster  movement  at  first  had 
no  other  than  local  designs,  but  about  the 
time  of  its  organization  there  was  a  great 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  leading  Republi- 
cans to  break  the  ''Solid  South,"  and 
every  possible  expedient  to  that  end  was 
suggested.  It  was  solid  for  the  Democratic 
party,  and  standing  thus  could  with  the 
aid  of  New  York,  Indiana  and  New  Jersey 
(them  all  Democratic  States)  assure  the 
election  of  a  Democratic  President. 

One  of  the  favorite  objects  of  President 
Hayes  was  to'  break  the  "  Solid  South." 
He  first  obtained  it  by  conciliatory  speech- 
es, which  were  so  conciliatory  in  fact  that 
they  angered  radical  Republicans,  and 
there  were  thus  threatened  division  in  un- 
expected quarters.  He  next  tried  it 
through  Gen'l  Key,  whom  he  made  Post- 
master General  in  the  hope  that  he  could 
resurrect  and  reorganize  the  old  Whig 
elements  of  the  South.  Key  was  to  attend 
to  Southern  postal  patronage  with  this  end 
in  view,  while  Mr.  Tener,  his  able  First  As- 
sistant, was  to  distribute  Northern  or  Re- 
fublican  patronage.  So  far  as  dividing 
the  South  was  concerned,  the  scheme  was 
a  flat  failure. 

The  next  and  most  quiet  and  effectual 
effort  was  made  by  Gen'l  Simon  Cameron, 
Ex-Senator  from  Pennsylvania.  He  started 
on  a  brief  Southern  tour,  ostensibly  for 
health  and  enjoyment,  but  really  to  meet 
Gen'l  Mahone,  his  leading  Readjuster 
friends,  and  the  leading  Republicans. 
Conferences  were  held,  and  the  union  of 
the  two  forces  was  made  to  embrace  Na- 
tional objects.  This  was  in  the  Fall  of  1879. 


264 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Not  long  thereafter  GenT  Mahone  consult- 
ed with  Senator  J.  Don.  Cameron,  who 
was  of  course  familiar  with  his  father's 
movements,  and  he  actively  devised  and 
carried  out  schemes  to  aid  the  new  combi- 
nation by  which  the  "  Solid  South  "  was 
to  be  broken.  In  the  great  State  campaign 
of  1881,  when  the  Bourbon  and  anti-Bour- 
bon candidates  for  Governor,  were  stump- 
ing the  State,  Gen'l  Mahone  found  that  a 
large  portion  of  his  colored  friends  were 
handicapped  by  their  inability  to  pay  the 
taxes  imposed  upon  them  by  the  laws  of 
Virginia,  and  this  threatened  defeat.  He 
sought  aid  from  the  National  administra- 
tion. President  Garfield  favored  the  com- 
bination, as  did  Secretary  Windom,  but 
Secretary  Blaine  withheld  his  support  for 
several  months,  finally,  however,  acceding 
to  the  wishes  of  the  President  and  most  of 
the  Cabinet.  Administration  influences 
caused  the  abandonment  of  a  straight-out 
Republican  movement  organized  by  Con- 
gressman Jorgensen  and  others,  and  a 
movement  which  at  one  time  threatened  a 
di&*istrous  division  was  overcome.  The 
tax.  question  remained,  and  this  was  first 
met  by  Senator  J.  Don.  Cameron,  who 
"while  summering  at  Manhattan  Island, 
was  really  daily  engaged  in  New  York 
City  raising  funds  for  Mahone,  with  which 
to  pay  their  taxes.  Still,  this  aid  was  insuf- 
ficient, and  in  the  heat  of  the  battle  the 
revenue  officers  throughout  the  United 
6<3tes,  were  asked  to  contribute.  Many  of 
them  did  so,  and  on  the  eve  of  election  all 
taxes  were  paid  and  the  result  was  the 
election  of  William  E.  Cameron  (Read- 
juster)  as  Governor  by  about  20,000  ma- 
jority, with  other  State  oflScers  divided  be- 
tween the  old  Readjusters  and  Republi- 
cans. The  combination  also  carried  the 
Legislature. 

In  that  great  struggle  the  Readjusters 
bo-came  known  as  the  anti-Bourbon  move- 
ment, and  efforts  are  now  being  made  to 
extend  it  to  other  Southern  States.  It  has 
taken  root  in  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  and 
more  recently  in  Kentucky,  where  the 
Union  War  Democrats  in  State  Convention 
as  late  as  March  1,  1882,  separated  from 
the  Bourbon  wing  of  the  party.  For  a 
better  idea  of  these  two  elements  in  the 
South,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  receni; 
speeches  of  Hill  and  Mahone  in  the  me- 
morable Senate  scene  directly  after  the 
■  latter  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  cast  his 
vof«  with  the  Republicans.  These  speeches 
will  be  found  in  Book  III  of  this  volume. 


Suppressing  Mormonlsm. 

Polygamy,  iustly  denounced  as  "the 
true  relic  of  barbarism  "  while  slavery  ex- 
isted, has  ever  since  the  settlement  of  the 


Mormons  in  Utah,  been  one  of  the  vexed 
questions  in  American  politics.  Laws 
passed  for  its  suppression  have  proved,  thus 
far,  unavailing  ;  troops  could  not  crush  it 
out,  or  did  not  at  a  time  when  battles  were 
fought  and  won ;  United  States  Courts 
were  powerless  where  juries  could  not  be 
found  to  convict.  Latterly  a  new  and 
promising  effort  has  been  made  for  its  sup- 
pression. This  was  begun  in  the  Senate 
in  the  session  of  1882.  On  the  IGth  of 
February  a  vote  was  taken  by  sections  on 
Senator  Edmunds'  bill,  which  like  the  law 
of  1862  is  penal  in  its  provisions,  but  di- 
rectly aimed  against  the  crime  of  poly- 
gamy. 

President  Arthur  signed  the  Edmunds 
anti-polygamy  bill  on  the  23d  of  March, 
1882. 

Delegate  Cannon  of  Utah,  was  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate  electioneering  against 
the  bill,  and  he  plead  with  some  success, 
for  several  Democratic  Senators  made 
speeches  against  it.  The  Republicans  were 
unanimously  for  the  bill,  and  the  Demo- 
crats were  not  solidly  against  it,  though  the 
general  tenor  of  the  debate  on  this  side 
was  against  it. 

Senator  Vest  (Democrat)  of  Missouri, 
said  that  never  in  the  darkest  days  of  the 
rule  of  the  Tudors  and  Stuarts  had  any 
measure  been  advocated  which  came  so 
near  a  bill  of  attainder  as  this  one.  It 
was  monstrous  to  contend  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States  were  at  the  mercy  of 
Congress  without  any  appeal.  If  this  bill 
passed  it  would  establish  a  precedent  that 
would  come  home  to  plague  us  for  all 
time  to  come.  The  pressure  against  poly- 
gamy to-day  might  exist  to-morrow  against 
any  church,  institution  or  class  in  this 
broad  land,  and  when  the  crested  waves  of 
prejudice  and  passion  mounted  high  they 
would  be  told  that  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  had  trampled  upon  the  Con- 
stitution. In  conclusion,  he  said :  "  I  am 
prepared  for  the  abuse  and  calumny  that 
will  follow  any  man  Avho  dares  to  criticise 
any  bill  against  polygamy,  and  yet,  if  my 
official  life  had  to  terminate  to-morrow,  I 
would  not  give  my  vote  for  the  unconsti- 
tutional principles  contained  in  this  bill." 
Other  speeches  were  made  by  Messrs.  Mor- 
gan, Brown,  Jones,  of  Florida,  Saulsbury, 
Call,  Pendleton,  Sherman,  and  Lamar,  and 
the  debate  was  closed  by  Mr.  Edmunds  in 
an  eloquent  fifteen-minutes'  speech,  in 
which  he  carefmlly  reviewed  and  contro- 
verted the  objections  urged  against  the 
bill  of  the  committee. 

He  showed  great  anxiety  to  have  the 
measure  disposed  of  at  once  and  met  a  re- 
quest from  tne  Democratic  side  for  a  post- 
ponement till  other  features  should  be  em- 
bodied in  the  bills  with  the  remark  that 
this  was  the  policy  that  had  hitherto  proven 
a  hindrance  to   legislation  on  this  subject 


BOOK  1.] 


SUPPRESSING    MORMONISM. 


265 


and  that  he  was  tired  of  it.  In  the  bill  as 
amended  the  following  section  provoked 
more  opposition  than  any  other,  although 
the  Senators  refrained  from  making  any 
particular  mention  of  it :  "  That  if  any 
male  person  in  a  Territory  or  other  place 
over  which  the  United  States  have  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  hereafter  cohabits  with 
more  than  one  woman  he  shall  be  deemed 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  conviction 
thereof  he  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of 
not  more  than  $300  or  by  imprisonment 
for  not  more  than  six  months,  or  by  both 
said  punishments  in  the  discretion  of  the 
court."  The  bill  passed  viva  voce  vote 
after  a  re-arrangement  of  its  sections,  one 
of  the  changes  being  that  not  more  than 
three  of  the  commissioners  shall  be  mem- 
bers of  the  same  party.  The  fact  that  the 
yeas  and  nays  were  not  called,  shows  that 
there  is  no  general  desire  on  either  side  to 
jnake  the  bill  a  partisan  measure. 

The  Edmunds  Bill  passed  the  House 
March  14,  1882,  without  material  amend- 
ment, the  Republican  majority,  refusing  to 
allow  the  time  asked  by  the  Democrats  for 
discussion.  The  vote  was  193  for  to  only 
45  against,  all  of  the  negative  votes  being 
Democratic  save  one,  that  of  Jones,  Green- 
backer  from  Texas. 

The  only  question  was  whether  the  bill, 
as  passed  by  the  Senate,  would  accomplish 
that  object,  and  whether  certain  provisions 
of  this  bill  did  not  provide  a  remedy  which 
was  worse  than  the  disease.  Many  Demo- 
crats thought  that  the  precedent  of  inter- 
fering with  the  right  of  suffrage  at  the 
polls,  when  the  voter  had  not  been  tried 
and  convicted  of  any  crime,  was  so  dan- 
gerous that  they  could  not  bring  them- 
selves to  vote  for  the  measure.  Among 
these  democrats  were  Belmont  and  Hew- 
itt, of  New  York,  and  a  number  of  others 
ei(ually  prominent.  But  they  all  professed 
their  readiness,  to  vote  for  any  measure 
which  would  aflFect  the  abolition  of  poly- 
gamy without  impairing  the  fundamental 
rights  of  citizens  in  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. 

THE  TEXT   OF  THE   BILL. 

Be  it  enacted,  t&c,  That  section  5,352  of 
the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States 
be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  amended  so  as 
to  read  as  follows,  namely : 

"  Every  person  who  has  a  husband  or 
wife  living  who,  in  a  Territory  or  other 
place  over  which  the  United  States  have 
exclusive  jurisdiction,  hereafter  marries 
another,  whether  married  or  single,  and 
any  man  who  hereafter  simultaneously,  or 
on  the  same  day,  marries  more  than  one 
woman-,  in  a  Territory  or  other  place  over 
which  the  United  States  has  exclusive 
jurisdiction,  is  guilty  of  polygamy,  and  shall 
be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
$500  and  by  imprisonment  for  a  term  of  not 


more  than  five  years ;  but  this  section  shall 
not  extend  to  any  person  by  reason  of  any 
former  marriage  wnose  husband  or  wife  by 
such  marriage  shall  have  been  absent  for 
five  successive  years,  and  is  not  known  to 
such  person  to  be  living,  and  is  believed  by 
such  person  to  be  dead,  nor  to  any  person 
by  reason  of  any  former  marriage  which 
shall  have  been  dissolved  by  a  valid  de- 
cree of  a  competent  court,  nor  to  any  per- 
son by  reason  of  any  former  marriage  which 
shall  have  been  pronounced  void  by  a  val- 
id decree  of  a  competent  court,  on  the 
ground  of  nullity  of  the  marriage  con- 
tract." 

Sec.  2.  That  the  foregoing  provisions 
shall  not  affect  the  prosecution  or  punish- 
ment of  any  offence  already  committed 
against  the  section  amended  by  the  first 
section  of  this  act. 

Sec.  3.  That  if  any  male  person,  in  a 
Territory  or  other  place  over  which  the 
United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction, 
hereafter  cohabits  with  more  than  one  wo- 
man, he  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor, and  on  conviction  thereof  shall 
be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
$300,  or  by  imprisonment  for  not  more 
than  six  months,  or  by  both  said  punish- 
ments in  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

Sec.  4.  That  counts  for  any  or  all  of  the 
offences  named  in  sections  1  and  3  of  this 
act  may  be  joined  in  the  same  information 
or  indictment. 

Sec.  5.  That  in  any  prosecution  for  biga- 
my, polygamy  or  unlawful  cohabitation 
under  any  statute  of  the  United  States,  it 
shail  be  sufficient  cause  of  challenge  to  any 
person  drawn  or  summoned  as  a  juryman 
or  talesman,  first,  that  he  is  or  has  been 
living  in  the  practice  of  bigamy,  poly- 
gamy, or  unlawful  cohabitation  with  more 
than  one  woman,  or  that  he  is  or  has  been 
guilty  of  an  offence  punishable  by  either 
of  the  foregoing  sections  or  by  section  5352 
of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States  or  the  act  of  July  1,  1862,  entitled 
"  An  act  to  punish  and  prevent  the  prac- 
tice of  polygamy  in  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  and  other  places,  and  disap- 
proving and  annulling  certain  acts  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of 
Utah ;"  or,  second,  that  he  believes  it  right 
for  a  man  to  have  more  than  one  living  and  ' 
undivorced  wife  at  the  same  time,  or  to  live 
in  the  practice  of  cohabiting  with  more 
than  one  woman,  and  any  pereon  appear- 
ing or  offered  as  a  juror  or  talesman  and 
challenged  on  either  of  the  foregoing 
grounds  may  be  questioned  on  his  oath  as 
to  the  existence  of  any  such  cause  of  chal- 
lenge, and  other  evidence  may  be  intro- 
duced bearing  upon  the  question  raised  by 
such  challenge,  and  this  question  shall  be 
tried  by  the  court.  But  as  to  the  first  ground 
of  challenge  before  mentioned  the  person 
challenged  shall  be  bound  to  answer  if  he 


266 


•AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


shall  say  upon  his  oath  that  he  declines  on 
the  ground  that  his  answer  may  tend  to 
criminate  himself,  and  if  he  shall  answer 
to  said  first  ground  his  answer  shall  not  be 
given  in  evidence  in  any  criminal  prose- 
cution against  him  for  any  offense  named 
in  sections  1  or  3  of  this  act,  but  if  he 
declines  to  answer  on  any  ground  he  shall 
be  rejected  as  incompetent. 

Sec.  6.  That  the  President  is  here6y  au- 
thorized to  grant  amnesty  to  such  classes 
of  offenders  guilty  before  the  passage  of 
this  act  of  bigamy,  polygamy,  or  unlawful 
cohabitation  before  the  passage  of  this  act, 
on  such  conditions  and  under  such  limita- 
tions as  he  shall  think  proper ;  but  no  such 
amnesty  shall  have  effect  unless  the  condi- 
tions thereof  shall  be  complied  with. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  issue  of  bigamous  or 
polygamous  marriages  known  as  Mormon 
marriages,  in  cases  in  which  such  marriages 
have  been  solemnized  according  to  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Mormon  sect,  in  any 
Territory  of  the  United  States,  and  such 
issue  shall  have  been  born  before  the  1st 
day  of  January,  A.  D.  1883,  are  hereby 
legitimated. 

Sec.  8.  That  no  polygamist,  bigamist,  or 
any  person  cohabiting  with  more  than  one 
wo.Ttian,  and  no  woman  cohabiting  with 
any  of  the  persons  described  as  aforesaid 
in  this  section,  in  any  Territory  or  other 
place  over  which  the  United  States  have  ex- 
clusive jurisdiction,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote 
at  any  election  held  in  any  such  Territory 
or  other  place,  or  be  eligible  for  election  or 
appointment  to  or  be  entitled  to  hold  any 
office  or  place  of  public  trust,  honol-  or 
emolument  in,  under,  or  for  such  Territory 
or  place,  or  under  the  United  States. 

Sec.  9.  That  all  the  registration  and 
election  offices  of  every  description  in  the 
Tfjrritory  of  Utah  are  hereby  declared  va- 
cant, and  each  and  every  duty  relating  to 
the  registration  of  voters,  the  conduct  of 
elections,  the  receiving  or  rejection  of  votes, 
and  the  canvassing  and  returning  of  the 
same,  and  the  issuing  of  certificates  or 
other  evidence  of  election  in  said  Terri- 
tory, shall,  until  other  provision  be  made 
by  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  said  Terri- 
tory as  is  hereinafter  by  this  section  pro- 
vided, be  performed  under  the  existing 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  said  Ter- 
ritory hy  proper  persons,  who  shall  be  ap- 
pointed to  execute  such  offices  and  perform 
such  duties  bv  a  board  of  five  persons,  to 
be  appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with 
the  aavice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  and 
not  more  than  three  of  whom  shall  be  mem- 
bers of  one  politioal  party,  and  a  majority 
of  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum.  The 
members  of  said  board  so  appointed  by  the 
President  shall  each  receive  a  salary  at  the 
rate  of  $3,000  per  annum,  and  shall  con- 
tinue in  office  until  the  Legislative  As- 
sembly of  said  Territory  shall  make  pro- 


vision for  filling  said  offices  as  herein  au- 
thorized. The  secretary  of  the  Territory 
shall  be  the  secretary  of  said  board,  and 
keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  at- 
test the  action  of  said  board  under  this 
section.  The  canvass  and  return  of  all 
the  votes  at  elections  in  said  Territory  for 
members  of  the  Legislative  Assembly 
thereof  shall  also  be  returned  to  said  board, 
which  shall  canvass  all  such  returns  and 
issue  certificates  of  election  to  those  per- 
sons who,  being  eligible  for  such  election, 
shall  appear  to  have  been  lawfully  elected, 
which  certificate  shall  be  the  only  evidence 
of  the  right  of  such  persons  to  sit  in  such 
Assembly :  Provided,  That  said  board  of 
five  persons  shall  not  exclude  any  person 
otherwise  eligible  to  vote  from  the  polls  on 
account  of  any  opinion  such  person  may 
entertain  on  the  subject  of  bigamy  or  po- 
lygamy, nor  shall  they  refiise  to  count  any 
such  vote  on  account  of  the  opinion  of  the 
person  casting  it  on  the  subject  of  bigamy 
or  polygamy  ;  but  each  house  of  such  As- 
sembly, after  its  organization,  shall  have 
power  to  decide  upon  the  elections  and 
qualifications  of  its  members.  And  at  or 
after  the  first  meeting  of  said  Legislative 
Assembly  whose  members  shall  have  been 
elected  and  returned  according  to  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act,  said  Legislative  Assem- 
bly may  make  such  laws,  conformable  to 
the  organic  act  of  said  Territory  and  not 
inconsistent  with  other  laws  of  the  United 
States,  as  it  shall  deem  proper  concerning 
the  filling  of  the  offices  in  said  Territory 
declared  vacant  by  this  act. 

John  R.  McBride  writing  in  the  Febru- 
ary number  (1882)  of  The  Intet-national 
Review,  gives  an  interesting  and  correct 
view  of  the  obstacles  which  the  Mormons 
have  erected  against  the  enforcement  of 
United  States  laws  in  the  Territory.  It 
requires  acquaintance  with  these  facts  to 
fully  comprthend  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  what  seems  to  most  minds  a  very 
plain  and  easy  task.  Mr.  McBride  says : 
Their  first  care  on  arriving  in  Utah  was  to 
erect  a  "free  and  Independent  State," 
called  the  "  State  of  Deseret."  It  included 
in  its  nominal  limits,  not  only  all  of  Utah 
as  it  now  is,  but  one-half  of  California,  all 
of  Nevada,  part  of  Colorado,  and  a  large 
portion  of  four  other  Territories  now  or- 
ganized. Brigham  Young  was  elected 
Governor,  and  its  departments,  legislative 
and  judicial,  were  fully  organized  and  put 
into  operation.  Its  legislative  acts  were 
styled  "  ordinances,"  and  when  Congress, 
disregarding  the  State  organization,  insti- 
tuted a  Territorial  Government  for  Utah, 
the  legislative  body  chosen  by  the  Mor- 
mons adopted  the  ordinances  of  the  "  State 
of  Deseret."  Many  of  these  are  yet  on 
the  statute  book  of  Utah.  They  show  con- 
clusively the  domination  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal idea,  and  how  utterly  insignificant  in 


BOOK  r.] 


SUPPRESSING   MORMONISM. 


267 


comparison  was  the  power  of  the  ciril 
authority.  They  incorporated  the  Mormon 
Church  into  a  body  politic  and  corporate, 
and  by  the  third'  section  of  the  act  gave  it 
supreme  authority  over  its  members  in 
everything  temporal  and  spiritual,  and  as- 
signed as  a  reason  for  so  doing  that  it  was 
because  the  powers  confirmed  were  in 
"  support  of  morality  and  virtue,  and  were 
founded  on  the  revelations  of  the  Lord." 
Under  this  power  to  make  laws  and  punish 
and  forgive  offences,  to  hear  and  determine 
between  brethren,  the  civil  law  was  super- 
seded. The  decrees  of  the  courts  of  this 
church,  certified  under  seal,  have  been  ex- 
amined by  the  writer,  and  he  found  them 
exercising  a  jurisdiction  without  limit  ex- 
cept that  of  appeal  to  the  President  of  the 
church.  That  the  assassinations  of  apos- 
tates, the  massacres  of  the  Morrisites  at 
Morris  Fort  and  of  the  Arkansas  emigrants 
at  Mountain  Meadows,  were  all  in  pursu- 
ance of  church  decrees,  more  or  less  formal, 
no  one  acquainted  with  the  system  doubts. 
This  act  of  incorporation  was  passed  Febru- 
ary 8,  1851,  and  is  found  in  the  latest  com- 
pilation of  Utah  statutes.  It  is  proper  also 
to  observe  that,  for  many  years  after  the 
erection  of  the  Territorial  Government  by 
Congress,  the  "  State  of  Deseret "  organiza- 
tion was  maintained  by  the  Mormons,  and 
collision  was  only  prevented  because  Brig- 
ham  was  Governor  of  both,  and  found  it 
unnecessary  for  his  purpose  to  antagonize 
either.  His  church  organization  made 
both  a  shadow,  while  that  was  the  sub- 
stance of  all  authority.  One  of  the  earli- 
est of  their  legislative  acts  was  to  organ- 
ise a  Surveyor  General's  Department,^  and 
title  to  land  was  declared  to  be  in  the  per- 
sp-ns  who  held  a  certificate  from  that  office.' 
Having    instituted  their  own  system   of 

ff^vernment  and  taken  possession  of  the 
!«.nd,  and  assumed  to  distribute  that  in  a 
system  of  their  own,  the  next  step  was  to 
vest  certain  leading  men  with  the  control 
of  the  timbers  and  waters  of  the  country. 
By  a  series  of  acts  granting  lands,  waters 
and  timber  to  individuals,  the  twelve 
apostles  became  the  practical  proprietors  of 
the  better  and  more  desirable  portions  of 
the  country.  By  an  ordinance  elated  Octo- 
ber 4,  1851,  there  was  granted  to  Brigham 
Young  the  "  sole  control  of  City  Creek  and 
Caflon  for  thesumof*five  hundred  dollars." 
By  an  ordinance  dated  January  9,  1850, 
the  "  waters  of  North  Mill  Creek  and  the 
waters  of  the  Cafion  next  north "  were 
granted  to  Heber  C.  Kimball.  On  the 
same  day  was  granted  to  George  A.  Smith 
the  "  sole  control  of  the  cafions  and  timber 
of  the  east  side  of  the  '  West  Mountains." 
On  the  18th  of  January,  1851,  the  North 
Cottonwood  Cafion  was  granted  exclusively 
to  Williard  Richards.  On  the  15th  of  Janu- 


lA«tof  Marcb2,18SO. 


XAct  of  Janoaty  19, 1866. 


ary,  1851,  the  waters  of  the  "main  chan- 
nel "  of  Mill  Creek  were  donated  to  Brig- 
ham  Young.  On  the  9th  of  December, 
1850,  there  was  granted  to  Ezra  T.  Benson 
the  exclusive  control  of  the  waters  of  Twin 
Springs  and  Rock  Springs,  in  Tooelle  Val- 
ley ;  and  on  the  14th  of  January,  1851,  to 
the  same  person  was  granted  the  control  of 
all  the  cafions  of  the  "  West  Mountain  " 
and  the  timber  therein.  By  the  ordinance 
of  September  14,  1850,  a  "  general  con- 
ference of  the  Church  of  Latter  Day 
Saints"  was  authorized  to  elect  thirteen 
men  to  become  a  corporation,  to  be  called 
the  Emigration  Company ;  and  to  this  com- 
pany, elected  exclusively  by  the  church, 
was  secured  and  appropriated  the  two 
islands  in  Salt  Lake  known  as  Antelope 
and  Stansberry  Islands,  to  be  under  the 
exclusive  control  of  President  Brigham 
Young.  These  examples  are  given  to  show 
that  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  the 
lands  of  Utah  met  no  recognition  by  these 
people.  They  appropriated  them,  not  only 
in  a  way  to  make  the  people  slaves,  but 
indicated  their  claim  of  sovereignty  as 
superior  to  any.  Young,  Smith,  Benson 
and  Kimball  were  apostles.  Richards  was 
Brigham  Young's  counselor.  By  an  act  of 
December  28,  1855,  there  was  granted  to 
the  "University  of  the  State  of  Deseret" 
a  tract  of  land  amounting  to  about  five 
hundred  acres,  inside  the  city  limits  of 
Salt  Lake  City,  without  any  reservation  to 
the  occupants  whatever ;  and  everywhere 
was  the  authority  of  the  United  States 
over  the  country  and  its  soil  and  people 
utterly  ignored. 

Not  satisfied  with  making  the  grants  re- 
ferred to,  the  Legislative  Assembly  entered 
upon  a  system  of  municipal  incorporations, 
by  which  the  fertile  lands  of  the  Territory 
were  withdrawn  from  the  operation  of  the 
preemptive  laws  of  Congress;  and  thus 
while  they  occupied  these  without  title,  non- 
Mormons  were  unable  to  make  settlement 
on  them,  and  they  were  thus  engrossed 
to  Mormon  use.  From  a  report  made  by 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Of- 
fice to  the  United  States  Senate,*  it  appears 
that  the  municipal  corporations  covered 
over  400,000  acres  of  the  public  lands,  and 
over  600  square  miles  of  territory.  These 
lands*  are  not  subject  to  either  the  Home- 
stead or  Preemption  laws,  and  thus  the  non- 
Mormon  settler  was  prevented  from  attempt- 
ing, except  in  rare  instances,  to  secure  any 
lands  in  Utah.  The  spirit  which  prompted 
this  course  is  well  illustrated  hj  an  instance 
which  was  the  subject  of  an  investigation 
in  the  Land  Department,  and  the  proofs 
are  found  in  the  document  just  referred  to. 
George  Q.  Cannon,  the  late  Mormon  dele- 
gate in  Congress,  was  called  to  exercise  hia 

1  Senate  doc.  181,  4fith  Conp-oss. 
«  Sec.  2,  258,  Eev.  Stat.  U.S. 


2C8 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


duties  as  an  apostle  to  the  Tooelle  "Stake" 
at  the  city  of  Grantvilie.  In  a  discourse 
on  Sunday,  the  20th  day  of  July,  1875,  Mr. 
Caunon  said :  *  "  God  has  ^ven  us  (mean- 
ing the  Mormon  people)  this  land,  and,  if 
any  outsider  shall  come  in  to  take  land 
which  we  claim,  a  piece  six  feet  by  two  is 
all  they  are  entitled  to,  and  that  will  last 
them  to  all  eternity." 

By  measures  and  threats  like  these  have 
the  Mormons  unlawfully  controlled  the  ag- 
ricultural lands  of  the  Territory  and  ex- 
cluded therefrom  the  dissenting  settler. 
The  attempt  of  the  United  States  to  es- 
tablish a  Surveyor-General's  office  in  Utah 
in  1855,  and  to  survey  the  lands  in  view  of 
disposing  of  them  according  to  law,  was 
met  by  such  opposition  that  Mr.  Burr,  the 
Surveyor-General,  was  compelled  to  fly  for 
life.  The  monuments  of  surveys  made  by 
his  order  were  destroyed,  and  the  records 
were  supposed  to  have  met  a  like  fate,  but 
were  afterwards  restored  by  Brigham 
Young  to  the  Government.  The  report  of 
his  experience  by  Mr.  Burr  was  instru- 
mental in  causing  troops  to  be  sent  in  1857 
to  assert  the  authority  of  the  Government. 
When  this  army,  consisting  of  regular 
troops,  was  on  the  way  to  Utah,  Brigham 
Young,  as  Governor,  issued  a  proclamation, 
dated  September  15,  1857,  declaring  mar- 
tial law  and  ordering  the  people  of  the 
Territory  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
to  march  to  repel  the  invaders,  and  on  the 
29th  of  September  following  addressed  the 
commander  of  United  States  forces  an  or- 
der forbidding  him  to  enter  the  Territory, 
and  directing  him  to  retire  from  it  by  the 
same  route  he  had  come.  Further  evidence 
of  the  Mormon  claim  that  they  were  inde- 
pendent is  perhaps  unnecessary.  The  trea- 
sonable character  of  the  local  organization 
is  manifest.  It  is  this  organization  that 
C(vntrols,  not  only  the  people  who  belong  to 
it,  but  the  30,000  non-Mormons  who  now  re- 
side in  Utah. 

Every  member  of  the  territorial  Legisla- 
ture is  a  Mormon.  Every  county  officer  is 
a  Mormon.  Every  territorial  officer  is  a 
Mormon,  except  such  as  are  appointive. 
The  schools  provided  by  law  and  supported 
by  taxation  are  Mormon.  The  teachers  are 
Mormon,  and  the  sectarian  catechism  af- 
firming the  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  is 
regularly  taught  therein.  The  municipal 
corporations  are  under  the  control  of  Mor- 
mons. In  the  hands  of  this  bigoted  class 
all  the  material  interests  of  the  Territory 
are  left,  subject  only  to  such  checks  as  a 
Federal  Governor  and  a  Federal  judiciary 
can  impose.  From  beyond  the  sea  they  im- 
port some  thousands  of  ignorant  converts 
annually,  and,  while  the  non-Mormons  are 
increasing,  they  are  overwhelmed  by  the 
muddy  tide  of  fanaticism  shipped  in  upon 

1  According  to  the  affldavita  of  Samnel  Howard  and 
tftbers,  page  14. 


them.  The  suffrage  has  been  bestowed 
upon  all  classes  bv  a  statute  so  general  that 
the  ballot  box  is  Ailed  with  a  mass  of  votes 
which  repels  the  free  citizen  from  the  ex- 
ercise of  that  right.  If  a  Gentile  is  cho- 
sen to  the  Legislature  (two  or  three  such 
instances  have  occurred),  he  is  not  admitr 
ted  to  "the  seat,  although  the  act  of  Congresg 
(June  23,  1874)  requires  the  Territory  to 
pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws  of  the  Territory,  and  of  the  care 
of  persons  convicted  of  offenses  against  the 
laws  of  the  Territory.  Provision  is  made 
for  jurors'  fees  in  criminal  cases  only,  and 
none  is  made  for  the  care  of  criminals. ' 
While  Congress  pays  the  legislative  ex- 
penses, amounting  to  $20,000  per  session, 
the  Legislature  defiantly  refuses  to  comply 
with  the  laws  which  its  members  are  sworn 
to  support.  And  the  same  body,  though 
failing  to  protect  the  marriage  bond  by  any 
law  whatever  requiring  any  solemnities  for 
entering  it,  provided  a  divorce  act  which 
practically  allowed  marriages  to  be  annulled 
at  will.*  Neither  seduction,  adultery  nor 
incest  find  penalty  or  recognition  in  its  legal 
code.  The  purity  of  home  is  destroyed  by 
the  beastly  practice  of  plural  marriage,  and 
the  brows  of  innocent  children  are  branded 
with  the  stain  of  bastardy  to  gratify  the 
lust  which  cares  naught  for  its  victims. 
Twenty-eight  of  the  thirty-six  members  of 
the  present  Legislature  of  Utah  are  re- 
ported as  having  from  two  to  seven  wives 
each.  While  the  Government  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  is  paying  these  men  their  mile- 
age and  ^er  diem  as  law-makers  in  Utah, 
those  guilty  of  the  same  offense  outside  of 
Utah  are  leading  the  lives  of  felons  in  con- 
vict cells.  For  eight  years  a  Mormon  dele- 
gate has  sat  in  the  capitol  at  Washington 
having  four  living  wives  in  his  harem  in 
Utah,  and  at  the  same  time,  under  the 
shadow  of  that  capitol,  lingers  in  a  felon's 
prison  a  man  who  had  been  guilty  of  mar- 
rying a  woman  while  another  wife  was  still 
living. 

For  thirty  years  have  the  Mormons  been 
trusted  to  correct  these  evils  and  put  them- 
selves in  harmony  with  the  balance  of 
civilized  mankind.  This  they  have  refused 
to  do.  Planting  themselves  in  the  heart 
of  the  continent,  they  have  persistently 
defied  the  laws  of  the  land,  the  laws  of 
modern  society,  and*  the  teachings  of  a 
common  humanity.  They  degrade  woman 
to  the  office  of  a  breeding  animal,  and, 
after  depriving  her  of  all  property  rights 
in  her  husband's  estate,*  all  control  of  her 
children,*  they,  with  ostentation,  bestow 
upon  her  the  ballot  in  a  way  that  makes 
it  a  nullity  if  contested,  and  compels  her 
to  use  it  to  perpetuate  her  own  degrada- 
tion if  she  avails  herself  of  it. 

1  Sec  Report  of  Attomoy-Geneml  I'nited  States,  1880.81. 
«  Act  of  March  6,  1802.  '  Act  of  February  16, 187i. 

4  Sees.  1  and  2,  act  of  February  3, 1852. 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    SOUTH    AMERICAN    QUESTION. 


269 


No  power  has  been  given  to  the  Mor- 
mon Hierarchy  tliat  has  not  been  abused. 
Tlie  right  Qjf  representation  in  the  legisla- 
tive counci*o  has  been  violated  in  the  ap- 
portionment of  members  so  as  to  disfran- 
chise the  non-Mormon  class.^  The  system 
of  revenue  and  taxation  was  for  twenty- 
five  years  a  system  of  confiscation  and  ex- 
tortion."^ The  courts  were  so  organized  and 
controlled  that  they  were  but  the  organs  of 
the  church  oppressions  and  ministers  of 
its  vengeance,'  The  legal  profession  was 
aboli-shed  by  a  statute  that  prohibited  a 
lawyer  from  recovering  on  any  contract 
for  service,  and  allowed  every  person  to 
appear  as  an  attorney  in  any  court.*  The 
attorney  was  compelled  to  present  "  all  the 
facts  in  the  case,"  whether  for  or  against 
his  client,  and  a  refusal  to  disclose  the 
confidential  communications  of  the  latter 
subjected  the  attorney  to  fine  and  imprison- 
ment.* No  law  book  except  the  statutes 
of  Utah  and  of  the  United  States,  "  when 
applicable,"  was  permitted  to  be  read  in 
any  court  by  an  attorney,  and  the  citation 
of  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  or  even  a  quotation  from 
the  Bible,  in  the  trial  of  any  cause,  sub- 
jected a  lawyer  to  fine  and  imprisonment.' 

The  practitioners  of  medicine  were 
equally  assailed  by  legislation.  The  use 
of  the  most  important  remedies  known  to 
modern  medical  science,  including  all  an- 
testhetics,  was  prohibited  except  under 
conditions  which  made  their  use  impossi- 
ble, "  and  if  death  followed  "  the  adminis- 
tration of  these  remedies,  the  person  ad- 
ministering them  was  declared  guilty  of 
manslaughter  or  murder.'  The  Legislative 
Assembly  is  but  an  organized  conspiracy 
against  the  national  law,  and  an  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  the  advancement  of  its  own 
people.  For  sixteen  years  it  refused  to  lay 
Its  enactments  before  Congress,  and  they 
were  only  obtained  by  a  joint  resolution 
demanding  them.  Once  in  armed  rebel- 
lion against  the  authority  of  the  nation, 
the  Mormons  have  always  secretly  strug- 
gled for,  as  they  have  openly  prophesied, 
its  entire  overthrow.  Standing  thus  in  the 
pathway  of  the  material  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  the  Territory,  a  disgrace  to  the 
balance  of  the  country,  Avith  no  redeeming 
virtue  to  plead  for  further  indulgence,  this 
travesty  of  a  local  government  demands 
radical  and  speedy  reform. 


The  South  American  ^nestlon. 

If  it  was  not  shrewdly  surmised  before  it 
is  now  known  that  had"  President  Garfield 

'  See  act  of  January  17. 1862. 

'  Act  of  Jaimary  7,  1S.")4,  gee.  14, 

»Acti  of  Jan  21, 18:i:»,  and  of  January,  1855,  gee.  29. 

*  Act  of  February  18,  18r.2. 
»  Act  of  February  18,  1852. 

•  Act  of  Januai-v  14,  1 854. 
'Sec.  106.  Act  March  6,  1852. 


lived  he  intended  to  make  his  administra- 
tion brilliant  at  home  and  abroad — a  view 
confirmed  by  the  policy  conceived  by 
Secretary  Blaine  and  sanctioned,  it  must 
be  presumed,  by  President  Garfield.  This 
policy  looked  to  closer  commercial  and 
political  relations  with  all  of  the  Republics 
on  this  Hemisphere,  as  developed  in  the 
following  quotations  from  a  correspond' 
ence,  the  publication  of  which  lacks  com- 
pleteness because  of  delays  in  transmitting 
all  of  it  to  Congress. 

Fx-Secretary  Blaine  on  the  3d  of  Janu- 
ary sent  the  following  letter  to  President 
Arthur : 

"  The  suggestion  of  a  congress  of  all  the 
American  nations  to  assemble  in  the  city 
of  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  agreeing 
on  such  a  basis  of  arbitration  for  interna- 
tional troubles  as  would  remove  all  possi- 
bility of  war  in  the  Western  hemisphere 
was  warmly  approved  by  your  predecessor. 
The  assassination  of  July  2  prevented  his 
issuing  the  invitations  to  the  American 
States,  After  your  accession  to  the  Pre- 
sidency I  acquainted  you  with  the  project 
and  submitted  to  you  a  draft  for  such  an 
invitation.  You  received  the  suggestion 
with  the  most  appreciative  consideration, 
and  after  carefully  examining  the  form  of 
the  invitation  directed  that  it  be  sent.  It 
was  accordingly  dispatched  in  November 
to  the  independent  governments  of  Ameri- 
ca North  and  South,  including  all,  from 
the  Empire  of  Brazil  to  the  smallest  re- 
public. In  a  communication  addressed  by 
the  present  Secretary  of  State  on  January 
9,  to  Mr.  Trescot  and  recently  sent  to  the 
Senate  I  was  greatly  surprised  to  find  a 
proposition  looking  to  the  annulment  of 
these  invitations,  and  I  was  still  more  sur- 
prised when  I  read  the  reasons  assigned. 
If  I  correctly  apprehend  the  meaning  of 
his  words  it  is  that  we  might  offend  some 
European  powers  if  we  should  hold  in  the 
United  States  a  congress  of  the  "  selected 
nationalities"  of  America. 

"  This  is  certainly  a  new  position  for  the 
United  States  to  assume,  and  one  which  I 
earnestly  beg  you  will  not  permit  this 
government  to  occupy.  The  European 
powers  assemble  in  congress  whenever  an 
object  seems  to  them  of  sufficient  import- 
ance to  justify  it.  I  have  never  heard  of 
their  consulting  the  government  of  the 
United  States  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of 
their  so  assembling,  nor  have  I  ever  known 
of  their  inviting  an  American  representa- 
tive to  be  present.  Nor  would  there,  in  mv 
judgment,  be  any  good  reason  for  their  so 
doing.  Two  Presidents  of  the  United 
States  in  the  year  1881  adjudged  it  to  be 
expedient  that  the  American  powers  should 
meet  in  congress  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
agreeing  upon  some  basis  for  arbitration  of 
differences  that  may  arise  between  them 
and  for  the  prevention,  as  far  as  possible, 


270 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


of  war  in  the  future.  If  that  movement  is 
now  to  be  arrested  for  fear  that  it  may 
give  offense  in  Europe,  the  voluntary  hu- 
miliation of  this  government  could  not  be 
more  complete,  unless  we  should  press  the 
European  governments  for  the  privilege  of 
holding  the  congress.  I  cannot  conceive 
how  the  United  States  could  be  placed  in 
a  less  enviable  position  than  would  be  se- 
cured by  sending  in  November  a  cordial 
invitation  to  all  the  American  governments 
to  meet  in  Washington  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  concerting  measures  of  peace 
and  in  January  recalling  the  invitation 
for  fear  that  it  might  create  "jealousy  and 
ill  will"  on  the  part  of  monarchical  govern- 
ments in  Europe.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
devise  a  more  •effective  mode  for  making 
enemies  of  the  American  Government  and 
it  would  certainly  not  add  to  our  prestige 
in  the  European  world.  Nor  can  I  see, 
Mr.  President,  how  European  governments 
should  feel  "jealousy  and  ill  will "  towards 
the  United  States  because  of  an  effort  on 
our  own  part  to  assure  lasting  peace  be- 
tween the  nations  of  America,  unless,  in- 
deed, it  be  to  the  interest  of  European 
power  that  American  nations  should  at 
intervals  fall  into  war  and  bring  re- 
proach on  republican  government.  But 
from  that  very  circumstance  I  see  an  ad- 
ditional and  powerful  motive  for  the 
American  Governments  to  be  at  peace 
among  themselves. 

"The  United  States  is  indeed  at  peace 
with  all  the  world,  as  Mr.  Frelinghuysen 
well  says,  but  there  are  and  have  been 
serious  troubles  between  other  American 
nations.  Peru,  Chili  and  Bolivia  have 
been  for  more  than  two  years  engaged  in 
a  desperate  conflict.  It  was  the  fortunate 
intervention  of  the  United  States  last 
spring  that  averted  war  between  Chili  and 
tne  Argentine  Republic.  Guatemala  is  at 
this  moment  asking  the  United  States  to 
interpose  its  good  oflBces  with  Mexico  to 
keep  off  war.  These  important  facts  were 
all  communicated  in  your  late  message  to 
Congress.  It  is  the  existence  or  the  men- 
ace of  these  wars  that  influenced  President 
Garfield,  and  as  I  supposed  influenced 
yourself,  to  desire  a  friendly  conference  of 
all  the  nations  of  America  to  devise 
methods  of  permanent  peace  and  conse- 
quent prosperity  for  all.  Shall  the  United 
States  now  turn  back,  hold  aloof  and  re- 
ftise  to  exert  its  great  moral  power  for  the 
advantage  of  its  weaker  neighl^ors? 

If  you  have  not  formally  and  finally  re- 
called the  invitations  to  the  Peace  bon- 
gress,  Mr.  President,  I  beg  you  to  consider 
well  the  effect  of  so  doing.  The  invitation 
was  not  mine.  It  was  yours.  I  performed 
onlv  the  part  of  the  Secretary — to  advise 
and  to  draft.  You  spoke  in  the  name  of 
the  United  States  to  each  of  the  indepen- 
dent nations  of  America.    To  revoke  that 


invitation  for  any  cause  would  be  embar- 
rassing ;  to  revoke  it  for  the  avowed  fear  of 
"jealousy  and  ill  will "  on  the  part  of 
European  powers  would  appeal  as  little  to 
American  pride  as  to  American  hospitality. 
Those  you  have  invited  may  decline,  and 
having  now  cause  to  doubt  their  welcomie 
will,  perhaps,  do  so.  This  would  break  up 
the  congress,  but  it  would  not  touch  our 
dignity. 

Beyond  the  philanthropic  and  Christian 
ends  to  be  obtained  by  an  American  con- 
ference devoted  to  peace  and  good-will 
among  men,  we  might  well  hope  for 
material  advantages,  as  the  result  of  a  bet- 
ter understanding  and  closer  friendship 
with  the  nation  of  America.  At  present 
the  condition  of  trade  between  the  United 
States  and  its  American  neighbors  is  un- 
satisfactory to  us,  and  even  deplorable. 
According  to  the  official  statistics  of  our 
own  Treasury  Department,  the  balance 
against  us  in  that  trade  last  year  was 
$120,000,000-— a  sum  greater  than  the 
yearly  product  of  all  the  gold  and  sil  ver 
mines  m  the  United  States.  This  vast 
balance  was  paid  by  us  in  foreign  exchange, 
and  a  very  large  proportion  of  it  went  to 
England,  where  shipments  of  cotton,  pro- 
visions and  breadstuffs  supplied  the 
money.  If  anything  should  change  or 
check  the  balance  in  our  favor  in  Euro- 
pean trade  our  commercial  exchanges  with 
Spanish  America  would  drain  us  of  our 
reserve  of  gold  at  a  rate  exceeding  $100,- 
000,000  per  annum,  and  would  probably 
precipitate  a  suspension  of  specie  payment 
in  this  country.  Such  a  result  at  home 
might  be  worse  than  a  little  jealousy  and 
ill-will  abroad.  I  do  not  say,  Mr.  Prr.'si- 
deut,  that  the  holding  of  a  peace  congiess 
will  necessarily  change  the  currents  of 
trade,  but  it  will  bring  us  into  kindly  re- 
lations with  all  the  American  nations ;  it 
will  promote  the  reign  of  peace  and  law 
and  order ;  it  will  increase  production  and 
consumption  and  will  stimulate  the  de- 
mand for  articles  which  American  manu- 
facturers can  furnish  with  profit.  It  will 
at  all  events  be  a  friendly  and  auspicious 
beginning  in  the  direction  of  American 
influence  and  American  trade  in  a  large 
field  which  we  have  hitherto  greatly  ne- 
glected and  which  has  been  practically 
monopolized  by  our  commercial  rivals  in 
Europe. 

As  Mr.  Frelinghuysen's  dispatch,  fore- 
shadowing the  abandonment  of  the  peace 
congress,  has  been  made  public,  I  deem  it 
a  matter  of  propriety  and  justice  to  give 
this  letter  to  the  press.      Jas.  G.  Blaine. 

The  above  well  presents  the  Blaine  view 
of  the  proposition  to  have  a  Con- 
gress of  the  Republics  of  America  at 
Washington,  and  under  the  patronage  of 
this  government,  with  a  view  to  settle  all 


BOOK  I."| 


THE    SOUTH    AMERICAN    QUESTION. 


271 


difficulties  by  arbitration,  to  promote  trade, 
and  it  is  presumed  to  form  alliances  ready 
to  suit  a  new  and  advanced  application  of 
the  Monroe  doctrine. 

The  following  is  the  letter  proposing  a 
conference  of  North  and  South  American 
Republics  sent  to  the  U.  S.  Ministers  in 
Central  and  South  America : 

Sir:  The  attitude  of  the  United  States 
with  respect  to  the  question  of  general 
peace  on  the  American  Continent  is  well 
known  through  its  persistent  efforts  for 
years  past  to  avert  the  evils  of  warfare,  or, 
these  eflforts  failing,  to  bring  positive  con- 
flicts to  an  end  through  pacific  counsels  or 
the  advocacy  of  impartial  arbitration. 
This  attitude  has  been  consistently  main- 
tained, and  always  with  such  fairness  as  to 
leave  no  room  for  imputing  to  our  Govern- 
ment any  motive  except  the  humane  and 
disinterested  one  of  saving  the  kindred 
States  of  the  American  Continent  from  the 
burdens  of  war.  The  position  of  the 
United  States,  as  the  leading  power  of  the 
new  world,  might  well  give  to  its  Govern- 
ment a  claim  to  authoritative  utterance  for 
the  purpose  of  quieting  discord  among  its 
neighbors,  with  all  of  whom  the  most 
friendly  relations  exist.  Nevertheless  the 
good  offices  of  this  Government  are  not, 
and  have  not  at  any  time,  been  tendered 
with  a  show  of  dictation  or  compulsion, 
but  only  as  exhibiting  the  solicitous 
good  will  of  a  common  friend. 

THE     CENTRAL     AND     SOUTH     AMERICAN 
STATES. 

For  some  years  past  a  growing  disposi- 
tion has  been  manifested  by  certain  States 
of  Central  and  South  America  to  refer  dis- 
putes affecting  grave  questions  of  inter- 
national relationship  and  boundaries  to 
arbitration  rather  than  to  the  sword.  It 
has  been  on  several  occasions  a  source  of 
profound  satisfaction  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  to  see  that  this 
country  is  in  a  large  measure  looked  to  by 
all  the  American  powers  as  their  friend 
and  mediator.  The  just  and  impartial 
counsel  of  the  President  in  such  cases,  has 
never  been  withheld,  and  his  effiarts  have 
been  rewarded  by  the  prevention  of 
sanguinary  strife  or  angry  contentions  be- 
tween peoples  whom  we  regard  as  brethren. 
The  existence  of  this  growing  tendency 
convinces  the  President  that  the  time  is 
ripe  for  a  proposal  that  shall  enlist  the 
good  will  and  active  co-operation  of  all  the 
States  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  both 
North  and  South,  in  the  interest  of  hu- 
manity and  for  the  common  weal  of  na- 
tions. 

He  conceives  that  none  of  the  Govern- 
ments of  America  can  be  less  alive  than 
our  own  to  the  dangers  and  horrors  of  a 
state  of  war,  and  especially  of  war  between 
kinsmen.     He  is  sure  that  none  of  the 


chiefs  of  Government  on  the  Continent  can 
be  less  sensitive  than  he  is  to  the  sacred 
duty  of  making  every  endeavor  to  do  away 
with  the  chances  of  fratricidal  strife,  and 
he  looks  with  hopeful  confidence  to  such 
active  assistance  from  them  as  will  serve 
to  show  the  broadness  of  our  common  hu- 
nianity,  the  strength  of  the  ties  which 
bind  us  all  together  as  a  great  and  har- 
monious system  of  American  Common- 
wealths. 

A  GENERAL  CONGRESS  PROPOSED. 

Impressed  by  these  views,  the  President 
extends  to  all  the  independent  countries  of 
North  and  South  America  an  earnest  in- 
vitation to  participate  in  a  general  Con- 
gress, to  be  held  in  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton, on  the  22d  of  November,  1882,  for  the 
purpose  of  considering  and  discussing  the 
methods  of  preventing  war  between  the 
nations  of  America.  He  desires  that  the 
attention  of  the  Congress  shall  be  strictly 
confined  to  this  one  great  object;  and  ite 
sole  aim  shall  be  to  seek  a  way  of  per- 
manently averting  the  horrors  of  a  cruel 
and  bloody  contest  between  countries 
oftenest  of  one  blood  and  speech,  or  the 
even  worse  calamity  of  internal  commotion 
and  civil  strife;  that  it  shall  regard  the 
burdensome  and  far-reaching  consequences 
of  such  a  struggle,  the  legacies  of  exhausted 
finances,  of  oppressive  debt,  of  onerous 
taxation,  of  ruined  cities,  of  paralyzed  in- 
dustries, of  devastated  fields,  of  ruthless 
conscriptions,  of  the  slaughter  of  men,  of 
the  grief  of  the  widow  and  orphan,  of  em- 
bittered resentments  that  long  survive 
those  who  provoked  them  and  heav^ily 
afflict  the  innocent  generations  that  come 
after. 

THE  MISSION  OF  THE  CONGRESS. 

The  President  is  especially  desirous  to 
have  it  understood  that  in  putting  forth  this 
invitation  the  United  States  does  not  as- 
sume the  position  of  counseling  or  attempt 
ing,  through  the  voice  of  the  Congress,  to 
counsel  any  determinate  solution  of  exist- 
ing questions  which  may  now  divide  any 
of  the  countries.  Such  questions  cannot 
properly  come  before  the  Congress.  Its 
mission  is  higher.  It  is  to  provide  for  the 
interests  of  all  in  the  future,  not  to  settle 
the  individual  differences  of  the  present. 
For  this  reason  especially  the  President 
has  indicated  a  day  for  the  assembling  of 
the  Congress  so  far  in  the  future  as  to 
leave  good  ground  for  the  hope  that  by  the 
time  named  the  present  situation  on  the 
South  Pacific  coast  will  be  happily  termi- 
nated, and  that  those  engaged  in  the  con- 
test may  take  peaceable  part  in  the  discus- 
sion and  solution  of  the  general  Question 
affecting  in  an  equal  degree  the  well-being 
of  all. 

It  seems  also  desirable  to  disclaim  in  ad- 


272 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


vance  any  purpose  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  to  prejudge  the  issues  to  be 
presented  to  the  Congress.  It  is  far  from 
the  intent  of  this  Government  to  appear 
before  the  Congress  as  in  any  sense  the 
protector  of  its  neighbors  or  the  predestined 
and  necessary  arbitrator  of  their  disputes. 
The  United  Slates  will  enter  into  the  deliber- 
ations of  the  Congress  on  the  same  footing 
as  other  powers  represented,  and  with  the 
loyal  determination  to  approach  any  pro- 
posed solution,  not  merely  in  its  own  inter- 
est, or  with  a  view  to  asserting  its  own 
•power,  but  as  a  single  member  among 
many  co-ordinate  and  co-ec^ual  States.  So 
far  as  the  influence  of  this  Government 
may  be  potential,  it  will  be  exerted  in  the 
direction  of  conciliating  whatever  con- 
flicting interests  of  blood,  or  government, 
or  historical  tradition  that  may  necessarily 
come  together  in  response  to  a  call 
embracing  such  vast  and  diverse  ele- 
ments. 

INSTRUCTIONS  TO  THE  MINISTERS. 

You  will  present  these  views  to  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Aflfairs  of  Costa  Eica, 
enlarging,  if  need  be,  in  such  terms  as 
will  readily  occur  to  you  upon  the  great 
mission  which  it  is  within  the  power  of  the 
proposed  Congress  to  accomplish  in  the  in- 
terest of  humanity,  and  the  firm  purpose 
of  the  United  States  of  America  to  main- 
tain a  position  of  the  most  absolute  and 
impartial  friendship  toward  all.  You  will, 
therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  tender  to  his  Excel- 
lency, the  President  of ,  a  formal 

invitation  to  send  two  commissioners  to 
the  Congress,  provided  with  such  powers 
and  instructions  on  behalf  of  their  Govern- 
ment as  will  enable  them  to  consider  the 
questions  brought  before  that  body  within 
the  limit  of  submission  contemplated  by 
this  invitation. 

The  United  States,  as  well  as  the  other 
powers,  will  in  like  manner  be  represented 
Dy  two  commissioners,  so  that  equality  and 
impartiality  will  be  amply  secured  in  the 
proceedingi  of  the  Congress. 

In  delivering  this  invitation  through  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  you  will  read 
this  despatch  to  him  and  leave  with  him  a 
copy,  intimating  that  an  answer  is  desired 
by  this  Government  as  promptly  as  the 
just  consideration  of  so  important  a  propo- 
sition will  permit. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

James  G.  Blaine. 


MlnLiter  IiOgan'a  Reply. 

The  following  is  an  abstract  of  the  re- 
ply of  Minister  Logan  to  the  above. 

"  From  a  full  review  of  the  situation,  as 
heretofore  detailed  to  you,  I  am  not  clear 
as  to  being  able  to  obtain  the  genuine  co- 


operation of  all  the  States  of  Central 
America  in  the  proposed  congress. — Each, 
I  have  no  doubt,  will  ultimately  agree  to 
send  the  specified  number  of  commission- 
ers and  assume,  outwardly,  an  appearance 
of  sincere  co-operation,  but,  as  you  will 
perceive  from  your  knowledge  of  the  pos- 
ture of  affairs,  all  hope  of  eflecting  a  union 
of  these  States  except  upon  a  basis  the 
leaders  will  never  permit — ^that  of  a  free 
choice  of  the  whole  people — will  be  at  an 
end.  The  obligation  to  keep  the  peace, 
imposed  by  the  congress,  will  bind  the 
United  States  as  well  as  all  others,  and 
thus  prevent  any  efforts  to  bring  about  the 
desired  union  other  than  those  based  upon 
a  simple  tender  of  good  ofllces — ^this  means 
until  the  years  shall  bring  about  a  radical 
change — must  be  as  inefiicient  in  the  future 
as  in  the  past.  The  situation,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  me,  is  a  difiicult  one.  As  a  means 
of  restraining  the  aggressive  tendency  of 
Mexico  in  the  direction  of  Central  Ameri- 
ca, the  congress  would  be  attended  by  the 
happiest  results,  should  a  full  agreement 
be  reached.  But  as  the  Central  American 
States  are  now  in  a  chaotic  condition,  politi- 
cally considered,"  with  their  future  status 
wholly  undefined,  and  as  a  final  settlement 
can  only  be  reached,  as  it  now  appears, 
through  the  operation  of  military  forces, 
the  hope  of  a  Federal  union  in  Central 
America  would  be  crushed,  at  least  in  the 
immediate  present.  Wiser  heads  than  my 
own  may  devise  a  method  to  harmonize 
these  diflSculties  when  the  congress  is  ac- 
tually in  session,  but  it  must  be  constantly 
remembered  that  so  far  as  the  Central 
American  commissioners  are  concerned 
they  will  represent  the  interests  and  posi- 
tive mandates  of  their  respective  govern- 
ment chiefs  in  the  strictest  and  most  abso- 
lute sense.  While  all  will  probably  send 
commissioners,  through  motives  of  expedi- 
ency, they  may  possibly  be  instructed  to 
secretly  defeat  the  ends  of  the  convention. 
I  make  these  suggestions  that  you  may 
have  the  whole  field  under  view. 

"  I  may  mention  in  this  connection  that 
I  have  received  information  that  up  to  the 
tenth  of  the  present  month  only  two  mem- 
bers of  the  proposed  convention  at  Pana- 
ma had  arrived  and  that  it  was  considered 
as  having  failed." 

Contemporaneous  with  these  movements 
or  suggestions  was  another  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Blaine  to  secure  from  England  a  mod- 
ification or  abrogation  of  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  treaty,  with  the  object  of  giving  to 
the  Ignited  States,  rather  to  the  Eepublics 
of  North  and  South  America,  full  super- 
vision of  the  Isthmus  and  Panama  Canal 
when  constructed.  This  branch  of  the 
correspondence  was  sent  to  the  Senate  on 
the  17th  of  February.  Lord  Granville,  in 
his  despatch  of  January  7th  to  Minister 
West  in  reference  to  the  Clayton-Bulwer 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    SOUTH    AMERICAN    QUESTION. 


273 


Treaty  controversy,  denies  any  analogy 
between  the  cases  of  the  Panama  and 
Suez  Canals.  He  cordially  concurs  in  Mr. 
Blaine's  statement  in  regard  to  the  unex- 
ampled development  of  the  Pacific  Coast, 
but  denies  that  it  was  unexpected. 

He  says  the  declaration  of  President 
Monroe  anterior  to  the  treaty  show  that 
he  and  his  Cabinet  had  a  clear  prevision  of 
the  great  future  of  that  region.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  interests  of  the  British 
possessions  also  continued,  though  possibly 
less  rapidly.  The  Government  are  of  the 
opinion  that  the  canal,  as  a  water  way  be- 
tween the  two  great  oceans  and  Europe  and 
lEastern  Asia,  is  a  work  which  concerns  not 
only  the  American  Continent,  but  the 
whole  civilized  world.  With  all  deference 
to  the  considerations  which  prompted  Mr. 
Blaine  he  cannot  believe  that  his  propo- 
sals will  be  even  beneficial  in  themselves. 
He  can  conceive  a  no  more  melancholy 
spectacle  than  competition  between  nations 
in  the  construction  of  fortifications  to  com- 
mand the  canal.  He  cannot  believe  that 
any  South  American  States  would  like  to 
admit  a  foreign  power  to  erect  fortifications 
on  its  territory,  when  the  claim  to  do  so  is 
accompanied  by  the  declaration  that  the 
canal  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the 
American  coast  line.  It  is  difficult  to  be- 
lieve, he  says,  that  the  territory  between  it 
and  the  United  States  could  retain  its  pres- 
ent independence.  Lord  Granville  believes 
tJiat  an  invitation  to  all  the  maritime 
states  to  participate  in  an  agreement  based 
on  the  stipulations  of  the  Convention  of 
1850,  would  make  the  Convention  adequate 
for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed. 
Her  Majesty's  Government  would  gladly 
see  the  United  States  take  the  initiative 
towards  such  a  convention,  and  will  be 
prepared  to  endorse  and  support  such  action 
in  any  way.  provided  it  does  not  conflict 
with  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty. 

Lord  Granville,  in  a  subsequent  despatch, 
draws  attention  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Blaine, 
in  using  the  argument  that  the  treaty  has 
been  a  source  of  continual  difficulties, 
omits  to  state  that  the  questions  in  dispute 
which  related  to  points  occupied  by  the 
British  in  Central  America  were  removed 
in  1860  by  the  voluntary  action  of  Great 
Britain  in  certain  treaties  concluded  with 
Honduras  and  Nicaragua,  the  settlement 
being  recognized  as  perfectly  satisfactory 
by  President  Buchanan.  Lord  Granville 
says,  further,  that  during  this  controversy 
America  disclaimed  any  desire  to  have 
the  exclusive  control  of  the  canal. 

The  Earl  contends  that  in  cases  where 
the  details  of  an  international  agreement 
have  given  rise  to  difficulties  and  discus- 
sions to  such  an  extent  as  to  cause  the 
contracting  parties  at  one  time  to  contem- 
plate its  abrogation  or  modification  as  one 
of  several  possible  alternatives,  and  where 
18 


it  has  yet  been  found  preferable  to  arrive 
at  a  solution  as  to  those  details  rather  than 
to  sacrifice  the  general  bases  of  the  en- 
gagement, it  must  surely  be  allowed  that 
such  a  fact,  far  from  being  an  argument 
against  that  engagement,  is  an  argument 
distinctly  in  its  favor.  It  is  equally  plain 
that  either  of  the  contracting  parties  which 
had  abandoned  its  own  contention  for  the 
purpose  of  preserving  the  agreement  in  its 
entirety  would  have  reason  to  complain  if 
the  differences  which  had  been  settled  by 
its  concessions  were  afterwards  urged  as  a 
reason  for  essentially  modifying  those  other 
provisions  which  it  had  made  this  sacrifice 
to  maintain.  In  order  to  strengthen  these 
arguments,  the  Earl  reviews  the  corres- 

Eondence,  quotes  the  historical  points  made 
y  Mr.  Blaine  and  in  many  instances  in- 
troduces additional  data  as  contradicting 
the  inferences  drawn  by  Mr.  Blaine  ana 
supporting  his  own  position. 

The  point  on  which  Mr.  Blaine  laid 
particular  stress  in  his  despatch  to  Earl 
Granville,  is  the  objection  made  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  any 
concerted  action  of  the  European  powers 
for  the  purpose  of  guarantying  the  neu- 
trality of  the  Isthmus  canal  or  determin- 
ing the  conditions  of  its  use. 

CHILI  AND  PERU. 

The  entire  question  is  complicated  by 
the  war  between  Chili  and  Peru,  the  latter 
owning  immense  guano  deposits  in  which 
American  citizens  have  become  financially 
interested.  These  sought  the  friendly  in- 
tervention of  our  government  to  prevent 
Chili,  the  conquering  Republic,  from  ap- 
propriating these  deposits  as  part  of  her 
war  indemnity.  The  Landreau,  an  original 
French  claim,  is  said  to  represent  $125,- 
000,000,  and  the  holders  were  prior  to  and 
during  the  war  pressing  it  upon  Calderon, 
the  Peruvian  President,  for  settlement; 
the  Cochet  claim,  another  of  the  same 
class,  represented  $1,000,000,000.  Doubt- 
less these  claims  are  speculative  and  largely 
fraudulent,  and  shrewd  agents  are  inter- 
ested in  their  collection  and  preservation. 
A  still  more  preposterous  and  speculative 
movement  was  fathered  by  one  Shipherd, 
who  opened  a  correspondence  with  Minis- 
ter Hurlburt,  and  with  other  parties  for 
the  establishment  of  the  Credit  Industrie!, 
which  was  to  pay  the  $20,000,000  nioney 
indemnity  demanded  of  Peru  by  Chili,  and 
to  be  reimbursed  by  the  Peruvian  nitrated 
and  guano  deposits. 

THE  SCANDAL. 

All  of  these  things  surround  the  c^ues- 
tion  with  scandals  which  probably  fail  to 
truthfiilly  reach  any  prominent  officer  of 
our  government,  but  wnich  have  neverthe- 
less attracted  the  attention  of  Congress  to 


274 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[soor  I 


such  an  extent  that  the  following  action 
has  been  already  taken : 

On  February  24th  Mr.  Bayard  offered  in 
the  Senate  a  resolution  reciting  that  where- 
as publication  has  been  widely  made  by 
the  public  press  of  certain  alleged  public 
commercial  contracts  between  certain  com- 
panies and  copartnerships  of  individuals 
relative  to  the  exports  of  guano  and  nitrates 
from  Peru,  in  which  the  mediation  by  the 
Gk)vemment  of  the  United  States  between 
the  Governments  of  Peru,  Bolivia  and 
Chili  is  declared  to  be  a  condition  for  the 
effectuation  and  continuance  of  the  said 
contracts;  therefore  be  it  resolved,  that 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be 
instructed  to  inquire  whether  any  promise 
or  stipulation  by  which  the  intervention  by 
the  Lnited  States  in  the  controversies  ex- 
isting between  Chili  and  Peru  or  Chili  and 
Bolivia  has  been  expressly  or  impliedly 
given  by  any  person  or  persons  officially 
connected  with  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  whether  the  influence  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
been  in  any  way  exerted,  promised  or  inti- 
mated in  connection  with,  or  in  relation  to 
the  said  contracts  by  any  one  ofiicially  con- 
nected with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  and  whether  any  one  oflScially  con- 
nected with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  interested,  directly  or  indirectly, 
with  any  such  alleged  contracts  in  which 
the  mediation  as  aforesaid  of  the  United 
States  is  recited  to  be  a  condition,  and  that 
the  said  committee  have  power  to  send  for 
persons  and  paper  and  make  report  of  their 
proceedings  in  the  premises  to  the  Senate 
at  the  earliest  possible  day. 

Mr.  Edmunds  said  he  had  drafted  a 
resolution  covering  all  the  branches  of 
"  that  most  unfortunate  affair  "  to  which 
reference  was  now  made,  and  in  view  of 
the  ill  policy  of  any  action  which  would 
commit  the  Senate  to  inquiries  about  de- 
claring foreign  matters  in  advance  of  a 
carefm  investigation  by  a  committee,  he 
now  made  the  suggestion  that  he  would 
have  made  as  to  his  own  resolution,  if  he 
had  offered  it,  namely,  that  the  subject  be 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Re- 
lations. He  intimated  that  the  proposition 
prepared  by  himself  would  be  considered 
Dy  the  committee  as  a  suggestion  bearing 
upon  the  pending  resolution. 

Mr.  Bayard  acouiesced  in  the  reference 
with  the  remark  tnat  anything  that  tended 
to  bring  the  matter  more  fully  before  the 
country  was  satisfactory  to  him. 

The  resolution  accordingly  went  to  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 

In  the  House  Mr.  Kasson,  of  Iowa, 
offered  a  resolution  reciting  that  whereas, 
it  is  alleged,  in  connection  with  the  Chili 
Peruvian  correspondence  recently  and 
officially  published  on  the  call  of  the  two 
Hoiises  of  Congress,  that   one  or  more 


Ministers  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  were  either  personally  interested  or 
improperly  connected  with  a  business 
transaction  in  which  the  intervention  of 
this  Government  was  requested  or  expected 
and  whereas,  it  is  alleged  that  certain  pa- 
pers in  relation  to  the  same  subject  have 
been  improperly  lost  or  removed  from  the 
files  of  tne  State  Department,  that  there- 
fore the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  be 
instructed  to  inquire  into  said  allegations 
and  ascertain  the  facts  relating  thereto, 
and  report  the  same  with  such  recommen- 
dations as  they  may  deem  proper,  and  they 
shall  have  power  to  send  for  persons  and 
papers.    The  resolution  was  aaopted. 

THE  CLAIMS. 

The  inner  history  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Peruvian  Company  reads  more  like  a 
tale  from  the  Arabian  Nights  than  a  plain 
statement  of  facts.  The  following  is 
gleaned  from  the  prospectus  of  the  compa- 
ny, of  which  only  a  limited  number  of  cop- 
ies was  printed.  According  to  a  note  on 
the  cover  of  these  "  they  are  for  the  strictly 
private  use  of  the  gentlemen  into  whose 
hands  they  are  immediately  placed." 

The  prospects  of  the  corporation  are 
based  entirely  upon  the  claims  of  Cochet 
and  Landreau,  two  French  chemists,  resi- 
dents of  Peru.  In  the  year  1833,  the  Pe- 
ruvian government,  by  published  decree, 
promised  to  every  discoverer  of  valuable 
deposits  upon  the  public  domain  a  premium 
of  one-third  of  the  discovery  as  an  incen- 
tive to  the  development  of  great  natural 
resources  vaguely  known  to  exist.  In  the 
beginning  of  1830,  Alexandre  Cochet,  who 
was  a  man  of  superior  information,  occu- 
pied himself  in  tne  laborious  work  of  manu- 
facturing nitrate  of  soda  in  a  small  oficina 
in  Peru,  and  being  possessed  with  quick 
intelligence  and  a  careful  observer  he  soon 
came  to  understand  that  the  valuable  pro- 
perties contained  in  the  guano — an  article 
only  known  to  native  cultivators  of  the  soil 
— would  be  eminently  useful  as  a  restora- 
tive to  the  exhausted  lands  of  the  old  con- 
tinent. With  this  idea  he  made  himself 
completely  master  of  the  mode  of  applica- 
tion adopted  by  the  Indians  and  small 
farmers  in  the  province  where  he  resided, 
and  after  a  careful  investigation  of  the 
chemical  effects  produced  on  the  land  by 
the  proper  application  of  the  regenerating 
agent,  he  proceeded  in  the  year  1840  to  the 
capital  (Lima)  in  order  to  interest  some  of 
his  friends  in  this  new  enterprise.  Not 
without  great  persuasion  and  much  hesita- 
tion, he  induced  his  countryman,  Mr.  Achil- 
les Allier,  to  take  up  the  hazardous  specu- 
lation and  join  with  him  in  his  discovery. 
He  succeeded,  however,  and  toward  tne 
end  of  the  same  year  the  firm  of  Quiroz  & 
Allier  obtained  a  concession  for  six  years 
from  the  government  of  Peru  for  the  ex- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    SOUTH    AMERICAN    QUESTION. 


275 


portation  of  all  the  guano  existing  in  the 
afterwards  famous  islands  of  Chinclii  for 
the  sum  of  sixty  thousand  dollars.  In 
consequence  of  the  refusal  of  that  firm  to 
admit  Cochet,  the  discoverer,  to  a  partici- 
pation in  the  profits  growing  out  of  this 
contract  a  series  of  lawsuits  resulted  and  a 
paper  war  ensued  in  which  Cochet  was 
batiied.  In  vain  he  called  the  attention  of 
the  government  to  the  nature  and  value  of 
this  discovery  ;  he  was  told  that  he  was  a 
"  visionary."  In  vain  he  demonstrated 
that  the  nation  possessed  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars  in  the  grand  deposits :  this 
only  confirmed  the  opinion  of  the  Council 
of  btate  that  he  was  a  madman.  In  vain 
he  attempted  to  prove  that  one  cargo  of 
guano  was  equal  to  fourteen  cargoes  of 
grain ;  the  Council  of  State  cooly  told  him 
that  guano  was  an  article  known  to  the 
Spaniards,  and  of  no  value :  that  Commis- 
sioner Humbolt  had  referred  to  it,  and  that 
they  could  not  accept  his  theory  respecting 
its  ^superior  properties,  its  value  and  its 
probable  use  in  foreign  agriculture  at  a  pe- 
riod when  no  new  discovery  could  be  made 
relative  to  an  article  so  long  and  of  so  evi- 
dent small  value. 

At  length  a  new  light  began  to  dawn  on 
the  lethargic  understanding  of  the  officials 
in  power,  and  as  rumors  continued  to  ar- 
rive from  Europe  confirming  the  assevera- 
tions of  Cochet,  and  announcing  the  sale 
of  guano  at  from  $90  to  $120  per  ton,  a  de- 
gree of  haste  was  suddenly  evinced  to  se- 
cure once  more  to  the  public  treasury  this 
new  and  unexpected  source  of  wealth  ;  and 
at  one  blow  the  contract  with  Quiroz  & 
Allier,  which  had  previously  been  extend- 
ed, was  reduced  to  one  year.  Their  claims 
were  cancelled  by  the  payment  of  ten  thou- 
sand tons  of  guano  which' Congress  de- 
creed them.  There  still  remained  to  be 
settled  the  just  and  acknowledged  indebt- 
edness for  benefits  conferred  on  the  coun- 
try by  Cochet,  benefits  which  could  not  be 
denied  as  wealth  and  prosperity  rolled  in 
on  the  government  and  on  the  people.  But 
few,  if  any,  troubled  themselves  about  the 
question  to  whom  they  were  indebted  for 
so  much  good  fortune,  nor  had  time  to  pay 
particular  attention  to  Cochet's  claims. 
Finally,  however.  Congress  was  led  to  de- 
clare Cochet  the  true  discoverer  of  the  value, 
uses  and  application  of  guano  for  European 
agriculture,  and  a  grant  of  5,000  tons  was 
made  in  his  favor  September  30th,  1849, 
but  was  never  paid  him.  After  passing  a 
period  of  years  in  hopeless  expectancy — 
from  1840  to  1851— his  impoverished  cir- 
cumstances made  it  necessary  for  him  to 
endeavor  to  procure,  through  the  influence 
of  his  own  government,  tbat  measure  of 
support  in  favor  of  his  claims  which  would 
insure  him  a  competency  in  his  old  age. 

He  resolved  upon  returning  to  France, 
after  having  spent  the  best  pjtrt  of  his  life 


in  the  service  of  a  country  whose  cities  had 
risen  from  desolation  to  splendor  under  the 
sole  magic  of  his  touch — a  touch  that  had 
in  it  for  Peru  all  the  fabled  power  of  the 
long-sought  "  philosopher's  stone."  In  1853 
Cochet  returned  to  France,  but  he  was  then 
already  exhausted  by  enthusiastic  explora- 
tions in  a  deadly  climate  and  never  rallied. 
He  lingered  in  poverty  for  eleven  painful 
years  and  died  in  Paris  in  an  almshouse  in 
1864,  entitled  to  an  estate  worth  $500,000,- 
000 — ^the  richest  man  in  the  history  of  the 
world — and  was  buried  by  the  city  in  the 
Potters'  Field ;  his  wonderful  history  well  il- 
lustrating that  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction. 

THE  LANDREAU    CLAIM. 

About  the  year  1844  Jean  Theophile 
Landreau,  also  a  French  citizen,  in  part- 
nership with  his  brother,  John  C.  Landreau, 
a  naturalized  American  citizen,  upon  the 
faith  of  the  promised  premium  of  33.^  per 
cent,  entered  upon  a  series  of  extended  sys- 
tematic and  scientific  explorations  with  a 
view  to  ascertaining  whether  the  deposits 
of  guano  particularly  pointed  out  by  Co- 
chet constituted  the  entire  guano  deposit  of 
Peru,  and  with  money  furnished  by  his  part- 
ner, John,  Theophile  prosecuted  his  search- 
es with  remarkable  energy  and  with  great 
success  for  twelve  years,  identifying  beds 
not  before  known  to  the  value  of  not  less 
than  $400,000,000.  Well  aware,  however, 
of  the  manner  in  which  his  fellow-country- 
man had  been  neglected  by  an  unprinci- 
pled people,  he  had  the  discretion  to  keep 
his  own  counsel  and  to  extort  from  the  Pe- 
ruvian authorities  an  absolute  agreement 
in  advance  before  he  revealed  his  treasure. 
This  agreement  was,  indeed,  for  a  royalty 
of  less  than  one-sixth  the  amount  promised, 
but  the  most  solemn  assurances  were  given 
that  the  lessened  amount  would  be  prompt- 
ly and  cheerfully  paid,  its  total  would  give 
the  brothers  each  a  large  fortune,  and  pay- 
ments were  to  begin  at  once.  The  solemn 
agreement  having  been  concluded  and  duly 
certified,  the  precious  deposits  having  been 
pointed  out  and  taken  possession  of  by  the 
profligate  government,  the  brothers  were  at 
first  put  off  with  plausible  pretexts  of  de- 
lay, and  when  these  grew  monotonous  the 
government  calmly  issued  a  decree  recog- 
nizing the  discoveries,  accepting  the  trea- 
sure, and  annulling  the  contract,  with  a  sug- 
gestion that  a  more  suitable  agreement 
might  be  arranged  in  the  future. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  two  men,  Co- 
chet and  Landreau,  have  been  acknow- 
ledged by  the  Peruvian  government  as 
claimants.  No  attempt  has  ever  been  made 
to  denv  the  indebteaness.  The  very  de- 
cree or  repudiation  reaffirmed  the  obliga- 
tion, and  all  the  courts  refused  to  pronounce 
against  the  plaintiffs.  Both  of  these  claims 
came  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Peter  W. 
Hevenor,  of  Philadelphia.    Cochet  left  one 


276 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


eon  whom  Mr.  Hevenor  found  in  poverty  in 
Lima  and  advanced  monev  to  push  his 
father's  claim  of  $500,000,000  against  the 
government.  Aft^r  ;t50,000  were  spent 
voung  Cochet's  backer  was  surprised  to 
learn  of  the  Laudreaus  and  tlieir  claim. 
Not  wishing  to  antagonize  them,  he  ad- 
vanced them  money,  and  in  a  short  time 
owned  nearly  all  the  fifteen  interests  in  the 
Landreau  claim  of  8125,000,000. 

To  the  Peruvian  Company  Mr.  Hevenor 
has  transferred  his  titles,  and  on  the  basis 
of  these  that  corporation  maintains  that 
eventuallv  it  will  realize  not  less  than  $1,- 
200,000,000,  computed  as  follows  : 

The  amount  of  guano  already  taken  out 
of  the  Cochet  Islands — including  the  Chin- 
chas — will  be  shown  by  the  Peruvian  Cus- 
tom House  records,  and  will  aggregate,  it  is 
said,  not  far  from  $1,200,000,000  worth.  The 
discoverer's  one-third  of  this  would  be 
$400,000,000,  and  interest  upon  this  amount 
at  six  per  cent,  say  for  an  equalized  aver- 
age of  twenty  years— would  be  $480,000,000 
more.  The  amount  remaining  in  these 
islands  is  not  positively  known,  and  is  pro- 
bably not  more  than  $200,000,000  worth ; 
and  in  the  Landreau  deposits  say  $300,000,- 
000  more.  The  Chilian  plenipotentiary  re- 
cently announced  that  his  government  are 
about  opening  very  rich  deposits  on  the  Lo- 
bos  Islands — which  are  included  in  this 
group.  It  is  probably  within  safe  limits, 
says  the  Penivian  Company's  prospectus,  to 
say  that,  including  interest  to  accrue  before 
the  claim  can  be  fiilly  liquidated,  its  owners 
will  realize  no  less  than  $1,200,000,000. 

THE  COUNTRIES  IITVOLVED. 

In  South  America  there  are  ten  inde- 
pendent governments ;  and  the  three  Gui- 
anas  which  are  dependencies  on  European 
powers.  Of  the  independent  governments 
Brazil  is  an  empire,  having  an  area  of 
3,609,160  square  miles  and  11,058,000  in- 
habitants. The  other  nine  are  republics. 
In  giving  area  and  population  we  use  the 
most  complete  statistics  at  our  command, 
but  they  are  not  strictly  reliable,  nor  as 
late  as  we  could  have  wished.  The  area 
and  the  population  of  the  republics  are : 
Venzuela,  426,712  square  miles  and  2,200,- 
000  inhabitants ;  United  States  of  Colom- 
bia, 475,000  square  miles  and  2,900,000  in- 
habitants ;  Peru,  580,000  square  miles  and 
2,500,000  inhabitants;  Ecuador,  208,000 
square  miles  and  1,300,000  inhabitants; 
Bolivia,  842,730  square  miles  and  1,987,352 
inhabitants;  Chili,  200,000  square  miles 
and  2,084,%0  inhabitants ;  Argentine  Re- 
public, 1,323,560  square  miles  and  1,887,- 
000  inhabitants;  Paraguay,  73,000  square 
miles  and  1,337,439  inhabitants ;  Uruguav, 
66,716  square  miles  and  240,000  inhabi- 
tants, or  a  total  in  the  nine  republics  of 
3,789,220  square  miles  and  16,436,751  in- 
habitants.   The  aggregate  area  of  the  nine 


republics  exceeds  that  of  Brazil  180,060 
square  miles,  and  the  total  population  ex- 
ceeds that  of  Brazil  5,069,552.  Brazil,  be- 
ing an  empire,  is  not  comprehended  in  the 
Blaine  proposal — she  rather  stands  as  a 
strong  barrier  against  it.  Mexico  and 
Guatamala  are  included,  but  are  on  this 
continent,  and  their  character  and  re- 
sources better  understood  by  our  people. 
In  the  South  American  countries  generally 
the  Spanish  language  is  spoken.  The  edu- 
cated classes  are  of  nearly  pure  Spanish  ex- 
traction. The  laboring  classes  are  of  mixed 
Spanish  and  aboriginal  blood,  or  of  pure 
aboriginal  ancestry.  The  characteristics 
of  the  Continent  are  emphatically  Spanish. 
The  area  and  population  we  have  already 
given.  The  territory  is  nearly  equally  di- 
vided between  tlie  republics  and  the  em- 
pire, the  former  having  a  greater  area  of 
only  180,060  square  miles ;  but  the  nine 
republics  have  an  aggregate  population  of 
5,059,522  more  than  Brazil.  The  United 
States  has  an  area  of  3,634,797  square 
miles,  including  Alaska;  but  excluding 
Alaska,  it  has  3,056,797  square  miles.  The 
area  of  Brazil  is  greater  than  that  of  the 
United  States,  excluding  Alaska,  by  552,- 
363  square  miles,  and  the  aggregate  area 
of  the  nine  republics  is  greater  by  732,423 
S(^uare  miles.  This  comparison  of  the  area 
ot  the  nine  republics  and  of  Brazil  with 
that  of  this  nation  gives  a  definite  idea  of 
their  magnitude.  Geographically,  these 
republics  occupy  the  northern,  western  and 
southern  portions  of  South  America,  and 
are  contiguous.  The  aggregate  exports  and 
imports  of  South  America,  according  to  the 
last  available  data,  were  $529,300,000; 
those  of  Brazil,  $168,930,000 ;  of  the  nine 
republics,  $360,360,000. 

These  resolutions  will  bring  out  volumi- 
nous correspondence,  but  we  have  given  the 
reader  suflScient  to  reach  a  fair  understand- 
ing of  the  subject.  "Whatever  of  scandal 
may  be  connected  with  it,  like  the  Star 
Route  cases,  it  should  await  official  in- 
vestigation and  condemnation.  Last  of  all 
should  history  condemn  any  one  in  ad^ 
vance  of  oflicial  inquiry.  None  of  the 
governments  invited  to  the  Congress  had 
accepted  formally,  and  in  view  of  obstacles 
thrown  in  the  way  by  the  present  adminis- 
tration, it  is  not  probable  they  will. 

Accepting  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Blaine 
as  stated  in  his  letter  to  President  Arthur, 
as  conveying  his  tnie  desire  and  meaning, 
it  is  due  to  the  truth  to  say  that  it  compre- 
hends more  than  the  Monroe  doctrine,  the 
text  of  which  is  given  in  President  Mon- 
roe's own  words  in  this  volume.  While  he 
contended  against  foreign  intervention  with 
the  Republics  on  this  Hemisphere,  he  ne- 
ver asserted  the  right  of  our  government  to 
participate  in  or  seek  the  control  either  of 
the  internal,  commercial  or  foreign  policy 
of  any  of  the  Republics  of  America,  by  ar- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    STAR    ROUTE    SCANDAL. 


277 


bitration  or  otherwise.  So  that  Mr.  Blaine 
is  the  author  of  an  advance  upon  the  3Ion- 
roe  doctrine,  and  what  seems  at  this  time 
a  radical  advance.  What  it  may  be  when 
the  United  States  seeks  to  "spread  itself" 
by  an  aggressive  foreign  policy,  and  by 
aggrandizement  of  new  avenues  of  trade, 
possibly  new  acquisitions  of  territory,  is 
another  question.  It  is  a  policy  brilliant 
beyond  any  examples  in  our  history,  and 
a  new  departure  from  the  teachings  of 
Washington,  Avho  advised  absolute  non-in- 
tervention in  foreign  affairs.  The  new 
doctrine  might  thrive  and  acquire  great 
popularity  under  an  administration  friendly 
to  it ;  but  President  Arthur  has  already 
intimated  his  hostility,  and  it  is  now  be- 
yond enforcement  during  his  administra- 
tion. The  views  of  Congress  also  seem  to 
be  adverse  as  far  as  the  debates  have  gone 
into  the  question,  though  it  has  some  warm 
friends  who  may  revive  it  under  more  favo- 
rable auspices. 


Tlie  Star  Route  Scandal. 

Directly  after  Mr.  James  assumed  the 
position  of  Postmaster-General  in  the 
Cabinet  of  President  Garfield,  he  disco- 
vered a  great  amount  of  extravagance  and 
probably  fraud  in  the  conduct  of  the  mail 
service  known  as  the  Star  Routes,  author- 
ized by  act  of  Congress  to  further  extend 
the  mail  facilities  and  promote  the  more 
rapid  carriage  of  the  mails.  These  routes 
proved  to  be  very  popular  in  the  West  and 
South-west,  and  the  growing  demand  for 
mail  facilities  in  these  sections  would  even 
in  a  legitimate  way,  if  not  closely  watched, 
lead  to  unusual  cost  and  extravagance ;  but 
it  is  alleged  that  a  ring  was  formed  headed 
by  General  Brady,  one  of  the  Assistant 
Postmaster-Generals  under  General  Key, 
by  which  routes  were  established  with  tlie 
sole  view  of  defrauding  the  Government — 
that  false  bonds  were  given  and  enormous 
and  fraudulent  sums  paid  for  little  or  no 
service.  This  scandal  was  at  its  height  at 
the  time  of  the  assassination  of  President 
Garfield,  at  which  time  Postmaster-General 
James,  Attorney-General  MacVeagh  and 
other  officials  were  rapidly  preparing  for 
the  prosecution  of  all  charged  with  the 
fraud.  Upon  the  succe<<sion  of  President 
Arthur  he  openly  insisted  upon  the  fullest 
prosecution,  and  declined  to  receive  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  MacVeagh  from  the 
Cabinet  because  of  a  stated  fear  that  the 
prosecution  would  suffer  by  his  withdrawal. 
Mr.  MacVeagh,  however,  withdrew  from 
the  Cabinet,  believing  that  the  new  Presi- 
dent should  not  by  any  circumstance  be 
prevented  from  the  official  association  of 
friends  of  his  own  selection ;  and  at  this 
Writing  Attorney -General  Brewster  is  push- 
ing the  prosecutions. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  1882,  the  Grand 


Jury  sitting  at  Washington  presented  in- 
dictments for  conspiracy  in  connection  with 
the  Star  Route  mail  service  against  the  fol- 
lowing named  persons;  Thomas  J.  Brady, 
J.  W.  Dorsey,  Henry  M.  Vail,  John  W. 
Dorsey,  John  R.  Miner,  John  M.  Peck,  M. 
C.  Rerdell,  J.  L.  Sanderson,  Wm.  H.  Tur- 
ner. Also  against  Alvin  O.  Buck,  Wm.  S. 
Barringer  and  Albert  E.  Boon*>,  and  against 
Kate  M.  Armstrong  for  perjury.  The  in- 
dictment against  Brady,  Dorsey  and  others, 
which  is  very  voluminous,  recites  the  ex- 
istence, on  March  10, 1879,  of  the  Post  Of- 
fice Department,  Postmaster-General  and 
three  assistants,  and  a  Sixth  Auditor's  office 
and  Contract  office  and  division. 

"To  the  latter  was  subject,"  the  indict- 
ment continues,  "  the  arrangement  of  the 
mail  service  of  the  United  States  and  the 
letting  out  of  the  same  on  contract."  It 
then  describes  the  duties  of  the  inspecting 
division.  On  March  10,  1879,  the  grand 
jurors  represent,  Thomas  J.  Brady  was  the 
lawful  Second  Assistant  Postmaster-Gene- 
ral engaged  in  the  performance  of  the  du- 
ties of  that  office.  William  H.  Turner  was 
a  clerk  in  the  Second  Assistant  Postmaster- 
General's  office,  and  attended  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  contract  division  relating  to  the 
mail  service  over  several  post  routes  in  Ca- 
lifornia, Colorado,  Oregon,  Nebraska,  and 
the  Territories.  On  the  16th  of  March, 
1879,  the  indictment  represents  Thomas  J. 
Brady  as  having  made  eight  contracts  with 
John  W.  Dorsey  to  carry  the  mails  from 
July  1,  1878,  to  June  30,  1882,  from  Ver- 
million, in  Dakota  Territory,  to  Sioux  Falls 
and  back,  on  a  fourteen  hour  time  schedule, 
for  $398  each  year ;  on  route  from  White 
River  to  Rawlins,  Colorado,  once  a  week 
of  108  hours'  time,  for  $1,700  a  year;  on 
route  from  Garland,  Colorado,  to  Parrott 
City,  once  a  week,  on  a  schedule  of  168 
hours'  time,  for  $2,745;  on  route  from  Ou- 
ray, Colorado,  to  Los  Pinos,  once  a  WQck,  in 
12  hours'  time,  for  $348;  on  route  from  Sil- 
verton,  Colorado,  to  Parrott  City,  twice  a 
week,  on  36  hours'  time,  for  $1,488;  on 
route  from  Mineral  Park,  in  Arizona  Ter- 
ritory, to  Pioche  and  back,  once  a  week,  in 
84  hours'  time,  $2,982 ;  on  route  from  Tres 
Almos  to  Clifton  and  back,  once  a  week,  of 
84  hours'  time,  for  $1,568. 

It  further  sets  forth  that  the  Second  As- 
sistant Postmaster-General  entered  into 
five  contracts  with  John  R.  Miner  on  June 
13, 1878,  on  routes  in  Dakota  Territory  and 
Colorado,  and  on  March  15, 1879,  with  John 
M.  Peck,  over  eight  post  routes.  In  the 
space  of  sixty  days  after  the  making  of 
these  contracts  they  were  in  full  force.  On 
March  10,  1879,  John  W.  Dorsey,  John  R. 
Miner,  and  John  M.  Peck,  with  Stephen 
W.  Dorsey  and  Henry  M.  Vaile,  M.  C. 
Rerdell  and  J.  L.  Sanderson,  mutually  in- 
terested in  these  contracts  and  money,  to 
be  paid  by  the  United  States  to  the  three 


278 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  l 


parties  above  named,  did  unlawfiilly  and 
maliciously  combine  and  conspire  to  fraud- 
ulently write,  sign,  and  cause  to  be  written 
and  signed,  a  large  number  of  fraudulent 
letters  and  communications  and  false  and 
fraudulent  petitions  and  applications  to  the 
Postmaster-General  for  additional  service 
and  increase  of  expenditure  on  the  routes, 
which  were  purported  to  be  signed  by  the 
people  and  inhabitants  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  routes,  which  were  filed  with  the 
papers  in  the  office  of  the  Second  Assistant 
Postmaster-General.  Further  that  these 
parties  swore  falsely  in  describing  the  num- 
ber of  men  and  animals  required  to  perform 
the  mail  service  over  the  routes  and  States 
as  greater  than  was  necessary. 

These  false  oaths  were  placed  on  file  in 
the  Second  Assistant  Postmaster-General's 
office;  and  by  means  of  Wm.  H.  Turner 
falsely  making  and  writing  and  endorsing 
these  papers,  with  brief  and  untrue  state- 
ments as  to  their  contents,  and  by  Turner 
{)reparing  fraudulent  written  orders  for  al- 
owances  to  be  made  to  these  contractors 
and  signed  by  Thomas  J.  Brady  fraudu- 
lently, and  for  the  benefit  and  gain  of  all 
the  parties  named  in  this  bill,  the  service 
was  increased  over  these  routes ;  and  that 
Brady  knew  it  was  not  lawfully  needed  and 
required.  That  he  caused  the  order  for  in- 
creasing to  be  certified  to  and  filed  in  the 
Sixth  Auditor's  office  for  fraudulent  addi- 
tional compensation.  That  Mr.  Brady  gave 
prders  to  extend  the  service  so  as  to  include 
other  and  different  stations  than  those  men- 
tioned in  the  contract,  that  he  and  others 
might  have  the  benefits  and  profits  of  it : 
that  he  refused  to  impose  fines  on  these 
contracts  for  failures  and  delinquencies,  but 
allowed  them  additional  pay  for  the  ser- 
vice over  these  routes.  During  the  conti- 
nuance of  these  contracts  the  parties  ac- 
quired unto  themselves  several  large  and 
excessive  sums  of  money,  the  property  of 
the  United  States,  fraudulently  and  un- 
lawfully ordered  to  be  paid  them  bv  Mr. 
Brady. 

These  are  certainly  formidable  indict- 
ments. Others  are  pending  against  persons 
in  Philadelphia  and  other  cities,  who  are 
charged  witn  complicity  in  these  StarEoute 
frauds,  in  giving  straw  bonds,  &c.  The 
Star  Route  service  still  continues,  the  Post 
Office  Department  under  the  law  having 
sent  out  several  thousand  notifications  this 
year  to  contractors,  informing  them  of  the 
official  acceptance  of  their  proposals,  and 
some  of  these  contractors  are  the  same 
named  above  as  under  indictment.  This 
well  exemplifies  the  maxim  of  the  law  re- 
lative to  innocence  until  guilt  be  shown. 


Th«  Coming  St«t«a. 

Bills  are  pending  before  Congress  for  the 
admission    of    Dakota,    Wyoming,    New 


Mexico  and  Washington  Territories.  The 
Bill  for  the  admission  of  Dakota  divides 
the  old  Territory,  and  provides  that  the 
new  State  shall  consist  of  the  territory  in- 
cluded within  the  following  boundaries: 
Commencing  at  a  point  on  the  west  line 
of  the  State  of  Minnesota  where  the  forty- 
sixth  degree  of  north  latitude  intersects  the 
same ;  thence  south  along  the  west  boun- 
dary lines  of  the  States  of  Minnesota  and 
Iowa  to  the  point  of  intersection  with  the 
northern  boundary  line  of  the  State  of 
Nebraska ;  thence  westwardly  along  the 
northern  boundary  line  of  the  State  of 
Nebraska  to  the  twenty-seventh  meridian 
of  longitude  west  from  Washington  ;  thence 
north  along  the  said  twenty-seventh  degree 
of  longitude  to  the  forty-sixth  degree  of 
north  latitude  ;  to  the  place  of  beginning. 
The  bill  provides  for  a  convention  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  delegates,  to  be  chosen 
by  the  legal  voters,  who  shall  adopt  the 
United  States  Constitution  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  form  a  State  Constitution  and  gov- 
ernment. Until  the  next  census  the  State 
shall  be  entitled  to  one  representative,  who, 
with  the  Governor  and  other  officials,  shall 
be  elected  upon  a  day  named  by  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention.  The  report  sets 
apart  lands  for  school  purposes,  and  gives 
the  State  five  per  centum  of  the  proceeds 
of  all  sales  of  public  lands  within  its  limits 
subsequent  to  its  admission  as  a  State,  ex- 
cluding all  mineral  lands  from  being  thus 
set  apart  for  school  purposes.  It  provides 
that  portion  of  the  the  Territory  not  in- 
cluded in  the  proposed  new  State  shall 
continue  as  a  Territorj'  under  the  name  of 
the  Territory  of  North  Dakota, 

The  proposition  to  divide  comes  from 
Senator  McMillan,  and  if  Congress  sus- 
tains the  division,  the  portion  admitted 
would  contain  100,000  inhabitants,  the  en- 
tire estimated  population  being  175,000 — a 
number  in  excess  of  twenty  of  the  present 
States  when  admitted,  exclusive  of  the 
original  thirteen  ;  while  the  division,  which 
shows  100,000  inhabitants,  is  still  in  excess 
of  sixteen  States  when  admitted, 

Nevada,  with  less  than  65,000  popula- 
tion, was  admitted  before  the  close  Presi- 
dential election  of  1876,  and  it  may  be  said 
that  her  majority  of  1,075,  in  a  total  poll 
of  19,691  votes,  decided  the  Presidential 
result  in  favor  of  Hayes,  and  these  votes 
counteracted  the  plurality  of  nearly  300,000 
received  by  Mr.  Tilden  elsewhere.  This 
fact  well  illustrates  the  power  of  States,  as 
States,  and  however  small,  in  controlling 
the  affairs  of  the  country.  It  also  accounts 
for  the  jealousy  with  which  closely  balanced 
political  parties  watch  the  incoming  States. 

Population  is  but  one  of  the  considera- 
tions entering  into  the  question  of  admit- 
ting territories,  State  sovereignty  does  not 
rest  upon  population,  as  in  the  make-up 
of  the  U.  S.  Senate  neither  population,. 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    STAR    ROUTE    SCANDAL. 


279 


size,  nor  resources  are  taken  into  account. 
Rhode  Island,  the  smallest  of  all  the 
States,  and  New  York,  the  great  Empire 
State,  with  over  5,000,000  of  inhabitants, 
stand  upon  an  equality  in  the  conservative 
branch  of  the  Government.  It  is  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  that  the  popula- 
tion is  considered.  Such  is  the  jealousy 
of  the  larger  States  of  their  representation 
in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  that  few  new  ones 
would  be  admitted  without  long  and  con- 
tinuous knocking  if  it  were  not  for  partisan 
interests,  and  yet  where  a  fair  number  of 
people  demand  State  Government  there  is 
no  just  cause  for  denial.  Yet  all  questions 
of  population,  natural  division,  area  and 
resources  should  be  given  their  proper 
weight. 

The  area  of  the  combined  territories- 
Utah,  Washington,  New  Mexico,  Dakota, 
Arizona,  Montana,  Idaho,  Wyoming  and 
Indian  is  about  900,000  square  miles.  We 
exclude  Alaska,  which  has  not  been  sur- 
veyed. 

Indian  Territory  and  Utah  are  for  some 
years  to  come  excluded  from  admission — 
the  one  being  reserved  to  the  occupancy 
of  the  Indians,  while  the  other  is  by  her 
peculiar  institution  of  polygamy,  generally 
thrown  out  of  all  calculation.  And  yet  it 
may  be  found  that  polygamy  can  best  be 
made  amenable  to  the  laws  by  the  compul- 
sory admission  of  Utah  as  a  State — an  idea 
entertained  by  not  a  few  who  have  given 
consideration  to  the  question.  Alaska  may 
also  be  counted  out  for  many  years  to  come. 
There  are  but  30,000  inhabitants,  few  of 
these  permanent,  and  Congress  is  now  con- 
sidering a  petition  for  the  establishment  of 
a  territorial  government  there. 

Next  to  Dakota,  New  Mexico  justly 
claims  admission.  The  lands  comprised 
within  its  original  area  were  acquired  from 
Mexico,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war  with 
that  country,  by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo  in  1848,  and  by  act  of  September 
9,  1850,  a  Territorial  government  was  or- 
ganized. By  treaty  of  December  30, 1853, 
the  region  south  of  the  Gila  river — the 
Gadsden  purchase,  so  called — was  ceded  by 
Mexico,  and  by  act  of  August  4,  1854, 
added  to  the  Territory,  which  at  that  time 
included  within  its  limits  the  present  Ter- 
ritory of  Arizona.  Its  prayer  for  admis- 
sion was  brought  to  the  serious  attention 
of  Congress  in  1874.  The  bill  was  pre- 
sented in  an  able  speech  by  Mr.  Elkins, 
then  delegate  from  tne  Territory,  and  had 
the  warm  support  of  many  members.  A 
bill  to  admit  was  also  introduced  in  the 
Senate,  and  passed  that  body  February  25, 
1875,  by  a  vote  of  thirty-two  to  eleven,  two 
of  the  present  members  of  that  body, 
Messrs.  Ingalls  and  Windom,  being  among 
its  supporters.  The  matter  of  admission 
came  up  for  final  action  in  the  House  at 
the  same  session,  just  prior  to  adjournment, 


and  a  motion  to  suspend  the  rules,  in  order 
to  put  it  upon  its  final  passage,  was  lost  by 
a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  to 
eighty-seven,  and  the  earnest  efforts  to  se- 
cure the  admission  of  New  Mexico  were 
thus  defeated.  A  bill  for  its  admission  ia 
now  again  before  Congress,  and  it  is  a  mat- 
ter of  interest  to  note  the  representations 
as  to  the  condition  of  the  Territory  then 
made,  and  the  facts  as  they  now  exist.  It 
has,  according  to  the  census  of  1880,  a 
population  of  119,565.  It  had  in  1870  a 
population  of  91,874.  It  was  claimed  by 
the  more  moderate  advocates  of  the  bill 
that  its  population  then  numbered  135,000 
(15,435  more  than  at  present),  while  others 
placed  it  as  high  as  145,000.  Of  this  pop- 
ulation, 45,000  were  said  to  be  of  American 
and  European  descent.  It  was  stated  by 
Senator  Hoar,  one  of  the  opponents  of  the 
bill,  that,  out  of  an  illiterate  population  of 
52,220,  by  far  the  larger  part  were  native 
inhabitants  of  Mexican  or  Spanish  origin, 
who  could  not  speak  the  English  language. 
This  statement  seems  to  be  in  large  degree 
confirmed  by  the  census  of  1880,  which 
shows  a  total  native  white  population  of 
108,721,  of  whom,  as  nearly  as  can  be  as- 
certained, upward  of  80  per  cent,  are  not 
only  illiterates  of  Mexican  and  Spanish 
extraction,  but  as  in  1870,  speaking  a  for- 
eign language.  The  vote  for  Mr.  Elkins, 
Territorial  Delegate  in  1875,  was  reported 
as  being  about  17,000.  The  total  vote  in 
1878  was  18,806,  and  in  1880, 20,397,  show- 
ing a  comparatively  insignificant  increase 
from  1875  to  1880. 

The  Territory  of  Washington  was  con- 
stituted out  of  Oregon,  and  organized  as  a 
Territory  by  act  of  March  2,  1853.  Its 
population  by  the  census  of  1880  was  75,- 
116,  an  increase  from  23,955  in  1870.  Of 
this  total,  69,313  are  of  native  and  15,803 
of  foreign  nativity.  Its  total  white  popu- 
lation in  the  census  year  was  67,119;  Chi- 
nese, 3,186;  Indian,  4,105;  colored,  326, 
and  its  total  present  population  is  probably 
not  far  from  95,000.  Its  yield  of  precious 
metals  in  1880,  and  for  the  entire  period 
since  its  development,  while  showing  re- 
sources full  of  promise,  has  been  much  less 
than  that  of  any  other  of  the  organized  Ter- 
ritories. Its  total  vote  for  Territorial  Dele- 
gate in  1880,  while  exceeding  that  of  the 
Territories  of  Arizona,  Idaho,  and  Wyo- 
ming, was  but  15,823. 

The  Territory  of  Arizona,  organized  out 
of  a  portion  of  New  Mexico,  and  provided 
with  a  territorial  government  in  1863,  con- 
tains about  5,000,000  acres  less  than  the 
Territory  of  New  Mexico,  or  an  acreage 
exceeded  by  that  of  only  five  States  and 
Territories.  Its  total  population  in  1870 
was  9,658,  and  in  1880,  40,440,  351,60  of 
whom  were  whites.  Of  its  total  population 
in  the  census  year,  24,391  were  of  native 
and  16,049  of  foreign  birth,  the  number  (* 


280 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Indians,    Chinese,     and    colored    being 
5,000, 

Idaho  was  originally  a  part  of  Oregon, 
from  which  it  was  separated  and  provided 
with  a  territorial  government  by  the  act  of 
March  8,  1863.  It  embraces  in  its  area  a 
little  more  than  55,000,000  acres,  and  had 
in  1880  a  total  population  of  32,610,  being 
an  increase  from  14,999  in  1870.  Of  this 
population,  22,636  are  of  native  and  9,974 
of  foreign  birth ;  29,013  of  the  total  inhabi- 
tants are  white,  3,379  Chinese  and  218  In- 
dians and  colored. 

The  Territory  of  Montana,  organized  by 
act  of  May  26,  1864,  contains  an  acreage 
larger  than  that  of  any  other  Territory  save 
Dakota.  While  it  seems  to  be  inferior  in 
cereal  producing  capacity,  in  its  area  of 
valuable  grazing  lands  it  equals,  if  it  does 
not  excel,  Idaho.  The  chief  prosperity  of 
the  Territory,  and  that  which  promises  for 
it  a  future  of  growing  importance,  lies  in 
its  extraordinary  mineral  wealth,  the  pro- 
ductions of  its  mines  in  the  year  1880  hav- 
ing been  nearly  twice  that  of  any  other 
Territory,  with  a  corresponding  excess  in 
its  total  production,  which  had  reached, 
on  June  30,  1880,  the  enormous  total  of 
over  $53,000,000.  Its  mining  industries 
represent  in  the  aggregate  very  large  in- 
vested capital,  and  the  increasing  products, 
with  the  development  of  new  mines,  are 
attracting  constant  additions  to  its  popula- 
tion, which  in  1880  showed  an  increase,  as 
compared  with  1870,  of  over  90  per  cent. 
For  particulars  see  census  tables  in  tabu- 
lated history. 

Wyoming  was  constituted  out  of  the 
Territory  of  Dakota,  and  provided  with 
territorial  government  July  25, 1868.  Ly- 
ing between  Colorado  and  Montana,  and 
adjoining  Dakota  and  Nebraska  on  the 
east,  it  partakes  of  the  natural  characteris- 
ti\)8  of  these  States  and  Territories,  having 
a  fair  portion  of  land  suitable  for  cultiva- 
tion, a  large  area  suitable  for  grazing  pur- 
poses, and  a  wealth  in  mineral  resources 
whose  development,  although  of  recent  be- 
ginning, has  already  resulted  in  an  en- 
couraging yield  in  precious  metals.  It  is 
the  fifth  m  area. 

Henry  Randall  Waite,  in  an  able  article 
!n  the  March  number  of  the  International 
Review  (1882,)  closes  with  these  interest- 
ing paragraphs : 

It  will  be  thu^  seen  that  eleven  States 
organized  from  Territories,  when  author- 
ized to  form  State  governments,  and  the 
same  number  when  admitted  to  the  Union, 
had  free  populations  of  less  than  60,000, 
and  that  of  the  slave  States  included  in 
this  number,  seven  in  all,,  not  one  had  the 
required  number  of  free  inhabitants,  either 
when  authorized  to  take  the  first  steps  to- 
ward admission  or  when  finally  admitted  ; 
and  that  both  of  these  steps  were  taken  by 
two  of  the  latter  States  with  a  total  popu- 


lation, free  and  slave,  below  the  required 
number.  Why  so  many  States  have  been 
authorized  to  form  State  governments,  and 
have  been  subsequently  admitted  to  the 
Union  with  populations  so  far  below  the 
requirements  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  and 
the  accepted  rules  for  subsequent  ac- 
tion may  be  briefly  explained  as  follows: 
1st,  by  the  ground  for  the  use  of  a  wide 
discretion  afforded  in  the  provisions  of  the 
ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  admission  of 
States,  when  deemed  expedient,  before 
their  population  should  equal  the  required 
number;  and  2d,  by  the  equally  wide  dis- 
cretion given  by  the  Constitution  in  the 
words,  'New  States  may  be  admitted  by 
Congress  into  this  Union,'  the  only  provi- 
sion of  the  Constitution  bearing  specifical- 
ly upon  this  subject.  Efforts  have  been 
made  at  various  times  to  secure  the  strict 
enforcement  of  the  original  rules,  with  the 
modification  resulting  from  the  increase 
in  the  population  of  the  Union,  which  pro- 
vided that  the  number  of  free  inhabitants 
in  a  Territory  seeking  admission  should 
equal  the  number  established  as  the  basis 
of  representation  in  the  apportionment  of 
Representatives  in  Congress,  as  determined 
by  the  preceding  census.  How  little  suc- 
cess the  efforts  made  in  this  direction  have 
met,  may  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the 
number  of  inhabitants  forming  the  basis  of 
representation,  as  established  by  the  dif- 
ferent censuses,  and  the  free  population  of 
the  Territories  admitted  at  corresponding 
periods. 

"At  this  late  date,  it  is  hardly  to  be  ex- 
pected that  rules  so  long  disregarded  will  be 
made  applicable  to  the  admission  of  the 
States  to  be  organized  from  the  existing 
Territories.  There  is,  nevertheless,  a 
growing  disposition  on  the  part  of  Con- 
gress to  look  with  disfavor  upon  the  forma- 
tion of  States  whose  population,  and  the 
development  of  whose  resources,  render 
the  expediency  of  their  admission  ques- 
tionable; and  an  increasing  doubt  as  to 
the  propriety  of  so  dividing  the  existing 
Territories  as  to  multiply  to  an  unrieces- 
sary  extent  the  number  of  States,  with  the 
attendant  increase  in  the  number  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  the  National  Legislature. 

"  To  recapitulate  the  facts  as  to  the  pre- 
sent condition  of  the  Territories  with  re- 
ference to  their  admission  as  States,  it  may 
be  said  that  only  Dakota,  Utah,  New 
Mexico  and  Washington  are  m  possession 
of  the  necessary  population  according  to 
the  rule  requiring  60,000 ;  that  only  the 
three  first  named  conform  to  the  rule  de- 
manding a  population  equal  to  the  present 
basis  of  representation  ;  that  only  Dakota, 
Utah  and  Washington  give  evidence  or 
that  intelligence  on  the  part  of  their  in- 
habitants which  is  essential  to  the  proper 
exercise,  under  favorable  conditions,  of  the 
extended  rights  of  citizenship,  and  of  thai 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


281 


progress  in  the  development  of  their  re- 
sources which  makes  self-government  es- 
sential, safe,  or  in  any  way  desirable;  and 
that  only  Dakota  can  be  said,  unquestion- 
ably, to  possess  all  of  the  requirements 
which,  by  the  dictates  of  a  sound  policy, 
should  be  demanded  of  a  Territory  at  this 
time  seeking  admission  to  the  Union. 

"  Whatever  the  response  to  the  Terri- 
torial messengers  now  waiting  at  the  doors 
of  Congress,  a  few  years,  at  most,  will 
bring  an  answer  to  their  prayers.  The 
stars  of  a  dozen  proud  and  prosperous 
States  will  soon  be  added  to  those  already 
blazoned  upon  the  blue  field  of  the  Union, 
and  the  term  Territory,  save  as  applied  to 
the  frozen  regions  of  Alaska,  will  disappear 
from  the  map  of  the  United  States." 


The  Chinese  Q,ue8tlon. 

Since  1877  the  agitation  of  the  prohibi- 
tion of  Chinese  immigration  in  California 
and  other  States  and  Territories  on  the 
Pacific  slope  has  been  very  great.  This  led 
to  many  scenes  of  violence  and  in  some 
instances  bloodshed,  when  one  Dennis 
Kearney  led  the  Workingmen's  party  in  San 
Francisco.  On  this  issue  an  agitator  and 
preacher  named  Kalloch  was  elected 
Mayor.  The  issue  was  carried  to  the  Leg- 
islature, and  in  the  vote  on  a  constitu- 
tional amendment  it  was  found  that  not 
only  the  labor  but  nearly  all  classes  in 
California  were  opposed  to  the  Chinese. 
The  constitutional  amendment  did  not 
meet  the  sanction  of  the  higher  courts.  A 
bill  was  introduced  into  Congress  restrict- 
ing Chinese  immigrants  to  fifteen  on  each 
vessel.  This  passed  both  branches,  but  was 
vetoed  by  President  Hayes  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  in  violation  of  the  spirit  of 
treaty  stipulations.  At  the  sessions  of 
1881-82  a  new  and  more  radical  measure 
was  introduced.  This  prohibits  immigra- 
tion to  Chinese  or  Coolie  laborers  for  twen- 
ty years.  The  discussion  in  the  U.  S. 
Senate  began  on  the  28th  of  February, 
1882,  in  a  speech  of  unusual  strength  by 
Senator  John  F.  Miller,  the  author  of  the 
Bill.  From  this  we  freely  quote,  not  alone 
to  show  the  later  views  entertained  by  the 
people  of  the  Pacific  slope,  but  to  give 
from  the  lips  of  one  who  knows  the  lead- 
ing facts  in  the  history  of  the  agitation. 


Abstracts  from,  the  Text  of  Senator 
Miller's  Speech. 

On  kit  £iZZ  to  Prohibit  Chinete  Immigration. 

In  the  Senate,  Feb.  28th,  1882,  Mr. 
Miller  said : 

"  This  measure  is  not  a  surprise  to  the 
Senate,  nor  a  new  revelation  to  the 
country.  It  has  been  before  Congress 
more  than  once,  if  not  in  the  precise  form 


in  which  it  is  now  presented,  in  substance 
the  same,  and  it  has  passed  the  ordeal  of 
analytical  debate  and  received  the  affirma- 
tive vote  of  both  Houses.  Except  for  the 
Executive  veto  it  would  have  been  long 
ago  the  law  of  the  land.  It  is  again  pre- 
sented, not  only  under  circumstances  as 
imperative  in  their  demands  for  its  enact- 
ment, but  with  every  objection  of  the  veto 
removed  and  every  argument  made  against 
its  approval  swept  away.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing fact  in  the  history  of  this  measure,  that 
the  action  which  has  cleared  its  way  of  the 
impediments  which  were  made  the  reasons 
for  the  veto,  was  inaugurated  and  consum- 
mated with  splendid  persistance  and  en- 
ergy by  the  same  administration  whose  ex- 
ecutive interposed  the  veto  against  it. 
Without  stopping  to  inquire  into  the  mo- 
tive of  the  Hayes  administration  in  this 
proceeding,  whether  its  action  was  in  obe- 
dience to  a  conviction  that  the  measure 
was  in  itself  right  and  expedient,  or  to  a 
public  sentiment,  so  strong  and  universal 
as  to  demand  the  utmost  vigor  in  the  di- 
plomacy necessary  for  the  removal  of  all 
impediments  to  ite  progress,  it  must  be  ap- 
parent that  the  result  of  this  diplomatic 
action  has  been  to  add  a  new  phase  to  the 
question  in  respect  of  the  adoption  of  the 
measure  itself. 

"  In  order  to  fiilly  appreciate  this  fact  it 
may  be  proper  to  indulge  in  historical 
reminiscence  for  a  moment.  For  many 
years  complaints  had  been  made  against 
the  introduction  into  the  United  States  of 
the  peculiar  people  who  come  from  China, 
and  the  Congress,  after  careful  considera- 
tion of  the  subject,  so  far  appreciated  the 
evil  complained  of  as  to  pass  a  bill  to  in- 
terdict it. 

"  The  Executive  Department  had,  prior 
to  that  action,  with  diplomatic  finesse,  ap- 
proached the  imperial  throne  of  China, 
with  intent,  as  was  said,  to  ascertain 
whether  such  an  interdiction  of  coolie  im- 
portation, or  immigration  so  called,  into 
the  United  States  would  be  regarded  as  a 
breach  of  friendly  relations  with  China, 
and  had  been  informed  by  the  diplomat,  to 
whom  the  delicate  task  had  been  com- 
mitted, that  such  interdiction  would  not  be 
favorably  regarded  by  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment. Hence,  when  Congress,  with  sur- 
prising audacity,  passed  the  bill  of  inter- 
diction the  Executive,  believing  in  the 
truth  of  the  information  given  him,  thought 
it  prudent  and  expedient  to  veto  the  bill, 
but  immediately,  in  pursuance  of  authority 
granted  by  Congress,  he  appointed  three 
commissioners  to  negotiate  a  treatv  by 
which  the  consent  of  China  should  be 
given  to  the  interdiction  proposed  by 
Congress.  These  commissioners  appeared 
before  the  Government  of  China  upon  this 
special  mission,  and  presented  the  request 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 


2)82 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[bookl 


affirmatively,  positively,  and  authorita- 
tively made,  and  after  the  usual  diplomatic 
ceremonies,  representations,  misrepresenta- 
tions, avowals,  and  concealments,  the 
treaty  was  made,  the  concession  granted, 
and  the  interdiction  agreed  upon.  This 
treaty  was  presented  here  and  ratified  by 
the  Senate,  with  what  unanimity  Senators 
know,  and  which  the  rules  of  the  Senate 
forbid  me  to  describe. 

"  The  new  phase  of  this  question,  which 
we  may  as  well  consider  in  the  outset,  sug- 
gests the  spectacle  which  this  nation  should 
present  if  Congress  were  to  vote  this  or  a 
similar  measure  down.  A  great  nation 
cannot  afford  inconsistency  in  action,  nor 
betray  a  vacillating,  staggering,  incon- 
stant policy  in  its  intercourse  with  other 
nations.  No  really  great  people  will  pre- 
sent themselves  before  the  world  through 
their  government  as  a  nation  irresolute, 
fickle,  feeble,  or  petulant ;  one  day  eagerly 
demanding  of  its  neighbor  an  agreement 
or  concession,  which  on  the  next  it  ner- 
vously repudiates  or  casts  aside.  Can  we 
make  a  solemn  request  of  China,  through 
the  pomp  of  an  extraordinary  embassy  and 
the  ceremony  of  diplomatic  negotiation, 
and  with  prudent  dispatch  exchange  ratifi- 
cations of  the  treaty  granting  our  request, 
and  within  less  than  half  a  year  after  such 
exchange  is  made  cast  aside  the  concession 
and,  with  childish  irresolution,  ignore  the 
whole  proceeding?  Can  we  afford  to  make 
such  a  confession  of  American  imbecility 
to  any  oriental  power?  The  adoption  of 
this  or  some  such  measure  becomes  neces- 
sary, it  seems  to  me,  to  the  intelligent  and 
consistent  execution  of  a  policy  adopted  by 
this  Government  under  the  sanction  of  a 
treaty  with  another  great  nation. 

"  If  the  Executive  department,  the  Sen- 
ate, and  the  House  of  Keprcsentatives 
have  all  understood  and  appreciated  their 
own  action  in  respect  of  this  measure ;  if 
in  the  negotiation  and  ratification  of  the 
new  treaty  with  China,  the  Executive  and 
the  Senate  did  not  act  without  thought,  in 
blind,  inconsiderate  recklessness — and  we 
know  they  did  not — if  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  in  the  passage  of  the  fifteen 
passenger  bill  had  the  faintest  conception 
of  what  it  was  doing — and  we  know  it  had 
— ^then  the  policy  of  this  Government  in 
respect  of  so-called  Chinese  immigration 
has  been  authoritatively  settled. 

"This  proposition  is  submitted  with  the 
greater  confidence  because  the  action  I 
nave  described  was  in  obedience  to,  and  in 
harmony  with,  a  public  sentiment  which 
seems  to  have  permeated  the  whole  coun- 
try. For  the  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
such  a  sentiment,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
produce  the  declarations  upon  this  subject 
of  the  two  great  historical  parties  of  the 
country,  deliberately  made  dv  their  na- 
tional conventions  of  1880.    One  of  these 


(the  Democratic  convention)  declared  that 
there  shall  be— 

"  '  No  more  Chinese  immigration  except 
for  travel,  education,  and  foreign  com- 
merce, and  therein  carefully  guarded.' 

"The  other  (the  Republican)  convention 
declared  that — 

"  *  Since  the  authority  to  regulate  immi- 

§  ration  and  intercourse  between  the  United 
tates  and  foreign  nations  rests  with  Con- 
gress, or  with  the  United  States  and  its 
treaty-making  power,  the  Republican 
partjr,  regarding  the  unrestricted  immi- 
gration of  the  Chinese  as  an  evil  of  great 
magnitude,  invokes  the  exercise  of  these 
powers  to  restrain  and  limit  the  immigra- 
tion by  the  enactment  of  such  just,  nu- 
mane,  and  reasonable  provisions  as  will 
produce  that  result.' ' 

"  These  are  the  declarations  of  the  two 
great  political  parties,  in  whose  ranks  are 
enrolled  nearly  all  the  voters  of  the  United 
States;  and  whoever  voted  at  the  last 
Presidential  election  voted  for  the  adop- 
tion of  the  principles  and  policy  expressed 
by  those  declarations,  whether  he  voted 
with  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  great 
parties.  Both  candidates  for  the  Presidency 
were  pledged  to  the  adoption  and  execu- 
tion of  the  policy  of  restriction  thus  de- 
clared by  their  respective  parties,  and  the 
candidate  who  was  successful  at  the  polls, 
in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  not  only  gave 
expression  to  the  sentiment  of  his  party 
and  the  country,  but  with  a  clearness  and 
conciseness  which  distinguished  all  his  ut- 
terances upon  great  public  questions,  gave 
the  reasons  for  that  public  sentiment."  He 
said : 

" '  The  recent  movement  of  the  Chinese 
to  our  Pacific  Coast  partakes  but  little  of 
the  qualities  of  an  immigration,  either  in 
its  purposes  or  results.  It  is  too  much 
like  an  importation  to  be  welcomed  with- 
out restriction ;  too  much  like  an  invasion 
to  be  looked  upon  without  solicitude.  We 
cannot  consent  to  allow  any  form  of  servile 
labor  tb  be  introduced  among  us  under  the 

guise  of  immigration.' 
*        *        *        *        *        *     .    *        * 

"  In  this  connection  it  is  proper  also  to 
consider  the  probable  effect  .of  a  failure  or 
refusal  of  Congress  to  pass  this  bill,  upon  the 
introduction  of  Chinese  coolies  into  the 
United  States  in  the  future.  An  adverse 
vote  upon  such  a  measure,  is  an  invitation 
to  the  Chinese  to  come.  It  would  be  in- 
terpreted to  mean  that  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  had  reversed  its  policy, 
and  is  now  in  favor  of  the  unrestricted  im- 
portation of  Chinese;  that  it  looks  with 
favor  upon  the  Chinese  invasion  now  in 

Erogress.  It  is  a  fact  well  known  that  the 
ostility  to  the  influx  of  Chinese  upon  the 
Pacific  coast  displayed  by  the  people  of 
California  has  operated  as  a  restriction, 
and  has  discouraged  the  importation  of 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


283 


Chinese  to  such  a  degree  that  it  is  probable  I 
that  there  are  not  a  tenth  part  the  number  I 
of  Chinese  in  the  country  there  would  | 
have  been  had  this  determined  hostility 
never  been  shown.  Despite  the  inhospi- 
tality,  not  to  say  resistance,  of  the  Cali- 
fornia people  to  the  Chinese,  sometimes 
while  waiting  for  the  action  of  the  General 
Government  difficult  to  restrain  within  the 
bounds  of  peaceable  assertion,  they  have 
poured  through  the  Golden  Gate  in  con- 
stantly increased  numbers  during  the  past 
year,  the  total  number  of  arrivals  at  San 
Francisco  alone  during  1881  being  18,561. 
Nearly  two  months  have  elapsed  since  the 
1st  of  January,  and  there  have  arrived,  as 
the  newspapers  show,  about  four  thousand 
more. 

"  The  defeat  of  this  measure  now  is  a 
shout  of  welcome  across  the  Pacific  Ocean 
to  a  myriad  host  of  these  strange  people  to 
come  and  occupy  the  land,  and  it  is  a  re- 
buke to  the  American  citizens,  who  have 
so  long  stood  guard  upon  the  western  shore 
of  this  continent,  and  who,  seeing  the  dan- 
ger, have  with  a  fortitude  and  forbearance 
most  admirable,  raised  and  maintained  the 
only  barrier  against  a  stealthy,  strategic, 
but  peaceful  invasion  as  destructive  in  its 
results  and  more  potent  for  evil,  than  an 
invasion  by  an  army  with  banners.  An 
adverse  vote  now,  is  to  commission  under 
the  broad  seal  of  the  United  States,  all  the 
speculators  in  human  labor,  all  the  im- 
porters of  human  muscle,  all  the  traffickers 
m  human  flesh,  to  ply  their  infamous  trade 
without  impediment  under  the  protection 
of  the  American  flag,  and  empty  the  teem- 
ing, seething  slave  pens  of  China  upon  the 
soil  of  California !  I  forbear  further  spec- 
ulation upon  the  results  likely  to  flow  from 
such  a  vote,  for  it  presents  pictures  to  the 
mind  which  one  would  not  willingly  con- 
template. 

"These  considerations  which  I  have 
presented  ought  to  be,  it  seems  to  me,  de- 
cisive of  the  action  of  the  Senate  upon  this 
measure ;  and  I  should  regard  the  argu- 
ment as  closed  did  I  not  know,  that  there 
still  remain  those  who  do  not  consider  the 

?[Ue3tion  as  settled,  and  who  insist  upon 
urther  inquiry  into  the  reasons  for  a  policy 
of  restriction,  as  applied  to  the  Chinese.  I 
am  not  one  of  those  who  would  place  the 
consideration  of  consistency  or  mere  ap- 
pearances above  consideration  of  right  or 
justice ;  but  since  no  change  has  taken 
place  in  our  relations  with  China,  nor  in 
our  domestic  concerns  which  renders  a  re- 
versal of  the  action  of  the  government 
proper  or  necessary,  I  insist  that  if  the 
measure  of  restriction  was  right  and  good 
policy  when  Congress  passed  the  fifteenth 
passenger  bill,  and  when  the  late  treaty 
with  Cnina  was  negotiated  and  ratified,  it 
is  right  and  expedient  now. 

"i?his  measure  had  its  origin  in  Cali- 


fornia. It  has  been  pressed  with  great 
vigor  by  the  Representatives  of  the  Pacific 
coast  in  Congress,  for  many  years.  It  has 
not  been  urgfed  with  wild  vehement  decla- 
mation by  thoughtless  men,  at  the  behest 
of  an  ignorant  unthinking,  prejudiced  con- 
stituency. It  has  been  supported  by  in- 
controvertible fact  and  passionless  reason- 
ing and  enforced  by  the  logic  of  events. 
Behind  these  Representatives  was  an  in- 
telligent, conscientious  public  sentiment- 
universal  in  a  constituency  as  honest,  gen- 
erous, intelligent,  courageous,  and  humane 
as  any  in  the  Republic. 

"  It  had  been  said  that  the  advocates  of 
Chinese  restriction  were  to  be  found  only 
among  the  vicious,  unlettered  foreign  ele- 
ment of  California  society.  To  show  the 
fact  in  respect  of  this  contention,  the  L^- 
islature  of  California  in  1878  provided  for 
a  vote  of  the  people  upon  the  question  of 
Chinese  immigration  (so  called)  to  be  had 
at  the  general  election  of  1879.  The  vote 
was  legally  taken,  without  excitement,  and 
the  response  was  general.  When  the  bal- 
lots were  counted,  there  were  found  to  be 
883  votes  for  Chinese  immigration  and 
154,638  against  it.  A  similar  vote  was  tak- 
en in  Nevada  and  resulted  as  follows :  183 
votes  for  Chinese  immigration  and  17,259 
votes  against.  It  has  been  said  that  a 
count  of  noses  is  an  ineffectual  and  illusory 
method  of  settling  great  questions,  but  this 
vote  of  these  two  States  settled  the  conten- 
tion intended  to  be  settled;  and  demon- 
strated that  the  people  of  all  others  in  the 
United  States  who  know  most  of  the 
Chinese  evil,  and  who  are  most  competent 
to  judge  of  the  necessity  for  restriction  are 
practically  unanimous  in  the  support  of 
this  measure. 

"  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  this  vote  of 
California  was  the  effect  of  an  hysterical 
spasm,  which  had  suddenly  seized  the 
minds  of  154,000  voters,  representing  the 
sentiment  of  800,000  people.  For  nearly 
thirty  years  this  people  had  witnessed  the 
effect  of  coolie  importation.  For  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  these  voters  had 
met  face  to  face,  considered,  weighed,  and 
discussed  the  great  question  upon  which 
they  were  at  last  called  upon,  in  the  most 
solemn  and  deliberate  manner,  to  express 
an  opinion.  I  do  not  cite  this  extraordinary 
vote  as  a  conclusive  argument  in  favor  of 
Chinese  restriction  ;  but  I  present  it  as  an 
important  fact  suggestive  of  argument.  It 
may  be  that  the  people  who  have  been 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  Chinese  in- 
vasion are  all  wrong,  and  that  those  who 
have  seen  nothing  of  it,  who  have  but 
heard  something  of  it,  are  more  competent 
(being  disinterested)  to  judge  of  its  pos- 
sible, probable,  and  'actual  effects,  than 
those  who  have  had  twenty  or  thirty  years 
of  actual  continuous  experience  and  con- 
tact witJi  the  Chinese  colony  in  Amarica; 


2S4 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


and  it  may  be  that  the  Chinese  question  is 
to  be  settled  upon  considerations  other 
than  those  practical  common  sense  reasons 
and  principles  which  form  the  basis  of  po- 
litical science. 

"  It  has  sometimes  happened  in  dealing 
■with  great  questions  of  governmental 
policy  tiiat  sentiment,  or  a  sort  of  emotional 
inspiration,  has  seized  the  minds  of  those 
engaged  in  the  solution  of  great  problems, 
by  which  they  have  been  lifted  up  into  the 
ethereal  heights  of  moral  abstraction.  I 
trust  that  while  we  attempt  the  path  of  in- 

S^uiry  in  this  instance  we  shall  keep  our 
eet  firmly  upon  the  earth.  This  question 
relates  to  this  planet  and  the  temporal 
government  of  some  of  its  inhabitants ;  it 
IS  of  the  earth  earthly ;  it  involves  prin- 
ciples of  economic,  social,  and  political 
science,  rather  than  a  question  of  morals ; 
it  is  a  question  of  national  policy,  and 
should  be  subjected  to  philosophical  analy- 
sis. Moreover,  the  question  is  of  to-day. 
The  conditions  of  the  world  of  mankind  at 
the  present  moment  are  those  with  which 
we  nave  to  deal.  If  mankind  existed  now 
in  i»ne  grand  co-operative  society,  in  one 
universal  union,  under  one  system  of  laws, 
in  a  vast  homogeneous  brotherhood, 
serenely  beatified,  innocent  of  all  selfish 
aims  and  unholy  desires,  with  one  visible 
temporal  ruler,  whose  judgments  should 
be  justice  and  whose  sway  should  be  eter- 
nal, then  there  would  be  no  propriety  in 
this  measure. 

"  But  the  millennium  has  not  yet  begun, 
arid  man  exists  now,  as  he  has  existed 
always — in  the  economy  of  Providence — 
in  societies  called  nations,  separated  by 
tbe  peculiarities  if  not  the  antipathies  of 
race.  In  truth  the  history  of  mankind  is 
fdr  the  most  part  descriptive  of  racial  con- 
flicts and  the  struggles  between  nations  for 
e  uistence.  By  a  perfectly  natural  process 
these  nations  have  evolved  distinct  civ- 
ilizations, as  diverse  in  their  characteristics 
as  the  races  of  men  from  which  they  have 
sprung.  These  may  be  properly  grouped 
into  two  grand  divisions,  the  civilization 
of  the  East  and  the  civilization  of  the 
West.  These  two  great  and  diverse  civiliza- 
tions have  finally  met  on  the  American 
shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

"  During  the  late  depression  in  busi- 
ness affairs,  which  existed  for  three  or  four 
years  in  California,  while  thousands  of 
white  men  and  women  were  walking  the 
streets,  begging  and  pleading  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  give  their  honest  labor  for  any 
wages,  the  great  steamers  made  their  regu- 
lar arrivals  from  China,  and  discharged 
at  the  wharves  of  San  Francisco  their  ac- 
customed cargoes  of  Chinese  who  were 
conveyed  through  the  city  to  the  distribu- 
ting dens  of  the  Six  Companies,  and  with- 
in three  or  four  days  after  arrival  every 
Chinaman  was  in  his  place  at  work,  and 


the  white  people  unemployed  still  went 
about  the  streets.  This  continued  until 
the  white  laboring  men  rose  in  their  des- 
peration and  threatened  the  existence  of 
the  Chinese  colony  when  the  influx  wa« 
temporarily  checked  ;  but  now  since  busi- 
ness has  revived,  and  the  pressure  is  re- 
moved, the  Chinese  come  in  vastly  in- 
creased numbers,  the  excess  of  arrivals  over 
departures  averaging  about  one  thousand 
per  month  at  San  Francisco  alone.  The 
importers  of  Chinese  had  no  difficulty  in 
securing  openings  for  their  cargoes  now, 
and  when  transportation  from  California 
to  the  Eastern  States  is  cheapened,  as  it 
soon  will  be,  they  will  extend  their  opera- 
tions into  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States, 
unless  prevented  by  law,  for  wherever 
there  is  a  white  man  or  woman  at  work 
for  wages,  whether  at  the  shoe  bench,  in 
the  factory,  or  on  the  farm,  there  is  an 
opening  for  a  Chinaman.  No  matter  how 
low  the  wages  may  be,  the  Chinaman  can 
afford  to  work  for  still  lower  wages,  and  if 
the  competition  is  free,  he  will  take  the 
white  man's  place. 

"  At  this  point  we  are  met  by  the  query 
from  a  certain  class  of  political  econo- 
mists, 'What  of  it?  Suppose  the  Chinese 
work  for  lower  wages  than  white  men,  is 
it  not  advantageous  to  the  country  to  em- 
ploy them?'  The  first  answer  to  such 
question  is,  that  by  this  process  white  men 
are  supplanted  by  Chinese.  It  is  a  sub- 
stitution of  Chinese  and  their  civilization 
for  white  men  and  Anglo-Saxon  civiliza- 
tion. This  involves  considerations  higher 
than  mere  economic  theories.  If  the  Chi- 
nese are  as  desirable  as  citizens,  if  they 
are  in  all  the  essential  elements  of  man- 
hood the  peers  or  the  superiors  of  the  Cau- 
casian ;  if  they  will  protect  American  in- 
terests, foster  American  .institutions,  and 
become  the  patriotic  defenders  of  republi- 
can government ;  if  their  civilization  does 
not  antagonize  ours  nor  contaminate  it;  if 
they  are  free,  independent  men,  fit  for 
liberty  and  self-government  as  European 
immigrants  generally  are,  then  we  may 
begin  argument  upon  thequestion  whether 
it  is  better  or  worse,  wise  or  unwise,  to 
permit  white  men,  American  citizens,  or 
men  of  kindred  races  to  be  supplanted 
and  the  Chinese  to  be  substituted  in  their 
places.  Until  all  this  and  more  can  be 
shown  the  advocates  of  Chinese  importa- 
tion or  immigration  have  no  base  upon 
which  to  even  begin  to  build  argument. 

"The  statistics  of  the  manufacture  of 
cigars  in  San  Fiancisco  are  still  more  sug- 
gestive. This  business  was  formerly  car- 
ried on  exclusively  by  white  people,  many 
hundreds  finding  steady  and  lucrative  em- 
ployment in  that  trade.  I  have  here  the 
certified  statement  fiom  the  office  of  the 
collector  of  internal  revenue  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, showing  the  number  of  white  people 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


285 


and  Chinese,  relatively,  employed  on  the 
1st  of  November  last  in  the  manufacture 
of  cigars.    The  statement  is  as  follows  ; 

Number  of  white  men  employed.....  493 
Number  ot  white  women  employed.      170 

Total  whites ....*. 663 

Number  of  Chinese  employed 5  182 

"  The  facts  of  this  statement  were  care- 
fully ascertained  by  three  deputy  collec- 
tors. The  San  Francisco  Assembly  of 
Trades  certify  that  there  are  8,265  Chinese 
employed  in  laundries.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  white  women  who  formerly  did 
this  work  have  been  quite  driven  out  of 
that  employment.  The  same  authority 
certifies  that  the  number  of  Chinese  now 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing 
in  San  Francisco,  is  7,510,  and  the  num- 
ber of  whites  so  em])loyed  is  1,000.  In 
many  industries  the  Chinese  have  entirely 
supplanted  the  white  laborers,  and  thou- 
sands of  our  white  people  have  quit  Cali- 
fornia and  sought  immunity  from  this 
grinding  competition  in  other  and  better- 
favored  regions." 
******** 

"  If  you  would  '  secure  the  blessings  of 
liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,' 
there  must  be  some  place  reserved  in 
which,  and  upon  which,  posterity  can  exist. 
What  Avill  the  blessings  of  liberty  be  worth 
to  posterity  if  you  give  up  the  country  to 
the  Chinese?  If  China  is  to  be  the  breed- 
ing-ground for  peopling  this  country,  what 
chance  of  American  posterity?  We  of 
this  age  hold  this  land  in  trust  for  our  race 
and  kindred.  We  hold  republican  govern- 
ment and  free  institutions  in  trust  for 
American  posterity.  That  trust  ought  not 
to  be  betrayed.  If  the  Chinese  should  in- 
vade the  Pacific  coast  with  arms  in  their 
hands,  what  a  magnificent  spectacle  of 
martial  resistance  would  be  presented  to  a 
startled  world!  The  mere  intimation  of 
an  attempt  to  make  conquest  of  our  west- 
ern shore  by  force  would  rouse  the  nation 
to  a  frenzy  of  enthusiasm  in  its  defense. 
For  years  a  peaceful,  sly,  strategic  con- 
quest has  been  in  progress,  and  American 
statesmanship  has  been  almost  silent,  until 
the  people  have  demanded  action. 

"  The  land  which  is  being  ovemin  by 
the  oriental  invader  is  the  fairest  portion 
of  our  heritage.  It  is  the  land  of  the  vine 
and  the  fig  tree ;  the  home  of  the  orange, 
the  olive,  and  the  pomegranate.  Its  winter 
is  a  perpetual  spring,  and  its  summer  is  a 
golden  harvest.  There  the  northern  pine 
peacefully  sways  against  the  southern  palm ; 
the  tender  azalea  and  the  hardy  rose  min- 
gle their  sweet  perfume,  and  the  tropic 
vine  encircles  the  sturdy  oak.  Its  vallejfs 
are  rich  and  glorious  with  luscious  fruits 
and  waving  grain,  and  its  lofty 


Mountains  like  griants  stand, 
Tu  sentinel  the  encliantud  land. 

"  I  would  see  its  fertile  plains,  its  8e> 
questered  vales,  its  vine-clad  hills,  its  deep 
blue  canons,  its  furrowed  mountain-sides, 
dotted  all  over  with  American  homes — 
the  homes  of  a  free,  happy  people,  reso- 
nant with  the  sweet  voices  of  flax  en -haired 
children,  and  ringing  with  the  joyous 
laughter  of  maiden  fair — 

Soft  as  her  clime,  and  sunny  as  her  skies — 

like  the  homes  of  New  England ;  yet 
brighter  and  better  far  shall  be  the  homes 
which  are  to  be  builded  in  that  wonder- 
land by  the  sunset  sea,  the  homes  of  a  race 
from  which  shall  spring 

The  flower  of  men, 
To  serve  b«  mod"l  for  tlio  mijflity  world, 
And  be  the  fair  beginning  of  a  time." 


Reply  of  Senator  Geo.  F.  Hoar. 

Senator  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  replii-id 
to  Senator  Miller,  and  presented  the  sup- 
posed view  of  the  Eastern  States  in  a  mas- 
terly manner.  The  speech  covered  twenty- 
eight  pamphlet  pages,  and  was  referred  to 
by  the  newspaper  as  an  effort  equal  to 
some  of  the  best  by  Charles  Sumner.  We 
make  liberal  extracts  from  the  text,  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  Mr.  President  :  A  hundred  years 
ago  the  American  people  founded  a  nation 
upon  the  moral  law.  They  overthrew  by 
force  the  authority  of  their  sovereign,  and 
separated  themselves  from  the  country 
which  had  planted  them,  alleging  as  their 
justification  to  mankind  certain  proposi- 
tions which  they  held  to  be  self-evident. 

"  They  declared — and  that  declaration 
is  the  one  foremost  action  of  human  his- 
tory— that  all  men  equally  derive  from 
their  Creator  the  right  to  the  pursuit  of 
happiness ;  that  equality  in  the  right  to 
that  pursuit  is  the  fundamental  rule  of  the 
divine  justice  in  its  application  to  man- 
kind ;  that  its  security  is  the  end  for  which 
governments  are  formed,  and  its  destruc- 
tion good  cause  why  governments  should 
be  overthrown.  For  a  hundred  years  this 
principle  has  been  held  in  honor.  Under 
its  beneficent  operation  we  have  grown  al- 
most twenty-fold.  Thirteen  States  have 
become  thirty-eight;  three  million  have 
become  fifty  million  ;  wealth  and  comfort 
and  education  and  art  have  flourished 
in  still  larger  proportion.  Every  twenty 
vears  there  is  added  to  the  valuation  of 
this  country  a  wealth  enough  to  buy  the 
whole  German  Empire,  with  its  buildings 
and  its  ships  and  its  invested  property. 
This  has  been  the  magnet  that  has  drawn 
immigration  hither.  The  human  stream, 
hemmed  in  by  banks  invisible  but  impassa- 
ble, does  not  turn  toward  Mexico,  which 
can  feed  and  clothe  a  world,  or  South 
America,  which  can  feed  and  clothe  a  hun* 


286 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


dred  worlds,  but  seeks  only  that  belt  of 
States  where  it  finds  this  law  in  operation. 
The  marvels  of  comfort  and  happiness  it 
has  wrought  for  us  scarcely  surpass  what 
it  has  done  for  other  countries.  The  im- 
migrant sends  back  the  message  to  those 
he  has  left  behind.  There  is  scarcely  a 
nation  in  Europe  west  of  Russia  which  has 
not  felt  the  force  of  our  example  and  whose 
institutions  are  not  more  or  less  slowly  ap- 
proximating to  our%wn. 

"  Every  new  State  as  it  takes  its  place  in 
the  great  family  binds  this  declaration  as  a 
frontlet  upon  its  forehead.  Twenty-four  of 
the  States,  including  California  herself, 
declare  it  in  the  very  opening  sentence  of 
their  constitutions.  The  insertion  of  the 
phrase  *  the  pursuit  of  happiness,'  in  the 
enumeration  of  the  natural  rights  for  secur- 
ing which  government  is  ordained,  and  the 
denial  of  which  constitutes  just  cause  for 
its  overthrow,  was  intended  as  an  explicit 
affirmation  that  the  right  of  every  human 
being  who  obeys  the  equal  laws  to  go 
everywhere  on  the  surface  of  the  earth 
that  his  welfare  may  require  is  beyond  the 
rightful  control  of  government.  It  is  a 
birthright  derived  immediately  from  him 
who  '  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of 
men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  be- 
fore appointed  and  the  bounds  of  their  habi- 
tation.' He  made,  so  our  fathers  held,  of 
one  blood  all  the  nations  of  men.  He  gave 
them  the  whole  face  of  the  earth  whereon 
.  to  dwell.  He  reserved  for  himself  by  his 
agents  heat  and  cold,  and  climate,  and 
soil,  and  water,  and  land  to  determine  the 
bounds  of  their  habitation.  It  has  long 
been  the  fashion  in  some  Quarters,  when 
honor,  justice,  good  faith,  human  rights 
are  appealed  to,  and  especially  when  the 
truths  declared  in  the  opening  sentences  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  are  in- 
voked as  guides  in  legislation  to  stigmatize 
those  who  make  the  appeal  as  sentimenta- 
lists, incapable  of  dealing  with  practical 
affairs.  It  would  be  easy  to  demonstrate 
the  falsehood  of  this  notion.  The  men  who 
erected  the  structure  of  this  Government 
were  good,  practical  builders  and  knew 
well  the  quality  of  the  corner-stone  when 
they  laid  it.  When  they  put  forth  for 
the  consideration  of  their  contemporaries 
and  of  posterity  the  declaration  which  they 
thought  a  decent  respect  for  the  opinions 
of  mankind  required  of  them,  they  weighed 
carefully  the  mndamental  proposition  on 
which  their  immortal  argument  rested. 
Lord  Chatham's  famous  sentence  will  bear 
repeating  again : 

When  your  lordships  look  at  the 
papers  transmitted  to  us  from  America, 
when  you  consider  their  decency,  firmness, 
and  wisdom,  you  cannot  but  respect  their 
cause  and  wish  to  make  it  your  own.  For 
myself  I  must  declare  and  avow  that  in  all 


my  reading  and  observation — and  it  has 
been  my  favorite  study,  I  have  read 
Thucydides,  and  have  studied  and  admired 
the  master  states  of  the  world — that  for 
solidity  of  reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and 
wisdom  of  conclusion,  under  such  a  com- 
plication of  difficult  circumstances,  no  na- 
tion or  body  of  men  can  stand  in  preference 
to  the  general  Congress  assembled  at 
Philadelphia. 

The  doctrine  that  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness is  an  inalienable  right  with  which  men 
are  endowed  by  their  Creator,  asserted  by 
as  religious  a  people  as  ever  lived  at  the 
most  religious  period  of  their  history,  pro- 
pounded by  as  wise,  practical,  and  far- 
sighted  statesmen  as  ever  lived  as  the  vin- 
dication for  the  most  momentous  public 
act  of  their  generation,  was  intended  to 
commit  the  American  people  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  to  the  assertion  that  the 
right  to  change  their  homes  at  their  plea- 
sure is  a  natural  right  of  all  men.  The  doc- 
trine that  free  institutions  are  a  monopoly 
of  the  favored  races,  the  doctrine  that  op- 
pressed people  may  sever  their  old  alle- 
giance at  will,  but  have  no  right  to  find  a 
new  one,  that  the  bird  may  fly  but  may 
never  light,  is  of  quite  recent  origin. 

California  herself  owing  her  place  in  our 
Union  to  the  first  victory  of  freedom  in  the 
great  contest  with  African  slavery,  is 
pledged  to  repudiate  this  modern  heresy, 
not  only  by  her  baptismal  vows,  but  by 
her  share  in  the  enactment  of  the  statute 
of  1868.  Her  constitution  read  thus  until 
she  took  Dennis  Kearney  for  her  law- 
giver : 

We,  the  people  of  California,  gratefiil  to 
Almighty  God  for  our  freedom,  in  order  to 
secure  its  blessings,  do  establish  this  con- 
stitution. 

DECLARATION  OF  BIGHTS. 

Section  1.  All  men  are  by  nature  free 
and  independent,  and  have  certain  inalien- 
able rights,  among  which  are  those  of  enjoy- 
ing and  defending  life  and  liberty,  acquir- 
ing, possessing,  and  defending  property, 
and  pursuing  and  obtaining  safety  and 
happiness. 

******* 

Sec.  17.  Foreigners  who  are  or  who 
may  hereafter  become  bona  fide  residents 
of  this  State,  shall  enjoy  the  same  rights  in 
respect  to  the  possession,  enjoyment,  and 
inheritance  of  property,  as  native  born 
citizens. 

In  the  Revised  Statutes,  section  1999, 
Congress  in  the  most  solemn  manner  de- 
clare that  the  right  of  expatriation  is  be- 
yond the  lawftil  control  of  government : 

Sec.  1999.  Whereas  the  right  of  expa- 
triation is  a  natural  and  inherent  right  of 
all  people,  indispensable  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness;  and 


BOOR  l.J 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


287 


Whereas  in  the  recognition  of  this  prin- 
ciple this  Government  has  freely  received 
emigrants  from  all  nations,  ana  invested 
them  with  the  rights  of  citizenship. 

This  is  a  re-enactment,  in  part,  of  the 
statute  of  1868,  of  which  Mr.  Conness, 
then  a  California  Senator,  of  Irish  birth, 
was,  if  not  the  author,  the  chief  advocate. 

The  California  Senator  called  up  the 
bill  day  after  day.  The  bill  originally 
provided  that  the  President  might  order 
the  arrest  and  detention  in  custody  of 
"any  subject  or  citizen  of  such  foreign 
government "  as  should  arrest  and  detain 
any  naturalized  citizen  of  the  United 
States  under  the  claim  that  he  still  re- 
mained subject  to  his  allegiance  to  his  na- 
tive sovereign.    This  gave  rise  to  debate. 

But  there  was  no  controversy*  about  the 
part  of  the  bill  which  I  have  read.  The 
preamble  is  as  follows : 

Whereas  the  right  of  expatriation  is  a 
natural  and  inherent  right  of  all  people, 
indispensable  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness,  for  the  protection  of  which  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  was  es- 
tablished; and  whereas  in  the  recogni- 
tion of  this  principle  this  Government  has 
freely  received  emigrants  from  all  nations 
and  vested  them  with  the  rights  of  citizen- 
ship, &c. 

Mr.  Howard  declares  that — 

The  absolute  right  of  expatriation  is  the 
great  leading  American  principle. 

Mr.  Morton  says: 

That  a  man's  right  to  withdraw  from  his 
native  country  and  make  his  home  in  an- 
other, and  thus  cut  himself  ofl  from  all 
connection  with  his  native  country,  is  a 
part  of  his  natural  liberty,  and  without 
that  his  liberty  is  defective.  We  claim 
that  the  right  to  liberty  is  a  natural,  in- 
herent, God-given  right,  and  his  liberty  is 
imperfect  unless  it  carries  with  it  the  right 
of  expatriation. 

The  bill  containing  the  preamble  above 
recited  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  39 
to  5. 

The  United  States  of  America  and  the 
Emperor  of  China  cordially  recognize  the 
inherent  and  inalienable  right  of  man  to 
change  his  home  and  allegiance,  and  also 
the  mutual  advantage  of  the  free  migra- 
tion and  emigration  of  their  citizens  and 
•ubjects  respectively  from  the  one  country 
to  the  other  for  purposes  of  curiosity,  of 
trade,  or  as  permanent  residents. 

"The  bill  which  passed  Congress  two 
years  ago  and  was  vetoed  by  President 
Hayes,  the  treaty  of  1881,  and  the  bill  now 
before  the  Senate,  have  the  same  origin 
and  are  parts  of  the  same  measure.  Two 
years  a^o  it  was  proposed  to  exclude  Chi- 
nese laoorers  from  our  borders,  in  express 
disregard  of  our  solemn  treaty  obligations. 
This  measure  was  arrested  by  President 


Hayes.  The  treaty  of  1881  extorted  from 
unwilling  China  her  consent  that  we  might 
regulate,  limit,  or  suspend  the  coming  oi 
Chinese  laborers  into  this  country— a  con- 
sent of  which  it  is  proposed  by  this  bill  to 
take  advantage.  This  is  entitled  "  A  bill 
to  enforce  treaty  stipulations  with  Chi- 
na." 

"  It  seems  necessary  in  discussing  the 
statute  briefly  to  review  the  history  of  the 
treaty.  First  let  me  "^ay  that  the  title  of 
this  bill  is  deceptive.  There  is  no  stipu- 
lation of  the  treaty  which  the  bill  enforces. 
The  bill  where  it  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  compact  only  avails  itself  of  a  privi- 
lege which  that  concedes.  China  only  re- 
laxed the  Burlingame  treaty  so  far  as  to 
permit  us  to  '  regulate,  limit,  or  suspend 
the  coming  or  residence '  of  Chinese  la- 
borers, '  but  not  absolutely  to  prohibit  it.' 
The  treaty  expressly  declares  '  such  limi- 
tation or  suspension  shall  be  reasonable.' 
But  here  is  proposed  a  statute  which  for 
twenty  years,  under  the  severest  penalties, 
absolutely  inhibits  the  coming  of  Chinese 
laborers  to  this  country.  The  treaty  pledges 
us  not  absolutely  to  prohibit  it.  The  bill 
is  intended  absolutely  to  prohibit  it. 

"  The  second  article  of  the  treaty  is  this : 

"  Chinese  subjects,  whether  proceeding  to 
the  United  States  as  traders,  students,  or 
merchants,  or  from  curiosity,  together  with 
their  body  and  household  servants,  and 
Chinese  laborers,  who  are  now  in  the  Uni- 
ted States,  shall  be  allowed  to  go  and  come 
of  their  own  free  will  and  accord,  and 
shall  be  accorded  all  the  rights,  privileges, 
immunities,  and  exemptions  which  are  ac- 
corded to  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  the 
most  favored  nations. 

"  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  c(»m- 
plex  and  cumbrous  passport  system  pro- 
vided in  the  last  twelve  sections  of  the  bill 
was  not  intended  as  an  evasion  of  this 
agreement.  Upon  what  other  nation,  fa- 
vored or  not,  is  such  a  burden  imposed? 
This  is  the  execution  of  a  promise  that 
they  may  come  and  go  '  of  their  own  free 
will.' 

"  What  has  happened  within  thirteen 
years  that  the  great  Republic  should  strike 
its  flag  ?  What  change  has  come  over  us 
that  we  should  eat  the  bravest  and  the  tru- 
est words  we  ever  spoke?  From  1858  to 
1880  there  was  added  to  the  population  of 
the  country  42,000  Chinese. 

"  I  give  a  table  from  the  census  of  1880 
showing  the  Chinese  population  of  each 
State : 

Statement  showing  the  Chinese  population 
in  each  State  and  Territory,  according  to 
the  United  States  censtises  of  1870  and  o/ 
1880. 

Alabama 4 

Alaska 

Arizona 20        1,630 


288 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  t 


Arkansas 98 

California 49,310 

Colorado 7 

Connecticut 2 

Dakota 

Delaware 

District  of  Columbia 3 

Florida 

Georgia.. 1 

Idaho 4,274 

Illinois 1 

Indiana 

Iowa 3 

Kansas 

Kentucky 1 

Louisiana 71 

Maine 1 

Maryland 2 

Massachusetts 97 

Michigan 2 

Minnesota 

Misssissippi 16 

Missouri 3 

Montana 1,949 

Nebraska 

Nevada 3,152 

New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey 15 

New  Mexico 

New  York 29 

North  Carolina 

Ohio 1 

Oregon 3,330 

Pennsylvania 14 

Rhode  Island... 

South  Carolina 1 

Tennessee 

Texas 25 

Utah 445 

Vermont 

Virginia 4 

Washington 234 

West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 143 


134 

75,025 

610 

124 

238 

1 

13 

18 

17 

3,378 

210 

33 

47 

19 

10 

481 

9 

5 

237 

27 

63 

52 

94 

1,764 

18 

6,420 

14 

176 

65 

924 


114 

9,513 

160 

27 

9 

26 

141 

501 


6 

3,182 

14 

16 

914 


Total 63,254  105,463 

"  By  the  census  of  1880  the  number  of 
Chinese  in  this  country  was  105,000 — one 
five-hundredth  part  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion. The  Chinese  are  the  most  easily 
governed  race  in  the  world.  Yet  every 
Chinaman  in  America  has  four  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  Americans  to  control  him. 

The  immigration  was  also  constantly  de- 
creasing for  the  last  half  of  the  decade. 
The  Bureau  of  Statistics  gives  the  num- 
bers as  follows,  (for  the  first  eight  years  the 
figures  are  those  of  the  entire  Asiatic  im- 
migration :) 

The  number  of  immigrants  from  Asia, 
as  reported  by  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Statistics  is  as  follows,  namely : 

1871 7,236 

1872 7,825 

1873 20,326 


1874 13,857 

1875 16,498 

1876 22,943 

1877 10,640 

1878 9,014 

Total 108,339 

China    for  the  year  ended 


And    from 
June  30 — 

1879 

1880 


9,604 

6,802 


Total 15,406 

Grand  Total 123,745 

"  See  also,  Mr.  President,  how  this  class 
of  immigrants,  diminishing  in  itself,  di- 
minishes still  more  in  its  proportion  to  the 
rapidly  increasing  numbers  who  come 
from  other  lands.  Against  22,943  Asiatic 
immigrants  in  1876,  there  are  but  5,802  in 
1880.  In  1878  there  were  9,014  from  Asia, 
in  a  total  of  153,207,  or  one  in  seventeen 
of  the  entire  immigration;  and  this  in- 
cludes all  persons  who  entered  the  port  of 
San  Francisco  to  go  to  any  South  American 
country.  In  1879  there  were  9,604  from 
China  in  a  total  of  250,565,  or  one  in 
twenty-six.  In  1880  there  were  5,802  from 
China  in  a  total  immigration  of  593,359,  or 
one  in  one  hundred  and  two.  The  whole 
Chinese  population,  then,  when  the  cen- 
sus of  1880  was  taken,  was  but  one  in  five 
hundred  of  our  people.  The  whole  Chinese 
immigration  was  but  one  in  one  hundred 
and  two  of  the  total  immigration ;  while 
the  total  annual  immigration  quadrupled 
from  1878  to  1880,  the  Chinese  was  in 
1880  little  more  than  one-half  what  it  was 
in  1878,  and  one- fourth  what  it  was  in  1876. 

"  The  number  of  immigrants  of  all 
nations  was  720,045  in  1881.  Of  these 
20,711  were  Chinese.  There  is  no  record 
in  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  number 
who  departed  within  the  year.  But  a  very 
high  anti-Chinese  authority  places  it  above 
10,000.  Perhaps  the  expection  that  the 
hostile  legislation  under  the  treaty  would 
not  affect  persons  who  cnteud  before  it 
took  effect  stimulated  somewhat  their 
coming.  But  the  addition  to  the  Chinese 
population  was  less  than  one  seventy- 
second  of  the  whole  immigration.  All 
the  Chinese  in  the  country  do  not  exceed 
the  population  of  its  sixteenth  cily.  All 
the  Chinese  in  California  hardly  turpass 
the  number  which  is  easily  governed  in 
Shanghai  by  a  police  of  one  hundred  men. 
There  are  as  many  pure  blooded  Gypsies 
wandering  about  the  country  as  there  are 
Chinese  in  California.  What  an  insult  to 
American  intelligence  to  ask  leave  of 
China  to  keep  out  her  people,  becfiuse 
this  little  handful  of  almond-eyed  Asiatics 
threaten  to  destroy  our  boasted  civiJiza- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


280 


tion.  We  go  boasting  of  our  democracy, 
*nd  our  superiority,  and  our  strength.  The 
flag  bears  the  stars  of  hope  to  all  nations. 
A  hundred  thousand  Chinese  land  in 
California  and  everything  is  changed.  God 
has  not  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations 
any  longer.  The  self-evident  truth  be- 
comes a  self-evident  lie.  The  golden  rule 
does  not  apply  to  the  natives  oi'  the  con- 
tinent where  it  was  first  uttered.  The 
United  St  ites  surrender  to  China,  the  Ee- 
publictothe  despot,  America  to  Asia,  Jesus 
to  Joss. 

"  There  is  another  most  remarkable  ex- 
ample of  this  prejudice  of  race  which  has 
happily  almost  died  out  here,  which  has 
come  down  from  the  dark  ages  and  which 
survives  with  unabated  ferocity  in  Eastern 
Europe.  I  mean  the  hatred  of  the  Jew. 
The  persecution  of  the  Hebrew  has  never, 
so  far  as  I  know,  taken  the  form  of  an 
affront  to  labor.  In  every  other  particular 
the  reproaches  which  for  ten  centuries 
have  been  leveled  at  him  are  reproduced 
to  do  service  against  the  Chinese.  The 
Hebrew,  so  it  was  said,  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian. He  did  not  afiiliate  or  assimilate 
into  the  nations  where  he  dwelt.  He  was 
an  unclean  thing,  a  dog,  to  whom  the 
crime  of  the  crucifixion  of  his  Saviour  was 
never  to  be  forgiven.  The  Chinese  quar- 
ter of  San  Francisco  had  its  type  in  every 
city  of  Europe.  If  the  Jew  ventured  from 
his  hiding-place  he  was  stoned.  His 
wealth  made  him  the  prey  of  the  rapacity 
of  the  noble,  and  his  poverty  and  weakness 
the  victim  of  the  rabble.  Yet  how  has  this 
Oriental  con(|uered  Christendom  by  the 
sublimity  of  his  patience?  The  great  poet 
of  New  England,  who  sits  by  every  Ameri- 
can fireside  a  beloved  and  perpetual  guest, 
in  that  masterpiece  of  his  art,  the  Jewish 
Cemetery  at  Newport,  has  described  the 
degradation  and  the  triumph  of  these  per- 
secuted children  of  God. 

How  came  they  here  ?    What  burst  of  Christian  hate, 

What  persecution,  merciless  and  blind, 
Drove  o'er  the  saa — tliat  desert  desolate  — 

These  Ishmaels  and  Ilagrurs  of  mankind? 
They  lived  in  narrow  streets  and  lanes  obscure, 

Ghetto  and  Judeustrass,  in  mirk  and  mire; 
Taught  in  the  school  of  iiatience  to  endure 

The  life  of  anguish  and  the  death  of  fire. 

Anathema  maranatha  1  was  the  cry 

That  rang  from  town  to  town,  from  street  to  street; 
At  every  gato  the  accurs'-d  Mordecai 

Was  mocked  aud  jeered,  and  spurned  by  Christian  feet. 

Pride  and  humiliation  hand  in  hand 

Walked  with  them  through   the  world  where'er  tkey 
went; 
Trampled  and  beaten  were  they  as  the  sand, 

And  yet  unshaken  as  the  continent. 

Forty  years  ago — 
Says  Lord  Beaconsfield,  that  great  Jew 
who  held  England  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand,  and  who  played  on  her  aristocracy 
as  on  an  organ,  who  made  himself  the 
master  of  an  alien  nation,  'ts  ruler,  its 

19 


oracle,  and  through  it,  and  in  despite  of  it, 
for  a  time  the  master  of  Europe — 

Forty  years  ago — not  a  longer  period 
than  the  children  of  Israel  were  wandering 
iu  the  desert — the  two  most  dishonored 
races  in  Europe  were  the  Attic  and  the  He- 
brew. The  world  has  probably  by  this 
discovered  that  it  is  impossible  to  destroy 
the  Jews.  The  attempt  to  extirpate  them 
has  been  made  under  the  most  favorable 
auspices  and  on  the  largest  s'jale ;  the  most 
considerable  means  that  man  could  com- 
mand have  been  pertinaciouslj'  applied  to 
this  object  for  the  longest  period  of  re- 
corded time.  Egyptian  Pharaohs,  Assyrian 
kings,  Roman  emperors,  Scandinavian 
crusaders,  Gothic  princes,  and  holy  inqui- 
sitors, have*alike  devoted  their  energies  to 
the  fulfillment  of  this  common  purpose. 
Expatriation,  exile,  captivity,  confiscation, 
torture  on  the  most  ingenious  and  massa- 
cre on  the  most  extensive  scale,  a  curious 
system  of  degrading  customs  and  debasing 
laws  which  would  have  broken  the  heart 
of  any  other  people,  haA'e  been  tried,  and 
in  vain. 

"  Lord  Beaconsfield  admits  that  the  Jews 
contribute  more  than  their  proportion  to 
the  aggregate  of  the  vile ;  that  the  lowest 
class  of  Jews  are  obdurate,  malignant, 
odious,  and  revolting.  And  yet  this  race 
of  dogs,  as  it  has  been  often  termed  in 
scorn,  furnishes  Europe  to-day  its  masters 
in  finance  and  oratory  and  statesmanship 
and  art  and  music.  Rachel,  Mozart,  Men- 
delssohn, Disraeli,  Rothschild,  Benjamin, 
Heine,  are  but  samples  of  the  intellectual 
power  of  a  race  which  to-day  controls  the 
finance  and  the  press  of  Europe. 

"  I  do  not  controvert  the  evidence  which 
is  relied  upon  to  show  that  there  are  great 
abuses,  great  dangers,  great  offenses,  which 
have  grown  out  of  the  coming  of  this  peo- 
ple. Much  of  the  evil  I  believe  might  be 
cured  by  State  and  municipal  authority. 
Congress  may  rightfully  be  called  upon  to 
go  to  the  limit  of  the  just  exercise  of  the 
powers  of  government  in  rendering  its  aid. 

"  We  should  have  capable  aud  vigilant 
consular  officers  in  the  Asiatic  ports  from 
which  these  immigrants  come,  without 
whose  certificate  they  should  not  be  re- 
ceived on  board  ship,  and  who  should  see 
to  it  that  no  person  except  those  of  good 
character  and  no  person  whose  labor  is  not 
his  own  property  be  allowed  to  come  over. 
Especially  should  the  trade  in  human 
labor  under  all  disguises  be  suppressed. 
Filthy  habits  of  living  must  surely  be  with- 
in the  control  of  municipal  regulation. 
Every  State  may  by  legislation  or  by  muni- 
cipal ordinance  in  its  towns  and  cities  pre- 
scribe the  dimension  of  dwellings  and  limit 
the  number  who  may  occupy  the  same 
tenement. 

"But  it  is  urged — and  this  in  my  judg- 
ment is  the  greatest  argument  for  the  bill— » 


290 


AMERICAN    POLITICS, 


[book  I. 


that  the  introduction  of  the  labor  of  the 
Chinese  reduces  the  wages  of  the  American 
laborer.  '  We  are  ruined  by  Chinese  cheap 
labor "  is  a  cry  not  limited  to  the  class  to 
whose  representative  the  brilliant  humor- 
ist of  California  first  ascribed  it.  I  am  not 
in  favor  of  lowering  any  where  the  wages 
of  any  American  labor,  skilled  or  unskilled. 
On  the  contrary,  I  believe  the  maintenance 
and  the  increase  of  the  purchasing  power 
of  the  wages  of  the  American  working  man 
should  be  the  one  principal  object  of  our 
legislation.  The  share  in  the  product  of 
agriculture  or  manufacture  which  goes  to 
labor  should,  and  I  believe  will,  steadily 
increase.  For  that,  and  for  that  only,  ex- 
ists our  protective  system.  The  acquisition 
of  wealth,  national  or  individual,  is  to  be 
desired  only  for  that.  The  statement  of 
the  accomplished  Senator  from  California 
on  this  point  meets  my  heartiest  concur- 
rence. 1  have  no  sympathy  with  any  men, 
if  such  there  be,  who  favor  high  protection 
and  cheap  labor. 

"  But  I  believe  that  the  Chinese,  to  whom 
the  terms  of  the  California  Senator  attri- 
bute skill  enough  to  displace  the  American 
in  every  field  requiring  intellectual  vigor, 
will  learn  very  soon  to  insist  on  his  full 
share  of  the  product  of  his  work.  But  whe- 
ther that  be  true  or  not,  the  wealth  he  cre- 
ates will  make  better  and  not  worse  the  con- 
dition of  every  higher  class  of  labor.  There 
may  be  trouble  or  failure  in  adjusting  new 
relations.  But  sooner  or  later  every  new 
class  of  industrious  and  productive  labor- 
ers elevates  the  class  it  displaces.  The 
dread  of  an  injury  to  our  laoor  from  the 
Chinese  rests  on  the  same  fallacy  that  op- 
posed the  introduction  of  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery, and  which  opposed  the  coming  of 
the  Irishman  and  the  German  and  the 
Swede.  Within  my  memory  in  New  Eng- 
land all  the  lower  places  in  factories,  all 
places  of  domestic  service,  were  filled  by 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  American  farm- 
ers. The  Irishmen  came  over  to  take  their 
S laces;  but  the  American  farmer's  son  and 
aughter  did  not  suffer;  they  were  only 
elevated  to  a  higher  plane.  In  the  in- 
creased wealth  of  the  community  their 
share  is  much  greater.  The  Irishman  rose 
from  the  bog  or  the  hovel  of  his  native  land 
to  the  comfort  of  a  New  England  home, 
and  placed  his  children  in  a  New  England 
school.  The  Yankee  rises  from  the  loom 
and  the  spinning-jenny  to  be  the  teacher, 
the  skilled  laborer  in  the  machine  shop,  the 
inventor,  the  merchant,  or  the  opulent 
landholder  and  farmer  of  the  West. 


A  letter  from  F.  A.  Bee,  Chinese  Con- 
sul, approving  the  management  of  the  es- 
tate, accompanied  the  report  of  the  re- 
feree: 

"Mr.  President,  I  will  not  detain  the 


Senate  by  reading  the  abundant  testimony, 
of  which  this  is  but  the  sample,  of  the  pos- 
session by  the  people  of  this  race  of  the 
f»ossibility  of  a  development  of  every  qua- 
ity  of  intellect,  art,  character,  which  fits 
them  for  citizenship,  for  republicanism,  for 
Christianity. 

"Humanity,  capable  of  infinite  depths 
of  degradation,  is  capable  also  of  infinite 
heights  of  excellence.  The  Chinese,  like 
all  other  races,  has  given  us  its  examples 
of  both.  To  rescue  humanity  from  this 
degradation  is,  we  are  taught  to  believe,  the 
great  object  of  God's  moral  government  on 
earth.  It  is  not  by  injustice,  exclusion, 
caste,  but  by  reverence  for  the  individual 
soul  that  we  can  aid  in  this  consummation. 
It  is  not  by  Chinese  policies  that  China  is 
to  be  civilized.  I  believe  that  the  immor- 
tal truths  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence came  from  the  same  source  with  the 
Golden  Rule  and  the  Sermon  on  th« 
Mount.  We  can  trust  Him  who  promul- 
gated these  laws  to  keep  the  country  safe 
that  obeys  them.  The  laws  of  the  universe 
have  their  own  sanction.  They  will  not 
fail.  The  power  that  causes  the  compa«s 
to  point  to  the  north,  that  dismisses  the 
star  on  its  pathway  through  the  skies,  pro- 
mising that  in  a  thousand  years  it  shall  re- 
turn again  tnie  to  its  hour  and  keep  His 
word,  will  vindicate  His  own  moral  law. 
As  surely  as  the  path  on  which  our  fathers 
entered  a  hundred  years  ago  led  to  safety, 
to  strength,  to  glory,  so  surely  will  the 
path  on  which  we  now  propose  to  enter 
bring  us  to  shame,  to  weakness,  and  to 
peril." 

On  the  3d  of  March  the  debate  was  re- 
newed. Senator  Farley  protested  that  un- 
less Chinese  immigration  is  prohibited  it 
will  be  impossible  to  protect  the  Chinese 
on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  feeling  against 
them  now  is  such  that  restraint  is  difficult, 
as  the  people,  forced  out  of  employment  by 
them,  and  irritated  by  their  constantly  in- 
creasing numbers,  are  not  in  a  condition  to 
submit  to  the  deprivations  they  suffer  by 
the  presence  of  a  Chinese  population  im- 
ported as  slaves  and  absorbing  to  their  own 
benefit  the  labor  of  the  country.  A  remark 
of  Mr.  Farley  about  the  Chinese  led  Mr. 
Hoar  to  ask  if  they  were  not  the  inventort 
of  the  printing  press  and  of  gunpowder. 
To  this  question  Mr.  Jones,  of  Nevada, 
made  a  brief  speech,  which  was  considered 
remarkable,  principally  because  it  was  one 
of  the  very  tew  speeches  of  any  length  that 
he  has  made  since  he  became  a  Senator. 
Instead  of  agreeing  with  Mr.  Hoar  that  the 
Chinese  had  invented  the  printing  press 
and  gunpowder,  he  said  that  information 
he  had  received  led  him  to  believe  that  the 
Chinese  were  not  entitled  to  the  credit  of 
either  of  these  inventions.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  had  stolen  them  from  Aryans  or 
Caucasians  who  wandered  into  the  king- 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


291 


tl>m.  Mr.  Hoar  smiled  incredulously  and 
made  a  remark  to  the  effect  that  he  had 
never  heard  of  those  Aryans  or  Caucasians 
before. 

Continuing  his  remarks,  Mr.  Farley  ex- 
pressed his  belief  that  should  the  Mongo- 
lian population  increase  and  the  Chinese 
come  in  contact  with  the  Africans,  the  con- 
tact would  result  in  demoralization  and 
bloodshed  which  the  laws  could  not  pre- 
vent. Pig-tailed  Chinamen  would  take  the 
place  everywhere  of  the  Avorkinggirl  unless 
Congress  extended  its  protection  to  Califor- 
nia and  her  white  people,  who  had  by  their 
votes  demanded  a  prohibition  of  Chinese 
immigration.  Mr.  Maxey,  interpreting  the 
Constitution  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  out 
of  it  an  argument  against  Chinese  immi- 
gration, said  he  found  nothing  in  it  to  jus- 
tify the  conclusion  that  the  framers  of  it 
intended  to  bring  into  this  country  all  na- 
tions and  races.  The  only  people  the 
fathers  had  in  view  as  citizens  were  those 
of  the  Caucasian  race,  and  they  contempla- 
ted naturalization  only  for  such,  for  they 
had  distinctly  set  forth  that  the  heritage  of 
freedom  was  to  be  for  their  posterity.  No- 
body would  pretend  to  express  the  opinion 
that  it  was'expected  that  the  American  peo- 
ple should  become  mixed  up  with  all  sorts 
of  races  and  call  the  result  "  our  posterity." 
While  the  American  people  had,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  been 
ible  to  withstand  the  contact  with  the  Af- 
rican, the  Africans  would  never  stand  be- 
fore the  Chinese.  Mr.  Maxey  opposed  the 
Chinese  because  they  do  not  come  here  to 
be  citizens,  because  the  lower  classes  of 
Chinese  alone  are  immigrants,  and  because 
by  contact  they  poison  the  minds  of  the  less 
intelligent. 

Mr.  Saulsbury  had  something  to  say  in 
favor  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Garland,  who  vo- 
ted against  the  last  bill  because  the  treaty 
had  not  been  modified,  expressed  his  belief 
that  the  Government  could  exercise  proper- 
ly all  the  poAvers  proposed  to  be  bestowed 
bv  this  bill.  Some  time  was  consumed  by 
Mr.  Ingalls  in  advocacy  of  an  amendment 
offered  by  him,  proposing  to  limit  the  sus- 
pension of  immigration  to  10  instead  of 
20  years.  Mr.  Miller  and  Mr.  Bayard  op- 
posed the  amendment,  Mr.  Bayard  taking 
the  ground  that  Congress  ought  not  to  dis- 
regard the  substantially  unanimous  wish  of 
the  people  of  California,  as  expressed  at 
the  polls,  for  absolute  prohibition.  The 
debate  was  interrupted  by  a  motion  for  an 
executive  session,  and  the  bill  went  over  un- 
til Monday,  to  be  taken  up  then  as  the  un- 
finished business. 

On  March  6th  a  vote  was  ordered  on 
Senator  Ingalls'  amendment.  It  was  de- 
feated on  a  tie  vote — yeas  23,  nays  23. 

The  vote  in  detail  is  as  follows: 

Yeas — Messrs.  Aldrich,  Allison,  Blair, 
Brown,  Cockrell,  Conger,  Davis  of  Illinois, 


Dawes,  Edmunds,  Frye,  Harris,  Hoar,  In- 
galls, Jackson,  Lapham,  McDill,  McMil- 
lan, Mitchell,  Morrell,  Saunders,  Sewell, 
Sherman  and  Teller — 23. 

Nays— Messrs.  Bayard,  Beck,  Call,  Came- 
ron of  Wisconsin,  Coke,  Fair,  Farley,  Gar- 
lund,  George,  Hale,  Hampton,  Hill  of 
Colorado,  Jonas,  Jones  of  Nevada,  Mc- 
Pherson,  Marcy,  Miller  of  California,  Mil- 
ler of  New  York,  Morgan,  Ransom,  Slater, 
Vest  and  Walker— 23. 

Pairs  were  announced  between  Davis,  of 
West  Virginia,  Saulsbury,  Butler,  John- 
son, Kellogg,  Jones,  of  Florida,  and  Grover, 
against  the  amendment,  and  Messrs.  Win- 
dom,  Ferry,  Hawley,  Piatt,  Pugh,  Rollins 
and  Van  Wyck  in  the  affirmative.  Mr- 
Camden  was  also  paired. 

Mr.  Edmunds,  partially  in  reply  to  Mr. 
Hoar  argued  that  the  right  to  decide  what 
constitutes  the  moral  law  was  one  inherent 
in  the  Government,  and  by  analogy  the 
right  to  regulate  the  character  of  the  peo- 
ple who  shall  come  into  it  belonged  to  a 
Government.  This  depended  upon  national 
polity  and  the  fact  as  to  most  of  the  ancient 
republics  that  they  did  not  possess  homo- 
geneity was  the  cause  of  their  fall.  As  to 
the  Swiss  Republic,  it  was  untrue  that  it 
was  not  homogeneous.  The  difference 
there  was  not  one  of  race  but  of  different 
varieties  of  the  same  race,  all  of  which  are 
analogous  and  consistent  with  each  other. 
It  would  not  be  contended  that  it  is  an 
advantage  to  a  republic  that  its  citizens 
should  be  made  of  diverse  races,  with  di- 
verse views  and  diverse  obligations  as  to 
what  the  common  prosperity  of  all  req^uired. 
Therefore  there  was  no  foundation  for  the 
charge  of  a  violation  of  moral  and  public 
law  in  our  making  a  distinction  as  to  the 
foreigners  we  admit.  He  challenged  Mr. 
Hoar  to  produce  an  authority  on  national 
law  which  denied  the  right  of  one  nation 
to  declare  what  people  of  other  nations 
should  come  among  them.  John  Hancock 
and  Samuel  Adams,  not  unworthy  citizens 
of  Massachusetts,  joined  in  asserting  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  the  right  of 
the  colonies  to  establish  for  themselves, 
not  for  other  peoples,  a  Government  of 
their  own,  not  the  Government  of  some* 
body  else.  The  declaration  asserted  the 
family  or  consolidated  right  of  a  people 
within  any  Territory  to  determine  the  con- 
ditions upon  which  they  would  go  on,  anl 
this  included  the  matter  of  receiving  the 
people  from  other  shores  into  their  family. 
This  idea  was  followed  in  the  Constitution 
by  requiring  naturalization.  The  China- 
man may  be  with  us,  but  he  is  not  of  us. 
One  of  the  conditions  of  his  naturalization 
is  that  he  must  be  friendly  to  the  institu- 
tions and  intrinsic  polity  of  our  Govern- 
ment. Upon  the  theory  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Senators,  that  there  is  a  universal 
oneness  of  one  human  being  with  every 


292 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


other  human  "being  on  the  globe,  this  tra- 
ditional and  fundamental  principle  was 
entirely  ignored.  Such  a  theory  as  applied 
to  Government  was  contrary  to  all  human 
experience,  to  all  discussion,  and  to  every 
step  of  the  founders  of  our  Government, 
lie  said  that  Mr.  Sumner,  the  predecessor 
of  Mr.  Hoar,  was  the  author  of^the  law  on 
the  coolie  traffic,  which  imposes  fines  and 
penalties  more  severe  than  those  in  this 
Dill  upon  any  master  of  an  American  ves- 
sel carrying  a  Chinaman  who  is  a  servant. 
The  present  bill  followed  that  legislation. 
Mr.  Edmunds  added  that  he  would  vote 
against  the  bill  if  the  twenty-year  clause 
was  retained,  but  would  maintain  the 
soundness  of  principle  he, had  enunciated. 
Mr.  Hoar  argued  in  reply  that  the  right 
of  expatriation  carried  Avith  it  the  right  to 
a  home  for  the  citizen  in  the  countrj'  to 
which  he  comes,  and  that  the  bill  violated 
not  only  this  but  the  principles  of  the 
Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments 
which  made  citizenship  the  birthright  of 
every  one  born  on  our  soil,  and  prohibited 
an  abridgement  of  the  suffrage  because  of 
race,  color,  etc. 

Mr.  Ingalls  moved  an  amendment  post- 
poning the  time  at  which  the  act  shall  take 
effect  until  sixty  days  after  information 
of  its  passage  has  been  communicated  to 
China. 

After  remarks  by  Messrs.  Dawes,  Teller 
and  Bayard,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Brown 
Mr.  Ingalls  modified  his  amendment  by 
providing  that  the  act  shall  not  go  into 
effect  until  ninety  days  after  its  passage, 
and  the  amendment  was  adopted. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Bayard,  amendments 
were  adopted  making  the  second  section 
read  as  follows :  "  That  any  master  of  any 
vessel'  of  whatever  nationality,  who  shall 
knowingly  on  such  vessel  bring  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  and  per- 
mit to  be  landed  any  Chinese  laborer, "  &c. 
Mr.  Hoar  moved  to  amend  by  add- 
ing the  following:  ''Provided,  that  this 
biU  shall  not  app.y  to  any  skilled  laborer 
who  shall  establish  that  he  comes  to  this 
country  without  any  contract  beyond  which 
his  labor  is  tlie  property  of  any  person  be- 
sides himself. " 

Mr.  Farley  suggested  that  all  the  Chinese 
jrould  claim  to  be  skilled  laborors. 

Mr.  Hoar  replied  that  it  would  test 
whether  the  bill  struck  at  coolies  or  at 
skilled  labor. 

The  amendment  was  rejected — ^Yeaa,  17 ; 
nays,  27. 

Mr.  Call  moved  to  strike  out  the  section 
which  forfeits  the  vessel  for  the  offense  of 
the  master.     Lost. 

Mr.  Hoar  moved  to  amend  bv  inserting: 
"  Provided  that  any  laborer  who  shall  re- 
ceive a  certificate  from  the  U.  S.  Consul  at 
the  port  where  he  shall  embark  that  he  is 
fta  artisan  coming  to  this  country  at  his 


own  expense  and  of  his  own  will,  shall  not 
be  affected  by  this  bill."  Lost — yeas  19, 
nays  24. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Miller,  of  California, 
the  provision  directing  the  removal  of  any 
Chinese  unlawfully  found  in  a  Customs 
Collection  district  by  the  Collector,  was 
amended  to  direct  that  he  shall  be  removed 
to  the  place  from  whence  he  came. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Brown  an  amendment 
was  adopted  providing  that  the  mark  of  a 
Chinese  immigrant,  duly  attested  by  a 
witness,  may  be  taken  as  his  signature 
upon  the  certificate  of  resignation  or  regis- 
tration issued  to  him. 

The  question  then  recurred  on  the 
amendment  offered  by  Mr.  Farley  that 
hereafter  no  State  Court  or  United  States 
Court  shall  admit  Chinese  to  citizenship. 
Mr.  Hawley,  of  Conn.,  on  the  following 
day  spoke  against  what  he  denounced  as 
"  a  bill  of  iniquities." 

On  the  9th  of  March  what  proved  a  long 
and  interesting  debate  was  closed,  the 
leading  speech  being  made  by  Senator 
Jones  (Rep.)  of  Nevada,  in  favor  of  the 
bir  After  showing  the  disastrous  effects 
of  the  influx  of  the  Chinese  upon  the  Pa- 
cific coast  and  answering  some  of  the  argu- 
ments of  the  opponents  of  restriction,  Mr. 
Jones  said  that  he  had  noticed  that  most 
of  those  favoring  Chinese  immigration 
Avere  advocates  of  a  high  tariff  to  protect 
•American  labor.  But,  judging  from  indi- 
cations, it  is  not  the  American  laborer,  but 
the  lordly  manufacturing  capitalist  who  is 
to  be  protected  as  against  the  European 
capitalist,  and  who  is  to  sell  everything  he 
has  to  sell  in  an  American  market,  one  in 
which  other  capitalists  cannot  competo 
with  him,  while  he  buys  that  which  he  has 
to  buy — the  labor  of  men — in  the  most 
open  market.  He  demands  for  the  latter 
free  trade  in  its  broadest  sense,  and  would 
have  not  only  free  trade  in  bringing  in  la- 
borers of  our  own  race,  but  the  Chinese, 
the  most  skilful  and  cunning  laborers  of 
the  world.  The  laborer,  however,  is  to 
buy  from  his  capitalist  master  in  a  protec- 
tive market,  but  that  which  he  himself  has 
to  sell,  his  labor,  and  which  he  must  sell 
every  day  (for  he  cannot  wait,  like  the 
capitalist,  for  better  times  or  travel  here 
and  there  to  dispose  of  it),  he  must  sell  in 
the  openest  market  of  the  world.  When 
the  artisans  of  this  country  shall  be  made 
to  understand  that  the  market  in  which 
they  sell  the  only  thing  they  have  to  sell 
is  an  open  one  they  will  demand,  as  one  of 
the  conditions  of  their  existence,  that  they 
shall  have  an  open  market  in  which  to  buy 
what  they  want.  As  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  (Mr.  Dawes)  said  he  wanted 
the  people  to  know  that  the  bill  was  a  blow 
struck  at  labor,  Mr.  Jones  said  he  reitera- 
ted the  assertion  with  the  qualification 
that  it  was  not  a  blow  at  our  own,  but  at 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


293 


underpaid  pauper  labor.  That  cheap  labor ' 
produces  national  wealth  is  a  fallacy,  as ' 
shown  by  the  home  condition  o.^  *^he  350,- 
000,000  of  Chinamen.  ' 

"  Was  the  bringing  of  the  little  brown 
man  a  sort  of  counter  balance  to  the  trades 
unions  of  this  country  ?     If  he  may  be 
brought  here,  why  may  not  the  products  ' 
of  his  toil  come  in  ?    Now,  when  the  la- 
borer is  allowed  to  get  that  share  from  his  | 
labor  that  civilization  has  decided  he  shall 
have,  the  little  brown  man  is  introduced. ! 
He  (Mr.  Jones)  believed   in  protection,  1 
and  had  no  prejudice  against  the  capital- ' 
ist,  but  he  would  have  capital  and  labor 
equally  protected.     Enlarging  upon  the 
consideration  that  the  intelligence  or  crea- 
tive genius  of  a  country  in  overcoming  ob- 
stacles, not  its  material  resources,  consti- 
tutes its  wealth,  and  that  the  low  wages  of 
the    Chinese,  while  benefiting  individual 
employers,  would    ultimately   impoverish 
the  country  by  removing  the  stimulant  to 
create  labor-saving  machinery  and  like  in- 
ventions.   Mr.  Jones  spoke  of  what  he 
called  the  dearth  of  intellectual  activity  in 
the  South  in  every  department  but  one, 
that  of  politics. 

"  This  was  because  of  the  presence  of  a 
servile  race  there.  The  absence  of  South- 
ern names  in  the  Patent  Office  is  an  illus- 
tration. We  would  not  welcome  the 
Africans  here.  Their  presence  was  not  a 
blessing  to  us,  but  an  impediment  in  our 
way.  The  relations  of  the  white  and 
colored  races  of  the  South  were  now  no 
nearer  adjustment  than  they  were  years 
ago.  He  would  prophesy  that  the  African 
race  would  never  be  permitted  to  dominate 
any  State  of  the  South.  The  experiment 
to  that  end  had  been  a  dismal  failure,  and 
a  failure  not  because  <ve  have  not  tried  to 
make  it  succeed,  but  because  laws  away 
above  human  laws  have  placed  the  one 
race  superior  to  and  far  above  the  other. 
The  votes  of  the  ignorant  class  might  pre- 
ponderate, but  intellect,  not  numbers,  is 
the  superior  force  in  this  world.  We 
clothed  the  African  in  the  Union  blue  and 
the  belief  that  he  was  one  day  to  be  free 
was  the  candle-light  in  his  soul,  but  it  is 
one  thing  to  aspire  to  be  free  and  another 
thing  to  have  the  intelligence  and  sterling 

Jiualities  of  character  that  can  maintain 
ree  government.  Mr.  Jones  here  ex- 
pressed his  belief  that,  if  left  alone  to  main- 
tain a  government,  the  negro  would  gradu- 
ally retrograde  and  go  back  to  the  methods 
of  his  ancestors.  This,  he  added,  may  be 
heresy,  but  I  believe  it  to  be  the  truth.  If, 
when  the  first  shipload  of  African  slaves 
came  to  this  country  the  belief  had  spread 
that  they  would  be  the  cause  of  political 
agitation,  a  civil  war,  and  the  future  had 
been  foreseen,  would  they  have  been  al- 
lo\ved  to  land  ? 
How  much  of  this  country  would  now 


be  worth  preserving  if  the  North  had  been 
covered  by  Africans  as  is  South  Carolina 
to-day,  in  view  of  their  non-assimilative 
character  ?  The  wisest  policy  would  have 
been  to  exclude  them  at  the  outset.  So 
we  say  of  the  Chinese  to-day,  he  exclaim- 
ed,  and  for  greater  reason,  because  their 
skill  makes  them  more  formidable  compe- 
titors than  the  negro.  Subtle  and  adept 
in  manipulation,  the  Chinaman  can  be 
put  into  almost  any  kind  of  a  factory.  His 
race  is  as  obnoxious  to  us  and  as  impossi- 
ble for  us  to  assimilate  with  as  was  the 
negro  race.  His  race  has  outlived  every 
other  because  it  is  homogeneous,  and  for 
that  reason  alone.  It  has  imposed  its  re- 
ligion and  peculiarities  upon  its  conquer- 
ors and  still  lived.  If  the  immigration  is 
not  checked  now,  when  it  is  within  man- 
ageable limits,  it  will  be  too  late  to  check 
it.  What  do  we  find  in  the  condition  of 
the  Indian  or  the  African  to  induce  us  to 
admit  another  race  into  our  midst  ?  It  is 
because  the  Pacific  coast  favor  our  own 
civilization,  not  that  of  another  race,  that 
they  discourage  the  coming  of  these  peo- 
ple. They  believe  in  the  homogeneity  of 
our  race,  and  that  upon  this  depends  the 
progress  of  our  institutions  and  everything 
on  which  we  build  our  hopes. 

Mr.  Morrill,  (Rep.)  of  Vt.,  said  he  ap- 
preciated the  necessity  of  restricting  Chi- 
nese immigration,  but  desired  that  the  bill 
should  strictly  conform  to  treaty  require- 
ments and  be  so  perfected  that  questions 
arising  under  it  might  enable  it  to  pass 
the  ordeal  of  judicial  scrutiny. 

Mr.  Sherman,  (Rep.)  of  Ohio,  referring 
to  the  passport  system,  said  the  bill  adopt- 
ed some  of  the  most  offensive  features  of 
European  despotism.  He  was  averse  to 
hot  haste  in  applying  a  policy  foreign  to 
the  habits  of  our  people,  and  regarded  the 
measure  as  too  sweeping  in  many  of  its 
provisions  and  as  reversing  our  immigra- 
tion policy. 

After  remarks  by  Messrs.  Ingalls,  Far- 
ley, Maxey,  Brown  and  Teller,  the  amend- 
ment of  Mr.  Farley,  which  provides  that 
hereafter  no  court  shall  admit  Chinese  to 
citizenship,  was  adopted — ^yeas  25,  nays  22. 

The  following  is  the  vote : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Bayard,  Beck,  Call,  Cam- 
eron of  Wisconsin,  Cockrell,  Coke,  Fair, 
Farley,  Garland,  George,  Gorman,  Harris, 
Jackson,  Jonas,  Jonea  of  Nevada,  Maxey, 
Morgan,  Pugh,  Ransom,  Slater,  Teller, 
Vance,  Vest,  Voorhees  and  Walker — 25. 

Nays — Messrs.  Aldrich,  Allison,  Blair, 
Brown,  Conger,  Davis  of  Illinois,  Dawes, 
Edmunds,  Frye,  Hale,  Hill  of  Colorado, 
Hoar,  Ingalls,  Lapham,  McDill,  McMil- 
lan, Miller  of  New  York,  Mitchell,  Mor- 
rill, Plumb,  Saunders  and  Sawyer— 22. 

Mr.  Grover's  amendment  construing  the 
words  "  Chinese  laborers,"  wherever  used 
in  the  act,  to  mean  both  skilled  and  un- 


294 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


skilled  laborers  and  Chinese  employed  in 
mining  prevailed  by  the  same  vote — yeas 
25,  nays  22. 

Mr.  Browx,  (Deni.)  of  Ga.,  moved  to 
strike  out  the  requirement  for  the  produc- 
tion of  passports  by  the  permitted  classes 
whenever  demanded  by  the  United  States 
authorities.  Carried  on  a  viva  voce  vote, 
the  Chair  (Mr.  Davis,  of  Illinois)  creating 
no  little  merriment  by  announcing,  "The 
nays  are  loud  but  there  are  not  many  of 
them." 

MR.   IXGALLS'   AMENDMENT. 

Upon  the  bill  being  reported  to  the  Sen- 
ate from  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  Mr. 
Ingalls  again  moved  to  limit  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  coming  of  Chinese  laborers  to 
ten  years. 

Mr.  Jones,  of  Nevada,  said  this  limit 
would  hardly  have  the  effect  of  allaying 
agitation"  on  the  subject  as  the  discussion 
would  be  resumed  in  two  or  three  years, 
and  ten  years,  he  feared,  would  not  even 
be  a  long  enough  period  to  enable  Congress 
intelligently  to  base  upon  it  any  future 
policy. 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  also  urged 
that  the  shorter  period  would  not  measura- 
bly relieve  the  business  interest  of  the 
Pacific  slope,  inasmuch  as  the  white  immi- 
grants, who  were  so  much  desired,  would 
not  come  there  if  they  believed  the  Chi- 
nese were  to  be  again  admitted  in  ten 
years.  Being  interrupted  by  Mr.  Hoar, 
he  asserted  that  that  Senator  and  other 
republican  leaders,  as  also  the  last  repub- 
lican nominee  for  President,  had  hereto- 
fore given  the  people  of  the  Pacific  slope 
good  reason  to  believe  that  they  would  se- 
cure to  them  the  relief  they  sought  by  the 
bill. 

Mr.  Hoar,  (Rep. )  of  Mass.,  briefly  re- 
plied. 

The  amendment  was  lost — yeas  20, 
nays  21. 

The  vote  is  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Aldrich,  Allison,  Blair, 
Brown,  Conger,  Davis  of  Illinois,  Dawes, 
Edmunds,  Frye,  Hale,  Hoar,  Ingalls,  Lap- 
ham,  McDill,  McMillan,  Mahone,  Morrill, 
Plumb,  Sawyer  and  Teller— 20. 

Nays — Messrs.  Bayard,  Beck,  Call,Cam- 
eron  of  Wisconsin,  Coke,  Fair,  Farley, 
Garland,  George,  Gorman,  Jackson,  Jonas, 
Jones  of  Nevada,  Miller  of  California, 
Miller  of  New  York,  Morgan,  Ransom, 
Slater,  Vance,  Voorhees  and  Walker — 21. 

Messrs.  Butler,  Camden,  McPherson, 
Johnston,  Davis  of  West  Virginia,  Pendle- 
ton and  Ransom  were  paired  with  Messrs. 
Hawley,  Anthony,  Sewell,  Piatt,  Van 
Wyck,  Windom  and  Sherman. 

Messrs.  Hampton,  Pugh,  Vest,  Rollins 
and  Jones  of  Florida  were  paired  with 
absentees. 


passage  of  the  bill. 

The  question  recurred  on  the  final  pas- 
sage of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Edmunds  closed 
the  debate.  He  would  vote  against  the 
bill  as  it  now  stood,  because  he  believed  it 
to  be  an  infraction  of  good  faith  as  pledged 
by  the  last  treaty  ;  because  he  believed  it 
injurious  to  the  welfare  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  and  particularly  the 
people  on  the  Pacific  coast,  by  preventing 
the  development  of  our  great  trade  with 
China. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  and  the  bill 
was  passed — yeas  29,  nays  15. 

The  following  is  the  vote  in  detail : — 

Yeas — Messrs.  Bayard,  Beck,  Call,  Cam- 
eron of  Wisconsin,  Cockrell,  Coke,  Fair, 
Farley,  Garland,  George,  Gorman,  Hale, 
Harris,  Hill  of  Colorado,  Jackson,  Jonas, 
Jones  of  Nevada,  Miller  of  California, 
Miller  of  New  York,  Morgan,  Pugh,  Ran- 
som, Sawyer,  Teller,  Vance,  Vest,  Voor- 
hees and  Walker — 29. 

Nays — Messrs.  Aldrich,  Allison,  Blair, 
Brown,  Conger,  Davis  of  Illinois,  Dawes, 
Edmunds,  Frye,  Hoar,  Ingalls,  Lapham, 
McDill,  McMillan  and  Morrill— 15. 

Pairs  were  announced  of  Messrs.  Cam- 
den, Davis  of  West  Virginia,  Grover, 
Hampton,  Butler,  McPherson,  Johnston, 
Jones  of  Florida  and  Pendleton  in  favoi 
of  the  bill,  with  Messrs.  Anthony,  Win- 
dom, Van  Wyck,  Mitchell,  Hawley,  Sewell, 
Piatt,  Rollins  and  Sherman  against  it. 

Mr.  Frye,  (Rep.)  of  Me.,  in  casting  his 
vote,  stated  that  he  was  paired  with  Mr. 
Hill,  of  Georgia,  on  all  political  questions, 
but  that  he  did  not  consider  this  a  politi- 
cal question,  and  besides,  had  express  per- 
mission from  Senator  Hill  to  vote  upon  it. 

Mr.  Mitchell,  (Rep.)  of  Pa.,  in  an- 
nouncing his  pair  with  Mr.  Hampton 
stated  that  had  it  not  been  for  that  fact  he 
would  vote  against  the  bill,  regarding  it  as 
un-American  and  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  which  had  obtained  in  the  gov- 
ernment. 

The  title  of  the  bill  was  amended  so  as 
to  read,  "  An  act  to  execute  certain  treaty 
stipulations  relating  to  Chinese,"  though 
Mr.  Hoar  suggested  that  "  execute  "  ought 
to  be  stricken  out  and  "  violate  "  inserted. 

The  Senate  then,  at  twenty  minutes  to 
six,  adjourned  until  to-morrow. 

provisions  of  the  bill. 
The  Chinese  Immigration  bill  as  passed 
provides  that  from  and  after  the  expiration 
of  ninety  days  after  the  passage  of  this  act 
and  until  the  expiration  of  twenty  years 
after  its  passage  the  coming  of  Chinese  la- 
borers to  the  United  States  shall  be  sus- 
pended, and  prescribes  a  penalty  of  im- 
Srisonment  not  exceeding  one  year  and  a 
ne  of  not  more  than  $500  against  the 
master  of  any  vessel  who  brings  any  Chi- 
nese laborer  to  this  country  during  that 


BOOK  I.] 


THE    CHINESE    QUESTION. 


295 


period.  It  further  provides  that  the  classes 
of  Chinese  excepted  by  the  treaty  from 
such  prohibition— such  as  merchants,  teach- 
ers, students,  travelers,  diplomatic  agents 
and  Chinese  laborers  who  were  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  on  the  17th  of  November,  1880 
— shall  be  required,  as  a  condition  for  their 
admission,  to  procure  passports  from  the 
government  of  China  personally  identify- 
ing them  and  showing  that  they  individ- 
ually belong  to  one  of  the  permitted  classes, 
which  passports  must  have  been  indorsed 
by  the  diplomatic  representative  of  the 
United  States  in  China  or  by  the  United 
States  Consul  at  the  port  of  departure.  It 
also  provides  elaborate  machinery  for  car- 
rying out  the  purposes  of  the  act,  and  ad- 
ditional sections  prohibit  the  admission  of 
Chinese  to  citizenship  by  any  United  States 
or  State  court  and  construes  the  words 
"  Chinese  laborers  "  to  mean  both  skilled 
and  unskilled  laborers  and  Chinese  em- 
ployed in  mining. 

The  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  passage  of 
this  bill  has  certainly  greatly  increased 
since  the  control  of  the  issue  has  passed  to 
abler  hands. than  those  of  Kearney  and 
Kalloch,  whose  conduct  intensified  the 
opposition  of  the  East  to  the  measure, 
which  in  1879  was  denounced  as  "  violat- 
ing the  conscience  of  the  nation.'*  Mr. 
Blaine's  advocacy  of  the  first  bill  limiting 
emigrants  to  fifteen  on  each  vessel,  at  the 
time  excited  much  criticism  in  the  Eastern 
states,  and  was  there  a  potent  weapon 
against  him  in  the  nominating  struggle  for 
the  Presidency  in  1880  ;  but  on  the  other 
hand  it  is  believed  that  it  gave  him 
stren^h  in  the  Pacific  States, 

Chmese  immigration  and  the  attempt  to 
restrict  it  presents  a  question  of  the  gra- 
vest importance,  and  was  treated  as  such 
in  the  Senate  debate.  The  friends  of  the 
bill,  under  the  leadership  of  Senators  Mil- 
ler and  Jones,  certainly  stood  in  a  better 
and  stronger  attitude  than  ever  before. 

The  anti-Chinese  bill  passed  the  House 
just  as  it  came  from  the  Senate,  after  a 
somewhat  exended  debate,  on  the  23d  of 
March,  1882.  Yeas  167,  nays  65.  (party 
lines  not  being  drawn)  as  follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Aikin,  Aldrich,  Armfield, 
Atkins,  Bayne,  Belford,  Belmont,  Berry, 
Bingham,  Blackburn,  Blanchard,  Bliss, 
Blount,  Brewer,  Brumm,  Buckner,  Burrows, 
of  Missouri;  Butterworth,  Cabell,  Cald- 
well, Calkins,  Campbell,  Cannon,  Casser- 
ley,  Caswell,  Chalmers,  Chapman,  Clark, 
Clements,  Cobb,  Converse,  Cof>k,  Cornell, 
Cox,  of  New  York ;  Cox,  of  North  Caro- 
lina; Covington,  Cravens,  Culbertson,  Cur- 
tin,  Darrell,  Davidson ;  Davis,  of  Illinois ; 
Davis,  of  Missouri ;  Demotte,  Deuster, 
Dezendorf,  Dibble,  Dibrell,  Dowd,  Dugro, 
Ermentrout,  Errett,  Farwell,  of  Illinois; 
Finley,  Flowers,  Ford,  Forney,  Fulkerson, 
Garrison,  Geddes,  George,  Gibson,  Guen- 


ther,  Gunter,  Hammond,  of  Georgia ;  Har- 
dy, Harmer,  Harris,  of  New  Jersey ;  Hasel- 
tine,  Hatch,  Hazeiton,  Heilman,  Herndon, 
Hewitt,  of  New  York;  Hill,  Hiscock, 
Hoblitzell,  Hoge,  Hollman,  Horr,  Houk, 
House,  Hubbell,  Hubbs,  Hutchins,  Jones, 
of  Texas ;  Jones,  of  Arkansas ;  Jorgenson, 
Kenna,  King,  Klotz,  Knott,  Ladd,  Lee- 
dom,  Lewis,  Marsh,  Martin,  Matson,  Mc- 
Clure,  McCook,  McKenzie,  McKinley,  Mc- 
Lane,  McMillan,  Miller,  Mills,  of  Texas ; 
Money,  Morey,  Moulton,  Murch,  Mutchler, 
O'Neill,  Pacheco,  Page,  Paul,  Payson, 
Pealse,  Phelps,  Phister,  Pound,  Randall, 
Reagan,  Rice  of  Missouri,  Richardson, 
Robertson,  Robinson,  Rosecrans,  Scran- 
ton,  Shallenberger,  Sherwin,  Simonton, 
Singleton,  of  Mississippi,  Smith  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Smith  of  Illinois,  Smith  of  New 
York,  Sparks,  Spaulding,  Spear,  Springer, 
Stockslager,  Strait,  Talbott,  Thomas, 
Thompson  of  Kentucky,  Tillman,  Town- 
send  of  Ohio,  Townsend  of  Illinois,  Tucker, 
Turner  of  Georgia,  Turner  of  Kentucky, 
UpdegrafF,  of  Ohio,  Upson,  Valentine, 
Vance,  Van  Horn,  Warner,  Washburne, 
Webber,  Wei  born,  Whitthorne,  Williams 
of  Alabama,  Willis,  Willetts,  Wilson,  Wise 
of  Pennsylvania,  Wise  of  Virginia,  and  W. 
A.  Wood  of  New  York— 167. 

The  nays  were  Messrs.  Anderson,  Barr, 
Bragg,  Briggs,  Brown,  Buck,  Camp,  Cand- 
ler, Carpenter,  Chase,  Crapo,Cullen,  Dawes, 
Deering,  Dingley,  Dunnell,  Dwight,  Far- 
well  of  Iowa,  Grant,  Hall,  Hammond,  of 
New  York,  Hardenburgh,  Harris,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, Haskell,  Hawk,  Henderson, 
Hepburn,  Hooker,  Humphrey,  Jacobs. 
Jones  of  New  Jersey,  Joyce,  Kassonj 
Ketchum,  Lord,  McCoid,  Morse,  Norcross, 
Orth,  Parker,  Ramsey,  Rice  of  Ohio,  Rice 
of  Massachusetts,  Rich,  Richardson  of  New 
York,  Ritchie,  Robinson  of  Massachusetts, 
Russel,  Ryan,  Shultz,  Skinner,  Scooner, 
Stone,  Taylor,  Thompson  of  Iowa,  Tyler, 
UpdegraflF  of  Iowa,  Urner,  W^adsworth, 
Wait,  Walker,  Ward,  Watson,  White  and 
Williams  of  Wisconsin — 65. 

In  the  House  the  debate  was  partici- 
pated in  by  Messrs.  Richardson,  of  South 
Carolina ;  Wise  and  Brumm,  of  Pennsylva- 
nia; Joyce,  of  Vermont;  Dunnell,  of  Min- 
nesota ;  Orth,  of  Indiana ;  Sherwin,  of  Illi- 
nois ;  Hazeiton,  of  Wisconsin  ;  Pacheco,  of 
California,  and  Townsend,  of  Illinois,  and 
others.  An  amendment  offered  by  Mr^ 
Butterworth,  of  Ohio,  reducing  the  period 
of  suspension  to  fifteen  years,  was  rejected. 
Messrs.  Robinson,  of  Massachusetts ;  Cur- 
tin,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Cannon,  of  Illi- 
nois, spoke  upon  the  bill,  the  two  latter  sup- 
porting it.  The  speech  of  Ex-Governor 
Curtin  was  strong  and  attracted  much  at- 
tention. Mr.  Page  closed  the  debate  in 
favor  of  the  measure.  An  amendment  of- 
fered by  Mr.  Kasson,  of  Iowa,  reducing  the 
time  0^  suspension  to  ten  years,  was  re- 


296 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


jected — yeas  100,  nays  131 — and  the  bill 
was  passed  exactly  as  it  came  from  the 
Senate  by  a  vote  of  167  to  65.  The  House 
then  adjourned. 


Oar  Slercliaiit  Marine. 

An  important  current  issue  is  the  increase 
of  the  Navy  and  the  improvement  of  the 
Merchant  Marine,  and  to  these  questions 
the  National  Administration  has  latterly 
given  attention.  The  New  York  Herald 
has  given  much  editorial  ability  and  re- 
search to  the  advocacy  of  an  immediate 
change  for  the  better  in  these  respects,  and 
in  its  issue  of  March  10th,  1882,  gave  the 
proceedings  of  an  important  meeting  of  the 
members  of  the  United  States  Naval  Insti- 
tute held  at  Annapolis  the  day  before,  on 
which  occasion  a  prize  essay  on  the  subject 
— "  Our  Merchant  Marine ;  the  Cause  of  its 
Decline  and  the  Means  to  be  Taken  for  its 
Revival,"  was  read.  The  subject  was  cho- 
sen nearly  a  year  ago,  because  it  was  the 
belief  of  the  members  of  the  institute  that 
a  navy  cannot  exist  without  a  merchant 
marine.  The  naval  institute  was  organized 
in  1873  for  the  advancement  of  profession- 
al and  scientific  knowledge  in  the  navy.  It 
has  on  its  roll  500  members,  principally 
naval  officers,  and  its  proceedings  are  pub- 
lished quarterly.  Rear  Admiral  C.  R.  P. 
Kodgers  is  president ;  Captain  J.  M.  Ram- 
say, vice  president ;  Lieutenant  Command- 
er C.  M.  Thomas,  secretary;  Lieutenant 
Murdock,  corresponding  secretary,  and 
Paymaster  R.  W.  Allen,  treasurer.  There 
were  eleven  competitors  for  the  prize,  which 
is  of  $100,  and  a  gold  medal  valued  at  $50. 
The  judges  were  Messrs.  Hamilton  Fish, 
A.  A.  Low  and  J,  D.  Jones.  They  awarded 
the  jirize  to  Lieuteuaat  J.  D.  .T.  Kelley,  U. 
8.  ^1.,  whose  motto  was  "Nil  Clarius 
.^xjuore,"  and  designated  Master  C.  T.  Cal- 
kins, U.  S.  N.,  whose  motto  was  "  Mais  il 
faut  cultiver  notre  jardin  "  as  next  in  the 
order  of  merit,  and  further  mentioned  the 
essays  of  Lieutenant  R,  Wainwright,  Uni- 
ted States  Navy,  whose  motto  was  "  Causa 
latet,  vis  est  notissima,"  and  Lieutenant 
Commander  J.  E.  Chadwick,  United  States 
Navy,  whose  motto  was  "  Spcs  Meliora," 
as  worthy  of  honorable  mention,  without 
being  entirely  agreed  as  to  their  compara- 
tive merits. 

STRIKIXO     PASSAGES    FROM    THE     PRIZE 
ESSAY. 

From  Lieut,  Kelley's  prize  essay  many 
valuable  facts  can  be  gathered,  and  such  of 
these  as  contain  information  of  permanent 
value  we  quote : 

"So  far  as  commerce  influences  this 
country  has  a  vital  interest  in  the  carrying 
trade,  let  theorists  befog  the  cool  air  as  they 
may.  Every  dollar  paid  for  freight  im- 
ported or  exported  in  American  vessels  ac- 


crues to  American  labor  and  capital,  and 
the  enterprise  is  as  much  a  productive  in- 
dustry as  the  raising  of  wheat,  the  spinning 
of  fibre  or  the  smelting  of  ore.  Had  the 
acquired,  the  'full'  trade  of  1860  been 
maintained  without  increase  $80,000,000 
would  have  been  added  last  year  to  the  na- 
tional wealth,  and  the  loss  Irom  diverted 
shipbuilding  would  have  swelled  the  sum 
to  a  total  of  $100,000,000. 

"  Our  surplus  products  must  find  foreign 
markets,  and  to  retain  them  ships  controlled 
by  and  employed  in  exclusively  American 
interests  are  essential  instrumentalities. 
Whatever  tends  to  stimulate  competition 
and  to  prevent  combination  benefits  the 

f)roducer,  and  as  the  prices  abroad  estab- 
ish  values  here,  the  barter  we  obtain  for 
the  despised  one-tenth  of  exports — ^665,- 
000,000  in  1880— determines  the  profit  or 
loss  of  the  remainder  in  the  home  market. 
During  the  last  fiscal  year  11,500,000  gross 
tons  of  grain,  oil,  cotton,  tobacco,  precious 
metals,  &c.,  were  exported  from  the  United 
States,  and  this  exportation  increases  at  the 
rate  of  1,500,000  tons  annuallj;;  3,800,000 
tons  of  goods  are  imported,  or  in  all  about 
15,000,000  tons  constitute  the  existing  com- 
merce of  this  country. 

"  If  only  one-half  of  the  business-of  car- 
rying our  enormous  wealth  of  surplus  pro- 
ducts could  be  secured  for  American  ships, 
our  tonnage  would  be  instantly  doubled, 
and  we  would  have  a  greater  fleet  engaged 
in  a  foreign  trade,  legitimately  our  own, 
than  Great  Britain  has  to-day.  The  United 
States  makes  to  the  ocean  carrying-trade 
its  most  valuable  contribution,  no  other 
nation  giving  to  commerce  so  many  bulky 
tons  of  commodities  to  be  transported  those 
long  voyages  which  in  every  age  have 
been  so  eagerly  coveted  by  marine  peoples. 
Of  the  17,000  ships  which  enter  and  clear 
at  American  ports  every  year,  4,600  seek  a 
cargo  empty  and  but  2,000  sail  without  ob- 
taining it. 

"  Ships  are  profitable  abroad  and  can  be 
made  profitable  here,  and  in  truth  during 
the  last  thirty  years  no  other  branch  of 
industry  has  made  such  progress  as  the 
carrying  trade.  To  establish  this  there  are 
four  points  of  comparison — commerce,  rail- 
ways, shipping  tonnage  and  carrying  power 
of  the  world,  limited  to  the  years  between 
1850  and  1880 :— 

IncreoM 
Per 
Cmd. 
1850.  1880. 
Commmerce  of  all  na- 
tions  84,28O,(X»n,0OO    814,405,000,000    240 

Railways  (milpa  open)  44,4<iO  222,-00    398 

Shippine  tonnaire 6,i)(i5,(iOO  18,720,000    171 

Carrying  tonnage 8,404,000  34,280,060    304 

"  In  1850,  therefore,  for  every  $5,000,000 
of  international  commerce  there  were  fifty- 
four  miles  of  railway  and  a  maritime  car- 
rying power  of  9,900  «»n3  ;  and  in  1880  the 
respective  ratios  had  risen  to  seventy -seven 


BOOK  1.] 


OUR    MERCHANT    MARINE. 


297 


miles  and  12,000  tons ;  this  has  saved  one- 
fourth  freight  and  brought  producer  and 
consumers  into  such  contact  that  we  no 
longer  hear  "  of  the  earth's  products  being 
wasted,  of  wheat  rotting  in  La  Mancha, 
wool  being  used  to  mend  wads  and  sheep 
being  burned  for  fuel  in  the  Argentine 
Republic."  England  has  mainly  profited  by 
this  enormous  development,  the  shipping 
of  the  United  Kingdom  earning  $300,000,- 
000  yearly,  and  employing  200,000  seamen, 
whose  industry  is  therefore  equivalent  to 
£300  per  man,  as  compared  with  £190  for 
each  of  the  factory  operatives.  The 
freight  earned  by  all  flags  for  sea-borne 
merchandise  is  $500,000,00,  or  about  8  per 
cent,  of  the  value  transported.  Hence  the 
toll  which  all  natioas  pay  to  England  for 
the  carrying  trade  is  equal  to  4  per  cent, 
(nearly)  of  th6  exported  values  of  the 
earth's  products  and  manufactures;  and 
pessimists  who  declare  that  ship  owners 
are  losing  money  or  making  small  profits 
must  be  wrong,  for  the  merchant  marine  is 
expanding  every  year. 

"  The  maximum  tonnage  of  this  country 
at  any  time  registered  in  the  foreign  trade 
was  in  1861,  and  then  amounted  to  5,539,- 
813  tons ;  Great  Britain  in  the  same  year 
owning  5,895,369  tons,  and  all  the  other 
nations  5,800,767  tons.  Between  1855  and 
1860  over  1,300,000  American  tons  in  ex- 
cess of  the  country's  needs  were  employed 
by  foreigners  in  trades  with  which  we  had 
no  legitimate  connection  save  as  carriers. 
In  1851  our  registered  steamships  had 
grown  from  the  16,000  tons  of  1848  to  63,- 
920  tons — almost  equal  to  the  65,920  tons 
of  England,  and  in  1855  this  had  increased 
to  115,000  tons  and  reached  a  maximum, 
for  in  1862  we  had  1,000  tons  less.  In 
1855  we  built  388  vessels,  in  1856  306  ves- 
sels and  in  1880  26  vessels — all  for  the 
foreign  trade.  The  total  tonnage  which 
entered  our  ports  in  1856  from  abroad 
amounted  to  4,464,038,  of  which  American 
built  ships  constituted  3,194,375  tons,  and 
all  others  but  1,259,762  tons.  In  1880 
there  entered  from  abroad  15,240,534  tons, 
of  which  3,128,374  tons  were  American  and 
12,112,000  were  foreign — that  is,  in  a  ratio 
of  seventy-five  to  twenty-five,  or  actually 
65,901  tons  less  than  when  we  were  twenty- 
four  years  younger  as  a  nation.  The  grain 
fleet  sailing  last  year  from  the  port  of  New 
York  numbered  2,897  vessels,  of  which 
1,822  were  sailing  vessels  carrying  59,822,- 
033  bushels,  and  1,075  were  steamers  laden 
with  42,426,533  bushels,  and  among  all 
these  there  were  but  seventy-four  Ameri- 
can sailing  vessels  and  not  one  American 
steamer. 

"  While  this  poison  of  decay  has  been 
e*ting  into  our  vitals  the  possibilities  of 
the  country  in  nearly  every  other  industry 
have  reached  a  plane  of  development  be- 
yond the  dreams  of  the  most  enthusiastic 


theorizers.  We  have  spread  out  in  every 
direction  and  the  promise  of  the  future 
beggars  imaginations  attuned  even  to  the 
key  of  our  present  and  past  development. 
We  have  a  timber  area  of  560,000,000  acres, 
and  across  our  Canadian  border  there  are 
900,000,000  more  acres ;  in  coal  and  iron 
production  we  are  approaching  the  Old 
World. 

1842.  1879. 

Coal—  Tons.  Tons. 

Great  Britain...  35,000,000    135,000,000 
United  States...    2,000,000      60,000,000 

Iron — 
Great  Britain...    2,250,000        6,300,000 
United  States...       564,000        2,742,000 

During  these  thirty-seven  years  the 
relative  increase  has  been  in  coal  300 
to  2,900  per  cent.,  in  iron  200  to  400  per 
cent.,  and  all  in  our  favor.  But  this  is 
not  enough,  for  England,  with  a  coal  area 
less  than  either  Pennsylvania  or  Kentucky, 
has  coaling  stations  in  every  part  of  the 
world  and  our  steamers  cannot  reach  our 
California  ports  without  the  consent  of  the 
English  producers.  Even  if  electricity 
takes  the  place  of  steam  it  must  be  many 
years  before  the  coal  demand  will  cease, 
and  to-day,  of  the  36,000,000  tons  of  coal 
required  by  the  steamers  of  the  world, 
three-fourths  of  it  is  obtained  from  Great 
Britain. 

"  It  is  unnecessary  to  wire-draw  statis- 
tics, but  it  may,  as  a  last  word,  be  interest- 
ing to  show,  with  all  our  development,  the 
nationality  and  increase  of  tonnage  enter- 
ing our  ports  since  1856  : — 

Country.                       Increase.  Decrease, 

England 6,977,163  — 

Germany 922,903  — 

Norway  and  Sweden...  1,214,008  — 

Italy 596,907  — 

France 208,412  — 

Spain 164,683  — 

Austria 226,277  — 

Belgium 204,872  — 

Russia 104,009  — 

United  States —  65,901 

"  This,"  writes  Lindsay,  "  is  surely  not 
decadence,  but  defeat  in  a  far  nobler  con- 
flict than  the  wars  for  maritime  supremacy 
between  Rome  and  Carthage,  consisting  as 
it  did  in  the  struggle  between  the  skill  and 
industry  of  the  people  of  two  great  na- 
tions." 

We  have  thus  quoted  the  facts  gathered 
from  a  source  which  has  been  endorsed  by 
the  higher  naval  authorities.  Some  reader 
will  probably  ask,  "What  relation  have 
these  facts  to  American  politics?"  We 
answer  that  the  remedies  proposed  consti- 
tute political  questions  on  which  the  great 
parties  are  very  apt  to  divide.  They  have 
thus  divided  in  the  past,  and  parties  have 
turned  "  about  face  "  on  similar  questiooa. 


298 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Just  now  the  Democratic  party  inclines  to 
"free  ships"  and  hostility  to  subsidies — 
while  the  Republican  party  as  a  rule  favors 
subsidies.  Lieutenant  Kelley  summarized 
his  proposed  ro  ^ediefi  in  the  two  words : 
"  free  ships." 

Mr.  Blaine  would  solve  the  problem  by 
bounties,  for  this  purpose  enacting  a  geue- 
ral  law  that  should  ignore  individuals  and 
enforce  a  policy.  His  scheme  provides 
that  any  man  or  company  of  men  who  will 
build  in  an  American  yard,  with  American 
material,  by  American  mechanics,  a  steam- 
ship of  3,000  tons  and  sail  her  from  any 
port  of  the  United  States  to  any  foreign 

{)ort,  he  or  they  shall  receive  for  a  monthly 
ine  a  mail  allowance  of  $25  per  mile  per 
annum  for  the  sailing  distance  between  the 
two  ports ;  for  a  semi-monthly  line  f45  per 
mile,  and  for  a  weekly  line  $75  per  mile. 
Should  the  steamer  exceed  three  thousand 
tons,  a  small  advance  on  these  rates  might 
be  allowed ;  if  less,  a  corresponding  reduc- 
tion, keeping  three  thousand  as  the  average 
and  standard.  Other  reformers  propose  a 
bounty  to  be  given  by  the  Government  to 
the  shipbuilder,  so  as  to  make  the  price  of 
an  American  vessel  the  same  as  that  of  a 
foreign  bought,  equal,  but  presumably 
cheaper,  ship. 

Mr.  Blaine  represents  the  growing  Re- 
publican view,  but  the  actual  party  views 
can  only  be  ascertained  when  bills  cover- 
ing the  subject  come  up  for  considera- 
tion. 


Current  Politicks. 

We  shall  close  this  written  history  of  the 
political  parties  of  the  United  States  by  a 
brief  statement  of  the  present  condition  of 
affairs,  as  generally  remarked  by  our  own 
people,  and  by  quoting  the  views  of  an  in- 
teresting cotemporaneous  English  writer. 

President  Arthur's  administration  has 
had  many  difficulties  to  contend  with.  The 
President  himself  is  the  legal  successor  of 
a  beloved  man,  cruelly  assassinated,  whose 
well-rounded  character  and  high  abilities 
had  won  the  respect  even  of  those  who  de- 
famed him  in  the  heat  of  controversy,  while 
they  excited  the  highest  admiration  of  those 
who  shared  his  political  views  and  thoughts. 
Stricken  down  before  he  had  time  to  for- 
mulate a  policy,  if  it  was  ever  his  intention 
to  do  so,  he  yet  showed  a  proper  apprecia- 
tion of  his  high  responsibilities,  and  had 
from  the  start  won  the  kindly  attention  of 
the  country.  Gifted  with  the  power  of  say- 
ing just  the  right  thing  at  the  right  mo- 
ment, and  saying  it  with  all  the  grace  and 
beauty  of  oratory,  no  President  was  better 
calculated  to  make  friends  as  he  moved 
along,  than  Garfield.  The  manifestations 
of  factional  feeling  which  immediately 
preceded  his  a38a.ssination,  but  which  can- 
not for  a  moment  be  intelligently  trac^  to 


that  cause,  made  the  path  of  his  successor 
far  more  difficult  than  if  he  had  been  called 
to  the  succession  by  the  operation  of  natu- 
ral causes.  That  he  has  met  these  difficul- 
ties with  rare  discretion,  all  admit,  and 
at  this  writing  partisan  interest  and  dislike 
are  content  to  "  abide  a'  wee "  before  be- 
ginning an  assault.  He  has  sought  no 
changes  in  the  Cabinet,  and  thus  through 
personal  and  political  considerations  seems 
for  the  time  to  have  surrendered  a  Presi-- 
dential  prerogative  freely  admitted  by  all 
who  understand  the  wisdom  of  permitting 
an  executive  officer  to  seek  the  advice  of 
friends  of  his  own  selection.  Mr.  Blaine 
and  Mr.  MacVeagh,  among  the  ablest  of 
the  late  President's  Cabinet,  were  among 
the  most  emphatic  in  insisting  upon  the 
earliest  possible  exercise  of  this  preroga- 
tive— the  latter  upon  its  immediate  exer- 
cise. Yet  it  has  been  withheld  in  several 
Particulars,  and  the  Arthur  administration 
as  sought  to  unite,  wherever  divided  (and 
now  divisions  are  rare),  the  party  which 
called  it  into  existence,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  has  by  careful  management  sought 
to  check  party  strife  at  least  for  a  time,  and 
devoted  its  attention  to  the  advancement 
of  the  material  interests  of  the  country. 
Appointments  are  fairly,  distributed  among 
party  friends,  not  divided  as  between  fac- 
tions; for  such  a  division  systematically 
made  would  disrupt  any  party.  It  would 
prove  but  an  incentive  to  faction  for  the 
sake  of  a  division  of  the  spoils.  No  force 
of  politics  is  or  ought  to  be  better  under- 
stood in  America  than  manufactured  disa- 
greements with  the  view  to  profitable  com- 
promises. Fitness,  recognized  ability,  and 
adequate  political  service  seem  to  consti- 
tute the  reasons  for  Executive  appointments 
at  this  time. 

The  Democratic  party,  better  equipped 
in  the  National  Legisture  than  it  has  oeen 
for  years — with  men  like  Hill,  Bayard,  Pen- 
dleton, Brown,  Voorhees,  Lamar  and  Gar- 
land in  the  Senate — Stephens,  Randall, 
Hewitt,  Cox,  Johnson  in  tne  House — with 
Tilden,  Thurman,  Wallace  and  Hancock 
in  the  background — is  led  with  rare  abi- 
lity, and  has  the  advantage  of  escaping  re- 
sponsibilities incident  to  a  majority  party. 
It  has  been  observed  that  this  party  is  pur- 
suing the  traditional  strategy  of  minorities 
in  our  Republic.  It  has  partially  refused 
a  further  test  on  the  tariff"  issue,  and  is 
seeking  a  place  in  advance  of  the  Republi- 
cans on  refunding  questions — both  popular 
measures,  as  shown  in  all  recent  elections. 
It  claims  the  virtue  of  sympathy  with  the 
Mormons  bv  questioning  the  propriety  of 
legal  assaults  upon  the  liberty  of  con- 
science, while  not  openly  recording  itself  as 
a  defender  of  the  crime  of  polygamy.  As 
a  solid  minority  it  has  at  least  in  the  Se- 
nate yielded  to  the  appeal  of  the  States  on 
the  Pacific  slope,  and  favored  the  abridg- 


BOOK  I.] 


CURRENT   POLITICS. 


299 


ment  of  Chinese  immigration.  On  this 
question,  however,  the  Western  Republi- 
can Senators  as  a  rule  were  equally  active 
in  support  of  the  Miller  Bill,  so  that  what- 
ever the  result,  the  issue  can  no  longer  be 
a  political  one  in  the  Pacific  States.  The 
respectable  support  which  the  measure  has 
latterly  received  has  cast  out  of  the  strug- 
gle the  Kearneys  and  Kallochs,  and  if 
there  be  demagoguery  on  either  side,  it 
comes  in  better  dress  than  ever  before. 

Doubtless  the  parties  will  contest  their 
claims  to  public  support  on  their  respective 
histories  yet  awhile  longer.  Party  history 
has  served  partisan  purposes  an  average 
oi  twenty  years,  when  with  thai  history 
recollections  of  wars  are  interwoven,  and 
the  last  war  having  been  the  greatest  in 
our  history,  the  presumption  is  allowable 
that  it  will  be  freely  quoted  so  long  as  sec- 
tional or  other  forms  of  distrust  are  ob- 
servable any  where.  When  these  recollec- 
tions fail,  new  issues  will  have  to  be*  sought 
or  accepted.  In  the  mere  search  for  issues 
the  minority  ought  always  to  be  the  most 
active ;  but  their  wise  appropriation,  after 
all,  depends  upon  the  wisdom  and  ability 
of  leadership.  It  has  ever  been  thus,  and 
ever  will  be.  This  is  about  the  only  poli- 
tical prophecy  the  writer  is  willing  to  risk 
— and  in  risking  this  he  but  presents  a 
view  common  to  all  Americans  who  claim 
to  be  "posted"  in  the  politics  of  their 
country. 

What  politicians  abroad  think  of  our 
"situation"  is  well  told,  though  no+  always 
accurately,  by  a  distinguished  writer  in  the 
January  (1882)  number  of  "  The  London 
Quarterly  Beview."  From  this  we  quote 
some  very  attractive  paragraphs,  and  at 
the  same  time  escape  the  necessity  of  de- 
scriptions and  predictions  generallv  be- 
lieved to  be  essential  in  rounding  oflf  a  po- 
litical volume,  but  which  are  always  dan- 
gerous in  treating  of  current  affairs.  Speak- 
ing of  the  conduct  of  both  parties  on  the 
question  of  Civil  Service  Reform,  the  writer 
Bays: 

"  What  have  they  done  to  overthrow  the 
celebrated  Jacksonian  precept^  '  to  the 
rictors  belongs  the  spoils  ? '  What,  in  fact, 
is  it  possible  for  thera  to  do  under  the 
present  system?  The  political  laborer 
nolds  that  he  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  and  if 
tothing  is  given  to  him,  nothing  will  he 
give  in  return.  There  are  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  offices  at  the  bestowal  of  every 
administration,  and  the  persons  who  have 
helped  to  bring  that  administration  into 

Sower  expect  to  receive  them.  *  In  Great 
Iritain,"  ^  once  remarked  the  American 
paper  which  enjoys  the  largest  circulation 
in  the  country,  '  the  ruling  classes  have  it 
all  to  themselves,  and  the  poor  man  rarely 
or  never  gets  a  nibble  at  the  public  crib. 
Here  we  take  our  turn.  We  know  that, 
if  our  political  rivals  have  the  opportunity 


to-day,  we  shall  have  it  to-morrow.  This 
is  the  philosophy  of  the  whole  thing  com- 
pressed into  a  nutshell.'  If  President 
Arthur  were  to  begin  to-day  to  distribute 
offices  to  men  who  were  most  worthy  to 
receive  them,  without  reference  to  politi- 
cal services,  his  own  party  would  rebel, 
and  assuredly  his  path  would  not  be 
strewn  with  roses.  He  was  himself  a  vic- 
tim of  a  gross  injustice  perpetrated  under 
the  name  of  reform.  He  filled  the  impor- 
tant post  of  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  and  filled  it  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  the  mercantile  community.  President 
Hayes  did  not  consider  General  Arthur 
sufficiently  devoted  to  his  interests,  and  he 
removed  him  in  favor  of  a  confirmed  wire- 
puller and  caucus-monger,  and  the  admin- 
istration papers  had  the  address  to  repre- 
sent this  as  the  outcome  of  an  honest  effort 
to  reform'  the  Civil  Service.  No  one 
really  supposed  that  the  New  York  Cus- 
tom House  was  less  a  political  engine  than 
it  had  been  before.  The  rule  of  General 
Arthur  had  been,  in  point  of  fact,  singu- 
larly free  from  jobbery  and  corruption,  and 
not  a  breath  of  suspicion  was  ever  attached 
to  his  personal  character.  If  he  had  been 
less  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  difficult 
duties,  he  would  have  made  fewer  enemies. 
He  discovered  several  gross  cases  of  fraud 
upon  the  revenue,  and  brought  the  perpe- 
trators to  justice ;  but  the  culprits  were  not 
without  influence  in  the  press,  and  they 
contrived  to  make  the  worse  appear  the 
better  cause.  Their  view  was  taken  at 
second-hand  by  many  of  the  English  jour- 
nals, and  even  recently  the  public  here 
were  gravely  assured  that  General  Arthur 
represented  all  that  was  base  in  American 
politics,  and  moreover  that  he  was  an 
enemy  of  England,  for  he  had  been  elected 
by  the  Irish  vote.  The  authors  of  these 
foolish  calumnies  did  not  perceive  that,  if 
their  statements  had  been  correct.  General 
Garfield,  whom  they  so  much  honored, 
must  also  have  been  elected  by  the  Irish 
vote ;  for  he  came  to  power  on  the  very 
same  '  ticket.*  In  reality,  the  Irish  vote 
may  be  able  to  accomplish  many  things  in 
America,  but  we  may  safely  predict  that  it 
will  never  elect  a  President.  General 
Arthur  had  not  been  many  weeks  in  power, 
before  he  was  enabled  to  give  a  remarkable 
proof  of  the  injustice  that  had  been  done 
to  him  in  this  particular  respect.  The 
salute  of  the  English  flag  at  Yorktown  is 
one  of  the  most  graceful  incidents  recorded 
in  American  history,  and  the  order  origi- 
nated solely  with  the  President.  A  man 
with  higher  character  or,  it  may  be  added, 
of  greater  accomplishments  and  fitness  for 
his  office,  never  sat  in  the  Presidential 
chair.  His  first  appointments  are  now  ad- 
mitted to  be  better  than  those  which  were 
made  by  his  predecessor  for  the  same  posts. 
Senator  Frehnghuysen,  the  new  Secretary 


300 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


of  State,  or  Foreign  Secretary,  is  a  man  of 
great  ability,  of  most  excellent  judgment, 
and  of  the  highest  personal  character.  He 
stands  far  beyond  the  reach  of  all  un- 
worthy influences.  Mr.  Folger,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  possesses  the  confi- 
dence of  the  entire  country,  and  the 
nomination  of  the  new  Attorney-General 
was  received  with  universal  satisfaction. 
All  this  little  accords  with  the  dark  and 
forbidding  descriptions  of  President  Arthur 
which  were  placed  before  the  public  here 
•on  his  ac':ession  to  office.  It  is  surely  time 
that  English  writers  became  alive  to  the 
danger  of  accepting  without  question  the 
distorted  views  which  they  find  ready  to 
their  hands  in  the  most  bigoted  or  most 
malicious  of  American  journals. 

"Democrats  and  Republicans,  then,  alike 
profess  to  be  in  favor  of  a  thorough  reform 
in  the  Civil  Service,  and  at  the  present 
moment  there  is  no  other  very  prominent 
question  which  could  be  used  as  a  test  for 
the  admission  of  members  into  either 
party.  The  old  issue,  which  no  one  could 
possibly  mistake,  is  gone.     How  much  the 

Eublic  really  care  for  the  new  one,  it  would 
e  a  difiicult  point  to  decide.  A  Civil  Ser- 
vice system,  such  as  that  which  we  have  in 
England,  would  scarcely  be  suited  to  the 
"  poor  man,"  who,  as  the  New  York  paper 
says,  thinks  he  has  a  right  occasionally  to 
'  get  a  nibble  at  the  public  crib.'  If  a  man 
has  worked  hard  to  bring  his  party  into 
power,  he  is  apt,  in  the  United  States,  to 
think  that  he  is  entitled  to  some  '  recogni- 
tion,' and  neither  he  nor  his  iriends  would 
be  well  pleased  if  they  were  told  that,  be- 
fore anything  could  be  done  for  him,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  examine  him  in 
modern  languages  and  mathematics.  More- 
over, a  service  such  as  that  which  exists  in 
England  requires  to  be  worked  Avith  a  sys- 
tem of  pensions;  and  pensions,  it  is  held 
in  America,  are  opposed  to  the  Republican 
idea.*  If  it  were  not  for  this  objection,  it 
may  be  presumed  that  some  provision 
would  have  been  made  for  more  than  one 
of  the  ex-Presidents,  whose  circumstances 
placed  them  or  their  families  much  in 
need  of  it.  President  Monroe  spent  his 
last  years  in  wretched  circumstances,  and 
died  bankrupt.  Mrs.  Madison  'knew 
what  it  was  to  want  bread.'  A  negro  ser- 
vant, who  had  once  been  a  slave  in  the 
family,  used  furtively  to  give  her  '  small 
tfums ' — they  must  have  been  very  small 
— out  of  his  own  pocket.  Mr.  Pierce  was, 
we  believe,  not   far  removed    from    in- 


•  EnormouH  »iim8  are,  however,  given  to  soldiers  who 
wore  woundo!  during  the  war,  or  Mho  pretend  that  tliey 
were— for  joW)fiy  on  an  unheard  of  scale  ia  pracfiBed  in 
connection  with  tliese  peiisiona.  It  is  estinmtod  tliat 
f  120,1  00,(X)0  (2i  (JiHi,0()W.)  will  have  to  be  paid  during  the 
preitent  fiscal  year,  for  arrears  of  pension,  and  the  num- 
ber of  claimants  is  constantly  increasing,  [The  writer 
evidently  got  tbMs  "facta"  from  seosatioiial  sources.] 


digence  ;  and  it  has  been  stated  that  after 
Andrew  Johnson  left  the  White  House, 
he  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  follow- 
ing his  old  trade.  General  Grant  was 
much  more  fortunate;  and  we  have  re- 
cently seen  that  the  American  people  have 
subscribed  for  Mrs.  Garfield  a  sum  nearly 
equal  to  £70,000.  But  a  pension  system 
for  Civil  Servants  is  not  likely  to  be 
adopted.  Permanence  in  office  is  another 
principle  which  has  found  no  favor  with 
the  rank  and  file  of  either  party  in 
America,  although  it  has  sometimes  been 
introduced  into  party  platforms  for  the 
sake-  of,  producing  a  good  effect.  The 
plan  of  quick  rotation  is  far  more  at- 
tractive to  the  popular  sense.  Divide  the 
spoils,  and  divide  them  often.  It  is  true 
that  the  public  indignation  is  sometimes 
aroused,  when  too  eager  and  rapacious  a 
spirit  ia  exhibited.  Such  a  feeling  was  dis- 
played, in  1873,  in  consequence  of  an  Act 
passed  by  Congress  increasing  the  pay  of 
Its  own  members  and  certain  officers  of  the 
Government.  Each  member  of  Congress 
was  to  receive  $7,500  a  year,  or  £1,500. 
The  sum  paid  before  that  date,  down  to 
1865,  was  $5000  a  year,  or  £1000,  and 
'mileage'  free  added  —  that  is  to  say, 
members  were  entitled  to  be  paid  twenty 
cents  a  mile  for  traveling  expenses  to  and 
from  Washington.  This  Bill  soon  became 
known  as  the  'Salary  Grab'  Act,  and 
popular  feeling  against  it  was  so  greatthat 
it  was  repealed  in  the  following  Session, 
and  the  former  pay  was  restored.  As  a 
general" rule,  however,  the  'spoils'  system 
has  not  been  heartily  condemned  by  the 
nation ;  if  it  had  been  so  condemned,  it 
must  have  fallen  long  ago. 

"  President  Arthur  has  been  admonished 
by  his  English  counsellors  to  take  heed 
that  he  follows  closely  in  the  steps  of  his 
predecessor.  General  Garfield  was  not 
long  enough  in  office  to  give  any  decided 
indications  of  the  policv  which  he  intend- 
ed to  pursue ;  but,  so  far  as  he  had  gone, 
impartial  observers  could  detect  very  little 
difference  between  his  course  of  conduct  in 
regard  to  patronage  and  that  of  former 
Presidents.  He  simply  preferred  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Blaine  to  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Conkling ;  but  Mr.  Blaine  is  a  politician  of 
precisely  the  same  class  as  Mr.  Conkling — 
both  are  men  intimately  versed  in  all  the 
intricacies  of '  primaries,'  the  '  caucus,'  and 
the  general  working  of  the  '  machine.' 
They  are  precisely  the  kind  of  men  which 
American  politics,  as  at  present  practised 
and  understood,  are  adapted  to  produce. 
Mr.  Conkling,  however,  is  of  more  impe- 
rious a  disposition  than  Mr.  Blaine ;  the 
first  disappointment  or  contradiction  turns 
him  from  a  friend  into  an  enemy.  Presi- 
dent Garfield  removed  the  Collector  of 
New  York — the  most  lucrative  and  most 
coveted  post  in  the  entire  Union — and  in- 


BOOK  I.] 


CURRENT   POLITICS. 


301 


stead  of  nominating  a  friend  of  Mr.  Conk- 
ling'a  for  the  vacancy,  he  nominated  a 
friend  of  Mr.  Blaine's.  Now  Mr.  Conk- 
ling  had  done  much  to  secure  New  York 
State  for  the  Republicans,  and  thus  gave 
them  the  victory ;  and  he  thought  himself 
entitled  to  better  treatment  than  he  re- 
ceived. But  was  it  in  the  spirit  of  true  re- 
form to  remove  the  Collector,  against 
whom  no  complaint  had  been  made,  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  vacancy,  and 
then  of  putting  a  friend  of  Mr.  Blaine's 
into  it — a  friend,  moreover,  who  had  been 
largely  instrumental  in  securing  General 
Garfield's  own  nomination  at  Chicago?  * 
Is  this  all  that  is  meant,  when  the  Reform 
party  talk  of  the  great  changes  which  they 
desire  to  see  carried  out?  Again,  the  new 
President  has  been  fairly  warned  by  his 
advisers  in  this  country,  that  he  must 
abolish  every  abuse,  new  or  old,  connected 
with  the  distribution  of  patronage.  If  he 
is  to  execute  this  commission,  not  one  term 
of  office,  nor  three  terms,  will  be  sufficient 
for  him.  Over  every  appointment  there 
will  inevitably  arise  a  dispute ;  if  a  totally 
untried  man  is  chosen,  he  will  be  suspected 
as  a  wolf  coming  in  sheep's  clothing;  if  a 
well  known  partizan  is  nominated,  he  will 
be  denounced  as  a  mere  tool  of  the  leaders, 
and  there  will  be  another  outcry  against 
*  machine  politics.'  '  One  party  or  other,' 
said  an  American  journal  not  long  ago, 
'must  begin  the  work  of  administering 
the  Government  on  business  principles,' 
and  the  writer  admitted  that  the  work 
would  '  cost  salt  tears  to  many  a  politician.' 
The  honor  of  making  this  beginning  has 
not  yet  been  sought  for  with  remarkable 
eagerness  by  either  party ;  but  seems  to  be 
deemed  necessary  to  promise  that  some- 
thing shall  be  done,  and  the  Democrats, 
being  out  of  power,  are  naturally  in  the 
position  to  bid  the  highest.  The  reform 
will  come,  as  we  have  intimated,  when  the 
people  demand  it ;  it  cannot  come  before, 
for  few,  indeed,  are  the  politicians  in  the 
United  States  who  venture  to  trust  them- 
selves far  in  advance  of  public  opinion. 
And  even  of  that  few,  there  are  some  who 
have  found  out,  by  hard  experience,  that 
there  is  little  honor  or  profit  to  be  gained 
by  undertaking  to  act  as  pioneers. 

"  It  is  doubtless  a  step  in  advance,  that 
both  parties  now  admit  the  absolute  ne- 
cessity of  devising  measures  to  elevate  the 
character  of  the  public  service,  to  check 
the  progress  of  corruption,  and  to  intro- 
duce a  better  class  of  men  into  the  offices 
which  are  held  under  the  Government. 
The  necessity  of  great  reforms  in  these  re- 
spects has  been  avowed  over  and  over 
again  by  most  of  the  leading  journals  and 
influential  men  in  the  country.    The  most 

*  The  undeniablo  facto  of  thf^  cs\an  wore  a«  we  hare 
briefly  indicated  aliove  See.  for  examplo.  a  letter  to  the 
'New  York  Natiuu,'  Nuv.  U,  18sl. 


radical  of  the  Republicans,  and  the  most 
conservative  of  the  Democrats,  are  of  ono 
mind  on  this  point.  Mr.  Wendell  Phil- 
lips, an  old  abolitionist  and  Radical,  once 
publicly  declared  that  Republican  govern- 
ment in  cities  had  been  a  complete  fail- 
ure.* An  equally  good  Radical,  the  late 
Mr.  Horace  Greeley,  made  the  following 
still  more  candid  statement : — '  There  are 
probably  at  no  time  less  than  twenty 
thousand  men  in  this  city  [New  York] 
who  would  readily  commit  a  safe  murder 
for  a  hundred  dollars,  break  open  a  house 
for  twenty,  and  take  a  false  oath  for  five. 
Most  of  these  are  of  European  birth, 
though  we  have  also  native  miscreants 
who  a  re  ready  for  any  crime  that  will  pay.'  f 
Strong  testimony  against  the  working  of 
the  suffrage — and  it  must  have  been  most 
unwilling  testimony — was  given  in  1875  by 
a  politician  whose  lon^  familiarity  with 
caucuses  and  '  wire-pullmg '  in  every  form 
renders  him  an  undeniable  authority. 
Let  it  be  widely  proclaimed,'  he  wrote, 
'  that  the  experience  and  teachings  of  a 
republican  form  of  government  prove 
nothing  so  alarmingly  suggestive  oi  and 
pregnant  with  danger  as  that  cheap  suf- 
frage involves  and  entails  cheap  represen- 
tation.'J  Another  Republican,  of  high 
character,  has  stated  that  *  the  methods  of 
politics  have  now  become  so  repulsive,  the 
corruption  so  open,  the  intrigues  and  per- 
sonal hostilities  are  so  shameless,  that  it 
is  very  difficult  to  engage  in  them  without 
a  sense  of  humiliation.' "  ^ 

Passing  to  another  question,  and  one 
worthy  of  the  most  intelligent  discussion, 
but  which  has  never  yet  taken  the  shape 
of  a  political  demand  or  issue  in  this 
country,  this  English  writer  says : 

"  Although  corruption  has  been  suspect- 
ed at  one  time  or  other  in  almost  every 
Department  of  the  Government,  the  Pres* 
idential  office  has  hitherto  been  kept  free 
from  its  stain.  And  yet,  bjr  an  anomaly  oi 
the  Constitution,  the  President  has  some- 
times been  exposed  to  suspicion,  and  still 
more  frequently  to  injustice  and  misrepie- 
sentation,  in  consequence  of  the  practical 
irresponsibility  of  his  Cabinet  officers. 
They  are  his  chief  advisers  in  regard  to  the 
distribution  of  places,  as  well  as  in  the 
higher  affairs  of  State,  and  the  discredit  of 
any  mismanagement  on  their  part  falls 
upon  him.  It  is  true  that  he  chooses  them, 
and  may  dismiss  them,  with  the  concur- 
rence of  the  Senate ;  but,  when  once  ap- 
pointed, they  are  beyond  reach  of  all  effec- 
tive criticism — for  newspaper  attacks  are 
easily  explained  by  the  suggestion  of  party 
malice.    They    cannot  be  questioned  in 


•  Speech  in  Now  York,  March  7.  1881. 

I'  New  York  Tribune,'  Feb.  '.^6,  1870. 
Letter  in  New  York  papers,  Feb.  2<),  1875. 
Mr.  George  William  Curtis,  in  '  Uarper'a  MagaBlwy 
0. 


302 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


TBOor  I. 


Congress,  for  they  are  absolutely  pro- 
hibited from  sitting  in  either  House. 
For  months  together  it  is  quite  possible 
for  the  Cabinet  to  pursue  a  course  which  is 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the 
people.  This  was  seen,  among  other  Oc- 
casions, in  1873^,  when  Mr.  Elchardson 
was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  at  a 
time  when  his  management  of  the  finances 
caused  great  dissatisfaction.  At  last  a  par- 
ticularly gross  case  of  negligence,  to  use 
no  harsher  word,  known  as  the  '  Sanborn 
contracts,'  caused  his  retirement ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  demand  for  his  withdrawal  be- 
came so  persistent  and  so  general,  that  the 
President  cx)uld  no  longer  refuse  to  listen 
to  it.  His  objectionable  policy  might  have 
been  pursued  till  the  end  of  the  Presiden- 
tial term,  but  for  the  accidental  discovery 
of  a  scandal,  which  exhausted  the  patience 
of  his  friends  as  well  as  his  enemies.  Now 
had  Mr.  Richardson  been  a  member  of 
either  House,  and  liable  to  be  subjected  to 
a  rigorous  cross-questioning  as  to  his  pro- 
ceedings, the  mismanagement  of  which  he 
was  accused,  and  which  was  carried  on  in 
the  dark,  never  could  have  occurred.  Why 
the  founders',  of  the  Constitution  should 
have  thrown  this  protection  round  the  per- 
sons who  hapi^en  to  fill  the  chief  offices  of 
State,  is  difficult  to  conjecture,  but  the 
clause  is  clear  : — *  No  person  holding  any 
office  under  the  United  States  shall  be  a 
member  of  either  House  during  his  con- 
tinuance in  office.'*  Mr.  Justice  Story  de- 
clares that  this  provision  '  has  been  vindi- 
cated upon  the  highest  grounds  of  public 
authority,'  but  he  also  admits  that,  as  ap- 
plied to  the  heads  of  departments,  it  leads 
to  mary  evils.  He  adds  a  warning  which 
many  events  of  our  own  time  have  shown 
to  be  not  unnecessary : — '  if  corruption 
ever  eat.i  its  way  silently  into  the  vitals  of 
this  Rcpviblic,  it  will  be  because  the  peo- 
ple are  unable  to  bring  responsibility  home 
to  the  lixecutive  through  his  chosen  Min- 
iate. .  They  will  be  betrayed  when  their 
Busp'.cions  are  most  lulled  by  the  Execu- 
tive, under  the  guise  of  an  obedience  to 
,  the  will  of  Congress.'!  The  inconveniences 
occasioned  to  the  public  service  under  the 
present  system  are  very  great.  There  is  no 
c^cial  personage  in  either  House  to  ex- 
-.  ~in  the  provisions  of  any  Bill,  or  to  give 
:-:iormation  on  pressing  matters  of  public 
business.  Cabinet  officers  are  only  brought 
into  communication  with  the  nation  when 
they  send  in  their  annual  reports,  or  when 
a  special  report  is  called  for  by  some  un- 
usual emergency.  Sometimes  the  Presi- 
dent himself  goes  down  to  the  Capitol  to 
talk  over  the  merits  of  a  Bill  with  mem- 
bers. The  Department  whi<  h  happens  to 
be  interested    in   any  particular  measure 


•  Article  I.  Kect.  rl.  2 

f '  ConuneDtarieo,  'I.,  book  liL  sect. ) 


puts  it  under  the  charge  of  some  friend  of 
the  Administration,  and  if  a  member  par- 
ticularly desires  any  further  information 
respecting  it  he  may,  if  he  thinks  proper, 
go  to  the  Department  and  ask  for  it.  But 
Congress  and  Ministers  are  never  brought 
face  to  face.  It  is  possible  that  American 
'  Secretaries '  may  escape  some  of  the  in- 
convenience which  English  Ministers  are 
at  times  called  upon  to  undergo ;  but  the 
most  capable  and  honest  of  them  forfeit 
many  advantages,  not  the  least  of  which  is 
the  opportunity  of  making  the  exact  na- 
ture of  fheir  work  known  to  their  country- 
men, and  of  meeting  party  misrepresenta- 
tions and  calumnies  in  the  most  effectual 
way.  In  like  manner,  the  incapablemem- 
bers  of  the  Cabinet  would  not  be  able, 
under  a  different  system,  to  shift  the  bur- 
den of  responsibility  for  their  blunders  up- 
on the  President.  No  President  suffered 
more  in  reputation  for  the  faults  of  others 
than  General  Grant.  It  is  true  that  he  did 
not  always  choose  his  Secretaries  with  suf- 
ficient care  or  discrimination,  but  he  was 
made  to  bear  more  than  a  just  proportion 
of  the  censure  which  was  provoked  by 
their  mistakes.  And  it  was  not  in  Gen- 
eral Grant's  disposition  to  defend  himself. 
In  ordinary  intercourse  he  was  sparing  of 
his  words,  and  could  never  be  induced  to 
talk  about  himself,  or  to  make  a  single 
speech  in  defense  of  any  portion  of  nia 
conduct.  The  consequence  was,  that  his 
second  term  of  office  was  far  from  being 
worthy  of  the  man  who  enjoyed  a  popu- 
larity, just  after  the  war,  which  Washing- 
ton himself  might  have  envied,  and  who 
is  still,  and  very  justly,  regarded  with  re^ 
spect  and  gratitude  for  his  memorable  ser- 
vices in  the  field. 

"  The  same  sentiment,  to  which  we  have 
referred  as  specially  characteristic  of  the 
American  people — hostility  to  all  changes 
in  their  method  of  government  which  are 
not  absolutely  essential — will  keep  the 
Cabinet  surrounded  by  irresponsible,  and 
sometimes  incapable,  advisers.  Contrary 
to  general  supposition,  there  is  no  nation 
in  the  world  so  little  disposed  to  look  favor- 
ably on  Radicalism  and  a  restless  desire  for 
change,  as  the  Americans.  The  Constitu- 
tion itself  can  only  be  altered  by  a  long 
and  tedious  process,  and  after  every  ^tate 
in  the  Union  has  been  asked  its  opinion  on 
the  question.  There  is  no  hesitation  in 
enforcing  the  law  in  case  of  disorder,  as 
the  railroad  rioters  in  Pennsylvania  found 
out  a  few  years  ago.  The  state  of  affairs, 
which  the  English  Government  has  per- 
mitted to  exist  in  Ireland  for  upwards  of  a 
year,  would  not  have  been  tolerated  twenty- 
four  hours  in  the  United  States.  The 
maintenance  of  the  law  first,  the  discussion 
of  grievances  afterwards ;  such  is,  and  al- 
ways has  been,  the  policy  of  every  Ameri- 
can Crovemment,  until   the  evil  day  of 


BOOK  I.] 


CURRENT    POLITICS. 


303 


James  Buchanan.  The  governor  of  every 
State  is  a  real  ruler,  and  not  a  mere  orna- 
ment, and]the  President  wields  a  hundred- 
fold more  power  than  has  been  left  to  the 
Sovereign  of  Great  Britain.  Both  parties 
as  a  rule,  combine  to  uphold  his  authority, 
and,  in  the  event  of  any  dispute  with  a 
foreign  Power,  all  party  distinctions  disap- 
pear as  if  by  magic.  There  are  no  longer 
Democrats  and  Republicans,  but  only 
Americans.  The  species  of  politician,  who 
endeavors  to  gain  a  reputation  for  himself 
by  destroying  the  reputation  of  his  country 
was  not  taken  over  to  America  in  the '  May- 
flower,' and  it  would  be  more  difficult  than 
ever  to  establish  it  on  American  ground 
to-day.  A  man  may  hold  any  opinions 
that  may  strike  his  fancy  on  other  subjects, 
but  in  reference  to  the  Government,  he  is 
expected,  while  he  lives  under  it,  to  give  it 
his  hearty  support,  especially  as  against 
foreign  nations.  There  was  once  a  faction 
called  the  '  Know  Nothings,'  the  guiding 
principle  of  which  was  inveterate  hostility 
to  foreigners ;  but  a  party  based  upon  the 
opposite  principle,  of  hostility  to  one's  own 
country,  has  not  yet  ventured  to  lift  up  its 
head  across  the  Atlantic.  That  is  an  in- 
vention in  politics  which  England  has 
introduced,  and  of  which  she  is  allowed  to 
enjoy  the  undisputed  monopoly.  *  *  * 
"Display  and  ceremonial  were  by  no 
means  absent  from  the  Government  in  the 
beginning  of  its  history.  President  Wash- 
ington never  went  to  Congress  on  public 
business  except  in  a  State  coach,  drawn  by 
six  cream-colored  horses.  The  coach  was 
an  object  which  would  excite  the  admira- 
tion of  the  throng  even  now  in  the  streets 
of  London,  It  was  built  in  the  shape  of 
a  hemisphere,  and  its  panels  were  adorned 
with  cupids,  surrounded  with  flowers 
worthy  of  Florida,  and  of  fruit  not  to  be 
equalled  out  of  California.  The  coachman 
and  postillions  were  arrayed  in  gorgeous 
liveries  of  white  and  scarlet.  The  Phila- 
delphia 'Gazette,'  a  Government  organ, 
regularly  gave  a  supply  of  Court  news  for 
the  edification  of  the  citizens.  From  that 
the  people  were  allowed  to  learn  as  much 
as  it  was  deemed  proper  for  them  to  know 
about  the  President's  movements,  and  a  fair 
amount  of  space  was  also  devoted  to  Mrs. 
Washington — who  was  not  referred  to  as 
Mrs.  Washington,  but  as  '  the  amiable  con- 
sort of  our  beloved  President. '  When  tha 
President  made  his  appearance  at  a  ball  or 
public  reception,  a  dais  was  erected  for  him 
upon  which  he  might  stand  apart  from  the 
vulgar  throng,  and  the  quests  or  visitors 
bowed  to  him  in  solemn  silence.  '  Repub- 
lican simplicity'  has  only  come  in  later 
times.  In  our  day,  the  hack-driver  who 
takes  a  visitor  to  a  public  reception  at  the 
White  House,  is  quite  free  to  get  off  his 
box,  walk  in  side  by  side  with  his  fare,  and 
shake  hands  with  the  President  with  as 


I  much  familiarity  aa  anybody  else.  Very 
I  few  persons  presumed  to  offer  to  shake 
;  hands  with  General  Washington.  One  of 
I  his  friends,  Gouverneur  Morris,  rashly 
undertook,  for  a  foolish  wager,  to  go  up  to 
I  him  and  slap  him  on  the  shoulder,  saying, 
I  *  My  dear  General,  I  am  happy  to  see  you 
j  look  so  well.'  The  moment  fixed  upon 
arrived,  and  Mr.  Morris,  already  half- 
repenting  of  his  wager,  went  up  to  the 
President,  placed  his  hand  upon  his  shoul- 
der, and  uttered  the  prescribed  words. 
'  Washington,'  as  an  eye-witness  described 
the  scene,  '  withdrew  his  hand,  stepped 
suddenly  back,  fixed  his  eye  on  Morris  for 
several  minutes  with  an  angry  frown,  until 
the  latter  retreated  abashed,  and  sought 
refuge  in  the  crowd.'  No  one  else  ever 
tried  a  similar  experiment.  It  is  recorded 
of  Washington,  that  he  wished  the  official 
title  of  the  President  to  be  '  High  Mighti- 
ness,' *  and  at  one  time  it  was  proposed  to 
engrave  his  portrait  upon  the  national 
coinage.  No  royal  levies  were  more  punc- 
tiliously arranged  and  ordered  than  those 
of  the  First  President.  It  was  Jefferson, 
the  founder  of  the  Democratic  party,  who 
introduced  Democratic  manners  into  the 
Republic.  He  refused  to  hold  weekly  re- 
ceptions, and  when  he  went  to  Congress  to 
read  his  Address,  he  rode  up  unattended, 
tied  his  horse  to  a  post,  and  came  away 
with  the  same  disregard  for  outward  show. 
After  his  inauguration,  he  did  not  even 
take  the  trouble  to  go  to  Congress  with  his 
Message,  but  sent  it  by  the  hands  of  his 
Secretary — a  custom  which  has  been  found 
so  convenient  that  it  has  been  followed 
ever  since.  A  clerk  now  mumbles  through 
the  President's  Message,  while  members 
sit  at  their  desks  writing  letters,  or  reading 
the  Message  itself,  if  they  do  not  happen 
to  have  made  themselves  masters  of  its 
contents  beforehand." 

The  writer,  after  discussing  monopolies 
and  tariffs,  closes  with  hopes  and  predic- 
tions so  moderately  and  sensibly  stated  that 
any  one  will  be  safe  in  adopting  them  as 
his  own. 

"  The  controversies  which  have  yet  to  be 
fought  out  on  these  issues  [the  tariff  and 
corporate  power]  may  sometimes  become 
formidable,  but  we  may  hope  that  the 
really  dangerous  questions  that  once  con- 
fronted the  American  people  are  set  at  rest 
for  ever.  The  States  once  more  stand  in 
their  proper  relation  to  the  Union,  and  any 
interference  with  their  self-government  is 
never  again  likely  to  be  attempted,  for  the 
feeling  of  the  whole  people  would  condemn 
it.  It  was  a  highly  Conservative  system 
which  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
adopted,  when  they  decided  that  each  State 
should  be  entitled  to  make  its  own  laws, 

*  [These  are  mere  traditions  tinged  with  the  spirit  of 
some  of  the  assaults  made  in  the  "  Rood  old  days"  eyen 
against  so  illuatriuui  a  man  as  Washington. — Am.  Pol-l 


304 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


to  regulate  its  own  franchise,  to  raise  its 
own  taxes,  and  settle  everything  in  connec- 
tion with  its  own  affairs  in  its  own  way.  The 
general  government  has  no  right  whatever 
to  send  a  single  soldier  into  any  State,  even 
to  preserve  order,  until  it  has  been  called 
upon  to  act  by  the  Governor  of  that  State. 
The  Federal  Government,  as  it  has  been 
said  by  the  Supreme  Court,  is  one  of  enu- 
merated powers ; '  and  if  it  has  ever  acted 
in  excess  of  those  powers,  it  was  only  when 
officers  in  States  broke  the  compact  which 
existed,  and  took  up  arras  for  its  destruc- 
tion. They  abandoned  their  place  in  the 
Union,  and  were  held  to  have  thereby  for- 
feited their  rights  as  States.  In  ordinary 
times  there  is  ample  security  against  the 
abuse  of  power  in  any  direction.  If  a 
State  government  exceeds  its  authority,  the 
people  can  at  the  next  election  expel  the 
parties  who  have  been  guilty  of  the  offense ; 
if  Congress  trespasses  upon  the  functions 
of  the  States,  there  is  the  remedy  of  an  ap- 
peal to  the  Supreme  Court,  the  '  final  in- 
terpreter of  the  Constitution ; '  if  usurpa- 
tion should  be  attempted  in  spite  of  these 
safeguards,  there  is  the  final  remedy  of  an 
appeal  to  the  whole  nation  under  the  form 
of  a  Constitutional  Amendment,  which 
may  at  any  time  be  adopted  with  the  con- 
sent of  three-fourths  of  the  States.  Only, 
therefore,  as  Mr.  Justice  Story  has  pointed 
out,  when  three-fourths  of  the  States  have 
combined  to  practice  usurpation,  is  the  case 
*  irremediable  under  any  known  forms  of 
the  Constitution.'  It  would  be  difficult  to 
conceive  of  any  circumstances  under  which 
such  a  combination  as  this  could  arise.  No 
form  of  government  ever  yet  devised  has 
proved  to  be  faultless  in  its  operation ;  but 
that  of  the  United  States  is  well  adapted 
to  the  genius  and  character  of  the  people, 
and  the  very  dangers  which  it  has  passed 
through  render  it  more  precious  in  their 


eyes  than  it  was  before  it  had  been  tried  in 
the  fire.  It  assures  freedom  to  all  who  live 
under  it ;  and  it  provides  for  the  rigid  ob: 
servance  of  law,  and  the  due  protection  of 
every  man  in  his  rights.  There  is  much  in 
the  events  which  are  now  taking  place 
around  us  to  suggest  serious  doubts, 
whether  these  great  and  indispensable  ad- 
vantages are  afforded  by  some  of  the  older 
European  systems  of  government  which 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  as 
better  and  wiser  than  the  American  Con- 
stitution." 

A  final  word  as  to  a  remaining  great  is- 
sue— that  of  the  tariff.  It  must  ever  be  a 
political  issue,  one  which  parties  cannot 
wholly  avoid.  The  Democratic  party  as  a 
mass,  yet  leans  to  Free  Trade ;  the  Repub- 
lican party,  as  a  mass,  favors  Tariffs  and 
high  ones,  at  least  plainly  protective. 
Within  a  year,  two  great  National  Conven- 
tions were  held,  one  at  Chicago  and  one 
at  New  York,  both  in  former  times.  Free 
Trade  centres,  and  in  these  Congress  was 
petitioned  either  to  maintain  oi  improve  the 
existing  tariff.  As  a  result  we  see  presented 
and  advocated  at  the  current  session  the 
Tariff  Commission  Bill,  decisive  action 
upon  which  has  not  been  taken  at  the 
time  we  close  these  pages.  The  effect  of 
the  conventions  was  to  cause  the  Demo- 
cratic Congressional  caucus  to  reject  the 
effort  of  Proctor  Knott,  to  place  it  in  its 
old  attitude  of  hostility  to  protection. 
Many  of  the  members  sought  and  for  the 
time  secured  an  avoidance  of  the  issue. 
Their  ability  to  maintain  this  attitude  in 
the  face  of  Mr.  Watterson's*  declaration 
that  the  Democratic  party  must  stand  or 
fall  on  that  issue,  remains  to  be  seen. 

*  Mr.  'WatterBon,  formerly  a  distinguished  member  of 
Conpress,  is  the  autlior  of  the  "  tariff  for  revenue  only  " 
plunk  in  the  Pemocratic  National  Platform  of  1880,  and 
is  now,  as  be  has  been  for  years,  the  chief  editor  of  the 
Louiiiilh  Courier  JoumaL 


POLITICAL  OHAE"GES  m  1882. 


With  a  view  to  carry  this  work  through 
the  year  1882  and  into  part  of  1883,  very 
plain  reference  should  be  made  to  the 
campaign  of  1882,  which  in  several  im- 
portant States  was  fully  as  disastrous  to 
the  Republican  party  as  any  State  elec- 
tions since  the  advent  of  that  party  to 
national  supremacy  and  power.  In  1863 
and  1874  the  Republican  reverses  were 
almost  if  not  quite  as  general,  but  in  the 
more  important  States  the  adverse  majori- 
ties were  not  near  so  sweeping.  Political 
"  tidal  waves "  had  been  freely  talked  of 
as  descriptive  of  the  situation  in  the  earlier 


years  named,  but  the  result  of  1882  has 
been  pertinently  described  by  Horatio 
Seymour  as  the  "  groundswell,  And  such 
it  seemed,  both  to  the  active  participants 
in,  and  lookers-on,  at  the  struggle. 

Political  discontent  seems  to  be  periodi- 
cal under  all  governments,  and  the  periods 
are  probably  quite  as  frequent  though  less 
violent  under  republican  as  other  forms. 
Certain  it  is  that  no  political  party  in  our 
history  has  long  enjoyed  uninterrupted 
success.  The  National  success  of  the  Re- 
publicans cannot  truthfully  be  said  to 
nave  been  uninterrupted  since  the  first 


BOOK  I.] 


REPUBLICANS— DEMOCRATS. 


305 


election  of  Lincoln,  as  at  times  one  or  the 
other  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  Democratic  party, 
while  since  the  second  Grant  administra- 
tion there  has  not  been  a  safe  working 
majority  of  Republicans  in  either  House. 
Combinations  with  Greenbackers,  Read- 
justers,  and  occasionally  with  disbcnting 
Democrats  have  had  to  be  employed  to 
preserve  majorities  in  behalf  of  important 
measures,  and  these  have  not  always  suc- 
ceeded, though  the  general  tendency  of 
tide-parties  has  been  to  support  the  majo- 
rity, for  the  very  plain  reason  that  majori- 
ties can  reward  with  power  upon  commit- 
tees and  with  patronage. 

Efforts  were  made  by  the  Democrats  in 
the  first  session  of  the  47th  Congress  to 
reduce  existing  tariffs,  and  to  repeal  the 
internal  revenue  taxes.  The  Repub- 
licans met  the  first  movement  by  establish- 
ing a  Tariff  Commission,  which  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Arthur,  and  com- 
posed mainly  of  gentlemen  favorable  to 
protective  duties.  In  the  year  previous 
(1881)  the  income  from  internal  taxes  was 
$135,264,385.51,  and  the  cost  of  collecting 
$4,327,793.24,  or  3.20  per  cent.  The  cus- 
toms revenues  amounted  to  $198,159,676.02, 
the  cost  of  collecting  the  same  $6,383,288. 
10,  or  3.22  per  cent.  There  was  no  gene- 
ral complaint  as  to  the  cost  of  collecting 
these  immense  revenues,  for  this  cost  was 
greatly  less  than  in  former  years,  but  the 
surplus  on  internal  taxes  (about  $146,000, 
000)  was  so  large  that  it  could  not  be 
profitably  employed  even  in  the  payment 
>  of  the  public  debt,  and  as  a  natural  result 
all  interests  called  upon  to  pay  the  tax 
(save  where  there  was  a  monopoly  in  the 
product  or  the  manufacture)  complained 
of  the  burden  as  wholly  unnecessary,  and 
large  interests  and  very  many  people  de- 
manded immediate  and  absolute  repeal. 
The  Republicans  sought  to  meet  this  de- 
mand half  way  by  a  bill  repealing  all  the 
taxes,  save  those  on  spirits  and  tobacco, 
but  the  Democrats  obstructed  and  defeated 
every  attempt  at  partial  repeal.  The 
Republicans  thought  that  the  moral  senti- 
ment of  the  country  would  favor  the  re- 
tention of  the  internal  taxes  upon  spirits 
and  tobacco  (the  latter  having  been  pre- 
viously reduced)  but  if  there  was  any  such 
sentiment  it  dia  not  manifest  itself  in  the 
,  fall  elections.  On  the  contrary,  every 
form   of  discontent,  encouraged  by  these 

freat  causes,  took  shape.  While  the 
'ariff  Commission,  by  active  and  very  in- 
telligent work,  held  out  continued  hope  to 
the  more  confident  industries,  those  which 
had  been  threatened  or  injured  by  the 
failure  of  the  crops  in  1881,  and  by  the 
assassination  of  President  Garfield,  saw 
only  prolonged  injury  in  the  probable 
work  of  the  Commission,  for  to  meet  the 

20 


close  Democratic  sertiment  and  to  unite 
that  which  it  was  hoped  would  be  gene- 
rally friendly,  moderate  tarifl"  rates  had  to 
be  fixed ;  notably  upon  iron,  steel,  fvnd 
many  classes  of  manufactured  goeds. 
Manufacturers  of  the  cheaper  grades  of 
cotton  goods  were  feeling  the  pressure  of 
competition  from  the  South — wnere  goods 
could  be  made  from  a  natural  product 
close  at  hand — while  those  of  the  North 
found  about  the  same  time  thai  the  tastes 
of  their  customers  had  improved,  and 
hence  their  cheaper  grades  were  no  longer 
in  such  general  demand.  There  was  over- 
production, as  a  conjequence  grave  depres- 
sion, and  not  all  in  the  business  could  at 
once  realize  the  cause  of  the  trouble. 
Doubt  and  distrust  prevailed,  and  early  in 
the  summer  of  1882,  and  indeed  until  late 
in  the  fall,  the  country  seemed  upon  the 
verge  of  a  business  panic.  At  the  same 
time  the  leading  journals  of  the  country 
seemed  to  have  joined  in  a  crusade  against 
all  existing  political  methods,  and  again  ft 
all  statutory  and  political  abuses.  Tbe 
cry  of  "  Down  with  Boss  Rule !  "  was  heai-d 
in  many  States,  and  this  rallied  to  tlie 
swelling  ranks  of  discontent  all  who  are 
naturally  fond  of  pulling  down  leadei's^  — 
and  the  United  States  Senatorial  elections 
of  1883  quickly  showed  that  the  blow  was 
aimed  at  all  leaders,  whether  they  vrere 
alleged  Bosses  or  not.  Then,  too,  the 
forms  of  discontent  which  could  not  take 
practical  shape  in  the  great  Presidential 
contest  between  Garfield  and  Hancock, 
came  to  the  front  with  cumulative  force 
after  the  assassination.  There  is  little  use 
in  philosophizing  and  searching  for  suffi- 
cient reasons  leading  to  a  fact,  when  the 
fact  itself  must  be  confessed  and  whe.xi  ita 
force  has  been  felt.  It  is  a  plain  fact  that 
many  votes  in  the  fall  of  1882  were  deter- 
mined by  the  nominating  struggle  for  the 
Presidency  in  1880,  by  the  quarrels  which 
followed  Garfield's  inauguration,  and  by 
the  assassination.  Indeed,  the  nation  had 
not  recovered  from  the  shock,  and  many 
very  good  people  looked  with  very  grave 
suspicion  upon  every  act  of  President 
Arthur  after  he  had  succeeded  to  the 
chair.  Th«  best  informed,  broadest  and 
most  liberal  political  minds  saw  in  his 
course  an  honest  effort  to  heal  existing 
differences  in  the  Republican  party,  but 
many  acts  of  recommendation  and  appoint- 
ment directed  to  this  end  were  discounted 
by  the  few  which  could  not  thus  be  trated, 
and  suspicion  and  discontent  swelled  the 
chorus  of  other  injuries.  The  result  was 
the  great  political  changes  ot  1882.  It  be- 
gan in  Ohio,  the  only  important  and  de- 
batable October  State  remaining  at  this 
time.  The  causes  enumerated  above  (tave 
the  assassination  and  the  conflict  betw  een 
the  fri«nd8  of  Grant  and  Blaine)  operated 


306 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


with  less  force  in  Ohio  than  any  other  sec- 
tion— for  here  leaders  had  not  been  held  up 
as  "  Bosses ;"  civil  service  reform  had  many 
advocates  among  them;  the  people  were 
not  by  interest  specially  wedded  to  high 
tariff  duties,  nor  were  they  large  payers  of 
internal  revenue  taxes.  But  the  liquor 
issue  had  sprung  up  in  the  Legislature  the 
previous  winter,  the  Republicans  attempt- 
ing to  levy  and  collect  a  tax  from  all  who 
sold,  and  to  prevent  the  sale  on  Sundays. 
These  brief  facts  make  strange  reading  to 
the  people  of  other  States,  where  the  sale 
of  liquor  has  generally  been  licensed,  and 
forbidden  on  Sundays.  Ohio  had  previ- 
ously passed  a  prohibitory  constitutional 
amendment,  in  itself  defective,  and  as  no 
legislation  had  been  enacted  to  enforce  it, 
those  who  wished  began  to  -sell  as  though 
the  right  were  natural,  and  in  this  way  be- 
came strong  enough  to  resist  taxation  or 
license.  The  Legislature  of  1882,  the  ma- 
jority controlled  by  the  Republicans,  at- 
tempted to  pass  the  Pond  liquor  tax  act, 
and  its  issue  was  joined.  The  liquc  in- 
terests organized,  secured  control  of  the 
Democratic  State  Convention,  nominated 
a  ticket  pledged  to  their  interests,  made 
a  platform  which  pointed  to  unrestricted 
sale,  and  by  active  work  and  the  free 
use  of  fiinds,  carried  the  election  and 
reversed  the  usual  majority.  Governor 
Foster,  the  boldest  of  the  Republican  lead- 
ers, accepted  the  issue  as  presented,  and 
stumped  in  favor  of  license  and  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  Sabbath ;  but  the  counsels  of 
the  Republican  leaders  were  divided,  Ex- 
Secretary  Sherman  and  others  enacting  the 
role  of  '  confession  and  avoidance."  The 
result  carried  with  it  a  train  of  Republi- 
can disasters.  Congressional  candidates 
whom  the  issue  could  not  legimately  touch, 
fell  before  it,  probably  on  .  the  principle 
that  *'  that  which  strikes  the  head  injures 
the  entire  body."  The  Democratic  State 
aod  Legislative  tickets  succeeded,  and  the 
German  element,  which  of  all  others  is 
most  favorable  to  freedom  in  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath,  transferred  its  vote 
almost  as  an  entirety  from  the  Republican 
to  the  DeffiOcratic  party. 

Ohio  emboldened  the  liquor  interests, 
and  in  their  Conventions  and  Societies  in 
other  States  they  agreed  as  a  rule  to  check 
and,  if  possible,  defeat  the  advance  of  the 
prohibitory  amendment  idea.  This  started 
in  Kansas  in  1880,  under  the  lead  of  Gov. 
St.  John,  an  eloquent  temperance  advo- 
cate. It  wxs  passed  by  an  immense 
majority,  and  it  was  haraly  in  force  be- 
fore conflicting  accounts  were  scattered 
throughout  the  country  as  to  its  effect. 
Some  of  the  friends  of  temperance  con- 
tended that  it  improved  the  public  con- 
dition ;  its  enemies  all  asserted  that  in 
the  larger  towns  and  cities  it  produced 


free  and  irresponsible  instead  of  licensed 
sale.  The  latter  seem  to  have  had  the 
best  of  the  argument,  if  the  election  re- 
sult is  a  truthful  witness.  Gov.  St.  John 
was  again  the  nominee  of  the  Repub- 
licans, but  while  all  of  the  remainder  of 
the  State-ticket  was  elected,  he  fell  under 
a  majority  which  must  have  been  pro- 
duced by  a  change  of  forty  thousand  votes. 
Iowa  next  took  up  the  prohibitory  amend- 
ment idea,  secured  its  adoption,  but  the 
result  was  injurious  to  the  Republicans  in 
the  Fall  elections,  where  the  discontent 
struck  at  Congretismen,  as  well  as  State 
and  Legislative  oflBcers. 

The  same  amendment  had  been  pro- 
posed in  Pennsylvania,  a  Republican 
House  in  1881  having  passed  it  by  almost 
a  solid  vote  (Democrats  freely  joining  in 
its  support),  but  a  Republican  Senate  de- 
feated, after  it  had  been  loaded  down 
with  amendments.  New  York  was  co- 
quetting with  the  same  measure,  and  as  a 
result  the  liquor  interests — well-organiwd 
and  with  an  abundance  of  money,  a«  a 
rule  struck  at  the  Republican  party  in 
both  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
thus  largely  aided  the  groundswell.  7.'h» 
same  interests  aided  the  election  of  G<'.ul. 
B.  F.  Butler  of  Massachusetts,  but  from  a 
different  reason.  He  had,  in  one  of  his 
earlier  canvasses,  freely  advocated  the 
right  of  the  poor  to  sell  equally  with  those 
who  could  pay  heavy  license  fees,  and  had 
thus  won  the  major  sympathy  of  the 
interest.  Singularly  enough,  Massachu- 
setts alone  of  all  the  Republican  States 
meeting  with  defeat  in  1882,  fails  to  s',  ow 
in  her  result  reasons  which  harmouize 
with  those  enumerated  as  making  up  fihe 
elements  of  discontent.  Her  people  mi)st 
do  favor  high  tariffs,  taxes  on  liquors  and 
luxuries,  civil  service  reforms,  and  were 
supposed  to  be  more  free  from  legal  and 
political  abuses  than  any  other.  Massa- 
chusetts had,  theretofore,  been  considered 
to  be  the  most  advanced  of  all  the  States — 
in  notions,  in  habit,  and  in  law — yet 
Butler's  victory  was  relatively  more  pro- 
nounced than  that  of  any  Democratic 
candidate,  not  excepting  that  of  Cleve- 
land over  Folger  in  New  York,  the 
Democratic  majority  here  approaching 
two  hundred  thousand.  How  are  we  to 
explain  the  Massachusetts'  result?  Gov. 
Bishop  was  a  hi^h-toned  and  able  gentle- 
man, the  typft  of  every  reform  contended 
for.  There  is  but  one  explanation. 
Massachusetts  had  had  too  much  of  re- 
form ;  it  had  come  in  larger  and  ftister 
doses  than  even  her  progressive  people 
could  stand — and  an  inconsistent  discon- 
tent took  new  shape  there — that  of  very 
plain  reaction.  This  view  is  confirmed  by 
the  subsequent  attempt  of  Gov.  Butler  to 
defeat  the  re-election  of  Geo.  F.  Hoar  to 


BOOK  I.] 


CURRENT    POLITICS. 


307 


the  U.  S.  Senate,  by  a  combination  of 
Democrats  with  dissatisfied  Republicans. 
The  movement  failed,  but  it  came  very 
near  to  success,  and  lor  days  the  result 
was  in  doubt.  Hoar  had  been  a  Senator 
of  advanced  views,  of  broad  and  com- 
prehensive statesmanship,  but  that  com- 
munistlc  sentiment  which  occasionally 
crops  out  in  our  politics  and  strikes  at  all 
leaders,  merely  from  the  pleasure  of  assert- 
ing the  right  to  tear  down,  assailed  him 
with  a  vigor  almost  equal  to  that  which 
struck  Windom  of  Minnesota,  a  statesman 
of  twenty- four  years'  honorable,  able  and 
sometimes  brilliant  service.  To  prejudice 
the  people  of  his  State  against  him,  a 

Ehotograph  of  his  Washington  residence 
ad  been  scattered  broadcast.  The  print 
in  the  photograph  intended  to  prejudice 
being  a  coach  with  a  liveried  lackey  It 
might  have  been  the  coach  and  lackey  of 
a  visitor,  but  the  effect  was  the  same  where 
discontent  had  run  into  a  fever. 

Political  discontent  gave  unmistakable 
manifestations  of  its  existence  in  Ohio, 
Massachusetts,  New  York  (where  Ex- 
Governor  Cornell's  nomination  had  been 
defeated  by  a  forged  telegram),  Michigan, 
Nebraska,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Connecticut, 
California,  Colorado,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Indiana.  The  Republican  position  was 
well  maintained  in  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, Rhode  Island,  Minnesota,  Illinois, 
and  Wisconsin.  It  was  greatly  improved 
in  Virginia,  where  Mahone's  Republican 
Readjuster  ticket  carried  the  State  by 
nearly  ten  thousand,  and  where  a  United 
States'  Senator  and  Congressman-at-large 
were  gained,  as  well  as  some  of  the  District 
Congressmen.  The  Republicans  also  im- 
proved the  situation  in  North  Carolina 
and  Tennessee,  though  they  failed  to 
carry  either.  They  also  gained  Congress- 
men in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  but 
the  Congressional  result  throughout  the 
country  was  a  sweeping  Democratic  vic- 
tory, the  48th  Congress,  beginning  March 
4, 1883,  showing  a  Democratic  majority  of 
71  in  a  total  membership  of  325. 

In  Pennsylvania  alone  of  all  the 
Northern  States,  were  the  Republican 
elements  of  discontent  organized,  and 
here  they  were  as  well  organized  as  pos- 
sible under  the  circumstances.  Charles  S. 
Wolfe  had  the  year  previous  proclaimed 
what  he  called  his  "independence  of  the 
Bosses,"  by  declaring  himself  a  candidate 
•  for  State  Treasurer,  "  nominated  in  a  con- 
vention of  one."  He  secured  49,984  votes, 
and  this  force  was  used  as  the  nucleus  for 
the  better  organized  Independent  Repub- 
lican movement  of  1882.  Through  this  a 
State  Convention  was  called  which  placed 
a  full  ticket  in  the  field,  and  which  in 
many  districts  nominated  separate  legisla- 
tiye  candidates. 


The  complaints  of  the  Independent 
Republicans  of  Pennsylvania  were  very 
much  like  those  of  dissatisfied  Repub- 
licans in  other  Northern  States'where  no 
adverse  organizations  were  set  up,  and 
these  can  best  be  understood  by  giving  the 
official  papers  and  correspondence  con- 
nected with  the  revolt,  and  the  attempts 
to  conciliate  and  suppress  it  by  the  regular 
organization.  The  writer  feels  a  delicacy 
in  appending  this  data,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  one  of  the  principals  in  the  negotia- 
tions, but  formulated  complaints,  methods 
and  principles  peculiar  to  the  time  can  be 
better  understood  as  presented  by  organ- 
ized and  official  bodies,  than  where  mere 
opinions  of  cotemporaneous  writers  and 
speakers  must  otherwise  be  given.  A  very 
careful  summary  has  been  made  by  Col. 
A.  K.  McClure,  in  the  Philadelphia  Timet 
Almanac,  and  from  this  we  quote  the  data 
connected  with  the — 

The    Independent   Republican  Revolt    in 
Pennsylvania. 

The  following  call  was  issued  by  Chair- 
man McKee,  of  the  committee  which  con- 
ducted the  Wolfe  campaign  in  1881 : 

Headquarters  State  Committee:, 
Citizens'  Republican  Association, 
GiRARD  House, 

Philadelphia,  December  16, 1881. 
To  the  Independent  Eepublicans  of  Penn- 
sylvania : 

You  are  earnestly  requested  to  send  re- 
presentatives from  each  county  to  a  State 
conference,  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia, 
Thursday,  January  12th,  1882,  at  10  o'clock 
A.  M.,  to  take  into  consideration  the  wis- 
dom of  placing  in  nomination  proper  per- 
sons for  tLe  offices  of  Governor,  Lieuten- 
ant Governor,  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs 
and  Supreme  Court  Judge,  and  such  other 
matters  as  may  come  before  the  confer- 
ence, looking  to  the  overthrow  of  "  boss 
rule,"  and  the  elimination  of  the  pernicious 
"  spoils  system,"  and  its  kindred  evils,  from 
the  administration  of  public  affairs.  It  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  that  those  fifty 
thousand  unshackled  voters  who  supported 
the  independent  candidacy  of  Hon.  Cnarles 
S.  Wolfe  for  the  office  of  State  Treasurer  . 
as  a  solemn  protest  against  ring  domina- 
tion, together  with  the  scores  of  thousands 
of  libertv-loving  citizens  who  are  ready  to 
join  in  the  next  revolt  against  "  bossisra," 
'shall  be  worthily  represented  at  this  con- 
ference. 

I.  D.  McKee,  Chairman. 

Frank  Willing  Leach,  Secretary. 

Pursuant  to  the  above  call,  two  hundred 
and  thirteen  delegates,  representing  thirty- 
three  of  the  sixty-six  counties,  met  at  the 
Assembly  Building,  January  12th,  1882» 


308 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


and  organized  by  the  election  of  John  J. 
Pinkertxjn  as  chairman,  together  with  a 
suitable  list  of  vice-presidents  and  secre- 
taries. After  a  general  interchange  of 
views,  a  resolution  was  adopted  directing 
the  holding  of  a  State  Convention  for  the 
nomination  of  a  State  ticket,  May  24th. 
An  executive  committee,  with  power  to 
arrange  for  the  election  of  delegates  from 
each  Senatorial  district,  was  also  appointed, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  I.  D.  McKee,  of 
Philadelphia ;  Wharton  Barker,  of  Mont- 

f ornery;  John  J.  Pinkerton,  of  Chester; 
\  M.  Nichols,  of  Luzerne ;  H.  S.  McNair, 
of  York,  and  C.  W.  Miller,  of  Crawford. 
Mr.  Nichols  aftewards  declining  to  act, 
George  E.  Mapes,  of  Venango,  was  sub- 
stituted in  his  place.  Before  the  time 
arrived  for  the  meeting  of  the  convention 
of  May  24th,  several  futile  efforts  were 
made  to  heal  the  breach  between  the  two 
wings  of  the  Republican  partv.  At  a  con- 
ference of  leading  Independents  held  in 
Philadelphia,  April  23d,  at  which  Senator 
Mitchell  was  present,  a  committee  was 
appointed  for  the  purpose  of  conferring 
with  a  similar  committee  from  the  regular 
organization,  upon  the  subjectof  the  party 
differences.  The  members  of  the  Peace 
Conference,  on  the  part  of  the  Indepen- 
dents, were  Charles  S.  Wolfe,  I.  D.  McKee, 
Francis  B.  Beeves,  J.  W.  Lee,  and  Whar- 
ton Barker,  The  committee  on  the  part 
of  the  Stalwarts  were  M.  S.  Quay,  John  F. 
Hartranft,  C.  L.  Magee,  Howard  J.  Reeder, 
and  Thomas  Cochran.  A  preliminary 
meeting  was  held  at  the  Continental 
Hotel,  on  the  evening  of  April  29th,  which 
adjourned  to  meet  at  the  same  place  on 
the  evening  of  May  1st;  at  which  meeting 
the  following  peace  propositions  were 
agreed  upon : 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  principles  and 
methods  by  the  Republican  State  Conven- 
tion of  May  10th. 

First.  d?hat  we  unequivocally  condemn 
the  use  of  patronage  to  promote  personal 
political  ends,  and  require  that  all  oflBces 
Destowed  within  the  party  shall  be  upon 
the  sole  basis  of  fitness. 

Second.  That  competent  and  faithful 
officers  should  not  be  removed  except  for 
cause. 

Third.  That  the  non-elective  minor 
offices  should  be  filled  in  accordance  with 
rules  established  by  law. 

Fourth.  That  the  svscertained  popular 
will  shall  be  faithfully  carried  out  in  State 
and  National  Conventions,  and  by  those 
holding  office  by  the  favor  of  the  party. 

F\fth.  That  we  condemn  compulsory 
assessments  for  political  purposes,  and  pro- 
scription for  failure  to  respond  either  to 
such  assessments  or  to  requests  for  volun- 
tary contributions,  and  that  any  policy  of 


{)olitical  proscription  is  urjust,  and  calcu- 
ated  to  disturb  party  harmony. 

Sixth.  That  public  office  constitutes  a 
high  trust  to  be  administered  solely  for  the 
people,  whose  interests  must  be  paramount 
to  those  of  persons  or  parties,  and  that  it 
should  be  invariably  conducted  with  the 
same  efficiency,  economy,  and  integrity  as 
are  expected  in  the  execution  of  private 
trusts. 

Seventh.  That  the  State  ticket  should 
be  such  as  by  the  impartiality  of  its  con- 
stitution and  the  high  character  and  ac- 
knowledged fitness  of  the  nominees  will 
justly  commend  itself  to  the  support  of  the 
united  Republican  party. 

Resolved,  That  we  also  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following  permanent  rules 
for  the  holding  of  State  Conventions,  and 
the  conduct  of  the  party : 

First.  That  delegates  to  State  Conven- 
tions shall  be  chosen  in  the  manner  in 
which  candidates  for  the  General  Assem- 
bly are  nominated,  except  in  Senatorul 
districts  composed  of  more  than  one  coun- 
ty, in  which  conferees  for  the  selection  of 
Senatorial  delegates  shall  be  chosen  in  the 
manner  aforesaid,  and  the  representation 
of  each  county  shall  be  based  upon  its  Re- 
publican vote  cast  at  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion next  preceding  the  convention. 

Second.  Hereafter  the  State  Convention 
of  the  Republican  party  shall  be  held  on 
the  second  Wednesaay  of  July,  except  in 
the  year  of  the  Presidential  election,  when 
it  shall  be  held  not  more  than  thirty  days 
previous  to  the  day  fixed  for  the  National 
Convention,  and  at  least  sixty  days'  notice 
shall  be  given  of  the  date  of  the  State  Con- 
vention. 

Third.  That  every  person  who  voled 
the  Republican  electoral  ticket  at  the  last 
Presidential  election  next  preceding  any 
State  Convention  shall  be  permitted  to 
participate  in  the  election  of  delegates  to 
State  and  National  Conventions,  and  we 
recommend  to  the  county  organizations 
that  in  their  rules  they  allow  the  largest 
freedom  in  the  general  participation  in  the 
primaries  consistent  with  the  preservation 
of  the  party  organization. 

M.  8.  Quay, 
J.  F.  Haktranft, 
Thomas  Cochran, 
Howard  J.  Reeder, 
C.  L.  Magee, 
On  the  part  of  the  Republican  State  Com- 
mittee, appointed  by  Chairman  Cooper, 

Charles  S.  Wolfe,  . 
I.  D.  McKee, 
Francis  B.  Reeves, 
Wharton  Barker, 
J.  W.  Lek, 
On  the  part  of  Senator  Mitchell's  Inde- 
pendent Republican  Committee. 


BOOK  I.] 


CURRENT    POLITICS. 


309 


The  following  resolution  was  adopted  by 
tht}  joint  conference  *. 

Resolved,  That  we  disclaim  any  authority 
to  speak  or  act  for  other  persons  than  our- 
selves, and  simply  make  these  suggestions 
as  in  our  opinion  are  essential  to  the  pro- 
motion of  harmony  and  unity. 

In  order,  however,  that  there  might  be 
no  laying  down  of  arms  on  the  part  of  the 
Independents,  in  the  false  belief  that  the 
peace  propositions  had  ended  the  contest, 
without  regard  to  whether  they  were  ac- 
cepted in  good  faith,  and  put  in  practice 
by  the  regular  convention,  the  following 
call  was  issued  by  the  Independent  Execu- 
tive Committee : 

Executive  Committee, 
citizens'  Republican  Association  of 
Pennsylvania,  Gieard  House. 

Philadelphia,  May  3d,  1882. 
To  the  Independent  Republicans  of  Pennsyl- 
vania : 

At  a  conference  of  Independent  Repub- 
licans held  in  Philadelphia,  on  January 
12th,  1882,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted,  to  wit: 

Resolved,  That  a  convention  be  held  on 
the  24th  day  of  May,  1882,  for  the  purpose 
of  placing  in  nomination  a  full  Indepen- 
dent Republican  ticket  for  the  offices  to  be 
filled  at  the  general  election  next  Novem- 
ber. 

In  pursuance  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
above  resolution  the  undersigned,  the  State 
Executive  Committee  appointed  at  the  said 
conference,  request  the  Independent  Re- 
publicans of  each  county  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania  to  send  delegates 
U\  the  Independent  Convention  of  May 
21th,  the  basis  of  representation  to  be  the 
sume  as  that  fixed  for  Senators  and  Repre- 
stntatives  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Should  the  convention  of  May  10th  fail 
to  nominate  as  its  candidates  men  who  in 
their  character,  antecedents  and  affiliations 
are  embodiments  of  the  principles  of  true 
Republicanism  free  from  the  iniquities  of 
bossism,  and  of  au  honest  administration 
of  public  affairs  free  from  the  evils  of  the 
spoils  system,  such  nominations,  or  any 
such  nomination,  should  be  emphatically 
repudiated  by  the  Independent  Convention 
of  May  24th,  and  by  the  Independent  Re- 
publicans of  Pennsylvania  in  November 
next. 

The  simple  adoption  by  the  Harrisburg 
Convention  of  May  10th  of  resolutions  of 
plausible  platitudes,  while  confessing  the 
existence  of  the  evils  which  we  have  stren- 
uously opposed,  and  admitting  the  justice 
of  our  position  in  opposing  them,  will  not 
satisfy  the  Independent  Republicans  of 
this  Commonwealth.    We  are  not  battling 


for  the  construction  of  platforms,  but  for 
the  overthrow  of  bossism,  and  the  evils  of 
the  spoils  system,  which  animated  a  de- 
spicable assassin  to  deprive  our  loved  Pres- 
ident Garfield  of  his  life,  and  our  country 
of  its  friend  and  peacemaker. 

The  nomination  of  slated  candidates  by 
machine  methods,  thereby  tending  to  the 
perpetuation  of  boss  dominion  in  our  Com- 
monwealth, should  never  be  ratified  by  the 
Independent  Republicans  in  convention 
assembled  or  at  the  polls.  Upon  this  very 
vital  point  there  should  be  no  mistake  in 
the  mind  of  any  citizen  of  this  State.  The 
path  of  duty  in  this  emergency  leads  for- 
ward, and  not  backward,  and  forward  we 
should  go  until  bossism  and  machineism 
and  stalwartism — aye,  and  Cameroniara — 
are  made  to  give  way  to  pure  Republican- 
ism. The  people  will  not  submit  to  tem- 
porizing or  compromising. 

We  appeal  to  the  Independent  Republi- 
cans of  Pennsylvania  to  take  immediate 
steps  toward  perfecting  their  organization 
in  each  county,  and  completing  the  selec- 
tion of  delegates  to  the  Independent  State 
Convention.  Use  every  exertion  to  secure 
the  choice  as  delegates  of  representative, 
courageous  men,  who  will  not  falter  when 
the  time  arrives  to  act — who  will  not  de- 
sert into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy  when  the 
final  time  of  testing  comes.  Especially  see 
to  it  that  there  shall  not  be  chosen  as  dele- 
gates any  Pharisaical  Independents,  who 
preach  reform,  yet  blindly  follow  boss 
leadership  at  the  crack  of  the  master's 
whip.     Act  quickly  and  act  discreetly. 

A  State  Campaign  Committee  of  fifty, 
comprising  one  member  from  each  Sena- 
torial district,  has  been  formed,  and  any 
one  desiring  to  co-operate  with  us  in  this 
movement  against  the  enemies  of  the  in- 
tegrity of  our  State,  who  shall  communi- 
cate with  us,  will  be  immediately  referred 
to  the  committeeman  repres^enting  the  dis- 
trict in  which  he  lives.  We  urgently  invite 
a  correspondence  from  the  friends  of  politi- 
cal independence  from  all  sections  of  the 
State. 

Again  we  say  to  the  Independent  Repub- 
licans of  Pennsylvania  in  the  interest  of 
justice  and  the  Commonwealth's  honor, 
leave  no  stone  unturned  to  vindicate  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

I.  D.  McKee,  Chairman. 
Wharton  Barker. 
John  J.  Pinkerton. 
Geo.  E.  Mapes. 
H.  S.  McNair. 
Charles  W.  Miller. 
Frank  Willing  Leach,  Secretary. 

In  pursuance  of  the  above  call,  the  In- 
dependent Convention  met.  May  24th.  in 
Philadelphia,  and  deciding  that  the  action 
of  the  regular  Republican  Convention,  held 


810 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[booki 


at  Hamsburg  on  May  10th,  did  not  give 
the  guarantee  of  reform  demanded  by  the 
Independents,  proceeded  to  nominate  a 
ticket  and  adopt  a  platform  setting  forth 
their  views. 

Although  the  break  between  the  two 
wings  of  the  party  was  thus  made  final  to 
all  appearances,  yet  all  efforts  for  a  recon- 
ciliation were  not  entirely  abandoned. 
Thos.  M.  Marshall  having  declined  the 
nomination  for  Congressman  at  Large  on 
the  Republican  ticket,  the  convention  was 
reconvened  June  21st,  for  the  purpose  of 
filling  the  vacancy,  and  while  in  session, 
instructed  the  State  Central  Committee  to 
use  all  honorable  means  to  secure  harmony 
between  the  two  sections  of  the  party. 
Accordingly,  the  Republican  State  Com- 
mittee was  called  to  meet  in  Philadelphia, 
July,  13th.  At  this  meeting  the  following 
propositions  were  submitted  to  the  Inde- 
pendents : 

I'ursuant  to  the  resolution  passed  by 
the  Harrisburg  Convention  of  June  21st, 
and  authorizing  the  Republican  State  Com- 
mittee to  use  all  honorable  means  to  pro- 
mote harmony  in  the  party,  the  said  com- 
mittee, acting  in  conjunction  with  the  Re- 
publican candidates  on  the  State  ticket, 
respectfully  submit  to  the  State  Committee 
ana  candidates  of  the  Independents  the 
following  propositions : 

First.  The  tickets  headed  by  James  A. 
Beaver  and  John  Stewart,  respectively,  be 
submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  Republican 
electors  of  the  State,  at  primaries,  as  here- 
inafter provided  for. 

Second.  The  selection  of  candidates  to 
be  voted  for  by  the  Republican  party  in 
Nov^ember  to  be  submitted  as  aforesaid, 
every  Republican  elector,  constitutionally 
and  legally  qualified,  to  be  eligible  to 
nomination. 

Third.  A  State  Convention  to  be  neld, 
to  be  constituted  as  recommended  by  the 
Continental  Hotel  Conference,  whereof 
Wharton  Barker  was  chairman  and  Francis 
B.  Reeves  secretary,  to  select  candidates 
to  be  voted  for  by  the  Republican  party  in 
November,  its  choice  to  oe  limited  to  the 
candidates  now  in  nomination,  or  unlimit- 
ed, as  the  Independent  State  Committee 
may  prefer. 

The  primaries  or  convention  referred  to 
in  the  foregoing  propositions  to  be  held 
on  or  before  the  fourth  Wednesday  of 
August  next,  under  regulations  or  ap- 
portionment to  be  made  by  Daniel  Agnew, 
Hampton  L.  Carson,  and  Francis  B. 
Reeves,  not  in  conflict,  however,  with  the 
acta  of  Assembly  regulating  primary  elec- 
tions, and  the  candidates  receiving  the 
highest  popular  vote,  or  the  votes  of  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  convention, 
to  receive  the  united  support  of  the  party. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Re- 


publican State  Committee  the  above  pro- 
positions fully  carry  out,  in  letter  and 
spirit,  the  resolution  passed  by  the  Harris- 
burg Convention,  June  2l8t,  and  that  we 
hereby  pledge  the  State  Committee  to 
carry  out  in  good  faith  any  one  of  the 
foregoing  propositions  which  may  be  ac- 
cepted. 

Resolved,  That  the  chairman  of  the  Re- 
publican State  Committee  be  directed  to 
forward  an  official  copy  of  the  proceedings 
of  this  meeting,  together  with  the  forego- 
ing propositions,  to  the  Independent  State 
Committee  and  candidates. 

Whereupon,  General  Reeder,  of  North- 
ampton, moved  to  amend  by  adding  a 
further  proposition,  as  follows. 

Fourth.  A  State  Convention,  to  be  con- 
stituted as  provided  for  by  the  new  rules 
adopted  by  the  late  Republican  State  Con- 
vention, to  select  candidates  to  be  voted 
for  by  the  Republican  party  in  November, 
provided,  if  such  convention  be  agreed  to, 
said  convention  shall  be  held  not  later 
than  the  fourth  Wednesday  in  August. 
Which  amendment  was  agreed  to,  and  the 
preamble  and  resolutions  as  amended 
were  agreed  to. 

This  communication  was  addressed  to 
the  chairman  of  the  Independent  State 
Committee,  I.  D,  McKee,  who  called  the 
Independent  Committee  to  meet  July  27th, 
to  consider  the  propositions.  In  the 
meantime  the  Independent  candidates 
held  a  conference  on  the  night  of  July 
13th,  and  four  of  them  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing propositions  to  the  candidates  of 
the  Stalwart  wing  of  the  party : 

Philadelphia,  July  13th,  1882. 

To  General  James  A.  Beaver,  Hon.  William 
T.  Davies,  Hon.  John  M.  Greer,  William 
Henry  Rawle,  Esq.,  and  Marriott  Brositis, 
Esq. 

Gentlemen:  By  a  communication  re- 
ceived from  the  Hon.  Thomas  V.  Cooper, 
addressed  to  us  as  candidates  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Republicans,  we  are  advised  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  State  Committee, 
which  assembled  in  this  city  yesterday. 

Without  awaiting  the  action  of  the  In- 
dependent State  Committee,  to  which  we 
have  referred  the  communication,  and  at- 
tempting no  discussion  of  the  existing 
differences,  or  the  several  methods  pro- 
posed by  which  to  secure  party  unity,  we 
beg  to  say  that  we  do  not  believe  that  any 
of  the  propositions,  if  accepted,  would  pro- 
duce harmony  in  the  party,  but  on  the 
contrary,  would  lead  to  wider  divisions. 
We  therefore  suggest  that  the  desired  re- 
sult can  be  secured  by  the  hearty  co-op- 
eration of  the  respective  candidates.  We 
have  no  authority  to  speak  for  the  great 
body  of  voters  now  giving  their  support  to 
the  Independent  Republican  ticket,  nor 


BOOK  L] 


CURRENT    POLITICS. 


311 


can  we  include  them  by  any  action  we 
may  take.  We  are  perfectly  free,  however, 
to  act  in  our  individual  capacity,  and  de- 
sire to  assure  you  that  we  are  not  only 
willing,  but  anxious  to  co-operate  with 
you  in  the  endeavor  to  restore  peace  and 
harmony  to  our  party.  That  this  can  be 
accomplished  beyond  all  doubt  we  feel  en- 
tirely assured,  if  you,  gentlemen,  are  pre- 
pared to  yield,  with  us,  all  personal  con- 
siderations, and  agree  to  the  following 
propositions : 

.First.  The  v/ithdrawal  of  both  tickets. 

Second.  The  several  candidates  of  these 
tickets  to  pledge  themselves  not  to  accept 
any  subsequent  nomination  by  the  pro- 
posed convention. 

Under  these  conditions  we  will  unite 
with  you  in  urging  upon  our  respective 
constituencies  the  adoption  of  the  third 
proposition  submitted  by  your  committee, 
and  conclude  the  whole  controversy  by 
our  final  withdrawal  as  candidates.  Such 
withdrawal  of  both  tickets  would  remove 
from  the  canvass  all  personal  as  well  as 
political  antagonisms,  and  leave  the  party 
united  and  unembarrassed. 

We  trust,  gentlemen,  that  your  judgment 
will  approve  the  method  we  have  suggest- 
ed, and  that,  appreciating  the  importance 
of  concluding  the  matter  with  as  little  de- 
lay as  possible,  you  will  give  us  your  re- 
ply within  a  week  from  this  date. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 
John  Stewart, 
Levi  Bird  Duff. 
George  W.  Merrick. 
George  Junkin. 

William  McMichael,  Independent  can- 
didate for  Congressman  at  Large,  dissented 
from  the  proposition  of  his  colleagues,  and 
addressed  the  following  communication  to 
Chairman  Cooper : 

Philadelphia,  July  13th,  1882. 

Hon.  Thomas  V.  Cooper,  Chairman,  etc. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  July  12th  is 
received,  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  the 
State  Committee  of  the  Independent  Re- 
publicans and  their  candidates,  containing 
certain  propositions  of  your  committee.  I 
decline  'those  propositions,  because  they 
involve  an  abandonment  of  the  cause  of 
the  Independent  Republicans. 

If  a  new  convention,  representing  all 
Republicans,  had  nominated  an  entirely 
new  ticket,  worthy  of  popular  support,  and 
not  containing  the  name  of  any  candidate 
on  either  of  the  present  tickets,  and  sin- 
cerely supporting  the  principles  of  the 
Independent  Republicans,  the  necessity 
for  a  separate  Independent  Republican 
movement  would  not  exist.  Your  propo- 
sition, however,  practically  proposes  to 
re-nominate  General  Beaver,  and  reaffirm 
the  abuse  which  we  oppose. 


The  convention  of  Independent  Repub. 
licans  which  met  in  Philadelphia  on  May 
24th,  announced  principles  in  which  I 
believe.  It  nominated  me  for  Congrtss- 
man  at  Large,  and  I  accepted  that  nomi' 
nation.  It  declared  boldly  against  boss- 
ism,  the  spoils  system,  and  all  the  evils 
which  impair  Republican  usefulness,  and 
in  favor  of  popular  rule,  equal  rights  of 
all,  national  unity,  maintenance  of  public 
credit,  protection  to  labor,  and  all  the 
great  principles  of  true  Republicanism. 
No  other  ticket  now  in  the  field  presents 
those  issues.  The  people  of  Pennsylvania 
can  say  at  the  polls,  in  November,  whether 
they  approve  of  those  principles,  and  will 
support  the  cause  which  represents  them. 
I  will  not  withdraw  or  retire  unless  events 
hereafter  shall  give  assurance  that  ne- 
cessary reform  in  the  civil  service  shall  be 
adopted ;  assessments  made  upon  oflUce- 
holders  returned,  and  not  hereafter  exact- 
ed ;  boss,  machine,  and  spoils  methods 
forever  abandoned;  and  all  our  public 
offices,  from  L^nited  States  Senator  to  the 
most  unimportant  officials,  shall  be  filled 
only  by  honest  and  capable  men,  who  tvill 
represent  the  people,  and  not  attempt  to 
dictate  to  or  control  them. 

I  shall  go  on  with  the  fight,  asking  the 
support  of  all  my  fellow-citizens  who  believe 
in  the  principles  of  the  Independent  Re- 
publican Convention  of  May  24th. 

Yours  truly, 

William  McMichael. 

To  these  propositions  General  Beaver 
and  his  colleagues  replied  in  the  folloiving 
communication : 

Philadelphia,  July  15th,  1S82. 

Hon.  Thomas  V.  Cooper,  Chairman  Repuh' 
lican  State  Committee,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Sir  ;  We  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge 
the  receipt  through  you  of  a  communica- 
tion addressed  to  us  by  the  Hon.  John 
Stewart,  Colonel  Levi  Bird  Duff",  Major  G. 
W.  Merrick,  and  George  Junkin,  Esq,-,  in 
response  to  certain  propositions  submitted 
by  the  Republican  State  Committee,  re- 
presenting the  Republican  party  of  Penn- 
sylvania, looking  to  an  amicable  and  hon- 
orable adjustment  of  whatever  differences 
there  may  be  among  the  various  elements 
of  the  party.  Without  accepting  any  of 
the  propositions  submitted  by  your  com- 
mittee, this  communication  asks  us,  as  a 
condition  precedent  to  any  recommenda- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  writers  thereof,  to 
declare  that  in  the  event  of  the  calling  of 
a  new  convention,  we  will  severally  forbid 
the  Republicans  of  Pennsylvania  to  call 
upon  us  for  our  services  as  candidates  for 
the  various  positions  to  be  filled  by  the 
people  at  the  coming  election.    To  say 


312 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  J. 


that  in  the  effort  to  determine  whether  or 
not  our  nomination  was  the  free  and  un- 
biased choice  of  the  Republican  party  we 
must  not  be  candidates,  is  simply  to  try 
the  question  at  issue.  We  have  no  de- 
sire to  discuss  the  question  in  any  of  its 
numerous  bearines.  We  have  placed  our- 
selves unreservedly  in  the  hands  of  the 
Republicans  of  Pennsylvania.  We  have 
pledged  ourselves  to  act  concurrently  with 
your  committee,  and  are  bound  by  its  ac- 
tion. We  therefore  respectfully  suggest  that 
we  have  no  power  or  authority  to  act  in- 
dependently of  the  committee,  or  make  any 
declaration  at  variance  with  the  proposi- 
tions submitted  in  accordance  with  its  ac- 
tion. There  ought  to  be  and  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  personal  antagonism  in  this 
contest.  We  socially  and  emphatically 
disclaim  even  the  remotest  approach  to  a 
feeling  of  this  kind  toward  any  person. 
We  fraternize  with  and  are  ready  to  sup- 
port any  citizen  who  loves  the  cause  of 
pure  Republicanism,  and  with  this  decla- 
ration we  submit  the  whole  subject  to  your 
d>?iiberate  judgment  and  wise  considera- 
tion. 

James  A.  Beaver. 
William  Henry  Rawle, 
Marriott  Brosius. 
W.  T.  Davies. 
John  M.  Greer. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Independent  State 
Committee,  July  27th,  the  propositions  of 
the  Regular  Committee  were  unanimously 
rejected,  and  a  committee  appointed  to 
draft  a  reply,  which  Avas  done  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms : 
Tkomas  V.  Cooper,  Esq.,  Chairman  Repuh- 

licxm  State  Committee. 

Dear  Sir :  I  am  instructed  to  advise  you 
that  the  Independent  Republican  State 
Committee  have  considered  the  four  sug- 
gestions contained  in  the  minutes  of  the 
proceedings  of  your  committee,for\Varded 
to  me  by  you  on  the  12th  instant. 

I  am  directed  to  say  that  this  committee 
find  that  none  of  the  four  are  methods 
fitted  to  obtain  a  harmonious  and  honora- 
ble unity  of  the  Republican  voters  of 
Pennsylvania.  All  of  them  are  inadequate 
to  that  end,  for  the  reason  that  they  afford 
no  guarantee  that,  being  accepted,  the 
principles  upon  which  the  Independent 
Republicans  have  taken  their  stand  would 
be  treated  with  respect  or  put  into  action. 
All  of  them  contain  the  probability  that 
en  attempt  to  unite  the  Republicans  of  the 
St-ite  by  their  means  would  either  result 
in  reviving  and  strengthening  the  political 
di'^tatorship  which  we  condemn  or  would 
permanently  distract  the  Republican  body, 
and  insure  the  future  and  continued 
triumph  of  our  common  opponent,  the 
Democratic  party. 


Of  the  four  suggestions,  the  first,  second 
and  fourth  are  so  inadequate  as  to  need  no 
separate  discussion :  the  third,  which  alone 
may  demand  attention,  has  the  fatal  defect 
of  not  including  the  withdrawal  of  that 
"  slated  *'  ticket  which  was  made  up  many 
months  ago,  and  long  in  advance  of  the 
Harrisburg  Convention,  to  represent  and 
to  maintain  the  very  evils  of  control  and 
abuses  of  method  to  which  we  stand  op- 
posed. This  proposition,  like  the  others, 
supposing  it  to  have  been  sincerely,  put 
forward,  clearly  shows  that  you  miscon- 
ceive the  cause  of  the  Independent  Repub- 
lican movement,  as  well  as  its  aims  and 
purposes.  You  assume  that  we  desire  to 
measure  the  respective  numbers  of  those 
who  support  the  Harrisburg  ticket  and 
those  who  find  their  principles  expressed 
by  the  Philadelphia  Convention.  This  is 
a  complete  and  fatal  misapprehension.  We 
are  organized  to  promote  certain  reforms, 
and  not  to  abandon  tbem  in  pursuit  c»f 
votes.  Our  object  is  the  overthrow  of  the 
"boss  system  "  and  of  the  "  spoils  system." 

In  behalf  of  this  we  are  willing  and 
anxious  to  join  hands  with  you  whenever 
it  is  assured  that  the  union  will  be  honestly 
and  earnestly  for  that  purpose.  But  we 
cannot  make  alliances  or  agree  to  com- 
promises that  in  their  face  threaten  the 
very  object  of  the  movement  in  which  we 
have  engaged.  Whether  your  ticket  has 
the  support  of  many  or  few,  of  a  majority 
or  a  minority  of  the  Republican  voters, 
does  not  affect  in  the  smallest  degree  the 
duty  of  every  citizen  to  record  himself 
against  the  abuses  which  it  represents. 
Had  the  gentlemen  who  compose  it  been 
willing  to  withdraw  themselves  from  the 
field,  as  they  were  invited  to  join  in  doing, 
for  the  common  good,  by  the  Independent 
Republican  candidates,  this  act  would 
have  encouraged  the  hope  that  a  new  con- 
vention, freely  chosen  by  the  people,  and 
unembarrassed  by  claims  of  existing  can- 
didates, might  have  brought  forth  the 
needed  guarantee  of  party  emancipation 
and  public  reform. 

This  service,  however,  they  have  de- 
clined to  render  their  party ;  they  not  only 
claim  and  receive  your  repeated  assurances 
of  support,  but  they  permit  themselves  to 
be  put  forward  to  secure  the  use  of  the  In- 
dependent Republican  votes  at  the  SMne 
time  that  they  represent  the  "bftssism," 
the  "spoils"  methods,  and  the  "machine  " 
management  which  we  are  determined  no 
longer  to  tolerate.  The  manner  in  which 
their  candidacy  was  decreed,  the  means 
employed  to  give  it  convention  formality, 
the  obligations  which  they  incur  by  it,  the 
political  methods  with  which  it  identifies 
them,  and  the  political  and  personal  plans 
for  which  their  official  influence  would  be 
required,  all  «oin  to  make  it  the  most  im* 


BOOK  I.] 


CURRENT    POLITICS. 


313 


perative  public  duty  not  to  give  them  sup- 
port at  this  election  under  any  circum- 
stances. 

In  closing  this  note,  this  committee 
must  express  its  regret,  that,  having  con- 
sidered it  desirable  to  make  overtures  to 
the  Independent  Republicans,  you  should 
have  so  far  misapprehended  the  facts  of 
the  situation.  It  is  our  desire  to  unite  the 
Republican  party  on  the  sure  ground  of 
principle,  in  the  confideDce  that  we  are 
thus  serving  it  with  the  highest  fidelity,  and 
preserving  for  the  future  service  of  the 
Commonwealth  that  vitality  of  Repub- 
licanism whidi  has  made  the  party  useful 
in  the  past,  and  which  alone  confers  upon 
it  now  the  right  of  continued  existence. 
The  only  method  which  promises  this  re- 
sult in  the  approaching  election  is  that 
proposed  by  the  Independent  Republican 
candidates  in  their  letter  of  July  13th, 
1882,  which  was  positively  rejected  by 
your  committee. 

On  behalf  of  the  Independent  Repub- 
lican State  Committee  of  Pennsylvania, 
I.  D.  McKee,  Chairman. 

With  this    communication    ended    all 
efforts  at  conciliation. 
******** 

The  election  followed,  and  the  Demo-, 
cratic  ticket,  headed  by  Robert  E.  Pattison 
of  Philadelphia,    received     an     average 

Plurality  of  40,000,  and  the  Independent 
lepublican  ticket  received  an  average 
vote  of  about  43,000 — showing  that  while 
Independence  organized  did  not  do  as  well 
in  a  gubernatorial  as  it  had  in  a  previous 
off-year,  it  yet  had  force  enough  to  defeat 
the  Republican  State  ticket  headed  by 
(jJeu.  James  A.  Beaver.  All  of  the  three 
soreral  State  tickets  were  composed  of 
sble  men,  and  the  force  of  both  of  the 
Republican  tickets  on  the  hustings  excited 
great  interest  and  excitement ;  yet  the 
Republican  vote,  owing  to  the  division, 
was  not  out  by  nearly  one  hundred  thou- 
sand, and  fifty  thousand  more  Republicans 
than  Democrats  remained  at  home,  many 
of  them-  purposely.  In  New  York,  where 
dissatisfaction  had  no  rallying  point,  about 
two  hundred  thousand  Republicans  re- 
mained at  home,  some  because  of  anger  at 
the  defeat  of  Gov.  Cornell  in  the  State 
nominating  convention — some  in  protest 
against  the  National  Administrationa, 
which  was  accused  of  the  desire  for  direct 
endorsement  where  it  presented  the  name 
of  Hon  Chas.  J.  Folger,  its  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  as  the  home  gubernatorial 
candidate, — others  because  of  some  of  the 
many  reasons  set  forth  in  ths  bill  of 
complaints  which  enumerates  the  causes 
of  the  dissatisfaction  within  the  party. 

At  this  writing  the  work  of  Republican 
repair  is  g"ing  on.    Both  the  Senate  and 


House  at  "Washington  are  giving  active 
work  to  the  passage  of  a  tariff  bill,  the  re- 
peal of  the  revenue  taxes,  and  the  passage 
of  a  two-cent  letter  postage  bill — measures 
anxiously  hastened  by  the  Republicans  in 
order  to  anticipate  friendly  and  defeat  un- 
friendly attempts  on  the  part  of  the 
Democratic  House,  which  comes  in  with 
the  first  session  of  the  48th  Congress. 

In  Pennsylvania,  as  we  close  this  review 
of  the  struggle  of  1882,  the  Regular  and 
Independent  Republican  State  Committees 
— at  least  the  heads  thereof — are  devising 
a  plan  to  jointly  call  a  Republican  State^ 
Convention  to  nominate  the  State  ticket 
to  be  voted  for  in  November,  1883.  The 
groundswell  was  so  great  that  it  had  no 
sooner  passed,  than  Republicans  of  all 
shades  of  opinion,  felt  the  need  of  har- 
monious action,  and  the  leaders  every- 
where set  themselves  to  the  work  of  repair. 

The  Republicans  in  the  South  differed 
from  those  of  the  North  in  the  fact  that 
their  complaints  were  all  directed  against 
a  natural  political  enemy — the  Bourbons — 
and  wherever  there  was  opportunity  they 
favored  and  entered  into  movements  with 
Independent  and  Readjuster  Democrats, 
with  the  sole  object  of  revolutionizing 
political  affairs  in  the  South.  Their  suc- 
cess in  these  combinations  was  only  great 
in  Virginia,  but  it  proved  to  be  promising 
in  North  Carolina,  Mississippi,  and  Louisi- 
ana, and  may  take  more  definite  and 
generalshapeinthegreatcampaignof  1884. 

The  Democratic  party  was  evidently 
surprised  at  its  great  victory  in  1882,  and 
has  not  yet  formally  resolved  what  it  will 
do  with  it.  The  Congress  beginning  with 
December,  1883,  will  doubtless  give  some 
indication  of  the  drift  of  Democratic 
events. 

The  most  notable  law  passed  in  the 
closing  session  of  the  47th  Congress,  was 
the  Civil  Service  Reform  Bill,  introduced 
by  Senator  Geo.  H.  Pendleton  of  Ohio, 
but  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the 
Senate  Judiciary  Committee.  The  Re- 
publicans, feeling  that  there  was  some 
public  demand  for  the  passage  of  a 
measure  of  the  kind,  eagerly  rushed  to  its 
support,  at  a  time  when  it  was  apparent 
that  the  spoils  of  ofiice  might  slip  from 
their  hands.  From  opposite  motives  the 
Democrats,  who  had  previously  encour- 
aged, now  ran  away  from  it,  but  it  passed 
both  Houses  with  almost  a  solid  Repub- 
lican vote,  a  few  Democrats  in  each  House 
voting  with  them.  President  Arthur 
signed  the  bill,  but  at  this  writing  the 
Commission  which  it  creates  has  not  been 
appointed,  and  of  course  none  of  the  rules 
and  constructions  under  the  act  have  been 
formulated.  Its  basic  principles  are  fixed 
tenure  in  minor  places,  competitive  ex- 
aminations, and  non-partisan  selections. 


3U 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


POLITICAL  CHANGES-1883. 


In  the  fall  of  1883  nearly  all  of  the  States 
swept  by  the  tidal  wave  of  1882  showed 
that  it  had  either  partially  or  completely 
receded,  and  for  the  first  time  since  the 
close  of  the  Hayes  administration  (always 
excepting  the  remarkable  Garfield-Han- 
cock campaign),  the  Republican  party  ex- 
hibited plain  signs  of  returning  unity  and 
strength.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  has  wittily 
said  that  "  following  the  war  the  nation 
needed  a  poultice,  and  got  it  in  the  Hayes 
administration."  The  poultice  for  a  time 
only  drew  the  sores  into  plainer  view,  and 
healing  potions  were  required  for  the  con- 
tei^ts  immediately  following.  The  divisions 
of  1882  were  as  much  the  result  of  the  non- 
action of  the  Hayes  administration,  as  of 
the  misunderstandings  and  feuds  which 
later  on  found  bitter  manifestation  between 
the  Stalwarts  and  Half  Breeds  of  New 
York. 

The  Independents  took  no  organized  form 
except  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
yet  the  underlying  causes  of  division  for  the 
time  swept  from  their  Republican  moorings 
not  only  the  States  named,  but  also  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Michigan,  Kansas,  Colorado  and  Califor- 
nia. 

The  year  1882  seemed  the  culmination 
of  every  form  of  Republican  division,  and 
then  everything  in  the  States  named  gave 

f>lace  to  faction.  Very  wisely  the  Repub- 
ican  leaders  determined  to  repair  the  mis- 
chief, as  far  as  possible,  in  the  otherwise 
uneventful  year  of  1883.  Their  efforts 
were  in  most  instances  successful,  especially 
in  Massachusetts  where  Robinson  over- 
threw Gen.  Butler's  State  administration 
by    20,000    majority ;    in    Pennsylvania, 


where  the  Republican  State  ticket  receired 

about  20,000  majority,  after  the  reunion  ot 
the  Regular  and  Independent  factions. 
In  Pennsylvania  the  efforts  at  reconcilia- 
tion made  in  the  Continental  Conference, 
and  in  subsequent  conventions,  eave  fruit 
in  1883,  and  at  this  writing  in  July,  1884 
there  is  no  mark  of  division  throughout  the 
entire  State,  if  we  except  such  as  must  in- 
evitably follow  the  plain  acceptance  ot 
Free  Trade  and  Protective  issues.  Very 
few  of  the  Republicans  of  Pennsylvania 
favor  Free  Trade,  and  only  in  the  ranks  of 
this  few  could  any  division  be  traced  after 
the  close  of  the  elections  of  1883. 

Ohio  was  an  exception  to  the  Republican 
work  of  reconciliation.  Division  still  con- 
tinued, and  Judge  Hoadly,  a  leading 
and  very  talented  Democrat,  was  elected 
Governor  by  about  15,000  majority,  after  a 
contest  which  involved  the  expenditure  of 
large  sums  of  money.  In  the  Convention 
which  nominated  Hoadly,  Senator  Pen- 
dleton was  practically  overthrown  because 
of  his  attachment  to  the  Civil  Service  law 
which  takes  his  name,  and  later  on  he  was 
defeated  for  TJ.  S.  Senator  by  Mr.  Payne, 
the  McLean  and  Bookwalter  factions 
uniting  for  his  overthrow,  which  was  ac- 
complished despite  the  efibrts  of  Thurman, 
Ward  and  other  leaders  of  the  older  ele- 
ments of  the  party.  Both  the  Hoadly  and 
Payne  battles  Were  won  under  the  banners 
of  the  "  Young  Democracy." 

Any  compilation  of  the  returns  .of  1883 
must  be  measurably  imperfect,  for  in  only 
a  few  of  the  States  were  important  and  de- 
cisive battles  waged.  Such  as  they  were, 
however,  are  given  in  the  table  on  the  next 
page: 


BOOK  I.] 


POLITICAL  CHANGES— 1883. 


315 


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•  In  Connecticut,  the  vote  for  Sheriff  is  talcen.  In  New  York,  the  averase  vote  on  four  of  the  five 
State  officers  chosen,  excluding  Secretary  of  State.  In  Nebraslca,  Democratic  and  Anti-Monopoly  vote 
combined  on  Judge,  t  American,  707 ;  scattering,  989.  J  Scattering.  X06.  g  In  these  States  the  vole  on 
Lieutenant-Governor  wa.s  taken,  as  being,  from  special  causes,  a  fairer  test  of  party  strength.  In  the 
others  the  principal  State  officer  was  taken.  Where  State  officers  were  not  elected,  the  Congressional 
vote  was  taken.  In  Georgia,  Congressmen-at-Large  was  taken.  |  The  vote  for  Chief  Judge,  f  The 
Regular  and  Independent  fiepublicau  vote  ia  combiued.  **  Vote  of  the  two  Democratic  candid  alea  is 
combined. 


316 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


POLrnOAL  CHAIiTGES-1884 


The  Republican  National  Convention 
met  at  Chicago,  in  tlie  Exposition  Build- 
ing, on  Tuesday,  June  3d,  1884.  It  was 
called  to  order  by  Senator  Sabin,  the 
Chairman  of  the  National  Committee, 
who  at  the  conclusion  of  his  address,  at 
the  request  of  his  Committee,  presented 
the  name  of  Hon.  Powell  Clayton,  of 
Arkansas,  for  temporary  President.  Gen. 
Clayton,  as  a  friend  of  Blaine,  was  an- 
tagonized by  the  field,  which  named  Hon. 
John  R.  Lynch  for  the  place.  An  excit- 
ing debate  followed,  at  the  close  of  which 
Mr.  Lynch  received  431  votes  to  387  for 
Clayton.  Ex-Senator  Henderson  of  Mis- 
souri was  made  permanent  President  with- 
out a  contest.  The  contested  seats  were 
amicably  settled,  the  most  notable  being 
that  of  the  straightout  Republicans  of 
Virginia  against  Gen.  Mahone's  delega- 
tion. The  latter  was  admitted,  the  only 
contest  being  in  the  Committee.  The 
Blaine  leaders  did  not  antagonize,  but 
rather  favored  Mahone's  admission,  as  did 
the  field  generally,  for  the  State  Conven- 
tion which  elected  this  delegation  had 
openly  abandoned  the  name  of  the  Re- 
adjuster  Party  and  taken  that  of  the 
Republican.  None  of  the  Straightouts 
expressed  dissatisfaction  at  what  appeared 
to  be  the  almost  universal  sentiment. 

Candidate*  for  the  IVomlnatlon. 

On  the  third  day  the  following  candi- 
dates were  formally  placed  in  nomination, 
after  eloquent  eulogies,  the  most  notable 
being  those  of  Judge  West  of  Ohio,  in  be- 
half of  Blaine ;  Gen.  H.  H.  Bingham,  of 
Penna.,  for  President  Arthur;  and  Geo. 
W.  Curtis  for  Senator  Edmunds : 

James  O.  Blaixe,  of  Maine. 
Chester  A.  Arthur,  of  New  York. 
.    John  Sherman,  of  Ohio. 

George  F.  Edmuxds,  of  Vermont. 
JoHX  A.  Logan,  of  IHinois. 
Joseph  R.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut. 

On  the  adjoining  page  is  given  the 
result  of  the  ballots. 

The  convention  sat  four  days,  completed 


its  work  harmoniously,  and  adopted  a 
platform  without  a  negative  vote.  [We 
give  it  in  full  in  our  Book  of  Platforms, 
and  compare  ita  vital  issues  with  that  of 
the  Democratic  in  our  comparison  of  Plat- 
form Planks.] 

Tbe  Democratic  National  Convention. 

This  body  assembled  at  Chicago,  in  the 
Exposition  Building,  on  Tuesday,  July 
8th,  1884,  and  was  called  to  order  by  Ex- 
Senator  Barnum,  the  Chairman  of  the 
National  Committee.  The  Committee 
presented  Governor  Richard  B.  Hubbard, 
of  Texas,  for  temporary  chairman.  After 
his  address  a  notable  contest  followed  on 
the  adoption  of  the  unit  rule,  the  debate 
being  participated  in  by  many  delegates. 
Mr.  Fellows,  of  New  York,  favored  the 
rule,  as  did  all  of  the  advocates  of  Gover- 
nor Cleveland's  nomination  for  President, 
while  John  Kelly  opposed  it  with  a  view 
to  give  freedom  of  choice  to  the  twenty- 
five  delegates  from  New  York  who  we're 
acting  with  him.  The  contest  was  in- 
augurated by  Mr.  Smalley,  of  Vermont, 
who  was  instructed  by  the  National  Com- 
mittee to  offer  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  that  the  rules  of  the  last 
Democratic  Convention  govern  this  body 
until  otherwise  ordered,  subject  to  the  fol- 
lowing modification  :  That  in  voting  for 
candidates  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent no  State  shall  be  allowed  to  change 
its  vote  until  the  roll  of  the  States  has 
been  called,  and  every  State  has  cast  its 
vote. 

Mr.  Grady,  of  New  York,  offered  the 
following  amendment  to  the  resolution : 

When  the  vote  of  a  State,  as  announced 
by  the  chairman  of  the  delegation  from 
such  State  is  challenged  by  any  member 
of  the  delegation,  th^n  the  Secretary  shall 
call  the  names  of  the  individual  delegates 
from  the  State,  and  their  individual  pre- 
ferences as  expressed  shall  be  recorded  as 
the  vote  of  such  State. 

After  discussion  the  question  was  then 
put,  the  chairman  of  eacn  State  delegation 
announcing  its  vote  as  follows : 


BOOK  I.] 


PCLITICAL  CHANGES— 1884. 


317 


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318 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


Sfatea.  Teas 

Alftbama. 15 

Arkansas — 

California „  16 

Ck>lorado „  4 

Connecticut....  2 

Delaware 8 

Florida 2 

Georgia 12 

Illinoia 22 

Indiana >.  30 

Iowa 6 

Kanaas 3 

Kentucky 20 

Louisiana. — 

Maine _  8 

Maryland   „  — 

Mansachu8ett&.  21 

Michigan „  12 

Minnesota „  — 


6 
14 

2 
10 

6 
12 
22 


States.         Yeas  Nays 


Mississmpi 18 

Missouri 18 

Nebnuka b 

Nevada 6 

NewHampuJiire  — 

NewJprsey 14 

New  York _  — 

North  Carotiua  10 

Ohio 25 

Oregon — 

Pennsylvania...  21 

Rhode  Island —  — 

South  Carolina  3 

Tennessee 17 

Texas „ 12 

Vermont — 

Vir»cinia 6 

West  Virginia-  9 

Wisconsin 6 


The  Secretary  announced  the  result  of 
the  vote  as  follows :  Total  number  of 
votes  cast,  795;  yeas,  332;  nays,  463. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Perma- 
nent Organization  was  then  made ;  the 
name  of  W.  H.  Vilas,  of  Wisconsin,  be- 
ing presented  as  President,  with  a  list  of 
vice-presidents)  one  from  each  state)  and 
several  secretaries  and  assistants,  and  that 
the  secretaries  and  clerks  of  the  tempo- 
rary organization  be  continued  under  the 
permanent  organization. 

Tlie  Contest  oirer  the  Platform. 

There  was  a  two-days  contest  in  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  over  the  adoption  of 
the  revenue  features  of  the  Platform,  It 
advocated  the  collection  of  revenue  for 
public  uses  exclusively,  the  italicized  word 
being  the  subject  of  the  controversy.  It 
was  retained  by  a  vote  of  20  to  18.  To 
avoid  extended  debate  in  the  Convention 
an  agreement  was  made  that  Gen.  Butler 
Bhould  make  a  minority  report,  and  tjiat 


three  speeches  should  be  made,  these  by 
Butler,  Converse  and  Watterson.  Col. 
Morrison,  of  Illinois,  made  the  majority 
report,  which  was  adopted  with  but  97 J 
negative  votes  out  of  a  total  of  820. 

The  BaUota. 

Before  balloting  an  effort  was  made  to 
abolish  the  two-third  rule,  but  this  met 
with  such  decided  disfavor  that  it  w^aa 
withdrawn  before  the  roll  of  States  waa 
completed. 

There  were  two  ballots  taken  on  the 
Presidential  candidates,  and  they  were 
as  follows : 

First.  Second. 

Total  number  of  votes 820  820 

Necessary  to  a  choice ft47  647 

Grover  Cleveland,  of  New  York 392  684 

Thomas  F.  Bayard,  of  Delaware 168  81U 

Allen  G.  Thurman,  of  Ohio 88  4 

Samuel  J.  Randall,  of  Penn 78  4 

Joseph  E.  McDonald  of  Indiana 56  I 

John  G.  Carlisle.of  Kentucky 27  

Roswell  P.  Fl'>wer,  of  New  York 4  

George  Hoaily,  of  Ohio 3  ,„., 

Samuel  J.  Tilden,  oT  New  York 1  

Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana...    1  45^ 

Mr.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  who  was  de- 
feated eight  years  ago  on  the  Tilden  ticket, 
was  nominated  for  Vice  President  by  ac- 
clamation. 

The  Kelly  and  Butler  elements  of  the 
Convention,  at  all  of  the  important  stages, 
manifested  their  hostility  to  Cleveland, 
but  there  was  no  open  bolt,  and  the  Con- 
vention completed  its  work  after  sitting 
four  days. 

[In  the  Book  of  Platform  is  given  the 
Democratic  Platform  in  full,  and  its  tariff 
plank  will  be  found  in  comparison  with 
the  Republican  in  the  same  book.] 


THE  CAMPAIGI*^'  OF  1884. 


In  what  were  regarded  aa  the  pivotal 
States  the  campai^  of  1884,  was  attended 
with  the  litmost  interest  and  excitement. 
Blaine,  the  most  brilliant  political  leader  of 
modern  times,  was  acceptable  to  all  of  the 
more  active  and  earnest  elements  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  the  ability  with 
which  he  had  championed  the  protective 
system  and  a  more  aggressive  foreign 
policy,  attracted  very  many  Irishmen 
who  had  formerly  been  Democrats.  The 
young  and  more  intelligent  leaders  of 
this  element  promptly  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Republicans,  ana  their  action 
caused  a  seriotis  di^^sion  in  the  Demo- 
cratic ranks.  Wherever  Irish-Americana 
were  sufficiently  numerous  to  form  so- 
cieties of  their  own,  such  as  the  "  Irish- 


American  League,"  the  "Land  League," 
the  "  Clan  na  Gael,"  etc.,  there  supporters 
of  Blaine  were  found,  and  these  were  by 
a  singular  coincidence  most  numerous  in 
the  doubtful  States  of  New  York,  New' 
Jersey,  Connecticut,  Ohio  and  Indiana. 
Cleveland's  nomination  by  the  Democrats 
had  angered  the  Tammany  wing  of  the 
party  in  New  York,  and  not  until  very 
close  to  the  election  was  a  reconciliation 
effected.  Tilden  had  from  the  first 
favored  Cleveland,  and  with  Daniel  Man- 
ning as  his  manager  in  New  York,  no 
effort  was  spared  to  heal  Democratic 
divisions  and  to  promote  tkem  in  the 
Republican  ranks.  Thus  the  Indepen- 
dent or  Civil  Service  wing  of  the  Renub- 
lican  party,  which  in  Boston  and  New 


BOOK  I.J 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


819 


York  cities,  and  in  the  cities  of  Connecti- 
cut, confessed  attachment  to  free  trade, 
was  easily  raUied  under  the  Democratic 
banner.  In  convention  in  New  York 
city  this  element  denounced  Blaine  on 
what  it  pronounced  a  paramount  moral 
issue,  and  for  a  time  such  brilliant  orators 
as  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  George  W. 
Curtis  and  Carl  Schurz,  "rang  the 
changes  "  upon  the  moral  questions  pre- 
sented by  the  canvass.  They  were  halted 
by  scandals  about  Cleveland,  and  the 
Maria  Halpin  story,  almost  too  indecent 
for  historical  reference,  became  a  promi- 
nent feature  of  the  campaign  with  the 
acquiescence,  if  not  under  the  direction 
of  the  Republican  managers.  Many  of 
our.  best  thinkers  deplored  the  shape  thus 
given  to  the  canvass,  but  the  responsi- 
bility for  it  is  clearly  traceable  to  the 
plan  of  campaign  instituted  by  the  Inde- 
pendents, or  "Mugwumps,"  as  they  were 
calle^ — "Mugwump"  implying  a  small 
leader.^ 

Only  Ohio,  "West  Virginia  and  Iowa 
remained  as  October  States,  and  in  the 
height  of  the  canvass  all  eyes  were  turned 
upon  Ohio.  In  all  Of  the  Western  States 
both  of  the  great  parties  had  been  dis- 
tracted by  prohibitory  and  high  license 
issues,  and  Ohio, — because  of  temperance 
agitations,  which  still  remained  as  dis- 
turbing elements — had  drifted  into  the 
Democratic  column.  If  it  were  again 
lost  to  the  Republicans,  their  national 
campaign  would  practically  have  ended 
then  and  there,  so  far  as  reasonable  hopes 
could  be  entertained  for  the  election  of 
Blaine.  This  fact  led  to  an  extraordinary 
effort  to  influence  favorable  action  there, 
and  both  Blaine  and  Logan  made  tours 
of  the  State,  and  speeches  at  the  more 
important  points.  Mr.  Blaine  first  went 
to  New  York  city,  thence  through  New 
Jersey,  speaking  at  night  at  all  import- 
ant points  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, 
and  was  the  following  day  received  by 
the  Union  League  of  Philadelphia.  In 
the  evening  he  reviewed  a  procession  of 
20,000  uniformed  men.  He  then  returned 
to  New  York,  not  yet  having  uttered  a 
partisan  sentence,  but  in  passing  west- 
ward through  its  towns,  he  occasionally 
referred  to  their  progress  under  the  sys- 
tem of  protection.  Reaching  Ohio,  he 
spoke  more  and  more  plainly  of  the 
issues  of  the  canvass  as  his  journey  pro- 
ceeded, and  wherever  he  went  his 
speeches  commanded  national  comment 
and  attention.  His  plain  object  was,  for 
the  time  at  least,  to  smother  local  issues 
by  the  graver  national  ones,  and  he  did 
this  with  an  ability  which  has  never  been 
matched  in  the  history  of  American 
oratory.  The  result  was  a  victory  for  the 
Republicans  in  October;  they  carried 
Ohio  by  about  15,000,  and  greatly  reduced 


the  Democratic  majority  in  West  Vir- 
ginia. 

From  this  time  forward  the  battle  on 
the  part  of  the  Republicans  was  hopeful ; 
on  the  part  of  the  Democrats  desperate 
but  not  despairing.  Senator  Barnum,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Democratic  National 
Committee,  was  a  skilled  and  trained  pol- 
itician, and  he  sedulously  cultivated  In- 
dependent and  Prohibition  defection  in 
New  York,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Wis- 
consin and  Indiana.  Whether  the  scan- 
dals growing  out  of  the  result  be  true  or 
false,  every  political  observer  could  see 
that  the  elements  named  were  under  at 
least  the  partial  direction  of  the  Demo- 
cratic National  Committee,  for  their  sup- 
port was  inconsiderable  in  States  where 
they  were  not  needed  in  crippling  the 
chances  of  the  Republicans.  The  Republi- 
can National  Committee,  headed  by  Mr.  B. 
F.  Jones,  of  Pennsylvania,  an  earnest  and 
able,  but  an  untrained  leader,  did  not 
seek  to  check  these  plain  efforts  at  defec- 
tion. This  Committee  thought,  and  at 
the  time  seemed  to  be  justified  in  the  be-  ' 
lief  that  the  defection  of  Irish-Americans 
in  the  same  States  would  more  than 
counterbalance  all  of  the  Independent 
and  Prohibitory  defection.  The  Republi- 
cans were  likewise  aided  by  General  But- 
ler, who  ran  as  the  Greenback  or  "  Peo- 
ple's "  candidate,  as  he  called  himself.  It 
would  have  done  it  easily,  but  for  an  acci- 
dent, possibly  A  trick,  on  the  Thursday 
preceding  the  November  election.  Mr. 
Blaine  was  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  in 
New  York,  and  among  the  many  delega- 
tions which  visited  him  was  one  of  three 
hundred  ministers  who  wished  to  show 
their  confidence  in  his  moral  and  intel- 
lectual fitness  for  the  Chief  Magistracy. 
The  oldest  of  the  ministers  present  was 
Mr.  Burchard,  and  he  was  assigned  to 
deliver  the  address.  In  closing  it  he  re- 
ferred to  what  he  thought  ought  to  be  a 
common  opposition  to  "  Rum,  Romanism 
and  Rebellion," — an  alliteration  which 
not  only  awakened  the  wrath  of  the 
Democracy,  but  which  quickly  estranged 
many  of  the  Irish-American  supporters 
of  Blaine  and  Logan.  Mr.  Blaine  on  the 
two  following  days  tried  to  counteract  the 
effects  of  an  imprudence  for  which  he 
was  in  no  way  responsible,  but  the  allit- 
eration was  instantly  and  everywhere  em- 
ployed to  revive  religious  issues  and 
hatreds,  and  to  such  an  extent  that  circu- 
lars were  distributed  at  the  doors  of 
Catholic  churches,  implying  that  Blaine 
himself  had  used  the  offensive  words.  A 
more  unexpected  blow  was  never  known 
in  our  political  history ;  it  was  quite  as 
sudden  and  more  damaging  than  the 
Morey  forgery  at  the  close  of  the  Garfield 
campaign.  It  determined  the  result,  and 
was  the  most  prominent  of  half  a  dozen 


320 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


mishaps,  which  if  they  had  not  happened, 
miist  have  inevitably  led  to  the  election 
of  Blaine 

As  it  was,  the  result  was  so  close  in  New 
York,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Indiana 
and  West  Virginia,  that  it  required 
several  days  to  determine  it,  and  it  was 
not  known  as  to  New  York  until  the  19th 
of  November. 

The  popular  vote  for  Presidential  elec- 
tors was  cast  on  the  4th  of  November 
last,  and  the  results  are  tabulated  below. 
Where  differences  were  found  to  exist  in 
the  vote  for  Electors  in  any  State  the  vote 


for  the  highest  on  each  ticket  is  given  in 
all  cases  where  the  complete  statement 
of  the  vote  of  the  State  has  been  received. 
The  results  show  a  total  vote  of  10,046,073, 
of  which  the  Cleveland  ticket  received 
4,913,901,  the  Blaine  ticket  4,847,659,  the 
Butler  ticket  133,880,  and  the  St.  John 
ticket  150,633,  showing  a  plurality  of 
66,242  for  Cleveland.  The  total  vote  in 
1880  was  9,218,251,  and  Garfield's  plurality 
9464.  It  should  be  noted,  in  considering 
the  tabulated  statement  of  this  year's 
vote,  that  the  Blaine  Electoral  tickets 
were  6upporte<l  by  the  Republicans  and 


1884. 

STATES. 

Blaine, 
Hep. 

Cleveland, 
Bern, 

BiUler, 
People's. 

8tf  John, 
Pro. 

Electorai.  Votk. 

Blaine. 

Cleveland. 

68,444 

50,895 

102,397 

86,277 

65,898 

12,778 

2S,031 

47,603 

310,497 

238,480 

197,082 

151,406 

118,674 

46,347 

72,209 

85,699 

146,721 

192,669 

111,685 

42,774 

202,029 

76,877 

7,193 

43,249 

123,436 

562,005 

125,068 

400,082 

26,832 

474,268 

19,090 

21,733 

124,078 

88,333 

38,411 

139,356 

63,913 

161,137 

92,973 

72,927 

89,261 

27,627 

67,182 

17,054 

31,769 

91,567 

312.314 

244,992 

177,286 

90,132 

152,757 

62,546 

52,140 

96,932 

122,481 

189,361 

70,065 

78,547 

235,988 

51,354 

5,377 

39,192 

127,798 

563,151 

142,905 

368,280 

21,593 

393,747 

12,391 

69,890 

133,238 

228,206 

17,342 

145,497 

67,331 

146,477 

762 
1,847 
2,017 
1,937 
1,685 
6 

"  "m 
10,910 
8,293 

id'Jm 

1,655 
120 

3,953 

531 

24,433 

763 

3,583 

""^ 
3,496 
17,064 

■5ii79 

723 

16,992 

422 

'"957 
3,321 

785 

~"m 

4,506 

610 

'iiaao 

759 

2,494 

55 

74 

184 

12,074 

3,013 

1,472 

4.495 

3,106 

338 

2,160 

2,794 

10,026 

18,403 

4,684 

2ii53 
2,858 

6,159 
25,003 

448 
11,069 

488 
15,306 

928 

i^isi 

3,511 

1,612 

143 

927 

7,656 

6 

8 

■"■■jB 

'"13 
9 

....... 

...... 

13 

7 

"""5 
3 

4 

■■■■•a 
3 

30 

4 

4 

""ii 

10 

7 

California. 

Connecticut _ 

Delaware  _ _ 

Florida _ „ 

3 

4 
12 

1 1 1  i  nois 

Indiana ~.. 

Iowa _ _ _.. 

Kansas „ _ 

Kentucky 

""'is 
"■"is 

8 

Maine 

8 

Massachusetts ........... 

M  i  n  nesota __ 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Nevada., 

9 
16 

New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey 

9 
88 

Nt>rth  Carolina. 

11 

<»hlo „.. 

Oregon _ 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode"  Island 

Krinth  f^trolina 

9 

Tennessee _ 

Texas _ 

Vermont. _ _.. 

Virginia 

West  Virginia. _ 

Wisconsin 

12 
13 

"■"ia 
e 

Total 

4,847,659 

4,913,901 
66,212 

133,880 

150,683 

182 

219 

Plurality _ „ 

the  People's  Party  in  Missouri  and  West 
Virginia,  and  that  Cleveland  Electoral 
tickets  were  supported  by  the  Democrats 
and  the  People  s  Party  in  Iowa,  Michigan 
and  Nebraska.  The  People's  Party  claims 
to  have  cast  alK)ut  41,300  vot«s  for  the 
fu«ion  ticket  in  Michigan  and  about  33,000 
votes  in  Iowa.  The  vote  of  California  is 
official  from  all  hut  two  counties ;  the 
unofficial  reports  from  these  are  included 
in  the  totals  given  in  the  table.  South 
Carolina  returns  1237  "scattering"  votes. 
There  was  no  h\*c\\  in  the  count  of  the 
vote  in  any  of  the  Electoral  Colleges,  held 


at  the  capitols  of  the  various  States.  On 
the  9th  of  February,  1885,  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress  assembled  to  witness  the 
counting  of  the  vote.  Mr.  Edmunds, 
President  of  the  Senate,  upon  its  comple- 
tion, announced  that  "  it  appears "  from 
the  count  that  Mr.  Cleveland  has  been 
elected  President,  etc.  This  form  was 
used  upon  his  iudgment  as  the  only  one 
which  he  could  lawftilly  use,  the  Electoral 
law  not  having  as  yet  determined  the 
power  or  prescribed  the  form  for  de- 
claring the  result  of  Presidential  elec- 
tions. 


BOOK  I. 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


321 


Cleveland's  Admlnlstrallon. 

President  Clkveland  was  inaugurated 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1885,  amid  much 
military  and  civic  pomp  and  ceremony. 
Jubilant  Democrats  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  visited  the  National  Capital  to 
celebrate  their  return  to  National  power 
after  a  series  of  llepublican  successes  ex- 
tending through  twenty-four  years.  The 
inaugural  addiess  was  chiefly  noted  for  its 
promises  in  behalf  of  civil  service  reform. 
It  showed  a  determination  on  the  part  of 
the  President  to  adhere  to  the  pledges 
given  to  what  are  still  termed  the  ' '  Mug- 
wumps" prior  to  the  election.  The  senti- 
ments expressed  secured  the  warm  approval 
of  Geo.  W.  Curtis,  Carl  Schurz,  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  and  other  civil  service  re- 
formers, but  were  disappointing  to  the 
straight  Democrats,  who  naturally  wished 
to  enjoy  all  of  the  fruits  of  the  power  won 
after  so  great  a  struggle.  Vice  President 
Hendricks  voiced  this  radical  Democratic 
sentiment,  and  was  rapidly  creating  a  schism 
in  the  ranks  of  the  party,  but  his  sudden 
death  checked  the  movement  and  deprived 
it  of  organization,  though  there  still  re- 
mains the  seed  of  dissatisfaction,  much  of 
which  displayed  itself  in  the  contests  of 
1885. 

President  Cleveland  appointed  the  fol- 
lowing Cabinet : 

Secretary  of  State :  Thomas  F.  Bayard 
of  Delaware. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury :  Daniel  Man- 
ning of  New  York. 

Secretary  of  War:  W.  C.  Endicotfc  of 
Massachusetts. 

Postmaster- General :  Wm.  F.  Vilas  of 
Wisconsin. 

Secretary  of  the  Interior  .•  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar 
of  Mississippi. 

Attorney  General :  Augustus  H.  Garland 
of  Arkansas. 

Up  to  this  writing.  May,  1886,  the  Ad- 
ministration of  President  Cleveland  has  not 
been  marked  by  any  great  event  or  crisis — 
its  greatest  political  eiForts  being  directed 
toward  appeasing  the  civil  and  holding  in 
close  political  alliance  with  the  civil  service 
reformers,  without  disrupting  the  Demo- 
cratic party  by  totally  refusing  to  distribute 
the  spoils  of  office.  It  had  long  been  pre- 
dicted by  prai'tical  politicians  that  a  serious 
attempt  to  defeat  the  doctrine  "to  the 
victor  belongs  the  spoils,"  would  destroy 
the  administration  attempting  it.  The 
elections  of  1885  point  to  a  realization  of 
21 


this  prophecy,  though  it  is  yet  too  soon  to 
accurately  judge  the  result  with  nearly 
three  years  of  administration  yet  to  be  de- 
voted to  its  pursuit. 

Ohio  witnessed  in  her  last  October  elec- 
tion the  first  great  struggle  under  the 
Democratic  State  and  National  Adminis- 
trations. Gov.  Hoadley  was  renominated 
by  the  Democrats,  and  Judge  Foraker  was 
renominated  by  the  Republicans.  The 
latter  were  aided  by  the  strong  canvass  of 
John  Sherman  for  his  return  to  the  U.  S. 
Senate.  The  contest  was  throughout  ex- 
citing, some  of  the  best  speakers  of  the 
country  taking  the  stump.  The  result  was 
as  follows : 

Foraker,  R 359,538 

Hoadley,  D 341,380 

Leonard,  Pro  .     .     .     .  28,054 

Northrop,  G    ....  2,760 

The  Irish-Americans  who  had  left  the 
Democratic  party  to  vote  for  Blaine,  ad- 
hered to  the  Republican  standard,  and 
really  increased  their  numbers — more  than 
a  third  more  voting  for  Foraker  than  for 
Blaine,  while  the  Mugwump  element  prac- 
tically disappeared.  The  Prohibition  vote 
had  almost  doubled,  but  as  all  third  or 
fourth  parties  as  a  rule  attract  their  vote 
from  the  parties  in  which  the  most  discon- 
tent prevails,  the  excess  came  not  from 
the  Republican  but  the  Democratic  ranks. 

Pennsylvania's  result,  following  in  No- 
vember, was  similar  in  all  material  points 
to  that  of  Ohio.  Col.  M.  S.  Quay,  an  ac- 
knowledged political  leader  and  a  man  of 
national  reputation,  thought  it  wise  that 
his  party  should  oppose  in  the  most  radical 
and  direct  way,  the  Democratic  State  and 
National  Administration,   and  with   this 

5urpose  became  a  candidate  for  State 
reasurer.  The  Democrats  nominated 
Conrad  B.  Day  of  Philadelphia.  The 
result  was  as  follows: 

Quay,  R 324,694 

Day,   D 281,178 

Spangler,  Pro.     .    .    .  15  047 

Whitney,  G 2,783 

Col.   Quay's  majority  greatly  exceeded 
all  expectation,   and  was  universally  ac- 
cepted as  a  condemnation  of  the  two  Demo-  • 
cratic  administrations. 

New  York,  of  all  the  November  States, 
very  properly  excited  the  most  attention. 
The  Democrats  renominated  Gov.  Hill 
upon  a  platform  tantamount  to  a  condemna- 
tion of  civil  service  reform — a  platform 
dictated  by  Tammany  Hall,  which  was  al- 
ready quarrelling  with  the  National  admin- 
istration. The  Mugwump  leaders  and 
journals  immediately  condemned  both  the 
Democratic  ticket  and  platform,  and  joined 


822  AMERICAN 

with  the  Republicans  in  support  of  Dav- 
enport.   The  result  was : 

Governor. 

Hill,  D 501,418 

Davenport,  R     .    .     .  489,727 

Bascom.  Pro  ....  30,866 

Jones,  G 2,127 

Lieutenant-Governor. 
Jones,  D.    .....    495,450 

Carr,  R 492,288 

Demorest,  Pro.    .    .    .      31,298 
Gage,  G 2,087 


POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


In  New  York  the  Irish-Americans,  an- 
gered by  the  return  of  the  Mugwumps, 
whose  aristocratic  and  free  trade  tenden- 
cies they  were  especially  hostile  to,  under 
the  lead  of  the  Irish  World  left  the  Re- 
publicans and  returned  to  the  support  of 
the  Democracy.  They  decided  the  contest 
and  their  attitude  in  the  future  will  be  oi 
immediate  concern  in  all  political  calcula- 
tions. The  net  results  in  three  great  States 
gave  satisfaction  to  both  parties — probably 
the  most  to  the  Republicans,  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  they  left  politics  in  a  very  inter- 
esting and  very  uncertain  shape. 


THE  CAMPAIGlSr  OF  1886. 


The  campaign  of  1886  showed  that  the 
Republican  party  was  capable  of  making 
g^ins  in  the  South,  especially  in  Congres- 
sional districts  and  upon  protective  and 
educational  issues.  Indeed,  so  plain  was 
this  in  the  State  of  Virginia  that  Randolph 
Tucker,  for  whom  the  Legislature  had  ap- 
portioned a  district  composed  of  eleven 
white  counties,  refused  to  run  again,  and 
Mr.  Yost,  editor  of  the  Staunton  Virgin- 
ian^ who  had  canvassed  the  entire  district 
on  tariff  issues  and  in  favor  of  the  Blair 
educational  bill,  was  returned  over  a  popu- 
lar Democrat,  by  1900  majority.  Of  the 
ten  Congressmen  from  Virginia  the  Repub- 
licans elected  six.  Morrison,  the  tariff-re- 
form leader  of  Illinois,  was  defeated,  as  was 
Burd  of  Ohio,  while  Speaker  Carlisle's 
seat  was  contested  by  Mr.  Thoche,  a  pro- 
tectionist candidate  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor.  These  and  other  gains  reduced  the 
Democratic  majority  in  the  House  to  about 
fifteen,  and  this  could  not  be  counted  upon 
for  any  tariff  reduction  or  financial  meas- 
ures. The  Republicans  lost  one  in  the 
U.  8.  Senate. 

Ijocal  divisions  in  the  Republican  ranks 
were  seriously  manifested  in  but  one  State, 
that  of  California,  which  chose  a  Demo- 
cratic Governor  and  a  Republican  Lieuten- 
ant Governor,  so  close  was  the  contest. 
The  Governor  has  since  died,  the  Lieuten- 
ant Governor  has  taken  his  place,  but  the 
I^egislature  re-elected  Senator  Hearst, 
Democrat,  who  had  previously  been  ap- 
pointed V>efore  the  retirement  of  Governor 
Stoneman. 


New  York  city  witnessed,  not  a  revolu- 
tion, but  such  a  marked  change  in  politics 
that  it  excited  comment  throughout  the 
entire  country.  The  Labor  party  ran  Henry 
George,  the  author  of  Progress  and  Pov- 
erty, and  other  works  somewhat  socialistic 
and  certainly  agrarian  in  their  tendencies, 
for  Mayor  of  the  city.  Hewitt,  the  well- 
known  Congressman,  was  the  candidate  of 
the  Democracy,  while  the  Republicans  pre- 
sented Roosevelt,  known  chiefly  for  his 
municipal-reform  tendencies.  Hewitt  was 
elected,  but  George  received  over  60,000 
votes,  and  this  unlookedfor  poll  changed 
the  direction  of  political  calculations  for  a 
year.  George  was  aided  by  nearly  all  the 
Labor  organizations,  and  he  drew  from  the 
Democrats  about  two  to  the  one  drawn 
from  the  Republicans — a  fact  which  greatly 
raised  the  hopes  of  the  latter  and  at  the 
same  time  made  the  Democrats  more  cau- 
tious. 

In  1886  the  Republicans  and  Democrats, 
with  the  qualifications  noted  above,  held 
their  party  strength,  with  the  future  pros- 
pects so  promising  to  both  that  at  this  early 
date  preparations  began  for  the  Presiden- 
tial campaign,  General  Beaver,  defeated 
for  Governor  of  Pennsj'lvania  in  1882  by  a 
plurality  of  40,000,  was  now  elected  by  a 
I)lurality  of  43,000,  though  the  Prohibi- 
tionists polled  32,000  votes,  two-thirds  of 
which  came  from  the  Republican  part-y. 
The  general  result  of  the  campaign  indi- 
cated that  the  Republicans  were  gaining  in 
unity  and  numbers. 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


323 


THE  CAMPAIGI^  OF  1887. 


Interest  in  the  forthcoming  Presiden- 
tial campaign  was  everywhere  manifested  in 
the  struggles  of  1887.  The  fii-st  skirmish 
was  lost  by  the  Republicans,  and  while  it 
encouraged  Mr.  Cleveland's  administration, 
it  gave  warning  to  the  Republicans  through- 
out the  country  that  they  must  heal  all 
differences  and  do  better  work.  So  quickly 
was  this  determination  reached  that  Rhode 
Island  came  back  to  the  Republican  column 
in  November,  by  the  election  of  a  Con- 
gressman. 

The  elections  of  the  year,  as  a  whole, 
were  largely  in  favor  oi  the  Republicans, 
and  three  pivotal  States  were  captured — 
Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  and  Indiana,  with 
Virginia  claimed  by  both  parties.  True  the 
issues  and  candidates  in  Indiana  and  Con- 
necticut were  purely  local,  a  fact  which 
contributed  largely  to  the  continued  hope- 
fulness of  the  Democracy,  who  had  again 
carried  New  York  by  an  average  majority 
of  14,000,  notwithstanding  Henry  George 
now  ran  for  Secretary  of  State  in  the  hope 
of  more  greatly  dividing  the  Democratic 
than  the  Republican  vote.  He  did  this,  in 
somewhat  less  proportion  than  when  he  ran 
for  Mayor  of  the  city,  but  the  agitation  of 
High  License  for  the  cities  alone,  and  the 
Prohibitory  agitation  led  to  the  union  of  all 
the  saloon  interests  with  the  Democracy. 
These  interests,  headed  by  the  organization 
of  brewers,  established  Personal  Liberty 
Leagues  in  all  of  the  larger  cities,  which 
Leagues  held  a  State  Convention  at  Albany 
said  to  represent  75,000  voters,  or  500  to 
each  delegate.  The  figures  were  grossly 
exaggerated,  but  nevertheless  an  alliance 
was  formed  with  the  Democratic  party  in 
the  State  by  the  substantial  adoption  of  the 
anti-sumptuary  plank  in  its  platform.  Suf- 
ficient Republicans  were  in  this  way  won 
to  balance  the  Henry  George  defections 
from  the  Democracy,  and  the  result  was 
practically  the  same  as  in  1886.  The  Mug- 
wumps supported  the  Republicans  in  1886, 
but  they  cut  httle  if  any  figure  in  1887. 
It  was  very  plain  to  the  hind-sight  of  the 
Republican  leaders  of  New  York,  that  if 
they  had  resisted  and  resented  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Personal  Liberty  Leagues,  and 
made  a  direct  and  open  issue  against  the 
control  of  the  saloon  in  politics,  they  would 
have  easily  won  a  victory  like  that  achieved 
in  Pennsylvania.  Two  acts  contributed  to 
the  swelling  of  the  Prohibitory  vote,  which 
in  1887  came  more  equally  from  both  par- 
ties.   Governor  Hill  had  vetoed  the  High 


License  act,  and  thus  angered  the  Temper- 
ance Democrats,  while  the  Republicans  had 
failed  to  submit  to  a  vote  of  the  people  the 
prohibitory  amendment,  thus  angering  an 
additional  number  of  Republicans,  so  that 
the  Prohibitory  vote  was  swelled  to  42,000. 
New  York's  complete  vote  for  Secretary 
of  State  was: 


Grant,  Republican       .  ■ 

.      452,822 

Cook,  Democrat    . 

.      469,802 

Huntington,  Prohibitionist 

41,850 

George,  United  Labor 

69,836 

Beecher,  Greenback     . 

988 

Preston,  Union  Labor 

983 

Hall,  Progressive  Labor 

7,768 

Scattering    .... 

1.351 

Total  vote      . 

.   1,045,405 

The  Republicans  of  Pennsylvania  met 
the  growing  temperance  agitation  in  such  a 
way  as  to  keep  within  and  recall  to  its  lines 
nearly  all  who  naturally  aflBliated  with  that 
party.  The  State  Convention  of  1886 
promised  to  submit  the  prohibitory  amend- 
ment to  a  vote  of  the  people,  and  the  Re- 
publican Legislature  of  1887  passed  the 
amendment  for  a  first  time,  and  also  passed 
a  High  License  law,  which  placed  the 
heaviest  licenses  upon  the  cities,  but  in- 
creased all,  and  gave  four-fifths  and  three- 
fifths  of  the  amount  to  the  city  and  country 
treasuries. 

.  During  the  closing  week  of  the  campaign 
of  1885  in  Pennsylvania,  a  combination  was 
made  by  the  brewers  of  Allegheny  County 
with  the  Democracy  for  a  combined  raid 
against  the  Republican  State  ticket  headed 
by  General  Beaver.  ^  A  large  sum  of  money 
was  raised,  and  the  sinking  societies,  or  such 
of  them  as  could  be  induced  to  enter  the 
movement,  were  marshalled  as  a  new  and 
potent  element.  The  result  was  a  surprise 
to  the  Republicans  and  a  reduction  of  about 
4,000  in  their  majority.  Thus  began  the 
movement  which  this  year  culminated  in 
the  organization  of  Personal  Liberty  Leagues 
throughout  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania.  Encouraged  by  this  local 
success  in  Pennsylvania  and  angered  by  the 
passage  of  a  High  License  law,  an  immense 
fund  was  raised  in  Philadelphia  and  Pitta- 
bur^,  and  the  Democratic  workere  in  all 
singing  and  social  clubs  and  societies  were 
employed  to  create  from  these,  as  their 
nucleus,  the  Peisonal  Liberty  Leagues.  In 
Philadelphia  alone  the  Central  Convention 
represented  over  300  societies,  and  this  fact 
led  to  extravagant  claims  as  to  the  number 


324 


AMERICAN  POLITICS 


[book  I. 


of  voters  whose  views  were  thus  reflected. 
The  organization  was  secret,  but  the  brew- 
ers, maltsters,  and  whole:«ale  dealers  who 
created  it,  opened  State  headquarters  and 
likewise  established  a  SUite  headquarters 
for  the  Leagues.  Much  the  .same  plan  was 
adopted  in  Pittsburg  and  great  boasts  were 
maoe  that  it  would  oe  extended  to  all  the 
towns  and  cities  of  the  State.  From  the 
first  combinations  were  made  by  the  Demo- 
cratic city  committees,  the  State  Committee 
giving  them  a  friendly  wink. 

This  work  was  allowed  to  go  on  for  a  full 
month,  the  Republican  State  Committee, 
and  the  Republican  city  comiuittees  as  well, 
giving  such  careful  investigation  to  the  facts 
that  every  charge  could  be  proven.  Then 
it  was  that  the  State  Address  was  issued, 
wherein  all  the  leading  facts  were  given  and 
each  and  every  challenge  accepted.  The 
Republican  party  thus  publicly  renewed  its 
pledge  to  cast  the  second  and  final  legisla- 
tive vote  for  submission  to  the  people  the 
prohibitory  amendment  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  high  license,  and  just  as  unequivo- 
cally pledged  the  maintenance  of  the  Sun- 
day laws  assailed  by  the  Personal  Liberty 
Leagues. 

The  effect  was  to  group  in  a  solid  and  an 
aggressive  mass  of  good  citizens  all  who 
believed  that  the  people  should  not  be  de- 
nied the  right  to  make  their  own  laws  upon 
liquor  as  upon  other  questions;  all  who 
valued  a  high  license  which,  while  general, 
placed  the  higher  charges  upon  the  cities, 
and  which  gave  three  and  four-fifths  of  all 
the  revenues  to  the  city  and  county  treas- 
uries, and  as  well  all  who  believed  in  main- 
taining an  American  Sabbath. 

The  grouping  of  these  three  positions 
proved  more  powerful  than  the  quarter  of 
a  million  dollars  supplied  the  combination 
by  the  brewing  and  wholesale  liquor  inter- 
ests ;  more  powerful  than  the  hundreds  of 
social  and  smging  societies  supposed  to  be 
grouped  with  the  Democratic  liquor  com- 
bination ;  more  powerful  than  all  of  the 
combined  elements  of  disorder  planted  by 
the  side  of  the  Democracy. 

It  was  a  royal  battle,  fought  out  in  the 
open  day!  Indeed,  the  Republican  address 
compelled  publicity  and  made  a  secret  battle 
thereafter  impossible.  Every  eflFort  at  con- 
tinued secrecy  was  immediately  exposed  by 
the  Republican  State  Committee  and  the 
leading  daily  Republican  journals,  and  every 
country  naper  bristled  with  these-exposures. 
In  very  aesperation  the  combitjation  became 
more  and  more  public  as  the  canvass  ad- 
vanced. It  was  shown  that  the  Personal 
Liberty  I^jagues  were  under  the  direction 
of  the  Socialists,  and  this  arrayed  against 
them  all  of  the  Israelites  in  the  State  be- 
sides thousands  of  other  law-abiding  citi- 
zens:  the  demand  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Sunday  laws  compelled  the  opposition  of 


all  branches  of  religious  G-ermans— Catho- 
lics, Lutherans,  Mennonites,  Dunkards,  etc. 
— and  called  forth  the  protests  of  nearly  all 
of  the  pulpits.  The  fact  that  in  Philadel- 
phia and  Allegheny  the  brewers  and  whole- 
sale dealers,  just  as  they  do  in  the  great  cities 
of  New  York,  own  nearly  all  of  the  saloons 
—drinking  places  without  accommodatioiis 
for  strangers  and  travellers— ;^nd  that  their 
battle  was  for  the  saloon  in  competition 
with  the  hotel,  inn  or  tavern,  divided  the 
liquor  interests  and  induced  all  who  favored 
the  High  License  bill,  partially  framed  to 
protect  this  class,  to  support  the  Republican 
party.  So  true  was  this  that  a  resolution 
before  the  Convention  of  the  State  Liquor 
League  indorsing  high  license  save  a  few 
vexatious  features,  came  so  near  passing 
that  the  saloon  keepers  subsequently  estab- 
lished a  separate  organization. 

The  battle  at  no  time  and  in  no  place 
took  shape  for  prohibition  beyond  that 
sense  of  fair  play  which  suggests  submission 
to  a  vote  of  the  people  any  question  which 
a  law-abiding  and  respectable  number  desire 
to  vote  upon.  The  battle  was  almost  dis- 
tinctly for  and  against  the  Sunday  laws  and 
for  and  against  high  license,  and  the  Repub- 
licans everywhere  gave  unequivocal  support, 
to  these  measures.  In  Allegheny,  shocked 
the  year  before  by  the  sudden  raid  of  the 
brewers,  some  of  the  leading  politicians  for 
a  time  feared  to  face  the  issues  as  presented 
by  the  Republican  State  Committee,  and 
really  forced  upon  them  by  the  Democratic 
liquor  combination,  but  an  eloquent  Presby- 
terian divine  sounded  from  his  pulpit  the 
.slogan,  a  great  Catholic  priest  followed,  the 
Catholic  Temperance  Union  and  the  T.  A. 
B.'s,  not  committed  to  prohibition,  but  pub- 
licly committed  to  high  license,  passed  reso- 
lutions denouncing  the  combination.  Some 
of  the  assemblies  of  the  Knights  of  Labor 
followed,  and  in  open  battle  the  Republicans 
of  Allegheny  accepted  the  issue  and  the 
challenge  and  were  rewarded  for  their  cour- 
age by  a  gain  of  1,200  just  where  brewing 
and  distillery  interests  are  strongest.  The 
Democratic  liquor  combination  did  not  show 
a  gain  over  their  Gubernatorial  majorities 
in  a  single  German  county  except  North- 
ampton, where  a  citizens'  local  movement 
by  its  sharp  antagonism  drew  out  the  full 
Democratic  vote  for  their  State  ticket.  The 
combination,  witH  all  of  the  power  of  money, 
with  the  entire  saloon  interests,  with  the 
Personal  Liberty  Leagues,  called  from  the 
Republican  ranks  in  the  entire  State  not 
over  12.000  votes,  of  which  6,000  were  in 
Philadelphia  and  4,000  in  Allegheny.  These 
were  more  than  made  up  by  15.000  out  of 
32,000  Prohibitionists  who  returned  to  the 
Republican  party,  and  by  5,000  Democrats 
who  joined  tne  Republican  column.  Given 
more  time,  and  with  the  issues  as  univer- 
sally acknowledged  by  all  parties  as  they 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


326 


have  been  since  the  election,  far  more  Pro- 
hibitionists  would  have  returned  and  more 
Democrats  would  have  voted  the  Republican 
ticket.  As  it  was,  the  Prohibition  vote  cast 
was  about  equally  divided  between  the 
Democrats  and  Republicans;  there  was 
probably  more  Democrats  than  Republi- 
cans. In  1886  the  32,000  Prohibitionists 
comprised  24,000  Republicans  and  8000 
Democrats.  All  of  the  latter  remained  and 
were  reinforced  in  nearly  every  quarter. 
There  had  always  been  from  5,000  to  6,000 
third  party  Prohibitionists. 

If  the  Republicans  had  not  bravely  faced 
the  issues  thus  forced  upon  them  they 
would  have  lost  the  State,  for  the  Demo- 
cratic liquor  combination  polled  15,000  votes 
more  than  the  Republican  candidate — Col- 
onel Quay,  an  exceptionally  strong  man — 
had  received  in  1885 ;  but  the  bravery  of 
the  Republicans  and  the  fact  that  their 
attitude  was  right  called  out  60,000  more 
votes  than  the  party  cast  in  '85,  and  in 
this  way  increased  its  majority  despite  all 
combinations. 

These  are  the  leading  facts  in  the  most 
novel  of  all  the  campaigns  known  to  Penn- 
sylvania's history.  The  situation  was  much 
the  same  in  New  York. 

The  total  vote  for  State  Treasurer  was : 

Hart,  Republican       .  .  .  .S85.6U 

McQrano,  Democrat  .  .  .  340,269 

Irish,  Proliibitionist  .  .  .     18,471 

Kennedy,  Qreenback  .  .      8,900 

Total        ....  763,154 

An  important  feature  of  the  year  was 
the  interest  shown  in  the  question  of  pro- 
hibiting the  manufacture  arid  sale  of  intox- 
icating liquors.  Four  States  have  voted  on 
this  issue,  Michigan  leading  off  in  April, 
Texas  voting  in  August.  Tennessee  in  Sep- 
tember, and  Oregon  in  November.  Prohi- 
bition was  defeated  in  each  instance,  but 
its  advocates  succeeded  in  polling  a  sur- 
prisingly large  vote.  The  poll  in  these 
States  was  as  follows : 

For  Pro.    Against  Pro. 

Michigan  178,488  184,429 

Texas 129,273  221,627 

Tennessee 117,504  145,197 

Oregon 19,973  27,958 

Totals 445,238  579,211 

Majority  against  prohibition  133,973 


I  To  this  should  be  added  the  defeat  of 
prohibition  in  Atlanta  and  Fulton  counties, 
Ga.,  by  1122  majority,  where  it  had  won 
two  years  before  by  228  majority.  The  in- 
1  terest  shown  in  local  option  and  high  license 
as  a  solution  of  the  temperance  question, 
and  its  popularity  wherever  adopted,  is  also 
a  marked  feature  of  the  year's  politics.  In 
Michigan  local  option  succeeded  the  failure 
of  prohibition,  while  in  Pennsylvania  the 
people  are  promised  a  choice  between  high 
license  and  prohibition. 

The  elections  of  1887  as  a  whole,  without 
removing  doubts  as  to  the  future,  were  gen- 
erally accepted  as  favorable  to  the  Repub- 
licans. The  following  is  a  fair  comparison 
with  Rhode  Island  omitted,  for  the  plain 
reason  that  her  spring  result  was  reversed 
in  the  fall : 


1883. 


1887. 


Rep. 

Dem. 

Rep. 

Dem. 

Mass 

160,092 

150,228 

136,000 

118.394 

New  York.. 

429,757 

445,976 

452,435 

469,886 

New  Jersey 

97,047 

103,856 

107,026 

104,407 

Penna 

319,106 

302,031 

385,514 

340,269 

Maryland.. 

80,707 

92,694 

86,644 

98,936 

Ohio 

347.164 

359,793 

356,937 

33.3,205 

Kentucky.. 

89,131 

133,615 

126,476 

143,270 

Iowa 

164,182 

139,093 

168,696 

152,886 

Nebraska .. 

66,381 

41,998 

86,725 

56  548 

Virginia ... 

144,419 

124,080 

119,380 

119,806 

Totals 1,888,036  1,893,364  2,025,833  1,937,607 

Democratic  majority  in  1883 5,328 

Republican  majority  in  1887 ...,  88,226 

Gain  in  the  Dem.  vote  in  four  years 44,243 

Gain  in  the  Rep.  vote  in  four  years 137,797 

The  vote  in  Rhode  Island  would  probably 
reduce  the  Republican  gain  of  the  year 
about  5000.  But  as  the  figures  for  Virginia 
are  disputed  and  not  the  official  vote,  which 
it  is  known  would  add  several  thousand  to 
the  Republican  total,  the  above  result  can 
be  taken  as  a  just  estimate  of  the  gain  made 
by  the  Republicans  in  these  eleven  states, 
where  general  elections  were  held.  It  would 
be  at  least  2.'>,000  larger  if  the  vote  of  the 
highest  candidate,  instead  of  the  head  of 
the  ticket,  were  taken. 


826 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


0PE:^ING  of  the  campaign  of  1888. 


The  fiftieth  Congress  convened  in  De- 
cember, 1887,  the  Senate  consistins  of  38 
Republicans.  37  Democrats,  and  1  Read- 
juster,  Mr.  Riddleberger,  of  Virginia.  In 
the  House  there  were  168  Democrats,  153 
Republicans,  and  4  Independents— Ander- 
son, of  Iowa  and  Hopkins,  of  Virginia, 
classed  with  the  Democrats,  and  Smith  of 
Wisconsin  and  Nichols  of  North  CaroHna, 
classed  with  the  Republicans  upon  tariff 
and  educational  subjects — two  questions 
which  in  the  form  of  Revenue  measures 
and  of  the  Blair  educational  bill,  gave  early 
promise  of  becoming  the  issues  lor  the 
campaign  of  1888. 

Upon  the  assembling  of  the  fiftieth  Con- 
gress President  Cleveland,  instead  of  send- 
ing the  usual  message  describing  the  con- 
dition of  the  Nation  and  its  relations  with 
foreign  nations,  together  with  such  recom- 
mendations as  he  desired  to  make,  sent 
simply  a  message  upon  questions  of  revenue, 
and  in  this  way  gave  the  subject  such  em- 
phasis as  to  make  his  views  the  issue  in  the 
campaign  to  follow.  The  message  excited 
wide  and  varied  political  comment,  and 
when  Mr.  Blaine,  who  at  the  time  was  in 
Paris,  permitted  an  answer  to  be  wired  to 
the  New  York  Tribune,  the  two  opposing 
views  seemed  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  two 
great  opposing  parties,  and  they  were  at 
onco  accepted  as  defining  the  tendencies  of 
each  party,  at  least,  upon  tariff  and  revenue 
subjects. 

As  these  two  papers  will  prove  the  text 
for  much  of  the  discussion  incident  to  the 
campaign  of  1888,  we  give  below  their 
text: 

President  Cleveland's  Message. 

To  the  Congress  of  the  United  States : 

You  are  confronted  at  the  threshold  of 
your  legislative  duties  with  a  condition  of 
the  national  finances  which  imperatively 
demands  immediate  and  careful  considera- 
tion. 

The  amount  of  money  annually  exacted, 
through  the  operation  of  the  present  laws, 
from  the  industries  and  necessities  of  the 
people,  largely  exceeds  the  sum  necessary  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  the  government. 

When  we  consider  that  the  theory  of  our 
institutions  guarantees  to  every  citizen  the 
full  enjoyment  of  all  the  fruits  of  his 
industry  and  enterprise,  with  only  such 
deduction  as  may  be  his  share  towards  the 
careful  and  economical  maintenance  of  the 
government  which  protects  him,  it  is  plain 


that  the  exaction  of  more  than  this  is  inde- 
fensible extortion,  and  a  culpable  betrayal 
of  American  fairness  and  justice.  This 
wrong  inflicted  upon  those  who  bear  the 
burden  of  national  taxation,  like  other 
wrongs,  multiplies  a  brood  of  evil  conse- 
quences. The  public  treasury,  which  should 
only  exist  as  a  conduit  conveying  the  people's 
tribute  to  its  legitimate  objects  of  expendi- 
ture, becomes  a  hoarding-place  for  money 
needlessly  withdrawn  from  trade  and  the 
people's  use,  thus  crippling  our  national 
energies,  suspending  our  country's  develop- 
ment, preventing  investment  in  productive 
enterprise,  threatening  financial  disturbance, 
and  inviting  schemes  of  public  plunder. 

This  condition  of  our  treasury  is  not 
altogether  new ;  and  it  has  more  than  once 
of  late  been  submitted  to  the  people's  rep- 
resentatives in  the  Congress,  who  alone  can 
apply  a  remedy.  And  yet  the  situation  still 
continues,  with  aggravated  incidents,  more 
than  ever  presaging  financial  convulsion  and 
widespread  disaster. 

It  will  not  do  to  neglect  this  situation  be- 
cause its  dangers  are  not  now  palpably 
imminent  and  apparent.  They  exist  none 
the  less  certainly,  and  await  the  unforeseen 
and  unexpected  occasion  when  suddenly 
thev  will  be  precipitated  upon  us 

On  the  30th  day  of  June,  1885,  the 
excess  of  revenues  over  public  expenditures 
after  complying  with  the  annual  require- 
ment of  the  sinking-fund  act,  was  $17,859,- 
735  84 ;  during  the  year  ended  June  30, 
1886,  such  excess  amounted  to  $49,405,- 
545.20 ;  and  during  the  year  ended  June 
30,  1887,  it  reached  the  sum  of  $55,567,- 
849.54. 

The  annual  contributions  to  the  sinking- 
fund  during  the  three  years  above  specified, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  $138,058,- 
320.94,  and  deducted  from^  the  surplus  as 
stated,  were  made  by  calling  in  for  that 
purpose  outstanding  three  per  cent,  bonds 
of  the  government.   During  the  six  months 

Erior  to  June  30,  1887,  the  surplus  revenue 
ad  grown  so  large  by  repeated  accumula- 
tions, and  it  was  feared  the  withdrawal  of 
this  great  sum  of  money  needed  by  the 
people  would  so  affect  the  business  of  the 
country  that  the  sum  of  $79,864,100  of 
such  surplus  was  applied  to  the  payment  of 
the  principal  and  interest  of  the  three  per 
cent,  bonds  still  outstanding,  and  which 
were  then  payable  at  the  option  of  the 
government.  The  precarious  condition  of 
financial  affairs  among  the  people  still  need 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


327 


ing  relief,  immediately  after  the  30th  day 
of  June,  1887,  the  remainder  of  the  three 
per  cent,  bonds  then  outstanding,  amount- 
ing with  principal  and  interest  to  the  sura 
of  $18,877,500,  were  called  in  and  applied 
to  the  sinking-fund  contribution  for  the  cur- 
rent fiscal  year.  Notwithstanding  these 
operations  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
representations  of  distress  in  business  circles 
not  only  continued  but  increased,  and  abso- 
lute peril  seemed  at  hand.  In  these  circum- 
stances the  contribution  to  the  sinking  fund 
for  the  current  fiscal  year  was  at  once  com- 
pleted by  the  expenditure  of  $27,684,283.55 
in  the  purchase  of  government  bonds  not 
yet  due  bearing  four  and  four  and  a  half 
percent,  interest,  the  premium  paid  thereon 
averaging  about  twenty-four  per  cent,  for 
the  former  and  eight  per  cent,  for  the  latter. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  interest  accruing 
during  the  current  year  upon  the  outstand- 
ing bonded  indebtedness  of  the  government 
was  to  some  extent  anticipated,  and  banks 
selected  as  depositories  of  public  money  were 
permitted  to  somewhat  increase  their  de- 
posits. 

While  the  expedients  thus  employed,  to 
release  to  the  people  the  money  lying  idle 
in  the  Treasury,  served  to  avert  immediate 
danger,  our  surplus  revenues  have  continued 
to  accumulate,  the  excess  for  the  present 
year  amounting  on  the  1st  day  of  December 
to  $55,258,701.19,  and  estimated  to  reach 
the  sum  of  $113,000,000  on  the  30th  of 
June  next,  at  which  date  it  is  expected  that 
this  sum,  added  to  prior  accumulations, 
will  swell  the  surplus  in  the  Treasury  to 
$140,000,000. 

There  seems  to  be  no  assurance  that,  with 
such  a  withdrawal  from  use  of  the  people's 
circulating  medium,  our  business  community 
may  not  in  the  near  future  be  subjected  to 
the  same  distress  which  was  quite  lately 
produced  from  the  same  cause.  And  while 
the  functions  of  our  National  Treasury 
should  be  few  and  simple,  and  while  its  best 
condition  would  be  reached,  I  believe,  by 
its  entire  disconnection  with  private  business 
interests,  yet  when,  by  a  perversion  of  its 
purposes,  it  idly  holds  money  uselessly  sub- 
tracted from  the  channels  of  trade,  there 
seems  to  be  reason  for  the  claim  that  some 
legitimate  means  should  be  devised  by  the 
government  to  restore  in  an  emergency, 
without  waste  or  extravagance,  such  money 
to  its  place  among  the  people. 

If  such  an  emergency  arises  there  now 
exists  no  clear  and  undoubted  executive 
power  of  relief.  Heretofore  the  redemption 
of  three  per  cent,  bonds,  which  were  pay- 
able at  the  option  of  the  government,  has 
afforded  a  means  for  the  disbursement  of 
the  excess  of  our  revenues  ;  but  these  bonds 
have  been  all  retired,  and  there  are  no 
bonds  outstanding  the  payment  of  which  we 
have  the  right  to  insist  upon.    The  contri- 


bution to  the  sinking  fund  which  furnishes 
the  occasion  for  expenditure  in  the  purchase 
of  bonds  has  been  already  made  for  the  cur- 
rent year,  so  that  there  is  no  outlet  in  that 
direction. 

In  the  present  state  of  legislation  the  only 
pretence  of  any  existing  executive  power  to 
restore,  at  this  time,  any  part  of  our  surplus 
revenues  to  the  people  by  its  expenditure, 
consists  in  the  supposition  that  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  may  enter  the  market 
and  purchase  the  bonds  of  the  government 
not  yet  due,  at  a  rate  of  premium  to  be 
agreed  upon.  The  only  provision  of  law 
from  which  such  a  power  could  be  derived 
is  found  in  an  appropriation  bill  passed  a 
number  of  years  ago  ;  and  it  is  subject  to 
the  suspicion  that  it  was  intended  as  tem- 
porary and  limited  in  its  application,  in- 
stead of  conferring  a  continuing  discretion 
and  authority.  No  condition  ought  to 
exist  which  would  justify  the  grant  of 
power  to  a  single  official,  upon  his  judg- 
ment of  its  necessity,  to  withhold  from  or 
release  to  the  business  of  the  people,  in  an 
unusual  manner,  money  held  in  the  Treas- 
ury, and  thus  affect,  at  his  will,  the  financial 
situation  of  the  country ;  and  if  it  is  deemed 
wise  to  lodge  in  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury the  authority  in  the  present  juncture  to 
purchase  bonds,  it  should  be  plainly  vested, 
and  provided,  as  far  as  possible,  with 
such  checks  and  limitations  as  will  define 
this  official's  right  and  discretion,  and  at 
the  same  time  relieve  him  from  undue 
resfwnsibility. 

In  considering  the  question  of  purchasing 
bonds  as  a  means  of  restoring  to  circulation 
the  surplus  money  accumulating  in  the 
Treasury,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
premiums  must  of  course  be  paid  upon  such 
purchase,  that  there  may  be  a  large  part  of 
these  bonds  held  as  investments  which  can- 
not be  purchased  at  any  price,  and  that  com- 
binations among  holders  who  are  willing  to 
sell  may  unreasonably  enhance  the  cost  of 
such  bonds  to  the  government. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  present 
bonded  debt  might  be  refunded  at  a  less 
rate  of  interest,  and  the  difference  between 
the  old  and  new  security  paid  in  cash,  thus 
finding  use  for  the  surplus  in  the  Treasury. 
The  success  of  this  plan,  it  is  apparent,  must 
depend  upon  the  volition  of  the  holdera  of 
the  present  bonds;  and  it  is  not  entirely 
certain  that  the  inducement  which  must  be 
offered  them  would  result  in  more  financial 
benefit  to  the  Government  than  the  pur- 
chase of  bonds,  while  the  latter  proposition 
would  reduce  the  principal  of  the  debt  by 
actual  payment,  instead  of  extending  it. 

The  proposition  to  deposit  the  money 
held  by  the  Government  in  banks  through- 
out the  country,  for  use  by  the  people,  is, 
it  seems  to  me,  exceedingly  objectionable  in 
principle,  as  establishing  too  close  a  rela- 


328 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


tiooship  between  the  operations  of  the 
Governmeat  Treasury  and  the  business  of 
the  country,  and  too  extensive  a  com- 
mingling of  their  money,  thus  fostering  an 
unnatural  reliance  in  private  business  upon 
public  funds.  If  this  scheme  should  be 
adopted  it  should  only  be  done  as  a  tempo- 
rary expedient  to  meet  an  urgent  necessity. 
Legislative  and  executive  effort  should  gen- 
erally be  in  the  opposite  direction  and 
should  have  a  tendency  to  divorce,  as  much 
and  as  fast  as  can  safely  be  done,  the 
Treasury  Department  from  private  enter- 
prise. 

Of  course  it  is  not  expected  that  unneces- 
sary and  extravagant  appropriations  will  be 
made  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  the 
accumulation  oi  an  excess  of  revenue. 
Such  expenditure,  beside  the  demoraliza- 
tion of  all  just  conceptions  of  public  duty 
which  it  entails,  stimulates  a  haoit  of  reck- 
less improvidence  not  in  the  least  consistent 
with  the  mission  of  our  people  or  the  high 
and  beneficent  purposes  of  our  government. 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  thus  bring  to 
the  knowledge  of  my  countrymen,  as  well 
as  to  the  attention  of  their  representatives 
charged  with  the  responsibility  of  legislative 
relief,  the  gravity  oi  our  financial  situation. 
The  failure  of  the  Congress  heretofore  to 
provide  against  the  dangers  which  it  was 
quite  evident  the  very  nature  of  the  diffi- 
culty must  neces-sarily  produce,  caused  a 
oondition  of  financial  distress  and  appre- 
hension since  your  last  adjournment,  which 
taxed  to  the  utmost  all  the  authority  and 
expedients  within  executive  control ;  and 
these  appear  now  to  be  exhausted.  If  dis- 
aster results  from  the  continued  inaction  of 
Congress,  the  responsibility  must  rest  where 
it  belongs. 

Though  the  situation  thus  far  considered 
is  fraught  with  danger  which  should  be 
ftilly  realized,  and  though  it  presents  feat- 
ures of  wrong  to  the  people  as  well  as  peril 
to  the  country,  it  is  but  a  result  growing 
out  of  a  perfectly  palpable  and  apparent 
cause,  constantly  reproducing  the  same 
alarming  circumstances — a  congested  na- 
tional treasury  and  a  depleted  monetary 
oondition  in  the  business  of  the  country.  It 
need  hardly  be  stated  that  while  the  present 
situatioD  demands  a  remedy,  we  can  only  be 
saved  from  a  like  predicament  in  the  future 
by  the  removal  of  its  cause. 

Our  scheme  of  taxation,  by  means  of 
which  this  needless  surplus  is  taken  from 
the  people  and  put  into  the  public  treasurj', 
consists  of  a  tariff  or  duty  levied  upon  im- 
portations from  abroad,  and  internal  revenue 
taxes  levied  upon  the  consumption  of  to- 
bacco and  spirituous  and  malt  liquors.  It 
must  be  conceded  that  none  of  the  things 
subjected  to  internal  revenue  taxation  are, 
strictly  speaking,  necessaries;  there  appears 
to  be  no  just  complaint  of  this  taxation  by 


the  consumers  of  these  articles,  and  there 
seems  to  be  nothing  so  well  able  to  bear  the 
burden  without  hardship  to  any  portion  of 
the  people. 

But  our  present  tariff  laws,  the  vicious, 
inequitable  and  illogical  source  of  unneces- 
sary taxation,  ought  to  be  at  once  revised 
and  amended.  These  laws,  as  their  primary 
and  plain  effect,  raise  the  price  to  consumers 
of  all  articles  imported  and  subject  to  duty, 
by  precisely  the  sum  paid  for  such  duties. 
Thus  the  amount  of  the  duty  measures  the 
tax  paid  by  those  who  purchase  for  use 
these  imported  articles.  Many  of  these 
things,  however,  are  raised  or  manufactured 
in  our  own  country,  and  the  duties  now 
levied  upon  foreign  goods  and  products  are 
called  protection  to  these  home  manufac- 
tures, because  they  render  it  possible  for 
those  of  our  people  who  are  manufacturers, 
to  make  these  taxed  articles  and  sell  them 
for  a  price  equal  to  that  demanded  for  the 
imported  goods  that  have  paid  customs 
duty.  So  it  happens  that  while  compara- 
tively a  few  use  the  imported  articles,  mil- 
lions of  our  people,  who  never  use  and' 
never  saw  any  of  the  foreign  products,  pur- 
chase and  use  things  of  the  same  kind  made 
in  this  country,  and  pay  therefor  nearly  or 
quite  the  same  enhanced  price  which  the 
duty  adds  to  the  imported  articles.  Those 
who  buy  imports  pay  the  duty  charged 
thereon  into  the  public  treasury,  but  the 
great  majority  or  our  citizens,  who  buy 
domestic  articles  of  the  same  class,  pay  a 
sum  at  least  approximately  equal  to  this 
duty  to  the  home  manufacturer.  This  ref- 
erence to  the  operation  of  our  tariff  laws  is 
not  made  by  way  of  instruction,  but  in  order 
that  we  may  be  constantly  reminded  of  the 
manner  in  which  they  impose  a  burden  upon 
those  who  consume  domestic  products  as 
well  as  those  who  consume  imported  articles, 
and  thus  create  a  tax  upon  all  our  people. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  entirely  relieve  the 
country  of  tnis  taxation.  It  must  be  ex- 
tensively continued  as  the  source  of  the 
government's  income ;  and  in  a  readjust- 
ment of  our  tariff  the  interests  of  American 
labor  engaged  in  manufacture  should  be 
carefully  considered,  as  well  as  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  manufacturers.  It  may  be  called 
protection,  or  by  any  other  name,  but  relief 
from  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  our 
present  tariff  laws  should  be  devised  with 
especial  precaution  against  imperilling  the 
existence  of  our  manufacturing  interests. 
But  this  existence  should  not  mean  a  con- 
dition which,  without  regard  to  the  public 
welfare  or  a  national  exigency,  must  always 
insure  the  realization  of  immense  profits  in- 
stead of  moderately  profitable  returns.  As 
the  volume  and  diversity  of  our  national 
activities  increase,  new  recuits  are  added  to 
those  who  desire  a  continuation  of  the  ad- 
vantages which  they  conceive  the  present 


BOOK   I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS 


329 


system  of  tatiff  taxation  directly  affords 
•  them.  So  stubbornly  have  all  efforts  to  re- 
form the  present  condition  been  resisted  by 
those  of  our  fellow-citizens  thus  engaged, 
that  they  can  hardly  complain  of  the  sus- 
picion, entertained  to  a  certain  extent,  that 
there  exists  an  organized  combination  all 
along  the  line  to  maintain  their  advan- 
tage. 

We  are  in  the  midst  of  centennial  cele- 
brations, and  with  becoming  pride  we  re- 
joice in  American  skill  and  ingenuity,  in 
American  energy  and  enterprise,  and  iu  the 
wonderful  natural  advantages  and  resources 
developed  by  a  century's  national  growth. 
Yet  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  justify  a 
scheme  which  permits  a  tax  to  be  laid  upon 
every  consumer  in  the  land  for  the  benefit 
of  out  manufacturers,  quite  beyond  a  reason- 
able demand  for  governmental  regard,  it 
suits  the  purposes  of  advocacy  to  call  our 
manufactures  infant  industries,  still  needing 
the  highest  and  greatest  degree  of  favor  and 
fostering  care  that  can  be  wrung  from  Fed- 
eral legislation. 

It  is  also  said  that  the  increase  in  the 
price  of  domestic  manufactures  resulting 
from  the  present  tariff  is  necessary  in  order 
that  higher  wages  may  be  paid  to  our  work- 
ingmen  employed  in  manufactories,  than 
are  paid -for  what  is  called  the  pauper  labor 
of  Europe.  All  will  acknowledge  the  force 
of  an  argument  which  involves  the  welfare 
and  liberal  compensation  of  our  laboring 
people.  Our  labor  is  honorab'e  in  the  eyes 
of  every  American  citizen;  and  as  it  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  our  development  and  pro- 

Sress,  it  is  entitled,  without  affectation  or 
ypocrisy,  to  the  utmost  regard.  The 
standard  of  our  laborers'  life  should  not  be 
measured  by  that  of  any  other  country  less 
favored,  and  they  are  entitled  to  the  full 
share  of  all  our  advantages. 

By  the  last  census  it  is  made  to  appear 
that  of  the  17,392,099  of  our  population 
engaged  in  all  kinds  of  industries  7,670,493 
are  emploj'ed  in  agriculture,  4,074,238  in 
professional  and  personal  service,  (2,934,- 
876  of  whom  are  domestic  servants  and 
laborers,)  while  1,810,256  are  employed  in 
trade  and  transportation,  and  3,837,112  are 
classed  as  employed  in  manufacturing  and 
mining. 

For  present  purposes,  however,  the  last 
number  given  should  be  considerably  re- 
duced. \Vithout  attempting  to  enumerate 
all,  it  will  be  conceded  that  tnere  should  be 
deducted  from  those  which  it  includes  375,- 
143  carpenters  and  joiners,  285,401  milli- 
ners, dressmakers,  and  seamstresses,  172,726 
blacksmiths,  133,756  tailors  and  tailoresses, 
102.473  masons,  76,241  butchers,  41,309 
bakers,  22,083  plasterers  and  4,891  engaged 
in  manufactunng  agricultural  implements, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  1,214,023, 
leaving  2,623,089  persons  employed  in  such 


manufacturing  industries  as  are  claimed  to 
be  benefited  by  a  high  tariff. 

To  these  the  appeal  is  made  to  save  their 
employment  and  maintain  their  wages  by 
resisting  a  change.  There  should  be  no 
disposition  to  answer  such  suggestions  by 
the  allegation  that  they  are  in  a  minority 
among  those  who  labor,  and  therefore 
should  forego  an  advantage,  in  the  interest 
of  low  prices  for  the  majority  •  their  com- 
pensation, as  it  may  be  affected  by  the  op- 
eration of  the  tariff"  laws,  should  at  all  times 
be  scrupulously  kept  in  view;  and  j'et  with 
slight  reflection  they  will  not  overlook  the 
fact  that  they  are  consumers  with  the  rest; 
that  they,  too,  have  their  own  wants  ana 
those  of  their  families  to  supply  from  their 
earnings,  and  that  the  price  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  their 
wages,  will  regulate  the  measure  of  their 
welfare  and  comfort. 

But  the  reduction  of  taxation  demanded 
should  be  so  measured  as  not  to  necessitate 
or  justify  either  the  loss  of  employment  by 
the  working  man  nor  the  lessening  of  his 
wages;  and  the  profits  still  remaining  to 
the  manufacturer,  after  a  necessary  read- 
justment, should  furnish  no  excuse  for  the 
sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  his  employes 
either  in  their  opportunity  to  work  or  in 
the  diminution  of  their  compensation.  Nor 
can  the  worker  in  manufactures  fail  to 
understand  that  while  a  high  tariff  is 
claimed  to  be  necessary  to  allow  the  pay- 
ment of  remunerative  wages,  it  certainly 
results  in  a  very  large  increase  in  the  price 
of  nearly  all  sorts  of  manufactures,  which, 
in  almost  countless  forms,  he  needs  for  the 
use  of  himself  and  his  family.  He  receives 
at  the  desk  of  his  employer  his  wages,  and 
perhaps  before  he  reaches  his  home  is 
obliged,  in  a  purchase  for  family  use  of  an 
article  which  embraces  his  own  labor,  to 
return  in  the  payment  of  the  increase  in 
price  which  the  tariff  permits,  the  hard- 
earned  compensation  of  many  days  of  toil. 

The  farmer  and  the  agriculturist  who 
manufacture  nothing,  but  who  pay  the  in- 
creased price  which  the  tariff  imposes,  upon 
every  agricultural  implement,  upon  all  he 
wears  and  upon  all  he  uses  and  owns,  ex- 
cept the  increase  of  his  flocks  and  herds 
and  such  things  as  his  husbandry  produces 
from  the  soil,  is  invited  to  aid  in  maintain- 
ing the  present  situation ;  and  he  is  told 
that  a  high  duty  on  imported  wool  is  neces- 
sary for  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  sheep 
to  shear,  in  order  that  the  price  of  their 
wool  may  be  increased.  They  of  course  are 
not  reminded  that  the  farmer  who  has  no 
sheep  is  by  this  scheme  obliged,  in  his  pur- 
chase of  clothing  and  woolen  goods,  to  pay 
a  tribute  to  his  fellow  farmer  as  well  as  to 
the  manufacturer  and  merchant ;  nor  is  any 
mention  made  of  the  fact  that  the  sheep- 
owners  themselves  and  their  households, 


830 


AMEBICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


must  wear  clothing  and  use  other  articles 
manufactured  from  the  wool  they  sell  at 
tariff  prices,  and  thus  as  consumers  must 
return  their  share  of  this  increased  price  to 
the  tradesman. 

I  think  it  may  be  fairly  assumed  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  sheep  owned  by 
the  farmers  throughout  the  country  are 
found  in  small  flocks  numbering  from 
twenty-five  to  fifty-  T'le  duty  on  the  grade 
of  imported  wool  which  these  sheep  yield, 
is  ten  cents  each  pound  if  of  the  value  of 
thirty  cents  or  less,  and  twelve  cents  if  of 
the  value  of  more  than  thirty  cents.  If  the 
liberal  estimate  of  six  pounds  be  allowed  for 
each  fleece,  the  duty  tnereon  would  be  sixty 
or  seventy-two  cents,  and  this  may  be  taken 
as  the  utmost  enhancement  of  its  price  to 
the  farmer  by  reason  of  this  duty.  Eighteen 
dollars  would  thus  represent  the  increased 
price  of  the  wool  from  twenty-five  sheep 
and  thirty-six  dollars  that  from  the  wool  of 
fifty  sheep ;  and  at  present  values  this  ad- 
dition would  amount  to  about  one-third  of 
its  price.  If  upon  its  sale  the  farmer  re- 
ceives this  or  a  less  tariff  profit,  the  wool 
leaves  his  hands  charged  with  precisely  that 
sum,  which  in  all  its  changes  will  adhere  to 
it,  until  it  reaches  the  consumer.  When 
manufactured  into  cloth  and  other  goods 
and  material  for  use,  its  cost  is  not  only  in- 
creased to  the  extent  of  the  farmer's  tariff 
profit,  but  a  further  sum  has  been  added 
for  the  benefit  of  the  manufacturer  under 
the  operation  of  other  tariff  laws.  In  the 
meantime  the  day  arrives  when  the  farmer 
finds  it  necessary  to  purchase  woolen  goods 
and  material  to  clothe  himself  and  family 
for  the  winter.  When  he  faces  the  trades- 
man for  that  purpose  he  discovers  that  he 
is  obliged  not  only  to  return  in  the  way  of 
increased  prices,  his  tariff  profit  on  the  wool 
he  sold,  and  which  then  perhaps  lies  before 
him  in  manufactured  form,  but  that  he 
must  add  a  considerable  sum  thereto  to 
meet  a  further  increase  in  cost  caused  by  a 
tariff  duty  on  the  manufacture.  Thus  in 
the  end  he  is  aroused  to  the  fact  that  he 
has  paid  upon  a  moderate  purchase,  as  the 
result  of  the  tariff  scheme,  which,  when  he 
sold  his  wool  seemed  so  profitable,  an  in- 
crease in  price  more  than  sufiicient  to  sweep 
away  all  the  tariff  profit  he  received  upon 
the  wool  he  produced  and  sold. 

When  the  number  of  farmers  engaged  in 
wool-raising  is  compared  with  all  the  farm- 
ers in  the  country,  and  the  small  proportion 
they  bear  to  our  population  is  considered  ; 
when  it  is  made  apparent  that,  in  the  case 
of  a  large  part  of  those  who  own  sheep,  the 
benefit  of  the  present  tariff  ^n  wool  is  illu- 
sory; and,  above  all,  when  it  must  be  con- 
ceded that  the  increase  of  the  cost  of  living 
caused  by  such  a  tariff,  becomes  a  burden 
upon  those  with  moderate  means  and  the 
poor,  the  employed  and  the  unemployed, 


the  sick  and  well,  and  the  young  and  old, 
and  that  it  constitutes  a  tax  which,  with- 
relentless  grasp,  is  fastened  upon  the  cloth- 
ing of  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
land,  reasons  are  suggested  why  the  re- 
moval or  reduction  of  this  duty  should  be 
included  in  a  revision  of  our  tariff  laws. 

In  speaking  of  the  increased  cost  to  the 
consumer  of  our  home  manufactures,  result- 
ing from  a  duty  laid  upon  imported  articles 
of  the  same  description,  the  fact  is  not  over- 
looked that  competition  among  our  domestic 
producers  sometimes  has  the  effect  of  keep- 
ing the  price  of  their  products  below  the 
highest  limit  allowed  by  such  duty.  But  it 
is  notorious  that  this  competition  is  too 
often  strangled  by  combinations  quite  pre- 
valent at  this  time,  and  frequently  called 
trusts,  which  have  for  their  object  the  regu- 
lation of  the  supply  and  price  of  commodi- 
ties made  and  sold  by  members  of  the  com- 
bination. The  people  can  hardly  hope  for 
any  consideration  in  the  operation  of  these 
selfish  schemes. 

If,  however,  in  the  absence  of  such  com- 
bination, a  healthy  and  free  competition  re- 
duces the  price  of  any  particular  dutiable 
article  of  home  production,  below  the  limit 
which  it  might  otherwise  reach  under  our 
tariff  laws,  and  if,  with  such  reduced  price, 
its  manufacture  continues  to  thrive,  it  is 
entirely  evident  that  one  thing  has  been 
discovered  which  should  be  carefully  scru- 
tinized in  an  effort  to  reduce  taxation. 

The  necessity  of  combination  to  maintain 
the  price  of  any  commodity  to  the  tariff 
point,  furnishes  proof  that  some  one  is 
willing  to  accept  lower  prices  for  such  com- 
modity, and  that  such  prices  are  remunera- 
tive ;  and  lower  prices  produced  by  compe- 
tition prove  the  same  thing.  Thus  where 
either  of  these  conditions  exists,  a  case  would 
seem  to  be  presented  for  an  easy  reduction 
of  taxation 

The  considerations  which  have  been  pre- 
sented touching  our  tariff  laws  are  intended 
only  to  enforce  an  earnest  recommendation 
that  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  govern- 
ment be  prevented  by  the  reduction  of  our 
customs  duties,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
emphasize  a  suggestion  that  in  accomplish- 
ing this  purpose,  we  may  discharge  a  double 
duty  to  our  people  by  granting  to  them  a 
measure  of  relief  from  tariff  taxation  in 
quarters  where  it  is  most  needed  and  from 
sources  where  it  can  be  most  fairly  and 
justly  accorded. 

Nor  can  the  presentation  made  of  such 
considerations  be,  with  any  degree  of  fair- 
ness, regarded  as  evidence  of  unfriendliness 
toward  our  manufacturing  interests,  or  of 
any  lack  of  appreciation  of  their  value  and 
importance. 

These  interests  constitute  a  leading  and 
most  substantial  element  of  our  national 
greatness  and  furnish  the  proud  proof  of 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


331 


our  country's  progress.  But  if  in  the  emer- 
gency that  presses  upon  us  our  manufactur- 
ers are  asked  to  surrender  something  for 
the  pubUc  good  and  to  avert  disaster,  their 
patriotism,  as  well  as  a  grateful  recognition 
of  advantages  already  afforded,  shoidd  lead 
them  to  willing  cooperation.  No  demand 
is  made  that  they  shall  forego  all  the  bene- 
fits of  governmental  regard ;  but  they  can- 
not fail  to  be  admonished  of  their  duty,  as 
well  as  their  enlightened  self-interest  and 
safety,  when  they  are  reminded  of  the  fact 
that  financial  panic  and  collapse,  to  which 
the  present  condition  tends,  afford  no 
greater  shelter  or  protection  to  our  manu- 
factures than  to  our  other  important  enter- 
S rises-  Opportunity  for  safe,  careful,  and 
eliberate  reform  is  now  afforded;  and 
none  of  us  should  be  unmindful  of  a  time 
when  an  abused  and  irritated  people,  heed- 
less of  those  who  have  resisted  timely  and 
reasonable  relief,  may  insist  upon  a  radical 
and  sweeping  rectification  of  their  wrongs. 

The  difiiculty  attending  a  wise  and  fair 
revision  of  our  tariff  laws  is  not  underesti- 
mated. It  will  require  on  the  part  of  the 
Congress  great  labor  and  care,  and  espe- 
cially a  broad  and  national  contemplation  of 
the  subject,  and  a  patriotic  disregard  of 
such  local  and  selfish  claims  as  are  unreason- 
able and  reckless  of  the  welfare  of  the  en- 
tire country. 

Under  our  present  laws  more  than  four 
thousand  articles  are  subject  to  duty.  Many 
of  these  do  not  in  any  way  compete  with  our 
own  manufactures,  and  many  are  hardly 
worth  attention  as  subjects  of  revenue.  A 
considerable  reduction  can  be  made  in  the 
aggregate,  by  adding  them  to  the  free  list. 
The  taxation  of  luxuries  presents  no  features 
of  hardship;  but  the  necessaries  of  life  used 
and  consumed  by  all  the  people,  the  duty 
upon  which  adds  to  the  cost  of  living  in 
every  home,  should  be  greatly  cheapened. 

The  radical  reduction  of  the  duties  im- 
posed upon  raw  material  used  in  manufac- 
tures, or  its  free  importation,  is  of  course  an 
important  factor  in  any  effort  to  reduce  the 
price  of  these  necessaries ;  it  would  not  only 
relieve  them  from  the  increased  cost  caused 
by  the  tariff  on  such  material,  but  the  man&- 
factured  product  being  thus  cheapened,  that 
part  of  the  tariff  now  laid  upon  such  product, 
as  a  compensation  to  our  manufacturers  for 
the  present  price  of  raw  material,  could  be 
accordingly  modified.  Such  reduction,  or 
free  importation,  would  serve  beside  to 
largely  reduce  the  revenue.  It  is  not  ap- 
parent how  such  a  change  can  have  any  in- 
jurious effect  upon  our  manufacturers.  On 
the  contrary,  it  would  appear  to  give  them 
a  better  chance  in  foreign  markets  with 
the  manufacturers  of  other  countries,  who 
cheapen  their  wares  by  free  material.  Thus 
our  people  might  have  the  opportunity  of 
extending  their  sales  beyond  the  limits  of 


home  consumption — saving  them  from  the 
depression,  interruption  in  business,  and 
loss  caused  by  a  glutted  domestic  market, 
and  affording  their  employes  more  certain 
and  steady  labor,  with  its  resulting  quiet 
and  contentment. 

The  question  thus  imperatively  presented 
for  solution  should  be  approached  in  a 
spirit  higher  than  partisanship  and  consid- 
ered in  the  light  of  that  regard  for  patriotic 
duty  which  should  characterize  the  action 
of  those  intrusted  with  the  weal  of  a  con- 
fiding people.  But  the  obligation  to  de- 
clared party  policy  and  principle  is  not 
wanting  to  urge  prompt  and  effective  action. 
Both  of  the  great  political  parties  now 
represented  in  the  Government  have,  by 
repeated  and  authoritative  declarations, 
condemed  the  condition  of  our  laws  which 
permits  the  collection  from  the  people  of 
unnecessary  revenue,  and  have,  in  the  most 
solemn  manner,  promised  its  correction ; 
and  neither  as  citizens  or  partisans  are  our 
countrymen  in  a  mood  to  condone  the  de- 
liberate violation  of  these  pledges. 

Our  progress  toward  a  wise  conclusion 
will  not  be  improved  by  dwelling  upon  the 
theories  of  protection  and  free  trade.  This 
savors  too  much  of  bandying  epithets.  It 
is  a  condition  which  confronts  us— not  a 
theory.  Relief  from  this  condition  may 
involve  a  slight  reduction  of  the  advantages 
which  we  award  our  home  productions,  but 
the  entire  withdrawal  of  such  advantages 
should  not  be  contemplated.^  The  question 
of  free  trade  is  absolutely  irrelevant ;  and 
the  persistent  claim  made  in  certain  quar- 
ters, that  all  efforts  to  relieve  the  people 
from  unjust  and  unnecessary  taxation  are 
schemes  of  so-called  free-traders,  is  mis- 
chievous and  far  removed  from  any  consid- 
eration for  the  public  good. 

The  simple  and  plain  duty  which  we  owe 
the  people  is  to  reduce  taxation  to  the  nec- 
essary expenses  of  an  economical  operation 
of  the  government,  and  to  restore  to  the 
business  of  the  country  the  money  which 
we  hold  in  the  treasury  through  the  per- 
version of  governmental  powers.  These 
things  can  and  should  be  done  with  safety 
to  all  our  industries,  without  danger  to  the 
opportunity  for  remunerative  laoor  which 
our  workingmen  need,  and  with  benefit  to 
them  and  all  our  people,  by  cheapening 
their  means  of  subsistence  and  increasing 
the  measure  of  their  comforts. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  Pres- 
ident "shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the 
Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the 
Union."  It  has  been  the  custom  of  the 
Executive,  i^  compliance  with  this  provi- 
sion, to  annually  exhibit  to  the  Congre.«s, 
at  the  opening  of  its  session,  the  general 
condition  of  the  country,  and  to  detail,  with 
some  particularity,  the  operations  of  the 
different  Executive  Departments.  It  would 


882 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


be  especially  agreeable  to  follow  this  course 
at  the  present  time,  and  to  call  attention  to 
the  valuable  accomplishments  of  these 
departmeoti  during  the  last  fiscal  year. 
But  I  am  much  impressed  with  the  para- 
mount importance  of  the  subject  to  which 
this  communication  has  thus  far  been 
devoted,  that  I  shall  forego  the  addition  of 
any  other  topic,  and  only  urge  upon  your 
immediate  consideration  the  "state  of  the 
Union"  as  shown  in  the  prosent  condition 
of  our  treasury  and  our  general  fiscal  situa- 
tion, upon  which  every  element  of  our 
safety  and  pros|)erity  depends. 

The  reports  of  the  heads  of  departments, 
which  will  be  submitted,  contain  full  and 
explicit  information  touching  the  transac- 
tion of  the  business  intrusted  to  them,  and 
such  recommendations  relating  to  legisla- 
tion in  the  public  interest  as  they  deem  ad- 
visable. I  ask  for  these  reports  and  recom- 
mendations the  deliberate  examination  and 
action  of  the  Legislative  branch  of  the 
government 

There  are  other  subjects  not  embraced  in 
the  departmental  reports  demanding  legis- 
lative consideration  and  which  I  should  be 
glad  to  submit.  Some  of  them,  however, 
have  been  earnestly  presented  in  previous 
messages,  and  as  to  them,  I  beg  leave  to 
repeat  prior  recommendations. 

As  tne  law  makes  no  provision  for  any 
report  from  the  department  of  State,  a 
brief  history  of  the  transactions  of  that 
important  Department,  together  with  other 
matters  which  it  may  hereafter  be  deemed 
essential  to  commend  to  the  attention  of 
the  Congress,  may  furnish  the  occasion  for 
a  future  communication. 

G ROVER  Cleveland. 

Wauiiiiotom,  D$eembtr  6,  1887. 

Mr.  Blaine's  Aiuivrer  to  Cleveland. 

Bf  Cable  to  the  N.  T.  Tribune. 

Paris,  Dec.  7,  1887.— After  reading  an 
abstract  of  the  President's  message,  laid  be- 
fore all  Europe  this  morning.  I  saw  Mr. 
Blaine  and  asked  him  if  he  would  be  willing 
to  give  his  views  upon  the  recommendation 
of  the  President  in  the  form  of  a  letter  or 
interview.  He  preferred  an  interview,  if  I 
would  agree  to  send  him  an  intelligent  short- 
hand reporter,  with  such  questions  as  should 
give  free  scope  for  an  expression  of  his 
views.  The  following  lucid  and  powerful 
statement  is  the  result.  Mr.  Blaine  began 
by  saying  to  the  reporter: 

"  I  have  been  reading  an  abstract  of  the 
President's  message  and  have  been  espe- 
cially interested  in  the  comments  of  the 
Lon'lon  papers.  Those  papers  all  assume 
to  declare  that  the  message  is  a  free  trade 
manifesto  and  evidently  are  anticipating 
an  enlarpd  market  for  English  fabrics  in 
the    United   States  as  a  consequence  of 


the  President's  recommendations.  Perhaps 
that  fact  stamped  the  character  of  the  mes- 
sage more  clearly  than  any  words  of  mine 
can. ' ' 

"You  don't  mean  actual  free  trade  with- 
out duty?"  queried  the  reporter. 

"No,"  replied  Mr.  Blaine.  "Nor  do 
the  London  papers  mean  that.  They  simply 
mean  that  the  President  has  recommenoed 
what  in  the  United  States  is  known  as  a 
revenue  tariff,  rejecting  the  protective  feat- 
ure as  an  object  and  not  even  permitting 
protection  to  result  freely  as  an  incident  to 
revenue  duties." 

"I  don't  know  that  I  quite  comprehend 
that  last  point,"  said  the  reporter. 

"I  mean,"  said  Mr.  Blaine,  "that  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States  the  President  recommends  retaining 
the  internal  tax  in  order  that  the  tariff  may 
be  forced  down  even  below  the  fair  revenue 
standard.  He  recommends  that  the  tax  on 
tobacco  be  retained,  and  thus  that  many 
millions  annually  shall  be  levied  on  a  do- 
mestic product  which  would  far  better  come 
from  a  tariff  on  foreign  fabrics." 

"Then  do  you  mean  to  imply  that  you 
would  favor  the  repeal  of  the  tooacco  tax?" 

"Certainly;  I  mean  just  that,"  said  Mr. 
Blaine.  "I  should  urge  that  it  be  done  at 
once,  even  before  the  Christmas  holidays. 
It  would  in  the  first  place  bring  great  relief 
to  growers  of  tobacco  all  over  the  country, 
and  would,  moreover,  materially  lessen  the 
price  of  the  article  to  consumers.  Tobacco 
to  millions  of  men  is  a  necessity.  The  Presi- 
dent calls  it  a  luxury,  but  it  is  a  luxury  in 
no  other  sense  than  tea  and  coffee  are  lux- 
uries. It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  lux- 
ury of  yesterday  becomes  a  necessity  of  to- 
day. Watch,  if  you  please,  the  number  of 
men  at  work  on  the  farm,  in  the  coal  mine, 
along  the  railroad,  in  the  iron  foundry,  or 
in  any  calling,  and  you  will  find  95  in  100 
chewing  while  they  work.  After  each  meal 
the  same  proportion  seek  the  solace  of  a 
pipe  or  a  cigar.  These  men  not  only  pay 
the  millions  of  the  tobacco  tax,  but  pay  on 
every  plug  and  every  cigar  an  enhanced 
price  which  the  tax  enables  the  manufac- 
turer and  retailer  to  impose.  The  only  ex- 
cuse for  such  a  tax  is  the  actual  necessity 
under  Y^hich  the  government  found  itself 
during  the  war,  and  the  years  immediately 
following.  To  retain  the  tax  now  in  order 
to  destroy  the  protection  which  would  inci- 
dentally flow  from  raising  the  same  amount 
of  money  on  foreign  imports,  is  certainly  a 
most  extraordinary  policy  for  our  govern- 
ment." 

"  Well,  then,  Mr.  Blaine,  would  vou  ad- 
vise the  repeal  of  the  whiskey  tax  also?" 

"  No,  I  would  not.  Other  considerations 
than  those  of  financial  administration  are 
to  be  taken  into  account  with  regard  to 
whiskey.    There  is  a  moral  side  to  it    To 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


8bS 


cheapen  the  price  of  whiskey  is  to  increase 
its  consumption  enormously.  There  would 
be  no  sense  in  urging  the  reform  wrought  by 
high  Ucense  in  many  States  if  the  National 
Government  neutralizes  the  good  effect  by 
making  whiskey  within  reach  of  every  one 
at  twenty  cents  a  gallon.  Whiskey  would 
be  everywhere  distilled  if  the  surveillance 
of  the  government  were  withdrawn  by  the 
remission  of  the  tax,  and  illicit  sales  could 
not  then  be  prevented  even  by  a  policy  as 
rigorous  and  searching  as  that  with  which 
Russia  pursues  the  Nihilists.  It  would  de- 
stroy high  license  at  once  in  all  the  States. 

"Whiskey  has  done  a  vast  deal  of  harm 
in  the  United  States.  I  would  try  to  make 
it  do  some  good.  I  would  use  the  tax  to 
fortify  our  cities  on  the  seaboard.  In  view 
of  the  powerful  letter  addressed  to  the 
democratic  party  on  the  subject  of  fortifi- 
cations by  the  late  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  in 
1885,  I  am  amazed  that  no  attention  has 
been  paid  to  the  subject  bj'  the  democratic 
administration.  Never  before  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  has  any  government  al- 
lowed great  cities  on  the  seaboard,  like 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  Balti- 
more, New  Orleans,  and  San  Francisco,  to 
remain  defenceless." 

'"But,"  said  the  reporter,  "you  don't 
think  we  are  to  have  a  war  in  any  direction?' ' 

"Certainly  not,"  said  Mr.  Blaine,  "Nei- 
ther, I  presume,  did  Mr.  Tilden  when  he 
wrote  his  remarkable  letter.  But  we  should 
change  a  remote  chance  into  an  absolute 
impossibility.      If  our  weak  and  exposed 

Joints  were  strongly  fortified ;  if  to-day  we 
ad  by  any  chance  even  such  a  war  as  we 
had  with  Mexico  our  enemy  could  procure 
ironclads  in  Europe  that  would  menace  our 
great  cities  with  destruction  or  lay  them 
under  contribution. ' ' 

"But  would  not  our  fortifying  now  pos- 
sibly look  as  if  we  expected  war?" 

"  Why  should  it  any  more  than  fortifica- 
tions made  seventy  or  eighty  years  ago  by 
our  grandfathers  when  they  guarded  them- 
selves against  successful  attack  from  the 
armaments  of  that  day.  We  don't  neces- 
sarily expect  a  burglar  because  we  lock 
our  doors  at  night,  but  if  by  any  possibility 
a  burglar  comes  it  contributes  vastly  to  our 
peace  of  mind  and  our  sound  sleep  to  feel 
that  he  can't  get  in." 

"But  after  the  fortifications  should  be 
constructed  would  you  still  maintain  the 
tax  on  whiskey?" 

"Tes,"  said  Mr.  Blaine,  "So  long  as 
there  is  whiskey  to  tax  1  would  tax  it,  and 
when  the  National  Government  should  have 
no  use  for  the  money  I  would  divide  the  tax 
among  the  Federal  Union  with  specific  ob- 
ject of  lightening  the  tax  on  real  estate. 
The  houses  and  farms  of  the  whole  country 

fay  too  large  a  proportion  of  the  total  taxes, 
f  ultimately  relief  could  be  given  in  that 


direction  it  would,  in  my  judgment,  be  a 
wise  and  beneficent  policy.  Some  honeut 
but  misguided  friends  of  temperance  have 
urged  that  the  government  should  not  use 
the  money  derived  from  the  tax  on  whiskey. 
My  reply  that  the  tax  on  whiskey  by  the 
Federal  Government,  with  its  suppression 
of  all  illicit  distillation  and  consequent  en- 
hancement of  price,  has  been  a  powerful 
agent  in  the  temperance  reform  by  putting 
it  beyond  the  reach  of  so  man}'.  The  amount 
of  whiskey  consumed  in  the  United  States 
per  capita  to-day  is  not  more  than  40  per 
cent,  of  that  consumed  thirty  years  ago.  ' 

After  a  few  moments'  silence  Mr.  Blaine 
added  that  in  his  judgment  the  whiskey  tax 
should  be  so  modified  as  to  permit  all  who 
use  pure  alcohol  in  the  arts  or  mechanical 
pursuits  to  have  it  free  from  tax.  In  all  such 
cases  the  tax  should  be  remitted  without 
danger  of  fraud,  just  as  now  the  tax  on 
spirits  exported  is  remitted. 

"Besides  your  general  and  sweeping  op- 

Eosition  to  the  President's  recommendation 
ave  you  any  further  specific  objection?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Blaine;  "I  should 
seriously  oWect  to  the  repeal  of  the  duty 
on  wool.  To  repeal  that  would  work  great 
injustice  to  many  interests  and  would 
seriously  discourage  what  we  should  en- 
courage, namely,  the  sheep  culture  among 
farmers  throughout  the  Union.  To  break 
wool -growing  and  be  dependent  on  foreign 
countries  for  the  blanket  under  which  we 
sleep  and  the  coat  that  covers  our  back  is 
not  a  wise  policy  tor  the  National  Govern- 
ment to  enforce. ' ' 

"Do  you  think  if  the  President's  re- 
commendation were  adopted  it  would  in- 
crease our  export  trade?' 

"Possibly  iu  some  articles  of  peculiar 
construction  it  might,  but  it  would  increase 
our  import  trade  tenfpld  as  much  in  the 
great  staple  fabrics,  in  woollen  and  cotton 
goods,  in  iron,  in  steel,  in  all  the  thousand 
and  one  shapes  in  which  they  are  wrought. 
How  are  we  to  export  staple  fabrics  to  the 
markets  of  Europe  unless  we  make  them 
cheaper  than  they  do  in  Europe,  and  how 
are  we  to  manufacture  them  cheaper  than 
they  do  in  Europe  unless  we  get  cheaper 
labor  than  they  have  in  Euntpe?" 

"Then  you  think  that  the  question  of 
labor  underlies  the  whole  subject?" 

"Of  course  it  does,"  replied  Mr.  Blahie. 
"  It  is,  in  fact,  the  entire  questiun.  W  henever 
we  can  force  carpenters,  masons,  iron  workei-s, 
and  mechanics  in  every  department  to  work 
as  cheaply  and  live  as  poorly  in  the  United 
States  as  similar  workmen  in  Knrope.  we 
can,  of  course,  manufacture  just  asclieaplyas 
they  do  in  England  and  France.  But  1  am 
totally  opposed  to  a  policy  that  would  entail 
such  results.  To  attempt  it  js  equivalent 
to  a  social  and  financial  revolution,  one  that 
would  bring  untold  distress." 


834 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


"Yes,  but  might  not  the  great  farming 
class  be  beuefited  by  importing  articles  from 
Europe  instead  of  buying  them  at  higher 
prices  at  home?" 

"The  moment,"  answered  Mr.  Blaine, 
"you  begin  to  import  freely  from  Europe 
you  drive  our  own  workmen  from  mechan- 
ical and  manufacturing  pursuits.  In  the 
same  proportion  they  become  tillers  of  the 
soil,  mcreasing  steadily  the  agricultural 
products  and  decreasing  steadily  the  large 
home  demand  which  is  constantly  enlarg- 
ing as  home  manufactures  enlarge.  That, 
of  course,  works  great  injury  to  the  farmer, 
glutting  the  market  with  his  products  and 
tending  constantly  to  lower  prices." 

"  Yes,  but  the  foreign  demand  for  farm 
products  would  be  increased  in  like  ratio, 
would  it  not  ?" 

"Even  suppose  it  were,"  said  Mr. Blaine, 
"  do  you  know  the  source  from  which  it  will 
be  supplied  ?  The  tendency  in  Russia  to- 
day, and  in  the  Asiatic  possessions  of  Eng- 
land, is  toward  a  large  increase  of  the  grain 
supply,  the  grain  being  raised  by  the  cheap- 
est pos.sible  labor.  Manufacturing  countries 
will  buy  their  breadstuffs  where  they  can 
get  them  the  cheapest,  and  the  enlarging 
of  the  home  market  for  the  American 
farmer  being  checked,  he  would  search  in 
Tain  for  one  of  the  same  value.  His  foreign 
sales  are  already  checked  by  the  great  com- 
petition abroad.  There  never  was  a  time 
when  the  increase  of  a  large  home  market 
was  so  valuable  to  him.  The  best  proof  is 
that^  the  farmers  are  prosperous  in  pro- 
portion to  the  nearness  of  manufacturing 
centres,  and  a  protective  tariff  tends  to 
spread  manufactures.  In  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
for  example,  though  not  classed  as  manu- 
facturing States,  the  annual  value  of  fabrics 
is  larger  than  the  annual  value  of  agricul- 
tural products." 

"But  those  holding  the  President's 
views,"  remarked  the  reporter,  "are always 
quoting  the  great  prosperity  of  the  country 
under  the  tariff  of  1846." 

"  That  tariff  did  not  involve  the  one  de- 
structive point  recommended  by  the  Presi- 
dent, namely,  the  retaining  of  direct  in- 
ternal taxes  in  order  to  abolish  indirect 
taxes  levied  on  foreign  fabrics.  But  the 
country  liad  peculiar  advantages  under  it 
by  the  Crimean  War  involving  England, 
France,  and  Russia,  and  largely  impairing 
their  trade.  All  these  incidents,  or  acci- 
dents, if  you  choose,  were  immensely  stimu 
lating  to  the  trade  in  the  United  States, 
regardless  to  the  nature  of  our  tariff.  But 
ni  irk  the  end  of  this  European  experience 
with  the  tariff  of  1846,  which  for  a  time 
gave  an  illusory  and  deceptive  show  of  pros- 
perity. Ita  enactment  wan  immediately 
followed  by  the  Mexican  War;  then,  in 
1848,  by  the  great  convulsions  of  Europe  ; 
then,  in  1849  and  succeeding  years,  by  the 


enormous  gold  yield  in  California.  The 
powers  made  peace  in  1856,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  output  of  gold  in  Cr.lifornia  felU 
off.  Immediately  the  financial  panic  of 
1857  came  upon  the  country  with  disastrous 
force.  Though  we  had  in  these  years 
mined  a  vast  amount  of  gold  in  California, 
every  bank  in  New  York  was  compelled  to 
suspend  specie  payment.  Four  hundred 
millions  in  gold  had  been  carried  out  of  the 
country  in  eight  years  to  pay  for  foreign 
goods  that  should  have  been  manufactured 
at  home,  and  we  had  years  of  depression 
and  distress  as  an  atonement  for  our  folly. ' ' 

"Then  do  you  mean  to  imply  that  there 
should  be  no  reduction  of  the  national 
revenue?" 

■  "  No ;  what  I  have  said  implies  the  re- 
verse. I  would  reduce  it  by  a  prompt  re- 
peal of  the  tobacco  tax,  and  would  make 
here  and  there  some  changes  in  the  tariff, 
not  to  reduce  protection,  out  wisely  foster 
it." 

"  Would  you  explain  your  meaning  more 
fully?" 

"I  mean,"  said  Mr.  Blaine,  "that  no 
great  system  of  revenue,  like  our  tariff,  can 
operate  with  efficiency  and  equity  unless 
the  changes  of  trade  be  closely  watched 
and  the  law  promptly  adapted  to  those 
changes.  But  I  would  make  no  change 
that  should  impair  the  protective  character 
of  the  whole  body  of  the  tariff  laws.  Four 
years  ago,  in  the  act  of  1883,  we  made 
changes  of  the  character  I  have  tried  to 
indicate.  If  such  changes  were  made,  and 
the  fortifying  of  our  sea  coast  tims  under- 
taken at  a  very  moderate  annual  outlay,  no 
surplus  would  be  found  after  that  already 
accumulated  had  been  disposed  of.  The 
outlay  of  money  on  fortifications,  while 
doing  great  service  to  the  country,  would 
give  good  work  to  many  men." 

"But  what  about  the  existing  surplus?" 

"The  abstract  of  the  message  I  have 
seen,"  replied  Mr.  Blaine,  "contains  no 
reference  to  that  point.  I,  therefore,  make 
no  comment  further  that  to  endorse  Mr. 
Fred.  Grant's  remark,  that  a  surplus  is 
always  easier  to  handle  than  a  deficit." 

The  reporter  repeated  the  question 
whether  the  President's  recommendation 
would  not,  if  adopted,  give  us  the  advantage 
of  a  large  increase  in  exports. 

"I  only  repeat,"  answered  Mr.  Blaine, 
"  it  would  vastly  increase  our  imports  while 
the  only  export  it  would  seriously  increase 
would  be  our  gold  and  silver.  That  would 
flow  out  bounteously,  jiist  as  it  did  under 
the  tariff  of  1846.  The  President's  recom- 
mendation enacted  into  law  would  result, 
as  did  an  experiment  in  drainage  of  a  man 
who  wished  to  turn  a  swamp  into  a  pro- 
ductive field.  He  dug  a  drain  to  a  neigh- 
boring river,  but  it  happened,  unfortunately, 
that  the  level  of  the  nver  was  higher  than 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


335 


the  level  of  the  swamp.  The  consequence 
need  not  be  told.  A  parallel  would  be 
found  when  the  President's  policy  in  at- 
tempting to  open  a  channel  for  an  increase 
of  exports  should  simply  succeed  in  making 
way  for  a  deluging  inflow  of  fabrics  to  the 
destruction  of  home  industry." 

"But  don't  you  think  it  important  to  in- 
crease our  export  trade?"^ 

■ '  Undoubtedly ;  but  it  is  vastly  more  im- 
portant not  to  lose  our  own  great  market 
for  our  own  people  in  vain  effort  to  reach 
the  impossible.  It  is  not  our  foreign  trade 
that  has  caused  the  wonderful  growth  and 
expansion  of  the  republic.  It  is  the  vast 
domestic  trade  between  thirty-eight  States 
and  eight  Territories,  with  their  population 
of,  perhaps,  62,000,000  to-day.  The  whole 
amount  of  our  export  and  import  trade  to- 
gether has  never,  I  think,  reached  $1,900,- 
000,000  any  one  year.  Our  internal  home 
trade  on  130,000  miles  of  railway,  along 
15,000  miles  of  ocean  coast,  over  the  five 
great  lakes  and  along  20,000  miles  of  navi- 
gable rivers,  reaches  the  enormous  annual 
aggregate  of  more  than  $40,000,000,000, 
and  perhaps  this  year  $50,000,000,000. 

"It  is  into  this  ilUmitable  trade,  even 
now  in  its  infancy  and  destined  to  attain  a 
magnitude  not  dreamed  of  twenty  years  ago, 
that  the  Europeans  are  struggling  to  enter. 
It  is  the  heritage  of  the  American  people, 
of  their  children,  and  of  their  children's 
children.  It  gives  an  absolutely  free  trade 
over  a  territory  nearly  as  large  as  all  Eu- 
rope, and  the  profit  is  all  our  own.  The 
genuine  Free-trader  appears  unable  to  see 
or  comprehend  that  this  continental  trade — 
not  our  exchanges  with  Europe — is  the 
great  source  of  our  prosperity.  President 
Cleveland  now  plainly  proposes  a  policy  that 
will  admit  Europe  to  a  share  of  this  trade. ' ' 

"But  you  are  in  favor  of  extending  our 
foreign  trade,  are  you  not?" 

"Certainly  I  am,  in  all  practical  and  ad- 
vantageous ways,  but  not  on  the  principle 
of  the  Free-traders,  by  which  we  shall 
be  constantly  exchanging  dollar  for  dime. 
Moreover,  the  foreign  trade  is  often  very 
delusive.  Cotton  is  manufactured  in  the' 
city  of  my  residence.  If  a  box  of  cotton 
goods  is  sent  200  miles  to  the  province  of 
New  Brunswick,  it  is  foreign  trade.  If 
shipped  17,000  miles  round  Cape  Horn  to 
Washington  Territory  it  is  domestic  trade. 
The  magnitude  of  the  Union  and  the  im- 
mensity of  its  internal  trade  require  a  new 
political  economy.  The  treatises  written  for 
European  States  do  not  grasp  our  peculiar 
situation." 

"How  will  the  President's  message  be 
received  in  the  South?" 

"I  don't  dare  to  answer  that  questioo. 


The  truth  has  been  so  long  obscured  by 
certain  local  questions  of  unreasoning  preju- 
dice that  nobody  can  hope  for  industrial 
enlightenment  among  thb  leaders  just  yet 
But  in  my  view  the  South  above  all  sec- 
tions of  the  Union  needs  a  protective  tariff. 
The  two  Virginias,  North  Carolina,  Ken- 
tucky, Missouri,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and 
Georgia  have  enormous  resources  and  facili- 
ties tor  developing  and  handling  manufac- 
tures. They  cannot  do  anything  without 
protection.  Even  progress  so  vast  as  some 
of  those  States  have  made  will  be  checked 
if  the  President's  message  is  enacted  into 
law.  Their  Senators  and  Representatives 
can  prevent  it,  but  they  are  so  used  to  fol- 
fowing  anything  labelled  'democratic'  that 
very  probably  they  will  follow  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  progress  already  made.  By 
the  time  some  of  the  Southern  States  get 
free  iron  ore  and  coal,  while  tobacco  is 
taxed,  they  may  have  occasion  to  sit  down 
and  calculate  the  value  of  democratic  firee 
trade  to  their  local  interests. ,' 

"Will  not  the  President's  recommenda- 
tion to  admit  raw  material  find  strong  sup- 
port?" 

"  Not  by  wise  Protectionists  in  our  time. 
Perhaps  some  greedy  manufacturers  may 
think  that  with  free  coal  or  free  iron  ore 
they  can  do  great  things,  but  if  they  should 
succeed  in  trying  will,  as  the  boys  say,  catch 
it  on  the  rebound.  If  the  home  trade  in 
raw  materials  is  destroyed  or  seriously  in- 
jured railroads  will  be  the  first  to  feel  it. 
If  that  interest  is  crippled  in  any  direction 
the  financial  fabric  of  the  whole  country 
will  feel  it  quickly  and  seriously.  If  any 
man  can  give  a  reason  why  we  should  ar- 
range the  tariff  to  favor  the  raw  material  of 
other  countries  in  a  competition  against  our 
material  of  the  same  kind,  I  should  like  to 
hear  it.  Should  that  recommendation  of 
the  President  be  approved  it  would  turn 
100,000  American  laborers  out  of  employ- 
ment before  it  had  been  a  year  in  opera- 
tion. ' ' 

"  What  must  be  the  marked  and  general 
effect  of  the  President's  message?" 

"It  will  bring  the  country  where  it  ought 
to  be  brought — to  a  full  and  fair  contest  on 
the  question  of  protection.  The  President 
himself  makes  the  one  issue  by  presenting 
no  other  in  his  message.  I  think  it  well  to 
have  the  question  settled.  The  democratic 
party  in  power  is  a  standing  menace  to  the 
industrial  prosperity  of  the  country.  That 
menace  should  be  removed  or  the  policv  it 
foreshadows  should  be  made  certain.  No- 
thing is  so  mischievous  to  business  as  un- 
certainty, nothing  so  paralyzing  as  doubt." 

G.  W.  Smallet. 


336 


AMERICAN    POLITICS, 


[book  I. 


THE  I^ATIONAL  CONYEH^TIOlSrS  OF  1888. 


The  Democratic  Convention. 

The  Democratic  party,  being  in  power, 
assumed  the  customary  role  of  the  majority 
party,  aud  after  a  close  struggle  its  National 
Committee   called  its   Convention  at    St. 
Louis,  June  5th,  two  weeks  in  advance  of 
the  time  fixed  by  the  Republicans.    The 
sessions  continued  throughout  three  days, 
being  somewhat  prolonged  by  the  differ- 
ences of  opinion  upon  the   platform,   the 
immediate  friends  of  the  Cleveland  admin- 
istration desiring  an  unqualified  endorse- 
ment of  the  Presidential  message  relating 
to  the  tariff,  and  as  well  to  the  Mills  bill, 
the  measure  supported  in  the  lower  House 
of  Congress  by  all  of  the  Democrats  save 
those  led  by  Samuel  J.  Randall,  who  stood 
upon    the  platform    "straddle"   of  1884. 
Fmally  the  differences  were  partially  ad- 
justed by  a  reaffirmation  of  the  platform  of 
1884,   and  very   decided  endorsements  of 
both  the  President's  message  and  the  Mills 
bill.    The  result  was  not  satisfactory  to  the 
Protective-Tariff  Democrats,  but  they  were 
without  large  or  courageous  representation, 
and  the  platform  was  adopted  with  but  one 
dissenting  vote.     (For  platform  and  com- 
parison of  platforms  of  the  Conventions  of 
the  two  great  parties,  see  Book  II.) 

0  I  the  third  day  Grover  Cleveland,  of 
New  York,  was  nominated  for  President  by 
acclamation.  A  ballot  was  started  for 
Vic<?- President,  between  Allen  Gr.Thurman, 
of  Ohio,  and  Governor  Gray,  of  Indiana, 
b:tt  before  it  closed  Thnrman's  nomination 
Wits  so  apparent  that  Gray  was  withdrawn, 
and  the  nomination  made  unanimous.  In 
ilio  midst  of  the  applause  which  followed, 
th(!  Caiifornia  dcleiration  presented  to  the 
C  invention  thousands  of  the  ''red  ban- 
dana"' worn  by  the  "old  Roman"  Thur- 
man.  and  it  was  immediately  placed  upon 
the  standard  of  every  State,  and  accepted 
as  the  emblem  of  the  Democratic  party. 

Tike  Repnblloan  ConTentlun. 

The  National  Convention  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  met  in  Chicago,  June  19th, 
and  continued  it«  sessions  until  the  evening 
of  the  25th.  Major  McKinley,  of  Ohio, 
was  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Platform,  and  on  the  second  day  made  a 
unanimous  report,  which  was  adopted  with 
great  enthu8ia.<«m. 

The  platforms  of  the  two  great  parties, 
20* 


better  than  anything  else,  illustrate  the  lines 
of  difference  between  them.    One  of  the 
lines  was  plainly  drawn  by  President  Cleve- 
land's message  to  Congress.     This  pai)er 
plainly  advocated  a  reduction  of  tariff  duties 
with  a  view  to  reduce  to  the  actual  require- 
ments  of   an  economic  administration   of 
governmental  affairs,   the  surplus   in  the 
treasury,  then  approximating  $80,000,000. 
He  opposed  the  repeal  or  reduction  of  the 
internal  revenue  taxes,  upon  the  ground 
that  the"  were  placed  upon  luxuries.    Mr. 
Blaine  answered  this  message  for  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  opposed  any  system  of 
tariff  reduction  which  tended  to  free  trade, 
and   favored  the    repeal  of  the    internal 
revenue  taxes  upon  tobacco  and  upon  all 
liquors  used  in  the  arts.   So  that  the  truth- 
ful and  probably  the  most  compact  state- 
ment of  the  position  of  the  two  great  parties 
is  this :  The  Democratic  party  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1888  favors  an  established  tendency 
to  free  trade ;  the  Republican  party  opposes 
any  such  tendency,  and  rather  than  pro- 
mote it  in  any  way,  would  repeal  all  of  the 
internal  revenue   taxes   and    enlarge  the 
pension  list — in  this  way  disposing  of  the 
treasury   surplus.     The    platform    of  the 
Republican  party  not  only  followed,  but 
went  beyond  the  expressed  views  of  Mr. 
Blaine,  and  accepted  in  the  plainest  way 
the  issue  thrust  upon  the  country  by  Mr. 
Cleveland's  message.    The  position  of  the 
two  great  parties  had  been  anticipated  by 
their  respective  leaders,  and  both  Conven- 
tions advanced  beyond  the  lines  laid  down 
by  these  leaders,   and  entered  upon  the 
campaign  in  this  shape. 
•    During  the  ballotings  of  the  Republican 
Convention  Mr.  Blaine  was  upon  all  save 
the  last  solidly  supported  by  the  California 
delegation  and  by  scattering  votes     On  the 
last  day  Hon.  Charles  A.  Boutelle,  Chairman 
of  the  Maine  delegation,  read  two  cablegrams 
from  Mr.  Blaine,  who  wa.s  thtn  in  Edinboro, 
Scotland,  asking  his  friends  to  lespect  his 
Paris  letter  of  declination.    It  was  at  any 
time  within  the  power  of  his  friends  to 
nominate  him,   but  his  final    refusal  led 
nearly   all  of  them  to  vote  for  General 
Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Indiana,  at  all  times 
one  of  the  leading  candidates  before  the 
Convention.    There  was  no  general  combi- 
nation,   but   the  nomination  was  largely 
traceable  to  the  expediency  of  selecting 
both  of  the  candidates  from  pivotal  States. 


BOOK  I.]' 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


337 


Summary  ot  the  Ballots. 

Friday.  Saturday.  Monday. 


let 
Bherman,  229 
Gresham,  111 
Depew, 
Alger, 
Harrison, 
Allison, 
logalls, 
Phelps, 
Rusk, 
Filler, 
Hawley, 
Lincola, 
MoKinley, 
Miller, 
Douglas 
Foraker, 
Grant, 
Haymond, 
Blaine, 


2(1  3d  4th    5th    6th 

249  244  235    224    244 

108  123  98      87      91 

99  91  Withdrawn. 

116  122  135    142    137 

91  94  217    213    231 


99      73 


16      Withdrawn. 

18        5      

20      16      

Withdrawn. 
Withdrawn. 
2        2        1.. 


11      14      12 


35      33      35      42      48      40 


7th 

231 

91 

120 

278 

76 


2 
16 


1 
1 
1 

15 


8th 

119 

59 

100 
544 


Total,     830    830    830    829    827    829    832  831 

Mr.  Griggs,  of  New  Jersey,  presented 
the  name  of  William  Walter  Phelps,  of 
New  Jersey,  for  Vice-President,  which  was 
seconded  by  Mr.  Gibson,  of  Ohio,  Mr. 
Eagan,  of  Nebraska,  and  Mr.  Oliver,  of 
Iowa,  and  others. 

Senator  Warner  Miller,  of  New  York, 
presented  the  name  of  Hon.  Levi  P.  Mor- 
ton, of  New  York,  which  was  seconded  by 
Mr.  Sage,  of  California,  Governor  Foster, 
of  Ohio,  Mr.  Oliver,  of  South  Carolina, 
General  Hastings,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
others. 

Mr.  McElwee,  of  Tennessee,  presented 


the  name  of  William  R.   Moore,  of  that 
State. 

One  ballot  was  taken,  reBulting  as.  fol- 
lows: 

Morton 501 

Phelps 119 

Bradly 108 

Bruce 11 

Thomas 1 

The  nomination  was  then  made  unani* 
mous. 

Mr.  Boutelle,  of  Maine,  then  addressed 
the  Chair  and  stated  that  he  desired  to 
offer  a  resolution  to  be  added  to  the  plat- 
form, as  follows: 

"The  first  concern  of  all  good  govern- 
ment is  the  virtue  and  sobriety  of  the 
Seople  and  the  purity  of  the  home.  The 
Lepubjican  paity  cordially  sympathizes 
with  all  wise  and  well-directed  efforts  for 
the  promotion  of  temperance  and  morality." 

As  soon  as  this  was  read  there  was  a  rush 
from,  the  various  States  to  second  the 
motion,  and,  after  some  time,  the  question 
was  put  and  the  resolution  adopted  by  a 
rising  vote,  only  one  delegate  from  Mary- 
land recording  himself  in  the  negative- 
In  this  way  the  above  temperance  senti- 
ment was  made  part  of  the  platform.  It 
was  due  largely  to  the  attitude  of  the  Re- 
publican party  "within  many  of  the  States, 
where  in  the  current  and  previous  year  it 
favored  •  high-license  laws  and  the  submis- 
sion to  a  vote  of  the  people  prohibitory 
oonstitutiofial  ani^ndments. 


THE  PKESIDEIS^TIAL  ELECTIOISr  OF  1888. 


Shortly  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
National  Conventions,  the  National  Com- 
mittees of  the  two  great  parties  opened  head- 
quarters in  New  York  City,  Senator  M.  S. 
Quay  being  Chairman  of  the  Republican 
National  and  Executive  committees,  with 
full  authority  in  one  head,  while  ex-Senator 
Barnum  headed  the  Democratic  National, 
and  Calvin  Brice  its  Executive  Committee. 
Both  Committees  devoted  themselves  to 
liractical  political  work,  and  the  result  was 
a  greater  expenditure  of  money  than  was 
ever  previously  known.  From  information 
gathered  by  the  writer,  it  can  be  safely 
stated  that  the  Democratic  National  Com- 
mittee, with  its  drafts  upon  the  Federal 
office-holders,  raised  two  millions  of  dollars, 
while  the  Republican  business  men  and 
manufacturers  contributed  one  million  three 
22 


hundred  thousand  to  their  National  Com- 
mittee. It  was  a  business  battle,  largely 
waged  between  the  manufacturing  and  im- 
porting interests,  the  smaller  farmers  being 
allies  of  the  manufacturers,  the  planters 
adhering  to  their  support  of  the  Free  Trade 
tendencies  of  the  Democratic  party.  The 
literary  and  oratorical  features  of  the  can- 
vass were  not  neglected,  and  tariff  discussion 
was  the  order  of  the  day  and  the  night 
throughout  the  entire  country.  The  pivotal 
States  were,  in  the  order  of  their  import- 
ance. New  York,  Indiana,  Connecticut, 
New  Jersey,  West  Virginia,  and  California. 
From  the  day  of  General  Harrison's  nomi- 
nation, Indiana  became,  and  continued,  the 
scene  of  the  most  intense  political  excite- 
ment. Visiting  delegationa  called  upon  the 
nominee  froiQi  eyery  town  and  hamlet  in 


838 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


fBOOK  I. 


the  State,  and  the  fever  extended  to  adja- 
cent States.  The  ordeal  was  a  most  trying 
one  for  a  candidate,  and,  fur  a  time,  there 
was  grave  fear  that  a  mistake  might  be 
made,  or  a  trap  sprung,  hke  that  of  Bur- 
chard's  upon  Blaiue  in  1884;  but  General 
Harrison  was  singularly  fortunate  in  all  of 
his  remarks,  and  yet  so  earnest  and  able 
that  his  own  work  soon  began  to  be  recog- 
nized as  the  best  of  the  campaign.  Presi- 
dent Cleveland  was  compelled  b^  his  official 
duties,  and  probably  by  inclination,  to  keep 
out  of  even  the  speaking  part  of  the  cam- 
paign. 

Senator  Quay  regarded  New  York  as  the 
sole  key  to  the  contest,  and  his  determina- 
tion to  carry  that  State,  even  at  the  risk  of 
all  others,  was  maintained  with  the  greatest 
firmness.  The  usual  appeals  came  from 
hopeful  States,  like  Virginia,  North  Caro- 
lina, Tennessee,  and  even  Delaware  and 
Maryland,  while  alarming  predictions  as  to 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa  flew  thick 
and  fast;  but  the  Republican  National 
Chairman,  wisely  clothed  with  absolute 
authority  as  general  of  the  battle,  kept  up 
his  steady  aissault  upon  New  York,  and 
organized  so  closely  that  the  usual  frauds  in 
New  York  City  and  Brooklyn  became  im- 
possible. The  wisdom  of  this  policy  was 
confirmed  by  the  result,  and  to  it  is  directlv 
tiaceable  the  Republican  victory  which  fol- 
lowed. General  Harrison  carried  New  York 
by  14,0'X)  plurality,  while  Gtjvernor  Hill, 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  reelection, 
carried  it  by  18,000.  This  appsfrent  polit- 
ical phenomenon  findsits  explanation  in  the 
liquor  issue,  which  attracted  wide  attention 
throughout  the  State.  Warner  Miller,  the 
Republican  candidate,  favored  high  license, 
while  Governor  Hill  opposed  it. 

The  Northwest,  always  before  believed  to 
be  inclined  to  Free  Ti-ade,  gave  surprising 
tariff  majorities,  while  Kan.sas  proved  the 
banner  Republican  State,  giving  over  80,000 
for  Harrison  in  a  territory  made  up  mostly 
by  farmers.  Indeed,  the  farming  excelled 
many  of  the  manufacturing  sections  in 
showing  tariff  or  Republican  gains. 

Results  proved  to  be  very  close  in  Con- 
necticut, the  two  Virginias,  Mar}'land,  and 
Tennessee,  and  for  a  time  the  attitude  of 
the  lower  House  of  Congress  was  in  doubt. 
At  this  writing  the  Republican  majority  is 
estimated  at  seven,  and  the  new  Congress 
will  have  to  consider  more  than  a  dozen 
contested  seats.  _  The  Republicans  made  a 
net  gain  of  one  in  the  Senate  by  their  suc- 
cess in  the  counties  of  Sussex  and  Kent,  in 
Delaware.  This  was  due  to  a  quarrel  be- 
tween the  Bayard  and  Saulsbury  factions 
of  the  State.  New  Jersey  remained  with 
the  Democrats,  and  the  Republicans  elected 
General  Goff  for  Governor  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, with  three  Labor  men  holding  the 
Balance  of  power  in  the  Legislature. 


ELECTORAIi  VOTE. 


Harrison. 

Cleveland. 

California 

.     .       8 

Alabama.      ,     . 

.     10 

Colorado  .     . 

.     .       3 

Arkansas       .     . 

.      7 

Illinois      .     . 

.     .     22 

Connecticnt  .     • 

6 

Indiana    .     . 

.     .     15 

Delaware .     .     . 

.      3 

Iowa    .    .    . 

.     .     13 

Florida  .  .  . 
Georgia    .     .     , 

.      4 

Kansas     .     . 

9 

.    12 

Maine  .     .     . 

.     .      6 

Kentucky  .  . 
Louisiana      .     . 

.     13 

Massachusetts 

.     .     14 

8 

Michigan .     . 

.     .     13 

Maryland      .     . 

.      8 

Minnesota     . 

.    .      7 

Mississippi    .     . 

.      0 

Nebraska 

.     .       5 

Missouri  .     .     , 

.    16 

Nevada     .     . 

.     .       3 

New  Jersey  .     . 

9 

New  Hampshire     .       4 

North  Carolina 

.     12 

New  York     . 

.    .    36 

South  Carolina  . 

.      9 

Ohio     .    .    . 

.     .    23 

Tennessee      .    . 

.     11 

Oregon     .     . 

.     .       8 

Texas   .... 

.     13 

Pennsylvania 

.     .    30 

Virginia   .     .     . 

.     12 

Rhode  Island 

.     .       4 

West  Virginia   , 

6 

Vermont   ,     . 

.     .       4 

Wisconsin     . 

.     .     11 

233 
168 

168 

Harrison's  majority    65 

Here  is  a  majority  of  65  electors,  and  yet 
less  than  3000  votes  in  New  York,  cast  for 
Cleveland,  would  have  reelected  him,  but 
with  grave  danger  to  the  country,  because 
of  disputed  resiilts  in  the  two  Virginias. 

THE  POPULAR  VOTE-1888. 


Bnp. 

Dem. 

Pro. 

T*bor. 

Alabama 

67.197 

117,320 

683 

Arkansas 

68,752 

85,962 

614 

io,*6i'3 

California 

124.8U9 

117,899 

6,761 

1,591 

Colorado 

60,831 

37,3-15 

2,490 

1,287 

Connecticut . 

74,584 

74,920 

4,234 

240 

Delaware 

12.960 

16.414 

400 

1 

Florida 

26,659 

39,561 

403 

^ 

Georgia 

40,413 

100,742 

1,802 

136 

Illinois 

370,241 

348,360 

21,562 

8,556 

Indiana 

263,361 

261,013 

9,881 

2.694 

Iowa 

211.598 

179,877 

3,550 

9,105 

Kansas 

182,610 

102.580 

6,452 

36,236 

Kentucky      . 

155,154 

183,800 

6.225 

&22 

Louisiana 

30,181 

84,941 

1.30 

« 

Maine 

73,734 

60,482 

2.690 

1,345 

Maryland 

99,761 

106,172 

6,368 

1,241 

Massachusetts  183.447 

151.990 

8,641 

_ 

Michigan 

236..S07 

213,404 

20.942 

4,642 

Minnesota     . 

142,492 

104,.385 

15,341 

1,097 

Mississippi   . 

30,096 

85.476 

218 

22 

Missouri 

236.325 

261,957 

4,954 

15.853 

Nebraska 

108.425 

80,552 

9,429 

4,226 

Nevada 

7,088 

6.149 

41 



N.  Hampshire 

45,728 

43,457 

1.570 

13 

New  Jersey  . 

144,344 

151,493 

7,904 



New  York     . 

650,337 

635.965 

30,321 

6,362 

N.  Carolina  . 

134,784 

147.902 

2,788 

Ohio 

416,054 

396,465 

24,366 

3,496 

Oregon 

33.293 

26.524 

1,677 

863 

Pennsylvania 

626,223 

446,934 

20,758 

3.873 

Rhode  Island 

21.960 

17,633 

1,281 

......... 

South  Carolina    13,740 

65,825 

.„ 

Tennessee      . 

138.988 

168.779 

""6,'969 

48 

Texas 

88,422 

234,883 

4.749 

29,469 

Vermont 

45,192 

16,788 

1.459 



Virginia 

150  442 

151,977 

1,678 



West  Virginia 

75,052 

76,558 

669 

1,064 

Wisconsin     . 

176,553 

155.232 

14,277 

8,552 

ToUls      .    6,438,167  6,536,628  260,167  160,624 


BOOK  L] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS, 


339 


ANAI<TSIS  OF  THE5  POPULAR  VOTE. 

In  the  following  tables  the  vote  is  arranged 
according  to  sections :  The  Northern  States, 
the  Middle  or  Border  States,  and  the  Gulf 
Sutes. 

THE  NORTHERN  STATES. 


1884. 


Bep. 
Maine  .  72,2U9 
N.  Hampsh'e  43,249 
Vermont  .  39,514 
Massachns'ts  146,724 
Rhode  Island  19,030 
Connecticut  65.923 
New  York  562.005 
New  Jersey    123,366 


Penna. 

Ohio 

Indiana     . 

Illinois 

Michigan  . 

Wisconsin 

Iowa 

Minnesota 

Colorado    . 

California  . 

Kansas 

Nebraska  . 

Nevada 

Oregon 


473,804 
400.082 
238,463 
337,469 
192,669 
161.157 
197,089 
111,685 

36,166 
102,416 
154,406 

76,912 
7,193 

26,860 


Dem. 

62,140 

39,183 

17,331 

122,352 

12,391 

67,199 

563,154 

127,778 

392,785 

368,280 

244,990 

312,.351 

149.835 

146,459 

177,316 

70,065 

27,603 

89,238 

90,132 

54,391 

5,578 

24,604 


Bep. 

72,659 

45,723 

45,192 

18.3,447 

21,960 

74,584 

649.114 

144,426 

626.223 

416,054 

263,361 

370,241 

236,307 

176,553 

211,592 

136,359 

61,796 

124,809 

182,610 

108,425 

7,238 

33,293 


Dem. 
49,730 
43,444 

16,788 
151,990 

17,5.33 

74,920 
635,715 
151,154 
446,934 
396.455 
261,013 
348.360 
213,404 
155.232 
177,899 

99,664 

37,610 
117.729 
102,580 

80,552 
5.326 

26.524 


Totals      3,608,965  3,153.912  4,081,971  361,0556 
Republican  majority  in  1388  .         .    471.415 

Republican  majority  in  1884.         .         .     455,053 


Republican  gain 


16,362 


MIDDLE  (Oa  border)   STATES. 
1884.  1888. 


Bep. 

Dem. 

Bep. 

Dem. 

Delaware  . 

12,951 

16,964 

12,950 

16,414 

Maryland  . 

85,699 

96,932 

99.761 

106,172 

Virginia    . 

139,356 

145,497 

150,442 

151.977 

W.  Virginia 

63,096 

67,317 

75,062 

75,588 

Kentucky 

118,122 

152,961 

155.154 

18.3,800 

Tennessee 

124,078 

133,258 

139.815 

169,079 

Arkansas  . 

50.895 

72.927 

58,752 

86,962 

N.  Carolina 

125,068 

142.950 

134,784 

147.902 

Missouri    . 

202.929 

235.988 

236,325 

261,957 

Totals        922,194  1,064,794  1,063.035  1,188,851 
Democratio  majority  in  1884  ,         .     142,600 

Democratic  majority  in  1888  .        .     125,816 


GULF 

STATES 

10,7»4 

S.  Carolina 

21,733 

69,890 

13,740 

65.825 

Florida      . 

23,031 

31,766 

26.659 

39,561 

Georgia     . 

28.617 

97,292 

40,496 

100,499 

Alabama    . 

59,444 

92,973 

66,197 

117.320 

Mississippi 

43.509 

76,510 

30,096 

85,476 

Louisiana 

46.347 

62,540 

30,181 

84,941 

Texas 

93,141 

225,309 

8S.442 

234.883 

Totals         328,822     656,280 
Democratic  majority  in  1S88 
Democratio  majority  in  1884 

Democratio  gain         .        . 


285,all 


728.505 
442,698 
327,458 

116,240 


PRESIDENT  HARRISON'S  MESSAGE  ON  THE 
CHILEAN  TROUBLES. 


In  October,  1891,  directly  after  the  over- 
throw of  Balmaceda  bj'  the  Congressional- 
ista  of  Chile,  U.  S.  Minister  Egan  sheltered 
a  number  of  political  refugees,  as  did  other 
foreign  ministers.  Both  the  government 
and  populace  at  Valparaiso  took  special 
umbrage  at  the  action  of  the  authorities  of 
the  United  States,  and  as  a  result  a  mob  of 
citizens,  police  and  soldiers  assaulted  Amer- 
ican sailorson  shore,  killing  two  and  wound- 
ing sixteen.  President  Harrison's  message, 
sent  to  Congress  on  the  25th  of  January, 
1892,  is  the  strongest  state  paper  in  behalf 
of  the  rights  of  American  citizens  abroad 
yet  given  to  the  country.  It  explains  all 
of  the  facts  as  to  the  Chilean  diflBculties, 
and  as  well  lays  down  the  principles  which 
conduct  his  course.  It  was  well  received 
by  the  American  Congress,  and  compelled 
Chile  to  act  promptly  in  answer  to  the! 


American  demands.  We  quote  its  text,  for 
it  will  be  historically  very  valuable  : 

To  THE  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives :  In  my  Annual  Message,  de- 
livered to  Congress  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  session,  after  a  brief  statement  of 
the  facts  then  in  the  possession  of  this 
government  touching  tne  a.ssault  in  the 
streets  of  Valparaiso,  Chile,  upon  thesailors 
of  the  United  States  steamship  Baltimore, 
on  the  evening  of  the  16th  of  October  last, 
I  said  : 

''This  government  is  now  awaiting  the 
result  of  an  investigation  which  has  been 
conducted  by  the  criminal  court  at  Valpa- 
raiso. It  is  reported  unofficially  that  the 
investigation  is  about  completed,  and  it  is 
expected  that  the  result  will  soon  be  com- 
municated to  this  government,  together 
with  some   adequate  and  satisfactory  re- 


340 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[booki. 


sponse  to  the  note  by  which  the  attention 
of  Chile  was  called  to  this  incident.  If 
these  just  expectations  should  be  disap- 

Jxjinted,  or  further  needless  delay  intervene, 
'.  will,  by  a  special  message,  bring  this  mat- 
ter again  to  the  attention  of  Congress  for 
such  action  as  may  be  necessary." 

In  my  opinion  the  time  has  now  come 
when  I  should  lay  before  the  Congress  and 
the  country  the  correspondence  between 
this  government  and  the  government  of 
Chile  from  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of 
the  revolution  against  Balmaceda,  together 
with  all  other  facts  in  the  possession  of  the 
Executive  Department  relating  to  this 
matter. 

The  diplomatic  correspondence  is  here- 
with transmitted,  together  with  some  cor- 
respondence between  the  naval  ofiBcers  for 
the  time  in  command  in  Chilean  waters 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  also 
the  evidence  taken  at  the  Mare  Island 
navy  yard  since  the  arrival  of  the  Baltimore 
at  ^an  Francisco.  I  do  not  deem  it  neces- 
sary in  this  communication  to  attempt  any 
full  analysis  of  the  correspondence  or  of  the 
evidence.  A  brief  restatement  of  the  inter- 
national questions  involved,  and  of  -the 
reasons  why  the  responses  of  the  Chilean 

government  are  unsatisfactory  is  all  that  I 
eeni  necessary. 

It  may  be  well,  at  the  outset,  to  say  that 
whatever  may  have  been  said  in  this  coun- 
try or  in  Chile  in  criticism  of  Mr.  Egan,  our 
mini.ster  at  Santiago,  the  true  history  of  the 
exciting  period  in  Chilean  affairs,  from  the 
outbreak  of  the  revolution  until  this  time, 
discloses  no  act  upon  the  part  of  Mr.  Egan 
unworthy  of  his  position,  or  that  could 
justly  be  the  occasion  of  serious  animadver- 
sion or  criticism.  He  has,  I  think,  on  the 
whole  borne  himself  in  very  trying  circum- 
stances with  dignity,  discretion  and  courage, 
and  conducted  the  correspondence  with 
ability,  courtesy  and  fairness. 

It  la  worth  while,  also,  at  the  beginning 
to  say  that  the  right  of  Mr.  Egan  to  give 
shelter  in  the  legation  to  certain  adherents 
of  the  Balmaceda  government  who  applied 
to  him  for  asylum  has  not  been  denied  by 
the  Chilean  authorities,  nor  has  any  de- 
mand been  made  for  the  surrender  of  these 
refugees. 

That  there  was  urgent  need  of  a.svlum  is 
shown  by  Mr.  Egan  s  note  of  August  24. 
1891,  describing  the  disorders  that  prevailed 
in  Santiago,  and  by  the  evidence  or  Captain 
Schley  as  to  the  pillage  and  violence  that 
prevailed  at  Valparaiso.  The  correspond- 
ence disclose.s,  however,  that  the  request  of 
Mr.  Egan  for  a  safe  conduct  from  the 
country,  in  behalf  of  these  refugees,  was 
denied. 

The  precedents  cited  by  him  in  the  corre- 
spondence, parti'^ularly  the  case  of  the  revo- 
lution in  Peru  in  1865,  did  not  leave  the 


Chilean  government  in  a  position  to  deny 
the  right  of  asylum  to  political  refugees, 
and  seemed  very  clearly  to  support  Mr. 
Egan's  contention  that  a  safe  conduct  to 
neutral  territory  was  a  necessary  and  ac- 
knowledged incident  of  the  asylum.  These 
refugees  nave  very  recently,  without  formal 
safe  conduct,  but  by  the  acquiescence  of 
the  Chilean  authorities,  been  placed  on 
board  the  Yorktown,  and  are  now  being 
conveyed  to  Callao,  Peru. 

This  incident  might  be  considered  wholly 
closed  but  for  the  disrespect  manifested 
towards  this  government  by  the  close  and 
offensive  police  surveillance  of  the  legation 
premises  which  was  maintained  during 
most  of  the  period  of  the  stay  of  the  refu- 
gees therein. 

After  the  date  of  my  annual  message  and 
up  to  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  refu- 
gees to  the  Yorktown,  the  legation  premises 
seem  to  have  been  surrounded  by  police,  in 
uniform,  and  police  agents  or  detectives,  in 
citizens'  dress,  who  offensively  scrutinized 
persons  entering  or  leaving  the  legation, 
and,  on  one  or  more  occasions,  arrested 
members  of  the  minister's  family. 

Commander  Evans,  who,  by  my  direction, 
recently  visited  Mr.  Egan  at  Santiago,  in 
his  telegram  to  the  Navy  Department  de- 
scribed the  legation  as  "a  veritable  pris- 
on," and  states  that  the  police  agents  or 
detectives  were,  after  his  arrival,  withdrawn 
during  his  stay.  It  appears  further,  from 
the  note  of  Mr.  Egan,  of  November  20, 
1891,  that,  on  one  occasion  at  least,  these 
police  agents,  whom  he  declares  to  be  known 
to  him,  invaded  the  legation  premises, 
pounding  upon  its  windows  and  using 
insulting  ana  threatening  language  towards 
persons  therein. 

This  breach  of  the  right  of  a  minister  to 
freedom  from  police  espionage  and  restraint 
seems  to  have  been  so  flagrant  that  the 
Argentine  minister,  who  was  dean  of  the 
diplomatic  corps,  having  observed  it,  felt 
called  upon  to  protest  against  it  to  the 
Chilean  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  The 
Chilean  authorities  have,  as  will  be  ob- 
served from  the  correspondence,  charged 
the  refugees  and  the  inmates  of  the  legation 
with  insulting  the  police ;  but  it  seems  to 
me  incredible  that  men  whose  lives  were  in 
jeopardy  and  whose  safety  could  only  be 
secured  by  retirement  and  quietness,  should 
have  sought  to  provoke  a  collision  which 
could  only  end  in  their  destruction,  or  to 
aggravate  their  condition  by  intensifying  a 
popular  feeling  that  at  one  time  so  threat- 
ened the  legation  as  to  require  Minister 
Egan  to  appeal  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs. 

But  the  most  serious  incident  disclosed 
by  the  correspondence  is  that  of  the  attack 
upon  the  sailors  of  the  Baltimore  in  the 
streets  of  Valparaiso  on  the  16th  of  October 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


341 


last.  In  ray  annual  message,  speaking  upon 
the  intoruiation  then  in  my  possession,  I 
said  :  "So  far  as  I  have  yet  been  able  to 
learn,  no  other  explanation  of  this  bloody 
work  has  been  suggested  than  that  it  had 
its  origin  in  hostility  to  those  menassailors 
of  the  United  States,  wearing  the  uniform 
of  their  government,  and  not  in  any  indi- 
vidual act  or  personal  animosity." 

We  have  now  received  from  the  Chilean 
government  an  abstract  of  the  conclusions 
of  the  Fiscal  General  iipon  the  testimony 
taken  by  the  Judge  of  Crimes  in  an  inves- 
tigation which  was  made  to  extend  over 
three  months.  I  very  much  regret  to  be 
compelled  to  say  that  this  report  does  not 
enable  me  to  modify  the  conclusion  an- 
nounced in  my  annual  message.  I  am  still 
of  the  opinion  that  our  sailors  were  as- 
saulted, beaten,  stabbed  and  killed,  not  for 
anything  they  or  any  of  them  had  done, 
but  for  what  the  government  of  the  United 
States  had  done,  or  was  charged  with  hav- 
ing done  by  its  civil  officer  and  naval  com- 
manders. If  that  be  the  true  aspect  of  the 
case,  the  injury  was  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  not  to  these  poor  sailors 
who  were  a.ssaulted  in  the  manner  so  bru- 
tal and  so  cowardly. 

Before  attempting  to  give  an  outline  of 
the  facts  upon  which  this  conclusion  rests, 


The  officers  and  sailors  of  the  Baltimore 
were  in  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso  under  the 
orders  of  their  government,  not  by  their 
own  choice,  They  were  upon  the  shore  by 
the  implied  invitation  of  the  government 
of  Chile  and  with  the  approval  of  their 
commanding  officer,  and  it  does  not  distin- 
guish their  case  from  that  of  a  consul  that 
his  stay  is  more  permanent  or  that  he  holds 
the  express  invitation  of  the  local  govern- 
ment to  justify  his  longer  residence.  Nor 
does  it  alFect  the  question  that  the  injury 
was  the  act  of  a  mob.  If  there  had  been 
no  participation  by  the  police  or  military  in 
this  cruel  work,  and  no  neglect  on  their  part 
to  extend  protection,  the  case  would  still 
be  one,  in  my  opinion,  when  its  extent  and 
character  are  considered,  involving  interna- 
tional rights. 

The  incidents  of  the  aflFair  are,  briefly, 
as  follows  :  On  the  16th  of  October  last, 
Captain  Schley,  commanding  the  United 
States  steamer  Baltimore,  gave  shore  leave 
to  117  petty  officers  and  sailors  of  his  ship. 
These  men  left  the  ship  about  1.30  P.iM.  No 
incident  of  violence  occurred  ;  none  of  our 
men  were  arrested ;  no  com  plaint  was  lodged 
against  them  ;  nor  did  any  collision  or  out- 
break occur  until  about  6  o'clock  P.M. 
Captain  Schley  says  thathe  was  himself  on 
shore  and  about  the  streets  until  5.40  P.M. 


I  think  it  right  to  say  a  word  or  two  uponjthat  he  met  very  many  of  his  men  who 
the  legal  aspect  of  the  case.  The  Balti-iwere  upon  leave;  that  they  were  sober  and 
more  was  in  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso  by 'were  conducting  themselves  with  propriety, 
virtue  of  that  general  invitation  which  [saluting  Chilean  and  other  officers  as  they 
nations  are  held  to  extend  to  the  war  ves-  Imet  them.  Other  officers  of  the  ship,  and 
sels  of  other  powers  with  which  they  have  I  Captain  Jenkins,  of  the  merchant  ship 
friendly  relations.  This  invitation  I  think  I  Keweenaw,  corroborate  Captain  Schley  as 
must  be  held  ordinarily  to  embrace  the  to  the  general  sobriety  and  good  behavior 


privilege  of  such  communication  with  the 
shore  as  is  reasonable,  necessary  and  proper 
for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  the  of- 
ficers and  men  of  such  vessels.  Captain 
Schley  testifies  that  when  his  vessel  returned 
to  Valparaiso,  on  September  14th,  the  city 
officers,  as  is  customary,  extended  the  hos- 
pitalities of  the  city  to  his  officers  and  crew. 
It  is  not  claimed  that  every  personal 
collision  or  injury  in  which  a  sailor  or  officer 
of  such  naval  vessel  visiting  the  shore  may 
be  involved  rai-ses  an  international  ques- 
tion ;  but  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that 
where  such  sailors  or  officers  are  assaulted 
by  a  resident  population,  animated  by  hos- 
tility to  the  government  whose  uniform 
these  sailors  and  officers  wear,  and  in  resent- 
ment of  acts  done  by  their  government,  not 
by  them,  their  nation  must  take  notice  of 
the  event  as  one  involving  an  infraction  of 
its  rights  and  dignity,  not  in  a  secondary 
way  as  where  a  citizen  is  injured  and  pre- 
sents his  claim  through  his  own  govern- 
ment, but  in  a  primary  way,  precisely  as  if 
its  minister  or  consul  of  the  flag  itself  had 
been  the  object  of  the  same  character  of 
assault. 


of  our  men. 

The  Sisters  of  Charity  at  the  hospital  to 
which  our  wounded  men  were  taken,  when 
inquired  of,  stated  that  they  were  sober 
when  received.  If  the  situation  had  been 
otherwise,  we  must  believe  that  the  Chilean 
police  authorities  would  have  made  arrests. 
About  6  P.M.  the  assault  began,  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  the  investigation  by  the 
Judge  of  Crimes,  though  so  protracted, 
does  not  enable  him  to  give  any  more  satis- 
factory account  of  its  origin  than  is  found 
in  the  statement  that  it  began  between 
drunken  sailors.  Repeatedlj^  in  the  corres- 
pondence it  is  asserted  that  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  learn  the  precise  cau.'se  of  the  riot. 
The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affiairs,  Matta,  in 
his  telegram  to  Mr.  Montt  under  date  of 
December  31st,  states  that  the  quarrel  be- 
gan between  two  sailors  in  a  tavern,  and  was 
continued  in  the  street,  persons  who  were 
passing  joining  in  it. 

The  testimony  of  Talbot,  an  apprentice, 
who  was  with  Riggin,  is  that  the  outbreak 
in  which  they  were  involved  bearan  by 
Chilean  sailor  spitting  in  the  face  of  Talbot, 
which  was  resented  oy  a  knock-down.     It 


342 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


appears  that  Ricrpln  and  Talbot  were  at  that 
time  unaccompanied  by  any  others  of  their 
shipmates. 

These  two  men  were  immediately  l)eset 
by  a  crowd  of  Chilean  citizens  and  sailors, 
through  which  they  broke  their  way  to  a 
street  car  and  entered  it  for  safety.  They 
were  pursued,  driven  from  the  car,  and 
Riggin  was  so  seriously  beaten  that  he  fell 
in  the  street  apparently  dead.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  report  of  the  Chilean  inyes' 
tigation  made  to  us  that  seriously  im 
peaches  this  testimonj'.  It  appears  from 
Chilean  sources  that  almost  instantly,  Avith 
a  suddenness  that  strongly  implies  pre 
meditation  and  preparation',  a  mob,  stated 
by  the  police  authorities  at  one  time  to 
number  20(X),  and  at  another  ]  000,  was 
engaged  in  the  assault  upon  our  sailors, 
who  are  represented  as  resisting  "with 
stones,  clubs  and  bright  arms. "  The  report 
of  the  Intendente  of  October  30th  states 
that  the  fight  began  at  6  P.  M.  in  three  streets, 
which  are  named,  that  information  was  re 
ceived  at  the  intc-ndencia  at  6.15,  and  that 
the  police  arrived  on  the  scene  at  6. 30,  a 
full  naif  hour  after  the  a.*sault  began.  At 
that  time  he  saj'e  that  a  mob  of  2000  men 
had  collected,  and  that  for  several  squares 
there  was  the  appearance  of  a  "  real  bat- 
tle-field." 

The  scene  at  this  point  is  very  graphi- 
cally set  before  us  by  the  Chilean  testimony. 
The  American  sailors,  who,  after  so  long  an 
examination,  have  not  been  found  guilty  of 
any  breach  of  the  peace,  so  far  as  the 
Chilean  authorities  are  able  to  discover, 
unarmed  and  defenceless,  are  fleeing  for 
their  lives,  pursued  by  overwhelming  num- 
bers, and  fighting  only  to  aid  their  own 
escape  from  death  or  to  succor  some  mate 
whose  life  is  in  greater  peril.  Eighteen 
of  them  are  brutally  stabbed  and  beaten, 
while  one  Chilean  .seems,  from  the  re]iort, 
to  have  suffered  some  injury ;  but  how 
serious  or  with  what  character  of  weapon, 
or  whether  by  a  missile  thrown  by  our  men 
or  by  some  of  his  fellow-rioters  is  unascer- 
tained. 

The  pretense  that  our  men  were  fighting 
"  with  stones,  clubs,  and  bright  arms,"  is, 
in  view  of  these  facts,  incredible.  It  is 
further  refuted  by  the  fact  that  our  prison- 
ers, when  searched,  were  absolutely  without 
arms,  only  seven  penknives  being  found  in 
the  possession  of  the  men  arrested,  while 
there  were  received  by  our  men  more  than 
thirty  stab  wounds,  even'  one  of  which  was 
inflicted  in  the  back,  and  almost  every  con- 
tused wound  was  in  the  back  or  back  of  the 


from  the  account  given  of  the  affair  by  the 
La  Patria  newspaper,  of  Valparaiso,  of 
October  17th,  cannot  be  regarded  as  too 
friendly  :    "  The  Yankees,  as  soon  as  their 

gursuers  gave  chase,  went  by  way  of  the 
alle  del  Arsenal  towards  the  city  car  sta- 
tion. In  the  presence  of  an  ordinary  num- 
ber of  citizens,  among  whom  were  some 
sailors,  the  North  Americans  took  seats  in 
the  street  car  to  escape  from  the  stones 
which  the  Chileans  threw  at  them.  It  was 
believed  for  an  instant  that  the  North 
Americans  had  saved  themselves  from 
popular  fury,  but  such  was  not  the  case. 
Scarcely  had  the  car  begun  to  move,  when 
a  crowd  gathered  around  and  stopped  its 
progress. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  and  without 
any  cessation  of  the  howling  and  throwing 
of  stones  at  the  North  Americans,  the  con- 
ductor entered  the  car,  and  seeing  the  risk 
of  the  situation  to  the  vehicle,  ordered 
them  to  get  out.  At  the  instant  the  sailors 
left  the  car,  in  the  midst  of  a  hail  of  stones, 
the  said  conductor  received  a  stone  blow 
on  the  head.  One  of  the  Yankee  sailors 
managed  to  escape  in  the  direction  of  the 
plaza  Wheelright,  but  the  other  was  felled 
to  the  ground  by  a  stone.  Managing  to 
raise  himself  from  the  ground  where  he  lay 
he  staggered  in  an  opposite  direction  from 
the  station.  In  front  of  the  house  of  Senor 
Mazzini  he  was  again  wounded,  falling  then 
senseless  and  breathless." 

No  amount  of  evasion  or  subterfuge  is 
able  to  cloud  our  clear  vision  of  this  brutal 
work.  It  should  be  noticed,  in  this  connec- 
tion that  the  American  sailors  arrested, 
after  an  examination,  were,  during  the  four 
days  following  the  arrest,  every  one  dis- 
charged, no  charge  of  any  breach  of  the 
peace  or  other  criminal  conduct  having 
t>een  sustained  against  a  single  one  of  them. 

The  Judge  of  Crimes,  Foster,  in  a  note  to 
the  Intendente,  under  date  of  October  22d, 
before  the  dispatch  from  the  government, 
of  the  following  day,  which  aroused  the 
authorities  of  Chile  to  a  better  sense  of  the 
gravity  of  the  affair,  says :  ' '  Having  presi- 
sided  temporarily  over  this  court  in  regard 
to  the  seamen  of  the  United  States  cruiser 
Baltimore,  who  have  been  tried  on  account 
of  the  deplorable  conduct  which  took 
place."  The  noticeable  point  here  is  that 
our  sailors  had  been  tried  before  the  22d  of 
October,  and  that  the  trial  resulted  in  their 
acquittal  and  return  to  their  vessel. 

It  is  quite  remarkable  and  quite  charac- 
teristic of  the  management  of  this  affair 
by  the  Chilean  police  authorities  that  we 


the  day  is  that  even  the  jack-knives  of  the 
men  were  taken  from  them  before  leaving 
the  ship. 

As  to  the  brutal  nature  of  the  treatment 
received  by  our  men,  the  following  extract 


head.    The  evidence  of  the  ship's  oflScer  of  should  now  be  advised  that  seaman  David 


son,  of  the  Baltimore,  has  been  included 
in  the  indictment,  his  offence  being  so  far  as 
I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  that  he  at- 
tempted to  defend  a  shipmate  against  an 
assailant  who  was  striking  at  him  with  a 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


343 


knife.  The  perfect  vindication  of  our  men 
is  furnished  by  this  report;  one  only  is 
found  to  have  been  guilty  of  criminal  fault, 
and  that  for  an  act  clearly  justifiable. 

As  to  the  part  taken  by  the  police  in  the 
affair,  the  case  made  by  Chile  is  also  far 
from  satisfactory.  The  point  where  Riggin 
wa3  killed  is  only  three  minutes  walk  from 
the  police  station  and  not  more  than  twice 
that  distance  from  the  Intendencia;  and 
yet,  according  to  their  official  report,  a  full 
half  hour  elapsed  after  the  assault  began 
before  the  police  were  upon  the  ground.  It 
has  been  stated  that  all  but  two  of  our  men 
have  said  that  the  police  did  their  duty. 
The  evidence  taken  at  Mare  Island  shows 
that  if  such  a  statement  was  procured  from 
our  men  it  was  accomplished  by  requiring 
them  to  sign  a  writing  in  a  language  they 
did  not  understand  and  by  the  representa- 
tion that  it  was  a  mere  declaration  that 
ihey  had  taken  no  part  in  the  disturbance. 
Lieutenant  McCrea,  who  acted  as  interpre- 
ter, says  in  his  evidence  that  when  our  sail- 
ors were  examined  before  the  Court  the 
subject  of  the  conduct  of  the  police  was  so 
carefully  avoided  that  he  reported  the  fact 
to  Captain  Schley  on  his  return  to  the 
vessel. 

The  evidences  of  the  existence  of  animos- 
ity toward  our  sailors  in  the  minds  of  the 
Chilean  navy  and  of  the  populace  of  Val- 

f)araiso  are  so  abundant  and  various  as  to 
eave  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  one  who 
will  examine  the  papers  submitted.  It 
manifested  itself  in  threatening  and  insult- 
ing gestures  toward  our  men  as  they  passed 
the  Chilean  men-of-war  in  their  boats,  and 
in  the  derisive  and  abusive  epithets  with 
which  they  greeted  every  appearance  of  an 
American  sailor  on  the  evening  of  the  riot. 
Captain  Schley  reports  that  boats  from 
the  Chilean  warships  several  times  went 
out  of  their  course  to  cross  the  bows  of  his 
boats,  compelling  them  to  back  water.  He 
complained  of  the  discourtesy,  and  it  was 
corrected.  That  this  feeling  was  shared  by 
men  of  higher  rank  is  shown  by  an  incident 
related  by  Surgeon  Stitt,  of  the  Baltimore. 
After  the  battle  of  Placilla  he,  with  other 
medical  officers  of  the  war  vessels  in  the 
harbor,  was  giving  voluntary  assistance  to 
the  woimded  in  the  hospitals.  The  son  of! 
a  Chilean  army  officer  of  high  rank  was 
under  his  care,  and  when  the  father  discov- 
ered it  he  flew  into  a  passion  and  said  he 
would  rather  have  liis  son  die  than  have 
Americans  touch  him,  and  at  once  had  him 
removed  from  the  ward. 

This  feeling  is  not  well  concealed  in  the 
dispatches  of  the  Foreign  Office,  and  had 
quite  open  expression  in  the  disrespectful 
treatment  of  the  American  Legation.  The 
Chilean  boatmen  in  the  bay  refused,  even 
for  large  offers  of  money,  to  return  our 
sailors  who  crowded  the  Mole,  to  their  ship 


when  they  were  endeavoring  to  escape  from 
the  city  on  the  night  of  the  assault.  The 
market  boats  of  the  Baltimore  were  threat- 
ened, and  even  quite  recently  the  gig  of 
Commander  Evans,  of  the  Yorktown,  was 
stoned  while  waiting  for  him  at  the  Mole. 

The  evidence  of  our  sailors  clearly  shows 
that  the  attack  was  expected  by  the  Chilean 
people;  that  threats  have  been  made  against 
our  men,  and  that  in  one  case,  somewhat 
early  in  the  afternoon,  the  keeper  of  one 
house  into  which  some  of  our  men  had 
gone,  closed  his  establishment  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  attack,  which  he  advised  them 
would  be  made  upon  them  as  darkness 
came  on. 

In  a  report  of  Captain  Schley  to  the 
Navy  Department  he  says :  "In  the  only 
intei'view  that  I  had  with  Judge  Foster, 
who  is  investigating  the  case  relative  to  the 
disturbance  before  he  was  aware  of  the 
entire  gravity  of  the  matter,  he  informed 
me  that  the  entire  assault  upon  my  men 
was  the  outcome  of  hatred  for  our  people 
among  the  lower  classes  because  they 
thought  we  had  sympathized  with  the  Bal- 
maceda  Government  on  account  of  the  Itata^ 
matter,  whether  with  reason  or  without  he 
could,  of  course,  not  admit;  but  such  he 
thought  was  the  explanation  of  the  assault 
at  that  time." 

Several  of  our  men  sought  security  from 
the  mob  by  such  complete  or  partial  changes 
in  their  dress  as  would  conceal  the  fact  of 
their  being  seamen  of  the  Baltimore,  and 
found  it  then  possible  to  walk  the  streets 
without  molestation.  These  incidents  con- 
clusively establish  that  the  attack  was  upon 
the  uniform — the  nationality — and  not 
upon  the  men. 

The  origin  of  this  feeling  is  probably 
found  in  the  refusal  of  this  government  to. 
give  recognition  to  the  Congressional  party 
before  it  had  established  itself,  in  the 
seizure  of  the  Itata  for  an  alleged  violation 
of  the  Neutrality  law  in  the  cable  incident, 
and  in  the  charge  that  Admiral  Brown  con- 
veyed information  to  Valparaiso  of  the 
landing  at  Quinteros.  It  is  not  my  purpose 
to  enter  here  any  defense  of  the  action  of 
this  government  in  these  matters.  It  is 
enough  for  the  present  purpose  to  say  that 
if  there  was  any  breacn  of  international 
comity  or  duty  on  our  part  it  should  have 
been  made  the  subject  of  official  complaint 
through  diplomatic  channels,  or  of  re- 
prisals for  which  a  full  responsibiUty  was 
assumed. 

We  cannot  consent  that  these  incidents 
and  these  perversions  of  the  truth  shall  be 
used  to  exite  a  murderous  attack  upon  our 
unoffending  sailors  and  the  Government  of 
Chile  go  acquit  of  responsibility.  In  fact 
the  conduct  of  this  government  during  the 
war  in  Chile  pursued  those  lines  of  inter- 
national duty  which  we  had  so  strongly  in- 


344 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


sisted  upon  on  the  part  of  other  nations 
when  this  country  was  in  the  throes  of  civil 
conflict.  We  continued  the  established 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  government 
in  power  until  it  was  overthrown,  and 
promptly  and  cordially  recognized  the  new 
government  when  it  was  established. 

The  good  offices  of  this  government  were 
offered  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  adjust- 
ment, and  the  interposition  of  Mr.  Egan  to 
mitigate  severities  and  to  shelter  adherents 
of  the  Congressional  party  were  effective 
and  frequent.  The  charge  against  Admiral 
Brown  is  too  base  to  gain  credence  with  any 
one  who  knows  his  high  personal  and  pro- 
fessional character. 

Recurring  to  the  evidence  of  our  sailors, 
I  think  it  is  shown  that  there  were  several 
distinct  assaults,  andso  nearly  simultaneous 
as  to  show  that  they  did  not  spread  from 
one  point.  A  press  summary  of  the  re- 
port of  the  Fiscal  shows  that  the  evidence 
of  the  Chilean  oflficials  and  others  was  in 
conflict  as  to  the  place  of  origin,  several 
places  being  named  by  different  witnesses 
as  to  the  locality  where  the  first  outbreak 
^occured.  This,  if  correctly  reported,  shows 
that  there  were  several  distinct  outbreaks, 
and  so  nearly  at  the  same  time  as  to  cause 
this  confusion. 

La  Fatria,  in  the  same  issue  from  which 
I  have  already  quoted,  after  describing  the 
killing  of  Riggin  and  the  flight  which  from 
that  point  extended  to  the  Alole,  says:  "At 
the  same  time  in  other  streets  of  the  port 
the  Yankee  sailors  fought  fiercely  with  the 
people  of  the  town,  who  believed  to  see  in 
them  incarnate  enemies  of  the  Chilean 
navy." 

The  testimony  of  Captain  Jenkins,  of  the 
American  merchant  ship  Keweenaw,  which 
had  gone  to  Valparaiso  for  repairs,  and 
who  was  a  witness  of  some  part  of  the 
assault  upon  the  crew  of  the  Baltimore,  is 
strongly  corroborative  of  the  testimony  of 
our  own  sailors  when  he  says  that  he  saw 
Chilean  sentries  drive  back  a  seaman,  seek- 
ing shelter,  upon  a  mob  that  was  pursuing 
him.  The  officers  and  men  of  Captain 
Jenkins'  ship  furnish  the  most  conclusive 
testimony  a.s  to  the  indignities  which  were 
practiced  toward  Americans  in  Valparaiso. 
When  American  sailors  even  of  merchant 
ships,  can  only  secure  their  safety  by  de- 
nying their  nationality,  it  must  be  time  to 
read.ju.st  our  relations  with  a  government 
that  permits  such  demonstrations. 

As  to  the  particination  of  the  police,  the 
evidence  of  our  pailors  shows  that  our  men 
were  struck  and  beaten  by  police  officers 
before  and  after  arrest,  and  that  one,  at 
least,  was  dragged  with  a  lasso  about  his 
neck  by  a  mounted  policeman.  That  the 
death  of  Riggin  was  the  result  of  a  rifle 
shot  fired  by  a  policeman  or  soldier  on  duty 
is  shown  directlyby  the  testimony  of  John- 


son, in  whose  arms  he  was  at  the  time,  and 
by  the  evidence  of  Charles  Langen,  an 
American  sailor,  not  then  a  member  of  the 
Baltimore's  crew,  who  stood  close  and  saw 
the  transaction.  The  Chilean  authorities 
do  not  pretend  to  fix  the  responsibility  of 
this  shot  upon  any  particular  person,  but 
avow  their  inability  to  ascertain  who  fired 
it,  further  than  that  it  was  fired  from  a 
crowd. 

The  character  of  the  wound,  as  described 
by  one  of  the  surgeons  of  the  Baltimore, 
clearly  supports  his  opinion  that  it  was 
made  by  a  rifle  ball,  the  orifice  of  exit 
being  as  much  as  an  inch  or  an  inch  and 
a  quarter  in  width.  When  shot,  the  poor 
fellow  was  unconscious,  and  in  the  arms  of 
a  comrade,  who  was  endeavoring  to  carry 
him  to  a  neighboring  drug-store  for  treat- 
ment. The  story  of  the  police,  that  iu 
coming  up  the  street  they  passed  these 
men  and  left  them  behind  them  is  incon- 
sistent with  their  own  statement  as  to  the 
direction  of  their  approach  and  with  their 
duty  to  protect  them,  and  is  clearly  dis- 
proved. In  fact,  Riggin  was  not  behind, 
but  in  front  of  the  advancing  force,  and 
was  not  standing  in  the  crowd,  but  was 
unconscious  and  supported  in  the  arms  of 
Johnson  when  he  was  shot, 

■  The  communications  of  the  Chilean  gov- 
ernment in  relation  to  this  cruel  and  disas- 
trous attack  upon  our  men,  as  will  appear 
from  the  correspondence ,  have  not  in  any 
degree  taken  the  form  of  a  manly  and  satis- 
factory expression  of  regret,  much  less  of 
apology.  The  event  was  of  so  serious  a 
character  that  if  the  injuries  suffered  by 
our  men  had  been  wholly  the  result  of  an 
accident  in  a  Chilean  port,  the  incident  was 
gra\'e  enough  to  have  called  for  some  public 
expression  of  sympathy  and  regret  from  the 
local  authorities.  It  is  not  enough  to  say 
that  the  affair  was  lamentable,  for  humanity 
would  require  that  expres.sion  even  if  the 
beating  and  killing  of  our  men  had  been 
justifiable. 

It  is  uot  enough  to  say  that  the  incident 
is  regretted,  coupled  with  the  statement 
that  the  affair  was  not  of  an  unusual  char- 
acter in  ports  where  foreign  sailors  are 
accustomed  to  meet.  It  is  not  for  a  gener- 
ous and  sincere  government  to  seek  for 
words  of  small  or  equivocal  meaning  in 
which  to  convey  to  a  friendlj^  power  an 
apology  for  an  offence  so  atrocious  as  this. 
In  the  ca.se  of  the  assault  by  a  mob  in  New 
Orleans  upon  the  Spanish  consulate  in  1851, 
Mr.  Websterwrote  to  the  Spanish  minister, 
Mr.  Calderon,  that  the  acts  complained  of 
were  a  "  disgraceful  and  flagrant  breach  of 
duty  and  propriety,"  and  that  his  govern- 
ment "  regrets  them  as  deeply  as  Minister 
Calderon  or  his  government  could  possibly 
do;"  that  "these  acts  have  caused  the 
President  great   pain,   and  he  thinks  a 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


345 


proper  acknowledgment  is  due  to  her 
Majesty's  government."  He  invited  the 
Spanish  consul  to  return  to  his  post,  guar- 
anteeing protection,  and  offering  to  salute 
the  Spanish  flag  if  the  consul  should  come 
in  a  Spanish  vessel.  Such  a  treatment  by 
the  government  of  Chile  of  this  assault 
would  have  been  more  creditable  to  the 
Chilean  authorities ;  and  much  less  can 
hardly  be  satisfactory  to  a  government  that 
values  its  dignity  and  honor. 

In  our  note  of  October  23d  last,  which  ap- 
pears in  the  correspondence,  after  receiving 
the  report  of  the  board  of  officers  appointed 
by  Captain  Schley  to  investigate  the  affair, 
the  Chilean  government  was  advised  of  the 
aspect  which  it  then  assumed,  and  called 
upon  for  any  facts  in  its  possession  that 
might  tend  to  modify  the  unfavorable  im- 
pression wliich  our  report  had  created.  It 
is  very  clear  from  the  correspondence  that 
before  the  receipt  of  this  note  the  examina- 
tion was  regarded  by  the  police  authorities 
as  practically  closed.  It  was,  however,  re- 
opened and  protracted  through  a  period  of 
nearly  three  months.  We  might  justly 
have  complained  of  this  unreasonable  de- 
lay, but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  Chile  was  still  provisional,  and 
with  a  disposition  to  be  forbearing  and 
hopeful  of  a  friendly  termination,  I  have 
awaited  the  report  which  has  but  recently 
been  made. 

On  the  21st  instant  I  caused  to  be  com- 
municated to  the  government  of  Chile,  by 
the  American  minister  at  Santiago,  the  con- 
clusions of  this  government  after  a  full 
consideration  of  all  the  evidence  and  of  every 
suggestion  affecting  this  matter,  and  to 
these  conclusions  I  adhere.  They  were 
stated  as  follows : 

"  First — That  the  assault  is  not  relieved 
of  the  aspect  which  the  early  information  of 
the  event  gave  to  it,  viz :  That  an  attack  was 
made  upon  the  uniform  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  having  its  origin  and  motive  in  a 
feeling  of  hostility  to  this  government,  and 
not  on  any  account  of  the  sailors  or  any  of 
them. 

"  Second — That  the  public  authorities  of 
Valparaiso  flagrantly  failed  in  their  duty  to 
protect  our  men,  and  that  some  of  the  police 
and  of  the  Chilean  soldiers  and  sailors  were 
themselves  guilty  of  unprovoked  assaults 
upon  our  sailors  before  and  after  arrest. 
He  (the  President)  thinks  the  preponder- 
ance of  the  evidence  and  of  the  inherent 
probabilities  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
Riggin  was  killed  by  the  police  or  soldiers. 

' '  Third— That  he  (the  Presiden  t)  is  there- 
fore compelled  to  bring  the  case  back  to  the 
position  taken  by  this  government  in  the 
note  of  Mr.  Wharton  on  October  23d  last, 
*  *  *  *  and  to  ask  for  a  suitable  apology 
and  for  some  adequate  reparation  for  the 
injury  done  to  this  country." 


In  the  same  note  the  attention  of  the 
Chilean  government  was  called  to  the  offen- 
sive character  of  a  note  addressed  by  Mr. 
Matta,  its  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  to 
Mr,  Montt,  its  minister  at  this  capital,  on 
the  11  th  ult.  This  dispatch  was  not  offici- 
ally communicated  to  this  government,  but 
as  Mr.  Montt  was  directed  to  translate  it, 
and  to  give  it  to  the  press  of  this  country, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  it  could  not  pass  with- 
out official  notice.  It  was  not  only  undip- 
lomatic, but  grossly  insulting  to  our  naval 
officers  and  to  the  Executive  Department, 
as  it  directly  imputed  untruth  and  insin- 
cerity to  the  reports  of  the  naval  officers 
and  to  the  official  communications  made  by 
the  Executive  Department  to  Congress.  It 
will  be  observed  that  I  have  notified  the 
Chilean  government  that  unless  this  note 
is  at  once  withdrawn  and  an  apology  as 
public  as  the  offence  made,  I  will  terminate 
diplomatic  relations. 

The  request  for  the  recall  of  Mr.  Egan 
upon  the  ground  that  he  was  not  persona 
grata,  was  unaccompanied  by  any  sugges- 
tion that  could  properly  be  used  in  support 
of  it,  and  I  infer  that  the  request  is  based 
upon  official  acts  of  Mr.  Egan,  which  have 
received  the  approval  of  tliis  government, 
But  however  that  may  be,  I  could  not  con- 
sent to  consider  such  a  question  until  it  had 
first  been  settled  whether  our  correspond- 
ence with  Chile  could  be  conducted  upon  a 
basis  of  mutual  respect. 

In  submitting  these  papers  to  Congress 
for  that  grave  and  patriotic  consideration 
which  the  questions  involved  demand,  1 
desire  to  say  that  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
the  demands  made  of  Chile  by  this  govern- 
ment should  be  adhered  to  and  enforced. 
If  the  dignity  as  well  as  the  prestige  and 
influence  of  the  United  States  are  not  to  be 
wholly  sacrificed  we  must  protect  those 
who,  in  foreign  ports,  display  the  flag  or 
wear  the  colors  of  this  government  against 
insult,  brutality,  and  death,  inflicted  in 
resentment  of  the  acts  of  their  government, 
and  not  for  any  faults  of  their  own.  It  has 
been  my  desire  in  every  way  to  cultivate 
friendly  and  intimate  relations  with  all  the 
governments  of  this  hemisphere. 

We  do  not  covet  their  territory ;  we  de- 
sire their  peace  and  prosperity,  _  We  look 
for  no  advantage  in  our  relations  with 
them  except  the  increased  exchanges  of 
commerce  upon  a  basis  of  mutual  benefit. 
We  regret  every  civil  contest  tliat  disturbs 
their  peace  and  paralyzes  their  develop- 
ment, and  are  always  ready  to  give  our 
good  offices  for  the  restoration  of  peace.  It 
must,  however,  be  understood  that  this 
government,  while  exercising  the  utmost 
forbearance  towards  weaker  powers,  will 
extend  its  strong  and  adequate  protection 
to  its  citizens,  to  its  officers,  and  to  its 
humblest  sailor,  when  made  the  victims  of 


346 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I. 


wantonness  and  cruelty  in  resentment,  not 
of  their  personal  misconduct,  but  of  the 
official  acts  of  their  government. 

Upon  information  received  that  Patrick 
Shields,  an  Irishman  and  probably  a  British 
subject,  but  at  the  time  a  fireman  of  the 
American  steamer  Keweenaw,  in  the  harbor 
of  Valparaiso  for  repairs,  had  been  subjected 
to  personal  injuries  in  that  city — largely  by 
the  police— I  directed  the  Attorney  General 
to  cause  the  evidence  of  the  officers  and 
crew  of  that  vessel  to  be  taken  upon  its  ar- 
rival in  San  Francisco,  and  that  testimony 
is  also  herewith  transmitted. 

The  brutality  and  even  savagery  of  the 
treatment  of  this  poor  man  by  the  Chilean 
police  would  be  incredible  if  the  evidence 
of  Shields  was  not  supported  by  other  di- 
rect testimony,  and  by  the  distressing  con- 
dition of  the  man  himself  when  he  was 
finally  able  to  reach  his  vessel.  The  captain 
of  the  vessel  says  : 

"  He  came  back  a  wreck  :  black  from  his 
neck  to  his  hips,  from  beating ;  weak  and 


stupid,  and  is  still  in  a  kind  of  paralyzed 
condition,  and  has  never  been  aole  to  do 
duty  since." 

A  claim  for  reparation  has  been  made  in 
behalf  of  this  man,  for,  while  he  was  not  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  the  doctrine 
long  held  by  us,  as  expressed  in  the  Consu- 
lar Regulations,  is : 

"The  principles  which  are  maintained 
by  this  government  in  regard  to  the  protec- 
tion as  distinguishedfrom  the  relief  of  sea- 
men are  well  settled.  It  is  held  that  the 
circumstance  that  the  vessel  is  American 
is  evidence  that  the  seamen  on  board  are 
such  ;  and  in  every  regularly  documented 
merchant  vessel  the  crew  will  find  their 
protection  in  the  flag  that  covers  them." 

I  have  as  yet  received  no  reply  to  our 
note  of  the  21st  inst.,  but,  in  my  opinion, 
I  ought  not  to  delay  longer  to  bring  these 
matters  to  the  attention  of  Congress  for 
such  action  as  may  be  deemed  appropriate. 
Benjamin  Harrison. 

Executive  Mansion,  Jan.  25, 1892. 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


347 


The  National  Conventions  of  1892. 

REPUBLICAN. 

The  National  Republican  Convention  for 
1892  was  called  to  meet  at  Minneapolis 
June  7th.  The  Convention  was  close  at 
hand  before  any  candidates  were  named, 
other  than  President  Harrison.  In  Feb- 
ruary Mr.  Blaine  had  written  to  Mr. 
Clarkson,  Chairman  of  the  National  Con- 
vention, saying  that  his  name  would  not 
be  presented  as  a  candidate,  and  declining 
in  such  positive  terms  that  it  was  accepted 
as  meaning  what  it  said  at  the  time. 
Later  on  the  opposition  to  the  President's 
nomination,  leu  by  a  syndicate  of  very 
strong  names — Piatt,  of  New  York  ;  Quay, 
of  Pennsylvania ;  Clarkson,  of  Iowa ; 
Conger,  of  Ohio  ;  Kellogg,  of  Louisiana ; 
Wolcott,  of  Colorado ;  Bourne,  of  Ore- 
gon ;  Filley,  of  Missouri — agreed  to  pre- 
sent Mr.  Blaine,  upon  the  statement  that 
he  would  accept  if  his  nomination  was 
plainly  for  the  good  of  the  party.  Three 
daj's  preceding  the  Convention  Mr.  Blaine 
suddenly  resigned  as  Secretary  of  State, 
and  thus  created  the  impression  that  he 
would  accept  and  that  he  was  a  candidate. 
The  first  effect  of  the  resignation  was  to 
enthuse  his  friends,  many  of  them  already 
assembled  at  Minneapolis,  but  when  the 
correspondence  was  published,  and  its 
terseness  was  traceable  entirely  to  Mr. 
Blaine's  haste,  a  great  reaction  followed 
in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  groups  of 
business  men  from  all  prominent  towns  and 
cities  wired  their  delegates  of  the  change 
in  sentiment,  and  as  a  rule  they  were 
asked  to  re-nominate  President  Harrison. 
A  feeling  affected  the  Blaine  delegates, 
and  many  of  the  leaders  began  to  look 
for  a  third  man,  in  the  person  of  Major 
McKinley,  the  father  of  the  tariff  bill  of 
1890,  since  chosen  Governor  of  Ohio. 
Major  McKinley  himself  voted  for  Harri- 
son and  resisted  a  proposed  stampede  in 
his  own  behalf,  which  had  been  planned  to 
plump  Ohio,  Oregon  and  Pennsylvania 
solidly  for  McKinley.  The  plan  failed, 
partly  because  Harrison  had  gained  largely 
over  estimates  after  New  York  had  voted, 
and  Pennsylvania  cast  19  votes  for  him  at 
the  only  moment  which  could  have  been  at 
all  critical. 

The  Convention  organized  at  noon  on 
the  7th,  with  Major  McKinley  as  its  Presi- 
dent. The  first  contest  was  upon  the 
question  of  the  majority  and  minority  re- 
ports of  the  Committee  on  Contests,  the 
majority  bein^  adopted  and  generally  re- 
garded as  a  victory  for  the  friends  of  Har- 
rison. The  contests  were  important  only 
in  the  case  of  Alabama,  where  two  full 
sets  of  delegates  disputed  for  the  seats. 

Senator  Wolcott,  of  Colorado,^  presented 
the  name  of  Mr.  Blaine,  and  it  was  sec-. 


onded  by  ex-Se'nator  Warner  Miller,  of 
New  York. 

Ex-Secretary  of  the  Navy  Richard  T. 
Thompson,  of  Indiana  (on  that  day  eighty- 
three  years  of  age,  and  a  delegate  to  every 
previous  Republican  National  Conven- 
tion), presented  the  name  of  President 
Harrison.  It  was  seconded  by  Chauncey 
M.  Depew,  of  New  York,  in  a  speech  re- 
markable for  its  force  and  eloquence. 

The  first  and  only  ballot  was  taken  on 
the  morning  of  June  10th,  with  the  fol- 
lowing result : 

THE  BAIil^OT  IN   DETAIK,. 


States. 


Alabama 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada , 

New  Hampshire- 
New  Jersey 

New  York" 

North  Carolina... 

North  Dakota 

Ohio 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina... 

South  Dakota 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington 

West  Virginia.... 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 

Territories. 

Alaska 

Arizona 

Dist.  of  Columbia 
Indian  Territory. 

New  Mexico 

Oklahoma 

Utah 

Total 


15 
15 

8 

0 

4 

4 

8 
26 

0 
34 
30 
20 
11 
22 

8 

0 
14 
18 

7 

8 

13K 
28 

5 
15 

0 

4 
18 
27 

2 

1 

1 
19 

5 
13 

8 
17 
22 

8 

9 

1 
12 
19 

4 


0 

1 

0 

0 

6 
14 

0 

5 

0 

2 

8 
12 

0 

1 

2 

9 

4X 

4 

1 

0 

6 

2 

2 
S5 

2% 

4 

0 

0 

3 

1 

3 

0 

4 

6 

0 
13 

6 

0 

2 

2 


5353^ 


182% 


7 
1 
1 
0 
8 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
9 
1 
0 
0 
2 
11 
19 
1 
0 
2 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
10 

1 

0 
45 
7 
42 
1 
2 
0 
3 
0 
0 
2 
1 
0 
3 
0 


182 


Absent  and  not  voting,  1%. 

Reed,  of  Maine,  received  3  votes,  and 
Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  1. 


348 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  I, 


Major  McKinley  moved  to  make  the 
nomination  unanimous,  and  it  was  adopted 
with  great  enthusiasm. 

In  response  to  the  unanimous  request  of 
the  New  York  delegation,  Hon.  Whitelaw 
Reid  was  nominated  for  Vice-President  by 
acclamation. 

[See  Book  TT,  for  Platform  and  Com- 
parison of  Platforms;  Book  III.  for 
speech  of  Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew.] 

DEMOCRATIC. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention 
assembled  at  Chicago,  June  21st,  and  its 
deliberations  excited  great  interest  because 
of  the  opposition  of  the  New  York  dele- 
gation to  the  nomination  of  Cleveland. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Governor  Hill, 
the  New  York  Democracy,  in  the  canvass 
of  1891,  carried  the  State,  electing  Flower 
as  Governor,  and  Hill  as  U.  S.  Senator, 
the  latter  only  after  a  severe  contest  and 
depriving  three  Republican  State  Senators 
of  their  seats  by  contests  settled  before 
partisan  courts.  The  New  York  opposi- 
tion to  Cleveland,  with  the  active  aid  of 
Tammany,  united  upon  Hill  as  a  Presiden- 
tial candidate.  A  "  snap  "  or  mid-winter 
State  Convention  was  called  to  elect  dele- 
gates to  the  National  Convention,  and  72 
Hill  men  were  chosen  and  instructed.  This 
system  of  forestalling  public  sentiment 
angered  the  Cleveland  Democrats,  who 
signed  a  protest  to  the  number  of  200,000 
and  three  months  later  elected  a  contesting 
delegation,  with  instructions  for  Cleveland. 
Mr.  Croker,  Tammany's  Chief,  and  State 
Chairman  Murphy  were  the  Hill  leaders 
at  Chicago,  and  they  gave  early  and  public 
notice,  in  very  bitter  language,  that  if 
nominated  Cleveland  could  not  carry  New 
York.  Ex-Secretary  of  the  Navy  Whitney 
was  the  Cleveland  leader,  and  he  readily 
mustered  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
Convention,  and  felt  so  assured  of  victory 
that  he  advised  the  withdrawal  of  the 
contest  against  Hill's  delegation.  Singu- 
larly enough  the  minority  desired  the 
repeal  of  the  unit  rule,  for  they  had 
ascertained,  after  a  careful  canvass,  that 
Cleveland  would  lo.se  enough  votes  to 
check  and  pos.sibly  prevent  his  nomination 
if  all  of  the  delegates  were  permitted  to 
voto  separately.  The  unit  rule,  however, 
was  carefully  re-enacted  in  the  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Rules. 

Governor  Wm.  L.  Wilson,  of  West 
Virginia,  was  elected  President.  Governor 
Ijeon  Abbett,  of  New  Jersey,  presented 
the  name  of  Grover  Cleveland  ;  William 
C.  DeWitt.  of  New  York,  that  of  Senator 
David  B.  Hill,  and  John  M.  Duncombe,  of 
Iowa,  that  of  Governor  Boies.  A  ballot 
was  reached  at  4  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  23d,  the  Cleveland  leaders  doing 


this  to  prevent  combinations  by  the  oppo- 
sition. 

THE  BAIiliOT  IN   DETAII.. 


States. 

a 

I* 
6 

n 

1 
o 

S 

o 
O 

•c 
s 

■3 

Alabama 

14 
16 
18 

0 
12 

6 

5 
17 

0 
48 
80 

0 
20 
18 

3 

9 

6 
24 
28 
18 

8 
34 

0 
15 

0 

8 
20 

0 

6 

14 

8 

64 

8 

2 

7 

24 

23 

8 

12 

8 

7 

24 

3 

2 
5 
2 
4 
2 
2 
2 

2 
0 
0 
3 
0 
0 
0 
5 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
1 
0 
4 
0 
0 
3 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
72 
1 
0 
6 
0 
0 
0 
3 
0 
0 
1 
0 

11 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 
0 

? 

0 
0 
0 

1 
0 
0 
5 
0 
0 
0 
0 
6 
0 
0 

26 
0 
2 

11 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
3 
0 
6 
0 
4 
0 
0 
0 
» 
0 

16 
0 
0 
0 

13 
1 
0 
6 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

0 
0 
0 

1 

0 
0 
0 

1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
4 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

1 

1 

pi 

0 
0 
0 
4 
0 
0 

1 

2 
0 
0 
0 
9 
0 
5 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

1 

0 
3 
0 
3 

0 

1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

4 

Arkansas 

0 

California 

0 

Colorado 

0 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

0 
0 

Florida 

3 

0 

Idaho 

0 

Illinois 

0 

Indiana 

0 

Iowa 

0 

ICansaa 

0 

Kentucky 

6  ■ 

0 

Maine 

Maryland 

1 
0 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

1 
0 

Minnesota 

0 

Mississippi 

0 

Missouri 

0 

Montana 

0 

Nebraska 

0 

Nevada 

0 

New  Hampshire- 
New  .Tersey 

New  York 

0 
0 
0 

North  Carolina... 

North  Dakota 

Ohio 

5 

Orepon 

0 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina- 
South  Dakota 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

Texas 

0 

Vermont 

0 

0 

Wa.shington 

West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

0 

1 

0 

Wyoming 

0 

Territories. 

0 

0 

Dist.  of  Columbia 
New  Mexico 

0 
0 

0 

Utah 

0 

Indian  Territory. 

0 

Total 

en% 

115 

103 

86M 

88% 

Number  of  votes  cast,  909 J.  Necessary 
to  a  choice,  607. 

Of  the  scattering  votes  Campbell  got  two 
from  Alabama. 

Carlisle  got  3  from  Florida,  6  from  Ken- 
tucky, 5  from  Ohio.     Total  14. 

Stephenson  got  1 6 J  from  North  Carolina. 

Pattison  got  1  from  West  Virginia. 

Russell  got  1  from  Massachusetts. 

Whitney  got  1  from  Maine. 

Adlai  E.Stevenson, of  Illinois,  former  As- 
sistantPostmaster  General,  was  nominated 
Vice  President  on  the  first  ballot,  his  chief 
competitor  being  Senator  Gray,  of  Indiana, 


BOOK  I.] 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


349 


[See  Book  II.  for  Democratic  National 
Platform  and  Comparison ;  Book  III.  tor 
Governor  Abbett's  speech  nominating 
Cleveland.  ] 

A  notable  scene  in  the  Convention  was 
created  by  Mr.  Neal,  of  Ohio,  who  moved 
to  substitute  a  radical  free  trade  plank  as  a 
substitute  for  the  somewhat  moderate  ut- 
terances reported  by  ex-Secretary  of  the 
Interior  Vilas,  who  read  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Platform.  The  substitute 
denounced  the  protective  tariff  as  a  fraud. 

Mr.  Neal  made  an  earnest  speech  in 
support  of  his  substitute  and  was  ably  sec- 
onded by  Mr-  Watterson. 

Mr.  Vilas  replied  defending  the  majority 
report  in  a  vigorous  speech,  which  was  as 
generously  applauded  as  that  which  pre- 
ceded. The  debate  was  animated  and  made 
specially  interesting  by  the  suggestions  and 
calls  from  the  galleries.  The  substitute  was 
finally  accepted  by  Chairman  Jones  on 
behalf  of  the  committee,  but  this  did  not 
satisfy  the  friends  of  the  substitute,  who 
persisted  in  having  a  roll  call  upon  its 
adoption. 

A  synopsis  of  the  platform  was  submit- 
ted to  and  received  the  approval  of  Mr. 
Cleveland,  and  it  was  reported  that  the 
Noal  substitute  was  prepared  by  the  anti- 
Cleveland  leaders,  and  the  fact  that  the 


roll  call  was  persisted  in  by  the  anti-Cleve- 
land men  gave  color  to  this  report. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  confusion  and 
excitement  preceding  the  roll  call,  and  its 
progress  was  watched  with  as  much  interest 
as  though  its  result  was  to  decide  the 
nomination.  The  States  at  the  head  of 
the  roll  generally  cast  their  votes  accord- 
ing to  what  was  believed  to  be  the  feeling 
of  their  delegations  on  the  Presidency,  but 
later  on  the  order  was  more  varied,  States 
known  to  be  for  Cleveland  casting  their 
solid  vote  for  the  substitute.  New  York 
was  loudly  cheered  when  the  72  votes  of 
the  State  were  given  for  the  substitute.  It 
was  a  most  inconsistent  vote,  as  Tammany 
is  not  regarded  as  a  free  trade  organization 
— rather  as  one  favoring  moderate  tariffs. 
A  ripple  of  excitement  was  occasioned 
when  Chairman  Hensel  cast  the  64  votes  of 
Pennsylvania  against  the  substitute.  Mr. 
Wallace  protested  that  15  of  the  delegates 
favored  the  substitute,  and  he  demanded 
that  the  delegation  be  polled.  A  colloquy 
followed  between  Hensel  and  Wallace  on 
the  rules  of  the  Convention,  and  the  point 
raised  by  the  former  that  Wallace's  motion 
was  not  in  order  under  the  unit  rules  was 
sustained  by  the  Chair. 

The  result  of  the  vote  was  564  for  the 
substitute  and  342  against  it. 


AMEEIOAN    POLITICS. 


BOOK  n. 


POUnCAL  PLATFOEM8. 


2S 


MmJ^ 


AMERICAlSr  POLITICS. 


BOOK  n. 


POLITIOAIi  PLATFOEMS. 


THE  FIRST  POLITICAL  PLATFORM  ENUNCIATED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  TO 
COMMAND  GENERAL  ATTENTION  WAS  DRAWN  BY  MR.  :MADIS0N  IN  1798,  WHOSE 
OBJECT  WAS  TO  PRONOUNCE  THE  ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  LAWS  UNCONSTITUTIONAL, 
AND  TO  DEFINE  THE  RIGHTS  OF  THE  STATES. 


Tirginla  Resolutions  of  1798. 

Pronouncing  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  to  be  uncon- 
stitutional, and  Deftning  the  rights  of  the  States. — 
Drawn  by  Mr.  Madison. 

In  the  Virginia  Home  of  Delegates, 

Friday,  Dec.  21, 1798. 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia  doth  unequivocally  express  a 
firm  resolution  to  niaintain  and  defend 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  constitution  of  this  state,  against  every 
aggression  either  foreign  or  domestic;  and 
that  they  will  support  the  government  of 
the  United  States  in  all  measures  war- 
ranted by  the  former. 

That  this  Assembly  most  solemnlj^  de- 
clares a  warm  attachment  to  the  Union  of 
the  states,  to  maintain  Avhich  it  pledges  its 
powers ;  and,  that  for  this  end,  it  is  their 
duty  to  watch  over  and  oppose  every  in- 
fraction of  those  principles  which  consti- 
tute the  only  basis  of  that  Union,  because 
a  faithful  observance  of  them  can  alone 
secure  its  existence  and  the  public  happi- 
ness. 

That  this  Assembly  doth  explicitly  and 
peremptorily  declare,  that  it  views  the 
powers  of  the  federal  government,  as  re- 
sulting from  the  compact  to  which  the 
states  are  parties,  as  limited  by  the  plain 
sense  and  mtention  of  the  instrument  con- 
stituting that  compact,  as  no  farther  valid 
than  they  are  authorized  by  the  grants 
enumerated  in  that  compact ;  and  that  in 
case  of  a  deliberate,  palpable,  and  dan- 
gerous exercise  of  other  powers,  not  granted 
by  the  said  compact,  tne  states,  who  are 
parties  thereto,  have  the  right,  and  are  in 
duty  bound,  to  interpose,  for  arresting  the 


progress  of  the  evil,  and  for  maintainirg 
within  their  respective  limits  the  authori- 
ties, rights,  ana  liberties  appertaining  Jo 
them. 

That  the  General  Assembly  doth  aliio 
express  its  deep  regret,  that  a  spirit  has, 
in  sundry  instances,  been  manifested  by 
the  federal  government,  to  enlarge  its 
powers  by  forced  constructions  of  the  coa- 
stitutional  charter  which  defines  them; 
and,  that  indications  have  appeared  d?  a 
design  to  expound  certain  general  phraises 
(which,  having  been  copied  from  tne  very 
limited  grant  of  powers  in  the  former  Ar- 
ticles of  Confederation,  were  the  less  liable 
to  be  misconstrued)  so  as  to  destroy  the 
meaning  and  effect  of  the  particular 
enumeration  which  necessarily  explains, 
and  limits  the  general  phrases,  and  so  as 
to  consolidate  the  states  by  degrees  into 
one  sovereignty,  the  obvious  tendency  and 
inevitable  result  of  which  would  be,  to 
transform  the  present  republican  system 
of  the  United  States  into  an  absolute,  or  at 
best,  a  mixed  monarchy. 

That  the  General  Assembly  doth  par« 
ticularly  protest  against  the  palpable  and 
alarming  infractions  of  the  Constitution, 
in  the  two  late  cases  of  the  "Alien  and 
Sedition  Acts,'*  passed  at  the  last  session 
of  Congress;  the  first  of  which  exercises  a 
power  nowhere  delegated  to  the  federal 

f;overnment,  and  which,  by  uniting  legis- 
ative  and  judicial  powers  to  those  of 
executive,  subverts  the  general  principles 
of  free  government,  as  well  as  the  particu- 
lar organization  and  positive  provision'^  of 
the  Federal  Constitution;   and  the  other 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  n. 


ol"  which  acts  exercises,  in  like  manner,  a 

Eower  not  delegated  by  the  Constitution, 
ut  on  the  contrary,  exi)ressly  and  posi- 
tively forbidden  by  one  of  the  amendments 
thereto;  a  power  which,  more  than  any 
other,  ought  to  produce  universal  alarm, 
because  it  is  levelled  against  the  right  of 
freely  examining  public  characters  and 
measures,  and  of  free  communication 
among  the  people  thereon,  which  has  ever 
been  justly  deemed  the  only  etiectual 
guardiiin  of  every  other  right. 

That  this  state  having  by  its  Conven- 
tion, which  ratified  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, expressly  declared,  that  among  other 
essential  rights,  "  the  liberty  of  conscience 
and  the  press  cannot  be  cancelled,  abridged, 
restrained,  or  modified  by  any  authority 
of  the  United  States,"  and  from' its  extreme 
anxietv  to  guard  these  rights  from  every 

Eossible  attack  of  sophistry  and  ambition, 
aving  with  other  states  recommended  an 
amendment  for  that  purpose,  which  amend- 
ment was,  in  due  time,  annexed  to  the 
Constitution,  it  would  mark  a  reproachful 
inconsistency,  and  criminal  degeneracy,  if 
an  indifference  were  now  shown  to  the 
most  palpable  violation  of  one  of  the 
rights,  thus  declared  and  secured ;  and  to 
the  establishment  of  a  precedent  which 
mav  be  fatal  to  the  other. 

That  the  good  people  of  this  common- 
wealth, having  ever  felt,  and  continuing  to 
feel  the  most  sincere  affection  for  their 
brethren  of  the  other  states;  the  truest 
anxiety  for  establishing  and  perpetuating 
the  Union  of  all :  and  the  most  scrupulous 
fidelity  to  that  Constitution,  which  is  the 
pledge  of  mutual  friendship,  and  the  in- 
strument of  mutual  happiness;  the  General 
Assembly  doth  solemnly  appeal  to  the  like 
dispositions  in  the  other  States,  in  confi- 
dence that  they  will  concur  with  this  com- 
monwealth, in  declaring,  as  it  does  hereby 
declare,  that  the  acts  aforesaid  are  uncon- 
stitutional; and,  that  the  necessary  and 
proper  measures  will  be  taken  by  each  for 
co-operating  with  this  state,  in  maintain- 
ing unimpaired  the  authorities,  rights,  and 
liberties,  reserved  to  the  states,  respectively, 
or  to  the  people. 

That  the  governor  be  desired  to  transmit 
a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  to  the 
executive  authority  of  each  of  the  other 
states,  with  a  request  that  the  same  may  be 
communicated  to  the  legislature  thereof; 
and  that  a  copy  be  furnished  to  each  of  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  representing 
this  state  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States. 

Attest,  John  Stewart. 

1798.  December  24th.  Agreed  to  by  the 
Senate.  H.  Brooke. 

A  true  copy  from  the  original  deposited 
in  the  office  of  the  General  Assemblv. 

JoHX  Stewart,  Keeper  of  Rolls.     [ 


Extracts  from  the  Address  to  the  People; 
which  accompanied  the  foregoing  resolu- 
tions : — 

Fellow  -  Citizens :  Unwilling  to  shrink 
from  our  representative  responsibility, 
conscious  of  the  purity  of  our  motives,  but 
acknowledging  your  right  to  supervise  oui 
conduct,  we  invite  your  serious  attention 
to  the  emergency  which  dictated  the  sub- 
joined resolutions.  Whilst  we  disdain  to 
alarm  you  by  ill-founded  jealousies,  we 
recommend  an  investigation,  guided  by 
the  coolness  of  wisdom,  and  a  decision  bot- 
tomed, on  firmness  but  tempered  with 
moderation. 

It  would  be  perfidious  in  those  intrusted 
with  the  guardianship  of  the  state  sover- 
eignty, and  acting  under  the  solemn  obliga- 
tion of  the  following  oath :  "  I  do  swear, 
that  I  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,'*^not  to  warn  you  of  encroach- 
ments, which,  though  clothed  with  thg 
pretext  of  necessity,  or  disguised  by  argu- 
ments of  expediency,  may  yet  establish 
precedents,  which  may  ultimatelv  devote  a 
generous  and  unsuspicious  people  to  all 
the  consequences  of  usurped  power. 

Encroachments,  springing  from  a  govern- 
ment whose  organization  cannot  be  main- 
tained without  the  co-operation  of  the 
states,  furnish  the  strongest  incitements 
upon  the  state  legislatures  to  watchfulness, 
and  impose  upon  them  the  strongest  obliga- 
tion to  preserve  unimpaired  the  line  of 
partition. 

The  acquiescence  of  the  states  under  in- 
fractions of  the  federal  compact,  would 
either  be^et  a  speedy  consolidation,  by 
precipitat/ng  the  state  governments  into 
impotency  and  contempt ;  or  prepare  Uxe 
way  for  a  revolution,  by  a  repetition  of 
these  infractions,  until  the  people  are 
aroused  to  appear  in  the  majesty  of  their 
strength.  It  is  to  avoid  these  calamities, 
that  we  exhibit  to  the  people  the  momen- 
tous question,  whether  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  shall  yield  to  a  construc- 
tion which  defies  every  restraint  and  over- 
whelms the  best  hopes  of  republicanism. 

Exhortations  to  disregard  domestic  usur- 
pations until  foreign  danger  shall  have 
pa.ssed,  is  an  artifice  which  may  be  for  ever 
used ;  because  the  possessors  of  power,  who 
are  the  advocates  for  its  extension,  can 
ever  create  national  embarrassments,  to  be 
successively  employed  to  soothe  the  people 
into  sleep,  whilst  that  power  is  swelling 
silently,  secretly,  and  fatally.  Of  the  same 
character  are  insinuations  of  a  foreign  in- 
fluence, which  seize  upon  a  laudable  en- 
thusiasm against  danger  from  a  broad,  and 
distort  it  by  an  unnatural  application,  so 
as  to  blind  your  eyes  against  danger  at 
home. 

The  sedition  act  presents  a  scene  which 
was  never  expected  by  the  early  friends  of 
the  Constitution.    It  was  then  admitted 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL  PLATFORMS. 


that  the  state  sovereignties  were  only  di- 
minished by  powers  specifically  enumer- 
ated, or  necessary  to  carry  the  specified 
powers  into  effect.  Now  federal  authority 
IS  deduced  from  implication,  and  from  the 
existence  of  state  law  it  is  inferred  that 
Congress  possesses  a  similar  power  of  legis- 
lation ;  whence  Congress  will  be  endowed 
with  a  power  of  legislation  in  all  cases 
whatsoever,  and  the  states  will  be  stript  of 
every  right  reserved  by  the  concurrent 
claims  of  a  paramount  legislature. 

The  sedition  act  is  the  offspring  of  these 
tremendous  pretensions,  which  inflict  a 
death  wound  on  the  sovereignty  of  these 
states. 

For  the  honor  of  American  understand- 
ing, we  will  not  believe  that  the  people 
have  been  allured  into  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  by  an  affectation  of  defining 
powers,  whilst  the  preamble  would  admit 
a  construction  which  would  erect  the  will 
of  Congress  into  a  power  paramount  in  all 
cases,  and  therefore  limited  in  none.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  evident  that  the  objects 
for  which  the  Constitution  was  formed 
•were  deemed  attainable  only  by  a  particu- 
lar enumeration  and  specification  of  each 
power  granted  to  the  federal  government ; 
reserving  all  others  to  the  people,  or  to  the 
states.  And  yet  it  is  in  vain  we  search  for 
any  specified  power,  embracing  the  right 
of  legislation  against  the  freedom  of  the 
press. 

Had  the  states  been  despoiled  of  their 
sovereignty    by    the    generality    of    the 

Ereamble,  and  had  the  federal  government 
een  endowed  with  whatever  they  should 
judge  to  be  instrumental  towards  union, 
justice,  tranquillity,  common  defence,  gen- 
eral welfare,  and  the  preservation  of  liberty 
nothing  could  have  been  more  frivolous 
than  an  enumeration  of  powers. 

All  the  preceding  arguments  rising  from 
a  deficiency  of  constitutional  power  in  Con- 
gress, apply  to  the  alien  act,  and  this  act  is 
liable  to  other  objections  peculiar  to  itself. 
If  a  suspicion  that  aliens  are  dangerous 
constitute  the  justification  of  that  power 
exercised  over  them  by  Congress,  then  a 
similar  suspicion  will  justify  the  exercise 
of  a  similar  power  over  natives.  Because 
there  is  notning  in  the  Constitution  dis- 
tinguishing between  the  power  of  a  state  to 
fermit  the  residence  of  natives  and  aliens, 
t  is  therefore  a  right  originally  possessed, 
and  never  surrendered  by  the  respective 
states,  and  which  is  rendered  dear  and 
valuable  to  Virginia,  because  it  is  assailed 
through  the  bosom  of  the  Constitution, 
and  because  her  peculiar  situation  renders 
the  easy  admission  of  artisans  and  labor- 
ers an  interest  of  vast  importance. 

But  this  bill  contains  other  features,  still 
more  alarming  and  dangerous.  It  dispen- 
ees  with  the  trial  by  jury :  it  violates  the 
judicial  system;  it  confounds  legislative, 


executive,  and  judicial  powers ;  it  punishes 
without  trial;  and  it  bestows  upon  the 
President  despotic  power  over  a  numerous 
class  of  men.  Are  such  measures  consistent 
with  our  constitutional  principles?  And 
will  an  accumulation  of  power  so  extensive 
in  the  hands  of  the  executive,  over  aliens, 
secure  to  natives  the  blessings  of  republi- 
can liberty  ? 

If  measures  can  mould  governments, 
and  if  an  uncontrolled  power  of  construc- 
tion is  surrendered  to  those  who  administer 
them,  their  progress  may  be  easily  foreseen 
and  their  end  easily  foretold.  A  lover  of 
monarchy,  who  opens  the  treasures  of  cor* 
ruption,  by  distributing  emolument  among 
devoted  partisans,  may  at  the  same  time  be 
approaching  his  object,  and  deluding  the 
people  with  professions  of  republicanism. 
He  may  confound  monarchy  and  republic- 
anism, by  the  art  of  definition.  He  may 
varnish  over  the  dexterity  which  ambitlDU 
never  fails  to  display,  with  the  pliancy  i»f 
language,  the  seduction  of  expediency,  ox 
the  prejudices  of  the  times.  And  he  may 
come  at  length  to  avow  that  so  extensive 
a  territory  as  that  of  the  United  States  can 
only  be  governed  by  the  energies  of  mon- 
archy ;  that  it  cannot  be  defended,  except 
by  standing  armies ;  and  that  it  cannot  be 
united,  except  by  consolidation. 

Measures  have  already  been  adopted 
which  may  lead  to  these  consequences. 
They  consist: 

In  fiscal  systems  and  arrangements,  which 
keep  a  host  of  commercial  and  wealthy 
individuals,  embodied  and  obedient  to  the 
mandates  of  the  treasury. 

In  armies  and  navies,  which  will,  on  'Jie 
one  hand,  enlist  the  tendency  of  man  to 
pay  homage  to  his  fellow-creature  who  c:i\n 
feed  or  honor  him ;  and  on  the  other,  evu- 
ploy  the  principle  of  fear,  by  punishing 
imaginary  insurrections,  under  the  pretest 
of  preventive  justice. 

In  swarms  of  officers,  civil  and  militarj', 
who  can  inculcate  political  tenets  tending 
to  consolidation  and  monarchy,  both  by 
indulgences  and  severities ;  and  can  act  as 
spies  over  the  free  exercise  of  human  reason. 

In  restraining  the  freedom  of  the  press, 
and  investing  the  executive  with  legisla- 
tive, executive,  and  judicial  powers,  over 
a  numerous  body  of  men. 

And,  that  wo  may  shorten  the  catalogue, 
in  establishing  by  successive  precedenta 
such  a  mode  of  construing  the  Constitution, 
as  will  rapidly  remove  every  restraint  upon 
federal  power. 

Let  history  be  consulted ;  let  the  man  of 
experience  reflect;  nay,  let  the  artificers 
of  monarchy  be  asked  what  fjirther  mate- 
rials they  can  need  for  building  up  their 
favorite  system  ? 

These  are  solemn,  but  painful  truths; 
and  yet  we  recommend  it  to  you  not  to  for 
get  tlie  possibility  of  danger  from  without, 


6 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


although  danger  threatens  us  from  within. 
Usurpation  is  indeed  dreadful,  but  against 
foreign  invasion,  if  that  should  happen,  let 
us  rise  with  hearts  and  hands  united,  and 
repel  the  attack  witlf  the  zeal  of  freemen, 
who  will  strengthen  their  title  to  examine 
and  correct  domestic  measures  by  having 
defended  their  countr}'  against  foreign  ag- 
gression. 

Pledged  as  we  are,  fellow-citizens,  to 
these  sacred  engagements,  we  yet  humbly 
and  fervently  implore  the  Almighty  Dis- 
poser of  events  to  avert  from  our  land  war 
and  usurpation,  the  scourges  of  mankind ; 
to  permit  our  fields  to  be  cultivated  in 
peace ;  to  instill  into  nations  the  love  of 
triendly  intercourse ;  to  suffer  our  youth  to 
be  educated  in  virtue ;  and  to  preserve  our 
morality  from  the  pollution  invariably  in- 
cident to  habits  of  war ;  to  prevent  the 
laborer  and  husbandman  from  being  har- 
assed by  taxes  and  imposts;  to  remove 
from  ambition  the  means  of  disturbing  the 
commonwealth;  to  annihilate  all  pretexts 
for  power  affoided  by  war;  to  maintain 
the  Constitution ;  and  to  bhiss  our  nation 
with  tranquillity,  under  whose  benign  in- 
fluence we  may  reach  the  summit  of  hap- 
piness and  glorv,  to  which  we  are  destined 
Dy  Nature  and  ^"attire's  God. 

Attest,         JoHK  Stewart,  C.  H.  D. 

1799,  Jan.  23.    Agreed  to  by  the  Senate. 

H.  Bkooke,  C.  S. 

A  true  copy  from  the  original,  deposited 
in  the  office  of  the  General  Assembly. 
JOHX  Stew  AST,  Keeper  of  Rolls. 


AnsiTcrs  of  the  severml  State  I<e£^alatares. 

State  of  Delaware. — In  the  House 
of  Representatives,  Feb.  1,  1799.  Resolved, 
By  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  state  of  Delaware,  in  General 
Assembly  met,  that  they  consider  the  reso- 
lutions from  the  state  of  Virginia  as  a  very 
unjustifiable  interference  with  the  general 
government  and  constituted  authorities  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  dangerous  tend- 
ency, and  therefore  not  fit  subject  for  the 
further  consideration  of  the  General  As- 
•embly. 

Isaac  Davis,  Speaker  of  the  Senate. 
Stephen  Lewis,  Speaker  of  the  H.  of 
E'».    Test^ 

John  Fisher.  C.  S. 
John  Caldwell,  C.  H.  R. 

State  of  Rhode  Islaxd  axd  Prov- 
IDEXCE  Plantations. — In  General  As- 
sembly, February,  A.  D.  1799.  Certain 
resolutions  of  the  Legi  ilature  of  Virginia, 
yarned  on  21st  of  December  last,  being 
tommunicated  to  this  Assembly, 


1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this 
legislature,  the  second  section  of  third  Jir- 
ticle  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  in  these  words,  to  wit :  The  judi- 
cial power  shall  extend  to  all  cases  arising 
under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  vests 
in  the  federal  courts,  exclusively,  and  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
ultimately,  the  authority  of  deciding  on 
the  constitutionality  of  any  act  or  law  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

2.  Resolved,  That  for  any  state  legisla- 
ture to  assume  that  authority,  would  be, 

1st.  Blending  together  legislative  and 
judicial  powers. 

2d.  Hazarding  an  interruption  of  the 
peace  of  the  states  by  civil  discord,  in  case 
of  a  diversity  of  opinions  among  the  state 
legislatures ;  each  state  having,  in  that 
case,  no  resort  for  vindicating  its  own 
opinions,  but  to  the  strength  of  its  owu 
arm. 

3d.  Submitting  most  important  que«» 
tions  of  law  to  less  competent  tribunals ; 
and 

4th.  An  infraction  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  expressed  in  plain 
terms. 

3.  Resolved,  That  although  for  the  above 
reasons,  this .  legislature,  in  their  public 
capacity,  do  not  feel  themselves  authorized 
to  consider  and  decide  on  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  sedition  and  alien  laws  (so 
called)  ;  yet  they  are  called  upon  by  the 
exigency  of  this  occasion,  to  declare,*  that 
in  their  private  opinions,  these  laws  are 
within  the  powers  delegated  to  Congress, 
and  promotive  of  the  welfare  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  governor  commu- 
nicate these  resolutions  to  the  supreme  <;;c- 
ecutive  of  the  state  of  Virginia,  and  at  llie 
same  time  express  to  him  that  this  legisla- 
ture cannot  contemplate,  without  extreme 
concern  and  regret,  the  many  evil  and 
fatal  consequences  which  may  flow  from 
the  ven^  unwarrantable  resolutions  afore- 
said, or  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  passed 
on  the  twenty -first  day  of  December  last. 

A  true  copy.       Samuel  Eddy,  Sec. 

Commonwealth  of  MAssAcnrsETTS. 
—In  Senate,  Feb.  9,  1799.  The  legisla- 
ture of  Massachusetts  having  taken  into 
serious  consideration  the  resolutions  of  the 
State  of  Virginia,  passed  the  21st  day  of 
December  last,  and  communicated  by 
his  excellency  the  governor,  relative  to 
certain  supposed  infractions  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  by  the  gov- 
ernment thereof,  and  being  convinced  that 
the  Federal  Constitution  is  calculated  to 
promote  the  happiness,  prosperity,  and 
safety  of  the  people  of  these  United  States, 
and  to  maintain  that  union  of  the  several 
states,  so  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the 
whole ;  and  being  bound  by  solemn  oath 


DOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


to  support  and  defend  that  Constitution, 
feel  it  unnecessary  to  make  any  professions 
of  their  attachment  to  it,  or  of  their  firm 
determination  to  support  it  against  every 
aggression,  foreign  or  domestic. 

But  they  deem  it  their  duty  solemnly  to 
declare,  that  while  they  hold  sacred  the 
principle,  that  consent  of  the  people  is  the 
only  pure  source  of  just  and  legitimate 
power,  they  cannot  admit  the  right  of  the 
state  legislatures  to  denounce  the  adminis- 
tration of  that  government  to  which  the 
Eeople  themselves,  by  a  solemn  compact, 
ave  exclusively  committed  their  national 
concerns :  That,  although  a  liberal  and 
enlightened  vigilance  among  the  people  is 
always  to  be  cherished,  yet  an  unreasona- 
ble jealousy  of  the  men  of  their  choice, 
and  a  recurrence  to  measures  of  extremity, 
upon  groundless  or  trivial  pretexts,  have  a 
strong  tendency  to  destroy  all  rational  lib- 
erty at  home,  and  to  deprive  the  United 
States  of  the  most  essential  advantages  in 
their  relations  abroad :  That  this  legisla- 
ture are  persuaded  that  the  decision  of  all 
cases  in  law  and  equity,  arising  under  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
construction  of  all  laws  made  in  pursu- 
ance thereof,  are  exclusively  vested  Tby  the 
geople  in  the  judicial  courts  of  the  United 
tates. 

That  the  people  in  that  solemn  compact, 
which  is  declared  to  be  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land,  have  not  constituted  the  state 
legislatures  the  judges  of  the  acts  or  mea- 
sures of  the  federal  government,  but  have 
confided  to  them  the  power  of  proposing 
such  amendments  of  the  Constitution,  as 
shall,  appear  to  them  necessary  to  the  in- 
terests, or  conformable  to  the  wishes  of 
the  people  whom  they  represent. 

That  by  this  construction  of  the  Con- 
stitution, an  amicable  and  dispassionate 
remedy  is  pointed  out  for  any  evil  which 
experience  may  prove  to  exist,  and  the 
peace  and  prosperity  of  the  United  States 
may  be  preserved  without  interruption. 

But,  should  the  respectable  state  of  Vir- 
ginia persist  in  the  assumption  of  tfie 
right  to  declare  the  acts  of  the  national 
government  unconstitutional,  and  should 
she  oppose  successfully  her  force  and  will 
to  those  of  the  nation,  the  Constitution 
would  be  reduced  to  a  mere  cipher,  to  the 
form  and  pageantry  of  authority,  without 
the  energy  of  power.  Every  act  of  the 
federal  government  which  thwarted  the 
views  or  checked  the  ambitious  projects  of 
a  particular  state,  or  of  its  leading  and  in- 
fluential members,  would  be  the  object  of 
opposition  and  of  remonstrance ;  while 
the  people,  convulsed  and  confused  by  the 
conflict  between  two  hostile  jurisdictions, 
enjoying  the  protection  of  neither,  would 
be  wearied  into  a  submission  to  some  bold 
leader,  who  would  establish  himself  on  the 
ruins  of  both. 
21 


The  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  al- 
though they  do  not  themselves  claim  the 
right,  nor  admit  the  authority  of  any  of 
the  state  governments,  to  decide  upon  the 
constitutionality  of  the  acts  of  the  federal 
government,  still,  lest  their  silence  should 
be  construed  into  disapprobation,  or  at 
best  into  a  doubt  of  the  constitutionality 
of  the  acts  referred  to  by  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia ;  and,  as  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia  has  called  for  an  expression  of 
their  sentiments,  do  explicitly  declare,  that 
they  consider  the  acts  of  Congress,  com- 
monly called  "the  alien  and  sedition  acts," 
not  only  constitutional,  but  expedient  and 
necessary:  That  the  former  act  respects 
a  description  of  persons  whose  rights  were 
not  particularly  contemplated  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  who  are  en- 
titled only  to  a  temporary  protection, 
while  they  yield  a  temporary  allegiance ; 
a  protection  which  ought  to  be  withdrawn 
whenever  they  become  "  dangerous  to  the 
public  safety,"  or  are  found  guilty  of 
"  treasonable  machination  "  against  the 
government :  That  Congress  having  been 
especially  intrusted  by  the  people  with  the 
general  defence  of  the  nation,  had  not  only 
the  right,  but  were  bound  to  protect  it 
against  internal  as  well  as  external  foes. 
That  the  United  States,  at  the  time  of  pass- 
ing the  act  concerning  aliens,  were  threat- 
ened with  actual  invasion,  had  been  driv- 
en by  the  unjust  and  ambitious  conduct  of 
the  French  government  into  warlike  pre- 

garations,  expensive  and  burthensome,  and 
ad  then,  within  the  bosom  of  the  coun- 
try, thousands  of  aliens,  who,  we  doubt 
not,  were  ready  to  co-operate  in  any  ex- 
ternal attack. 

It  cannot  be  seriously  believed,  that  the 
United  States  should  have  waited  till  the 
poignard  had  in  fact  been  plunged.  The 
removal  of  aliens  is  the  usual  preliminary 
of  hostility,  and  is  justified  by  the  invari- 
able usages  of  nations.  Actual  hostility 
had  unhappily  long  been  experienced,  and 
a  formal  declaration  of  it  the  government 
had  reason  daily  to  expect.  The  law, 
therefore,  was  just  and  salutary,  and  no 
oflicer  could,  with  so  much  propriety,  be 
intrusted  with  the  execution  of  it,  as  the 
one  in  whom  the  Constitution  has  reposed 
the  executive  power  of  the  United  States. 
The  sedition  act,  so  called,  is,  in  the 
opinion  of  this  legislature,  equally  defen- 
sible. The  Genersil  Assembly  of  Virginia, 
in  their  resolve  under  consideration,  ob- 
serve, that  when  that  state  by  its  conven- 
tion ratified  the  Federal  Constitution,  it 
expressly  declared,  "That,  among  other 
essential  rights,  the  liberty  of  conscience 
and  of  the  press  cannot  be  cancelled, 
abridged,  restrained,  or  modified  by  any 
authority  of  the  United  States,"  and  from 
its  extreme  anxiety  to  guard  these  rights 
from  every  possible  attack  of  sophistry  or 


8 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


ambition,  with  other  states,  recommend 
an  amendment  for  that  purpose:  which 
amendment  was,  in  due  time,  annexed  to 
the  Constitution ;  but  they  did  not  surely 
expect  that  the  proceedings  of  their  state 
convention  were  to  explain  the  amend- 
ment adopted  by  the  Union.  The  words 
of  that  amendment,  on  this  subject,  are, 
"  Congress  shall  make  no  law  abridging 
the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press." 

The  act  complained  of  is  no  abridgment 
of  the  freedom  of  either.  The  genuine 
liberty  of  speech  and  the  press,  is  the  lib- 
erty to  utter  and  publish  the  truth ;  but 
the  constitutional  right  of  the  citizen  to 
utter  and  publish  the  truth,  is  not  to  be 
confoundea  with  the  licentiousness  in 
speaking  and  writing,  that  is  only  em- 
ployed in  propagating  falsehood  and  slan- 
der. This  freedom  ot  the  press  has  been 
explicitly  secured  by  most,  if  not  all,  the 
state  constitutions ;  and  of  this  provision 
there  has  been  generally  but  one  construc- 
tion among  enlightened  men  ;  that  it  is  a 
security  for  the  rational  use  and  not  the 
abuse  of  the  press ;  of  which  the  courts  of 
law,  the  juries,  and  people  will  judge;  this 
right  is  not  infringed,  but  connrmed  and 
eetablished  by  the  late  act  of  Congress. 

By  th(  Constitution,  the  legislative,  ex- 
ecutive, and  judicial  departments  of  gov- 
ernment are  ordained  and  established; 
and  general  enumerated  powers  vested  in 
them  respectively,  inclucling  those  which 
are  prohioited  to  the  several  states.  Cer- 
tain powers  are  granted  in  general  terms 
by  the  people  to  their  general  government, 
for  the  purposes  of  their  safety  and  protec- 
tion. The  government  is  not  only  em- 
powered, but  it  is  made  their  duty  to  re- 
pel invasions  and  suppress  insurrections ; 
to  guaranty  to  the  several  states  a  repub- 
lican form  of  government ;  to  protect  each 
state  against  invasion,  and,  when  applied 
to,  against  domestic  violence  ;  to  hear  and 
decide  all  cases  in  law  and  equity,  arising 
under  the  Constitution,  and  under  any 
treaty  or  law  made  in  pursuance  thereof; 
and  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime 
jurisdiction,  and  relating  to  the  law  of  na- 
tions. Whenever,  therefore,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  effect  any  of  the  objects  de- 
signated, it  is  perfectly  consonant  to  all 
just  rules  of  construction,  to  infer,  that  the 
usual  means  and  powers  neces-sary  to  the 
attainment  of  that  object,  are  also  granted : 
But  the  Constitution  has  left  no  occasion 
to  resort  to  implication  for  these  powers  ; 
it  has  made  an  express  grant  of  tnem,  in 
the  8th  section  of  the  nrst  article,  which 
ordains,  "That  Congre.Hs  shall  have  power 
to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary 
and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers 
vested  by  the  Constitution  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  or  in  any  de- 
partment or  officer  thereof." 


This  Constitution  has  established  a  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  but  has 
made  no  provisions  for  its  protection,  even 
against  such  improper  conduct  in  its  pres- 
ence, as  might  disturb  its  proceedings,  un- 
less expressed  in  the  section  before  recited. 
But  as  no  statute  has  been  passed  on  this 
subject,  this  protection  is,  and  has  been 
for  nine  years  past,  uniformly  found  in  the 
application  of  the  principles  and  usages  of 
the  common  law.  The  same  protection 
may  unquestionably  be  afTorded  by  a  stat- 
ute passed  in  virtue  of  the  before-men-» 
tioned  section,  as  necessary  and  proper,  for 
carrying  into  execution  the  powers  vested 
in  that  department.  A  construction  of 
the  different  parts  of  the  Constitution,  per- 
fectly just  and  fair,  will,  on  analogous 
principles,  extend  protection  and  security 
against  the  offences  in  question,  to  the 
other  departments  of  government,  in  dis- 
charge of  their  respective  trusts. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  is 
bound  by  his  oath  "  to  preserve,  protect^ 
and  defend  the  Constitution,"  and  it  is  ex- 
pressly made  his  duty,  "  to  take  care  that 
the  laws  be  faithfully  executed ;  "  but  this 
would  be  impracticable  by  any  created 
being,  if  there  could  be  no  legal  restraint 
of  those  scandalous  misrepresentations  of 
his  measures  and  motives,  which  directly 
tend  to  rob  him  of  the  public  confidence. 
And  equally  impotent  would  be  every 
other  public  officer,  if  thus  left  to  the  mercy 
of  the  seditious. 

It  is  holden  to  be  a  truth  most  clear,  that 
the  important  trusts  before  enumerated 
cannot  be  discharged  by  the  government 
to  which  they  are  committed,  without  the 
power  to  restrain  seditious  practices  and 
unlawful  combinations  against  itself,  and 
to  protect  the  officers  thereof  from  abusive 
misrepresentations.  Had  the  Constitution 
withheld  this  power,  it  would  have  made 
the  government  responsible  for  the  effects 
without  any  control  over  the  causes  which 
naturally  produce  them,  and  would  have, 
essentially  failed  of  answering  the  great 
ends  for  which  the  people  of  the  United 
States  declare,  in  the  first  clause  of  that  in- 
strument, that  they  establish  the  same, 
viz :  "  To  form  a  more  perfect  union,  es- 
tablish justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  warfare,  and  secure  the  bless- 
ings of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  posterity," 

Seditious  practices  and  unlawful  combi- 
nations against  the  federal  government,  or 
any  officer  thereof,  in  the  performance  of 
his  duty,  as  well  as  licentiousness  of  speech 
and  of  the  press,  were  punishable  on  the 
principles  of  common  law  in  the  courts  of 
the  United  States,  before  the  act  in  ques- 
tion was  passed.  This  act  then  is  an  ame- 
lioration of  that  law  in  favor  of  the  party 
accused,  as  it  mitigates  the  punishment 
which  that  authorizes,  and  aomits  of  any 


BOOK  II,] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


9 


investigation  of  public  men  and  measures 
which  13  regulated  by  truth.  It  is  not  in- 
tended to  protect  men  in  office,  only  as 
they  are  agents  of  the  people.  Its  object 
is  to  afford  legal  security  to  public  offices 
and  trusts  created  for  the  safety  and  hap- 
piness of  the  people,  and  therefore  the  se- 
curity derived  from  it  is  for  the  benefit  of 
the  people,  and  is  their  right. 

The  construction  of  the  Constitution  and 
of  the  existing  law  of  the  land,  as  well  as 
the  act  complained  of,  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts  most  deliberately  and  firmly 
believe  results  from  a  just  and  full  view  of 
the  several  parts  of  the  Constitution :  and 
they  consider  that  act  to  be  wise  and  ne- 
cessary, as  an  audacious  and  unprincipled 
spirit  of  falsehood  and  abuse  had  been  too 
long  unremittingly  exerted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  perverting  public  opinion,  and 
threatened  to  undermine  and  destroy  the 
whole  fabric  of  government. 

The  legislature  further  declare,  that  in 
the  foregoing  sentiments  they  have  ex- 
pressed the  general  opinion  of  their  consti- 
tuents, who  have  not  only  acquiesced 
without  complaint  in  those  particular 
measures  of  the  federal  government,  but 
have  given  their  explicit  approbation  by 
re-electing  those  men  who  voted  for  the 
adoption  of  them.  Nor  is  it  apprehended, 
that  the  citizens  of  this  state  will  be  ac- 
cused of  supineness  or  of  an  indifference 
to  their  constitutional  rights;  for  while, 
on  the  one  hand,  they  regard  with  due  vi- 
gilance the  conduct  of  the  government,  on 
the  other,  their  freedom,  safety  and  happi- 
ness require,  that  they  should  defend  that 
government  and  its  constitutional  mea- 
sures against  the  open  or  insidious  attacks 
of  any  foe,  whether  foreign  or  domestic. 

And,  lastly,  that  the  legislature  of  Mas- 
eacnusetts  feel  a  strong  conviction,  that 
the  several  United  States  are  connected 
by  a  common  interest  which  ought  to  ren- 
der their  union  indissoluble,  and  that  this 
state  will  always  co-operate  with  its  con- 
federate states  in  rendering  that  union  pro- 
ductive of  mutual  security,  freedom,  and 
happiness. 

Sent  down  for  concurrence. 

Samuel  Philips,  President. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Feb. 
13, 1799. 
Read  and  concurred. 

Edward  H.  Robbins,  Speaker. 
A  true  copy.    Attest, 

John  Aveey,  Secretary. 

State  of  New  York. — In  Senate, 
March  5,  1799. — Whereas,  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  established  for 
themselves  a  free  and  independent  national 
government:  And  whereas  it  is  essential 
to  the  existence  of  every  government,  that 
it  have  authority  to  defend  and  preserve 


its  constitutional  powers  inviolate,  inas- 
much as  every  infringement  thereof  tends 
to  its  subversion :  And  whereas  the  judi- 
cial power  extends  expressly  to  all  cases  of 
law  and  equity  arising  under  the  Convti- 
tution  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
whereby  the  interference  of  the  legislatures 
of  the  particular  states  in  those  cases  is 
manifestly  excluded:  And  whereas  our 
peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness,  eminent- 
ly depend  on  the  preservation  of  the  Union, 
in  order  to  which,  a  reasonable  confidence 
in  ^the  constituted  authorities  and  chosen 
representatives  of  the  people  is  indispen- 
saole :  And  whereas  every  measure  calcu- 
lated to  weaken  that  confidence  has  a  ten- 
dency to  destroy  the  usefulness  of  our  pub- 
lic ftinctionaries,  and  to  excite  jealousies 
equally  hostile  to  rational  liberty,  and  the 
principles  of  a  good  republican  govern- 
ment :  And  whereas  the  Senate,  not  per- 
ceiving that  the  rights  of  the  particuljir 
states  have  been  violated,  nor  any  uncon- 
stitutional powers  assumed  by  the  genenil 
government,  cannot  forbear  to  express  the 
anxiety  and  regret  with  which  they  observe 
the  inflammatory  and  pernicious  senti- 
raents  and  doctrines  which  are  contained 
in  the  resolutions  of  the  legislatures  of 
Virginia  and  Kentucky — sentiments  and 
doctrines,  no  less  repugnant  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  their  union,  than  destructive  to 
the  Federal  government  and  unjust  to 
those  whom  the  people  have  elected  to  ad- 
minister it:  wherefore.  Resolved,  That 
while  the  Senate  feel  themselves  con- 
strained to  bear  unequivocal  testimony 
against  such  sentiments  and  doctrines, 
they  deem  it  a  duty  no  less  indispensable, 
explicitly  to  declare  their  incompetency,  as 
a  branch  of  the  legislature  of  this  state,  to  su- 
pervise the  acts  of  the  general  government. 

Resolved,  That  his  Excellency,  the 
Governor,  be,  and  he  is  hereby  requested 
to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolu- 
tion to  the  executives  of  the  states  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Kentucky,  to  the  end  that  the 
same  may  be  communicated  to  the  legisla- 
tures thereof. 

A  true  copy. 

Abm.  B.  Baucker,  Clerk. 

State  op  Connecticut. — At  a  General 
Assembly  of  the  state  of  Connecticut, 
holden  at  Hartford,  in  the  said  state,  on 
the  second  Thursday  of  May,  Anno  Domi- 
ni 1799,  his  excellency  the  governor  hav- 
ing communicated  to  this  assembly  sundiy 
resolutions  of  the  legislature  of  Virginia, 
adopted  in  December,  1793,  which  relate 
to  the  measures  of  the  general  government ; 
and  the  said  resolutions  having  been  con- 
sidered, it  is 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  views  with 
deep  regret,  and  explicitly  disavows,  the 
principles  contained  in  the  aforesaid  reeo- 


10 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II 


lutions;  and  particularly  the  opposition 
to  the  "Alien  and  Sedition  Actjj" — acts 
which  the  Constitution  authorized ;  which 
the  exigency  of  the  country  rendered  ne- 
cessary ;  which  the  constituted  authorities 
have  enacted,  and  which  merit  the  entire 
approbation  of  this  Assembly.  They, 
therefore,  decidedly  refuse  to  concur  with 
the  legislature  of  Virginia,  in  promoting 
any  of  the  objects  attempted  in  the  afore- 
said resolutions. 

And  it  is  further  resolved.  That  his  ex- 
cellency the  governor  be  requested  to  tr^s- 
mit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolution  to 
the  governor  of  Virginia,  that  it  may  be 
communicated  to  the  legislature  of  that 
state. 

Passed  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
unanimously. 

Attest,  John  C.  Smith,  Clerk. 

Concurred,  unanimously,  in  the  upper 
House. 

Teste,  Sam.  Wyllys,  Sec'y. 

State  of  New  Hampshire. — In  the 
House  of  Representatives,  June  14, 1799. 
— ^The  committee  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  resolutions  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  Virginia,  dated  December  21,  1798 ; 
also  certain  resolutions  of  the  legislature  of 
Kentucky,  of  the  10th  of  November,  1798; 
report  as  follows : — 

The  legislature  of  New  Hampshire,  hav- 
ing taken  into  consideration  certain  reso- 
lutions of  the  General  Assembly  of  Vir- 
ginia, dated  December  21,  1798  ;  also  cer- 
tain resolutions  of  the  legislature  of  Ken- 
tucky, of  the  10th  of  November,  1798,— 

Resolved,  That  the  legislature  of  New 
Hampshire  unequivocally  express  a  firm 
resolution  to  maintain  and  defend  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  and  the  con- 
stitution of  this  state,  against  every  aggres- 
sion, either  foreign  or  domestic,  and  that 
they  will  support  the  government  of  the 
United  States  in  all  measures  warranted 
by  the  former. 

That  the  state  legislatures  are  not  the 
proper  tribunals  to  determine  the  consti- 
tutionality of  the  laws  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment ;  that  the  duty  of  such  decision  is 
properly  and  exclusively  confided  to  the 
judicial  department. 

That  if  the  legislature  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, for  mere  speculative  purposes,  were 
to  express  an  opinion  on  tne  acta  of  the 
general  government,  commonly  called 
"the  Alien  and  Sedition  Bills,"  that 
opinion  would  unreservedly  be,  that  those 
acts  are  constitutional  and,  in  the  present 
critical  situation  of  our  country,  highly  ex- 
pedient. 

That  the  constitutionality  and  expedi- 
ency of  the  acts  aforesaid  have  been  very 
ably  advocated  and  clearly  demonstrated 
by  manv  citizens  of  the  United  States,  more 
especially  by  the  minority  of  the  General 


Assembly  of  Virginia.  The  legislature  of 
New  Hampshire,  therefore,  deem  it  unne' 
cessary,  by  any  train  of  arguments,  to  at- 
tempt further  illustration  of  the  proposi- 
tions, the  truth  of  which,  it  is  confidently 
believed,  at  this  day,  is  very  generally  seen* 
and  acknowledged. 

Which  report,  being  read  and  considered, 
was  unanimously  received  and  accepted, 
one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  members 
being  present. 

Sent  up  for  concurrence. 

John  Prentice,  Speaker. 

In  Senate,  same  day,  read  and  concurred 
in  unanimously. 

Amos  Shepard,  President. 

Approved  June  15, 1799. 

J.  T.  GiLMAiT,  Governor. 
A  true  copy. 

Attest,  Joseph  Pearson,  Sec'y. 

State  of  Vermont. — In  the  House  of 
Representatives,  October  30,  A.  d.  1799. — 
The  House  proceeded  to  take  under  their 
consideration  the  resolutions  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  Virginia,  relative  to  cer- 
tain measures  of  the  general  government, 
transmitted  to  the  legislature  of  this  state 
for  their  consideration ;  whereupon. 

Resolved,  that  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  state  of  Vermont  do  highly  disapprove 
of  the  resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  state  of  Virginia,  as  being  unconsti- 
tutional in  their  nature  and  dangerous  in 
their  tendency.  It  belongs  not  to  state 
legislatures  to  decide  on  the  constitution- 
ality of  the  laws  made  by  the  general  gov- 
ernment; this  power  being  exclusively 
vested  in  judiciary  courts  of  the  Union. 

That  his  excellency  the  governor  be  re- 
quested to  transmit  a  copy  of  this  resolu- 
tion to  the  executive  of  Virginia,  to  be 
communicated  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
that  state;  and  that  the  same  be  sent  to 
the  Governor  and  Council  for  their  con- 
currence. 

Samuel  C.  Crafts,  Clerk. 

In  Council,  October  30, 1799. — Read  and 
concurred  in  unanimously. 

Richard  Whitney,  Sec'y. 

R«soIiitlona  of  1798  and  1799. 

(The  orig^inal  draught  prepared  by  Thomas  JefTereon.) 

The  following  resolutions  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Kentucky, 
Nov.  10, 1798.  On  the  passage  of  the  first 
resolution,  one  dissentient;  2d,  3d,  4th, 
5th,  6th,  7th,  8th,  two  dissentients;  9th, 
three  dissentients. 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  several  states  com- 
posing the  United  States  of  America,  are 
not  united  on  the  principle  of  unlimited 
submission  to  their  general  government; 


BOOK  IT.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


n 


but  that  by  compact  under  the  style  and 
title  of  a  Constitution  for  the  United  States, 
and  of  amendments  thereto,  they  consti- 
tuted a  general  government  for  special  pur- 
poses, delegated  to  that  government  certain 
definite  powers,  reserving,  each  state  to  it- 
self, the  residuary  mass  of  right  to  their 
own  self-government:  and,  that  whenso- 
ever the  general  government  assumes  un- 
delegated powers,  its  acts  are  unauthorita- 
tive, void,  and  of  no  force ;  that  to  this 
compact  each  state  acceded  as  a  state,  and 
is  an  integral  party ;  that  this  govern- 
ment, created  by  this  compact,  was  not 
made  the  exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the 
extent  of  the  powers  delegated  to  itself; 
since  that  would  have  made  its  discretion, 
and  not  the  Constitution,  the  measure  of 
its  powers  ;  but,  that  as  in  all  other  cases 
of  compact  among  parties  having  no  com- 
mon judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right 
to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  infractions  as 
of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  having  delegated  to  Con- 
gress a  power  to  punish  treason,  counter- 
feiting the  securities  and  current  coin  of 
th(;  United  States,  piracies  and  felonies 
committed  on  the  high  seas,  and  offences 
against  the  laws  of  nations,  and  no  other 
crimes  whatever ;  and  it  being  true,  as  a 
general  principle,  and  one  of  the  amend- 
ments to  the  Constitution  having  also  de- 
clared, "  that  the  powers  not  delegated  to 
the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  states,  are  reserved 
to  the  states  respectively,  or  to  the  people," 
therefore  also  the  same  act  of  Congress, 
passed  on  the  14th  day  of  July,  1798,  and 
entitled  "An  act  in  addition  to  the  act 
entitled  An  act  for  the  punishment  of  cer- 
tain crimes  against  the  United  States  ;"  as 
also  the  act  passed  by  them  on  the  27th 
day  of  June,  1798,  entitled  "An  act  to 
p  iinish  frauds  committed  on  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,"  (and  all  other  their 
acts  which  assume  to  create,  define,  or 
punish  crimes  other  than  those  enumerated 
in  the  Constitution),  are  altogether  void 
and  of  no  force,  and  that  the  power  to 
create,  define,  and  punish  such  other  crimes 
is  reserved,  and  of  right  appertains  solely 
and  exclusively  to  the  respective  states, 
each  within  its  own  territory. 

3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  true,  as  a  general 
principle,  and  is  also  expressly  declared  by 
one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution, 
that  "the  powers  not  delegated  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  pro- 
hibited by  it  to  the  states,  are  reservea  to 
the  states  respectively,  or  to  the  people  ;" 
and  that  no  power  over  the  freedom  of  re- 
ligion, freedom  of  speech,  or  freedom  of 
the  press  being  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited 
by  it  to  the  states,  all  lawful  powers  respect- 
ing the  same  did  of  right  remain,  and  were 


reserved  to  the  states  or  to  the  people ;  that 
thus  wa.s  manifested  their  determination  to 
retain  to  themselves  the  right  of  judging 
how  far  the  licentiousness  of  speech  ana 
of  the  press  may  be  abridged  without  les- 
sening their  useful  freedom,  and  how  far 
those  abuses  which  cannot  be  separated 
from  their  use  should  be  tolerated  rather 
than  the  use  be  destroyed  ;  and  thus  also 
they  guarded  against  all  abridgment  by  the 
United  States,  of  the  freedom  of  religious 
principles  and  exercises,  and  retained  to 
themselves  the  right  of  protecting  the  same, 
as  this,  stated  by  a  law  passed  on  the  gen- 
eral demand  of  its  citizens,  had  already 
protected  them  from  all  human  restraint  or 
interference  :  and  that,  in  addition  to  this 
general  principle  and  express  declaration, 
another  and  more  special  provision  has 
been  made  by  one  of  the  amendments  to 
the  Constitution,  which  expressly  declares, 
that  "  Congress  shall  make  no  laws  respect- 
ing an  establishment  of  religion,  or  pro- 
hibiting the  free  exercise  thereof,  or 
abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the 
press,"  thereby  guarding  in  the  same  sen- 
tence, and  under  the  same  words,  the  free- 
dom of  religion,  of  speech,  and  of  the 
press,  insomuch  that  whatever  violates 
either,  throws  down  the  sanctuary  which 
covers  the  others ;  and  that  libels,  false- 
hood, and  defamation,  equally  with  heresy 
and  false  religion,  are  withheld  from  the 
cognisance  of  federal  tribunals.  That  there- 
fore the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  passed  on  the  14th  of  July,  1798, 
entitled  "  An  act  in  addition  to  the  act  en- 
titled An  act  for  the  punishment  of  certain 
crimes  against  the  United  States,"  which 
does  abridge  the  freedom  of  the  press,  is 
not  law,  but  is  altogether  void  and  of  no 
force. 

4.  Resolved,  That  alien  friends  are  under 
the  jurisdiction  and  protection  of  the  laws 
of  the  state  wherein  they  are :  that  no 
power  over  them  has  been  delegated  to  the 
United  States,  nor  prohibited  to  the  indi- 
vidual states  distinct  from  their  power  over 
citizens ;  and  it  being  true,  as  a  general 
principle,  and  one  of  the  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  having  also  declared,  that 
"  the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited 
to  the  states,  are  reserved  to  the  states  re- 
spectively, or  to  the  people,"  the  actof  th« 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  passed  the 
22d  day  of  June,  1798,  entitled  "  An  act 
concerning  aliens,"  which  assumes  power 
over  alien  friends  not  delegated  by  the  Con- 
stitution, is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void 
and  of  no  force. 

6.  Resolved,  That  in  addition  to  the  gen- 
eral  principle  as  well  aa  the  express  de- 
claration, that  powers  not  dele«rated  are  re- 
served, another  and  more  special  provision 
inferred  in  the  Constitution,  from  abund- 
ant caution  has  declared,  "  that  the  migra* 


12 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


tion  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any 
of  the  states  now  existing  shall  think 
pioper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by 
the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  1808."  That 
this  commonwealth  does  admit  the  migra- 
tion of  alien  friends  described  as  the  sub- 
ject of  the  sjiid  act  concerning  aliens ;  that 
a  provision  against  prohibiting  their  migra- 
tion, is  a  provision  against  all  acts  equiva- 
lent thereto,  or  it  would  be  nugatory ;  that 
to  remove  them  when  migrated  is  equiva- 
lent to  a  prohibition  of  their  migration, 
and  is,  therefore,  contrary  to  the  said  pro- 
Tision  of  the  Constitution,  and  void. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  imprisonment  of 
a  person  under  the  protection  of  the  laws 
01  this  commonwealth  on  his  failure  to 
obey  the  simple  order  of  the  President  to 
depart  out  of  the  United  States,  as  is  under- 
taken by  the  said  act,  entitled,  "  An  act 
concerning  aliens,"  is  contrary  to  the  Con- 
stitution, one  amendment  in  which  has 
provided,  that "  no  person  shall  be  deprived 
of  liberty  without  due  process  of  law," 
and,  that  another  having  provided,  "  that 
in  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused 
shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  public  trial  by 
an  impartial  jury,  to  be  informed  as  to  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,  to  be 
confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him, 
to  liave  compulsory  process  for  obtaining 
witnesses  in  nis  favor,  and  to  have  assist- 
ance of  counsel  for  his  defence,"  the  same 
act  undertaking  to  authorize  the  President 
to  remove  a  person  out  of  the  United  States 
who  is  under  the  protection  of  the  law,  on 
his  own  suspicion,  without  jury,  without 
public  trial,  without  confrontation  of  the 
witnesses  against  him,  without  having  wit- 
nesses in  his  favor,  without  defence,  with- 
out counsel,  is  contrary  to  these  provisions 
also  .of  the  Constitution,  is  therefore  not 
la  w,  but  utterly  void  and  of  no  force. 

That  transferring  the  power  of  judging 
any  person  who  is  under  the  protection  of 
the  laws,  from  the  courts  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  as  is  undertaken  by 
the  same  act  concerning  aliens,  is  against 
the  article  of  the  Constitution  which  pro- 
vides, that  "  the  iudicial  power  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  vestea  in  the  courts, 
the  judges  of  which  shall  hold  their  office 
during  good  behavior,"  and  that  the  said 
act  is  void  for  that  reason  also  ;  and  it  is 
farther  to  be  noted  that  this  transfer  of 
judiciary  power  is  to  that  magistrate  of  the 
general  government  who  already  possesses 
all  the  executive,  and  a  qualifieii  negative 
in  all  the  legislative  powers. 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  construction  ap- 
plied by  the  general  government  (as  is 
evident  by  sundry  of  their  proceedings)  to 
those  parts  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  Stjites  which  delegate  to  Congress 
power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  im- 
posts, excises ;  to  p.iy  the  debts,  and  pro- 
vide for  the  common  defence  and  general 


welfare  of  the  United  States,  and  to  make 
all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
powers  vested  by  the  Constitution  in  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  or  any 
department  thereof,  goes  to  the  destruction 
of  all  the  limits  prescribed  to  their  power 
by  the  Constitution :  That  words  meant  by 
that  instrument  to  be  subsidiary  only  to 
the  execution  of  the  limited  powers,  ought 
not  to  be  so  construed  as  themselves  to  give 
unlimited  powers,  nor  a  part  so  to  be  taken 
as  to  destroy  the  whole  residue  of  the  in- 
strument :  That  the  proceedings  of  the 
general  government  under  color  of  those 
articles,  will  be  a  fit  and  necessary  subject 
for  revisal  and  correction  at  a  time  of 
greater  tranquillity,  while  those  specified  in 
the  preceding  resolutions  call  for  imme- 
diate redress. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  preceding  resolu- 
tions be  transmitted  to  the  Senators  and 
Representatives  in  Congress  from  this  com- 
monwealth, who  are  enjoined  to  present 
the  same  to  their  respective  Houses,  and 
to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  procure  at 
the  next  session  of  Congress  a  repeal  of 
the  aforesaid  unconstitutional  and  obnox- 
ious acts. 

9.  Resolved  lastly,  That  the  governor  of 
this  commonwealth  be,  and  is  hereby  au- 
thorized and  requested  to  communicate  the 
preceding  resolutions  to  the  legislatures  of 
the  several  states,  to  assure  them  that  this 
commonwealth  considers  union  for  special 
national  purposes,  and  particularly  for 
those  specified  in  their  late  federal  com- 
pact, to  be  friendly  to  the  peace,  happiness, 
and  prosperity  of  all  the  states — ^that,  faith- 
ful to  that  compact,  according  to  the  plain 
intent  and  meaning  in  which  it  was  under- 
stood and  acceded  to  by  the  several  parties, 
it  is  sincerely  anxious  for  its  preservation  ; 
that  it  does  also  believe,  that  to  take  from 
the  states  all  the  powers  of  self-govern- 
ment, and  transfer  them  to  a  general  and 
consolidated  government,  without  regard 
to  the  special  delegations  and  reservations 
solemnly  agreed  to  in  that  compact,  is  not 
for  the  peace,  happiness,  or  prosperity  of 
these  states  ;  and  that,  therefore,  this  com- 
monwealth is  determined,  as  it  doubts  not 
its  co-states  are,  to  submit  to  undelegated 
and  consequently  unlimited  powers  in  no 
man,  or  body  of  men  on  earth  :  that  if  the 
acts  before  specified  should  stand,  these 
conclusions  would  flow  from  them ;  that 
the  general  government  may  place  any  act 
they  think  proper  on  the  list  of  crimes  and 
punish  it  themselves,  whether  enumerated 
or  not  enumerated  by  the  Constitution  as 
cognisable  by  them ;  that  they  may  trans- 
fer its  cognisance  to  the  President  or  any 
other  person,  who  may  himself  be  the  ac- 
cuser, counsel,  judge,  and  jury,  whose  sus- 
picions may  be  the  evidence,  his  order  the 

I  sentence,  his  officer  the  executioner,  and 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL   PLATFORMS. 


13 


his  breast  the  sole  record  of  the  transac- 
tion ;  that  a  very  numerous  and  valuable 
description  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 
states,  being  by  this  precedent  reduced  as 
outlaws  to  the  absolute  dominion  of  one 
man  and  the  barriers  of  the  Constitution 
thus  swept  from  us  all,  no  rampart  now  re- 
mains against  the  passions  and  the  power 
of  a  majority  of  Congress,  to  protect  from 
a  like  exportation  or  other  grievous  pun- 
ishment the  minority  of  the  same  body, 
the  legislatures,  judges,  governors,  and 
counsellors  of  the  states,  nor  their  other 
peaceable  inhabitants  who  may  venture  to 
reclaim  the  constitutional  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  the  states  and  people,  or  who,  for 
other  causes,  good  or  bad,  may  be  obnox- 
ious to  the  view  or  marked  by  the  suspi- 
cions of  the  President,  or  to  be  thought  dan- 
gerous to  his  or  their  elections  or  other 
interests,  public  or  personal;  that  the 
friendless  alien  has  been  selected  as  the 
safest  subject  of  a  first  experiment ;  but 
the  citizen  will  soon  follow,  or  rather  has 
already  followed  ;  for,  already  has  a  sedi- 
tion act  marked  him  as  a  prey  :  that  these 
and  successive  acts  of  the  same  character, 
unless  arrested  on  the  threshold,  may  tend 
to  drive  these  states  into  revolution  and 
blood,  and  will  furnish  new  calumnies 
against  republican  governments,  and  new 
pretexts  for  those  who  wish  it  to  be  be- 
lieved, that  man  cannot  be  governed  but 
by  a  rod  of  iron  ;  that  it  would  be  a  dan- 
gerous delusion  were  a  confidence  in  the 
men  of  our  choice  to  silence  our  fears  for 
the  safety  of  our  rights ;  that  confidence  is 
everywhere  the  parent  of  despotism ;  free 
government  is  found  in  jealousy  and  not 
in  confidence ;  it  is  jealousy  and  not  con- 
fidence which  prescribes  limited  constitu- 
tions to  bind  down  those  whom  we  are 
obliged  to  trust  with  power  ;  that  our  Con- 
stitution has  accordingly  fixed  the  limits 
to  which,  and  no  farther,  our  confidence 
may  go ;  and  let  the  honest  advocate  of 
confidence  read  the  alien  and  sedition  acts, 
and  say  if  the  Constitution  has  not  been 
wise  in  fixing  limits  to  the  government  it 
created,  and  whether  we  should  be  wise  in 
destroying  those  limits  ?  Let  him  say  what 
the  government  is,  if  it  be  not  a  tyranny, 
which  the  men  of  our  choice  have  conferred 
on  the  President,  and  the  President  of  our 
choice  has  assented  to  and  accepted  over 
the  friendly  strangers,  to  whom  the  mild 
spirit  of  our  country  and  its  laws  had 
pledged  hospitality  and  protection ;  that 
the  men  of  our  choice  have  more  respected 
the  bare  suspicions  of  the  President  than 
the  solid  rignts  of  innocence,  the  claims  of 
justification,  the  sacred  force  of  truth,  and 
the  forms  and  substance  of  law  and  justice. 
In  questions  of  power,  then,  let  no  more 
be  said  of  confidence  in  man,  but  bind  him 
down  from  mischief  by  the  chains  of  the 
Constitution.    That  this  Commonwealth 


does  therefore  call  on  its  co-states  for  an 
expression  of  their  sentiments  on  the  acta 
concerning  aliens,  and  for  the  punishment 
of  certain  crimes  hereinbefore  specified, 
plainly  declaring  whether  these  acts  are  or 
are  not  authorized  by  the  federal  compact. 
And  it  doubts  not  that  their  sense  will  be 
so  announced  as  to  prove  their  attachment 
to  limited  government,  whether  general  or 
particular,  and  that  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  their  co-states  will  be  exposed  to  no 
dangers  by  remaining  embarked  on  a  com- 
mon bottom  with  their  own  :  but  they  will 
concur  with  this  commonwealth  in  consid- 
ering the  said  acts  as  so  palpably  against 
the  Constitution  as  to  amount  to  an  undis- 
guised declaration,  that  the  compact  is  not 
meant  to  be  the  measure  of  the  powers  of 
the  general  government,  but  that  it  will 
proceed  in  the  exercise  over  these  states  of 
all  powers  whatsoever.  That  they  will 
view  this  as  seizing  the  rights  of  the  states 
and  consolidating  them  in  the  hands  of  the 
general  government,  witli  a  power  assumed 
to  bind  the  states  (not  merely  in  cases 
made  federal)  but  in  all  cases  whatsoever, 
by  laws  made,  not  with  their  consent,  but 
by  others  against  their  consent ;  that  this 
would  be  to  surrender  the  form  of  govern- 
ment we  have  chosen,  and  live  under  one 
deriving  its  powers  from  its  own  will,  and 
not  from  our  authority ;  and  that  the  co- 
states  recurring  to  their  natural  rights  in 
cases  not  made  federal,  will  concur  in  de- 
claring these  void  and  of  no  force,  and  will 
each  unite  with  this  Commonwealth  in  re- 
questing their  repeal  at  the  next  session  of 
Congress. 

Edmund  Bullock,  S.  H.  R. 

John  Campbell,     S.  P.  T. 

Passed  the  House  of  Representatives, 
Nov.  10,  1798. 

Attest,  Thos.  Todd,  C.  H.  E. 

In  Senate,  Nov.  13, 1798. — Unanimously 
concurred  in. 

Attest,  B.  Thurston,  C.  S. 

Approved,  Nov.  19, 1798. 

Jas.  Garrard,  Gov.  of  Ky. 

By  the  Governor, 

Harry  Toulmin,  Sec.  of  State. 

House  of  Representatives,  Thursday,  > 
Nov.  14, 1799. ) 

The  House,  according  to  the  standing 
order  of  the  day,  resolved  itself  into  a 
committee  of  the  whole  House,  on  the  state 
of  the  commonwealth,  Mr.  Desha  in  the 
chair ;  and  after  some  time  spent  therein, 
the  speaker  resumed  the  chair,  and  Mr. 
Desha  reported  that  the  committee  had 
taken  unaer  consideration  sundrv  resolu- 
tions passed  by  several  state  legislatures, 
on  the  subject  of  the  alien  and  sedition 
laws,  and  had  come  to  a  resolution  there- 
upon, which  he  delivered  in  at  the  clerk's 


14 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


table,  where  it  was  read  and  unanimously 
agreed  to  by  the  House,  as  follows : — 

The  representatives  of  the  good  people 
of  this  commonwealth,  in  General  Assem- 
bly convened,  having  maturely  considered 
the  answers  of  sundry  states  in  the  Union, 
to  their  resolutions  passed  the  last  session, 
respecting  certain  unconstitutional  laws  of 
Congress,  commonly  called  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws,  would  be  faithless,  indeed, 
to  themselves  and  to  those  they  represent, 
were  they  silently  to  acquiesce  in  the  prin- 
ciples and  doctrines  attempted  to  be  main- 
tained in  all  those  answers,  that  of  Vir- 
ginia only  excepted.  To  again  enter  the 
field  of  argument,  and  attempt  more  fully 
or  forcibly  to  expose  the  unconstitutional- 
ity of  those  obnoxious  laws,  would,  it  is 
apprehended,  be  as  unnecessary  as  unavail- 
ing. We  cannot,  however,  but  lament 
that,  in  the  discussion  of  those  interesting 
subjects  by  sundry  of  the  legislatures  of 
our  sister  states,  unfounded  suggestions 
and  uncandid  insinuations,  derogatory  to 
the  true  character  and  principles  of  this 
commonwealth,  have  been  substituted  in 
place  of  fair  reasoning  and  sound  argu- 
ment. Our  opinions  of  these  alarming 
measures  of  the  general  government,  to- 
gether with  our  reasons  for  those  opinions, 
were  detailed  with  decency  and  with  tem- 
per, and  submitted  to  the  discussion  and 
judgment  of  our  fellow-citizens  throughout 
the  Union.  Whether  the  like  decency 
and  temper  have  been  observed  in  the  an- 
swers 01  most  of  those  states  who  have 
denied  or  attempted  to  obviate  the  great 
truths  contained  in  those  resolutions,  we 
have  now  only  to  submit  to  a  candid  world. 
Faithful  to  the  true  principles  of  the  Fed- 
eral Union,  unconscious  of  any  designs  to 
disturb  the  harmony  of  that  Union,  and 
anxious  only  to  escape  the  fangs  of  despot- 
ism, the  good  people  of  this  common- 
wealth are  regardless  of  censure  or  calum- 
niation. Lest,  however,  the  silence  of 
this  commonwealth  should  be  construed 
into  an  acquiescence  in  the  doctrines  and 
principles  advanced  and  attempted  to  be 
maintained  by  the  said  answers,  or  lest 
those  of  our  fellow-citizens  throughout  the 
Union  who  so  widely  differ  from  us  on 
those  important  subjects,  should  be  deluded 
by  the  expectation,  that  we  shall  be  de- 
terred from  what  we  conceive  our  duty,  or 
shrink  from  the  principles  contained  in 
those  resolutions — therefore, 

Reaolted,  That  this  commonwealth  con- 
siders the  Federal  Union,  upon  the  terms 
and  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  late 
compact,  as  conducive  to  the  liberty  and 
happiness  of  the  several  states :  That  it 
does  now  unequivocally  declare  ita  attach- 
ment to  the  Union,  and  to  that  compact, 
agreeably  to  its  obvious  and  real  intention, 
and  will  be  among  the  last  to  seek  its  dis- 
solution :  That  if  those  who  administer 


the  general  government  be  permitted  to 
transgress  the  limits  fixed  by  tnat  compact, 
by  a  total  disregard  to  the  special  delega- 
tions of  power  therein  contained,  an  anni- 
hilation of  the  state  governments,  and  the 
creation  upon  their  ruins  of  a  general  con- 
solidated government,  will  be  the  inevita- 
ble consequence:  That  the  principle  and 
construction  contended  for  by  sundry  of 
the  state  legislatures,  that  the  general  gov- 
ernment is  the  exclusive  judge  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  powers  delegated  to  it,  stop 
nothing  short  of  despotism — since  the  dis- 
cretion of  those  who  administer  the  gov- 
ernment, and  not  the  Constitution,  would 
be  the  measure  of  their  powers :  That  the 
several  states  who  formed  that  instrument 
being  sovereign  and  independent,  have  the 
unquestionable  right  to  judge  of  the  in- 
fraction ;  and  that  a  nullification  by  those 
sovereignties  of  all  unauthorized  acts  done 
under  color  of  that  instrument  is  the  right- 
ful remedy :  That  this  commonwealth 
does,  under  the  most  deliberate  reconsid- 
eration, declare  that  the  said  alien  and 
sedition  laws  are,  in  their  opinion,  palpa- 
ble violations  of  the  said  Constitution ; 
and,  however  cheerfully  it  may  be  disposed 
to  surrender  its  opinion  to  a  majority  of  its 
sister  states,  in  matters  of  ordinary  or 
doubtful  policy,  yet,  in  momentous  regula- 
tions like  the  present,  which  so  vitally 
wound  the  best  rights  of  the  citizen,  it 
would  consider  a  silent  acquiescence  as 
highly  criminal :  That  although  this  com- 
monwealth, as  a  party  to  the  federal  com- 
pact, will  bow  to  the  laws  of  the  Union, 
yet  it  does,  at  the  same  time,  declare  that 
it  will  not  now,  or  ever  hereafter,  cease  to 
oppose  in  a  constitutional  manner  every 
attempt,  at  what  quarter  soever  offered,  to 
violate  that  compact.  And,  finally,  in  or- 
der that  no  pretext  or  arguments  may  be 
drawn  from  a  supposed  acquiescence  on 
the  part  of  this  commonwealth  in  the  con- 
stitutionality of  those  laws,  and  be  thereby 
used  as  precedents  for  similar  future  viola- 
tions 01^  the  federal  compact — this  com- 
monwealth does  now  enter  against  them  its 
solemn  protest. 

Extract,  &c.  Attest,  T.  Todd,  C.  H.  R. 

In  Senate,  Nov.  22, 1799 — Read  and  con- 
curred in. 

Attest,  B.  Thurston,  C.  S. 

IVaslilnf^n's  Farewell  Address  to  the  Pe»> 
pie  of  the  United  States,  Sept.  17, 1706. 

Accepted  a»  a  Platform  for  the  People  of  the  Nation,  regards 
le$s  of  party. 

Friends  and  Fellow-citizens  : — 

The  period  for  a  new  election  of  a  citi- 
zen to  administer  the  executive  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  being  not  far 
distant,  and  the  time  actually  arrived  when 
your  thoughts  must  be  employed  in  desig- 
nating the  person  who  is  to  be  clothed  with 
that  important  trust,  it  appears  to  me  pro- 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


15 


per,  especially  as  it  may  conduce  to  a  more 
distinct  expression  of  the  public  voice,  that 
I  should  now  apprise  you  of  the  resolution 
I  have  formed  to  decline  being  considered 
among  the  number  of  those  out  of  whom  a 
choice  is  to  be  made.  I  beg  you,  at  the 
same  time,  to  do  me  the  justice  to  be  as- 
sured that  this  resolution  has  not  been 
taken  without  a  strict  regard  to  all  the 
considerations  appertaining  to  the  relation 
which  binds  a  dutiful  citizen  to  his  coun- 
try ;  and  that  in  withdrawing  the  tender  of 
service,  which  silence,  in  my  situation, 
might  imply,  I  am  iniluenced  by  no  dimi- 
nution of  zeal  for  your  future  interests ;  no 
deficiency  of  grateful  respect  of  your  past 
kindness;  but  am  supported  by  a  full  con- 
viction that  the  step  is  compatible  with 
both. 

The  acceptance  of,  and  continuance 
hitherto  in,  the  oflUce  to  which  your  suf- 
frages have  twice  called  me,  have  been  a 
uniform  sacrifice  of  inclination  to  the 
opinion  of  duty,  and  to  a  deference  for 
what  appeared  to  be  your  desire.  I  con- 
stantly hoped  that  it  would  have  been 
much  earlier  in  my  power,  consistently 
with  motives  which  I  was  not  at  liberty  to 
disregard,  to  return  to  that  retirement  from 
which  I  had  been  reluctantly  drawn.  The 
strength  of  my  inclination  to  do  this,  pre- 
vious to  the  last  election,  had  even  led  to 
the  preparation  of  an  address  to  declare  it 
to  you ;  but  mature  reflection  on  the  then 
perplexed  and  critical  posture  of  our  affairs 
with  foreign  nations,  and  the  unanimous 
advice  of  persons  entitled  to  my  confidence, 
impelled  me  to  abandon  the  idea. 

I  rejoice  that  the  state  of  your  concerns, 
external  as  well  as  internal,  no  longer  ren- 
ders the  pursuit  of  inclination  incompati- 
ble with  the  sentiment  of  duty  or  propriety ; 
and  am  persuaded,  whatever  partiality 
may  be  retained  for  my  services,  that,  in 
the  present  circumstances  of  our  country, 
you  will  not  disapprove  my  determination 
to  retire. 

The  impressions  with  which  I  first  un- 
dertook the  arduous  trust  were  explained 
on  the  proper  occasion.  In  the  discharge 
of  this  trust,  I  will  only  say,  that  I  have 
with  good  intentions  contributed  towards 
the  organization  and  administration  of  the 
government  the  best  exertions  of  which  a 
very  fallible  judgment  was  capable.  Not 
unconscious  in  the  outset  of  the  inferiority 
of  my  qualifications,  experience,  in  my 
own  eyes — perhaps  still  more  in  the  eyes 
of  others — has  strengthened  the  motives  to 
diffidence  of  myself;  and  every  day  the  in- 
creasing weight  of  years  admonishes  me, 
more  and  more,  that  the  abode  of  retire- 
ment is  as  necessary  to  me  as  it  will  be 
welcome.  Satisfied  that  if  any  circum- 
stances have  given  peculiar  value  to  my 
services,  they  were  temporary,  I  have  the 
consolation  to  be! 'eve  that,  while  choice 


and  prudence  invite  me  to  quit  the  politi* 
cal  scene,  patriotism  does  not  forbid  it. 

In  looking  forward  to  the  moment  which 
is  intended  to  terminate  the  career  of  my 
public  life,  my  feelings  do  not  permit  me 
to  suspend  the  deep  acknowledgment  of 
that  debt  of  gratituae  which  I  owe  to  my 
beloved  country  for  the  many  honors  it 
has  conferred  upon  me;  still  more  for  the 
steadfast  confidence  with  which  it  haa 
supported  me ;  and  for  the  opportunities  I 
have  thence  enjoyed  of  manifesting  my 
inviolable  attachment,  by  services  faithfiu 
and  persevering,  though  in  usefulness  un- 
equal to  my  zeal.  If  benefits  have  re- 
sulted to  our  country  from  these  services, 
let  it  always  be  remembered  to  your 
praise,  and  as  an  instructive  example  in 
our  annals,  that  under  circumstances  in 
which  the  passions,  agitated  in  every  direc* 
tion,  were  liable  to  mislead;  amidst  ap- 
pearances sometimes  dubious,  vicissitudes 
of  fortune  often  discouraging ;  in  situations 
in  which,  not  unfrequently,  want  of  suc- 
cess has  countenanced  the  spirit  of  criti- 
cism,— the  constancy  of  your  support  was 
the  essential  prop  of  the  efforts,  and  a 
guarantee  of  the  plans,  by  which  they 
were  effected.  Proibundly  penetrated  by 
this  new  idea,  I  shall  carry  it  wi^h  me  to 
my  grave,  as  a  strong  incitement  to  un- 
ceasing vows,  that  Heaven  may  continue 
to  you  the  choicest  tokens  of  its  benefi- 
cence ;  that  union  and  brotherly  affection 
may  be  perpetual ;  that  the  free  Constitu- 
tion, which  is  the  work  of  your  hands, 
may  be  sacredly  maintained  ;  that  its  ad- 
ministration, in  every  department,  may  be 
stamped  with  wisdom  and  virtue ;  that  in 
fine,  the  happiness  of  the  people  of  these 
states,  under  the  auspices  of  liberty,  may 
be  made  complete,  by  so  careftil  a  preser- 
vation and  so  prudent  a  use  of  this  blessing 
as  will  accjuire  to  them  the  glory  of  recom- 
mending it  to  the  applause,  the  affection, 
and  the  adoption  of  every  nation  which  is 
yet  a  stranger  to  it. 

Here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  stop;  but  a 
solicitude  for  your  welfare,  whicn  cannot 
end  but  with  my  life,  and  the  apprehen- 
sion of  danger  natural  to  that  solicitude, 
urge  me,  on  an  occasion  like  the  present, 
to  offer  to  your  solemn  contemplation,  and 
to  recommend  to  your  frequent  review, 
some  sentiments,  which  are  the  result  or 
much  reflection,  of  no  inconsiderable  ob- 
servation, and  which  appear  to  me  all-im- 
portant to  the  permanency  of  your  felicity 
as  a  people.  These  will  be  afforded  to  yoii 
with  the  more  freedom,  as  you  can  only 
see  in  them  the  disinterested  warning  of  h 
parting  friend,  who  can  possibly  have  no 
personal  motive  to  bias  his  counsel ;  nor 
can  I  forget,  as  an  encouragement  to  it, 
your  indulgent  reception  of  my  sentiments 
on  a  former  and  not  dissimilar  occasion. 

Interwoven  as  is  the  love  of  liberty  with 


16 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


every  ligament  of  your  hearts,  no  recom- 
mendation of  mine  is  necessary  to  fortify 
or  confirm  the  attachment. 

The  unity  of  government  which  consti- 
tutes you  one  people,  is  also  now  dear  to 
you.  It  is  justly  so ;  for  it  is  a  main  pillar 
in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independence — 
the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at  home, 
your  peace  abroad,  of  your  safety,  of  your 
prosperity,  of  that  very  liberty  which  you 
so  highly  prize.  But  as  it  is  easy  to  foresee 
that,  from  different  causes  and  from  differ- 
^ent  quarters,  much  pains  will  be  taken, 
many  artifices  employed,  to  weaken  in 
your  minds  the  conviction  of  this  truth ; 
as  tins  is  the  point  in  your  political  fortress 
against  which  the  batteries  of  internal  and 
external  enemies  will  be  most  constantly 
and  actively,  (though  often  covertly  and 
insidiously)  directed, —  it  is  of  infinite  mo- 
ment that  you  should  properly  estimate  the 
immense  value  of  your  national  union  to 
your  collective  and  individual  happiness ; 
that  you  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual, 
and  immovable  attachment  to  it;  accus- 
toming yourself  to  think  and  speak  of  it  as 
of  the  palladium  of  your  political  safety 
and  prosperity,  watching  for  its  preserva- 
tion with  jealous  anxiety;  discountenan- 
cini;  whatever  may  suggest  even  a  suspicion 
that  it  can,  in  any  event,  be  abandoned ; 
and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first 
dawning  of  every  attempt  to  alienate  any 
portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to 
enfeeble  the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  to- 
gether the  various  parts. 

For  this  you  have  every  inducement  of 
sympathy  and  interest.  Citizens,  by  birth 
or  choice,  of  a  common  country,  that  coun- 
try has  a  right  to  concentrate  your  affec- 
tions. The  name  of  American,  which  be- 
longs to  you  in  your  national  capacity, 
must  always  exalt  the  just  pride  of  patri- 
otism, more  than  appellations  derived  from 
local  discriminations.  With  slight  shades 
of  difference,  you  have  the  same  religion, 
manners,  habits,  and  political  principles. 
You  have,  in  a  common  cause,  fought  and 
triumphed  together; the  independence  and 
liberty  you  pf>s8e8s  are  the  work  of  joint 
counsels  ana  joint  efibrts,  of  common  dan- 
gers, sufferings,  and  successes.  But  these 
considerations,  however  powerfully  they 
address  themselves  to  your  sensibility,  are 
generally  outweighed  by  those  which  ap- 
ply more  immediately  to  your  interest; 
nere  ©very  portion  of  our  country  finds  the 
most  commanding  motives  for  carefully 
guarding  and  preserving  the  union  of  the 
whole. 

The  North,  in  an  unrestrained  inter- 
course with  the  South,  protected  by  the 
equal  laws  of  a  common  government,  finds, 
in  the  productions  of  the  latter,  great  ad- 
ditional resources  of  maritime  and  com- 
mercial enterprise,  and  precious  materials 
of  manufiacturing  industry.    The  South,  in 


the  same  intercourse  benefiting  by  the 
agency  of  the  North,  sees  its  agriculture 
grow,  and  its  commerce  expanded.  Turn- 
ing partly  into  its  own  channels  the  sea- 
men of  the  North,  it  finds  its  particular 
navigation  invigorated ;  and  while  it  con- 
tributes, in  different  ways,  to  nourish  and 
increase  the  general  mass  of  the  national 
navigation,  it  looks  forward  to  the  protec- 
tion of  a  maritime  strength  to  whicn  itself 
is  unequally  adapted.  The  East,  in  like 
intercourse  with  the  West,  already  finds, 
and  in  the  progressive  improvement  of  in- 
terior communication,  by  land  and  by 
water,  will  more  and  more  find,  a  valuable 
vent  for  the  commodities  which  each  brings 
from  abroad  or  manufactures  at  home.  The 
West  derives  from  the  East  supplies  re- 
quisite to  its  growth  or  comfort,  and  what 
is  perhaps  of  still  greater  consequence,  it 
must,  of  necessity,  owe  the  secure  enjoy- 
ment of  indispensable  outlets  for  its  own 
productions,  to  the  weight,  influence,  and 
the  maritime  strength  of  the  Atlantic  side 
of  the  Union,  directed  by  an  indissoluble 
community  of  interests  as  one  nation.  Any 
other  tenure  by  which  the  West  can  hold 
this  essential  advantage,  whether  derived 
from  its  own  separate  strength,  or  from  an 
apostate  and  unnatural  connexion  with  any 
foreign  power,  must  be  intrinsically  pre- 
carious. 

While,  then,  every  part  of  our  country 
thus  feels  an  immediate  and  particular  in- 
terest in  union,  all  the  parts  combined  can- 
not fail  to  find,  in  the  united  mass  of 
means  and  efforts,  greater  strength,  greater 
resource,  proportionably  greater  security 
from  external  danger,  a  less  frequent  inter- 
ruption of  their  peace  by  foreign  nations ; 
and  what  is  of  inestimable  value,  they  must 
derive  from  union  an  exemption  from  those 
broils  and  wars  between  themselves,  which 
so  frequently  afl[lict  neighboring  countries, 
not  tied  together  by  the  same  government ; 
which  their  own  rivalship  alone  would  be 
suflScient  to  produce,  but  which  opposite 
foreign  alliances,  attachments  and  intrigues, 
would  stimulatie  and  embitter.  Hence, 
likewise,  they  will  avoid  the  necessity  of 
those  overgrown  military  establishments, 
which,  under  any  form  of  government,  are 
inauspicious  to  liberty,  and  which  are  to 
be  regarded  as  particularly  hostile  to  re- 
publican liberty ;  in  this  sense  it  is  that 
your  union  ought  to  be  considered  as  a 
main  prop  of  your  liberty,  and  that  the 
love  01  one  ought  to  endear  to  you  the  pre- 
servation of  the  other. 

These  considerations  speak  a  persuasive 
language  to  every  reflecting  and  virtuous 
mind,  and  exhibit  the  continuance  of  the 
Union  as  a  primary  object  of  patriotic  de- 
sire. Is  there  a  doubt,  whether  a  common 
fovernment  can  embrace  so  large  a  sphere  ? 
<et  experience  solve  it.  To  listen  to  mere 
speculation,  in  such  a  case,  were  criminaL 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL   PLATFORMS. 


17 


We  are  authorized  to  hope,  that  a  proper 
organization  of  the  whole,  with  the  aux- 
iliary agency  of  governments  for  the  re- 
spective subdivisions,  will  afford  a  happy 
issue  to  the  experiment.  It  is  well  worth 
a  fair  and  full  experiment.  With  such 
powerful  and  obvious  motives  to  Union, 
affecting  all  parts  of  our  country,  while  ex- 
perience shall  not  have  demonstrated  its 
impracticability,  there  will  always  be  rea- 
son to  distrust  the  patriotism  of  those  who, 
in  any  quarter,  may  endeavor  to  weaken 
its  bands. 

In  contemplating  the  causes  which  may 
disturb  our  Union,  it  occurs  as  a  matter  of 
serious  concern,  that  any  ground  should 
have  been  furnished  for  characterizing 
parties  by  geographical  discriminations — 
Northern  and  Southern — Atlantic  and 
Western :  whence  designing  men  may  en- 
deavor to  excite  a  belief  that  there  is  a  real 
difference  of  local  interests  and  views.  One 
of  the  expedients  of  party  to  acquire  in- 
fluence within  particular  districts,  is  to 
misrepresent  the  opinions  and  aims  of  oth- 
er districts.  You  cannot  shield  yourselves 
too  much  against  the  jealousies  and  heart- 
burnings which  spring  from  these  misrep- 
resentations ;  they  tend  to  render  alien  to 
each  other  those  who  ought  to  be  bound 
together  by  paternal  affection.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  our  Western  country  have  lately 
had  a  useful  lesson  on  this  head ;  they  have 
seen  in  the  negotiation  by  the  executive, 
and  in  the  unanimous  ratification  by  the 
Senate,  of  the  treaty  with  Spain,  and  in  the 
universal  satisfaction  at  that  event  through- 
out the  United  States,  decisive  proof  how 
unfounded  were  the  suspicions  propagated 
among  them,  of  a  policy  in  the  general 
government,  and  in  the  Atlantic  States, 
unixiendly  to  their  interest  in  regard  to  the 
Mississippi — that  with  Great  Britain,  and 
that  with  Spain,  which  secure  to  them 
everything  they  could  desire  in  respect  to 
our  foreign  relations,  towards  confirming 
their  prosperity.  Will  it  not  be  their  wis- 
dom to  rely  for  the  preservation  of  these 
advantages  on  the  Union  by  which  they 
were  procured  ?  Will  they  not  henceforth 
be  deaf  to  those  advisers,  if  such  there  are, 
who  would  sever  them  from  their  brethren, 
and  connect  them  with  aliens? 

To  the  efficacy  and  permanency  of  your 
Union  a  government  of  the  whole  is  indis- 
pensable. No  alliance,  however  strict  be- 
tween the  parties,  can  be  an  adequate  sub- 
stitute; they  must  inevitably  experience 
the  infractions  and  interruptions  which  all 
alliances,  in  all  time,  have  experienced. 
Sensible  of  this  momentous  truth,  you 
have  improved  upon  your  first  essay,  by 
the  adoption  of  a  Constitution  of  govern- 
ment, better  calculated  than  your  former 
for  an  intimate  union,  and  for  the  effica- 
cious management  of  your  common  con- 
cerns.   This  government,  the  offspring  of 

24 


our  own  choice,  uninfluenced  and  unawed 
— adopted  upon  full  investigation  and  ma- 
ture deliberation,  completely  free  in  its 
principles,  in  the  distribution  of  its  powers 
— uniting  security  with  energy,  and  con- 
taining within  itself  a  provision  for  its  owtt 
amendment,  has  a  just  claim  to  your  con- 
fidence and  your  support.  Respect  for  its 
authority,  compliance  with  its  laws,  ac- 
quiescence in  its  measures,  are  duties  en- 
joined by  the  fundamental  maxims  of  true 
liberty.  The  basis  of  our  political  system 
is  the  right  of  the  people  to  make  and  to 
alter  their  Constitutions  of  government; 
but  the  Constitution  which  at  any  time 
exists,  till  changed  by  an  explicit  and 
authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacred- 
ly obligatory  upon  all.  The  very  idea  of 
the  power  and  right  of  the  people  to  estab- 
lish government,  presupposes  the  duty  of 
every  individual  to  obey  the  established 
government. 

All  obstruction  to  the  execution  of  laws, 
all  combinations  and  associations  under 
whatever  plausible  character,  with  the 
real  design  to  direct,  control,  counteract,  or 
awe  the  regular  deliberation  and  action  of 
the  constituted  authorities,  are  destructive 
to  this  fundamental  principle,  and  of  fatal 
tendency.  They  serve  to  organize  faction, 
to  give  it  an  artificial  and  extraordinary 
force,  to  put  in  the  place  of  the  delegated 
will  of  the  nation,  the  will  of  a  party,  often 
a  small  but  artful  and  enterprising  minority 
of  the  community ;  and,  according  to  the 
alternate  triumphs  of  different  parties,  to 
make  the  public  administration  the  mirror 
of  the  ill-concerted  and  incongruous  pro- 
jects of  fashion,  rather  than  the  organ  of 
consistent  and  wholesome  plans,  digested 
by  common  counsels  and  modified  by  mu- 
tual interests. 

However  combinations  or  associations  of 
the  above  description  may  now  and  then 
answer  popular  ends,  they  are  likely,  in 
the  course  of  time  and  things,  to  become 

Eotent  engines,  by  which  cunning,  am- 
itious,  and  unprincipled  men  will  be 
enabled  to  subvert  the  power  of  the  people, 
and  to  usurp  for  themselves  the  reins  of 
government;  destroying,  afterwards,  the 
very  engines  which  had  lifted  them  to  un- 
just dominion. 

Towards  the  preservation  of  your  gov- 
ernment, and  the  permanency  of  your 
present  happy  state,  it  is  requisite,  not  only 
that  you  steadily  discountenance  irregular 
oppositions  to  its  acknowledged  authority, 
but  also  that  you  resist  with  care  the  spirit 
of  innovation  upon  its  principles,  however 
specious  the  pretexts.  One  method  of  as- 
sault may  be  to  effect,  in  the  forms  of  the 
Constitution,  alterations  which  will  impair 
the  energy  of  the  system,  and  thus  to  un- 
dermine what  cannot  be  directljr  over- 
thrown. In  all  the  changes  to  which  you 
may  be  invited,  remember  that  time  and 


18 


AMERICAN    POLITiCS. 


[book  II. 


habit  are  at  leaat  as  necessary  to  fix  the 
true  character  of  govemmenta  as  of  other 
human  institutions ;  that  experience  is  the 
surest  standard  by  which  to  test  the  real 
tendency  of  the  existing  constitution  of  a 
country ;  that  facility  in  changes,  upon  the 
credit  of  mere  hypothesis  and  opinion  ex- 
poses to  perpetual  change,  from  the  end- 
less variety  of  hypothesis  and  opinion ;  and 
remember,  especially,  that  for  the  eflScient 
management  of  your  common  interests,  in 
a  country  so  extensive  as  ours,  a  govern- 
ment of  as  much  vigor  as  is  consistent  with 
the  perfect  security  of  liberty  is  indispen- 
gable.  Liberty  itself  will  find  in  such  a 
government,  with  powers  properly  distri- 
buted, and  adjusted,  its  surest  guardian. 
It  is,  indeed,  little  else  than  a  name,  where 
the  government  is  too  feeble  to  withstand 
the  enterprise  of  faction,  to  confine  each 
member  of  the  society  within  the  limits  de- 
scribed by  the  laws,  and  to  maintain  all 
in  the  secure  and  tranquil  enjoyment  of 
the  rights  of  person  and  property. 

I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the 
danger  of  parties  in  the  state  with  particu- 
lar reference  to  the  founding  of  tnem  on 
geographical  discriminations.  Let  me 
now  talce  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and 
warn  you,  in  the  most  solemn  manner, 
against  the  baneful  effects  of  the  spirit  of 
party  generally. 

This  spirit,  unfortunately,  is  inseparable 
from  our  nature,  having  its  root  in  the 
strongest  passions  of  the  human  mind.  It 
exists  under  different  shapes  in  all  govern- 
ments, more  or  less  stifled,  controlled,  or 
repressed;  but  in  those  of  the  popular 
form  it  is  seen  in  its  greatest  rankness,  and 
is  truly  their  worst  enemy. 

The  alternate  domination  of  one  faction 
over  another,  sharpened  by  the  spirit  of 
revenge,  natural  to  party  dissensions, 
which,  in  different  ages  and  countries,  has 
perpetrated  the  most  horrid  enormities,  is 
itself  a  frightful  despotism.  But  this 
leads,  at  length,  to  a  more  formal  and 
permanent  despotism.  The  disorders  and 
miseries  whicn  result,  gradually  incline 
the  minds  of  men  to  seek  security  and  re- 
pose in  the  absolute  power  of  an  indi- 
vidual ;  and  sooner  or  later,  the  chief  of 
some  prevailing  faction,  more  able  or  more 
fortunate  than  his  competitors,  turns  this 
disposition  to  the  purposes  of  his  own  ele- 
Tation  on  the  ruins  of  public  liberty. 

Without  looking  forward  to  an  ex- 
tremity of  this  kind  (which,  nevertheless, 
ought  not  to  be  entirely  out  of  sight),  the 
common  and  continual  mischiefs  of  the 
spirit  of  party  are  sufficient  to  make  it  the 
interest  and  duty  of  a  wise  people  to  dis- 
courage and  restrain  it. 

It  serves  always  to  distract  the  public 
councils,  and  enfeeble  the  public  adminis- 
tration. It  agitates  the  community  with 
ill-founded  jealousies  and    false  aJarms; 


kindles  the  animosity  of  one  part  against 
another;  foments,  occasionally,  riot  and 
insurrection.  It  opens  the  door  to  foreign 
influence  and  corruption,  which  find  a 
facilitated  access  to  the  government  itself, 
through  the  channels  of  party  passions. 
Thus  the  policy  and  the  will  of  one  coun- 
try are  subjected  to  the  policy  and  will  of 
another. 

There  is  an  opinion  that  parties,  in  free 
countries,  are  useful  checks  upon  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  government,  and  serve 
to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This, 
within  certain  limits,  is  probably  true; 
and  in  governments  of  a  monarchical  cast, 
patriotism  may  look  with  indulgence,  if 
not  with  favor,  upon  the  spirit  of  party. 
But  in  those  of  the  popular  character,  in 
governments  purely  elective,  it  is  a  spirit 
not  to  be  encouraged.  From  their  natural 
tendency,  it  is  certain  there  will  always  be 
enough  of  that  spirit  for  every  salutary 
purpose.  And  there  being  constant  dan- 
ger of  excess,  the  effort  ought  to  be,  by 
force  of  public  opinion,  to  mitigate  and 
assuage  it.  A  fire  not  to  be  quenched,  it 
demands  a  uniform  vigilance  to  prevent 
its  bursting  into  a  flame,  lest,  instead  of 
warming,  it  should  consume. 

It  is  important,  likewise,  that  the  habits 
of  thinking,  in  a  free  country,  should  in- 
spire caution  in  those  intrusted  with  its 
administration,  to  confine  themselves  with- 
in their  respective  constitutional  spheres, 
avoiding,  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of 
one  department,  to  encroach  upon  another. 
The  spirit  of  encroachment  tends  to  con- 
solidate the  powers  of  all  the  departments  in 
one,  and  thus  to  create,  whatever  the  form 
of  government,  a  real  despotism.  A  just 
estimate  of  that  love  of  power,  and  prone- 
ness  to  abuse  it,  which  predominates  in 
the  human  heart,  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  us 
of  the  truth  of  this  position. 

The  necessity  of  reciprocal  checks  in  the 
exercise  of  political  power,  by  diviaing 
and  distributing  it  into  different  deposito- 
ries, and  constituting  each  the  guardian 
of  the  public  weal,  against  invasions  by 
the  others,  has  been  evinced  by  experi- 
ments, ancient  and  modern  ;  some  of  them 
in  our  own  country,  and  under  our  own 
eyes.  To  preserve  them  must  be  as  neces- 
sary as  to  institute  them.  If,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  people,  the  distribution  or 
modification  of  the  constitutional  powers 
be,  in  any  particular,  wrong,  let  it  be  cor- 
rected by  an  amendment  in  the  way  which 
the  Constitution  designates.  But  let  there 
be  no  change  by  usurpation;  for  though 
this,  in  one  instance,  may  be  the  instru- 
ment of  good,  it  is  the  customary  weapon 
bv  which  free  governments  are  aestroyed. 
The  precedent  must  always  greatly  over- 
balance, in  permanent  evil,  any  partial  or 
transient  benefit  which  the  use  can  at  any 
time  yield. 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


1^ 


Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which 
lead  to  political  prosperity,  religion  and 
morality  are  indispensable  supports.  In 
vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of 
patriotism,  who  should  labor  to  subvert 
these  great  pillars  of  human  happiness, 
these  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of  men 
and  citizens.  The  mere  politician,  equally 
with  the  pious  man,  ought  to  respect  and 
cherish  them.  A  volume  could  not  trace 
all  their  connexions  with  private  and  pub- 
lic felicity.  Let  it  simply  be  asked,  where 
is  the  security  for  property,  for  reputation, 
for  life,  if  the  sense  of  religious  obligation 
desert  the  oaths  which  are  the  instruments 
of  investigation  in  courts  of  justice  ?  And 
let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposition, 
that  morality  can  be  maintained  without 
religion.  Whatever  may  be  conceded  to 
the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds 
of  peculiar  structure,  reason  and  experi- 
ence both  forbid  us  to  expect  that  national 
morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  re- 
ligious principles.  It  is  substantially  true, 
that  virtue  or  morality  is  a  necessary 
spring  of  popular  government.  The  rule, 
indeed,  extends  with  more  or  less  force  to 
every  species  of  free  government.  Who, 
that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it,  can  look  with 
indifference  upon  attempts  to  shake  the 
foundation  of'the  fabric? 

Promote  then,  as  an  object  of  primary 
importance,  institutions  ror  the  general 
diffusion  of  knowledge.  In  proportion  as 
the  structure  of  a  government  gives  force 
to  public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that  pub- 
lic opinion  should  be  enlightened. 

As  a  very  important  source  of  strength 
and  security,  cherish  public  credit.  One 
method  of  preserving  it  is  to  use  it  as  spar- 
ingly as  possible,  avoiding  occasions  of 
expense  by  cultivating  peace,  but  remem- 
bering also  that  timely  disbursements  to 
prepare  for  danger  frequently  prevent 
much  greater  disbursements  to  repel  it ; 
avoiding,  likewise,  the  accumulation  of 
debt,  not  only  by  shunning  occasions  of 
expense,  but  by  vigorous  exertions  in  time 
of  peace  to  discharge  the  debts  which  un- 
avoidable wars  may  have  occasioned ;  not 
ungenerously  throwing  upon  posterity  the 
burden  which  we  ourselves  ought  to  bear. 
The  execution  of  these  maxims  belongs  to 
your  representatives,  but  it  is  necessary 
that  public  opinion  should  co-operate.  To 
facilitate  to  tnem  the  performance  of  their 
duty,  it  is  essential  that  you  should  practi- 
cally bear  in  mind,  that  toward  the  payments 
of  debts  there  must  be  revenues ;  that  to 
have  revenue  there  must  be  taxes ;  that  no 
taxes  can  be  devised,  which  are  not  more 
or  less  inconvenient  and  unpleasant ;  that 
the  intrinsic  embarrassment  inseparable 
from  the  selection  of  the  proper  objects 
(which  is  always  a  choice  of  difficulties) 
ought  to  be  a  decisive  moment  for  a  can- 
dia    construction  of  the  conduct  of  the 


government  in  making  it,  and  for  a  spirit 
of  acquiescence  in  the  measure  for  obtain- 
ing revenue,  which  the  public  exigencies 
may  at  any  time  dictate. 

Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards 
all  nations ;  cultivate  peace  and  harmony 
with  all ;  religion  and  morality  enjoin  this 
conduct ;  and  can  it  be  that  good  policy 
does  not  equally  enjoin  it?  It  will  be 
worthy  of  a  free,  enlightened,  and  at  no 
distant  period  a  great  nation,  to  give  to 
mankind  the  magnanimous  and  too  novel 
example  of  a  people  always  guided  by  an 
exalted  justice  and  benevolence.  Who 
can  doubt  that,  in  the  course  of  time  and 
things,  the  fruits  of  such  a  plan  would 
richly  repay  any  temporary  advantages 
which  might  be  lost  by  a  steady  adherence 
to  it  ?  Can  it  be  that  Providence  has  not 
connected  the  permanent  felicity  of  a  na- 
tion with  its  virtue?  The  experiment,  at 
least,  is  recommended  by  every  sentiment 
which  ennobles  human  nature.  Alas!  is 
it  rendered  impossible  by  its  vices  ? 

In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan,  nothing 
is  more  essential  than  that  permanent,  in- 
veterate antipathies  against  particular  na- 
tions, and  passionate  attachment  for  others, 
should  be  excluded :  and  that  in  place  of 
them,  just  and  amicable  feelings  towards 
all  should  be  cultivated.  The  nation 
which  indulges  towards  another  an  habitual 
hatred,  or  an  habitual  fondness,  is,  in  some 
degree,  a  slave.  It  is  a  slave  to  its  ani- 
mosity or  to  its  affection  ;  either  of  which 
is  sufficient  to  lead  it  astray  from  its  duty 
and  its  interest.  Antipathy  in  one  nation 
against  another,  disposes  each  more  readily 
to  offer  insult  and  injury,  to  lay  hold  of 
slight  causes  of  umbrage,  and  to  be  haughty 
and  untractable,  when  accidental  or  trifling 
occasions  of  dispute  occur.  Hence  fre- 
quent collisions,  obstinate,  envenomed,  and 
bloody  contests.  The  nation,  prompted  by 
ill-will  and  resentment,  sometimes  impels 
to  war  the  government,  contrary  to  the  best 
calculations  of  policy.  The  government 
sometimes  participates  in  the  national 
propensity,  and  adopts,  through  passion, 
what  reason  would  reject ;  at  other  times 
it  makes  the  animosity  of  the  nation  sub- 
servient to  projects  of  hostility,  instigated 
by  pride,  ambition,  and  other  sinister  and 
pernicious  motives.  The  peace  oflen,  some- 
times perhaps  the  liberty,  of  nations  has 
been  the  victim. 

So  likewise  a  passionate  attachment  of 
one  nation  to  another  produces  a  variety 
of  evils.  Sympathy  for  the  favorite  na- 
tion, facilitating  the  illusion  of  an  im- 
aginary common  interest,  in  cases  where 
no  real  common  interest  exists,  and  infus- 
ing into  one  the  enmities  of  the  other, 
betrays  the  former  into  a  participation  in 
the  quarrels  and  wars  of  the  latter,  without 
adequate  inducement  or  justification.  It 
leads  also  to  concessions  to  the  favorite 


20 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ii. 


nation  of  privileges  denied  to  others,  which 
is  apt  doubly  to  injure  the  nation  making 
the  concessions ;  by  unnecessarily  parting 
with  what  ought  to  have  been  retained, 
and  by  exciting  iealousy,  ill-will,  and  a 
disposition  to  retaliate,  in  the  parties  from 
whom  equal  privileges  are  withheld;  and 
it  gives  to  ambitious,  corrupted,  or  de- 
luded citizens  (who  devote  themselves 
to  the  favorite  nation)  facility  to  betray,  or 
sacrifice  the  interest  of  their  own  country, 
without  odium ;  sometimes  even  with  popu- 
larity ;  gilding  with  the  appearance  of  a 
virtuous  sense  of  obligation,  a  commend- 
able deference  for  public  opinion,  or  a 
laudable  zeal  for  public  good!,  the  base  or 
foolish  compliances  of  ambition,  '•o'-rup- 
tion,  or  infatuation. 

As  avenues  to  foreign  influence  in  in- 
numerable ways,  such  attachments  are 
particularly  alarming  to  the  truly  enlight- 
ened and  independent  patriot.  How  many 
opportunities  do  they  afford  to  tamper 
with  domestic  factions,  to  practice  the  art 
of  seduction,  to  mislead  puolic  opinion,  to 
influence  or  awe  the  public  councils? 
Such  an  attachment  of  a  small  or  weak, 
towards  a  great  and  powerful  nation,  dooms 
the  former  to  be  the  satellite  of  the  latter. 

Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign 
influence  (I  conjure  you  to  believe  me, 
fellow-citizens),  the  jealousy  of  a  free  peo- 
ple ought  to  be  constantly  awake ;  since 
nistory  and  experience  prove  that  foreign 
influence  is  one  of  the  most  baneful  foes 
of  republican  government.  But  that 
jealousy,  to  be  useful,  must  be  impar- 
tial ;  else  it  becomes  the  instrument  of  the 
very  influence  to  be  avoided,  instead  of  a 
defence  against  it.  Excessive  partiality 
for  one  foreign  nation,  and  excessive  dis- 
like for  another,  cause  those  whom  they 
actuate  to  see  danger  only  on  one  side,  and 
serve  to  veil,  and  even  second,  the  arts  of 
influence  on  the  other.  Real  patriots,  who 
may  resist  the  intrigues  of  the  favorite,  are 
liable  to  become  suspected  and  odious; 
while  its  tools  and  dupes  usurp  the  ap- 
plause and  confidence  of  the  people,  to 
surrender  their  interests. 

The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  re- 
gard to  foreign  nations,  is,  in  extending 
our  commercial  relations,  to  have  with 
them  as  little  political  connexion  as  possi- 
ble. So  far  as  we  have  already  formed 
engagements,  let  them  be  fulfilled  with 
perfect  good  faith.    There  let  us  stop. 

Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests, 
which  to  us  have  none,  or  a  very  remote 
relation.  Hence  she  must  be  engaged  in 
frequent  controversies,  the  causes  of  which 
are  essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns. 
Hence,  therefore,  it  must  be  unwise  in  us 
to  implicate  ourselves,  by  artificial  ties,  in 
the  ordinary  vicissitudes  of  her  politics,  or 
the  ordinary  combinations  and  collisions 
of  her  friendships  or  enmities. 


Our  detached  and  distant  situation  in- 
vites and-  enables  us  to  pursue  a  different 
course.  If  we  remain  one  people  under 
an  eflicient  government,  the  period  is  not 
far  off  when  we  may  defy  material  injury 
from  external  annoyance ;  when  we  may 
take  such  an  attitude  as  will  cause  the 
neutrality  we  may  at  any  time  resolve 
upon,  to  be  scrupulously  respected  ;  when 
belligerent  nations,  under  the  impossibility 
of  making,  acquisitions  upon  us,  will  not 
lightly  hazard  the  giving  us  provocation ; 
when  we  may  choose  peace  or  war,  as  our 
interests,  guided  by  justice,  shall  counsel. 

Why  forego  the  advantages  of  so  pecu- 
liar a  situation?  Why  quit  our  own  to 
stand  upon  foreign  ground  ?  W^hy,  by  in- 
terweaving our  destiny  with  that  of  any 
part  of  Europe,  entangle  our  peace  and 
prosperity  in  the  toils  of  European  ambi- 
tion, rivalship,  interest,  humor,  or  caprice  ? 

It  is  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of 
permanent  alliances  with  any  portion  of 
the  foreign  world ;  so  far,  I  mean,  as  We 
are  now  at  liberty  to  do  it ;  for  let  me  not 
be  understood  as  capable  of  patronizing 
infidelity  to  existing  engagements.  I  hold 
the  maxim  no  less  applicable  to  public 
than  to  private  affairs,  that  honesty  is  al- 
ways the  best  policy.  I  repeat  it,  there- 
fore, let  those  engagements  be  observed  in 
their  genuine  sense.  But,  in  my  opinion, 
it  is  unnecessary,  and  would  be  unwise  to 
extend  them. 

Taking  care  always  to  keep  ourselves,  by 
suitable  establishments,  on  a  respectable 
defensive  posture,  we  may  safely  trust  to 
temporary  alliances  for  extraordinary 
emergencies. 

Harmony,  and  a  liberal  intercourse  with 
all  nations,  are  recommended  by  policy, 
humanity,  and  interest.  But  even  our  com- 
mercial policy  should  hold  an  equal  and 
impartial  hand;  neither  seeking  nor  grant- 
ing exclusive  favors  or  preferences;  con- 
sulting the  natural  cause  of  things ;  diffus- 
ing and  diversifying,  by  gentle  means,  the 
streams  of  commerce,  by  forcing  nothing ; 
establishing,  with  powers  so  disposed,  in 
order  to  give  trade  a  stable  course,  to  de- 
fine the  rights  of  our  merchants,  and  to 
enable  the  government  to  support  them, 
conventional  rules  of  intercourse,  the  best 
that  present  circumstances  and  mutual 
opinions  will  permit,  but  temporary,  and 
liable  to  be,  from  time  to  time,  abandoned 
or  varied,  as  experience  and  circumstances 
shall  dictate ;  constantly  keeping  in  view, 
that  it  is  folly  in  one  nation  to  look  for  dis- 
interested favors  from  another;  that  it 
must  pay,  with  a  portion  of  its  independ- 
ence, for  whatever  it  may  accept  under 
that  character ;  that  by  such  acceptance  it 
may  place  itself  in  the  condition  of  hav- 
ing given  equivalents  for  nominal  favors, 
and  yet  of  being  reproached  with  ingrati- 
tude for  not  giving  more.    There  can  be 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


21 


no  greater  error  than  to  expect,  or  calcu- 
late upon,  real  favors  from  nation  to  nation. 
It  is  an  illusion  which  experience  must 
cure,  which  a  just  pride  ought  to  discard. 

In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen,  these 
counsels  of  an  old  and  affectionate  friend, 
I  dare  not  hope  they  will  make  the  strong 
and  lasting  impression  I  could  wish ;  that 
they  will  control  the  usual  current  of  the 
passions,  or  prevent  our  nation  from  run- 
ning the  course  which  has  hitherto  marked 
the  destiny  of  nations ;  but  if  I  may  even 
flatter  myself  that  they  may  be  productive 
of  some  partial  benefit,  some  occasional 
good ;  that  they  may  now  and  then  recur 
to  moderate  the  fury  of  party  spirit,  to 
warn  against  the  mischiefs  of  foreign  in- 
trigues, to  guard  against  the  impostures  of 
pretended  patriotism ;  this  hope  will  be  a 
full  recompense  for  the  solicitude  for  your 
welfare  by  which  they  have  been  dictated. 

How  far,  in  the  discharge  of  my  official 
duties,  I  have  been  guided  by  the  princi- 

f)les  which  have  been  delineated,  the  pub- 
ic records,  and  other  evidences  of  my  con- 
duct, must  witness  to  you  and  the  world. 
To  myself,  the  assurance  of  my  own  con- 
science is,  that  I  have  at  least  believed  my- 
self to  be  guided  by  them. 

In  relation  to  the  still  subsisting  war  in 
Europe,  my  proclamation  of  the  23d  of 
April,  1793,  is  the  index  to  my  plan. 
Sanctioned  by  your  approving  voice,  and 
by  that  of  your  representatives  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  the  spirit  of  that 
measure  has  continually  governed  me,  un- 
influenced by  any  attempts  to  deter  or  di- 
vert me  from  it. 

After  deliberate  examination,  with  the 
aid  of  the  best  lights  I  could  obtain,  I  was 
well  satisfied  that  our  country,  under  all 
the  circumstances  of  the  case,  had  a  right 
to  take,  and  was  bound  in  duty  and  inter- 
est to  take  a  neutral  position.  Having 
taken  it,  I  determined,  as  far  as  should 
depend  upon  me,  to  maintain  it  with  mod- 
eration, perseverance,  and  firmness. 

The  considerations  which  respect  the 
right  to  hold  this  conduct,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary on  this  occasion  to  detail.  I  will  only 
observe,  that,  according  to  my  understand- 
ing of  the  matter,  that  right,  so  far  from 
being  denied  by  any  of  the  belligerent 
powers,  has  been  virtually  admitted  by  all. 

The  duty  of  holding  neutral  conduct 
may  be  inferred,  without  anything  more, 
from  the  obligation  which  justice  and  hu- 
manity impose  on  every  nation,  in  cases  in 
which  it  is  free  to  act,  to  maintain  invio- 
late the  relations  of  peace  and  unity  to- 
wards other  nations. 

The  inducements  of  interests,  for  observ- 
ing that  conduct,  will  best  be  referred  to 
your  own  reflections  and  experience. 
With  me,  a  predominant  motive  nas  been 
to  endeavor  to  gain  time  to  our  country  to 
settle  and  mature  its  yet  recent  institutions, 


and  to  progress,  without  interruption,  to 
that  degree  of  strength  and  consistency 
which  is  necessary  to  give  it,  humanly 
speaking,  the  command  of  its  own  for- 
tunes. 

Though,  in  reviewing  the  incidents  of 
my  administration,  I  am  unconscious  of 
intentional  error;  I  am,  nevertheless,  too 
sensible  of  my  defects  not  to  think  it  pro- 
bable that  I  may  have  committed  many 
errors.  Whatever  they  may  be,  I  fervently 
beseech  the  Almighty  to  avert  or  mitigate 
the  evils  to  which  they  may  tend.  I  shall 
also  carry  with  me  the  hope,  that  my  coun- 
try will  never  come  to  view  them  with  in- 
dulgence; and  that,  after  forty-five  years 
of  my  life  dedicated  to  its  service  with  an 
upright  zeal,  the  faults  of  incompetent 
abilities  will  be  consigned  to  oblivion,  as 
myself  must  soon  be  to  the  mansions  of 
rest. 

Relying  on  its  kindness  in  this,  as  m 
other  things,  and  actuated  by  that  fervent 
love  towards  it  which  is  so  natural  to  a 
man  who  views  in  it  the  native  soil  of 
himself  and  his  progenitors  for  several 
generations,  I  anticipate,  with  pleasing  ex- 
pectation, that  retreat  in  which  I  promise 
myself  to  realize,  without  alloy,  the  sweet 
enjoyment  of  partaking,  in  the  midst  of 
my  fellow-citizens,  the  benign  influence  of 
good  laws  under  a  free  government — the 
ever  favorite  object  of  my  heart — and 
happy  reward,  as  I  trust,  of  our  mutual 
cares,  labors,  and  dangers. 

George  Washington. 
United  States,  17th  of  Sept.,  1796. 


180U.— No  Federal  Platfomu 


Republican  Platform,  Philadelpbla. 

Adopted  in  Congressional  Caucus. 

1.  An  inviolable  preservation  of  the 
Federal  constitution,  according  to  the  true 
sense  in  which  it  was  adopted  by  the  states, 
that  in  which  it  was  advocated  by  its 
friends,  and  not  that  which  its  enemies 
apprehended,  who,  therefore,  became 
its  enemies. 

2.  Opposition  to  monarchizing  its  fea- 
tures by  the  forms  of  its  administration, 
with  a  view  to  conciliate  a  transition,  first, 
to  a  president  and  senate  for  life :  and, 
secondly,  to  an  hereditary  tenure  of  those 
oflSces,  and  thus  to  worm  out  the  elective 
principle. 

3.  Preservation  to  the  states  of  the  pow- 
ers not  yielded  by  them  to  the  Union,  and 
to  the  legislature  of  the  Union  its  constitu- 
tional share  in  division  of  powers ;  and  re- 
sistance, therefore,  to  existing  movements 
for  transferring  all  the  powers  of  the  statet 


22 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


to  the  general  government,  and  all  of  those 
of  that  government  to  the  executive 
branch. 

4.  A  rigorously  frugal  administration  of 
the  government,  and  tiie  ajiplication  of  all 
the  possible  savings  of  the  public  revenue 
to  the  liquidation  of  the  nuolic  debt ;  and 
resistance,  therefore,  to  all  measures  look- 
ing to  a  multiplication  of  officers  and  sala- 
ries, merely  to  create  partisans  and  to  aug- 
ment the  public  debt,  on  the  principle  of 
ite  being  a  public  blessing. 

6.  Reliance  for  internal  defense  solely 
upon  the  militia,  till  actual  invasion,  and 
for  such  a  naval  force  only  as  may  be  suf- 
ficient to  protect  our  coasts  and  harbors 
from  depredations ;  and  opposition,  there- 
fore, to  the  policy  of  a  standing  army  in 
time  of  peace  which  may  overawe  the  pub- 
lic sentiment,  and  to  a  navy,  which,  by  its 
own  expenses,  and  the  wars  in  which  it 
will  implicate  us,  will  grind  us  with  pub- 
lic burdens  and  sink  us  under  them. 

6.  Free  commerce  with  all  nations,  po- 
litical connection  with  none,  and  little  or 
no  diplomatic  establishment. 

7.  Opposition  to  linking  ourselves,  by 
new  treaties,  with  the  quarrels  of  Europe, 
entering  their  fields  of  slaughter  to  pre- 
serve  their  balance,  or  joining  in  the  con- 
federacy of  kings  to  war  against  the  princi- 
ples of  liberty. 

8.  Freedom  of  religion,  and  opposition 
to  all  maneuvers  to  bring  about  a  legal  as- 
cendency of  one  sect  over  another. 

9.  Freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press ; 
and  opposition,  therefore,  to  all  violations 
of  the  constitution,  to  silence,  by  force,  and 
iiot  by  reason,  the  complaints  or  criticisms, 
just  or  unjust,  of  our  citizens  against  the 
conduct  of  their  public  agenta. 

10.  Liberal  naturalization  laws,  under 
which  the  well  disposed  of  all  nations  who 
may  desire  to  embark  their  fortunes  with 
us  and  share  with  us  the  public  burdens, 
may  have  that  oppportunity,  under  mode- 
rate restrictions,  for  the  development  of 
honest  intention,  and  severe  ones  to  guard 
against  the  usurpation  of  our  flag. 

11  Encouragement  of  science  and  the 
arts  in  all  their  branches,  to  the  end  that 
the  American  people  may  perfect  their  in- 
dependence or  all  foreign  monopolies,  in- 
stitutions and  influences. 


I8OI-I8II.-N0  Platform*. 

(Ab  Convention  or  Oauon$  JbeM.) 


18U.— Ho  Republican  Platfona. 


Vo.Fcdcral  Platform. 


Cllntonian  Platform. 

New  York,  August  17. 

1.  Opposition  to  nominations  of  chief 
magistrates  by  congressional  caucuses,  as 
well  because  such  practices  are  the  exer- 
cise of  undelegated  authority,  as  of  their 
repugnance  to  the  freedom  of  elections. 

2.  Opposition  to  all  customs  and  usages 
in  both  the  executive  and  legislative  de- 
partments which  have  for  their  object  the 
maintenance  of  an  official  regency  to  pre- 
scribe tenets  of  political  faith,  the  line  of 
conduct  to  be  deemed  fidelitv  or  recreancy 
to  republican  principles,  and  to  perpetuate 
in  themselves  or  families  the  offices  of  the 
Federal  government. 

3.  Opposition  to  all  efforts  on  the  part  oi 
particular  states  to  monopolize  the  princi- 
pal offices  of  the  government,  as  well  be- 
cause of  their  certainty  to  destroy  the  har- 
mony which  ought  to  prevail  amongst  all 
the  constituent  parts  of  the  Union,  as  of 
their  leanings  toward  a  form  of  oligarchy 
entirely  at  variance  with  the  theory  of  re- 
publican government ;  and,  consequently, 
particular  opj)osition  to  continuing  a  citi- 
zen of  Virginia  in  the  executive  office  an- 
other term,  unless  she  can  show  that  she 
enjoys  a  corresponding  monopoly  of  talents 
and  patriotism,  after  she  has  been  honored 
with  the  presidency  for  twenty  out  of 
twenty-four  years  of  our  constitutional  ex- 
istence, and  when  it  is  obvious  that  the 
practice  has  arrayed  the  agricultural 
against  the  commercial  interests  of  the 
country. 

4.  Opposition  to  continuing  public  men 
for  long  periods  in  offices  of  delicate  tnist 
and  weighty  responsibility  as  the  reward 
of  public  services,  to  the  detriment  of  all 
or  any  particular  interest  in,  or  section  of, 
the  country;  and,  consequently,  to  the 
continuance  of  Mr,  Madison  in  an  office 
which,  in  view  of  our  pending  difficulties 
with  Great  Britain,  requires  an  incumbent 
of  greater  decision,  energy  and  efficiency. 

6.  Opposition  to  the  lingering  inadequa- 
cy of  preparation  for  the  war  with  Great 
Britain,  now  about  to  ensue,  and  to  the 
measure  which  allows  uninterrupted  trade 
with  Spain  and  Portugal,  which,  as  it  can 
not  be  carried  on  under  our  flag,  gives  to 
Great  Britain  the  means  of  supplying  her 
armies  with  provisions,  of  which  they 
would  otherwise  be  destitute,  and  thus  af- 
fording aid  and  comfort  to  our  enemy. 

6.  Averment  of  the  existing  necessity 
for  placing  the  country  in  a  condition  for 
aggressive  action  forthe  conquestof  the  Bri- 
tish American  Provinces  and  for  the  defence 
of  our  coasts  and  exposed  frontiers:  and  of 
the  propriety  of  such  a  levy  of  taxes  as  will 
raise  the  necessary  funds  for  the  emergency. 

7.  Advocacy  of  the  election  of  De  VVitt 
Clinton  aa  the  surest  method  of  relieving 
the  country  from  all  the  evils  existing  and 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


23 


prospective,  for  the  reason  that  hia  great 
talents  and  inflexible  patriotism  guaranty 
a  firm  and  unyielding  maintenance  of  our 
national  sovereignty,  and  the  protection  of 
those  commercial  interests  which  were 
flagging  under  the  weakness  and  imbecility 
of  the  administration. 


1815.— Resolutions  passed  Ity  the  Hartford 
CouT-entlon,  January  4. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  and  is  hereby  re- 
commended to  the  legislatures  of  the  seve- 
ral states  represented  in  this  convention,  to 
adopt  all  such  measures  as  may  be  neces- 
sary effectually  to  protect  the  citizens  of 
said  states  from  the  operation  and  effects  of 
all  acts  which  have  been  or  may  be  passed 
by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
which  shall  contain  provisions  subjecting 
the  militia  or  other  citizens  to  forcible 
drafts,  conscriptions,  or  impressments  not 
authorized  by  tie  constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  and  is  hereby  re- 
commended to  the  said  legislatures,  to  au- 
thorize an  immediate  and  an  earnest  ap- 
plication to  be  made  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  requesting  their  consent 
to  some  arrangement  whereby  the  said 
states  may,  separately  or  in  concert,  be 
empowered  to  assume  upon  themselves  the 
defense  of  their  territory  against  the  ene- 
my, and  a  reasonable  portion  of  the  taxes 
collected  within  said  states  may  be  paid 
into  the  respective  treasuries  thereof,  and 
appropriated  to  the  balance  due  said  states 
and  to  the  future  defense  of  the  same. 
The  amount  so  paid  into  said  treasuries  to 
be  credited,  and  the  disbursements  made 
as  aforesaid  to  be  charged  to  the  United 
States. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  and  hereby  is  re- 
commended to  the  legislatures  of  the  afore- 
said states,  to  pass  laws  where  it  has  not 
already  been  done,  authorizing  the  gov- 
ernors or  commanders-in-chief  of  their  mi- 
litia to  make  detachments  from  the  same, 
or  to  form  voluntary  corps,  as  shall  be 
most  convenient  and  conformable  to  their 
constitutions,  and  to  cause  the  same  to  be 
well  armed,  equipped,  and  held  in  readi- 
ness for  service,  and  upon  request  of  the 
governor  of  either  of  the  other  states,  to 
employ  the  whole  of  such  detachment  or 
corps,  as  well  as  the  regular  forces  of  the 
3tate,  or  such  part  thereof  as  may  be  re- 
quired, and  can  be  spared  consistently  with 
tne  safety  of  the  state,  in  assisting  the  state 
making  such  request  to  repel  any  invasion 
thereof  which  shall  be  made  or  attempted 
by  the  public  enemy. 

Resolved,  That  the  following  amendments 
of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  be 
recommended  to  the  states  represented  as 


aforesaid,  to  be  proposed  by  them  for 
adoption  by  the  state  legislatures,  and  ia 
such  cases  as  may  be  deemed  expedient  by 
a  convention  chosen  by  the  people  of  each 
state.  And  it  is  further  recommended  that 
the  said  states  shall  persevere  in  their  ef- 
forts to  obtain  such  amendments,  until  the 
same  shall  be  effected. 

First.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes 
shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several 
states  which  may  be  included  within  this 
Union,  according  to  their  respective  num- 
bers of  free  persons,  including  those  bound 
to  serve  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding 
Indians  not  taxed,  and  all  other  persons; 

Second.  No  new  state  shall  be  admitted 
into  the  Union  by  Congress,  in  virtue  of 
the  power  granted  in  the  constitution, 
without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of 
both  houses ; 

Third.  Congress  shall  not  have  power  to 
lay  an  embargo  on  the  ships  or  vessels  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  the  ports  or 
harbors  thereof,  for  more  than  sixty  days ; 

Fourth.  Congress  shall  not  have  power, 
without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of 
both  houses,  to  interdict  the  commercial 
intercourse  between  the  United  States  and 
any  foreign  nation  or  the  dependencies 
thereof; 

Fifth.  Congress  shall  not  make  nor  de- 
clare war,  nor  authorize  acts  of  hostility 
against  any  foreign  nation,  without  the 
concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  both  houses, 
except  such  acts  of  hostility  be  in  defense 
of  the  territories  of  the  United  States  when 
actually  invaded ; 

Sixth.  No  person  who  shall  hereafter  be 
naturalized  shall  be  eligible  as  a  member 
of  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States,  or  capable  of  holding 
any  civil  office  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States ; 

Seventh.  The  same  person  shall  not  be 
elected  President  of  the  United  States  a 
second  time,  nor  shall  the  President  be 
elected  from  the  same  state  two  terms  in 
succession. 

Resolved,  That  if  the  application  of  these 
states  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  recommended  in  a  foregoing  resolu- 
tion, should  be  unsuccessful,  and  peace 
should  not  be  concluded,  and  the  defense 
of  these  states  should  be  neglected,  as  it  has 
been  since  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
it  will,  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention, 
be  expedient  for  the  legislatures  of  the 
several  states  to  appoint  delegates  to  an- 
other convention,  to  meet  at  Boston,  in  the 
state  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  third  Mon- 
day of  June  next,  with  such  powers  and 
instructions  as  the  exigency  oi  a  crisis  so 
momentous  may  reauire. 

Resolved,  That  tne  Honorable  George 
Cabot,  the  Honorable  Chauncey  (Joodrich, 
the  Honorable  Daniel  Lvman,  or  any  two 
of  them,  be  authorized  to  call  another 


24 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[Booxn. 


meeting  of  this  convention,  to  be  holden 
in  Boston  at  any  time  before  new  delegates 
shall  be  chosen  as  recommended  in  the 
above  resolution,  if  in  their  judgment  the 
Situation  of  the  country  shall  urgently  re- 
quire it. 


From  1813-1839.— No  Pl«trorm«  l>y  etther 

politic*!  party,  except  tliat  at  Hartford 

b]r  Fe«leraUst«,  given  above. 


1830.— Antl-masonlc  resolutloii, 

PhUadeljihia,  Stptemher. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  recommended  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  opposed  to 
secret  societies,  to  meet  in  convention  on 
Monday,  the  26th  day  of  September,  1831, 
at  the  city  of  Baltimore,  by  aelegates  equal 
in  number  to  their  representatives  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  to  make  nominations 
of  suitable  candidates  for  the  offices  of 
President  and  Vice-President,  to  be  sup- 
ported at  the  next  election,  and  for  tne 
transaction  of  such  other  business  as  the 
cause  of  Anti-Masonry  may  require. 


1839.— National  Democratic  Platform, 
adopted,  at  a  ratification  Meetln|; 

at  Wathington  OUy,  May  11. 

Resolved,  That  an  ade<juate  protection 
to  American  industry  is  indispensable  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  country ;  and  that  an 
abandonment  of  the  policy  at  this  period 
would  be  attended  with  consequences  ruin- 
ous to  the  best  interests  of  the  nation. 

Resolved,  That  a  uniform  system  of  in- 
ternal improvements,  sustained  and  sup- 
ported by  the  general  government,  is  calcu- 
lated to  secure,  in  the  highest  degree,  the 
harmony,  the  strength  and  permanency  of 
the  republic. 

Resolved,  That  the  indiscriminate  remo- 
val of  public  officers  for  a  mere  difference 
of  political  opinion,  is  a  gross  abuse  of 
power ;  and  that  the  doctrine  lately  boldly 
preached  in  the  United  States  Senate,  that 

to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils  of  the 
vanquished,"  is  detrimental  tome  interests, 
corrupting  to  the  morals,  and  dangerous  to 
the  lioerties  of  the  country. 


183«.— '<  liocofoco  "  Platform, 

Kev!  Yvrk,  January. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident, 
that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal ; 
that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among 
which  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness ;  that  the  ^e  foundation  of  re- 


publican government  is  the  equal  rights  of 
every  citizen  in  his  person  and  property, 
and  in  their  management ;  that  the  idea  is 
quite  unfounded  that  on  entering  into 
society  we  give  up  any  natural  right ;  that 
the  rightful  power  of  all  legislation  is  to 
declare  and  enforce  only  our  natural  rights 
and  duties,  and  to  take  none  of  them  from 
us ;  that  no  man  has  the  natural  right  to 
commit  aggressions  on  the  equal  rights  of 
another,  and  this  is  all  from  which  the 
law  ought  to  restrain  him ;  that  every  man 
is  under  the  natural  duty  of  contributinff 
to  the  necessities  of  society,  and  this  all 
the  law  should  enforce  on  him ;  that  when 
the  laws  have  declared  and  enforced  all 
this,  they  have  fulfilled  their  functions. 

We  declare  unqualified  hostility  to  bank 
notes  and  paper  money  as  a  circulating 
medium,  because  gold  and  silver  is  the  only 
safe  and  constitutional  currency ;  hostility 
to  any  and  all  monopolies  by  legislation, 
because  they  are  violations  of  equal  rights 
of  the  people  ;  hostility  to  the  dangerous 
and  unconstitutional  creation  of  vested 
rights  or  prerogatives  by  legislation,  be- 
cause they  are  usurpations  of  the  people's 
sovereign  rights ;  no  legislative  or  other 
authority  in  the  body  politic  can  rightful- 
ly, by  charter  or  otherwise,  exempt  any 
man  or  body  of  men,  in  any  case  whatever, 
from  trial  by  jury  and  the  jurisdiction  or 
operation  of  the  laws  which  govern  the 
community. 

We  hold  that  each  and  every  law  or  act 
of  incorporation,  passed  by  preceding  le- 
gislatures, can  be  rightfully  altered  and  re- 
pealed by  their  successors ;  and  that  they 
should  be  altered  or  repealed,  when  neces- 
sary for  the  public  good,  or  when  required 
by  a  majority  of  the  people. 


1836.— IVblg  Resolutions, 

AWat^,  N.  T.,  February  3. 

Resolved,  That  in  support  of  our  cause, 
we  invite  all  citizens  opposed  to  Martin 
Van  Buren  and  the  Baltimore  nominees. 

Resolved,  That  Martin  Van  Buren,  by 
intriguing  with  the  executive  to  obtain  his 
influence  to  elect  him  to  the  presidency, 
has  set  an  example  dangerous  to  our  free- 
dom and  corrupting  to  our  free  institutions. 

Resolved,  That  the  support  we  render  to 
William  H.  Harrison  is  oy  no  means  given 
to  him  solelv  on  account  of  his  brilliant 
and  successfiil  services  as  leader  of  our 
armies  during  the  last  war,  but  that  in 
him  we  view  also  the  man  of  high  intellect, 
the  stern  patriot,  uncontaminated  by  the 
machinery  of  hackneyed  politicians — a 
man  of  the  school  of  Washington. 

Resolved,  That  in  Francis  Granger  we 
recognize  one  of  our  most  distinguished 
fellow-citizeas,  whose  talents  we  admir^ 


BOOK  n.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


25 


whose  patriotism  we  trust,  and  whose  prin- 
ciples we  sanction. 


1839.— Abolition  Resolution, 

Warsaw,  N.  Y.,  November  13. 

Resolved,  That,  in  our  judgment,  every 
consideration  of  duty  and  expediency 
which  ought  to  control  the  action  of  Chris- 
tian freemen,  requires  of  the  Abolitionists 
of  the  United  States  to  organize  a  distinct 
and  independent  political  party,  embracing 
all  the  necessary  means  for  nominating 
candidates  for  office  and  sustaining  them 
by  public  suffrage. 


Abolition  Platforms. 

The  first  national  platform  of  the  Aboli- 
tion party  upon  which  it  went  into  the 
contest  in  1840,  favored  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
Territories ;  the  inter-state  slave-trade,  and 
a  general  opposition  to  slavery  to  the  full 
extent  of  constitutional  power. 

In  1848,  that  portion  cf  the  party  which 
did  not  support  the  Buffalo  nominees  took 
the  ground  of  affirming  the  constitutional 
authority  and  duty  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment to  abolish  slavery  in  the  States. 

Under  the  head  of  "  Buffalo,"  the  plat- 
form of  the  Free  Soil  party,  which  nomi- 
nated Mr.  Van  Buren,  will  be  found. 


1840. — Democratic  Platform, 

BaUimore,  May  5. 

Resolved,  That  the  Federal  government 
is  one  of  limited  powers,  derived  solely 
from  the  constitution,  and  the  grants  of 
power  shown  therein  ought  to  be  strictly 
construed  by  all  the  departments  and  agente 
of  the  government,  and  that  it  is  inexpe- 
dient and  dangerous  to  exercise  doubtful 
constitutional  powers. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  constitution  does 
not  confer  upon  the  general  government 
the  power  to  commence  and  carry  on  a 
general  system  of  internal  improvements. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  constitution  does 
not  confer  authority  upon  the  Federal 
government,  directlv  or  indirectly,  to  as- 
sume the  debts  of  the  several  states,  con- 
tracted for  local  internal  improvements  or 
other  state  purposes ;  nor  would  such  as- 
sumption be  just  or  expedient. 

4.  Resolved,  That  justice  and  sound  po- 
licy forbid  the  Federal  government  to 
foster  one  branch  of  industry  to  the  detri- 
ment of  another,  or  to  cherish  the  interests 
of  one  portion  to  the  injury  of  another 
portion  of  our  common  countiy — that  every 
citizen  and  every  section  oi  the  country 


has  a  right  to  demand  and  insist  upon  an 
equality  of  rights  and  privileges,  and  to 
complete  and  ample  protection  of  persons 
and  property  from  aomestic  violence  or 
foreign  aggression. 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
branch  of  the  government  to  enforce  and 
practice  the  most  rigid  economy  in  con- 
ducting our  public  affairs,  and  that  no 
more  revenue  ought  to  be  raised  than  is 
required  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses 
of  the  government. 

6.  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  no  power 
to  charter  a  United  States  bank ;  that  we 
believe  such  an  institution  one  of  deadly 
hostility  to  the  best  interests  of  the  coun- 
try, dangerous  to  our  republican  institu- 
tions and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and 
calculated  to  place  the  business  of  the 
country  within  the  control  of  a  concen- 
trated money  power,  and  above  the  laws 
and  the  will  of  the  people. 

7.  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  no  power 
under  the  constitution,  to  interfere  with  or 
control  the  domestic  institutions  of  the 
several  states ;  and  that  such  states  are  the 
sole  and  proper  judges  of  everything  per- 
taining to  their  own  affairs,  not  prohibited 
by  the  constitution ;  that  all  efforts,  by 
Abolitionists  or  others,  made  to  induce 
Congress  to  interfere  with  questions  of 
slavery,  or  to  take  incipient  steps  in  rela- 
tion thereto,  are  calculated  to  lead  to  the 
most  alarming  and  dangerous  consequen- 
ces, and  that  all  such  efforts  have  an  inevi- 
table tendency  to  diminish  the  happiness 
of  the  people,  and  endanger  the  stability 
and  permanence  of  the  Union,  and  ought 
not  to  be  countenanced  by  any  friend  to 
our  political  institutions. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  separation  of  the 
moneys  of  the  government  from  banking 
institutions  is  indispensable  for  the  safety 
of  the  funds  of  the  government  and  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  liberal  principles 
embodied  by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  sanctioned  in  the 
constitution,  which  makes  ours  the  land  of 
liberty  and  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  of 
every  nation,  have  ever  been  cardinal  prin- 
ciples in  the  democratic  faith  ;  and  every 
attempt  to  abridge  the  present  privilege 
of  becoming  citizens,  and  the  owners  of 
soil  among  us,  ought  to  be  resisted  with 
the  same  spirit  which  swept  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws  from  our  statute  book. 

Whereas,  Several  of  the  states  which 
have  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  as  a 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  have  put  in 
nomination  different  individuals  as  candi- 
dates for  Vice-President,  thus  indicating  a 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  person  best 
entitled  to  the  nomination ;  and  whereas, 
some  of  the  said  states  are  not  represented 
in  this  convention  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  convention  deem  it 


26 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  il 


expedient  at  the  present  time  not  to  choose 
between  the  individuals  in  nomination, 
but  to  leave  the  decision  to  their  repub- 
lican fellow-citizens  in  the  several  states, 
trusting  that  before  the  election  shall  take 
place,  their  opinions  will  become  so  con- 
centrated as  to  secure  the  choice  of  a  Vice- 
President  by  the  electoral  college. 


1S43.— I<lt>ert)r  Platform. 

Bufalo,  August  iO. 

1.  Reaolvedj  That  human  brotherhood  is 
a  cardinal  principle  of  true  democracy,  as 
well  as  of  pure  Christianity,  which  spurns 
all  inconsistent  limitations ;  and  neither 
the  political  party  which  repudiates  it,  nor 
the  political  system  which  is  not  based 
upon  it,  can  be  truly  democratic  or  per- 
manent. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  Liberty  party, 
placing  itself  upon  this  broad  principle, 
w^ill  demand  the  absolute  and  unqualified 
divorce  of  the  general  government  from 
slavery,  and  also  the  restoration  of  equal- 
ity of  rights  among  men,  in  every  state 

here  the  party  exists,  or  may  exist. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  Liberty  party  has 
aot  been  organized  for  any  temporary  pur- 
pose by  interested  politicians,  but  has 
arisen  trom  among  the  people  in  conse- 
quence of  a  conviction,  hourly  gaining 
ground,  that  no  other  party  in  the  country 
represents  the  true  principles  of  American 
liberty,  or  the  true  spirit  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  Liberty  party  has 
not  been  organized  merely  for  tne  over- 
throw of  slavery ;  its  first  decided  eflbrt 
must,  indeed,  be  directed  against  slave- 
holding  as  the  grossest  and  most  revolting 
manifestation  of  despotism,  but  it  will  also 
carry  out  the  principle  of  equal  rights  into 
all  its  practical  consequences  and  applica- 
tions, and  support  every  just  measure  con- 
ducive to  individual  and  social  freedom. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  Liberty  party  is 
not  a  sectional  party  but  a  national  party ; 
was  not  originated  in  a  desire  to  accom- 
plish a  single  object,  but  in  a  comprehen- 
sive regard  to  the  great  interests  of  the 
■whole  country ;  is  not  a  new  party,  iu>r  a 
third  party,  but  is  the  party  of  1776,  re- 
viving the  principles  of  that  memorable 
era,  and  striving  to  carry  them  into  prac- 
tical application. 

6.  Resolved,  That  it  was  understood  in  the 
times  of  the  declaration  and  the  constitu- 
tion, that  the  existence  of  slavery  in  some 
of  the  states  was  in  derogation  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  American  liberty,  and  a  deep 
stain  upon  the  character  of  the  country, 
and  the  implied  faith  of  the  states  and  the 
nation  was  pledged  that  slavery  should 
never  be  extended  beyond  its  then  exist- 


ing limits,  but  should  be  gradually,  and 
yet,  at  no  distant  day,  wholly  abolished  by 
state  authority. 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  faith  of  the  statet 
and  the  nation  thus  pledged,  was  most 
nobly  redeemed  by  the  voluntary  aboli- 
tion of  slaveiy  in  several  of  the  states,  and 
by  the  adoption  of  the  ordinance  of  1787, 
for  the  government  of  the  territory  north- 
west of  the  river  Ohio,  then  the  only  ter- 
ritory in  the  United  States,  and  conse- 
quently the  only  territory  subject  in  thia 
respect  to  the  control  of  Congress,  by 
which  ordinance  slavery  was  forever  ex- 
cluded from  the  vast  regions  which  now 
compose  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  and  the  territory  of  Wisconsin, 
and  an  incapacity  to  bear  up  any  other 
than  freemen  was  impressed  on  the  soil 
itself. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  faith  of  the  states 
and  the  nation  thus  pledged,  has  been 
shamefully  violated  by  the  omission,  on 
the  part  of  many  of  the  states,  to  take  any 
measures  whatever  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery  within  their  respective  limits ;  by 
the  continuance  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  and  in  the  territories  of 
Louisiana  and  Florida  ;  by  the  legislation 
of  Congress  ;  by  the  protection  afibrded  by 
national  legislation  and  negotiation  to 
slaveholding  in  American  vessels,  on  the 
high  seas,  employed  in  the  coastwise  Slave 
Traffic  ;  and  by  the  extension  of  slavery 
far  beyond  its  original  limits,  by  acts  of 
Congress  admitting  new  slave  states  into 
the  Union, 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  fundamental  truths 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  that 
all  men  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which 
are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness, was  made  the  fundamental  law  of 
our  national  government,  by  that  amend- 
ment of  the  constitution  which  declares 
that  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process 
of  law. 

10.  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  as  sound 
the  doctrine  maintained  by  slaveholding 
jurists,  that  slavery  is  against  natural 
rights,  and  strictly  local,  and  that  its  ex- 
istence and  continuance  rests  on  no  other 
support  than  state  legislation,  and  not  on 
any  authority  of  Congress. 

11.  Resolved,  That  the  general  govern- 
ment has,  under  the  constitution,  no  pow- 
er to  establish  or  continue  slavery  any- 
where, and  therefore  that  all  treaties  and 
acts  of  Congress  establishing,  continuing 
or  favoring  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, in  the  territory  of  Florida,  or  on 
the  high  seas,  are  unconstitutional,  and  all 
attempts  to  hold  men  as  property  within 
the  limits  of  exclusive  national  jurisdic- 
tion ought  to  be  prohibited  by  law. 

12.  Resolved,  That  the  provisions  of  the 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL  PLATFORMS. 


27 


constitution  of  the  United  States  which 
confers  extraordinary  political  powers  on 
the  owners  of  slaves,  and  thereby  consti- 
tuting the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
slaveholders  in  the  slave  states  a  privi- 
leged aristocracy  ;  and  the  provisions  for 
the  reclamation  of  fugitive  slaves  from 
service,  are  anti-republican  in  their  char- 
acter, dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  ought  to  be  abrogated. 

13.  Resolved,  That  the  practical  opera- 
tion of  the  second  of  these  provisions,  is 
seen  in  the  enactment  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress respecting  persons  escaping  from 
their  masters,  which  act,  if  the  construc- 
tion given  to  it  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  in  the  case  of  Prigg  vs. 
Pennsylvania  be  correct,  nullifies  the  ha- 
beas corpus  acts  of  all  the  states,  takes 
away  the  whole  legal  security  of  per- 
sonal freedom,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be 
immediately  repealed. 

14.  Resolved,  That  the  peculiar  patron- 
age and  support  hitherto  extended  to 
slavery  and  slaveholding,  by  the  general 
government,  ought  to  be  immediately  with- 
drawn, and  the  example  and  influence  of 
national  authority  ought  to  be  arrayed  on 
the  side  of  liberty  and  free  labor. 

15.  Resolved,  That  the  practice  of  the 
general  government,  which  prevails  in 
the  slave  states,  of  employing  slaves  upon 
the  public  works,  instead  of  free  laborers, 
and  paying  aristocratic  masters,  with  a 
view  to  secure  or  reward  political  services, 
is  utterly  indefensible  and  ought  to  be 
abandoned. 

16.  Resolved,  That  freedom  of  speech 
and  of  the  press,  and  the  right  of  petition, 
and  the  right  of  trial  by  jury,  are  sacred 
and  inviolable ;  and  that  all  rules,  regula- 
tions and  laws,  in  derogation  of  either,  are 
oppressive,  unconstitutional,  and  not  to  be 
endured  by  a  free  people. 

17.  Resolved,  That  we  regard  voting,  in 
an  eminent  degree,  as  a  moral  and  reli- 
gious duty,  which,  when  exercised,  should 
be  by  voting  for  those  who  will  do  all  in 
their  power  for  immediate  emancipation. 

18.  Resolved,  That  this  convention  re- 
commend to  the  friends  of  liberty  in  all 
those  free  states  where  any  inequality  of 
rights  and  privileges  exists  on  account  of 
color,  to  employ  their  utmost  energies  to 
remove  all  such  remnants  and  eflects  of 
the  slave  system. 

Whereas,  The  constitution  of  these  Uni- 
ted States  is  a  series  of  agreements,  cove- 
nants or  contracts  between  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  each  with  all,  and  all 
with  each ;  and, 

Whereas,  It  is  a  principle  of  universal 
morality,  that  the  moral  laws  of  the  Crea- 
tor are  paramount  to  all  human  laws ;  or, 
in  the  language  of  an  Apostle,  that  "  we 
ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men ; " 
and. 


Whereas,  The  principle  of  common  law 
— that  any  contract,  covenant,  or  agree- 
ment, to  do  an  act  derogatory  to  natural 
right,  is  vitiated  and  annulled  by  its  in- 
herent immorality — has  been  recognized 
by  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  who  in  a  re- 
cent case  expressly  holds  that  "  any  con- 
tract that  rests  upon  such  a  basis  is  void;" 
and, 

Whereas,  The  third  clause  of  the  second 
section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  when  construed 
as  providing  for  the  surrender  of  a  fugitive 
slave,  does  "rest  upon  such  a  basis,"  in 
that  it  is  a  contract  to  rob  a  man  of  a 
natural  right — namely,  his  natural  right 
to  his  own  liberty — and  is  therefore  ab- 
solutely void.    Therefore, 

19.  Resolved,  That  we  hereby  give  it  to 
be  distinctly  understood  by  this  nation 
and  the  world,  that,  as  abolitionists,  con- 
sidering that  the  strength  of  our  cause  lies 
in  its  righteousness,  and  our  hope  for  it  in 
our  conformity  to  the  laws  of  Grod,  and  our 
respect  for  the  rights  of  man,  we  owe  it  to 
the  Sovereign  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  as  a 
proof  of  our  allegiance  to  Him,  in  all  our 
civil  relations  and  oflices,  whether  as  pri- 
vate citizens,  or  public  functionaries  sworn 
to  support  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  to  regard  and  to  treat  the  third 
clause  of  the  fourth  article  of  that  instru- 
ment, whenever  applied  to  the  case  of  a 
fugitive  slave,  as  utterly  null  and  void, 
and  consequently  as  forming  no  part  of  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  when- 
ever we  are  called  upon  or  sworn  to  sup- 
port it. 

20.  Resolved,  That  the  power  given  to 
Congress  by  the  constitution,  to  provide 
for  calling  out  the  militia  to  suppress  in- 
surrection, does  not  make  it  the  duty  of 
the  government  to  maintain  slavery  by 
military  force,  much  less  does  it  make 
it  the  duty  of  the  citizens  to  form  a  part 
of  such  military  force  ;  when  freemen 
unsheathe  the  sword  it  should  be  to  strike 
for  liberty,  not  for  despotism. 

21.  Resolved,  That  to  preserve  the  peace 
of  the  citizens,  and  secure  the  blessings  of 
freedom,  the  legislature  of  each  of  the  free 
states  ought  to  keep  in  force  suitable  statutes 
rendering  it  penal  for  any  of  its  inhabi- 
tants to  transport,  or  aid  in  transporting 
from  such  state,  any  person  sought  to  be 
thus  transported,  merely  because  subject 
to  the  slave  laws  of  any  other  state  ;  this 
remnant  of  independence  being  accorded 
to  the  free  states  by  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  Prigg  v$. 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania. 


1844.— "Whig  Platform. 

Billitnore,  May  1. 

1.  Resolved,  That  these  principles  may 


28 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


be  summed  as  comprising  a  well-regulated 
national  currency :  a  tariff  for  revenue  to 
defray  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  discriminating  with  special 
reference  to^he  protection  of  the  domes- 
tic labor  of  the  country  ;  the  distribution 
of  the  proceeds  from  the  sales  of  the  pub- 
lic lands ;  a  single  term  for  the  presidency ; 
a  reform  of  executive  usurpations;  and 
generallv  such  an  -administration  of  the 
affairs  oi  the  country  as  shall  impart  to 
every  branch  of  the  public  service  the 
greatest  practical  efficiency,  controlled  by 
a  well-regulated  and  wise  economy. 


1844.-Democratlc  Platform. 

Ballimore,  Stay  27. 

Resolutions  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8  and  9,  of 
the  platform  of  1840,  were  reaffirmed,  to 
which  were  added  the  following : 

10.  Resolved,  That  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  ought  to  be  sacredly  ap- 
plied to  the  national  objects  specified  in 
the  constitution,  and  that  we  are  opposed 
to  the  laws  lately  adopted,  and  to  any  law 
for  the  distribution  of  such  proceeds 
among  the  states,  as  alike  inexpedient  in 
poliof  and  repugnant  to  the  constitution. 

11.  Resolved,  That  we  are  decidedly  op- 
posed to  taking  irom  the  President  the 
qualified  veto  power  by  which  he  is  ena- 
bled, under  restrictions  and  responsibili- 
ties amply  sufficient  to  guard  the  public 
interest,  to  suspend  the  passage  of  a  bill 
whose  merits  can  not  secure  the  approval 
of  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives,  until  the  judgment  of  the 
people  can  be  obtained  thereon,  and  which 
nas  thrice  saved  the  American  people  from 
the  corrupt  and  tj'rannical  domination  of 
the  bank  of  the  United  States. 

12.  Resolved,  That  our  title  to  the  whole 
of  the  territory  of  Oregon  is  clear  and  un- 
questionable ;  that  no  portion  of  the  same 
ought  to  be  ceded  to  England  or  any  other 
power,  and  that  the  reoccupation  of  Ore- 
gon and  the  reannexation  of  Texas  at  the 
earliest  practicable  period,  are  great 
American  measures,  which  this  conven- 
tion recommends  to  the  cordial  support  of 
the  democracy  of  the  Union. 


1848.— Democnttlc  Platform. 

BaUimore,  May  22. 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  American  democ- 
racy place  their  trust  in  the  intelligence, 
the  patriotism,  and  the  discriminating  jus- 
tice of  the  American  people. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  regard  this  as  a 
distinctive  feature  of  our  political  creed, 
which  we  are  proud  to  maintain  before  the 
world,  as  the  great  moral  element  in  ^a 


form  of  government  springing  from  and 
upheld  by  the  popular  will ;  and  contrast 
it  with  the  creed  and  practice  of  federal« 
ism,  under  whatever  name  or  form,  which 
seeks  to  palsy  the  will  of  the  constituent, 
and  which  conceives  no  imposture  too 
monstrous  for  the  popular  credulity. 

3.  Resolved,  Therefore,  that  entertain- 
ing these  views,  the  Democratic  party  of 
this  Union,  through  the  delegates  assem- 
bled in  general  convention  or  the  states, 
coming  together  in  a  spirit  of  concord,  of 
devotion  to  the  doctrines  and  faith  of  a  free 
representative  government,  and  appealing 
to  their  fellow-citizens  for  the  rectitude  of 
their  intentions,  renew  and  reassert  before 
the  American  people,  the  declaration  of 
principles  avowed  by  them  on  a  former  oc- 
casion, when,  ih  general  convention,  they 
presented  their  candidates  for  the  popular 
suffrage. 

Resolutions  1,  2,  3  and  4,  of  the  plat- 
form of  1840,  were  reaffirmed. 

8.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
branch  of  the  government  to  enforce  and 
practice  the  most  rigid  economy  in  con- 
ducting our  public  affairs,  and  that  no 
more  revenue  ought  to  be  raised  than  is  re- 
quired to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  of 
the  government,  and  for  the  gradual  but 
certain  extinction  of  the  debt  created  by 
the  prosecution  of  a  just  and  necessary 
war. 

Resolution  5,  of  the  platform  of  1840, 
was  enlarged  by  the  following : 

And  that  the  results  of  democratic  legis- 
lation, in  this  and  all  other  financial  mea- 
sures, upon  which  issues  have  been  made 
between  the  two  political  parties  of  the 
country,  have  demonstrated  to  careftil  and 
practical  men  of  all  parties,  their  sound- 
ness, safety  and  utility  in  all  business  pur- 
suits. 

Resolutions  7,  8  and  9,  of  the  platform 
of  1840,  were  here  inserted. 

13.  Resolved,  That  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  ought  to  be  sacredly  applied 
to  the  national  objects  specified  in  the  con- 
stitution ;  iand  that  we  are  opposed  to  any 
law  for  the  distribution  of  such  proceeds 
among  the  states  as  alike  inexpedient  in 
policy  and  repugnant  to  the  constitution. 

14.  Resolved,  That  we  are.  decidedly  op- 
posed to  taking  from  the  President  the 
qualified  veto  power,  by  which  he  is  en- 
abled, un  der.  restrictions  and  responsibili- 
ties amply  sufficient  to  guard  the  public  in- 
terests, to  supend  the  passage  of  a  bill 
whose  merits  can  not  secure  the  approval 
of  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives,  until  the  judgment  of  the 
people  can  be  obtained  thereon,  and  which 
has  saved  the  American  people  from  the 
corrupt  and  tyrannical  domination  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  from  a  cor- 
rupting system  of  general  internal  im 
provements. 


Book  ii.] 


POLITICAL   PLATFORMS. 


29 


15.  Resolved,  That  the  y,  ar  with  Mexi- 
co, provoked  on  her  part  by  years  of  insult 
and  injury,  was  commenced  by  her  army 
crossing  the  Rio  Grande,  attacking  the 
American  troops,  and  invading  our  sister 
state  of  Texas,  and  upon  all  the  principles 
of  patriotism  and  the  laws  of  nations,  it  is 
a  just  and  necessary  war  on  our  part,  in 
which  every  American  citizen  should  have 
shown  himself  on  the  side  of  his  country, 
and  neither  morally  nor  physically,  by 
word  or  by  deed,  have  given  "aid  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy. " 

16.  Resolved,  That  we  would  be  rejoiced 
at  the  assurance  of  peace  with  Mexico, 
founded  on  the  just  principles  of  indem- 
nity for  the  past  and  security  for  the  fu- 
ture ;  but  that  while  the  ratification  of  the 
liberal  treaty  offered  to  Mexico  remains  in 
doubt,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  country  to  sus- 
tain the  administration  and  to  sustain  the 
country  in  every  measure  necessary  to  pro- 
vide for  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war,  should  that  treaty  oe  rejected. 

17.  Resolved,  That  the  officers  and  sol- 
diers who  have  carried  the  arms  of  their 
country  into  Mexico,  have  crowned  it  with 
imperishable  glory.  Their  unconquerable 
courage,  their  daring  enterprise,  their  un- 
faltering perseverance  and  fortitude  when 
assailed  on  all  sides  by  innumerable  foes 
and  that  more  formidable  enemy — the 
diseases  of  the  climate — exalt  their  devoted 
patriotism  into  the  highest  heroism,  and 
give  them  a  right  to  the  profound  grati- 
tude of  their  country,  and  the  admiration 
of  the  world. 

18.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  Na- 
tional Convention  of  thirty  states  composing 
the  American  Republic,  tender  their  fra- 
ternal congratulations  to  the  National  Con- 
vention of  the  Republic  of  France,  now  as- 
sembled as  the  free  suffrage  representative 
of  the  sovereignty  of  thirty-five  millions  of 
Republicans,  to  establish  government  on 
those  eternal  principles  of  equal  rights,  for 
which  their  La  Fayette  and  our  Washing- 
ton fought  side  by  side  in  the  struggle  for 
our  national  independence ;  and  we  would 
especially  convey  to  them,  and  to  the 
whole  people  of  France,  our  earnest  wishes 
for  the  consolidation  of  their  liberties, 
through  the  wisdom  that  shall  guide  their 
councils,  on  the  basis  of  a  democratic  con- 
stitution, not  derived  from  the  grants  or 
concessions  of  kings  or  dynasties,  but  orig- 
inating from  the  only  true  source  of  political 
power  recognized  in  the  states  of  this 
Union — ^the  inherent  and  inalienable  right 
of  the  people,  in  their  sovereign  capacity, 
to  make  and  to  amend  their  forms  of  gov- 
ernment in  such  manner  as  the  welfare 
of  the  community  may  require. 

19.  Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  recent 
development  of  this  grand  political  truth, 
of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  and  their 
capacity   and  power  for  self-government, 


which  is  prostrating  thrones  and  erecting 
republics  on  the  ruins  of  despotism  in  the 
old  world,  we  feel  that  a  hign  and  sacred 
duty  is  devolved,  with  increased  responsi- 
bility, upon  the  Democratic  party  of  this 
country,  as  the  party  of  the  people,  to  sustain 
and  advance  among  us  constitutional  lib' 
erty,  equality,  and  fraternity,  by  continu- 
ing to  resist  all  monopolies  and  exclusive 
legislation  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  at  the 
expense  of  the  many,  and  by  a  vigilant 
and  constant  adherence  to  those  principles 
and  compromises  of  the  constitution,  which 
are  broad  enough  and  strong  enough  to 
embrace  and  uphold  the  Union  as  it  was, 
the  Union  as  it  is,  and  the  Union  as  it 
shall  be  in  the  full  expansion  of  the 
energies  and  capacity  of  this  great  and 
progressive  people. 

20.  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  reso- 
lutions be  forwarded,  through  the  American 
minister  at  Paris,  to  the  National  Conven- 
tion of  the  Republic  of  France. 

21.  Resolved,  That  the  fruits  of  the 
great  political  triumph  of  1844,  which  elect- 
ed James  K.  Polk  and  George  M.  Dallas, 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  have  fulfilled  the  hopes  of  the  de- 
mocracy of  the  Union  in  defeating  the  de- 
clared purposes  of  their  opponents  in 
creating  a  National  Bank ;  in  preventing 
the  corrupt  and  unconstitutional  distribu- 
tion of  the  land  proceeds  from  the  com- 
mon treasury  of  the  Union  for  local  pur- 
poses ;  in  protecting  the  currency  and  labor 
of  the  country  from  ruinous  fluctuations, 
and  guarding  the  money  of  the  country  for 
the  use  of  the  people  by  the  establishment 
of  the  constitutional  treasury  ;  in  the  noble 
impulse  given  to  the  cause  of  free  trade  by 
the  repeal  of  the  tariff  of  '42,  and  the  crea- 
tion of  the  more  equal,  honest,  and  pro- 
ductive tariff  of  1846 ;  and  that,  in  our 
opinion,  it  would  be  a  fatal  error  to  weaken 
the  bands  of  a  political  organization  by 
which  these  great  reforms  have  been 
achieved,  and  risk  them  in  the  hands  of 
their  known  adversaries,  with  whatever 
delusive  appeals  they  may  solicit  our  sur- 
render of  that  vigilance  which  is  the  only 
safeguard  of  liberty. 

22.  Resolved,  That  the  confidence  of  the 
democracy  of  the  Union  in  the  principles, 
capacity,  firmness,  and  integrity  of  James 
K.  Polk,  manifested  by  his  nomination  and 
election  in  1844,  has  been  signally  justified 
by  the  strictness  of  his  adherence  to  sound 
democratic  doctrines,  by  the  purity  of  pur- 
pose, the  energy  and  ability,  which  nave 
characterized  his  administration  in  all  our 
affairs  at  home  and  abroad  ;  that  we  tender 
to  him  our  cordial  congratulations  upon 
the  brilliant  success  which  has  hitherto 
crowned  his  patriotic  efforts,  and  assure 
him  in  advance,  that  at  the  expiration  of 
his  presidential  terra  he  will  carry  with  him 


30 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


to  his  retirement,  the  esteem,  respect  and 
admiration  of  a  grateful  country. 

23.  Resolved,  That  this  convention  here- 
by present  to  tlie  people  of  the  United  States 
Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan,  as  the  candidate 
of  the  Democratic  party  for  the  office  of 
President,  and  William  O.  Butler,  of  Ken- 
tucky, for  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States. 


1848r— Wl&lg  Principles  Adopted  at  a  Ratl- 
flcatlon  Meeting, 

PhUadclphia,  June  9. 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  Whigs  of  the 
United  States,  here  assembled  by  their 
representatives,  heartily  ratify  the  nomi- 
nations of  General  Zachary  Taylor  as  Pres- 
ident, and  Millard  Fillmore  as  Vice-Pres- 
ident, of  the  United  States,  and  pledge 
themselves  to  their  support. 

2.  Resolved,  That  in  the  choice  of  Gen- 
eral Taylor  as  the  Whig  candidate  for 
President,  we  are  glad  to  discover  sympathy 
with  a  great  popular  sentiment  throughout 
the  nation — a  sentiment  which  having  its 
origin  in  admiration  of  great  military  suc- 
cess, has  been  strengthened  by  the  develop- 
ment, in  every  action  and  every  word,  of 
sound  conservative  opinions,  and  of  true 
fidelity  to  the  great  example  of  former 
days,  and  to  the  principles  of  the  constitu- 
tion as  administered  by  its  founders. 

3.  Resolved,  That  General  Taylor,  in  say- 
ing that,  had  he  voted  in  1844,  he  would 
have  voted  the  Whig  ticket,  gives  us  the 
assurance — and  no  better  is  needed  from  a 
consistent  and  truth-speaking  man — ^that 
his  heart  was  with  us  at  the  crisis  of  our 
political  destiny,  when  Henry  Clay  was 
our  candidate,  and  when  not  only  Whig 
principles  were  well  defined  and  clearly 
asserted,  but  Whig  measures  depended  on 
success.  The  heart  that  was  with  us  then 
is  with  us  now,  and,  we  have  a  soldier's 
word  of  honor,  and  a  life  of  public  and 
private  virtue,  as  the  security. 

4.  Resolved,  That  we  look  on  General 
Taylor's  administration  of  the  government 
as  one  conducive  of  peace,  prosperity  and 
union ;  of  peace,  because  no  one  better 
knows,  or  has  greater  reason  to  deplore, 
what  he  has  seen  sadly  on  the  field  oi  vic- 
tory, the  horrors  of  war,  and  especially  of  a 
foreign  and  aggressive  war ;  or  prosperity, 
now  more  than  ever  needed  to  relieve  the 
nation  from  a  burden  of  debt,  and  restore 
industry — agricultural,  manufacturing,  and 
commercial — to  its  accustomed  and  peace- 
ful functions  and  influences;  of  union,  be- 
cause we  have  a  candidate  whose  very 
position  as  a  southwestern  man,  reared  on 
the  banks  of  the  great  stream  whose  trib- 
utaries, natural  and  artificial,  embrace  the 
whole  Union,  renders  the  protection  of  the 
interests  of  the  whole  country  his  first 
trust,  and  whose  rarious  duties  in  past  life 


have  been  rendered,  not  on  the  soil,  or 
under  the  fla^  of  any  state  or  section,  but 
over  the  wide  frontier,  and  under  the 
broad  banner  of  the  nation. 

5.  Resolved,  That  standing,  as  the  Whig 
party  does,  on  the  broad  and  firm  platform 
of  the  constitution,  braced  up  by  all  its  in- 
violable and  sacred  guarantees  and  com- 

Eromises,  and  cherished  in  the  aflfections, 
ecause  protective  of  the  interests  of  the 
people,  we  are  proud  to  have  as  the  ex- 
ponent of  our  opinions,  one  who  is  pledged 
to  construe  it  by  the  wise  and  generouB 
rules  whiuh  Washington  applied  to  it,  and 
who  has  said — and  no  Whig  desires  any 
other  assurance — that  he  will  make  Wash- 
ington's administration  his  model. 

6.  Resolved,  That  as  Whigs  and  Ameri- 
cans, we  are  proud  to  acknowledge  our 
gratitude  for  the  great  military  services 
which,  beginning  at  Palo  Alto,  and  end- 
ing at  Buena  Vista,  first  awakened  the 
American  people  to  a  just  estimate  of  him 
who  is  now  our  Whig  candidate.  In  the 
discharge  of  a  painful  duty — for  his  march 
into  the  enemy's  country  was  a  reluctant 
one ;  in  the  command  of  regulars  at  one 
time,  asd  volunteers  at  another,  and  of 
both  combined ;  in  the  decisive  though 
punctual  discipline  of  his  camp,  where  all 
respected  and  loved  him ;  in  the  negotia- 
tion of  terms  for  a  dejected  and  desperate 
enemy ;  in  the  exigency  of  actual  conflict 
when  the  balance  was  perilously  doubtful^ 
we  have  found  him  the  same — ^brave,  dis- 
tinguished, and  considerate,  no  heartless 
spectator  of  bloodshed,  no  trifler  with  hu- 
man life  or  human  happiness ;  and  we  do 
not  know  which  to  admire  most,  his  hero- 
ism in  withstanding  the  assaults  of  the 
enemy  in  the  most  hopeless  fields  of  Buena 
Vista — mourning  in  generous  sorrow  over 
the  graves  of  Ringgold,  of  Clay,  of  Hardin 
— or  in  giving,  in  the  heat  of  battle,  terms 
of  merciful  capitulation  to  a  vanquished 
foe  at  Monterey,  and  not  being  ashamed  to 
avow  that  he  did  it  to  spare  women  and 
children,  helpless  infancy  and  more  help- 
less age,  against  whom  no  American  sol- 
dier ever  wars.  Such  a  military  man, 
whose  triumphs  are  neither  remote  nor 
doubtful,  whose  virtues  these  trials  have 
tested,  we  are  proud  to  make  our  candidate. 

7.  Resolved,  That  in  support  of  this 
nomination,  we  ask  our  Whig  friends 
throughout  the  nation  to  unite,  to  co-op- 
erate zealouslv,  resolutely,  with  earnest- 
ness, in  behalf  of  our  candidate,  whom 
calumny  can  not  reach,  and  with  respect- 
ful demeanor  to  our  adversaries,  whose  can- 
didates have  yet  to  prove  their  claims  on 
the  gratitude  of  the  nation. 


1848.— BnlTalo  Platform. 

Vtica,  June  22. 

Whereas,  We  have  assembled  in  conven- 
tion as  a  union  of  freemen,  for  the  sake  of 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


31 


freedom,  forgetting  all  past  political  dif- 
ference, in  a  common  resolve  to  maintain 
the  rights  of  free  labor  against  the  aggres- 
sion of  the  slave  power,  and  to  secure  free 
soil  to  a  free  people ;  and. 

Whereas,  The  political  conventions  re- 
cently assembled  at  Baltimore  and  Phila- 
delphia— the  one  stifling  the  voice  of  a 
great  constituency,  entitled  to  be  heard  in 
Its  deliberations,  and  the  other  abandoning 
its  distinctive  principles  for  mere  avail- 
ability— have  dissolved  the  national  party 
organization  heretofore  existing,  by  nomi- 
nating for  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
United  States,  under  the  slaveholding  dic- 
tation, candidates,  neither  of  whom  can  be 
supported  by  the  opponents  of  slavery  ex- 
tension, without  a  sacrifice  of  consistency, 
duty,  and  self-respect ;  and, 

Whereas^  These  nominations  so  made, 
furnish  the  occasion,  and  demonstrate  the 
necessity  of  the  union  of  the  people  under 
the  banner  of  free  democracy,  in  a  solemn 
and  formal  declaration  of  their  independ- 
ence of  the  slave  power,  and  of  their  fixed 
determination  to  rescue  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment from  its  control, 

1.  Resolved,  therefore,  That  we,  the  peo- 
ple here  assembled,  remembering  the  ex- 
ample of  our  fathers  in  the  days  of  the 
first  Declaration  of  Independence,  putting 
our  trust  in  God  for  the  triumph  of  our 
cause,  and  invoking  His  guidance  in  our 
endeavors  to  advance  it,  do  now  plant  our- 
selves upon  the  national  platform  of  free- 
dom, in  opposition  to  the  sectional  plat- 
form of  slavery. 

2.  Resolved,  That  slavery  in  the  several 
states  of  this  Union  which  recognize  its 
existence,  depends  upon  the  state  laws 
alone,  which  can  not  be  repealed  or  modi- 
fied by  the  Federal  government,  and  for 
which  laws  that  government  is  not  respon- 
sible. AVe  therefore  propose  no  interfer- 
ence by  Congress  with  slavery  within  the 
limits  of  any  state. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  proviso  of  Jeffer- 
son, to  prohibit  the  existence  of  slavery, 
after  1800,  in  all  the  territories  of  the 
United  States,  southern  and  northern ;  the 
votes  of  six  states  and  sixteen  delegates  in 
Congress  of  1784,  for  the  proviso,  to  three 
stat^  and  seven  delegates  against  it ;  the 
actual  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  North- 
western Territory,  by  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  unanimously  adopted  by  the  states 
in  Congress ;  and  the  entire  history  of  that 
period,  clearly  show  that  it  was  the  settled 
policy  of  the  nation  not  to  extend,  na- 
tionalize or  encourage,  but  to  limit,  lo- 
calize and  discourage,  slavery ;  and  to  this 
policy,  which  should  never  have  been  de- 
parted from,  the  government  ought  to 
return. 

4.  Resolved,  That  our  fathe5rs  ordained 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  in 
order,  among  other  great  national  objects, 


to  establish  justice,  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty; 
but  expressly  denied  to  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment, which  they  created,  all  constitu- 
tional power  to  deprive  any  person  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  without  due  legal 
process. 

5.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of 
this  convention,   Congress    has  no  more 

Eower  to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a 
ing ;  no  more  power  to  institute  or  estab- 
lish slavery  than  to  institute  or  establish  a 
monarchy ;  no  such  power  can  be  found 
among  those  specifically  conferred  by  tha 
constitution,  or  derived  by  just  implication 
from  them. 

6.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Federal  government  to  relieve  itself  from 
all  responsibility  for  the  existence  or  con- 
tinuance of  slavery  wherever  the  govern- 
ment possesses  constitutional  power  to 
legislate  on  that  subject,  and  it  is  thus  re- 
sponsible for  its  existence. 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  true,  and,  in  the 
judgment  of  this  convention,  the  only  safe 
means  of  preventing  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  territory  now  free,  is  to  pro- 
hibit its  extension  in  all  such  territory  by 
an  act  of  Congress. 

8.  Resolved,  That  we  accept  the  issue 
which  the  slave  power  has  forced  upon  us ; 
and  to  their  demand  for  more  slave  states, 
and  more  slave  territory,  our  calm  but 
final  answer  is,  no  more  slave  states  and 
no  more  slave  territory.  Let  the  soil  of 
our  extensive  domains  be  kept  free  for  the 
hardy  pioneers  of  our  own  land,  and  the 
oppressed  and  banished  of  other  lands, 
seeking  homes  of  comfort  and  fields  of 
enterprise  in  the  new  world. 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  bill  lately  re- 
ported by  the  committee  of  eight  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  was  no  com- 
promise, but  an  absolute  surrender  of  the 
rights  of  the  non-slaveholders  of  all  the 
states ;  and  while  we  rejoice  to  know  that 
a  measure  which,  while  opening  the  door 
for  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  the 
territories  now  free,  would  also  have 
opened  the  door  to  litigation  and  strife 
among  the  future  inhabitants  thereof,  to 
the  ruin  of  their  peace  and  prosperity,  was 
defeated  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
its  passage,  in  hot  haste,  by  a  majority^, 
embracing  several  senators  who  voted  in 
open  violation  of  the  known  will  of  feeir 
constituents,  should  warn  the  people  to 
see  to  it  that  their  representatives  oe  not 
suffered  to  betray  them.  There  must  be 
no  more  compromises  with  slavery ;  if 
made,  they  must  be  repealed. 

10.  Resolved,  That  we  demand  freedom 
and  established  institutions  for  our  breth- 
ren in  Oregon,  now  exposed  to  hardships, 
peril,  and  massacre,  by  the  reckless  hos- 
tility of  the  slave  power  to  the  establish- 
ment of  free  government  and  free  territo- 


32 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  II, 


riea ;   and  not  only  for  them,  but  for  our 
brethren  in  California  and  New  Mexico. 

11.  Resolved,  It  is  due  not  only  to  this 
occasion,  but  to  the  whole  people  of  the 
United  States,  that  we  should  also  declare 
ourselves  on  certain  other  questions  of  na- 
tional policy ;  therefore, 

12.  Resolved,  That  we  demand  cheap 
postage  for  the  people ;  a  retrenchment  of 
the  expenses  and  patronage  of  the  Federal 
government;  the  abolition  of  all  unneces- 
sary offices  and  salaries ;  and  the  election 
by  the  people  of  all  civil  officers  in  the 
service  of  the  government,  so  far  as  the 
same  may  be  practicable. 

13.  Resolved,  that  river  and  harbor  im- 
provements, when  demanded  by  the  safety 
and  convenience  of  commerce  with  for- 
eign nations,  or  among  the  several  states, 
are  objects  of  national  concern,  and  that  it 
is  the  duty  of  Congress,  in  the  exercise  of 
its  constitutional  power,  to  provide  there- 
for. 

14.  Resolved,  That  the  free  grant  to 
actual  settlers,  in  consideration  of  the  ex- 
penses they  incur  in  making  settlements  in 
the  wilderness,  which  are  usually  fully 
equal  to  their  actual  cost,  and  of  the  pub- 
lic benefits  resulting  therefrom,  of  reason- 
able portions  of  the  public  lands,  under 
suitable  limitations,  is  a  wise  and  just 
measure  of  public  policy,  which  will  pro- 
mote in  various  ways  the  interests  of  all 
the  states  of  this  Union ;  and  we,  there- 
fore, recommend  it  to  the  favorable  con- 
sideration of  the  American  People. 

15.  Resolved,  That  the  obligations  of 
honor  and  patriotism  require  the  earliest 
practical  payment  of  the  national  debt,  and 
we  are,  therefore,  in  favor  of  such  a  tariff 
of  duties  as  will  raise  revenue  adequate  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  Federal  govern- 
ment, and  to  pay  annual  installments  of 
our  debt  and  tne  interest  thereon. 

16.  Resolved,  That  we  inscribe  on  owe 
banner,  "  Free  Soil,  Free  Soeech,  Free 
Labor,  and  Free  Men,"  and  unaer  it  we  will 
fight  on,  and  fight  ever,  until  a  triumphant 
victory  shall  reward  our  exertions. 


1859.—  Democratic  Platitorm. 

Baltimore,  June  1. 

Resolutions  1,  2,  8,  4,  6,  6  and  7,  of  the 
platform  of  1848,  were  reaffirmed,  to  which 
were  added  tha  following : 

8.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
branch  of  the  government  to  enforce  and 

Sractice  the  most  rigid  economy  in  con- 
ucting  our  public  affairs,  and  that  no 
more  revenue  ought  to  be  raised  than  is 
required  to  defray  the  necessary  expense.s 
of  the  government,  and  for  the  gradual  but 
certain  extinction  of  the  public  debt. 

9.  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  no  power 


to  charter  a  National  Bank ;  that  we  be- 
lieve such  an  institution  one  of  deadly 
hostility  to  the  best  interests  of  the  coun- 
try, dangerous  to  our  republican  institu- 
tions and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and 
calculated  to  place  the  business  of  the 
country  within  the  control  of  a  concen- 
trated money  power,  and  that  above  the 
laws  and  will  of  the  people ;  and  that  the 
results  of  Democratic  legislation,  in  this 
and  all  •  other  financial  measures,  upon 
which  issues  have  been  made  between  tho 
two  political  parties  of  the  country,  have 
demonstrated  to  candid  and  practical  men 
of  all  parties,  their  soundness,  safety,  and 
utility,  in  all  business  pursuits. 

10.  Resolved,  That  the  separation  of  the 
moneys  of  the  government  from  banking 
institutions  is  indispensable  for  the  safety 
of  the  fiinds  of  the  government  and  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

11.  Resolved,  That  the  liberal  principles 
embodied  by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  sanctioned  in  the 
constitution,  which  makes  ours  the  land 
of  liberty  and  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed 
of  every  nation,  have  ever  been  cardinal 
principles  in  the  Democratic  faith ;  and 
every  attempt  to  abridge  the  privilege  of 
becoming  citizens  and  the  owners  of  the 
soil  among  us,  ought  to  be  resisted  with 
the  same  spirit  that  swept  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws  from  our  statute  books. 

12.  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  no 
power  under  the  constitution  to  interfere 
with,  or  control,  the  domestic  institutions 
of  the  several  states,  and  that  such  states 
are  the  sole  and  proper  judges  of  every- 
thing appertaining  to  their  own  affairs,  not 
prohibited  by  the  constitution;  that  all 
efforts  of  the  Abolitionists  or  others,  made 
to  induce  Congress  to  interfere  with  ques- 
tions of  slavery,  or  to  take  incipient  steps 
in  relation  thereto,  are  calculated  to  lead 
to  the  most  alarming  and  dangerous  conse- 
quences ;  and  that  all  such  efforts  have  an 
inevitable  tendency  to  diminish  the  happi- 
ness of  the  people,  and  endanger  the  sta- 
bility and  permanency  of  the  Union,  and 
ought  not  to  be  countenanced  by  any 
friend  of  our  political  institutions. 

13.  Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  propo- 
sition covers,  and  is  intended  to  embrace, 
the  whole  subject  of  slavery  agitation  in ' 
Congress;  and  therefore  the  Democratic 
party  of  the  Union,  standing  on  this  na- 
tional platform,  will  abide  by,  and  adhere 
to,  a  faithful  execution  of  the  acts  known 
as  the  Compromise  measures  settled  by 
last  Congress,  "the  act  for  reclaiming  fugi- 
tives from  service  labor  "  included ;  which 
act,  being  designed  to  carry  out  an  ex- 
press provision  of  the  constitution,  can 
not,  with  fidelity  thereto,  be  repealed,  nor 
so  changed  as  to  destroy  or  impair  its 
efficiency. 

14.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  partr 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


33 


will  resist  all  attempts  at  renewing  in  Con- 
gress, or  out  of  it,  the  agitation  of  the 
slavery  question,  under  whatever  shape  or 
color  the  attempt  may  be  made. 

[Here  resolutions  i3  and  14,  of  the  plat- 
form of  1848,  were  inserted.] 

17.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party 
will  faithfully  abide  by  and  uphold  the 
principles  laid  down  in  the  Kentucky  and 
Virginia  resolutions  of  1792  and  1798,  and 
'in  the  report  of  Mr.  Madison  to  the  Vir- 
ginia Legislature  in  1799 ;  that  it  adopts 
those  principles  as  constituting  one  of  the 
,main  foundations  of  its  political  creed,  and 
is  resolved  to  carry  them  out  in  their  ob- 
vious meaning  and  import. 

18.  Resolved,  That  the  war  with  Mexico, 
upon  all  the  principles  of  patriotism  and 
the  law  of  nations,  was  a  just  and  necessary 
war  on  our  part,  in  which  no  American 
citizen  should  have  shown  himself  opposed 
to  his  country,  and  neither  morally  nor 
physically,  by  word  or  deed,  given  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy. 

19.  Resolved,  That  we  rejoice  at  the  re- 
storation of  friendly  relations  with  our 
sister  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  earnestly 
desire  for  her  all  the  blessings  and  pros- 
perity which  we  enjoy  under  republican 
institutions,  and  we  congratulate  the 
American  people  on  the  results  of  that 
war  which  have  so  manifestly  justified  the 
policy  and  conduct  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  insured  to  the  United  States 
indemnity  for  the  past  and  security  for  the 
future. 

20.  Resolved,  That,  in  view  of  the  condi- 
tion of  popular  institutions  in  the  old 
world,  a  high  and  sacred  duty  is  devolved 
with  increased  responsibility  upon  the  De- 
mocracy of  this  country,  as  the  party  of 
the  people,  to  uphold  and  maintain  the 
rights  of  every  state,  and  thereby  the 
union  of  states,  and  to  sustain  and  advance 
among  them  constitutional  liberty,  by  con- 
tinuing to  resist  all  monopolies  and  exclu- 
sive legislation  for  the  benefit  of  the  few 
at  the  expense  of  the  many,  and  by  a 
vigilant  and  constant  adherence  to  those 
principles  and  compromises  of  the  consti- 
tution which  are  broad  enough  and  strong 
enough  to  embrace  and  uphold  the  Union 
as  it  13,  and  the  Union  as  it  should  be,  in 
the  full  expansion  of  the  energies  and  ca- 
pacity of  this  gi'eat  and  progressive  people. 


ISSa.-lVlilg   Platform. 

Baltimore,  June  16. 

The  Whigs  of  the  United  States,  in  con- 
vention assembled  adhering  to  the  great 
conservative  principles  by  which  they  are 
controlled  and  governed,  and  now  as  ever 
relying  upon  thei;itelligenceof  the  Ameri- 
can people,  with  ao  abiding  confidence  in 
their    capacity    for   self-government   and 

25 


their  devotion  to  the  constitution  and  the 
Union,  do  proclaim  the  following  as  the 
political  sentiments  and  determination  for 
the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
which  their  national  organization  as  a 
party  was  effected : 

First.  The  government  of  the  United 
States  is  of  a  limited  character,  and  is  con- 
fined to  the  exercise  of  powers  expressly 
granted  by  the  constitution,  and  such  as 
may  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
the  granted  powers  into  full  execution, 
and  that  powers  not  granted  or  necessarily 
implied  are  reserved  to  the  states  respec- 
tively and  to  the  people. 

Second.  The  state  governments  should 
be  held  secure  to  their  reserved  rights,  and 
the  General  Government  sustained  in  its 
constitutional  powers,  and  that  the  U  nion 
should  be  revered  and  watched  over  as  the 
palladium  of  our  liberties. 

Third.  That  while  struggling  freedom 
everywhere  enlists  the  warmest  sympathy 
of  the  Whig  party,  we  still  adhere  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  Father  of  h.s  Country,  as 
announced  in  his  Farewell  Address,  of 
keeping  ourselves  free  from  all  entangling 
alliances  with  foreign  countries,  and  of 
never  quitting  our  own  to  stand  upon  for- 
eign ground  ;  that  our  mission  as  a  repub- 
lic is  not  to  propagate  our  opinions,  or  im- 
pose on  other  countries  our  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, by  artifice  or  force,  but  to  teach 
by  example,  and  show  by  our  success, 
moderation  and  justice,  the  blessings  of 
self-government,  and  the  advantages  of 
free  institutions. 

Fourth.  That,  as  the  people  make  and 
control  the  government,  they  should  obey 
its  constitution,  laws  and  treaties  as  they 
would  retain  their  self-respect  and  the  re- 
spect which  they  claim  and  will  enforce 
from  foreign  powers. 

Fifth.  Governments  should  be  conduc- 
ted on  the  principles  of  the  strictest  econo- 
my ;  and  revenue  suflicient  for  the  expen- 
ses thereof,  in  time  of  peace,  ought  to  be 
derived  mainly  from  a  duty  on  imports, 
and  not  from  direct  taxes ;  and  on  laying 
such  duties  sound  policy  requires  a  just 
discrimination,  and,  when  practicable,  by 
specific  duties,  whereby  suitable  encour- 
agement may  be  afforded  to  American  in- 
dustry, equally  to  all  classes  and  to  all 
portions  of  the  country. 

Sixth.  The  constitution  vests  in  Con- 
gress the  power  to  open  and  repair  har- 
bors, and  remove  obstructions  from  navi- 
gable rivers,  whenever  such  improvements 
are  necessary  for  the  common  defense,  and 
for  the  protection  and  facility  of  commerce 
with  foreign  nations  or  among  the  states, 
said  improvements  being  in  every  instance 
national  and  general  in  their  character. 

Seventh.  The  Federal  and  state  govern- 
ments are  parts  of  one  system,  alike  neces- 
sary for  the  common  prosperity,  peace  and 


34 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book.  it. 


security,  and  ought  to  be  regarded  alike 
with  a  cordial,  habitual  and  immovable  at- 
tachment. Respect  for  the  authority  of 
each,  and  acquiescence  in  the  just  consti- 
tutional mejisures  of  each,  are  duties  re- 
quired by  the  plainest  considerations  of 
national,  state  and  individual  welfare. 

Eighth.  T^at  the  series  of  acts  of  the 
32d  Congress,  the  act  known  as  the  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Law  included,  are  received  and 
acquiesced  in  by  the  Whig  party  of  the 
United  States  as  a  settlement  in  principle 
and  substance  of  the  dangerous  and  excit- 
ing questions  which  they  embrace ;  and, 
»o  far  as  they  are  concerned,  we  will  main- 
tain them,  and  insist  upon  their  strict  en- 
forcement, until  time  and  experience  shall 
demonstrate  the  necessity  of  further  legis- 
lation to  guard  against  the  evasion  of  the 
laws  on  the  one  hand  and  the  abuse  of 
their  powers  on  the  other — not  impairing 
their  present  efficiency ;  and  we  deprecate 
all  further  agitation  of  the  question  thus 
settled,  as  dar  gerous  to  our  peace,  and  will 
discountenance  all  efforts  to  continue  or 
renew  such  agitation  whenever,  where- 
ever  or  however  the  attempt  may  be  made ; 
and  we  will  maintain  the  system  as  essen- 
tial to  the  nationality  of  the  Whig  party, 
and  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 


180!8.— Free-soil  Platform. 

PUlAurg,  Auguti  11. 

Having  assembled  in  national  conven- 
tion as  the  free  democracy  of  the  United 
States,  united  by  a  common  resolve  to 
maintain  right  against  wrong,  and  freedom 
against  slavery;  confiding  in  the  intelli- 
gence, patriotism,  and  discriminating  jus- 
tice of  the  American  people ;  putting  our 
trust  in  Grod  for  the  triumph  of  our  cause, 
and  invoking  His  guidance  in  our  endea- 
vors to  advance  it,  we  now  submit  to  the 
candid  judgment  of  all  men,  the  following 
declaration  of  principles  and  measures : 

1.  That  governments,  deriving  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed, 
are  instituted  among  men  to  secure  to  all 
those  inalienable  rignts  of  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,  with  which  they 
are  endowed  by  their  Creator,  and  of  which 
none  can  be  deprived  by  valid  legislation, 
except  for  crime. 

2.  That  the  true  mission  of  American 
democracy  is  to  maintain  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  the  sovereignty  of  the  states, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  by  the 
impartial  application  of  public  affairs, 
without  sectional  discriminations,  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  human  rights, 
strict  justice,  and  an  economical  adminis- 
tration. 

3.  That  the  Federal  government  is  one 
of  limited  powers  derived  solely  from  the 


constitution,  and  the  grants  of  power  there- 
in ought  to  be  strictly  construed  by  all  the 
departments  and  agents  of  the  government, 
and  it  is  inexpedient  and  dangerous  to  ex- 
ercise doubtfiil  constitutional  powers. 

4.  That  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  ordained  to  form  a  more  perfect 
Union,  to  establish  justice,  and  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty,  expressly  denies  to  the 
general  government  all  power  to  deprive 
any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law ;  and,  there- 
fore, the  government,  having  no  more 
power  to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a 
king,  and  no  more  power  to  establish 
slavery  than  to  establish  a  monarchy, 
should  at  once  proceed  to  relieve  itself 
from  all  responsioility  for  the  existence  of 
slavery,  wherever  it  possesses  constitutional 
power  to  legislate  for  its  extinction. 

5.  That,  to  the  persevering  and  importu- 
nate demands  of  the  slave  power  for  more 
slave  states,  new  slave  territories,  and  the 
nationalization  of  slavery,  our  distinct 
and  final  answer  is — no  more  slave  states, 
no  slave  territory,  no  nationalized  slavery, 
and  no  national  legislation  for  the  extra- 
dition of  slaves. 

6.  That  slavery  is  a  sin  against  God,  and 
a  crime  against  man,  which  no  human  en- 
actment nor  usage  can  make  right;  and 
that  Christianity,  humanity,  and  patriot- 
ism alike  demand  its  abolition. 

7.  That  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  of  1850  is 
repugnant  to  the  constitution,  to  tlie  prin- 
ciples of  the  common  law,  to  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  and  to  the  sentiments  of  the 
civilized  world;  we,  therefore,  deny  its 
binding  force  on  the  American  people, 
and  demand  its  immediate  and  total  re- 
peal. 

8.  That  the  doctrine  that  any  human 
law  is  a  finality,  and  not  subject  to  modi- 
fication or  repeal,  is  not  in  accordance 
with  the  creed  of  the  founders  of  our  gov- 
ernment, and  is  dangerous  to  the  liberties 
of  the  people. 

9.  That  the  acts  of  Congress,  known  as 
the  Compromise  measures  of  1850,  by  mak- 
ing the  admission  of  a  sovereign  state  con- 
tingent upon  the  adoption  of  other  mea- 
sures demanded  by  the  special  interests  of 
slavery;  by  their  omission  to  guarantee 
freedom  in  the  free  territories ;  by  their  at- 
tempt to  impose  unconstitutional  limita- 
tions on  the  powers  of  Congress  and  the 
people  to  admit  new  states ;  by  their  pro- 
visions for  the  assumption  of  five  millions 
of  the  state  debt  of  Texas,  and  for  the  pay- 
ment of  five  millions  more,  and  the  cession 
of  large  territory  to  the  same  state  under 
menace,  as  an  inducement  to  the  relin- 
quishment of  a  groundless  claim ;  and  by 
their  invasion  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
states  and  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
through  the  enactment  of  an  unjust,  op- 
pressive,   and    unconstitutional    fugitive 


BOOX  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


35 


slave  law,  are  proved  to  be  inconsistent! 
with  all  the  principles  and  maxims  of  de- 
mocracy, and  wholly  inadequate  to  the 
settlement  of  the  questions  of  which  they 
are  claimed  to  be  an  adjustment. 

10.  That  no  permanent  settlement  of 
the  slavery  question  can  be  looked  for  ex- 
cept in  the  practical  recognition  of  the 
truth  that  slavery  is  sectional  and  freedom 
national ;  by  the  total  separation  of  the 
general  government  from  slavery,  and  the 
exercise  of  its  legitimate  and  constitutional 
influence  on  the  side  of  freedom  ;  and  by 
leaving  to  the  states  the  whole  subject  of 
slavery  and  the  extradition  of  fugitives 
from  service. 

11.  That  all  men  have  a  natural  right  to 
a  portion  of  the  soil ;  and  that  as  the  use 
of  the  soil  is  indispensable  to  life,  the  right 
of  all  men  to  the  soil  is  as  sacred  as  their 
right  to  life  itself. 

12.  That  the  public  lands  of  the  United 
States  belong  to  the  people  and  should  not  be 
sold  to  individuals  nor  granted  to  corpora- 
tions, but  should  be  held  as  a  sacred  trust 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  and  should 
be  granted  in  limited  quantities,  free  of 
cost,  to  landless  settlers. 

13.  That  due  regard  for  the  Federal 
constitution,  a  sound  administrative  poli- 
cy, demand  that  the  fiinds  of  the  general 
government  be  kept  separate  from  bank- 
ing institutions ;  that  inland  and  ocean 
postage  should  be  reduced  to  the  lowest 
possible  point;  that  no  more  revenue 
should  be  raised  than  is  required  to  defray 
the  strictly  necessary  expenses  of  the  pub- 
lic service  and  to  pay  off  the  public  debt ; 
and  that  the  power  and  patronage  of  the 
government  should  be  diminished  by  the 
abolition  of  all  unnecessary  oflices,  salaries 
and  privileges,  and  by  the  election  of  the 
people  of  all  civil  officers  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  so  far  as  may  be  consist- 
ent with  the  prompt  and  efficient  transac- 
tion of  the  puolic  business. 

14.  That  river  and  harbor  improvements, 
when  necessary  to  the  safety  and  con- 
venience of  commerce  with  foreign  nations, 
or  among  the  several  states,  are  objects  of 
national  concern ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
Congress,  in  the  exercise  of  its  constitu- 
tional powers,  to  provide  for  the  same. 

15.  That  emigrants  and  exiles  from  the 
old  world  should  find  a  cordial  welcome  to 
homes  of  comfort  and  fields  of  enterprise  in 
the  new ;  and  every  attempt  to  abridge 
their  privilege  of  becoming  citizens  and 
owners  of  soil  among  us  ought  to  be  resist- 
ed with  inflexible  determination. 

16.  That  every  nation  has  a  clear  right 
to  alter  or  change  its  own  government, 
and  to  administer  its  own  concerns  in  such 
manner  as  may  best  secure  the  rights 
and  promote  the  happiness  of  the  people ; 
and  foreign  interference  with  that  right  is 
a  dangerous  violation  of  the  law  of  nations^ 


against  which  all  independent  govern- 
ments should  protest,  ana  endeavor  by  all 
proper  means  to  prevent ;  and  especially  ie 
It  the  duty  of  the  American  government, 
representing  the  chief  republic  of  the 
world,  to  protest  against,  and  by  all  pro- 
per means  to  prevent,  the  intervention  of 
kings  and  emperors  against  nations  seek- 
ing to  establish  for  themselves  republican 
or  constitutional  governments. 

17.  That  the  independence  of  Hayti 
ought  to  be  recognized  by  our  government, 
and  our  commercial  relations  with  it  placed 
on  the  footing  of  the  most  favored  nations. 

18.  That  as  by  the  constitution,  "the 
citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to 
all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citi- 
zens in  the  several  states,"  the  practice  of 
imprisoning  colored  seamen  of  other  states, 
while  the  vessels  to  which  they  belong  lie 
in  port,  and  refusing  the  exercise  of  the 
right  to  bring  such  cases  before  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  to  test 
the  legality  of  such  proceedings,  is  a  fla- 
grant violation  of  the  constitution,  and  an 
invasion  of  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of 
other  states,  utterly  inconsistent  with  the 
professions  made  by  the  slaveholders,  that 
they  wish  the  provisions  of  the  constitu- 
tion faithfully  observed  by  every  state  in 
the  Union. 

19.  That  we  recommend  the  introduc- 
tion into  all  treaties  hereafter  to  be  nego- 
tiated between  the  United  States  and  for- 
eign nations,  of  some  provision  for  the 
amicable  settlement  of  difficulties  by  a  re- 
sort to  decisive  arbitrations. 

20.  That  the  free  democratic  party  is 
not  organized  to  aid  .either  the  W  hig  or 
Democratic  wing  of  the  ^reat  slave  compro- 
mise party  of  the  nation,  but  to  defeat 
them  both  ;  and  that  repudiating  and  re- 
nouncing both  as  hopelessly  corrupt  and 
utterly  unworthy'of  confidence,  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Free  Democracy  is  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  Federal  government  and  ad- 
minister it  for  the  better  protection  of  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  whole  people. 

21.  That  we  inscribe  on  our  banner 
Free  Soil,  Free  Speech,  Free  Labor,  and 
Free  Men,  and  under  it  will  fi^ht  on  and 
fight  ever,  until  a  triumphant  victory  shall 
reward  our  exertions. 

22.  That  upon  this  platform,  the  con- 
vention presents  to  the  American  people, 
as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States,  John  P.  Hale,  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  as  a  candidate  for 
the  office  or  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  George  W.  Julian,  of  Indiana,  and 
earnestly  commend  them  to  the  support  of 
all  freemen  and  all  parties. 


1856.— The  American  Platfbrau 

Adopted  at  Philadelphia  February  21. 

1.  An  humble  acknowledgment  to  the 


36 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  il 


Supreme  Being  for  HLs  protecting  care 
vouchsafed  to  our  fathers  in  their  success- 
ful revolutionary  struggle,  and  hitherto 
manifested  to  us,' their  descendants,  in  the 
preservation  of  the  liberties,  the  indepen- 
dence, and  the  union  of  these  states. 

2.  The  perpetuation  of  the  Federal 
Union  and  constitution,  as  the  palladium 
of  our  civil  and  religious  liberties,  and  the 
only  sure  bulwarks  of  American  independ- 
ence. 

3.  Americans  must  rule  America  ;  and  to 
this  end  na<ire-born  citizens  should  be  se- 
lected for  all  state,  federal,  and  municipal 
offices  of  government  employment,  in  pre- 
ference to  all  others.     Nevertheless, 

4.  Persons  born  of  American  parents 
residing  temporarily  abroad,  should  be 
entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  native-born 
citizens. 

5.  No  person  should  be  selected  for  polit- 
ical station  (whether  of  native  or  foreign 
birth),  who  recognizes  any  allegiance  or 
obligation  of  any  description  to  any  foreign 
prince,  potentate,  or  power,  or  who  refuses 
to  recognize  the  federal  and  state  constitu- 
tions (each  within  its  sphere)  as  paramount 
to  all  other  laws,  as  rules  of  political  ac- 
tion. 

6.  The  unequaled  recognition  and  main- 
tenance of  the  reserved  rights  of  the  several 
states,  and  the  cultivation  of  harmony  and 
fraternal  good-will  between  the  citizens 
of  the  several  states,  and,  to  this  end,  non- 
interference by  Congress  with  questions 
appertaining  solely  to  the  individual  states, 
and  non-intervention  by  each  state  with 
the  affairs  of  any  other  state. 

7.  The  recognition  of  the  right  of  native- 
bom  and  naturalized  citizens  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  permanently  residing  in  any 
territory  thereof,  to  frame  their  constitu- 
tion and  laws,  and  to  regulate  their  domes- 
tic and  social  afi&irs  in  their  own  mode, 
(lubiect  only  to  the  provisions  of  the  fed- 
eral constitution,  witn  the  privilege  of  ad- 
mission into  the  Union  whenever  they 
have  the  requisite  population  for  one 
Representative  in  Congress:  Provided^  al- 
ways^ that  none  but  those  who  are  citizens 
of  the  United  States  under  the  constitu- 
tion and  laws  thereof,  and  who  have  a 
fixed  residence  in  any  such  territory,  ought 
to  participate  in  the  formation  of  the  con- 
stitution or  in  the  enactment  of  laws  for 
said  territory  or  state. 

8.  An  enforcement  of  the  principles 
that  no  state  or  territory  ought  to  admit 
others  than  citizens  to  the  right  of  suffrage 
or  of  holding  political  offices  of  the  United 
States. 

9.  A  change  in  the  laws  of  naturaliza- 
tion, making  a  continued  residence  of 
twenty-one  years,  of  all  not  heretofore 
provided  for,  an  indispensable  requisite  for 
citizenship  hereafter,  and  excluding  all 
paupers  and  persons  convicted  of  crime 


from  landing  upon  our  shores  ;  but  no  in- 
terference with  the  vested  rights  of  for- 
eigners. 

10.  Opposition  to  any  union  between 
church  and  state;  po  interference  with 
religious  faith  or  worship;  and  no  test>- 
oaths  for  office. 

11.  Free  and  thorough  Investigation 
into  any  and  all  alleged  abuses  of  public 
functionaries,  and  a  strict  economy  in  pub- 
lic expenditures. 

12.  The  maintenance  and  enforcement 
of  all  laws  constitutionally  enacted,  until 
said  laws  shall  be  repealed,  or  shall  be  de- 
clared null  and  void  by  competent  judicial 
authority. 

13.  Opposition  to  the  reckless  and  un- 
wise policy  of  the  present  administration 
in  the  general  management  of  our  national 
affairs,  and  more  especially  as  shown  in 
removing  "Americans"  (by  designation) 
and  conservatives  in  principle,  from  office, 
and  placing  foreigners  and  ultraists  in 
their  places ;  as  shown  in  a  truckling  sub- 
serviency to  the  stronger,  and  an  insolent 
and  cowardly  bravado  towards  the  weaker 
powere ;  as  shown  in  reopening  sectional 
agitation,  by  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise ;  as  shown  in  granting  to  un- 
naturalized foreigners  the  right  of  suffrage 
in  Kansas  and  Nebraska ;  as  shown  in  its 
vacillating  course  on  the  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska question ;  as  shown  in  the  corrup- 
tions which  pervade  some  of  the  depart- 
ments of  the  government ;  as  shown  in  dis- 
gracing meritorious  naval  officers  through 
prejudice  or  caprice ;  and  as  shown  in  the 
blundering  mismanagement  of  our  foreign 
relations. 

14.  Therefore,  to  remedy  existing  evils 
and  prevent  the  disastrous  consequences 
otherwise  resulting  therefrom,  we  would 
build  up  the  "  American  Party  "  upon  the 
principles  hereinbefore  stated. 

15.  That  each  state  council  shall  have 
authority  to  amend  their  several  constitu- 
tions, so  as  to  abolish  the  several  degrees, 
and  substitute  a  pledge  of  honor,  instead 
of  other  obligations,  for  fellowship  and 
admission  into  the  party. 

16.  A  free  and  open  discussion  of  all 
political  principles  embraced  in  our  plat- 
lorm. 


1856. — Democratic  Platfomkf 

Adopted  at  Cincirmati,  June  6. 

Resolved,  That  the  American  democracy 
place  their  trust  in  the  intelligence,  the 
patriotism,  and  discriminating  justice  of 
the  American  people. 
_  Resolved,  That  we  regard  this  as  a  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  our  political  creed, 
which  we  are  proud  to  maintain  before 
the  world  as  a  great  moral  element  in  a 
form  of  government  springing  from  and 
upheld  by  the  popular  wLQ ;  and  we  con- 


BOOK  II.J 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


37 


tra^t  it  with  the  creed  and  practice  of 
federalism,  under  whatever  name  or  form, 
which  seeks  to  palsy  the  will  of  the  con- 
stituent, and  which  conceives  no  imposture 
too  monstrous  for  the  popular  credulity. 

Resolved,  therefore,  That  entertaining 
these  views,  the  Democratic  party  of  this 
Union,  through  their  delegates,  assembled 
in  general  convention,  coming  together  in 
a  spirit  of  concord,  of  devotion  to  the  doc- 
trines and  faith  of  a  free  representative 
government,  and  appealing  to  their  fellow 
citizens  for  the  rectitude  of  their  intentions, 
renew  and  reassert,  before  the  American 
people,  the  declaration  of  principles 
avowed  by  them,  when,  on  former  occa- 
sions, in  general  convention,  they  have 
presented  their  candidates  for  the  popular 
suffrage. 

1.  That  the  Federal  government  is  one 
of  limited  power,  derived  solely  from  the 
constitution,  and  the  grants  of  power  made 
therein  ought  to  be  strictly  construed  by 
all  the  departments  and  agents  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  that  it  is  inexpedient  and 
dangerous  to  exercise  doubtful  constitu- 
tional powers. 

2.  That  the  constitution  does  not  confer 
upon  the  general  government  the  power  to 
commence  and  carry  on  a  general  system 
of  internal  improvements. 

3.  That  the  constitution  does  not  confer 
authority  upon  the  Federal  government, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  assume  the  debts 
of  the  several  states,  contracted  for  local 
and  internal  improvements  or  other  state 
purposes ;  nor  would  such  assumption  be 
just  or  expedient. 

4.  That  justice,  and  sound  policy  forbid 
the  Federal  government  to  foster  one 
branch  of  industry  to  the  detriment  of 
another,  or  to  cherish  the  interests  of  one 
portion  of  our  common  country ;  that  every 
citizen  and  every  section  of  the  country 
has  a  right  to  demand  and  insist  upon  an 
equality  of  rights  and  privileges,  and  a 
complete  and  ample  protection  of  persons 
and  property  from  domestic  violence  and 
foreign  aggression. 

5.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  branch 
of  the  government  to  enforce  and  practice 
the  most  rigid  economy  in  conducting  our 
public  affairs,  and  that  no  more  revenue 
ought  to  be  raised  than  is  required  to  de- 
fray the  necessary  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment and  gradual  but  certain  extinction  of 
the  public  debt. 

6.  That  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands 
ought  to  be  sacredly  applied  to  the  national 
objects  specified  in  the  constitution,  and 
that  we  are  opposed  to  any  law  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  such  proceeds  among  the  states, 
as  alike  inexpedient  in  policy  and  repug- 
nant to  the  constitution. 

7.  That  Congress  has  no  power  to  char- 
ter a  national  bank ;  that  we  believe  such 
an  institution  one  of  deadly  hostility  to 


the  best  interests  of  this  country,  danger- 
ous to  our  republican  institutions  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people,  and  calculated  to 
place  the  business  of  the  country  within 
the  control  of  a  concentrated  money  power 
and  above  the  laws  and  will  of  the  people ; 
and  the  results  of  the  democratic  legisla- 
tion in  this  and  all  other  financial  measures 
upon  which  issues  have  been  made  between 
the  two  political  parties  of  the  country, 
have  demonstrated  to  candid  and  practical 
men  of  all  parties  their  soundness,  safety, 
and  utility  in  all  business  pursuits. 

8.  That  the  separation  of  the  moneys  of 
the  government  from  banking  institutions 
is  indispensable  to  the  safety  of  the  funds 
of  the  government  and  the  rights  of  the 
people. 

9.  That  we  are  decidedly  opposed  to 
taking  from  the  President  the  qualified 
veto  power,  by  which  he  is  enabled,  under 
restrictions  and  responsibilities  amply  suffi- 
cient to  guard  the  public  interests,  to  sus- 
pend the  passage  of  a  bill  whose  merits 
can  not  secure  the  approval  of  two-thirds 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, until  the  judgment  of  the  people  can 
be  obtained  thereon,  and  which  has  saved 
the  American  people  from  the  corrupt  and 
tyrannical  dominion  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  and  from  a  corrupting  sys- 
tem of  general  internal  improvements. 

10.  That  the  liberal  principles  embodied 
by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of  Ind^ 
pendence,  and  sanctioned  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, which  makes  ours  the  land  of  liberty 
and  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  of  every 
nation,  have  ever  been  cardinal  principles 
in  the  democratic  faith ;  and  every  at- 
tempt to  abridge  the  privilege  of  becom- 
ing citizens  and  owners  of  soil  among  us, 
ought  to  be  resisted  with  the  same  spirit 
which  swept  the  alien  and  sedition  laws 
from  our  statute  books. 

And  whereas,  Since  the  foregoing  decla- 
ration was  uniformly  adopted  by  our  prede- 
cessors in  national  conventions,  an  adverse 
political  and  religious  test  has  been 
secretly  organized  by  a  party  claiming  to 
be  exclusively  Americans,  and  it  is  proper 
that  the  American  democracy  should 
clearly  define  its  relations  thereto ;  and 
declare  its  determined  opposition  to  all 
secret  political  societies,  by  whatever  name 
they  may  be  called — 

Resolved,  That  the  foundation  of  thii 
union  of  states  having  been  laid  in,  and 
its  prosperity,  expansion,  and  pre-eminent 
example  in  free  government  ouilt  upon, 
entire  freedom  of  matters  of  religious  con- 
cernment, and  no  respect  of  persona  in  re- 
gard to  rank  or  place  of  birth,  no  party 
can  justly  be  deemed  national,  constitu- 
tional, or  in  accordance  with  America* 
principles,  which  bases  its  exclusive  organ- 
ization upon  religious  opinions  and  acci- 
dental birth-place.    Anu  hence  a  political 


38 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


crusade  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  in 
the  United  Sfcites  of  America,  against 
Catholics  and  foreign-born,  is  neither  justi- 
fied by  the  past  history  or  future  prospects 
of  the  country,  nor  in  unison  with  the 
Bpirit  of  toleration  and  enlightened  free- 
<K)m  which  peculiarly  distinguishes  the 
American  system  of  popular  government. 
Resolved,  That  we  reiterate  with  renewed 
energy  of  purpose  the  well-considered 
declarations  of  former  conventions  upon 
the  sectional  issue  of  domestic  slavery, 
and  concerning  the  reserved  rights  of  the 
states — 

1.  That  Congress  has  no  power  under 
the  constitution  to  interfere  with  or  con- 
trol the  domestic  institutions  of  the  several 
states,  and  that  all  such  states  are  the  sole 
and  proper  judges  of  ever}i;hing  apper- 
taining to  their  own  affairs  not  prohibited 
by  the  constitution ;  that  all  efforts  of  the 
Abolitionists  or  others,  made  to  induce 
Congress  to  interfere  with  questions  of 
slavery,  or  to  take  incipient  steps  in  rela- 
tion tnereto,  are  calculated  to  lead  to  the 
most  alarming  and  dangerous  conse- 
quences, and  that  all  such  efforts  have  an 
inevitable  tendency  to  diminish  the  hap- 
piness of  the  people  and  endanger  the 
stability  and  permanency  of  the  Union, 
and  ought  not  to  be  countenanced  by  any 
friend  of  our  political  institutions. 

2.  That  the  foregoing  proposition  covers 
and  was  intended  to  embrace  the  whole 
subject  of  slavery  agitation  in  Congress, 
and  therefore  the  Democratic  party  of  the 
Union,  standing  on  this  national  platform, 
will  abide  by  and  adhere  to  a  fjiithful  exe- 
cution of  the  acts  known  as  the  compro- 
mise measures,  settled  by  the  Congress  of 
1850 — "the  act  for  reclaiming  fugitives 
from  service  or  labor "  included ;  which 
act,  being  designed  to  carry  out  an  express 
provision  of  the  constitution,  can  not,  with 
fidelity  thereto,  be  repealed,  or  so  changed 
as  to  aestrov  or  impair  its  efficiency. 

3.  That  the  Democratic  party  will  resist 
all  attempts  at  renewing  m  Congress,  or 
out  of  it,  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion, under  whatever  shape  or  color  the 
attempt  may  be  made. 

4.  That  the  Democratic  party  will  faith- 
fully abide  by  and  uphold  the  principles 
laid  down  in  the  Kentucky  ana  Virginia 
resolutions  of  1792  and  1798,  and  in  the 
report  of  Mr.  Madison  to  the  Virginia 
legislature  in  1799;  that  it  adopts  these 
principles  as  constituting  one  of  the  main 
foundations  of  its  political  creed,  and  is 
resolved  to  carry  them  out  in  their  obvious 
meaning  and  import. 

And  that  we  may  more  distinctly  meet 
the  issue  on  which  a  sectional  party,  sub- 
sisting exclusively  on  slavery  agitation, 
now  relies  to  test  the  fidelity  or  the  people, 
north  and  south,  to  the  constitution  and 
the  Union — 


1.  Resolved,  That  claiming  fellowship 
with  and  desiring  the  co-operation  of  au 
who  regard  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
under  the  constitution  as  the  paramount 
issue,  and  repudiating  all  sectional  parties 
and  platforms  concerning  domestic  ^avery 
whicn  seek  to  embroil  the  states  and  in- 
cite to  treason  and  armed  resistance  to  law 
in  the  territories,  and  whose  avowed  pur- 
pose, if  consummated,  must  end  in  civil 
war  and  disunion,  the  American  democracy 
recognize  and  adopt  the  principles  con- 
tained in  the  organic  laws  establishing  the 
territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  as  em- 
bodying the  only  sound  and  safe  solution 
of  the  slavery  q^uestion,  upon  which  the 
great  national  idea  of  the  people  of  this 
whole  country  can  repose  in  its  determined 
conservation  of  the  Union,  and  non-inter- 
ference of  Congress  with  slaveiy  in  the 
territories  or  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

2.  That  this  was  the  basis  of  the  com- 
promise of  1850,  confirmed  by  both  the 
Democratic  and  Whig  parties  in  national 
conventions,  ratified  by  the  people  in  the 
election  of  1852,  and  rightly  applied  to  the 
organization  of  the  territories  in  1854. 

3.  That  by  the  uniform  application  of 
the  Democratic  principle  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  territories  and  the  admission  of 
new  states,  with  or  without  domestic  sla- 
very, as  they  may  elect,  the  equal  rights  of 
all  the  states  will  be  preserved  intact,  the 
original  compacts  of  the  constitution  main- 
tained inviolate,  and  the  perpetuitj^  and 
expansion  of  the  Union  insured  to  its  ut- 
most capacity  of  embracing,  in  peace  and 
harmony,  every  future  American  state  that 
may  be  constituted  or  annexed  with  a  re- 
publican form  of  government. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  right 
of  the  people  of  all  the  territories,  includ- 
ing Kansas  and  Nebraska,  acting  through 
the  legally  and  fairly  expressed  will  of  the 
majority  of  the  actual  residents,  and  when- 
ever the  number  of  their  inhabitants  justi- 
fies it,  to  form  a  constitution,  with  or  with- 
out domestic  slavery,  and  be  admitted  into 
the  Union  upon  terms  of  perfect  equality 
with  the  other  states. 

Resolved,  finally,  That  in  view  of  the 
condition  of'^the  popular  institutions  in  the 
old  world  (and  the  dangerous  tendencies 
of  sectional  agitation,  combined  with  the 
attempt  to  enforce  civil  and  religious  disa- 
bilities against  the  rights  of  acquiring  and 
enjoying  citizenship  in  our  own  land),  a 
high  and  sacred  duty  is  devolved,  with  in- 
creased responsibility,  upon  the  Demo- 
cratic party  of  this  country,  as  the  party 
of  the  Union,  to  uphold  and  maintain  the 
rights  of  every  state,  and  thereby  the 
union  of  the  states,  and  to  sustain  and  ad- 
vance among  us  constitutional  liberty,  by 
continuing  to  resist  all  monopolies  and  ex- 
clusive legislation  for  the  benefit  of  the  few 
at  the  expense  of  the  many,  and  by  a  vigi» 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


39 


lant  and  constant  adherence  to  those  prin- 
ciples and  compromises  of  the  constitution 
which  are  broad  enough  and  strong  enough 
to  embrace  and  uphold  the  Union  as  it 
was,  the  Union  as  it  is,  and  the  Union  as 
it  shall  be,  in  the  full  expression  of  the 
energies  and  capacity  of  this  great  and 
progressive  people. 

1.  Resolved,  That  there  are  questions 
Sonnected  with  the  foreign  policy  of  this 
aountry  which  are  inferior  to  no  domestic 

Jruestions  whatever.  The  time  has  come 
or  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  de- 
clare themselves  in  favor  of  free  seas  and 
progressive  free  trade  throughout  the  world, 
and,  by  solemn  manifestations,  to  place 
their  moral  influence  at  the  side  of  their 
successful  example. 

2.  Resolved,  That  our  geographical  and 
political  position,with  reference  to  the  other 
states  of  this  continent,  no  less  than  the 
interest  of  our  commerce  and  the  develop- 
ment of  our  growing  power,  requires  that 
we  should  hold  sacred  the  principles  in- 
volved in  the  Monroe  doctrine.  Their 
bearing  and  import  admit  of  no  miscon- 
struction, and  should  be  applied  with  un- 
bending rigidity. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  great  highway 
which  nature,  as  well  as  the  assent  of  states 
most  immediately  interested  in  its  main- 
tenance, has  marked  out  for  free  commu- 
nication between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans,  constitutes  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant achievements  realized  by  the  spirit  of 
modern  times,  in  the  unconquerable  energy 
of  our  people ;  and  that  result  would  be 
secured  by  a  timely  and  efficient  exertion 
of  the  control  which  we  have  the  right  to 
claim  over  it ;  and  no  power  on  earth 
should  be  suiFered  to  impede  or  clog  its 
progress  by  any  interference  with  relations 
that  may  suit  our  policy  to  establish  be- 
tween our  government  and  the  govern- 
ments of  the  states  within  whose  dominions 
it  lies ;  we  can  under  no  circumstances  sur- 
render our  preponderance  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  all  questions  arising  out  of  it. 

4.  Resolved,  That  in  view  of  so  com- 
manding an  interest,  the  people  of  the 
United  States  cannot  but  sympathize  with 
the  efforts  which  are  being  made  by  the 
people  of  Central  America  to  regenerate 
that  portion  of  the  continent  which  covers 
the  passage  across  the  inter-oceanic  isthmus. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party 
will  expect  of  the  next  administration  that 
every  proper  effort  be  made  to  insure  our 
ascendency  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  to 
maintain  permanent  protection  to  the  great 
outlets  through  which  are  emptied  into  its 
waters  the  products  raised  out  of  the  soil 
and  the  commodities  created  by  the  indus- 
try of  the  people  of  our  western  valleys 
and  of  the  Union  at  large. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  administration  of 
Franklin  Pierce  has  been  true  to  Demo- 


cratic principles,  and,  therefore,  true  to  the 
great  interests  of  the  country ;  in  the  face 
of  violent  opposition,  he  has  maintained 
the  laws  at  home  and  vindicated  the  rights 
of  American  citizens  abroad,  and,  there- 
fore, we  proclaim  our  unqualified  admira- 
tion of  his  measures  and  policy. 


1856.— Republican  Platform, 

Adopted  ai  Philadelphia,  June  17. 

This  convention  of  delegates,  assembled 
in  pursuance  of  a  call  addressed  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  without  regard 
to  past  political  differences  or  divisions, 
who  are  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  to  the  policy  of  the 
present  administration,  to  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  free  territory ;  in  favor  of  ad- 
mitting Kansas  as  a  free  state,  of  restoring 
the  action  of  the  Federal  government  to 
the  principles  of  Washington  and  Jeffer- 
son ;  and  who  purpose  to  unite  in  present- 
ing candidates  for  the  offices  of  President 
and  Vice-President,  do  resolve  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  of  the 
principles  promulgated  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  embodied  in  the 
federal  constitution,  is  essential  to  the  pre- 
servation of  our  Republican  institutions, 
and  that  the  federal  constitution,  the  rights 
of  the  states,  and  the  union  of  the  states, 
shall  be  preserved. 

Resolved,  That  with  our  republican 
fathers  we  hold  it  to  be  a  self-evident  truth 
that  all  men  are  endowed  with  the  inalien- 
able rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,  and  that  the  primary  object 
and  ulterior  design  of  our  Federal  govern- 
ment were,  to  secure  these  rights  to  all 
persons  within  its  exclusive  jurisdiction ; 
that  as  our  republican  fathers,  when  they 
had  abolished  slavery  in  all  our  national 
territory,  ordained  that  no  person  should 
be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law,  it  becomes  our 
duty  to  maintain  this  provision  of  the  con- 
stitution against  all  attempts  to  violate  it 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  slavery  in 
any  territory  of  the  United  States,  by  posi- 
tive legislation,  prohibiting  its  existence  or 
extension  therein.  That  we  deny  the  au- 
thority of  Congress,  of  a  territorial  legis- 
lature, of  any  individual  or  association  of 
individuals,  to  give  legal  existence  to  sla- 
verjr  in  any  territory  of  the  United  States, 
while  the  present  constitution  shall  be 
maintained. 

Resolved,  That  the  constitution  confers 
upon  Congress  sovereign  power  over  the 
territories  ©f  the  United  States  for  their 
government,  and  that  in  the  exercise  of 
this  power  it  is  both  the  right  and  the  im- 
perative duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  in 
the  territories  those  twin  relics  of  barbar- 
ism— ^polygamy  and  slavery. 


40 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


Reiolved,  That  while  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  was  ordained  and  estab- 
lished, in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect 
union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  de- 
fense, promote  the  general  welfare,  and 
secure  the  blessings  ot  liberty,  and  contains 
ample  provisions  for  the  protection  of  the 
life,  liberty,  and  property  of  every  citizen, 
the  dearest  constitutional  rights  of  the 
people  of  Kansas  have  been  fraudulently 
and  violently  taken  from  them  ;  their  terri- 
tory has  been  invaded  by  an  armed  force  ; 
spurious  and  pretended  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  officers  have  been  set  over 
them,  by  whose  usurped  authority,  sus- 
tained by  the  military  power  of  the  govern- 
ment, tyrannical  and  unconstitutional  laws 
have  been  enacted  and  enforced ;  the  rights 
of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  have 
been  infringed ;  test  oaths  of  an  extraordi- 
nary and  entangling  nature  have  been  im- 
posed, as  a  condition  of  exercising  the 
right  of  suffrage  and  holding  oflSce ;  the 
right  of  an  accused  person  to  a  speedy  and 

Sublic  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  has  been 
enied  ;  the  right  of  the  people  to  be  se- 
cure in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and 
effects  against  unreasonable  searches  and 
seizures,  nas  been  violated ;  they  have  been 
deprived  of  life,  liberty,  and  property  with- 
out due  process  of  law  ;  that  the  freedom 
of  speech  and  of  the  press  has  been  abridg- 
ed ;  the  right  to  choose  their  representa- 
tives has  been  made  of  no  effect ;  murders, 
robberies,  and  arsons  have  been  instigated 
or  encouraged,  and  the  offenders  have  been 
allowed  to  go  unpunished ;  that  all  these 
things  have  been  done  with  the  knowledge, 
sanction,  and  procurement  of  the  present 
national  administration  ;  and  that  for  this 
high  crime  against  the  constitution,  the 
Union,  and  humanity,  we  arraign  the  ad- 
ministration, the  President,  his  advisers, 
agents,  supporters,  apologists,  and  acces- 
sories, either  before  or  after  the  facts,  be- 
fore the  country  and  before  the  world; 
and  that  it  is  our  fixed  purpose  to  bring  the 
actual  perpetrators  of  these  atrocious  out- 
rages, and  their  accomplices,  to  a  sure  and 
condign  punishment  hereafter. 

Jiesolved,  That  Kansas  should  be  im- 
mediately admitted  as  a  state  of  the  Union 
with  her  present  free  constitution,  as  at 
once  the  most  effectual  way  of  securing  to 
her  citizens  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights 
and  privileges  to  which  they  are  entitled, 
and  of  ending  the  civil  strife  now  raging 
in  her  territory. 

Beaolved,  That  the  highwayman's  plea 
that  "might  makes  right,"  embodiea  in 
the  Ostend  circular,  was  in  every  respect 
unworthy  of  American  diplomacy,  and 
would  bring  shame  and  dishonor  upon  any 
government  or  people  that  gave  it  their 
sanction. 
Retolved,  That  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific 


ocean,  hj  the  most  central  and  practicable 
route,  is  imperatively  demanded  by  the  in- 
terests of  the  whole  country,  and  that  the 
Federal  government  ought  to  rendei  im- 
mediate and  efficient  aid  in  its  construc- 
tion, and,  as  an  auxiliary  thereto,  the  im- 
mediate construction  of  an  emigrant  route 
on  the  line  of  the  railroad. 

Resolved,  That  appropriations  of  Con- 
gress for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and 
harbors  of  a  national  character,  required 
for  the  accommodation  and  security  of  our 
existing  commerce,  are  authorized  by  the 
constitution,  and  justified  by  the  obligation 
of  government  to  protect  the  lives  and 
property  of  its  citizens. 

Resolved,  That  we  invite  the  affiliation 
and  co-operation  of  the  men  of  all  parties, 
however  differing  from  us  in  other  respects, 
in  support  of  the  principles  herein  de- 
clared ;  and  believing  that  the  spirit  of 
our  institutions,  as  well  as  the  constitution 
of  our  country,  guarantees  liberty  of  con- 
science and  equality  of  rights  among  citi- 
zens, we  oppose  all  prescriptive  legislation 
affecting  their  security. 


1856.— Wilis  Platform. 

Baltimore,  September  13. 

Resolved,  That  the  Whigs  of  the  United 
States,  now  here  assembled,  hereby  de- 
clare their  reverence  for  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  their  unalterable  at- 
tachment to  the  National  Union,  and  a 
fixed  determination  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  preserve  them  for  themselves  and 
their  posterity.  They  have  no  new  princi- 
ples to  announce ;  no  new  platform  .to  es- 
tablish ;  but  are  content  to  oroadly  rest — 
Avhere  their  fathers  rested — upon  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  wishing  no 
safer  guide,  no  higher  law. 

Resolved,  That  we  regard  with  the 
deepest  interest  and  anxiety  the  present 
disordered  condition  of  our  national  af- 
fairs— a  portion  of  the  country  ravaged  by 
civil  war,  large  sections  of  our  population 
embittered  by  mutual  recriminations;  and 
we  distinctly  trace  these  calamities  to  the 
culpable  neglect  of  duty  by  the  present 
national  administration. 

Resolved,  That  the  government  of  the 
United  States  was  formed  by  the  conjunc- 
tion in  political  unity  of  wide-spread  geo- 
graphical sections,  materially  differing,  not 
only  in  climate  and  products,  but  in  social 
and  domestic  institutions;  and  that  any 
cause  that  shall  permanently  array  the 
different  sections  of  the  Union  in  political 
hostility  and  organize  parties  founded  only 
on  geographical  distinctions,  must  inevit- 
abljr  prove  fatal  to  a  continuance  of  the 
National  Union. 

Resolved,  That  the  Whigs  of  the  United 
States  declare,  as  a  fundamental  article  of 


BOOK  11.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


41 


political  faith,  an  absolute  necessity  for 
avoiding  geographical  parties.  The  dan- 
ger, so  clearly  discerned  by  the  Father  of 
nis  Country,  has  now  become  fearfully 
apparent  in  the  agitation  now  convulsing 
the  nation,  and  must  be  arrested  at  once 
if  we  would  preserve  our  constitution  and 
our  Union  from  dismemberment,  and  the 
name  of  America  from  being  blotted  out 
from  the  family  of  civilized  nations. 

Resolved,  That  all  who  revere  the  con- 
Btitution  and  the  Union,  must  look  with 
alarm  at  the  parties  in  the  field  in  the 
present  presidential  campaign — one  claim- 
ing only  to  represent  sixteen  northern 
states,  and  the  other  appealing  mainly  to 
the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  southern 
states ;  that  the  success  of  either  faction 
must  add  fuel  to  the  flame  which  now 
threatens  to  wrap  our  dearest  interests  in 
a  common  ruin. 

Resolved,  That  the  only  remedy  for  an 
evil  so  appalling  is  to  support  a  candidate 
pledged  to  neither  of  the  geographical  sec- 
tions nor  arrayed  in  political  antagonism, 
but  holding  both  in  a  just  and  equal  regard. 
We  congratulate  the  friends  of  the  Union 
that  such  a  candidate  exists  in  Millard 
Fillmore. 

Resolved,  That,  without  adopting  or  re- 
ferring to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the 
party  which  has  already  selected  Mr.  Fill- 
more as  a  candidate,  we  look  to  him  as  a 
well  tried  and  faithful  friend  of  the  consti- 
tution and  the  Union,  eminent  alike  for 
his  wisdom  and  firmness — for  his  justice 
and  moderation  in  our  foreign  relations — 
calm  and  pacific  temperament,  so  well  be- 
coming the  head  of  a  great  nation — for  his 
devotion  to  the  constitution  in  its  true 
spirit — his  inflexibility  in  executing  the 
laws  but,  beyond  all  these  attributes,  in 
possessing  the  one  transcendent  merit  of 
being  a  representative  of  neither  of  the 
two  sectional  parties  now  struggling  for 
political  supremacj^. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  present  exigency 
of  political  afiairs,  we  are  not  called  upon 
to  discuss  the  subordinate  (j^uestions  of  ad- 
ministration in  the  exercising  of  the  con- 
stitutional powers  of  the  government.  It 
is  enough  to  know  that  civil  war  is  raging. 
and  that  the  Union  is  in  peril ;  and  we 
proclaim  the  conviction  that  the  restora- 
tion of.  Mr.  Fillmore  to  the  presidency  will 
ftirnishi  the  best  if  not  the  only  means  of 
restoring  peace. 


1S60«— Constitutional  Union  Platform* 

Boitmiore,  May  9. 

Whereas,  Experience  has  demonstrated 
that  platforms  adopted  by  the  partisan 
conventions  of  the  country  have  had  the 
efiect  to  mislead  and  deceive  the  people, 


and  at  the  same  time  to  widen  the  political 
divisions  of  the  country,  by  the  creation 
and  encouragement  of  geographical  and 
sectional  parties ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  both  the  part  of 

f)atriotism  and  of  duty  to  recognize  no  po- 
itical  principles  other  than  The  Consti- 
tution OF  THE  Country,  the  Union  op 
THE  States,  and  the  Enforcement  op 
the  Laws  ;  and  that  as  representatives  of 
the  Constitutional  Union  men  of  the  coun- 
try, in  national  convention  assembled,  wo 
hereby  pledge  ourselves  to  maintain,  pro- 
tect, and  defend,  separately  and  unitedly, 
these  great  principles  of  public  liberty  and 
national  safety  against  all  enemies  at  home 
and  abroad,  believing  that  thereby  peace 
may  once  more  be  restored  to  the  country, 
the  rights  of  the  people  and  of  the  states 
re-established,  and  the  government  again 
placed  in  that  condition  of  justice,  frater- 
nity, and  equality,  which,  under  the  exam- 
ple and  constitution  of  our  fathers,  has 
solemnly  bound  every  citizen  of  the  United 
States  to  maintain  a  more  perfect  union, 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquil- 
lity, provide  for  the  common  defense,  pro- 
mote the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity. 


I860.— Republican  Platfomty 

Chicago,  May  17. 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  delegated  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Republican  electors  of 
the  United  States,  in  convention  assembled, 
in  discharge  of  the  duty  we  owe  to  our 
constituents  and  our  country,  unite  in  the 
following  declarations: 

1.  That  the  history  of  the  nation,  dur- 
ing the  last  four  years,  has  fully  establish- 
ed the  propriety  and  necessity  of  the  or- 
ganization and  perpetuation  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  that  the  causes  which 
called  it  into  existence  are  permanent  in 
their  nature,  and  now,  more  than  ever  be- 
fore, demand  its  peaceful  and  constitutional 
triumph. 

2.  That  the  maintenance  of  the  principles 
promulgated  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  embodied  in  the  federal 
constitution,  "That  all  men  are  created 
equal ;  that  th3y  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights; 
that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  th© 
pursuit  of  happiness ;  that  to  secure  these 
rights,  governments  are  instituted  among 
men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed,  is  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  our  republican  institu- 
tions; and  that  the  federal  constitution, 
the  rights  of  the  states,  and  the  union  of 
the  states,  must  and  shall  be  preserved. 

3.  That  to  the  union  of  the  states  this 
nation  owes  its  unprecedented  increase  in 
population,  its  surprising  development  of 


42 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


material  resources,  its  rapid  augmentation 
of  wealth,  its  happiness  at  home  and  its 
honor  abroad ;  and  we  hold  in  abhorrence 
all  schemes  for  disunion,  come  from  what- 
ever source  they  may  ;  and  we  congratulate 
the  country  that  no  Republican  member  of 
Congress  has  uttered  or  countenanced  the 
threats  of  disunion  so  often  made  by  De- 
mocratic members,  without  rebuke  and 
with  applause  from  their  political  associ- 
dtes ;  and  we  denounce  those  threats  of  dis- 
linion,  in  case  of  a  popular  overthrow  of 
their  ascendency,  as  denying  the  vital 
principles  of  a  free  government,  and  as  an 
avowal  of  contemplated  treason^  which  it 
is  the  imperative  duty  of  an  indignant 
people  sternly  to  rebuke  and  forever  silence. 
4.  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the 
rights  of  the  states,  and  especially  the  right 
of  each  state  to  order  and  control  its  own 
domestic  institutions  according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that 
balance  of  powers  on  which  the  perfection 
and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  de- 
pends; and  we  denounce  the  lawless  in- 
vasion, by  armed  force,  of  the  soil  of  any 
state  or  territory,  no  matter  under  what 
pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes. 

6.  That  the  present  Democratic  admini- 
stration has  mr  exceeded  our  worst  ap- 
prehensions, in  its  measureless  subserviency 
to  the  exactions  of  a  sectional  interest,  as 
especially  evinced  in  its  desperate  exertions 
to  force  the  infamous  Lecompton  constitu- 
tion upon  the  protesting  people  of  Kansas ; 
in  construing  the  personal  relations  be- 
tween master  and  servant  to  involve  an 
unqualified  property  in  persons ;  in  its  at- 
tempted enforcement,  everywhere,  on  land 
and  sea,  through  the  intervention  of  Con- 
gress and  of  the  federal  courts,  of  the  ex- 
treme pretensions  of  a  purely  local  interest ; 
and  in  its  general  and  unvarying  abuse  of 
the  power  entrusted  to  it  by  a  confiding 
people. 

.  6.  That  the  people  justly  view  with  alarm 
the  reckless  extravagance  which  pervades 
every  department  of  the  Federal  govern- 
ment ;  that  a  return  to  rigid  economy  and 
accountability  is  indispensable  to  arrest  the 
systematic  plunder  oi  the  public  treasury 
by  favored  partisans;  while  the  recent 
startling  developments  of  frauds  and  cor- 
ruptions at  the  federal  metropolis,  show 
that  an  entire  change  of  administration  is 
imperatively  demanded. 

7.  That  the  new  dogma,  that  the  consti- 
tution, of  its  own  force,  carries  slavery  into 
any  or  all  of  the  territories  of  the  United 
States,  is  a  dangerous  political  heresy,  at 
variance  with  the  explicit  provisions  of 
that  instrument  itself,  with  contemporane- 
ous exposition,  and  with  legislative  and 
judicial  precedent — is  revolutionary  in  its 
tendency,  and  suoversive  of  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  the  country. 

8.  That  the  nonual  condition  of  all  the 


territory  of  the  United  States  is  that  of 
freedom;  that  as  our  republican  fathers, 
when  they  had  abolished  slavery  in  au  our 
national  territory,  ordained  that  "  no  per- 
son shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property,  without  due  process  of  law,"  it 
becomes  our  duty,  by  legislation,  whenever 
such  legislatio|i  is  necessary,  to  maintain 
this  provision  of  the  constitution  against 
all  attempts  to  violate  it ;  and  we  deny  the 
authority  of  Congress,  of  a  territorial  legis- 
lature, or  of  any  individuals,  to  give  legal 
existence  to  slavery  in  any  territory  of  the 
United  States. 

9.  That  we  brand  the  recent  reopening 
of  the  African  slave  trade,  under  the  cover 
of  our  national  flag,  aided  by  perversions 
of  judicial  power,  as  a  crime  against  human- 
ity and  a  burning  shame  to  our  country 
and  age ;  and  we  call  upon  Congress  to 
take  prompt  and  efllicient  measures  for  the 
total  and  final  suppression  of  that  execrable 
traffic. 

10.  That  in  the  recent  vetoes,  by  their 
federal  governors,  of  the  acts  of  the  legis- 
latures of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  prohibit- 
ing slavery  in  those  territories,  we  find  a 
practical  illustration  of  the  boasted  De- 
mocratic principle  of  non-intervention  and 
popular  sovereignty,  embodied  in  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  a  demonstration 
of  the  deception  and  fraud  involved 
therein. 

11.  That  Kansas  should,  of  right,  be 
immediately  admitted  as  a  state  under  the 
constitution  recently  formed  and  adopted 
by  her  people,  and  accepted  by  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

12.  That,  while  providing  revenue  for 
the  support  of  the  general  government  by 
duties  upon  imports,  sound  policy  requires 
such  an  adjustment  of  these  imports  as  to 
encourage  the  development  of  the  indus- 
trial interest  of  the  whole  country ;  and 
we  commend  that  policy  of  national  ex- 
changes which  secures  to  the  working  men 
liberal  wages,  to  agriculture  remunerative 
prices,  to  mechanics  and  manufacturers  an 
adequate  reward  for  their  skill,  labor,  and 
enterprise,  and  to  the  nation  commercial 
prosperity  and  independence. 

13.  That  we  protest  against  any  sale  or 
alienation  to  others  of  the  public  lands 
held  by  actual  settlers,  and  against  any 
view  of  the  homestead  policy  which  re- 
gards the  settlers  as  paupers  or  suppliants 
for  public  bounty;  and  we  demand  the 
passage  by  Congress  of  the  complete  and 
satisfactory  homestead  measure  which  has 
already  passed  the  House. 

14.  That  the  republican  party  is  opposed 
to  any  change  in  our  naturalization  laws, 
or  any  state  legislation  by  which  the  rights 
of  citizenship  hitherto  accorded  to  immi- 
grants from  foreign  lands  shall  be  abridged 
or  impaired ;  ana  in  favor  of  giving  a  mil 
and  efficient  protection  to  the  rights  of  all 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


48 


classes  of  citizens,  whether  native  or  na- 
turalized, both  at  home  and  abroad. 

15.  That  appropriations  by  Congress  for 
river  and  harbor  improvements  of  a  na- 
tional character,  required  for  the  accommo- 
dation and  security  of  an  existing  com- 
merce, are  authorized  by  the  constitution 

'and  justified  by  the  obligations  of  govern- 
ment to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of 
its  citizens. 

16.  That  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  ocean 
is  imperatively  demanded  by  the  interest 
of  the  whole  country ;  that  the  Federal 
government  ought  to  render  immediate  and 
efficient  aid  in  its  construction  ;  and  that 
as  preliminary  thereto,  a  daily  overland 
mail  should  be  promptly  established. 

17.  Finally,  having  thus  set  forth  our 
distinctive  principles  and  views,  we  invite 
the  co-operation  of  all  citizens,  however 
differing  on  other  questions,  who  substan- 
tially agree  with  us  in  their  affirmance  and 
support. 


I860.— Democratic  (Doii|;las)  Flatfonn, 

Charleston,  April  23,  and  Baltimore,  June  18. 

1.  Resolved,  That  we,  the  Democracy  of 
the  Union,  in  convention  assembled,  here- 
by declare  oiir  affirmance  of  the  resolutions 
unanimously  adopted  and  declared  as  a 
Platform  of  principles  by  the  Democratic 
convention  at  Cincinnati,  in  the  year  1856, 
believing  that  democratic  principles  are 
unchangeable  in  their  nature  when  applied 
to  the  same  subject-matters ;  and  we  recom- 
mend, as  the  only  further  resolutions,  the 
following : 

Inasmuch  as  differences  of  opinion  exist 
in  the  Democratic  party  as  to  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  powers  of  a  territorial 
legislature,  and  as  to  the  powers  and  duties 
of  Congress,  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  over  the  institution  of  sla- 
very within  the  territories : 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party 
will  abide  by  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  on  the  questions 
of  constitutional  law. 

3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
United  States  to  afford  ample  and  complete 

Protection  to  all  its  citizens,  whether  at 
ome  or  abroad,  and   whether  native  or 
foreign. 

4.  Resolved,  That  one  of  the  necessities 
of  the  age,  in  a  military,  commercial,  and 
postal  point  of  view,  is  speedy  communi- 
cation between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
states;  and  the  Democratic  party  pledge 
such  constitutional  government  aid  as  will 
insure  the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  coast  at  the  earliest  practicable 
period. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party 
are  in  favor  of  the  acquisition  of  the  island 
of  Cuba,  on  such  terms  as  shall  be  honor- 
able to  ourselves  and  just  to  Spain. 


6.  Resolved,  That  the  enactments  of  state 
legislatures  to  defeat  the  faithful  execution 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  are  hostile  in 
character,  subversive  of  the  constitution, 
and  revolutionary  in  their  effect. 

7.  Resolved,  That  it  is  in  accordance 
with  the  true  interpretation  of  the  Cincin- 
nati platform,  that,  during  the  existence  of 
the  territorial  governments,  the  measure 
of  restriction,  whatever  it  may  be,  imposed 
by  the  federal  constitution  on  the  power  of 
the  territorial  legislature  over  the  subject 
of  domestic  relations,  as  the  same  has  been, 
or  shall  hereafter  be,  finally  determined  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, . 
shall  be  respected  by  all  good  citizens,  and 
enforced  with  promptness  and  fidelity  by 
every  branch  of  the  general  government. 


I860.— Democratic  (Breclclnrldge)  Platform. 

Charleston  and  Baltimore. 

Resolved,  That  the  platform  adopted  by 
the  Democratic  party  at  Cincinnati  be  af- 
firmed, with  following  explanatory  resolu- 
tions : 

1.  That  the  government  of  a  territory, 
organized  by  an  act  of  Congress,  is  pro- 
visional and  temporary ;  and,  during  its 
existence,  all  citizens  of  the  United  States 
have  an  equal  right  to  settle,  with  their 
property,  in  the  territory,  without  their 
rights,  either  of  person  or  propertj^,  being 
destroyed  or  impaired  by  congressional  or 
territorial  legislation. 

2.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal 
government,  in  all  its  departments,  to  pro- 
tect, when  necessary,  the  rights  of  per- 
sons and  property  in  the  territories,  and 
wherever  else  its  constitutional  authority 
extends. 

3.  That  when  the  settlers  in  a  territory 
having  an  adequate  population  form  a 
state  constitution  in  pursuance  of  law,  the 
right  of  sovereignty  commences,  and,  be- 
ing consummated  by  admission  into  the 
Union,  they  stand  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  people  of  other  states,  and  th« 
state  thus  organized  ought  to  be  admit- 
ted into  the  Federal  Union,  whether  its 
constitution  prohibits  or  recognizes  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery. 

4.  That  the  Democratic  party  are  in 
favor  of  the  acquisition  of  the  island  of 
Cuba,  on  such  terms  as  shall  be  honorable 
to  ourselves  and  just  to  Spain,  at  the  earli- 
est practicable  moment. 

6.  That  the  enactments  of  state  legisluv 
tures  to  defeat  the  faithful  execution  of 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  are  hostile  in 
character,  subversive  of  the  constitution, 
and  revolutionary  in  their  effect. 

6.  That  the  Democracy  of  the  United 
States  recognize  it  as  the  imperative  duty 
of  this  government  to  protect  the  natural- 


44 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


ized  citizen  in  all  his  rights,  whether  at 
home  or  in  foreign  lands,  to  the  same  ex- 
tent as  its  native-born  citizens. 

Whereas,  One  of  the  greatest  necessi- 
ties of  the  age,  in  a  political,  commercial, 
postal,  and  military  point  of  view,  is  a 
speedy  communication  between  the  Pa- 
cific and  Atlantic  coasts  ;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  do 
hereby  pledge  themselves  to  use  every 
means  in  their  power  to  secure  the  passage 
of  some  bill,  to  the  extent  of  the  constitu- 
tional authority  of  Congress,  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  Pacific  railroad  from  the 
Mississippi  river  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  at 
the  earliest  practicable  moment. 


1864.— RadlcAl  Platform. 

Cleveland,  May  31. 

1.  That  the  Federal  Union  shall  be  pre- 
served. 

2.  That  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States  must  be  observed  and 
obeyed. 

3.  That  the  Rebellion  must  be  sup- 
pressed by  force  of  arms,  and  without  com- 
promise. 

4.  That  the  rights  of  free  speech,  free 

f)ress  and  the  habeas  corpus  be  neld  invio- 
ate,  save  in  districts  where  martial  law 
has  been  proclaimed. 

5.  That  the  Rebellion  has  destroyed 
slavery ;  and  the  federal  constitution 
should  be  so  amended  as  to  prohibit  its 
re-establishment,  and  to  secure  to  all  men 
absolute  equality  before  the  law. 

6.  That  integrity  and  economy  are  de- 
manded, at  all  times  in  the  administration 
of  the  government,  and  that  in  time  of 
war  the  want  of  them  is  criminal. 

7.  That  the  right  of  asylum,  except  for 
crime  and  subject  to  law,  is  a  recognized 
principle  of  American  liberty ;  and  that 
any  violation  of  it  can  not  be  overlooked, 
and  must  not  go  unrebuked. 

8.  That  the  national  policy  known  as 
the  "  Monroe  Doctrine  "  nas  become  a  re- 
cognized principle ;  and  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  anti-republican  govern- 
ment on  this  continent  by  any  foreign 
power  can  not  be  tolerated. 

9.  That  the  gratitude  and  support  of 
the  nation  are  due  to  the  faithful  soldiers 
and  the  earnest  leaders  of  the  Union  army 
and  navy,  for  their  heroic  achievements 
and  deathless  valor  in  defense  of  our  im- 
periled country  and  of  civil  liberty. 

10.  That  the  one-terra  policy  for  the 
presidency,  adopted  by  the  people,  is 
strengthened  by  the  force  of  the  existing 
crisis,  and  should  be  maintained  by  con- 
stitutional amendment. 

11.  That  the  «>n8titution  should  be  so 
amended  that  the   President  and  Vice- 


President  shall  be  elected  by  a  direct  vote 
of  the  people. 

12.  That  the  question  of  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  rebellious  states  belongs  to  the 
people,  through  their  representatives  in 
Congress,  and  not  to  the  Executive. 

13.  That  the  confiscation  of  the  lands  of 
the  rebels,  and  their  distribution  among 
the  soldiers  and  actual  settlers,  is  a  mea- 
sure of  justice. 


1864.— Repnbltcan  Platibrm. 

BaUimore,  June  7. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  highest  duty 
of  every  American  citizen  to  maintain, 
against  all  their  enemies,  the  integrity  of 
the  union  and  the  paramount  authority  of 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States;  and  that,  laying  aside  all  differ- 
ences of  political  opinions,  we  pledge  our- 
selves, as  Union  men,  animated  by  a  com- 
mon sentiment  and  aiming  at  a  common 
object,  to  do  everything  in  our  power  to 
aid  the  government  in  quelling,  by  force 
of  arms,  the  Rebellion  now  raging  against 
its  authority,  and  in  bringing  to  the  pun- 
ishment due  to  their  crimes  the  rebels  and 
traitors  arrayed  against  it. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  determi- 
nation of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  not  to  compromise  with  rebels,  nor 
to  offer  them  any  terms  of  peace,  except 
such  as  may  be  based  upon  an  "  uncondi- 
tional surrender  "  of  their  hostility  and  a 
return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  the  United  States ;  and 
that  we  call  upon  the  government  to  main- 
tain this  position,  and  to  prosecute  the 
war  with  the  utmost  possible  vigor  to  the 
complete  suppression  of  the  Reoellion,  in 
full  reliance  upon  the  self-sacrificing  pa- 
triotism, the  heroic  valor,  and  the  undying 
devotion  of  the  American  people  to  the 
country  and  its  free  institutions. 

Resolved,  That  as  slavery  was  the  cause, 
and  now  constitutes  the  strength,  of  this 
Rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be  always  and 
everj'where  hostile  to  the  principles  of  re- 
publican government,  justice  and  the  na- 
tional safety  demand  its  utter  and  com- 
plete extirpation  from  the  soil  of  the  Re- 
public ;  and  that  we  uphold  and  maintain 
the  acts  and  proclamations  by  which  the 
government,  in  its  own  defense,  has  aimed 
a  death-blow  at  the  gigantic  evil.  We  are 
in  favor,  furthermore,  of  such  an  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution,  to  be  made  by 
the  people  in  conformity  with  its  provis- 
ions, as  shall  terminate  and  forever  pro- 
hibit the  existence  of  slavery  within  the 
limits  or  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  are  due  to  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  oi  the  army  and  navy,  who  have 
periled   their   lives  in  defense  of  their 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


45 


country  and  in  vindication  of  the  honor  of 
its  flag ;  that  the  nation  owes  to  them 
some  permanent  recognition  of  their  pa- 
triotism and  their  vaior,  and  aniple  and 
permanent  provision  for  those  of  their 
survivors  who  have  received  disabling  and 
honorable  wounds  in  the  service  of  the 
country ;  and  that  the  memories  of  those 
who  have  fallen  in  its  defense  shall  be 
held  in  grateful  and  everlasting  remem- 
brance. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  and  applaud 
the  practical  wisdom,  the  unselfish  patri- 
otism, and  the  unswerving  fidelity  to  the 
constitution  and  the  principles  of  Ameri- 
can liberty  with  which  Abraham  Lincoln 
has  discharged,  under  circumstances  of 
unparalleled  difiiculty,  the  great  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  the  presidential 
office ;  that  we  approve  and  indorse,  as 
demanded  by  the  emergency  and  essential 
to  the  preservation  of  the  nation,  and  as 
within  the  provisions  of  the  constitution, 
the  measures  and  acts  which  he  has  adopt- 
ed to  defend  the  nation  against  its  open 
and  secret  foes ;  that  we  approve,  especial- 
ly, the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation, 
and  the  employment,  as  Union  soldiers, 
of  men  heretofore  held  in  slavery ;  and 
that  we  have  full  confidence  in  his  deter- 
mination to  carry  these,  and  all  other  con- 
stitutional measures  essential  to  the  salva- 
tion of  the  country,  into  full  and  complete 
effect. 

Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  essential  to 
the  general  welfare  that  harmony  should 
prevail  in  the  national  councils,  and  we 
regard  as  worthy  of  public  confidence  and 
official  trust  those  only  who  cordially  in- 
dorse the  principles  proclaimed  in  these 
resolutions,  and  which  should  characterize 
the  administration  of  the  government. 

Resolved,  That  the  government  owes  to 
all  men  employed  in  its  armies,  without 
regard  to  distinction  of  color,  the  ftill  pro- 
tection of  the  laws  of  war ;  and  that  any 
violation  of  these  law-:',  or  of  the  usages  of 
civilized  nations  in  the  time  of  war,  by 
the  rebels  now  in  arms,  should  be  made 
the  subject  of  prompt  and  full  redress. 

Resolved,  That  foreign  immigration, 
which  in  the  past  has  added  so  much  to 
the  wealth,  development  of  resources,  and 
increase  of  power  to  this  nation — the  asy- 
lum of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations — should 
be  fostered  and  encouraged  by  a  liberal 
and  just  policy. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the 
speedy  construction  of  the  railroad  to  thq 
Pacific  coast. 

Resolved,  That  the  national  faith,  pledged 
for  the  redemption  of  the  public  deot,  must 
be  kept  inviolate ;  and  that,  for  this  pur- 
pose, we  recommend  economy  and  ngid 
responsibility  in  the  public  expenditures 
ana  a  vigorous  and  just  system  of  taxa- 
tion ;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  loyal 


state  to  sustain  the  credit  and  promote  the 
use  of  the  national  currency. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  position 
taken  by  the  government,  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States  can  never  regard  with 
indifference  the  attempt  of  any  European 
power  to  overthrow  by  force,  or  to  sup- 
plant by  fraud,  the  institutions  of  any  re- 
publican government  on  the  western  con- 
tinent, and  that  they  will  view  with  ex- 
treme jealousy,  as  menacing  to  the  peace 
and  independence  of  this,  our  country,  the 
efforts  01  any  such  power  to  obtain  new 
footholds  for  monarchical  governments, 
sustained  by  a  foreign  military  force,  in 
near  proximity  to  the  United  States. 


1864.— Democratic  Platform* 

Chicago,  August  29. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  future,  as  in  the 
past,  we  will  adhere  with  unswerving  fidel- 
ity to  the  Union  under  the  constitution, 
as  the  only  solid  foundation  of  our 
strength,  security,  and  happiness  as  a  peo- 
ple, and  as  a  frame-work  of  government 
equally  conducive  to  the  welfare  and  pros- 
perity of  all  the  states,  both  northern  and 
southern. 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  does  ex- 
plicitly declare,  as  the  sense  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  that  after  four  years  of  failure 
to  restore  the  Union  by  the  experiment  of 
war,  during  which,  under  the  pretense  of 
a  military  necessity  of  a  war  power  higher 
than  the  constitution,  the  constitution  it- 
self has  been  disregarded  in  every  part, 
and  public  liberty  and  private  right  alike 
trodden  down,  an^  the  material  prosperity 
of  the  country  essentially  impaired,  justice, 
humanity,  liberty,  and  the  public  welfare 
demand  that  immediate  efforts  be  made 
for  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  with  a  view 
to  an  ultimate  convention  of  all  the  states, 
or  other  peaceable  means,  to  the  end  that, 
at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  peace 
may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  federal 
union  of  all  the  states. 

Resolved,  That  the  direct  interference  of 
the  military  authority  of  the  United  States 
in  the  recent  elections  held  in  Kentucky, 
Maryland,  Missouri,  and  Delaware,  was  a 
shameful  violation  of  the  constitution ; 
and  the  repetition  of  such  acts  in  the  ap- 
proaching election  will  be  held  as  revolu- 
tionary, and  resisted  with  all  the  means 
and  power  under  our  contrel. 

Resolved,  That  the  aim  and  object  of  the 
Democratic  party  is  to  preserve  the  Fede- 
ral Union  and  the  rights  of  the  states  un- 
impaired ;  and  they  hereby  declare  that 
they  consider  the  administrative  usurpa- 
tion of  extraordinary  and  dangerous  pow- 
ers not  granted  by  the  constitution,  the 
subversion  of  the  civil  by  the  militaiy  law 
in  states  not  in  insurrection,  the  arbitrary 


46 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


military  arrest,  imprisonment,  trial,  and 
sentence  of  American  citizens  in  states 
where  civil  law  exists  in  full  force,  the 
suppression  of  freedom  of  speech  and  of 
the  press,  the  denial  of  the  right  of  asy- 
lum, the  open  and  avowed  disregard  of 
state  rights,  the  employment  of  unusual 
test-oaths,  and  the  interference  with  and 
denial  of  the  right  of  the  people  to 
bear  arms  in  their  defense,  aa  calculated 
to  prevent  a  restoration  of  the  Union  and 
the  perpetuation  of  a  government  deriving 
its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned. 

Resolved,  That  the  shameful  disregard  of 
the  administration  to  its  duty  in  respect  to 
our  fellow-citizens  who  now  are,  and  long 
have  been,  prisoners  of  war,  in  a  suffering 
condition,  deserves  the  severest  reproba- 
tion, on  the  score  alike  of  public  policy 
and  common  humanity. 

Resolved,  That  the  sympathy  of  the  De- 
mocratic party  is  heartily  and  earnestly 
extended  to  the  soldiery  of  our  army  and 
the  sailors  of  our  navy,  who  are  and  have 
been  ia  the  field  and  on  the  sea  under  the 
flag  of  their  country  ;  and,  in  the  event  of 
our  attaining  power,  they  will  receive  all 
the  care  and  protection,  regard  and  kind- 
ness, that  the  brave  soldiers  of  the  Repub- 
lic have  so  nobly  earned. 


1868.    Republican  Platform.     , 

Chicago,  Jtay  20. 

1.  We  congratulate  the  country  on  the 
assured  success  of  the  reconstruction  poli- 
cy of  Congress,  as  evinced  by  the  adoption, 
in  fche  majority  of  the  states  lately  in  rebel- 
lion, of  constitutions  securing  equal  civil 
and  political  rights  to  all ;  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  government  to  sustain  those 
institutions  and  to  prevent  the  people  of 
such  states  from  being  remitted  to  a  state 
of  anarchy. 

2.  The  guarantee  by  Congress  of  equal 
suffrage  to  all  loyal  men  at  the  south  was 
demanded  by  every  consideration  of  pub- 
lic safety,  of  gratitude,  and  of  justice,  and 
must  be  maintained  ;  while  the  question  of 
suffrage  in  all  the  loyal  states  properly  be- 
longs to  the  people  of  those  states. 

3.  We  denounce  all  forms  of  repudiation 
as  a  national  crime ;  and  the  national 
honor  requires  the  payment  of  the  public 
indebtedness  in  the  uttermost  good  faith  to 
all  creditort  at  home  and  abroad,  not  only 
according  to  the  letter  but  the  spirit 
of  the  laws  under  which  it  was  con- 
tracted. 

4.  It  is  due  to  the  labor  of  the  nation 
that  taxation  should  be  equalized  and  re- 
duced as  rapidly  as  the  national  faith  will 
permit. 

5.  The  national  debt,  contracted  as  it 


has  been  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
for  all  time  to  come,  should  be  extended 
over  a  fair  period  for  redemption  ;  and  it  is 
the  duty  of  Congress  to  reduce  the  rate  of 
interest  thereon  whenever  it  can  be  honest- 
ly done. 

6.  That  the  best  policy  to  diminish  our 
burden  of  debts  is  to  so  improve  our  credit 
that  capitalists  will  seek  to  loan  us  money 
at  lower  rates  of  interest  than  we  now  pay, 
and  must  continue  to  pay,  so  long  as  re- 
pudiation, partial  or  total,  open  or  covert, 
IS  threatened  or  suspected. 

7.  The  government  of  the  United  States 
should  be  administered  with  the  strictest 
economy  ;  and  the  corruptions  which  have 
been  so  shamefully  nursed  and  fostered  by 
Andrew  Johnson  call  loudly  for  radical  re- 
form. 

8.  We  profoundly  deplore  the  tragic 
death  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  regret  the 
accession  to  the  presidency  of  Andrew 
Johnson,  who  has  acted  treacherously  to 
the  people  who  elected  him  and  the  cause 
he  was  pledged  to  support ;  who  has  usurped 
high  legislative  and  judicial  functions; 
who  has  refused  to  execute  the  laws  ;  who 
has  used  his  high  office  to  induce  other 
officers  to  ignore  and  violate  the  laws; 
who  has  employed  his  executive  powers  to 
render  insecure  the  property,  the  peace, 
liberty,  and  life  of  the  citizen ;  who  has 
abused  the  pardoning  power ;  who  has 
denounced  the  national  legislature  as  un- 
constitutional ;  who  has  persistently  and 
corruptly  resisted,  by  every  means  in  his 
power,  every  proper  attempt  at  the  recon- 
struction of  the  states  lately  in  rebellion  ; 
who  has  perverted  the  public  patronage 
into  an  engine  of  wholesale  corruption ; 
and  who  has  been  justly  impeached  for 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and  pro- 
perly pronounced  guilty  thereof  by  the 
vote  of^ thirty-five  Senators. 

9.  The  doctrine  of  Great  Britain  and 
other  European  powers,  that  because  a 
man  is  once  a  subject  he  is  always  so,  must 
be  resisted  at  every  hazard  by  the  United 
States,  as  a  relic  of  feudal  times,  not  au- 
thorized by  the  laws  of  nations,  and  at  war 
with  our  national  honor  and  independence. 
Naturalized  citizens  are  entitled  to  pro- 
tection in  all  their  rights  of  citizenship  as 
though  they  were  native-born ;  and  no 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  native  or  na- 
turalized, must  be  liable  tc  arrest  and  im- 
prisonment by  any  foreign  power  for  acts 
done  or  words  spoken  in  this  country  ; 
§.nd,  if  so  arrested  and  imprisoned,  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  government  to  interfere  in 
his  behalf. 

10.  Of  all  who  were  faithful  in  the  trials 
of  the  late  war,  there  were  none  entitled  to 
more  special  honor  than  the  brave  soldiers 
and  seamen  who  endured  the  hardships  of 
campaign  and  cruise,  and  imperiled  their 
lives  in  the  service  of  the  country.    The 


BOOK  XI.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


bounties  and  pensions  provided  by  the 
laws  for  these  brave  defenders  of  the  na- 
tion are  obligations  never  to  be  forgotten ; 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  gallant 
dead  are  the  wards  of  the  people — a  sacred 
legacy  bequeathed  to  the  nation's  protect- 
ing care. 

11.  Foreign  immigration,  which  in  the 
past  has  added  so  much  to  the  wealth,  de- 
velopment, and  resources,  and  increase  of 
power  to  this  Republic,  the  asylum  of  the 
oppressed  of  all  nations,  should  be  fostered 
and  encouraged  by  a  liberal  and  just 
policy. 

12.  This  convention  declares  itself  in 
sympathy  with  all  oppressed  people  who 
are  struggling  for  their  rights. 

13.  That  we  highly  commend  the  spirit 
of  magnanimity  and  forbearance  with 
which  men  who  have  served  in  the  Rebel- 
lion, but  who  now  frankly  and  honestly 
co-operate  with  us  in  restoring  the  peace 
of  the  country  and  reconstructing  the 
southern  state  governments  upon  the  basis 
of  impartial  justice  and  equal  rights,  are  re- 
ceived back  into  the  communion  of  the 
loyal  people ;  and  we  favor  the  removal  of 
the  disqualifications  and  restrictions  im- 
posed upon  the  late  rebels,  in  the  same 
measure  as  the  spirit  of  disloyalty  shall  die 
out,  and  as  may  be  consistent  with  the 
safety  of  the  loyal  people. 

14.  That  we  recognize  the  great  princi- 
ples laid  down  in  the  immortal  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  as  the  true  founda- 
tion of  democratic  government ;  and  we 
hail  with  gladness  every  effort  toward 
making  these  principles  a  living  reality  on 
every  inch  of  American  soil. 


1868.— Democratic  Platform. 

New  York,  July  4. 

The  Democratic  party,  in  national  con- 
vention assembled,  reposing  its  trust  in 
the  intelligence,  patriotism,  and  discrimi- 
nating justice  of  tne  people,  standing  upon 
the  constitution  as  the  foundation  and 
limitation  of  the  powers  of  the  government 
and  the  guarantee  of  the  liberties  of  the 
citizen,  and  recognizing  the  questions  of 
slavery  and  secession  as  having  been  set- 
tled, for  all  time  to  come,  by  the  war  or 
voluntary  action  of  the  southern  states  in 
constitutional  conventions  assembled,  and 
never  to  be  revived  or  reagitated,  do,  with 
the  return  of  peace,  demand — 

1.  Immediate  restoration  of  all  the  states 
to  their  rights  in  the  Union  under  the  con- 
stitution, and  of  civil  government  to  the 
American  people. 

2.  Amnesty  for  all  past  political  offenses, 
and  the  regulation  of  the  elective  franchise 
in  the  states  by  their  citizens. 

8.  Payment  of  all  the  public  debt  of  the 
United  States  as  rapidly  as  practicable — 


all  money  drawn  from  the  people  by  taxat 
tion,  except  so  much  as  is  requisite  for  tht> 
necessities  of  the  government,  economically 
administered,  being  honestly  applied  to 
such  payment ;  and  where  the  obligations 
of  the  government  do  not  expressly  state 
upon  their  face,  or  the  law  under  which 
tlley  were  issued  does  not  provide  that 
they  shall  be  paid  in  coin,  they  ought,  in 
ri^ht  and  in  justice,  to  be  paid  in  the  law- 
ful money  of  the  United  States. 

4.  Equal  taxation  of  every  species  of 
property  according  to  its  real  value,  in- 
cluding government  bonds  and  other  pub- 
lic securities. 

6.  One  currency  for  the  government  and 
the  people,  the  laborer  and  the  oflSce- 
holder,  the  pensioner  and  the  soldier,  the 
producer  and  the  bondholder. 

6.  Economy  in  the  administration  of  the 
government ;  the  reduction  of  the  standing 
army  and  navy ;  the  abolition  of  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau  and  all  political  instrumen- 
talities designed  to  secure  negro  suprema- 
cy ;  simplification  of  the  system  and  dis- 
continuance of  inquisitorial  modes  of  as- 
sessing and  collecting  internal  revenue; 
that  the  burden  of  taxation  may  be  equal- 
ized and  lessened,  and  the  credit  of  the 
government  and  the  currency  made  good ; 
the  repeal  of  all  enactments  for  enrolling 
the  state  militia  into  national  forces  in 
time  of  peace ;  and  a  tariff  for  revenue 
upon  foreign  imports,  and  such  equal  taxa- 
tion under  the  internal  revenue  laws  *as 
will  afford  incidental  protection  to  domes- 
tic manufactures,  and  as  will,  without  im- 
pairing the  revenue,  impose  the  least  bur- 
den upon,  and  best  promote  and  encourage, 
the  great  industrial  interests  of  the  coun- 
try. 

7.  Reform  of  abuses  in  the  administra- 
tion ;  the  expulsion  of  corrupt  men  from 
oflice;  the  abrogation  of  useless  offices; 
the  restoration  of  rightful  authority  to, 
and  the  independence  of,  the  executive  and 
judicial  departments  of  the  government; 
the  subordination  of  the  military  to  the 
civil  power,  to  the  end  that  the  usurpa- 
tions of  Congress  and  the  despotism  of  the 
sword  may  cease. 

8.  Equal  rights  and  protection  for  na- 
turalized and  native-born  citizens,  at  home 
and  abroad ;  the  assertion  of  American  na- 
tionality which  shall  command  the  re- 
spect of  foreign  powers,  and  furnish  an 
example  and  encouragement  to  people 
struggling  for  national  integrity,  constitu- 
tional liberty  and  individual  rights ;  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  rights  or  natural- 
ized citizens  against  the  absolute  doctrine 
of  immutable  allegiance  and  the  claims  of 
foreign  powers  to  punish  them  for  alleged 
crimes  committea  beyond  their  jurisaic- 
tion. 

In  demanding  these  measures  and  re- 
forms, we  arraign  the  Radical  party  for  its 


48 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  h. 


disregard  of  right  and  the  unparalleled 
oppression  and  tyranny  which  have 
marked  its  career.  After  the  most  solemn 
and  unanimous  pledge  of  both  Houses  of 
Congress  to  prosecute  the  war  exclusively 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  government 
and  the  preservation  of  the  Union  under 
the  constitution,  it  has  repeatedly  violated 
the  most  sacred  pledge  under  which  alone 
was  rallied  that  noble  volunteer  army 
which  carried  our  flag  to  victory.  Instead 
of  restoring  the  Union,  it  has,  so  far  as  in 
its  power,  dissolved  it,  and  subjected  ten 
states,  in  time  of  profound  peace,  to  mili- 
tary despotism  and  negro  supremacy.  It 
has  nullified  there  the  right  of  trial  by 
jury;  it  has  abolished  the  habeas  corpus, 
that  most  sacred  writ  of  liberty ;  it  has 
overthrown  the  freedom  of  speech  and 
press;  it  has  substituted  arbitrary  seizures 
and  arrests,  and  military  trials  and  secret 
star-chamber  inquisitions,  for  the  consti- 
tutional tribunals  ;  it  has  disregarded,  in 
time  of  peace,  the  right  of  the  people  to  be 
free  from  searches  and  seizures  ;  it  has 
entered  the  post  and  telegraph  offices,  and 
even  the  private  rooms  of  individuals,  and 
seized  their  private  papers  and  letters, 
without  any  specific  charge. or  notice  of 
aflidavit,  as  required  by  the  organic  law. 
It  has  converted  the  American  capitol 
into  a  bastile ;  it  has  established  a  system 
of  spies  and  oflScial  espionage  to  which  no 
constitutional  monarchy  of  Europe  would 
now  dare  to  resort.  It  has  abolished  the 
right  of  appeal,,  on  important  constitutional 
questions,  to  the  supreme  judicial  tribu- 
nals, and  threatens  to  curtail  or  destroy 
its  original  jurisdiction,  which  is  irrevoca- 
bly vested  by  the  constitution  ;  while  the 
learned  Chief  Justice  has  been  subjected 
to  the  most  atrocious  calumnies,  merely 
because  he  would  not  prostitute  his  high 
office  to  the  support  of  the  false  and  parti- 
san charges  preferred  against  the  Presi- 
dent. Its  corruption  and  extravagance 
have  exceeded  anything  known  in  history; 
and,  by  its  frauds  and  monopolies,  it  has 
nearly  doubled  the  burden  of  the  debt 
created  by  the  war.  It  has  stripped  the 
President  of  his  constitutional  power  of 
appointment,  even  of  his  own  cabinet. 
Under  its  repeated  assaults,  the  pillars 
of  the  government  are  rocking  on  their 
base ;  and  should  it  succeed  in  November 
next,  and  inaugurate  its  President,  we  will 
meet,  as  a  subjected  and  conquered  people, 
amid  the  ruins  of  liberty  and  the  scattered 
fragments  of  the  constitution. 

And  we  do  declare  and  resolve  that 
ever  since  the  people  of  the  United  States 
threw  off  all  subjection  to  the  British 
crown,  the  privilege  and  trust  of  suffrage 
have  belonged  to  the  several  states,  and 
have  been  granted,  regulated,  and  con- 
trolled exclusively  by  the  political  power 
of  each  state  respectively ;  and  that  any 


attempt  by  Congress,  on  any  pretext  what- 
ever, to  deprive  any  state  of  this  right,  or 
interfere  with  its  exercise,  is  a  flagrant 
usurpation  of  power  which  can  find  no 
warrant  in  the  constitution,  and,  if  sanc- 
tioned by  the  people,  will  subvert  our 
form  of  government,  and  can  only  end  in  a 
single,  centralized,  and  consolidated,  gov- 
ernment, in  which  the  separate  existence 
of  the  states  will  be  entirely  absorbed,  and 
an  unqualified  despotism  be  established  in 
place  of  a  federal  union  of  co-equal  states. 
And  that  we  regard  the  construction  acts 
(so  called)  of  Congress  as  usurpations,  and 
unconstitutional,  revolutionary,  and  void. 

That  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  who  car- 
ried the  flag  of  our  country  to  victory 
against  the  most  gallant  and  determined 
foe,  must  ever  be  gratefully  remembered, 
and  all  the  guarantees  ^iven  in  their  favor 
must  be  faithfully  earned  into  execution. 

That  the  public  lands  should  be  dis- 
tributed as  widely  as  possible  among  the 
people,  and  should  be  disposed  of  either 
under  the  pre-emption  of  homestead  lands 
or  sold  in  reasonable  quantities,  and  to 
none  but  actual  occupants,  at  the  minimum 
price  established  by  the  government. 
When  grants  of  public  lands  may  be  al- 
lowed, necessary  for  the  encouragement  of 
important  public  improvements,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sale  of  such  lands,  and  not 
the  lands  themselves,  should  be  so  applied. 

That  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
Andrew  Johnson,  in  exercising  the  power 
of  his  high  ofl5ce  in  resisting  the  aggres- 
sions of  Congress  upon  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  states  and  the  people,  is  en- 
titled to  the  gratitude  of  the  M'hole  Ameri- 
can people ;  and,  on  behalf  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  we  tender  him  our  thanks  fer 
his  patriotic  efibrts  in  that  regard. 

Upon  this  platform,  the  Democratic 
party  appeal  to  every  patriot,  including  all 
the  conservative  element  and  all  who  de- 
sire to  support  the  constitution  and  restore 
the  Union,  forgetting  all  past  differences 
of  opinion,  to  unite  with  us  in  the  present 
great  struggle  for  the  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  that  to  all  such,  to  whatever 
party  they  may  have  heretofore  belonged, 
we  extend  the  right  hand  of  fellowship, 
and  hail  all  such,  co-operating  with  us,  as 
friends  and  brethren. 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  sympa- 
thizes cordially  with  the  workingmen  of 
the  United  States  in  their  efforts  to  protect 
the  rights  and  interests  of  the  laboring 
classes  of  the  country. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  con- 
vention are  tendered  to  Chief  Justice 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  for  the  justice,  dignity, 
and  impartiality  with  which  he  presided 
over  the  court  of  impeachment  on  th« 
trial  of  President  Andrew  Johnson. 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


49 


187!8.— Iia1>or  Reform  Platform. 

Columbw,  February  21. 

We  hold  that  all  political  power  is  in- 
herent in  the  people,  and  free  government 
founded  on  their  authority  and  established 
for  their  benefit ;  that  all  citizens  are  equal 
in  political  rights,  entitled  to  the  largest 
religious  and  political  liberty  compatible 
with  the  good  order  of  society,  as  also  the 
use  and  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  their 
labor  and  talents;  and  no  man  or  set  of 
men  is  entitled  to  exclusive  separable  en- 
dowments and  privileges  or  immunities 
from  the  government,  but  in  consideration 
of  public  services ;  and  any  laws  destruc- 
tive of  these  fundamental  principles  are 
without  moral  binding  force,  and  should 
be  repealed.  And  believing  that  all  the 
evils  resulting  from  unjust  legislation  now 
affecting  the  industrial  classes  can  be  re- 
moved by  the  adoption  of  the  principles 
contained  in  the  following  declaration : 
therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  establish  a  just  standard  of 
distribution  of  capital  and  labor,  by  provid- 
ing a  purely  national  circulating  medium, 
based  on  the  faith  and  resources  of  the  na- 
tion, issued  directly  to  the  people  without 
the  intervention  of  any  system  of  banking 
corporations,  which  money  shall  be  legal 
tender  in  the  payment  of  all  debts,  public 
and  private,  and  interchangeable,  at  the 
option  of  the  holder,  for  government 
bonds  bearing  a  rate  of  interest  not  to  ex- 
ceed 3.65  per  cent.,  subject  to  future  legis- 
lation by  Congress. 

2.  That  the  national  debt  should  be  paid 
in  good  faith,  according  to  the  original 
contract,  at  the  earliest  option  of  the  gov- 
ernment, without  mortgaging  the  property 
of  the  people  or  the  future  exigencies  of 
labor  to  enrich  a  few  capitalists  at  home 
and  abroad. 

3.  That  justice  demands  that  the  burdens 
of  government  should  be  so  adjusted  as  to 
bear  equally  on  all  classes,  and  that  the 
exemption  from  taxation  of  government 
bonds  bearing  extravagant  rates  of  inter- 
est, is  a  violation  of  all  just  principles  of 
revenue  laws. 

4.  That  the  public  lands  of  the  United 
States  belong  to  the  people,  and  should 
not  be  sold  to  individuals  nor  granted  to 
corporations,  but  should  be  held  as  a  sa- 
cred trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  and 
should  be  granted  to  landless  settlers  only, 
in  amounts  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land. 

5.  That  Congress  should  modify  the 
tariff  so  as  to  admit  free  such  articles  of 
common  use  as  we  can  neither  produce  nor 
grow,  and  lay  duties  for  revenue  mainly 
npon  articles  of  luxury  and  upon  such  ar- 
ticles of  manufacture  as  will,  we  having 
the  raw  materials,  assist  in  further  develop- 
ing the  resources  o''the  country. 

26 


6.  That  the  presence  in  our  country  of 
Chinese  laborers,  imported  by  capitalists 
in  large  numbers  for  servile  use  is  an  evil 
entailing  want  and  its  attendant  train  of 
misery  and  crime  on  all  classes  of  the 
American  people,  and  should  be  prohib- 
ited by  legislation. 

7.  That  we  ask  for  the  enactment  of  a 
law  by  which  all  mechanics  and  day-la- 
borers employed  by  or  on  behalf  of  the 
government,  whether  directly  or  indirectly, 
through  persons,  firms,  or  corporations, 
contracting  with  the  state,  shall  conform 
to  the  reduced  standard  of  eight  hours  a 
day,  recently  adopted  by  Congress  for  na- 
tional employes;  and  also  for  an  amend- 
ment to  the  acts  of  incorporation  for  cities 
and  towns,  by  which  all  laborers  and  me- 
chanics employed  at  their  expense  shall 
conform  to  the  same  number  of  hours. 

8.  That  the  enlightened  spirit  of  the  age 
demands  the  abolition  of  the  system  of 
contract  labor  in  our  prisons  and  other  re- 
formatory institutions. 

9.  That  the  protection  of  life,  liberty, 
and  property  are  the  three  cardinal  prin- 
ciples of  government,  and  the  first  two 
are  more  sacred  than  the  latter;  therefore, 
money  needed  for  prosecuting  wars  should, 
as  it  is  required,  be  assessed  and  collected 
from  the  wealthy  of  the  country,  and  not 
entailed  as  a  burden  on  posterity. 

10.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment to  exercise  its  power  over  railroads 
and  telegraph  corporations,  that  th*;y  shall 
not  in  any  case  be  privileged  to  exact  such 
rates  of  freight,  transportation,  or  charges, 
by  whatever  name,  as  may  bear  unduly  or 
unequally  upon  the  producer  or  consumer. 

11.  That  there  should  be  such  a  reform 
in  the  civil  service  of  the  national  govern- 
ment as  will  remove  it  beyond  all  partisan 
influence,  and  place  it  in  the  charge  and 
under  the  direction  of  intelligent  and  com- 
petent business  men. 

12.  That  as  both  history  and  experience 
teach  us  that  power  ever  seeks  to  perpetu- 
ate itself  by  every  and  all  means,  ana  that 
its  prolonged  possession  in  the  hands  of 
one  person  is  always  dangerous  to  the  in- 
terests of  a  free  people,  and  believing  that 
the  spirit  of  our  organic  laws  and  the  sta- 
bility and  safety  of  our  free  institutions  are 
best  obeyed  on  the  one  hand,  and  secured 
on  the  other,  by  a  regular  constitutional 
change  in  the  chief  of  the  country  at  each 
election ;  therefore,  we  are  in  favor  of 
limiting  the  occupancy  of  the  presidential 
chair  to  one  term. 

13.  That  we  are  in  favor  of  granting 
general  amnesty  and  restoring  the  Union 
at  once  on  the  basis  of  equality  of  rights 
and  privileges  to  all^  the  impartial  adminia* 
tration  of  justice  being  the  only  true  bond 
of  union  to  bind  the  states  together  and  re- 
store the  government  of  the  people. 

14.  That  we  demand  the  subjectioa  ot 


50 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ir. 


the  military  to  the  civil  authorities,  and 
the  confinement  of  its  operations  to  nation- 
al purposes  alone. 

15.  That  we  deem  it  expedient  for  Con- 
gress to  supervise  the  patent  laws  so  as  to 
give  labor  more  fully  the  benefit  of  its  own 
ideas  and  inventions. 

16.  That  fitness,  and  not  political  or  per- 
gonal considerations,  should  be  the  only 
recommendation  to  public  office,  either  ap- 

Kintive  or  elective;  and  any  and  all  laws 
)king  to  the  establishment  of  this  prin- 
ciple are  heartily  approved. 


ISTS.- Prohibition  Platform. 

Columbu*,  Ohio,  Fd/ruary  22. 

The  preamble  recites  that  protection  and 
allegiance  are  reciprocal  duties ;  and  every 
citizen  who  yields  obediently  to  the  full 
commands  of  government  should  be  pro- 
tected in  all  enjoyment  of  personal  security, 
personal  liberty,  and  private  property. 
That  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks 
greatly  impairs  the  personal  security  and 
personal  liberty  of  a  great  mass  of  citizens, 
and  renders  private  property  insecure. 
That  all  political  parties  are  hopelessly  un- 
willing to  adopt  an  adequate  policy  on  this 
(question :  Therefore,  as  a  national  conven- 
tion, we  adopt  the  following  declaration  of 
principles : 

That  while  we  acknowledge  the  pure 
patriotism  and  profound  statesmanship  of 
those  patriots  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
this  government,  securing  at  once  the 
rights  of  the  states  severally  and  their  in- 
separable union  by  the  federal  constitution, 
we  would  not  merely  garnish  the  sepulchres 
of  our  republican  fathers,  but  we  do  hereby 
renew  our  pledges  of  solemn  fealty  to  the 
imperishable  principles  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious libertv  embodied  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  our  federal  constitu- 
tion. 

That  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  beverages 
is  a  dishonor  to  Christian  civilization,  a 
political  wrong  of  uneaualled  enormity, 
subversive  of  ordinary  objects  of  govern- 
ment, not  capable  of  being  regulated  or  re- 
strained by  any  system  of  license  whatever, 
and  imperatively  demands,  for  its  suppres- 
sion, effective  legiil  prohibition,  both  by 
state  and  national  Icgi 'elation. 

That  there  can  be  no  greater  peril  to  a 
nation  than  existing  party  competition  for 
the  liquor  vote.  That  any  party  not  op- 
posed to  the  traffic,  experience  shows  will 
engage  in  this  competition — will  court  the 
favor  of  criminal  classes — will  barter  away 
the  public  morals,  the  purity  of  the  ballot, 
and  every  object  of  good  government,  for 
parW  success. 

That,  as  prohibitionists,  we  will  individ- 
aally  use  ail  efforts  to  persuade  men  from 


the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors ;  and  we  in- 
vite all  persons  to  assist  in  this  movement. 

That  competence,  honesty,  and  sobriety 
are  indispensable  qualifications  for  holding 
office. 

That  removals  from  public  office  for 
mere  political  differences  of  opinion  are 
wrong. 

That  fixed  and  moderate  salaries  of  pub- 
lic officers  should  take  the  places  of  fees  and 
perquisites ;  and  that  all  means  should  be 
taken  to  prevent  corruption  and  encourage 
economy. 

That  the  President  and  Vice-President 
should  be  elected  directly  by  the  people. 

That  we  are  in  favor  of  a  sound  national 
currency,  adequate  to  the  demands  of  bus- 
iness, and  convertible  into  gold  and  silver 
at  the  will  of  the  holder,  and  the  adoption 
of  every  measure  compatible  with  justice 
and  public  safety  to  appreciate  our  present 
currency  to  the  gold  standard. 

That  the  rates  of  ocean  and  inland  post^ 
age,  and  railroad  telegraph  lines  and 
water  transportation,  should  be  made  as 
low  as  possible  by  law. 

That  we  are  opposed  to  all  discrimination 
in  favor  of  capital  against  labor,  as  well  as 
all  monopoly  and  class  legislation. 

That  the  removal  of  the  burdens  imposed 
in  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks  will 
emancipate  labor,  and  will  practically  pro- 
mote labor  reform. 

That  suffrage  should  be  granted  to  all 
persons,  without  regard  to  sex. 

That  the  fostering  and  extension  of  com- 
mon schools  is  a  primary  duty  of  the  gov- 
ernment. 

That  a  liberal  policy  should  be  pursued 
to  promote  foreign  immigration. 


18753.— liiberal  Republican  Platform. 

Cincinnati,  May  1. 

We,  the  Liberal  Republicans  of  the 
United  States,  in  national  convention  as- 
sembled at  Cincinnati,  proclaim  the  follow- 
ing principles  as  essential  to  just  govern- 
ment. 

1.  We  recognize  the  equality  of  all  men 
before  the  law,  and  hold  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  government,  in  its  dealings  with  the 
people,  to  mete  out  equal  and  exact  justice 
to  all,  of  whatever  nativity,  race,  color,  or 
persuasion,  religious  or  political. 

2.  We  pledge  ourselves  to  maintain  the 
union  of  these  states,  emancipation,  and 
enfranchisement,  and  to  oppose  any  re- 
opening of  the  questions  settled  by  the 
thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  amend- 
ments of  the  constitution. 

3.  We  demand  the  immediate  and  abso- 
lute removal  of  all  disabilities  imposed  on 
account  of  the  Rebellion,  which  was  finally 
subdued  seven  years  ago,  believing  that 


BOOK  II.J 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


61 


universal  amnesty  will  result  in  complete 
pacification  in  all  sections  of  the  country. 

4.  Local  self-government,  with  impartial 
suffrage,  will  guard  the  rights  of  all  citi- 
zens more  securely  than  any  centralized 
power.  The  public  welfare  requires  the 
supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the  military 
authority,  and  the  freedom  of  person  under 
the  protection  of  the  habeas  corpus.  We 
demand  for  the  individual  the  largest  lib- 
erty consistent  with  public  order,  for  the 
state  self-government,  and  for  the  nation  a 
return  to  the  methods  of  peace  and  the 
constitutional  limitations  of  power. 

5.  The  civil  service  of  the  government 
has  become  a  mere  instrument  of  partisan 
tyranny  and  personal  ambition,  and  an  ob- 
ject of  selfish  greed.  It  is  a  scandal  and 
reproach  upon  free  institutions,  and  breeds 
a  demoralization  dangerous  to  the  per- 
petuity of  republican  government.  We, 
therefore,  regard  a  thorough  reform  of  the 
civil  service  as  one  of  the  most  pressing 
necessities  of  the  hour  ;  that  honesty,  ca- 
pacity, and  fidelity  constitute  the  only  valid 
claims  to  jJublic  employment ;  that  the  of- 
fices of  the  government  cease  to  be  a  mat- 
ter of  arbitrary  favoritism  and  patronage, 
and  that  public  station  shall  become  again 
a  post  of  honor.  To  this  end,  it  is  impera- 
tively required  that  no  President  shall  be 
a  candidate  for  re-election. 

6.  We  demand  a  system  of  federal  taxa- 
tion which  shall  not  unnecessarily  interfere 
with  the  industry  of  the  people,  and  which 
shall  provide  the  means  necessary  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  government,  economi- 
cally administered,  the  pensions,  the  inter- 
est on  the  public  debt,  and  a  moderate  re- 
duction annually  of  the  principal  thereof ; 
and  recognizing  that  there  are  in  our  midst 
honest  but  irreconcilable  differences  of 
opinion  with  regard  to  the  respective  sys- 
tems of  protection  and  free  trade,  we  remit 
the  discussion  of  the  subject  to  the  people 
in  their  congressional  districts  and  the  de- 
cision of  Congress  thereon,  wholly  free 
from  Executive  interference  or  dictation. 

7.  The  public  credit  must  be  sacredly 
maintained,  and  we  denounce  repudiation 
in  every  form  and  guise. 

8.  A  speedy  return  to  specie  payment  is 
demanded  alike  by  the  highest  considera- 
tions of  commercial  morality  and  honest 
government. 

9.  We  remember  with  gratitude  the  hero- 
ism and  sacrifices  of  the  &<.  Miers  and  sailors 
of  the  Republic  ;  and  no  act  of  ours  shall 
ever  detract  from  their  justly  earned  fame 
or  the  ftiU  rewards  of  their  patriotism. 

10.  We  are  opposed  to  all  further  grants 
of  lands  to  railroads  or  other  corporations. 
The  public  domain  should  be  held  sacred 
to  actual  settlers. 

11.  We  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
government,  in  its  intercourse  with  foreign 
nations,  to  cultivate    the  friendships  of 


peace,  by  treating  with  all  on  fair  and  equal 
terjns,  regarding  it  alike  dishonorable 
either  to  demand  what  is  not  right  or  sub- 
mit to  what  is  wrong. 

12.  For  the  promotion  and  success  of 
these  vital  principles  and  the  support  of 
the  candidates  nominated  by  this  conven- 
tion, we  invite  and  cordially  welcome  the 
co-operation  of  all  patriotic  citizens,  with- 
out regard  to  previous  political  affiliationa. 


1  S7!3.— Democratic   Platform^ 

Baitimorv,  Juhj  9. 

We,  the  Democratic  electors  of  the 
United  States,  in  convention  assembled, 
do  present  the  following  principles,  already 
adopted  at  Cincinnati,  as  essential  to  just 
government : 

[Here  followed  the  "Liberal  Republican 
Platform ;"  which  see  above.] 


1873.— Republican  Platform, 

Fhiladelphia,  Jtute  5. 

The  Republican  party  of  the  United 
States,  assembled  in  national  convention 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  5th  and 
6th  days  of  June,  1872,  again  declares  its 
faith,  appeals  to  its  history,  and  announces 
its  position  upon  the  questions  before  the 
country ; 

1.  During  eleven  years  of  supremacy  it 
has  accepted,  with  grand  courage,  the  sol- 
emn duties  of  the  time.  It  suppressed  a 
gigantic  rebellion,  emancipated  four  mil- 
lions of  slaves,  decreed  the  equal  citizenship 
of  all,  and  established  universal  suffrage. 
Exhibiting  unparalleled  magnanimity,  it 
criminally  punished  no  man  for  political 
offenses,  and  warmly  welcomed  all  who 
proved  their  loyalty  by  obeying  the  laws 
and  dealing  justly  with  their  neighbors. 
It  has  steadily  decreased,  with  firm  hand, 
the  resultant  disorders  of  a  great  war,  and 
initiated  a  wise  and  humane  policy  toward 
the  Indians.  The  Pacific  railroad  and 
similar  vast  enterprises  have  been  gener- 
ously aided  and  successfully  conducted,  the 
public  lands  freely  given  to  actual  settlers, 
immigration  protected  and  encouraged, 
and  a  full  acknowledgment  of  the  natural- 
ized citizen's  rights  secured  from  European 
powers.  A  uniform  national  currency  has 
been  provided,  repudiation  frowned  down, 
the  national  credit  sustained  under  the 
most  extraordinary  burdens,  and  new 
bonds  negotiated  at  lower  rates.  The  rev- 
enues have  been  carefully  collected  and 
honestly  applied.  Despite  annual  large 
reductions  of  the  rates  of  taxation,  the 
public  debt  has  been  reduced  during  Gen- 
eral Grant's  presidency  at  the  rate  of  a 
hundred  millions  a  year,  great  finflnfii^l 


52 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


crises  have  been  avoided,  and  peace  and 
plenty  prevail  throughout  the  land.  Me- 
nacing foreign  difficulties  have  been  peace- 
fully and  honorably  compromised,  and  the 
honor  and  power  of  the  nation  kept  in 
high  respect  throughout  the  world.  This 
glorious  record  of  the  past  is  the  party's 
best  pledge  for  the  future.  We  believe  the 
people  will  not  intrust  the  government  to 
anv  party  or  combination  of  men  composed 
chiefly  of  those  who  have  resisted  every 
step  of  this  beneficent  progress. 

2.  The  recent  amendments  to  the  national 
constitution  should  be  cordially  sustained 
because  they  are  right,  not  merely  tolerated 
because  they  are  law,  and  should  be  carried 
out  according  to  their  spirit  by  appropriate 
legislation,  the  entbrcement  of  which  can 
safely  be  intrusted  only  to  the  pai-ty  that 
secured  those  amendments. 

3.  Complete  liberty  and  exact  equality 
in  the  enjoyment  of  all  civil,  political,  and 
public  rights  should  be  established  and 
effectually  maintained  throughout  the 
Union  by  efficient  and  appropriate  state 
and  federal  le^slation.  Js  either  the  law 
nor  its  administration  should  admit  any 
discrimination  in  respect  to  citizens  by 
reason  of  race,  creed,  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude. 

4.  The  natiopal  government  should  seek 
to  maintain  honorable  peace  with  all  na- 
tions, protecting  its  citizens  everj'where, 
and  sympathizing  with  all  peoples  who 
strive  for  greater  liberty. 

6.  Any  system  of  civil  service  under 
which  the  subordinate  positions  of  the 
government  are  considered  rewards  for 
mere  party  zeal  is  fatally  demoralizing ; 
and  we,  therefore,  favor  a  reform  of  the 
system,  by  laws  which  shall  abolish  the 
evils  of  patronage,  and  make  honesty, 
efficiency,  and  fidelity  the  essential  quali- 
fications for  public  positions,  without  prac- 
tically creating  a  life  tenure  of  office. 

6.  We  are  opposed  to  further  grants  of 
the  public  lands  to  corporations  and  mo- 
nopolies, and  demand  that  the  national 
domain  be  set  apart  for  free  homes  for  the 
people. 

7.  The  annual  revenue,  after  paying  cur- 
Tent  expenditures,  pensions,  and  the  inter- 
est on  the  public  debt,  should  ftirnish  a 
moderate  balance  for  the  reduction  of  the 
principal ;  and  that  revenue,  except  so 
much  as  may  be  derived  from  a  tax  upon 
tobacco  and  liquors,  should  be  raised  by 
duties  upon  importations,  the  details  of 
which  should  be  so  adjusted  as  to  aid  in 
securing  remunerative  wages  to  labor,  and 
promote  the  industries,  prosperity,  and 
growth  of  the  whole  country. 

8.  We  hold  in  undying  honor  the  sol- 
diers and  sailors  whose  valor  saved  the 
Union.  Their  pensions  are  a  sacred  debt 
of  the  nation,  and  the  widows  and  orphans 
of  those  who  died  for  their  country  are  en- 


I  titled  to  the  care  of  a  generous  and  grate- 
I  ful  people.  We  favor  such  additionallegis- 
lation  as  will  extend  the  bounty  of  the 
government  to  all  our  soldiers  and  sailors 
who  were  honorably  discharged,  and  who 
in  the  line  of  duty  became  disabled,  with- 
out regard  to  the  length  of  service  or  the 
cause  of  such  discharge. 

9.  The  doctrine  of  Great  Britain  and 
other  European  powers  concerning  alle- 
giance— "once  a  subject  always  a  subject" — • 
having  at  last,  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Kepublican  party,  been  abandoned,  and 
the  American  idea  of  the  individual's  right 
to  transfer  allegiance  having  been  accepted 
by  European  nations,  it  is  the  duty  of  our 
government  to  guard  with  jealous  care  the 
rights  of  adopted  citizens  against  the  as- 
sumption of  unauthorized  claims  by  their 
former  governments,  and  we  urge  contin- 
ued careful  encouragement  and  protection 
of  voluntary  immigration. 

10.  The  franking  privilege  ought  to  be 
abolished,  and  a  way  prepared  for  a  speedy 
reduction  in  the  rates  of  postage. 

11.  Among  the  questions  which  press  for 
attention  is  that  which  concerns  the  rela- 
tions of  capital  and  labor ;  and  the  Re- 
publican party  recognizes  the  duty  of  so 
shaping  legislation  as  to  secure  full  pro- 
tection and  the  amplest  field  for  capital, 
and  for  labor,  the  creator  of  capital,  the 
largest  opportunities  and  a  just  share  of 
the  mutual  profits  of  these  two  great  ser- 
vants of  civilization. 

12.  We  hold  that  Congress  and  the 
President  have  only  fulfilled  an  imperative 
duty  in  their  measures  for  the  suppression 
of  A'iolence  and  treasonable  organizations 
in  certain  lately  rebellious  regions,  and  for 
the  protection  of  the  ballot-box;  and, 
therefore,  they  are  entitled  to  the  thanks 
of  the  nation. 

13.  We  denounce  repudiation  of  the 
public  debt,  in  any  form  or  disguise,  as  a 
national  crime.  We  witness  with  pride 
the  reduction  of  the  principal  of  the  debt, 
and  of  the  rates  of  interest  upon  the  bal- 
ance, and  confidently  expect  that  our  ex- 
cellent national  currency  will  be  perfected 
by  a  speedy  resumption  of  specie  payment. 

14.  The  Republican  party  is  mindful  of 
its  obligations  to  the  loyal  women  of 
America  for  their  noble  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  freedom.  Their  admission  to 
wider  fields  of  usefulness  is  viewed  with 
satisfaction ;  and  the  honest  demand  of 
any  class  of  citizens  for  additional  rights 
should  be  treated  with  respectful  considera- 
tion. 

15.  We  heartily  approve  the  action  of 
Congress  in  extending  amnesty  to  those 
lately  in  rebellion,  and  rejoice  in  the  growth 
of  peace  and  fraternal  feeling  throughout 
the  land. 

16.  The  Republican  party  proposes  to 
respect  the  rights  reserved  by  the  people  to 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


53 


themselves  as  carefully  as  the  powers  dele- 
gated by  them  to  the  states  and  to  the 
federal  government.  It  disapproves  of  the 
resort  to  unconstitutional  laws  for  the  pur- 
pose of  removing  evils,  by  interference 
with  rights  not  surrendered  by  the  people 
to  either  the  state  or  national  government. 

17.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  general  govern- 
ment to  adopt  such  measures  as  may  tend 
to  encourage  and  restore  American  com- 
merce and  ship-building. 

18.  We  believe  that  the  modest  patriot- 
ism, th«  earnest  purpose,  the  sound  judg- 
ment, the  practical  wisdom,  the  incorrupti- 
ble integrity,  and  the  illustrious  services 
of  Ulysses  S.  Grant  have  commended  him 
to  the  heart  of  the  American  people ;  and 
with  him  at  our  head,  we  start  to-day  upon 
a  new  march  to  victory. 

19.  Henry  Wilson,  nominated  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  known  to  the  whole  land 
from  the  early  days  of  the  great  struggle 
for  liberty  as  an  indefatigable  laborer  in 
all  campaigns,  an  incorruptible  legislator 
and  representative  man  of  American  insti- 
tutions, is  worthy  to  associate  with  our 
great  leader  and  share  the  honors  which 
we  pledge  our  best  eiforts  to  bestow  upon 
them 


1S7$3.— Democratic  (Stralgbt-ont)  Platform, 

Louisville,  Ky.,  September  3. 

Whereas,  A  frequent  recurrence  to  first 
principles  and  eternal  vigilance  against 
abuses  are  the  wisest  provisions  for  liberty, 
which  is  the  source  of  progress,  and  fidelity 
to  our  constitutional  system  is  the  only 
protection  for  either  :  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  original  basis  of  our 
whole  political  structure  is  consent  in  every 
part  thereof.  The  people  of  each  state 
voluntarily  created  their  state,  and  the 
states  voluntarily  formed  the  Union  ;  and 
each  state  provided  by  its  written  constitu- 
tion for  everything  a  state  could  do  for  the 
protection  of  life,  liberty,  and  property 
within  it ;  and  each  state,  jointly  with  the 
others,  provided  a  federal  union  for  foreign 
and  inter-state  relations. 

Resolved,  That  all  governmental  powers, 
whether  state  or  federal,  are  trust  powers 
coming  from  the  people  of  each  state,  and 
that  they  are  limited  to  the  written  letter 
of  the  constitution  and  the  laws  passed  in 
pursuance  of  it;  which  powers  must  be 
exercised  in  the  utmost  good  faith,  the 
constitution  itself  stating  in  what  manner 
they  may  be  altered  and  amended. 

Resolved,  That  the  interests  of  labor  and 
capital  should  not  be  permitted  to  conflict, 
but  should  be  harmonized  by  Judicious 
legislation.  While  such  a  conflict  con- 
tinues, labor,  which  is  the  parent  of  wealth, 
is  entitled  to  paramount  cousideration. 


Resolved,  That  we  proclaito  to  the  world 
that  principle  is  to  be  preferred  to  power ; 
that  the  Democratic  party  is  held  together 
by  the  cohesion  of  time-honored  princi- 
ples, which  they  will  never  surrender  in 
exchange  for  all  the  offices  which  Presi- 
dents can  confer.  The  pangs  of  the  mi- 
norities are  doubtless  excruciating;  but 
we  \Celcome  an  eternal  minority,  under  the 
banner  inscribed  with  our  principles, 
rather  than  an  almighty  and  everlasting 
majority,  purchased  by  their  abandonment. 

Resolved,  That,  having  been  betrayed  at 
Baltimore  into  a  false  creed  and  a  false 
leadership  by  the  convention,  we  repudiate 
both,  and  appeal  to  the  people  to  approve 
our  platform,  and  to  rally  to  the  polls  and 
support  the  true  platform  and  the  candi- 
dates who  embody  it. 


1875.— The  American  National  Platform, 

Adopted  in  Mass  Meeting,  PiUsburg,  June  9. 

We  hold  : 

1.  That  ours  is  a  Christian  and  not  a 
heathen  nation,  and  that  the  Grod  of  the 
Christian  Scriptures  is  the  author  of  civil 
government. 

2.  That  God  requires  and  man  needs  a 
Sabbath. 

3.  That  the  prohibition  of  the  importa- 
tion, manufacture,  and  sale  of  intoxicating 
drinks  as  a  beverage,  is  the  true  policy  on 
the  temperance  question. 

4.  The  charters  of  all  secret  lodges 
granted  by  our  federal  and  state  legisla- 
tures should  be  withdrawn,  and  their 
oaths  prohibited  by  law. 

6.  That  the  civil  equality  secured  to  all 
American  citizens  by  articles  13th,  14th, 
and  15th  of  our  amended  constitution 
should  be  preserved  inviolate. 

6.  That  arbitration  of  differences  with 
nations  is  the  most  direct  and  sure  method 
of  securing  and  perpetuating  a  permanent 
peace. 

7.  That  to  cultivate  the  intellect  without 
improving  the  morals  of  men  is  to  make 
mere  adepts  and  experts:  therefore,  the 
Bible  should  be  associated  with  books  of 
science  and  literature  in  all  our  educa- 
tional institutions. 

8.  That  land  and  other  monopolieg 
should  be  discountenanced. 

9.  That  the  government  should  furnish 
the  people  with  an  ample  and  sound  cur- 
rency and  a  return  to  specie  payment,  as 
soon  as  practicable. 

10.  That  maintenance  of  the  public 
credit,  protection  to  all  loyal  citizens,  and 
justice  to  Indians  are  essential  to  the  honor 
and  safety  of  our  nation. 

11.  And,  finally,  we  demand  for  the 
American  people  the  abolition  of  electoral 
colleges,  and  a  direct  vote  for  President 
and  Vice-President  of  the  Unit«d  States. 


64 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  n. 


[Their  candidates  were  James  B.  Walker, 
Wheaton,  Illinois,  for  President;  and  Don- 
ald Kirkpatrick,  SjTracuse,  New  York,  for 
Vice-PresidentJ 


1876.— Profclbltlon  Reform  Platform, 

CUveUmd,  Ohio,  May  17. 

The  Prohibition  Reform  party  of  the 
United  States,  organized  in  the  name  of 
the  people,  to  revive,  enforce,  and  perpet- 
xiate  in  the  government  the  doctrines  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  submit,  in 
this  centennial  year  of  the  republic,  for  the 
BufTrases  of  all  good  citizens,  the  following 
platform  of  national  refonns  and  measures : 

First.  The  legal  prohibition  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  the  territories,  and  in 
every  other  place  subject  to  the  laws  of 
Congress,  of  the  importation,  exportation, 
manufacture,  and  traffic  of  all  alcoholic 
beverages,  as  high  crimes  against  society ; 
•an  amendment  of  the  national  constitu- 
tion, to  render  these  prohibitory  measures 
universal  and  permanent ;  and  the  adop- 
tion of  •  treaty  stipulations  with  foreign 
powers,  to  prevent  the  importation  and 
exportation  of  all  alcoholic  beverages. 

Second.  The  abolition  of  class  legisla- 
tion, and  of  special  privileges  in  the  gov- 
ernment, and  the  adoi)tion  of  equal  suffrage 
and  eligibility  to  office,  without  distinction 
of  race,  religious  creed,  property,  or  sex. 

Third.  The  appropriation  of  the  public 
lands,  in  limited  quantities,  to  actual  set- 
tlers only ;  the  reduction  of  the  rates  of 
inland  and  ocean  postage ;  of  telegraphic 
communication ;  of  railroad  and  water 
transportation  and  travel,  to  the  lowest 
practical  point,  by  force  of  laws,  wisely 
and  justly  framed,  with  reference,  not  only 
to  the  interest  of  capital  employed,  but  to 
the  higher  claims  of  the  general  good. 

Fourth.  The  suppression,  by  laws,  of 
lotteries  and  gambling  in  gold,  stocks,  pro- 
duce, and  every  form  of  money  and  pro- 
perty, and  the  penal  inhibition  of  the  use 
of  the  public  mails  for  advertising  schemes 
of  gambling  and  lotteries. 

Fifth.  The  abolition  of  those  foul  enor- 
mities, polygamy  and  the  social  evil ;  and 
the  protection  of  purity,  peace,  and  hap- 
•piness  of  homes,  by  ample  and  efficient 
legislation. 

Sixth.  The  national  observance  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  established  by  laws 
prohibiting  ordinary  labor  and  business 
in  all  departments  of  public  service  and 
private  employment  (works  of  necessity, 
charity,  and  religion  excepted)  on  that  day. 

Seventh.  The  establishment,  by  manda- 
tory provisions  in  national  and  state  con- 
stitutions, and  by  all  necessary  legislation, 
of  a  system  of  free  public  schools  for  the 
universal  and  forced  education  of  all  the 
youth  of  the  land. 


Eighth.  The  free  use  of  the  Bible,  not 
as  a  ground  of  religious  creeds,  but  as  a 
text-book  of  the  purest  morality,  the  best 
liberty,  and  the  noblest  literature  in  our 
public  schools,  that  our  children  may  grow 
up  in  its  light,  and  that  its  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples may  pervade  our  nation. 

Ninth.  The  separation  of  the  govern- 
ment in  all  its  departments  and  institu- 
tions, including  the  public  schools  and  all 
funds  for  their  maintenance,  from  the  con- 
trol of  every  religious  sect  or  other  asso- 
ciation, and  the  protection  alike  of  all 
sects  by  equal  laws,  with  entire  freedom  of 
religious  faith  and  worship. 

Tenth.  The  introduction  into  all  treaties 
hereafter  negotiated  with  foreign  govern- 
ments of  a  provision  for  the  amicable  set- 
tlement of  international  difficulties  by 
arbitration. 

Eleventh.  The  abolition  of  all  barbar- 
ous modes  and  instruments  of  punishment; 
the  recognition  of  the  laws  of  Grod  and 
the  claims  of  humanity  in  the  discipline 
of  jails  and  prisons,  and  of  that  higher 
and  wiser  civilization  worthy  of  our  age 
and  nation,  which  regards  the  reform  of 
criminals  as  a  means  for  the  prevention  of 
crime. 

Twelfth.  The  abolition  of  executive  and 
legislative  patronage,  and  the  election  of 
President,  Vice-President,  United  States 
Senators,  and  of  all  civil  officers,  so  far  as 
practicable,  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

Thirteenth.  The  practice  of  a  friendly 
and  liberal  policy  to  immigrants  from  all 
nations,  the  guaranty  to  them  of  ample 
protection,  and  of  equal  rights  and  privi- 
leges. 

Fourteenth.  The  separation  of  the  money 
of  government  from  all  banking  institu- 
tions. The  national  government,  only, 
should  exercise  the  high  prerogative  of 
issuing  paper  money,  and  tnat  should  be 
subject  to  prompt  redemption  on  demand, 
in  gold  and  silver,  the  only  equal  stand- 
ards of  value  recognized  by  the  civilized 
world. 

Fifteenth.  The  reduction  of  the  salaries 
of  public  officers  in  a  just  ratio  with  the 
decline  of  wages  and  market  prices ;  the 
abolition  of  sinecures,  unnecessary  offices, 
and  official  fees  "and  perquisites ;  the  prac- 
tice of  strict  economy  in  government  exi 
penses ;  and  a  free  and  thorough  investi- 
gation into  any  and  all  allegeof  abuses  of 
public  trusts. 


18T6.— Independent  (Greenback)  PlatfonrK« 

Indianapolit,  Ind.,  May  17. 

The  Independent  party  is  called  into 
existence  by  the  necessities  of  the  people, 
whose  industries  are  prostrated,  whose 
labor  is  deprived  of  its  just  reward  by  a 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


55 


ruinous  policy  which  the  Republican  and 
Democratic  parties  refuse  to  change ;  and, 
in  view  of  the  failure  of  these  parties  to 
furnish  relief  to  the  depressed  industries 
of  the  country,  thereby  disappointing  the 
just  hopes  and  expectations  of  the  suffer- 
ing people,  we  delare  our  principles,  and 
invite  all  independent  and  patriotic  men 
to  join  our  ranks  in  this  movement  for  fi- 
nancial reform  and  industrial  emancipation. 

First.  We  demand  the  immediate  and 
unconditional  repeal  of  the  specie  resump- 
tion act  of  January  14,  1876,  and  the  res- 
cue of  our  industries  from  ruin  and  disas- 
ter resulting  from  its  enforcement ;  and  we 
call  upon  all  patriotic  men  to  organize  in 
every  congressional  district  of  the  country, 
with  a  view  of  electing  representatives  to 
Congress  who  will  carry  out  the  wishes  of 
the  people  in  this  regard  and  stop  the 
present  suicidal  and  destructive  policy  of 
contraction. 

Second.  We  believe  that  a  United  States 
note,  issued  directly  by  the  government, 
and  converlible,  on  demand,  into  United 
States  obligations,  bearing  a  rate  of  inter- 
est not  exceeding  one  cent  a  day  on  each 
one  hundred  dollars,  and  exchangeable  for 
United  States  notes  at  par,  will  afford  the 
best  circulating  medium  ever  devised. 
Such  United  States  notes  should  be  full 
legal  tenders  for  all  purposes,  except  for 
the  payment  of  such  obligations  as  are,  by 
existing  contracts,  especially  made  paya- 
ble in  coin ;  and  we  hold  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  government  to  provide  such  a 
circulating  medium,  and  insist,  in  the 
language  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  that  "  bank 

f)aper  must  be  suppressed,  and  the  circu- 
ation  restored  to  the  nation,  to  whom  it 
belongs." 

Third.  It  is  the  paramount  duty  of  the 
government,  in  all  its  legislation,  to  keep 
in  view  the  full  development  of  all  legiti- 
mate business,  agricultural,  mining,  manu- 
facturing, and  commercial. 

Fourth.  We  most  earnestly  protest 
against  any  further  issue  of  gold,  bonds  for 
sale  in  foreign  markets,  by  which  we 
would  be  made,  for  a  long  period,  "  hewers 
of  wood  and  drawers  of  water"  to  for- 
eigners, especially  as  the  American  people 
would  gladly  and  promptly  take  at  par  all 
bonds  the  government  may  need  to  sell, 
provided  they  are  made  payable  at  the  op- 
tion of  ihe  holder,  and  bearing  interest  at 
3.65  per  cent,  per  annum  or  even  a  lower 
rate. 

Fifth.  We  further  protest  against  the 
sale  of  government  bonds  for  the  purpose 
of  purchasing  silver  to  be  used  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  our  more  convenient  and  less 
fluctuating  fractional  currency,  which,  al- 
though well  calculated  to  enrich  owners  of 
silver  mines,  yet  in  operation  it  will  still 
further  oppress,  in  taxation,  an  already 
overburdened  people. 


1876.— Republican  Platftorm, 

Cincinnoti,  Ohio,  June  14. 

^Vhen,  in  the  economy  of  Providence, 
this  land  was  to  be  purged  of  human 
slavery,  and  when  the  strength  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and 
for  the  people,  was  to  be  demonstrated,  the 
Republican  party  came  into  power.  Its 
deeds  have  passed  into  history,  and  we 
look  back  to  them  with  pride.  Incited  by 
their  memories  to  high  aims  for  the  good 
of  our  country  and  mankind,  and  looking 
to  the  future  with  unfaltering  courage, 
hope,  and  purpose,  we,  the  representatives 
of  the  party,  in  national  conventi(Tn  as- 
sembled, make  the  following  "declaration 
of  principles : 

1.  The  United  States  of  America  is  a 
nation,  not  a  league.  By  the  combined 
workings  of  the  national  and  state  govern- 
ments, under  their  respective  constitu- 
tions, the  rights  of  every  citizen  are  se- 
cured, at  home  and  abroad,  and  the  com- 
mon welfare  promoted. 

2.  The  Republican  party  has  preserved 
these  governments  to  the  hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  nation's  birth,  and  they  are 
now  embodiments  of  the  great  truths  spo- 
ken at  its  cradle — "  That  all  men  are  cre- 
ated equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by 
their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable 
rights,  among  which  are  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that  for  the  at- 
tainment of  these  ends  governments  have 
been  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned." Until  these  truths  are  cheerfully 
obeyed,  or,  if  need  be,  vigorously  enfolded, 
the  work  of  the  Republican  party  is  un- 
finished. 

3.  The  permanent  pacification  of  the 
southern  section  of  the  Union,  and  the 
complete  protection  of  all  its  citizens  in  the 
free  enjoyment  of  all  their  rights,  is  a  duty 
to  which  the  Republican  party  stands  sa- 
credly pledged.  The  power  to  provide  for 
the  enforcement  of  the  principles  embodied 
in  the  recent  constitutional  amendments  is 
vested,  by  those  amendments,  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States ;  and  we  declare 
it  to  be  the  solemn  obligation  of  the  legis- 
lative and  executive  departments  of  the 
government  to  put  into  immediate  and 
vigorous  exercise  all  their  constitutional 
powers  for  removing  any  just  causes  of 
discontent  on  the  part  of  any  class,  and 
for  securing  to  every  American  citizen 
complete  liberty  and  exact  equality  in  the 
exercise  of  all  civil,  political,  and  public 
rights.  To  this  end  we  imperatively  de- 
mand a  Congress  and  a  Chief  Executive 
whose  courage  and  fidelity  to  these  duties 
shall  not  falter  until  these  results  are 
placed  beyond  dispute  or  recall. 

4.  In  the  first  act  of  Congress  8igne<l  by 
President  Grant,  the  national  government 
assumed  to  remove  any  doubt  of  its  pur- 


56 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


pose  to  discharge  all  just  obligations  to 
the  public  creditors,  and  "  solemnly  pledged 
ita  laith  to  make  provision  at  the  earliest 
practicable  period  for  the  redemption  of 
the  United  States  notes  in  coin."  Com- 
mercial prosperity,  public  morals,  and  na- 
tional credit  demand  that  this  promise  be 
fulfilled  by  a  continuous  and  steady  pro- 
gress to  specie  payment. 

5.  Under  the  constitution,  the  President 
and  heads  of  departments  are  to  make 
nominations  for  office,  the  Senate  is  to  ad- 
vise and  consent  to  appointments,  and  the 
House  of  Representatives  is  to  accuse  and 
prosecute  faithless  officers.  The  best  in- 
terest of  the  public  service  demand  that 
these  distinctions  be  respected ;  that  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  who  may  be 
judges  and  accusers  should  not  dictate  ap- 
pointments to  office.  The  invariable  rule 
m  appointments  should  have  reference  to 
the  honesty,  fidelity,  and  capacity  of  the 
appointees,  giving  to  the  party  in  power 
those  places  where  harmony  and  vigor  of 
administration  require  its  policy  to  be  rep- 
resented, but  permitting  all  others  to  be 
filled  by  persons  selected  with  sole  refer- 
ence to  the  efficiency  of  the  public  service, 
and  the  right  of  all  citizens  to  share  in  the 
honor  of  rendering  faithfiil  service  to  the 
country. 

6.  We  rejoice  in  the  quickened  con- 
science of  the  people  concerning  political 
aflTairs,  and  will  hold  all  public  officers  to 
A  rigid  responsibility,  and  engage  that  the 
prosecution  and  punishment  of  all  who  be- 
tray official  trusts  shall  be  swift,  thorough, 
and  unsparing, 

7.  The  public  school  system  of  the  several 
states  is  tne  bulwark  of  the  American  Re- 
public ;  and,  with  a  view  to  its  security 
and  permanence,  we  recommend  an  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  forbidding  the  application  of  any 
public  funds  or  property  for  the  benefit  of 
any  schools  or  institutions  under  sectarian 
control. 

8.  The  revenue  necessary  for  current 
expenditures,  and  the  obligations  of  the 
public  debt,  must  be  largely  derived  from 
duties  upon  importations,  which,  so  far  as 
possible,  should  be  adjusted  to  promote 
the  interests  of  American  labor  and  ad- 
vance the  prosperity  of  the  whole  country. 

9.  We  reaffirm  our  opposition  to  further 
grants  of  the  public  lands  to  corporations 
and  monopolies,  and  demand  that  the  na- 
tional domain  be  devoted  to  free  homes 
for  the  people. 

10.  It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  the  gov- 
ernment so  to  moaify  existing  treaties  with 
European  governments,  that  the  same  pro- 
tection shall  be  afforded  to  the  adopted 
American  citizen  that  is  given  to  the  na- 
tive-bom ;  and  that  all  necessary  laws 
should  be  passed  to  protect  emigrants  in 


the  absence  of  power  in  the  states  for  that 
purpose. 

11.  It  is  the  immediate  duty  of  Con- 
gress to  fully  investigate  the  effect  of  the 
immigration  and  importation  of  Mongo- 
lians upon  the  moral  and  material  in- 
terests of  the  country. 

12.  The  Republican  party  recognizes, 
with  approval,  the  substantial  advances 
recently  made  towards  the  establishment 
of  equal  rights  for  women  by  the  many 
important  amendments  effected  by  Repub- 
lican legislatures  in  the  laws  which  con- 
cern the  personal  and  property  relations 
of  wives,  mothers,  and  widows,  and  by  the 
appointment  and  election  of  women  to  the 
superintendence  of  education,  charities, 
and  other  public  trusts.  The  honest  de- 
mands of  this  class  of  citizens  for  addi- 
tional rights,  privileges,  and  immunities, 
should  be  treated  with  respectful  consider- 
ation. 

13.  The  constitution  confers  upon  Con- 
gress sovereign  power  over  the  territories 
of  the  United  States  for  their  government; 
and  in  the  exercise  of  this  power  it  is  the 
right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  t\nd 
extirpate,  in  the  territories,  that  relic  of 
barbarism — polygamy ;  and  we  demand 
such  legislation  as  shall  secure  this  <'.nd 
and  the  supremacy  of  American  institu- , 
tions  in  all  the  territories. 

14.  The  pledges  which  the  nation  has 
given  to  her  soldiers  and  sailors  must  be 
fulfilled,  and  a  grateful  people  will  always 
hold  those  who  imperiled  their  lives  for 
the  country's  preservation  in  the  kindest 
remembrance. 

15.  We  sincerely  deprecate  all  sectional 
feeling  and  tendencies.  We,  therefitre, 
note  with  deep  solicitude  that  the  Demo- 
cratic party  counts,  as  its  chief  hope  of 
success,  upon  the  electoral  vote  of  a  united 
south,  secured  through  the  efforts  of  those 
who  were  recently  arrayed  against  the  na- 
tion ;  and  we  invoke  the  earnest  attention 
of  the  country  to  the  grave  truth  that  a 
success  thus  achieved  would  reopen  sec- 
tional strife,  and  imperil  national  honor 
and  human  rights. 

16.  We  charge  the  Democratic  party 
with  being  the  same  in  character  and  spirit 
as  when  it  sympathized  with  treason ;  with 
making  its  control  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives the  triumph  and  opportunity  of 
the  nation's  recent  loes ;  with  reasserting 
and  applauding,  in  the  national  capital, 
the  sentiments  of  unrepentant  rebellion ; 
with  sending  Union  soLiiers  to  the  rear, 
and  promoting  Confederate  soldiers  to  the 
front ;  with  deliberately  proposing  to  repu- 
diate the  plighted  faith  of  the  government; 
with  being  equally  false  and  imbecile  upon 
the  overshadowing  financial  questions; 
with  thwarting  the  ends  of  justice  by  its 
partisan  mismanagement  and  obstruction 
of    investigation;     with    proving    itself 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


57 


through  the  period  of  its  ascendency  in 
the  lower  house  of  Congress,  utterly  in- 
competent to  administer  the  government ; 
and  we  warn  the  country  against  trusting 
a  party  thus  alike  unworthy,  recreant,  and 
incapable. 

17.  The  national  administration  merits 
commendation  for  its  honorable  work  in 
the  management  of  domestic  and  foreign 
affairs,  and  President  Grant  deserves  the 
continued  hearty  gratitude  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  for  his  patriotism  and  his  emi- 
nent services  in  war  and  in  peace. 

18.  We  present,  as  our  candidates  for 
President  and  Vic^-President  of  the  United 
States,  two  distinguished  statesmen,  of 
eminent  ability  and  character,  and  con- 
spicuously fitted  for  those  high  offices,  and 
we  confidently  appeal  to  the  American 
people  to  intrust  the  administration  of 
their  public  affairs  to  Rutherford  B.  Hayes 
and  William  A.  Wheeler. 


18T6.— Democratic  Platform. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  27. 

We,  the  delegates  of  the  Democratic 
party  of  the  United  States,  in  national  con- 
vention assembled,  do  hereby  declare  the 
administration  of  the  Federal  government 
to  be  in  urgent  need  of  immediate  reform ; 
do  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  nominees  of 
this  convention,  and  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  each  state,  a  zealous  effort  and  co- 
operation to  this  end ;  and  do  hereby  ap- 
peal to  our  fellow-citizgns  of  every  former 
political  connection  to  undertake,  with  us, 
this  first  and  most  pressing  patriotic  duty. 

For  the  Democracy  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, we  do  here  reaffirm  our  faith  in  the  per- 
manence of  the  Federal  Union,  our  devo- 
tion to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
with  its  amendments  universally  accepted 
as  a  final  settlement  of  the  controversies 
that  engendered  civil  war,  and  do  here  re- 
cord our  steadfast  confidence  in  the  per- 
petuity of  republican  self-government. 

In  absolute  acquiescence  in  the  will  of 
the  majority — the  vital  principle  of  repub- 
lics ;  in  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the 
military  authority ;  in  the  total  separation 
of  church  and  state,  for  the  sake  alike  of 
civil  and  religious  freedom ;  in  the  equal- 
ity of  all  citizens  before  just  lavrs  of  their 
own  enactment;  in  the  liberty  of  indi- 
vidual conduct,  unvexed  by  sumptuary 
laws ;  in  the  faithful  education  of  the  ris- 
ing generation;  that  they  may  preserve, 
enjoy,  and  transmit  these  best  conditions 
of  human  happiness  and  hope — we  behold 
the  noblest  products  of  a  hundred  years  of 
changeful  history;  but  while  upholding 
the  bond  of  our  Union  and  great  charter 
of  these  our  rights,  it  behooves  a  free  peo- 
ple to  practice  also  that  eternal  vigilance 
which  13  the  price  of  liberty. 


Reform  is  necessary  to  rebuild  and  es- 
tablish in  the  hearts  of  the  whole  people 
the  Union,  eleven  years  ago  happily  i*es- 
cued  from  the  danger  of  a  secession  of 
states,  but  now  to  be  saved  from  a  corrupt 
centralism  which,  after  inflicting  upon  ten 
states  the  rapacity  of  carpet-bag  tyranny, 
has  honey-combea  the  offices  of  the  Federal 
government  itself,  with  incapacity,  waste, 
and  fraud ;  infected  states  and  municipali" 
ties  with  the  contagion  of  misrule;  and 
locked  fast  the  prosperity  of  an  industrious 
people  in  the  paralysis  of  "  hard  times." 

Reform  is  necessary  to  establish  a  sound 
currency,  restore  the  public  credit,  and 
maintain  the  national  honor. 

We  denounce  the  failure,  for  all  these 
eleven  years  of  peace,  to  make  good  the 
promise  of  the  legal  tender  notes,  which 
are  a  changing  standard  of  value  in  the 
hands  of  the  people,  and  the  non-payment 
of  which  is  a  disregard  of  the  plighted 
faith  of  the  nation. 

We  denounce  the  improvidence  which, 
in  eleven  years  of  peace,  has  taken  from 
the  people,  in  federal  taxes,  thirteen  times 
the  whole  amount  of  the  legal-tender  notes, 
and  squandered  four  times  their  sum  in 
useless  expense  without  accumulating  any 
reserve  for  their  redemption. 

We  denounce  the  financial  imbecility 
and  immorality  of  that  party  which,  dur- 
ing eleven  years  of  peace,  has  made  no  ad- 
vance toward  resumption,  no  preparation 
for  resumption,  but,  instead,  has  obstructed 
resumption,  by  wasting  our  resources  and 
exhausting  all  our  surplus  income ;  and, 
while  annually  professing  to  intend  a 
speedy  return  to  specie  payments,  has  an- 
nually enacted  fresh  hinderances  therttto. 
As  such  hinderance  we  denounce  the  le- 
sumption  clause  of  1875,  and  we  here  de- 
mand its  repeal. 

We  demand  a  judicious  system  of  prepa- 
ration, by  public  economies,  by  official  re- 
trenchments, and  by  wise  finance,  which 
shall  enable  the  nation  soon  to  assure  the 
whole  world  of  its  perfect  ability  and  of  its 
perfect  readiness  to  meet  any  of  its  pro- 
mises at  the  call  of  the  creditor  entitled  to 
payment.  We  believe  such  a  system,  well 
devised,  and,  above  all,  intrusted  to  com- 
petent hands  for  execution,  creating,  at  no 
time,  an  artificial  scarcity  of  currency,  and 
at  no  time  alarming  the  public  mind  into 
a  withdrawal  of  that  vaster  machinery  of 
credit  by  which  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  all 
business  transactions  are  performed.  A 
system  open,  public,  and  inspiring  general 
confidence,  would,  from  the  day  of  ita 
adoption,  bring  healing  on  its  wings  to  all 
our  Harassed  industries — set  in  motion  the 
wheels  of  commerce,  manufactures,  and  the 
mechanic  arts — restore  employment  to  la- 
bor— and,  renew,  in  all  its  natural  sources, 
the  prosperity  of  the  people. 

Reform  is  necessary  in   the  sum  and 


58 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


modes  of  federal  taxation,  to  the  end  that 
capital  may  be  set  free  from  distrust  and 
labor  lightly  burdened. 

We  denounce  the  present  tariff,  levied 
upon  nearly  four  thousand  articles,  as  a 
masterpiece  of  injustice,  inequality,  and 
false  pretence.  It  yields  a  dwindling,  not 
a  yearly  rising,  revenue.  It  has  impover- 
ished many  industries  to  subsidize  a  few. 
It  prohibits  imports  that  might  purchase 
the  products  of  American  labor.  It  has 
degraded  American  commerce  from  the 
first  to  an  inferior  rank  on  the  high  seas. 
It  has  cut  down  the  sales  of  American 
manufactures  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
depleted  the  returns  of  American  agri- 
culture— an  industry  followed  by  half  our 
people.  It  costs  the  people  five  times 
more  than  it  produces  to  the  treasury,  ob- 
structs the  processes  of  production,  and 
wastes  the  fruits  of  labor.  It  promotes 
fraud,  fosters  smuggling,  enricnes  dis- 
honest officials,  and  bankrupts  honest 
merchants.  We  demand  that  all  custom- 
house taxation  shall  be  only  for  revenue. 

Reform  is  necessary  in  the  scale  of  public 
expense — federal,  state,  and  municipal. 
Our  federal  taxation  has  swollen  from  sixty 
millions  gold,  in  1860,  to  four  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  currency,  in  1870 ;  our  ag- 
gregate taxation  from  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  millions  gold,  in  1860,  to  seven  hun- 
dred and  thirtv  millions  currency,  in  1870 
— or,  in  one  decade,  from  less  than  five 
dollars  per  head  to  more  than  eighteen 
dollars  per  head.  Since  the  peace,  the 
people  have  paid  to  their  tax-gatherers 
more  than  thrice  the  sum  of  the  national 
debt,  and  more  than  twice  that  sum  for  the 
Federal  government  alone.  We  demand 
a  rigorous  frugality  in  every  department 
and  from  every  officer  of  the  government. 

Reform  is  necessary  to  put  a  stop  to  the 

Srofligate  waste  of  public  lands,  and  their 
iversion  from  actual  settlers,  by  the  party 
in  power,  which  has  squandered  200,000,000 
of  acres  upon  railroads  alone,  and,  out  of 
more  than  thrice  that  aggregate,  has  dis- 
posed of  less  than  a  sixth  directly  to  tillers 
of  the  soil. 

^  Reform  is  necessary  to  correct  the  omis- 
sion of  a  Republican  Congress,  and  the 
errors  of  our  treaties  and  our  diplomacy 
which  have  stripped  our  fellow-citizens  of 
foreign  birth  and  kindred  race,  recrossing 
the  Atlantic,  of  the  shield  of  American 
citizenship,  and  have  exposed  our  brethren 
of  the  Pacific  coast  to  the  incursions  of  a 
race  not  sprung  from  the  same  great  parent 
stock,  and  in  fact  now,  by  Taw,  denied 
citizenship  through  naturalization,  as  being 
neither  accustomed  to  the  traditions  of  a 

f>rogre8sive  civilization  nor  exercised  in 
iberty  under  equal  laws.  We  denounce 
the  p>olicy  which  thus  discards  the  liberty- 
loving  German  and  tolerates  a  revival  of 
the  coolie  trade  in  Mongolian  women,  im- 


ported for  immoral  purposes,  and  Mongolian 
men,  held  to  perform  servile  labor  contracts 
and  demand  such  modification  of  the  treaty 
with  the  Chinese  Empire,  or  such  legisla- 
tion within  constitutional  limitations,  as 
shall  prevent  fiirther  importation  or  inuni- 
gration  of  the  Mongolian  race. 

Reform  is  necessary,  and  can  never  be 
effected  but  by  making  it  the  controlling 
issue  of  the  elections,  and  lifting  it  above 
the  two  false  issues  with  which  the  office- 
holding  class  and  the  party  in  power  seek 
to  smother  it : 

1.  The  false  issue  with  which  they  would 
enkindle  sectarian  strife  in  respect  to  the 
public  schools,  of  which  the  establishment 
and  support  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
several  states,  and  which  the  Democratic 
party  has  cherished  from  their  foundation, 
and  is  resolved  to  maintain,  without  preju- 
dice or  preference  for  any  class,  sect,  or 
creed,  and  without  largesses  from  the  trea- 
sury to  any. 

2.  The  false  issue  by  which  they  seek  to 
light  anew  the  dying  embers  of  sectional  hate 
between  kindred  peoples  once  estranged, 
but  now  reunited  in  one  indivisible  re- 
public and  a  common  destiny. 

Reform  is  necessary  in  the  civil  service. 
Experience  proves  that  efficient,  economical 
conduct  of  the  governmental  business  is 
not  possible  if  its  civil  service  be  subject 
to  cnange  at  every  election,  be  a  prize 
fought  for  at  the  ballot-box,  be  a  brief  re- 
ward of  party  zeal,  instead  of  posts  of  honor 
assigned  for  proved  competency,  and  held 
for  fidelity  in  the  public  employ ;  that  the 
dispensing  of  patronage  should  neither  be  a 
tax  upon  the  time  of  all  our  public  men, 
nor  the  instrument  of  their  ambition. 
Here,  again,  promises,  falsified  in  the  per- 
formance, attest  that  the  party  in  power 
can  work  out  no  practical  or  salutary  re- 
form. 

Reform  is  necessary,  even  more,  in  the 
higher  grades  of  the  public  service.  Presi- 
dent, Vice-President,  Judges,  Senators, 
Representatives,  Cabinet  officers — these, 
ana  all  others  in  authority — are  the  people's 
servants.  Their  offices  are  not  a  private 
perquisite ;  they  are  a  public  trust.  When 
the  annals  of  this  Republic  show  the  dis- 
grace and  censure  of  a  Vice-President ;  a 
late  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives marketing  his  rulings  as  a  presiding 
officer ;  three  Senators  profiting  secretly  by 
their  votes  as  law-makers ;  five  chairmen 
of  the  leading  committees  of  the  late  House 
of  Representatives  exposed  in  jobbery ;  a 
late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  forcing  ba- 
lances in  the  public  accounts ;  a  late  At- 
torney-General misappropriating  public 
funds  ;  a  Secretary  of  tne  Navy  enriched, 
or  enriching  friends,  by  percentages  levied 
off  the  profits  of  contractors  with  his  de- 
partment ;  an  Ambassador  to  England  con- 
cerned in  a  dishonorable  speculation ;  the 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


59 


President's  private  secretary  barely  escap- 
ing conviction  upon  trial  for  guilty  compli- 
city in  frauds  upon  the  revenue ;  a  Secre- 
tary of  War  impeached  for  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors — the  demonstration  is 
complete,  that  the  first  step  in  reform  must 
be  the  people's  choice  of  honest  men  from 
another  party,  lest  the  disease  of  one  poli- 
tical organization  infect  the  body  politic, 
and  lest  by  making  no  change  of  men  or 
parties  we  get  no  cnange  of  measures  and 
no  real  reform. 

All  these  abuses,  wrongs,  and  crimes — 
the  product  of  sixteen  years'  ascendency  of 
the  Republican  party — create  a  necessity 
for  reform,  confessed  by  the  Republicans 
themselves ;  but  their  reformers  are  voted 
down  in  convention  and  displaced  from  the 
cabinet.  The  party's  mass  of  honest  voters 
is  powerless  to  resist  the  80,000  office-hold- 
ers, its  leaders  and  glides. 

Reform  can  only  be  had  by  a  peaceful 
civic  revolution.  We  demand  a  change 
of  system,  a  change  of  administration,  a 
change  of  parties,  that  we  may  have  a 
change  of  measures  and  of  men. 

Resolved,  That  this  convention,  repre- 
senting the  Democratic  party  of  the  United 
States,  do  cordially  indorse  the  action  of 
the  present  House  of  Representatives,  in  re- 
ducing and  curtailing  the  expenses  of  the 
Federal  government,  in  cutting  down  sa- 
laries and  extravagant  appropriations,  and 
in  abolishing  useless  offices  and  places  not 
required  by  the  public  necessities ;  and  we 
shall  trust  to  the  firmness  of  the  Democra- 
tic members  of  the  House  that  no  commit- 
tee of  conference  and  no  misinterpretation 
of  the  rules  will  be  allowed  to  defeat  these 
wholesome  measures  of  economy  demanded 
by  the  country. 

Resolved,  That  the  soldiers  and  sailors 
(if  the  Republic,  and  the  widows  and  or- 
11  bans  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  battle, 
liave  a  just  claim  upon  the  care,  protection, 
and  gratitude  of  their  fellow-citizens. 


18T8.— National  Platform. 

IMedo,  Ohio,  February  22. 

Whereas,  Throughout  our  entire  country 
the  value  of  real  estate  is  depreciated,  in- 
dustry paralyzed,  trade  depressed,  business 
incomes  and  wages  reduced,  unparalleled 
distress  inflicted  upon  the  poorer  and  mid- 
dle ranks  of  our  people,  the  land  filled 
with  fraud,  embezzlement,  bankruptcy, 
crime,  suffering,  pauperism,  and  starvation ; 
and 

Whereas,  This  state  of  things  has  been 
brought  about  by  legislation  in  the  interest 
of,  and  dictated  by,  money-lenders,  bankers 
and  bondholders ;  and 

Whereas,  While  we  recognize  the  fact 
that  the  men  in  Congiess  connected  with 


the  old  political  parties  have  stood  up  man- 
fully for  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  met 
the  threats  of  the  money  power,  and  the 
ridicule  of  an  ignorant  and  subsidized 
press,  yet  neither  the  Republican  nor  the 
Democratic  parties,  in  their  policies,  pro- 
pose remedies  for  the  existing  evils ;  and 

Whereas,  The  Independent  Greenback 
party,  and  other  associations  more  or  less 
effective,  have  been  unable,  hitherto,  to 
make  a  formidable  opposition  to  old  party- 
organizations ;  and 

Whereas,  The  limiting  of  the  legal-tender 
quality  of  the  greenbacks,  the  changing  of 
currency  bonds  into  coin  bonds,  the  de- 
monetization of  the  silver  dollar,  the  ex- 
empting of  bonds  from  taxation,  the  con- 
traction of  the  circulating  medium,  the 
proposed  forced  resumption  of  specie  pay- 
ments, and  the  prodigal  waste  of  the  public 
lands,  were  crimes  against  the  people ;  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  results  of  these  cri- 
minal acts  must  be  counteracted  by  judi- 
cious legislation : 

Therefore,  We  assemble  in  national  con- 
vention and  make  a  declaration  of  oui 
principles,  and  invite  all  patriotic  citizens 
to  unite  in  an  effort  to  secure  financial  re- 
form and  industrial  emancipation.  The 
organization  shall  be  known  as  the  "  Na- 
tional Party,"  and  under  this  name  we  will 
perfect,  without  delay,  national,  state,  and 
local  associations,  to  secure  the  election  to 
office  of  such  men  only  ae  will  pledge 
themselves  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  es- 
tablish these  principles : 

First.  It  is  the  exclusive  function  of  the 
general  government  to  coin  and  create 
money  and  regulate  its  value.  All  bank 
issues  designed  to  circulate  as  money  should 
be  suppressed.  The  circulating  medium, 
whether  of  metal  or  paper,  shall  be  issued 
by  the  government,  and  made  a  fiill  legal- 
tender  for  all  debts,  duties,  and  taxes  in 
the  United  States,  at  its  stamped  value. 

Second.  There  shall  be  no  privileged 
class  of  creditors.  Official  salaries,  pensions, 
bonds,  and  all  other  debts  and  obligations, 
public  and  private,  shall  be  discharged  in 
the  legal-tender  money  of  the  United 
States  strictly  according  to  the  stipulations 
of  the  laws  under  which  they  were  con- 
tracted. 

Third.  The  coinage  of  silver  shall  be 
placed  on  the  same  footing  as  that  of  gold. 

Fourth.  Congress  shall  provide  said 
money  adequate  to  the  ftill  employment  of 
labor,  the  equitable  distribution  of  its  pro- 
ducts, and  the  requirement  of  business, 
fixing  a  minimum  amount  jocr  capita  of  the 
population  as  near  as  may  be,  and  other- 
wise regulating  its  value  by  wise  and  equi- 
table provisions  of  law,  so  that  the  rate  of 
interest  will  secure  to  labor  its  just  reward. 

Fifth.  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  genius 
of  popular  government  that  any  species  of 
private  property  should  be  exempt  from 


«0 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  n. 


beiring  its  proper  share  of  the  public 
burdens.  Government  bonds  and  money 
sliould  be  taxed  precisely  as  other  property, 
and  a  graduaUd  income  tax  should  be 
levied  for  the  support  of  the  government 
and  the  payment  of  its  debts. 

Sixth.  Public  lands  are  the  common 
property  of  the  whole  people,  and  should 
not  be  sold  to  speculators  nor  granted  to 
railroads  or  other  corporations,  but  should 
be  donated  to  actual  settlers,  in  limited 
quantities. 

Seventh.  The  government  should,  by  gen- 
eral enactments,  encourage  the  develop- 
ment of  our  agricultural,  mineral,  mecha- 
nical, manufacturing,  and  commercial  re- 
sources, to  the  end  that  labor  may  be  fully 
and  profitably  employed ;  but  no  monopo- 
lies should  be  legalized. 

Eighth.  All  useless  offices  should  be  abol- 
ished, the  most  rigid  economy  favored  in 
every  branch  of  the  public  service,  and 
severe  punishment  inflicted  upon  public 
officers  who  betray  the  trusts  reposed  in 
them. 

Ninth.  As  educated  labor  has  devised 
means  for  multiplying  productions  by  in- 
ventions and  discoveries,  and  as  their  use 
requires  the  exercise  of  mind  as  well  as 
body,  such  legislation  should  be  had  that 
the  number  of  hours  of  daily  toil  will  be 
re<luced,  giving  to  the  working  classes  more 
leisure  for  mental  improvement  and  their 
several  enjoyments,  and  saving  them  from 
premature  decay  and  death. 

Tenth.  The  adoption  of  an  American 
monetary  system,  as  proposed  herein,  will 
haimonize  all  differences  in  regard  to  tariff 
and  federal  taxation,  reduce  and  equlize 
the  cost  of  transportation  by  land  and 
water,  distribute  equitably  the  joint  earn- 
in^-s  of  capital  and  labor,  secure  to  the 

f)roducers  of  wealth  the  results  of  their 
abor  and  skill,  and  muster  out  of  service 
tbe  vast  army  of  idlgrs,  who,  under  the 
existing  system,  grow  rich  upon  the  earn- 
ings of  others,  that  every  man  and  woman 
may,  by  their  own  efforts,  secure  a  compe- 
tency, so  that  overgrown  fortunes  and  ex- 
treme poverty  will  be  seldom  found  within 
the  limits  of  our  republic. 

Eleventh.  Both  national  and  state  govern- 
ments should  establish  bureaus  of  labor 
and  industrial  statistics,  clothed  with  the 
jKjwer  of  gathering  and  publishing  the 
same. 

Twelfth.  That  the  contract  system  of  em- 
ploying labor  in  our  prisons  and  reforma- 
tory institutions  works  great  injustice  to 
our  mechanics  and  artisans,  and  should  be 
prohibited. 

Thirteenth.  The  importation  of  servile 
labor  into  the  United  SUites  from  China  is 
a  problem  of  the  most  serious  importance, 
and  we  recommend  legislation  looking  to 
its  suppression. 

Fourteenth,  We  believe  in  the  supremacy 


of  law  over  and  above  all  perishable  ma- 
terial, and  in  the  necessity  of  a  party  of 
united  people  that  will  rise  above  old  party 
lines  and  prejudices.  We  will  not  affiliate 
in  any  degree  with  any  of  the  old  parties, 
but,  in  all  cases  and  localities,  will  organize 
anew,  as  united  National  men — nominate 
for  office  and  official  positions  only  such 
persons  as  are  clearly  believers  in  and 
identified  with  this  our  sacred  cause ;  and, 
irrespective  of  creed,  color,  place  of  birth, 
or  past  condition  of  political  or  other  serv- 
itude, vote  only  for  men  who  entirely 
abandon  old  party  lines  and  organizations. 


1879.— National  Liberal  Platform. 

Citkciimati,  Ohio,  September  14. 

1.  Total  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
to  be  guaranteed  by  amendment  of  the 
United  States  constitution ;  including  the 
equitable  taxation  of  church  property,  se- 
cularization of  the  public  schools,  abroga- 
tion of  Sabbatarian  laws,  abolition  of  chap- 
laincies, prohibition  of  public  appropria- 
tions for  religious  purposes,  and  all  mea- 
sures necessary  to  the  same  general  end. 

2.  National  protection  for  national  citi- 
zens in  their  equal  civil,  political,  and  re- 
ligious rights,  to  be  guaranteed  by  amend- 
ment of  the  United  States  constitution 
and  afforded  through  the  United  States 
courts. 

3.  Universal  education,  the  basis  of  uni- 
versal suffrage  in  this  secular  Republic,  to 
be  guaranteed  by  amendment  of  the  United 
States  constitution,  requiring  every  state  to 
maintain  a  thoroughly  secularized  public 
school  system,  and  to  permit  no  child 
within  its  limits  to  grow  up  without  a  good 
elementary  education. 


1880. — Independent  Republican  Principles* 

1.  Independent  Republicans  adhere  to 
the  republican  principles  of  national  supre- 
macy, sound  finances,  and  civil  service  re- 
form, expressed  in  the  Republican  plat- 
form of  1876,  in  the  letter  of  acceptance  of 
President  Hayes,  and  in  his  message  of 
1879;  and  they  seek  the  realization  of 
those  principles  in  practical  laws  and  their 
efficient  administration.     This  requires, 

1.  The  continuance  on  the  statute-book 
of  laws  protecting  the  rights  of  voters  at 
national  elections.  But  national  supre- 
macy affords  no  pretext  for  interference 
with  the  local  rights  of  communities ;  and 
the  development  of  the  south  from  its  pre- 
sent defective  civilization  can  be  secured 
only  under  constitutional  methods,  such  as 
those  of  President  Hayes. 

2.  The  passage  of  laws  which  shall  de» 
prive  greenbacks  of  their  legal-tender 
quality,  as  a  first  step  toward  their  ulti- 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFOEMS. 


61 


mate  withdrawal  and  cancellation,  and 
shall  maintain  all  coins  made  legal  tender 
at  such  weight  and  fineness  as  will  enable 
them  to  be  used  without  discount  in  the 
commercial  transactions  of  the  world. 

3.  The  repeal  of  the  acts  which  limit  the 
terms  of  office  of  certain  government  offi- 
cials to  four  years ;  the  repeal  of  the. 
tenure-of-office  acts,  which  limit  the  power 
of  the  executive  to  remove  for  cause ;  the 
establishment  of  a  permanent  civil  service 
commission,  or  equivalent  measures  to  as- 
certain, by  open  competition,  and  certify 
to  the  President  or  other  appointing  power 
the  fitness  of  applicants  for  nomination  or 
appointment  to  all  non-political  offices. 

II.  Independent  Republicans  believe 
that  local  issues  should  be  independent  of 
party.  The  words  Republican  and  Demo- 
crat should  have  no  weight  in  determining 
whether  a  school  or  city  shall  be  adminis- 
tered on  business  principles  by  capable 
men.  With  a  view  to  this,  legislation  is 
asked  which  shall  prescribe  for  the  voting 
for  local  and  for  state  officers  upon  sepa- 
rate ballots. 

III.  Independent  Republicans  assert 
that  a  political  party  is  a  co-operation  of 
voters  to  secure  the  practical  enactment 
into  legislation  of  political  convictions  set 
forth  as  its  platform.  Every  voter  accept- 
ing that  platform  is  a  member  of  that 
party ;  any  representative  of  that  party  op- 
posing the  principles  or  evading  the  pro- 
mises of  its  platform  forfeits  the  support 
of  its  voters.  No  voter  should  be  held  by 
the  action  or  nomination  of  any  caucus  or 
convention  of  his  party  against  his  private 
judgment.  It  is  his  duty  to  vote  against 
bad  measures  and  unfit  men,  as  the  only 
maans  of  obtaining  good  ones ;  and  if  his 
party  no  longer  represents   its  professed 

Eiinciples  in  Its  practical  workings,  it  is 
is  duty  to  vote  against  it. 

IV.  Independent  Republicans  seek  good 
nominations  through  participation  in  the 
primaries  and  through  the  defeat  of  bad 
nominees  ;  they  will  labor  for  the  defeat  of 
any  local  Republican  candidate,  and,  in 
co-operation  with  those  holding  like  views 
elsewhere,  for  the  defeat  of  any  general 
Republican  candidate  whom  they  do  not 
deem  fit. 


1880.    Republican  Platform. 

Chicago,  lUinoU,  June  2. 

The  Republican  party,  in  national  con- 
rention  assembled,  at  the  end  of  twenty 
years  since  the  Federal  government  was 
first  committed  to  its  charge,  submits  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  its  brief 
report  of  its  administration  : 

It  suppressed  a  rebellion  which  had 
armed  nearly  a  million  of  men  to  subvert 
the  national  authority.  It  reconstructed 
the  union  of  the  states  with  freedom,  in- 


stead of  slavery,  as  its  comer-stone.  It 
transformed  four  million  of  human  beings 
from  the  likeness  of  things  to  the  rank  of 
citizens.  It  relieved  Congress  from  the  in- 
famous work  of  hilnting  fugitive  slaves, 
and  charged  it  to  see  that  slavery  does  not 
exist. 

It  has  raised  the  value  of  our  paper  cur- 
rency from  thirty-eight  per  cent,  to  the 
par  of  goldt  It  has  restored,  upon  a  solid 
basis,  payment  in  coin  for  all  the  national 
obligations,  and  has  given  us  a  currency 
absolutely  good  and  equal  in  every  part  of 
our  extended  country.  It  has  lifted  the 
credit  of  the  nation  from  the  point  where 
six  per  cent,  bonds  sold  at  eighty-six  to 
that  where  four  per  cent,  bonds  are  eagerly 
sought  at  a  premium. 

Under  its  administration  railways  have 
increased  from  31,000  miles  in  1860,  to  more 
than  82,000  miles  in  1879. 

Our  foreign  trade  has  increased  from 
$700,000,000  to  $1,150,000,000  in  the  same 
time  ;  and  our  exports,  which  were  $20,- 
000,000  less  than  our  imports  in  1860,  were 
$264,000,000  more  than  our  imports  in 
1879. 

Without  resorting  to  loans,  it  has,  since 
the  war  closed,  defrayed  the  ordinary  ex- 
penses of  government,  besides  the  accruing 
interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  disbursed, 
annually,  over  $30,000,000  for  soldiers' 
pensions.  It  has  paid  $888,000,000  of  the 
public  debt,  and,  by  refiinding  the  balance 
at  lower  rates,  has  reduced  the  annual 
interest  charge  from  nearly  $151,000,000 
to  less  than  $89,000,000. 

All  the  industries  of  the  country  have 
revived,  labor  is  in  demand,  wages  have 
increased,  and  throughout  the  entire  coun- 
try there  is  evidence  of  a  coming  prosperity 
greater  than  we  have  ever  enjoyed. 

Upon  this  record,  the  Republican  party 
asks  for  the  continued  confidence  and  sup- 
port of  the  people ;  and  this  convention 
submits  for  their  approval  the  following 
statement  of  the  principles  and  purposes 
which  will  continue  to  guide  and  inspire 
its  efforts : 

1.  Wo  affirm  that  the  work  of  the  last 
twenty  years  has  been  such  as  to  com- 
mend itself  to  the  favor  of  the  nation,  and 
that  the  fruits  of  the  costly  victories  which 
we  have  achieved,  through  immense  diffi- 
culties, should  be  preserved ;  that  the  peace 
regained  should  oe  cherished ;  that  the 
dissevered  Union,  now  happily  restored, 
should  be  perpetuated,  and  that  the  liber- 
ties secured  to  this  generation  should  be 
transmitted,  undiminished,  to  ftiture  gene- 
rations; that  the  order  established  and  the 
credit  acquired  should  never  be  impaired ; 
that  the  pensions  promised  should  be  paid ; 
that  the  debt  so  much  reduced  should  be 
extinguished  by  the  full  payment  of  every 
dollar  thereof;  that  the  reviving  industries 
should  be  further  promoted ;  and  that  the 


62 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  n 


commerce,    already   so  great,  should  be 
steadily  encouraged. 

2.  The  constitution  of  the  United  States 
is  a  supreme  law,  and  not  a  mere  contract  ; 
out  of  confederate  states  it  made  a  sove- 
reign nation.  Some  powers  are  denied  to 
the  nation,  while  otners  are  denied  to 
states ;  but  the  boundary  between  the  pow- 
ers delegated  and  those  reserved  is  to  be 
determined  by  the  national  and  not  by  the 
state  tribunals. 

3.  The  work  of  popular  education  is  one 
left  to  the  care  of  the  several  states,  but  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  national  government  to 
aid  that  work  to  the  extent  of  its  constitu- 
tional ability.  The  intelligence  of  the  na- 
tion is  but  the  aggregate  of  the  intelligence 
in  the  several  states ;  and  tbe  destiny  of 
the  nation  must  be  guided,  not  by  the 
genius  of  any  one  state,  but  by  the  aver- 
age genius  of  all. 

4.  The  constitution  wisely  forbids  Con- 
gress to  make  any  law  respecting  an  es- 
tablishment of  religion ;  but  it  is  idle  to 
hoj)e  that  the  nation  can  be  protected 
against  the  influences  of  sectarianism  while 
eacia  state  is  exposed  to  its  domination.  We, 
the  refore,  recommend  that  the  constitution 
be  so  amended  as  to  lay  the  same  prohibi- 
tion upon  the  legislature  of  each  state,  to 
forbid  the  appropriation  of  public  funds  to 
the  support  of  sectarian  schools. 

5.  We  reaffirm  the  belief,  avowed  in 
1876,  that  the  duties  levied  for  the  pur- 
pose of  revenue  should  so  discriminate  as 
to  favor  American  labor ;  that  no  further 
grant  of  the  public  domain  should  be  made 
to  any  railway  or  other  corporation;  that 
slavery  having  perished  in  the  states,  its 
twin  barbarity — -polygamy — must  die  in 
the  territories ;  that  everywhere  the  pro- 
tection accorded  to  citizens  of  American 
biith  must  be  secured  to  citizens  by  Ameri- 
can adoption.  That  we  esteem  it  the  duty 
of  Congress  to  develop  and  improve  our 
wjtter-courses  and  harbors,  but  insist  that 
further  subsidies  to  private  persons  or  cor- 
porations must  cease.  That  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  republic  to  the  men  who  pre- 
■erved  its  integrity  in  the  day  of  battle 
are  undiminished  by  the  lapse  of  fifteen 
years  since  their  final  victory — to  do  them 
perpetual  honor  is,  and  shall  forever  be, 
the  grateful  privilege  and  sacred  duty  of 
the  American  people. 

6.  Since  the  aulhority  to  regulate  immi- 
rration  and  intercourse  between  the  United 
States  and  foreign  nations  rests  with  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  and  its 
treiity-making  powers,  the  Republican 
paity,  r^ardmg  the  unrestricted  immigra- 
tioii  of  the  Chinese  as  an  evil  of  great 
magnitude,  invoke  the  exercise  of  that 
power  to  restrain  and  limit  that  immigra- 
tion by  the  enactment  of  such  just,  humane, 
and  reasonable  provisions  as  will  produce 
that  result 


That  the  purity  and  patriotism  which 
characterized  the  early  career  of  Ruther- 
ford B.  Hayes  in  peace  and  war,  and  which 
guided  the  thoughts  of  our  immediate  pre- 
decessors to  select  him  for  a  presidential 
candidate,  have  continued  to  inspire  him 
in  his  career  as  chief  executive,  and  that 
history  will  accord  to  his  administration 
the  honors  which  are  due  to  an  efficient, 
just,  and  courteous  discharge  of  the  public 
business,  and  will  honor  his  interposition 
between  the  people  and  proposed  partisan 
laws. 

8.  We  charge  upon  the  Democratic  party 
the  habitual  sacrifice  of  patriotism  and 
justice  to  a  supreme  and  insatiable  lust  for 
office  and  patronage.  That  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  national  and  state  govern- 
ments, and  the  control  of  place  and  position, 
they  have  obstructed  all  efforts  to  promote 
the  purity  and  to  conserve  the  freedom  of 
suffrage ;  have  devised  fraudulent  certifi- 
cations and  returns ;  have  labored  to  un- 
seat lawfully-elected  members  of  Congress, 
to  secure,  at  all  hazards,  the  vote  of  a  ma- 
jority of  the  states  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives ;  have  endeavored  to  occupy,  by 
force  and  fraud  the  places  of  trust  given  to 
others  by  the  people  of  Maine,  and  rescued 
by  the  courageous  action  of  Maine's  pa- 
triotic sons ;  have,  by  methods  vicious  in 
principle  and  tyrannical  in  practice,  at- 
tached partisan  legislation  to  appropria- 
tion bills,  upon  wnose  passage  the  very 
movements  of  government  depend ;  have 
crushed  the  rights  of  the  individual ;  have 
advocated  the  principle  and  sought  the 
favor  of  rebellion  against  the  nation,  and 
have  endeavored  to  obliterate  the  sacred 
memories  of  the  war,  and  to  overcome  its 
inestimably  valuable  results  of  nationality, 
personal  freedom,  and  individual  equality. 
Equal,  steady,  and  complete  enforcement 
of  the  laws,  and  protection  of  all  our  citizens 
in  the  enjoyment  of  all  privileges  and  im- 
munities guaranteed  by  the  constitution, 
are  the  first  duties  of  the  nation.  The  dan- 
ger of  a  solid  south  can  only  be  averted  by 
the  faithful  performance  or  every  promise 
which  the  nation  made  to  the  citizen.  The 
execution  of  the  laws,  and  the  punishment 
of  all  those  who  violate  them,  are  the  only 
safe  methods  by  which  an  enduring  peace 
can  be  secured,  and  genuine  prosperity  es- 
tablished throughout  the  south.  \\  hat- 
ever  promises  the  nation  makes,  the  na- 
tion must  perform ;  and  the  nation  can  not 
with  safety  relegate  this  duty  to  the  states. 
The  solid  south  must  be  aivided  by  the 
peaceful  agencies  of  the  ballot,  an^  all 
opinions  must  there  find  free  expression ; 
and  to  this  end  honest  voters  must  be  pro- 
tected against  terrorism,  violence,  or  fraud. 
And  we  affirm  it  to  be  the  duty  and  the 

{)urpose  of  the  Republican  party  to  use  all 
egitimate  means  to  restore  all  the  states  of 
this  Union  to  the  most  perfect  harmonj 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL  PLATFORMS. 


63 


which  may  be  practicable ;  and  we  submit  to 
the  practical,  sensible  people  of  the  United 
States  to  say  whether  it  would  not  be  dan- 
gerous to  the  dearest  interests  of  our  coun- 
try, at  this  time  to  surrender  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  national  government  to  a 
party  which  seeks  to  overthrow  the  exists 
ing  policy,  under  which  we  are  so  prosper- 
ous, and  thus  bring  distrust  and  confusion 
where  there  ia  now  order,  confidence,  and 
hope. 

9.  The  Eepublican  party,  adhering  to  a 
principle  affirmed  by  its  last  national  con- 
vention, of  respect  for  the  constitutional 
rule  covering  appointments  to  office,  adopts 
the  declaration  of  President  Hayes,  that 
the  reform  of  the  civil  service  should  be 
thorough,  radical,  and  complete.  To  this 
end  it  demands  the  co-operation  of  the 
legislative  with  the  executive  department 
of  the  government,  and  that  Congress  shall 
so  legislate  that  fitness,  ascertained  by 
proper  practical  tests,  shall  admit  to  the 
public  service ;  and  that  the  power  of  re- 
moval for  cause,  with  due  responsibility 
for  the  good  conduct  of  subordinates,  shall 
accompany  the  power  of  appointment. 


1880.— National  (Greenback)  Platform, 

0ticago,  lUinoit,  June  9. 

The  civil  governmeni;  should  guarantee 
the  divine  right  of  every  laborer  to  the  re- 
sults of  his  toil,  thus  enabling  the  pro- 
ducers of  wealth  to  provide  themselves 
with  the  means  for  physical  comfort,  and 
facilities  for  mental,  social,  and  moral  cul- 
ture ;  and  we  condemn,  as  unworthy  of  our 
civilization,  the  barbarism  which  imposes 
upon  wealth-producers  a  state  of  drudgery 
as  the  price  of  a  bare  animal  existence. 
N<(twithstanding  the  enormous  increase  of 
productive  power  by  the  universal  intro- 
duction of  labor-saving  machinery  and  the 
discovery  of  new  agents  for  the  increase  of 
wealth,  the  task  of  the  laborer  is  scarcely 
lightened,  the  hours  of  toil  are  but  little 
shortened,  and  few  producers  are  lifted 
from  poverty  into  comfort  and  pecuniary 
independenca  The  associated  monopolies, 
the  international  syndicates,  and  other  in- 
come classes  demand  dear  money,  cheap 
labor,  and  a  strong  government,  and,  hence, 
a  weak  people.  Corporate  control  of  the 
volume  of  money  has  been  the  means 
of  dividing  society  into  hostile  classes,  of 
an  unjust  distribution  of  the  products  of 
labor,  and  of  building  up  monopolies  of 
associated  capital,  endowed  with  power  to 
confiscate  private  property.  It  has  kept 
money  scarce ;  and  the  scarcity  of  money 
enforces  debt-trade,  and  public  and  cor- 
porate loans ;  debt  engenders  usury,  and 
usury  ends  in  the  bankruptcy  of  the  bor- 
rower. Other  results  are — deranged  mar- 
kets, uncertainty  in  manufacturing  enter- 


prises and  agriculture,  precarious  and 
intermittent  employment  for  the  laborer, 
industrial  war,  increasing  pauperism  ana 
crime,  and  the  consequent  intimidation 
and  disfranchisement  of  the  producer,  and 
a  rapid  declension  into  corporate  feudalism. 
Therefore,  we  declare — 

First.  That  the  right  to  make  and  issue 
money  is  a  sovereign  power,  to  be  main- 
tained by  the  people  for  their  common 
benefit.  The  delegation  of  this  right  to 
corporations  is  a  surrender  of  the  central 
attribute  of  sovereignty,  void  of  constitu- 
tional sanction,  and  conferring  upon  a  sub- 
ordinate and  irresponsible  power  an  abso- 
lute dominion  over  industry  and  commerce. 
All  money,  whether  metallic  or  paper, 
should  be  issued,  and  its  volume  controlled, 
by  the  government,  and  not  by  or  through 
banking  corporations ;  and,  when  so  issued, 
should  be  a  full  legal  tender  for  all  debts, 
public  and  private. 

Second.  That  the  bonds  of  the  United 
States  should  not  be  refunded,  but  paid  as 
rapidly  as  practicable,  according  to  con- 
tract. To  enable  the  government  to  meet 
these  obligations,  legal-tender  currency 
should  be  substituted  for  the  notes  of  the 
national  banks,  the  national  banking  sys- 
tem abolished,  and  the  unlimited  coinage 
of  silver,  as  well  as  gold,  established  by 
law. 

Third.  That  labor  should  be  so  pro- 
tected by  national  and  state  authority  as  to 
equalize  its  burdens  and  insure  a  just  dis- 
tribution of  its  results.  The  eight  hour 
law  of  Congress  should  be  enforced,  the 
sanitary  condition  of  industrial  establish- 
ments placed  under  the  rigid  control,  the 
competition  of  contract  convict  labor  abol- 
ished, a  bureau  of  labor  statistics  estab- 
lished, factories,  mines,  and  workshops  in- 
spected, the  employment  of  children  under 
fourteen  years  of  age  forbidden,  and  wages 
paid  in  cash. 

Fourth.  Slavery  being  simply  cheap 
labor,  and  cheap  labor  being  simply  sla- 
very, the  importation  and  presence  of 
Chinese  serfs  necessarily  tends  to  brutalize 
and  degrade  American  labor;  therefore, 
immediate  steps  should  be  taken  to  ab- 
rogate the  Burlingame  treaty. 

Fifth.  Railroad  land  grants  forfeited  by 
reason  of  non-fulfillment  of  contract  should 
be  immediately  reclaimed  by  the  govern- 
ment, and,  henceforth,  the  public  domain 
reserved  exclusively  as  homes  for  actual 
settlers. 

Sixth.  It  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to  reg- 
ulate inter-state  commerce.  All  lines  of 
communication  and  transportation  should 
be  brought  under  such  legislative  control 
as  shall  secure  moderate,  fair,  and  uniform 
rates  for  pa.ssenger  and  freight  traffic. 

Seventh.  We  denounce  as  destructive  to 
property  and  dangerous  to  liberty  the  ac- 
tion of  the  old  parties  in  fostering  and  sur 


64 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  n. 


taining  gigantic  land,  railroad,  and  money 
corporations,  and  monopolies  invested  with 
and  exercising  powers  belonging  to  the 
government,  and  yet  not  responsible  to  it 
for  the  manner  of  their  exercise. 

Eighth.  That  the  constitution,  in  giving 
Congress  the  power  to  borrow  money,  to 
declare  war,  to  raise  and  support  armies, 
to  provide  and  maintain  a  navy,  never  in- 
tended that  the  men  who  loaned  their 
money  for  an  interest-consideration  should 
be  preferred  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  who 

{)eriled  their  lives  and  shed  their  blood  on 
and  and  sea  in  defense  of  their  country ; 
and  we  condemn  the  cruel  class  legislation 
of  the  Republican  party,  which,  while  pro- 
fessing great  gratitude  to  the  soldier,  has 
most  unjustly  discriminated  against  him 
and  in  favor  of  the  bondholder. 

Ninth.  All  property  should  bear  its  just 
proportion  of  taxation,  and  we  demand  a 
graduated  income  tax. 

Tenth.  We  denounce  as  dangerous  the 
efforts  everywhere  manifest  to  restrict  the 
right  of  suffrage. 

Eleventh.  We  are  opposed  to  an  increase 
of  the  standing  army  m  time  of  peace,  and 
the  insidious  scheme  to  establish  an  enor- 
mous military  power  under  the  guise  of 
militia  laws. 

Twelflh.  We  demand  absolute  democra- 
tic rules  for  the  government  of  Congress, 
placing  all  representatives  of  the  people 
upon  an  egual  footing,  and  taking  away 
from  committees  a  veto  power  greater  than 
that  of  the  President. 

Thirteenth.  We  demand  a  government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  peo- 

Ele,  instead  of  a  government  of  the  bond- 
older,  by  the  bondholder,  and  for  the 
bondholder ;  and  we  denounce  every  at- 
tempt to  stir  up  sectional  strife  as  an  effort  to 
conceal  monstrous  crimes  against  the  people. 
Fourteenth.  In  the  furtherance  oi  these 
ends  we  ask  the  co-operation  of  all  fair- 
minded  people.  We  have  no  quarrel  with 
individuals,  wage  no  war  on  classes,  but 
only  against  vicious  institutions.  We  are 
not  content  to  endure  fiirther  discipline 
from  our  present  actual  rulers,  who,  having 
dominion  over  money,  over  transportation, 
over  land  and  labor,  over  the  press  and  the 
machiner}'  of  government,  wield  unwar- 
rantable power  over  our  institutions  and 
Dver  life  and  property. 


,880.— Prohibition  Reform  Platform, 

CUvdand,  Ohio,  Junt  17. 

The  prohibition  Reform  party  of  the 
United  States,  organized,  in  the  name  of 
the  people,  to  revive,  enforce,  and  perpetu- 
ate in  tne  government  the  doctrines  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  submit,  for 
tbf»  suffrage  of  all  good  citizens,  the  follow- 


ing platform  of  national  reforms  and  mea- 
sures: 

In  the  examination  and  discussion  of  the 
temperance  question,  it  haa  been  proven, 
and  is  an  accepted  truth,  that  auioholic 
drinks,  whether  fermented,  brewed,  or  dis- 
I  tilled,  are  poisonous  to  the  healthy  human 
body,  the  drinking  of  which  is  not  only 
needless  but  hurtful,  necessarily  tending  to 
form  intemperate  habits,  increasing  greatly 
the  number,  severity,  and  fatal  termina- 
tion of  diseases,  weakening  and  deranging 
the  intellect,  polluting  the  affections,  hard- 
ening the  heart  and  corrupting  the  morals, 
depriving  many  of  reason  and  still  more  of 
its  healthful  exercise,  and  annually  bring- 
ing down  large  numbers  to  untimely  graves, 
producing,  in  the  children  of  many  who 
drink,  a  predisposition  to  intemperance, 
insanity,  and  various  bodily  and  mental 
diseases,  causing  diminution  of  strength, 
feebleness  of  vision,  fickleness  of  purpose, 
and  premature  old  age,  and  inducing,  in 
all  future  generations,  deterioration  of 
moral  and  physical  character.  Alcoholic 
drinks  are  thus  the  implacable  foe  of  man 
as  an  individual. 

First.  The  legalized  importation,  manu- 
facture, and  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks 
ministers  to  their  use,  and  teaches  the  erro- 
neous and  destructive  sentiment  that  such 
use  is  right,  thus  tending  to  produce  and 
perpetuate  the  above  mentioned  evils. 

Second.  To  the  home  it  is  an  enemy^ 
proving  itself  to  be  a  disturber  and  de- 
stroyer of  its  peace,  prosperity,  and  happi- 
ness ;  taking  from  it  the  earnings  of  tne 
husband;  depriving  the  dependent  wife 
and  children  of  essential  food,  clothing, 
and  education ;  bringing  into  it  profanity, 
abuse,  and  violence ;  setting  at  naught  the 
vows  of  the  marriage  aJtar  •,  breaking  up 
the  family  and  sundering  the  children  from 
the  parents,  and  thus  destroying  one  of 
the  most  beneficent  institutions  of  our  Cre- 
ator, and  removing  the  sure  foundation  of 
good  government,  national  prosperity,  and 
welfare. 

Third.  To  the  community  it  is  equally 
an  enemy— producing  vice,  demoralization, 
and  wickedness ;  its  places  of  sale  being 
resorts  of  gaming,  lewdness,  and  debauch- 
ery, and  tne  hiding-place  of  those  who . 
prey  upon  society;  counteracting  the 
efficacy  of  religious  effort,  and  of  all  means 
of  intellectual  elevation,  moral  purity, 
social  happiness,  and  the  eternal  good  of 
mankind,  without  rendering  any  counter- 
acting or  compensating  benefits ;  being  in 
its  influence  and  effect  evil  and  only  evil, 
and  that  continually. 

Fourth.  To  the  state  it  is  equally  an 
enemy— legislative  inquiries,  judicial  inves- 
tigations, and  official  reports  of  all  penal, 
reformatory,  and  dependent  institutions 
showing  that  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
such  beverages  is  the  promoting  cause  of 


BOOK  II.J 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


65 


intemperance,  crime,  and  pauperism,  and  of 
demands  upon  public  and  private  cliarity, 
imposing  the  larger  part  of  taxation,  para- 
lyzing thrift,  industry,  manufactures,  and 
commercial  life,  which,  but  for  it,  would 
be  unnecessary ;  disturbing  the  peace  of 
str>3et3  and  highways ;  filling  prisons  and 
poor-houses;  corrupting  politics,  legisla- 
tion, and  the  execution  of  the  laws ;  short- 
ening lives ;  diminishing  health,  industry, 
and  productive  power  in  manufactures  and 
art;  and  is  manifestly  unjust  as  well  as 
injurious  to  the  community  upon  which  it 
is  imposed,  and  is  contrary  to  all  just 
views  of  civil  liberty,  as  well  as  a  violation 
of  the  fundamental  maxim  of  our  common 
law,  to  use  your  own  property  or  liberty 
80  as  not  to  injure  others. 

Fifth.  It  is  neither  right  nor  politic  for 
the  state  to  afford  legal  protection  to  any 
traffic  or  any  system  which  tends  to  waste 
the  resources,  to  corrupt  the  social  habits, 
and  to  destroy  the  health  and  lives  of  the 
people ;  that  the  importation,  manufacture, 
and  sale  of  intoxicating  beverages  is 
proven  to  be  inimical  to  the  true  interests 
of  the  individual  home,  community,  and 
state,  and  destructive  to  the  order  and  wel- 
fare of  society,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be 
classed  among  crimes  to  be  prohibited. 

Sixth.  In  this  time  of  profound  peace  at 
home  and  abroad,  the  entire  separation  of 
the  general  government  from  the  drink- 
traffic,  and  its  prohibition  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  territories,  and  in  all  places 
and  ways  over  which,  under  the  constitu- 
tion, Congress  has  control  and  power,  is  a 
political  issue  of  the  first  importance  to  the 
peace  and  prosperity  of  the  nation.  There 
can  be  no  stable  peace  and  protection  to 
personal  liberty,  life,  or  property,  until 
secured  by  national  or  state  constitutional 
provisions,  enforced  by  adequate  laws. 

Seventh.  All  legitimate  industries  require 
deliverance  from  the  taxation  and  loss 
which  the  liquor  traffic  imposes  upon  them ; 
and  financial  or  other  legislation  could  not 
accomplish  so  much  to  increase  production 
and  cause  ^  demand  for  labor,  and,  as  a 
result,  for  the  comforts  of  living,  as  the 
suppression  of  this  traffic  would  bring  to 
thousands  of  homes  as  one  of  its  blessings. 

Eighth.  The  administration  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  execution  of  the  laws  are 
through  political  parties  ;  and  we  arraign 
the  Republican  party,  which  has  been  in 
continuous  power  in  the  nation  for  twenty 
years,  as  being  false  to  duty,  as  false  to 
loudly-proclaimed  principles  of  equal  jus- 
tice to  all  and  special  favors  to  none,  and 
of  protection  to  the  weak  and  dependent, 
insensible  to  the  mischief  which  the  trade 
in  liquor  has  constantly  inflicted  upon  in- 
dustry, trade,  commerce,  and  the  social 
happiness  of  the  people ;  that  5,652  dis- 
tilleries, 3,830  breweries,  and  175,266  places 
for  the  sale  of  these  poisonous  liquors,  in- 

27 


volving  an  annual  waste  to  the  nation  of 
one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  sacrifice  of  one  hundred  thousand 
lives,  have,  under  its  legislation,  grown  up 
and  been  fostered  as  a  legitimate  source  of 
revenue ;  that  during  its  history,  six  terri- 
tories have  been  organized  and  five  states 
been  admitted  into  the  Union,  with  consti- 
tutions provided  and  approved  by  Con- 
gress, but  the  prohibition  of  this  debasinjc 
and  destructive  traffic  has  not  been  pro- 
vided, nor  even  the  people  given,  at  the 
time  of  admission,  power  to  forbid  it  in 
any  one  of  them.  Its  history  furthei 
shows,  that  not  in  a  single  instance  has  an 
original  prohibitory  law  been  passed  by 
any  state  that  was  controlled  by  it,  while 
in  four  states,  so  governed,  the  laws  found 
on  its  advent  to  power  have  been  repealed. 
At  its  national  convention  in  1872,  it  de- 
clared, as  part  of  its  party  faith,  that  "  it 
disapproves  of  the  resort  to  unconstitu- 
tional laws  for  the  purpose  of  removing 
evils,  by  interference  with  rights  not  sur- 
rendered by  the  people  to  either  the  state 
or  national  government,"  which,  the  au- 
thor of  this  plank  says,  was  adopted  by 
the  platform  committee  with  the  mil  and 
implicit  understanding  that  its  purpose 
was  the  discountenancing  of  all  so-called 
temperance,  prohibitory,  and  Sunday  laws. 

Ninth.  We  arraign,  also,  the  Democra- 
tic party  as  unfaithfiil  and  unworthy  of 
reliance  on  this  question;  for,  although 
not  clothed  with  power,  but  occupying  the 
relation  of  an  opposition  party  during 
twenty  years  past,  strong  in  numbers  and 
organization,  it  has  allied  itself  with 
liquor-traffickers,  and  become,  in  all  the 
states  of  the  Union,  their  special  political 
defenders,  and  in  its  national  convention 
in  1876,  as  an  article  of  its  political  faith, 
declared  against  prohibition  and  just  laws 
in  restraint  of  the  trade  in  drink,  bv  say- 
ing it  was  opposed  to  what  it  was  pleased 
to  call  "all  sumptuary  laws."  The  Na- 
tional party  has  oeen  dumb  on  this  ques- 
tion. 

Tenth.  Drink -traffickers,  having  the  his- 
tory and  experience  of  all  ages,  climes,  and 
conditions  of  men,  declaring  their  business 
destructive  of  all  good — finding  no  support 
in  the  Bible,  morals,  or  reason — appeal  to 
misapplied  law  for  their  justification,  and 
intrench  themselves  behind  the  evil  ele- 
ments of  political  party  for  defense,  party 
tactics  and  party  inertia  become  battling 
forces,  protecting  this  evil. 

Eleventh.  In  view  of  the  foregoing  facta 
and  history,  we  cordially  invite  all  voters, 
without  regard  to  former  party  affiliations, 
to  unite  with  us  in  the  use  of  the  ballot  for 
the  abolition  of  the  drinking  system,  under 
the  authority  of  our  national  and  state 
governments.  We  also  demand,  as  a  right, 
that  women,  having  the  privileges  of  citi- 
zens in  other  respects,  bo  clothed  with  th« 


66 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


ballot  for  their  protection,  and  as  a  rightful 
means  for  the  proper  settlement  of  the 
liquor  question. 

Twelfth.  To  remove  the  apprehension  of 
some  who  allege  that  a  loss  of  public  rev- 
enue would  follow  the  suppression  of  the 
direct  trade,  we  confidently  point  to  the 
experience  of  governments  abroad  and  at 
home,  which  shows  that  thrift  and  revenue 
from  the  consumption  of  legitimate  manu- 
factures and  commerce  have  so  largely  fol- 
lowed the  abolition  of  drink  as  to  fully 
supply  all  loss  of  liquor  taxes. 

Thirteenth.  We  recognize  the  good  provi- 
dence of  Almighty  God,  who  has  preserved 
and  prospered  us  as  a  nation  ;  and,  asking 
for  His  Spirit  to  guide  us  to  ultimate  suc- 
cess, we  all  look  for  it,  relying  upon  His 
Mnnipotent  arm. 


1880.— Democratic  Platform, 

Cmciimati,  Ohio,  June  22. 

The  Democrats  of  the  United  States,  in 
convention  assembled,  declare : 

First.  We  pledge  ourselves  anew  to  the 
constitutional  doctrines  and  traditions  of 
the  Democratic  party,  as  illustrated  by  the 
teachings  and  examples  of  a  long  line  of 
Democratic  statesmen  and  patriots,  and 
embodied  in  the  platform  of  the  last  na- 
tional convention  of  the  party. 

Second.  Opposition  to  centralization, 
and  to  that  dangerous  spirit  of  encroach- 
ment which  tends  to  consolidate  the  powers 
of  all  the  departments  in  one,  and  thus  to 
create,  whatever  the  form  of  government, 
a  real  despotism ;  no  sumptuary  laws ; 
separation  of  the  church  and  state  for  the 
good  of  each ;  common  schools  fostered 
and  protected. 

Third.  Home  rule ;  honest  money,  con- 
Bitting  of  gold  and  silver,  and  paper,  con- 
vertible into  coin  on  demand ;  the  strict 
maintenance  of  the  public  faith;  state  and 
national ;  and  a  tariff  for  revenue  only ; 
the  subordination  of  the  military  to  the 
civil  power ;  and  a  general  and  thorough 
reform  of  the  civil  service. 

Fourth.  The  right  to  a  free  ballot  is  a 
right  preservative  of  all  rights ;  and  must 
and  shall  be  maintained  in  every  part  of 
the  United  States. 

IHfth.  The  existing  administration  is  the 
representative  of  conspiracy  only  ;  and  its 
claim  of  right  to  surround  the  ballot-boxes 
with  troops  and  deputy  marshals,  to  in- 
timidate and  obstruct  the  elections,  and 
the  unprecedented  use  of  the  veto  to  main- 
tain its  corrupt  and  despotic  power,  insults 
the  people  and  imperils  their  institutions. 
We  execrate  the  course  of  this  administra- 
tion in  making  places  in  the  civil  service  a 
reward  for  political  crime  ;  and  demand  a 
reform,  by  statute,  which  shall  make  it  for- 


ever impossible  for  a  defeated  candidate  to 
bribe  his  way  to  the  seat  of  a  usurper  by 
billeting  villains  upon  the  people. 

Sixth.  The  great  fraud  of  1876-7,  by 
which,  upon  a  false  count  of  the  electoral 
votes  of  two  states,  the  candidate  defeated 
at  the  polls  was  declared  to  be  President, 
and,  for  the  first  time  in  American  history, 
the  will  of  the  people  was  set  aside  under 
a  threat  of  military  violence,  struck  a 
deadly  blow  at  our  system  of  representa- 
tive government.  The  Democratic  party, 
to  preserve  the  country  from  the  horrors  of 
a  civil  war,  submitted  for  the  time,  in  the 
firm  and  patriotic  belief  that  the  people 
would  punish  the  crime  in  1880.  This  is- 
sue precedes  and  dwarfs  every  other.  It 
imposes  a  more  sacred  duty  upon  the  people 
of  the  Union  than  ever  addressed  the  con- 
sciences of  a  nation  of  freemen. 

Seventh.  The  resolution  of  Samuel  J. 
Tilden,  not  again  to  be  a  candidate  for  the 
exalted  place  to  which  he  was  elected  by 
a  majority  of  his  countrymen,  and  from 
which  he  was  excluded  by  the  leaders  of 
the  Republican  party,  is  received  by  the 
Democrats  of  the  United  States  with  deep 
sensibility ;  and  they  declare  their  confi- 
dence in  his  wisdom,  patriotism,  and  in- 
tegrity unshaken  by  the  assaults  of  the 
common  enemy ;  and  they  further  assure 
him  that  he  is  followed  into  the  retirement 
he  has  chosen  for  himself  by  the  sympathy 
and  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens,  who  re- 
gard him  as  one  who,  by  elevating  the 
standard  of  the  public  morality,  and  adorn- 
ing and  purifying  the  public  service,  merits 
the  lasting  gratitude  of  his  country  and 
his  party. 

Eighth.  Free  ships,  and  a  living  chance 
for  American  commerce  upon  the  seas ; 
and  on  the  land,  no  discrimination  in  favor 
of  transportation  lines,  corporations,  or 
monopolies. 

Ninth.  Amendments  of  the  Burlingame 
treaty  ;  no  more  Chinese  immigration,  ex- 
cept for  travel,  education,  and  foreign  com- 
merce, and,  therein,  carefully  guarded. 

Tenth.  Public  money  and  public  credit 
for  public  purposes  solely,  and  public  land 
for  actual  settlers. 

Eleventh.  The  Democratic  party  is  the 
friend  of  labor  and  the. laboring  man,  and 
pledges  itself  to  protect  him  alike  against 
the  cormorants  and  the  commune. 

Twelfth.  We  congratulate  the  country 
upon  the  honesty  and  thrift  of  a  Demo- 
cratic C!ongres8,  which  has  reduced  the 
public  expenditure  $10,000,000  a  year; 
upon  the  continuation  of  prosperity  at 
home  and  the  national  honor  abroad ;  and, 
above  all,  upon  the  promise  of  such  a 
change  in  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment as  shall  insure  a  genuine  and  lasting 
reform  in  every  department  of  the  public 
service. 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


6T 


Virginia  Republican. 

[Adopted  Augiul  11.] 

Whereas,  It  is  proper  that  when  the 
people  assemble  in  convention  they  should 
avow  distinctly  the  principles  of  govern- 
ment on  which  they  stand ;  now,  therefore, 
be  it, 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  Republicans  of 
Virginia,  hereby  make  a  declaration  of  our 
allegiance  and  adhesion  to  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party  of  the  country, 
and  our  determination  to  stand  squarely  by 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  party 
of  Virginia,  always  defending  it  against 
the  assaults  of  all  persons  or  parties  what- 
soever. 

Second.  That  amongst  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party  none  is  of  more  vital 
importance  to  the  welfare  and  interest  of 
the  country  in  all  its  parts  than  that  which 
pertains  to  the  sanctity  of  Government 
contracts.  It  therefore  becomes  the  special 
duty  and  province  of  the  Republican  party 
of  Virginia  to  guard  and  protect  the  credit 
of  our  time-honored  State,  which  has  been 
besmirched  with  repudiation,  or  received 
with  distrust,  by  the  gross  mismanagement 
of  various  factions  of  the  Democratic 
party,  which  have  controlled  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  State. 

Third.  That  the  Republican  party  of 
Virginia  hereby  pledges  itself  to  redeem 
the  State  from  the  discredit  that  now  hangs 
over  her  in  regard  to  her  just  obligations 
for  moneys  loaned  her  for  constructing  her 
internal  improvements  and  charitable  in- 
stitutions, which,  permeating  every  quarter 
of  the  State,  bring  benefits  of  far  greater 
value  than  their  cost  to  our  whole  people, 
and  we  in  the  most  solemn  form  pledge  the 
Republican  party  of  the  State  to  the  full 
payment  of  the  whole  debt  of  the  State,  less 
the  one-third  set  aside  as  justly  falling  on 
West  Virginia ;  that  the  industries  of  the 
country  should  be  fostered  through  pro- 
tective laws,  so  as  to  develop  our  own  re- 
sources, employ  our  own  labor,  create  a 
home  market,  enhance  values,  and  promote 
the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  people. 

Fourth.  That  the  public  school  system 
of  Virginia  is  the  creature  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  we  demand  that  every 
dollar  the  Constitution  dedicates  to  it  shall 
be  sacredly  applied  thereto  as  a  means  of 
educating  the  children  of  the  State,  with- 
out regard  to  condition  or  race. 

Fifth.  That  the  elective  franchise  as  an 
equal  right  should  be  based  on  manhood 
qualification,  and  that  we  favor  the  repeal 
of  the  requirements  of  the  prepayment  of 
the  capitation  tax  as  a  prerequisite  to  the 
franchise  as  opposed  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  violation  of  the 
condition  whereby  the  State  was  read- 
mitted as  a  member  of  our  Constitutional 
Union,  as  well  as  against  tho  spirit  of  the 


Constitution  ;  but  demand  the  imposition 
of  the  capitation  tax  as  a  source  of  revenue 
for  the  support  of  the  public  schools  whh- 
out  its  disfranchising  efl'ects. 

Sixth.  That  we  favor  the  repeal  of  the 
disqualification  for  the  elective  franchise 
by  a  conviction  of  petty  larceny,  and  of 
the  infamous  laws  which  place  it  in  the 
power  of  a  single  justice  of  the  peace  (oft- 
times  being  more  corrupt  than  the  criminal 
before  him)  to  disfranchise  his  fellow-man. 

Seventh.  Finally,  that  we  urge  the  repeal 
of  the  barbarous  law  permitting  the  im- 
position of  stripes  as  degrading  and  inhu- 
man, contrary  to  the  genius  of  a  true  and 
enlightened  people,  and  a  relic  of  bar- 
barism. 

[The  Convention  considered  it  inexpe- 
dient to  nominate  candidates  for  State 
officers.] 


Virginia  Readjnster. 

[Adopted  Jnne  2.] 

First.  We  recognize  our  obligation  to 
support  the  institution  for  the  deaf,  dumb 
and  blind,  the  lunatic  asylum,  the  public 
free  schools  and  the  Government  out  of 
the  revenues  of  the  State ;  and  we  depre- 
cate and  denounce  that  policy  of  ring  loile 
and  subordinated  sovereignty  which  for 
years  borrowed  money  out  of  banks  at  high 
rates  of  interest  for  the  discharge  of  these 

f)aramount  trusts,  while  our  revenues  were 
eft  the  prev  of  commercial  exchanges, 
available  to  the  State  only  at  the  option 
of  speculators  and  syndicates. 

Second.  We  reassert  our  purpose  to  settle 
and  adjust  our  State  obligations  on  ihe 
principles  of  the  "  Bill  to  re-establish  pub- 
lic credit,"  known  as  the  "  Riddleberger 
bill,"  passed  by  the  last  General  Assembly 
and  vetoed  by  the  Governor.  We  main- 
tain that  this  measure  recognizes  the  just 
debt  of  Virginia,  in  this,  that  it  assumes 
two-thirds  of  all  the  money  Virginia  bor- 
rowed, and  sets  aside  the  other  third  to 
West  Virginia  to  be  dealt  with  by  her  in 
her  own  way  and  at  her  own  pleasure ;  that 
it  places  those  of  her  creditors  who  have 
received  but  6  per  cent,  instalments  of  in- 
terest in  nine  years  upon  an  exact  equality 
with  those  who  by  corrupt  agencies  wer« 
enabled  to  absorb  and  monopolize  our 
means  of  payment ;  that  it  agrees  to  pay 
such  rate  of  interest  on  our  securities  aa 
can  with  certainty  be  met  out  of  the  rev- 
enues of  the  State,  and  that  it  contains  all 
the  essential  features  of  finality.. 

Third.  We  reassert  our  adherence  to  the 
Constitutional  requirements  for  the  "  equal 
and  uniform"  tiixation  of  property,  ex- 
empting none  except  that  specified  by  the 
Constitution  and  used  exclusively  for  "  re- 
ligious, charitable  and  educational  pur* 
poses." 


68 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[boox  II. 


Fourth.  We  reassert  that  the  paramount 
obligation  of  the  various  works  of  internal 
improvement  is  to  the  people  of  the  State, 
by  whose  authority  they  were  created,  by 
whose  money  they  were  constructed  and 
by  whose  grace  they  live  ;  and  it  is  enjoin- 
ed upon  our  representative  and  executive 
officers  to  enforce  the  discharge  of  that 
duty ;  to  insure  to  our  people  such  rates, 
facilities  and  connections  as  will  protect 
every  industry  and  interest  against  dis- 
crimination, tend  to  the  development  of 
our  agricultural  and  mineral  resources,  en- 
courage the  investment  of  active  capital  in 
manufactures  and  the  profitable  employ- 
ment of  labor  in  industrial  enterprises, 
grasp  for  our  city  and  our  whole  State  those 
advantages  to  which  by  their  geographical 
position  they  are  entitled,  and  fulfil  all  the 
great  public  ends  for  which  they  were  de- 
signed. 

Fifth.  The  Readjusters  hold  the  right  to 
a  free  ballot  to  be  the  right  preservative  of 
all  rights,  and  that  it  should  be  maintained 
in  every  State  in  the  Union.  We  believe 
the  capitation  tax  restriction  upon  the  suf- 
irage  in  Virginia  to  be  in  conflict  with  the 
XiVth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  We  believe  that  it  is  a 
violation  of  that  condition  of  reconstruc- 
tion wherein  the  pledge  was  ^iven  not  so 
to  amend  our  State  Constitution  as  to  de- 
prive any  citizen  or  class  of  citizens  of  a 
right  to  vote,  except  as  punishment  for 
such  crimes  as  are  felony  at  common  law. 
We  believe  such  a  prerequisite  to  voting  to 
be  contrary  to  the  genius  of  our  institu- 
tions, the  very  foundation  of  which  is  re- 
presentation as  antecedent  to  taxation. 
We  know  that  it  has  been  a  failure  as  a 
measure  for  the  collection  of  revenue,  the 
pretended  reason  for  its  invention  in  1876, 
and  we  know  the  base,  demoralizing  and 
dangerous  uses  to  which  it  has  been  pros- 
tituted. We  know  it  contributes  to  the 
increase  of  monopolv  power,  and  to  cor- 
rupting the  voter.  For  these  and  other 
reasons  we  adhere  to  the  purpose  hitherto 
expressed  to  provide  more  effectual  legisla- 
tion for  the  collection  of  this  tax,  dedicated 
by  the  Constitution  to  the  public  free 
schools,  and  to  abolish  it  as  a  qualification 
for  and  restriction  upon  suffrage. 

Sixth.  The  Readjusters  congratulate  the 
whole  people  of  Virginia  on  the  progress 
of  the  last  few  years  in  developing  mineral 
resources  and  promoting  manufacturing 
enterprises  in  the  State,  and  they  declare 
iheir  purpose  to  aid  these  great  and  grow- 
ing industries  by  all  proper  and  essential 
legislation.  State  and  Feaeral.  To  this  end 
they  will  continue  their  efforts  in  behalf 
of  more  cordial  and  fraternal  relations  be- 
tween the  sections  and  States,  and  espe- 
cially for  that  concord  and  harmony  which 
will  make  the  country  to  know  how  earn- 
eetly  and  sincerely  Virginia  invites  all  men 


into  her  borders  as  visitors  or  to  become 
citizens  without  fear  of  social  or  politkal 
ostracism;  that  everv  man,  from  whatever 
section  of  countrj',  shall  enjoy  the  fullest 
freedom  of  thought,  si>eech,  politics  and 
religion,  and  that  the  State  which  first 
formulated  these  principles  as  fundamental 
in  free  government  is  yet  the  citadel  for 
their  exercise  and  protection. 


Virginia  Democratic. 

[Adopted  Augutt  4,] 

The  Conservative  Democratic  party  of 
Virginia — Democratic  in  its  Federal  rela- 
tions and  Conservative  in  its  State  policy- 
assembled  in  convention,  in  view  of  the 
present  condition  of  the  Union  and  of  this 
Commonwealth,  for  the  clear  and  distinct 
assertion  of  its  political  principles,  doth 
declare  that  we  adopt  the  following  articUs 
of  political  faith : 

First.  Equality  of  right  and  exact  jus- 
tice to  all  men,  special  privileges  to  none ; 
freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the  piess, 
and  freedom  of  the  person  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  habeas  corpus ;  of  trial  by 
juries  impartially  selectea,  and  of  a  pure, 
upright  and  non-partisan  judiciary  ;  elec- 
tions by  the  people,  free  from  force  or  fraud 
of  citizens  or  of  the  military  and  civil  of- 
ficers of  Government;  and  the  selection 
for  public  oflSces  of  those  who  are  honest 
and  best  fitted  to  fill  them ;  the  support  of 
the  State  governments  in  all  their  rights  as 
the  most  competent  administrations  of  our 
domestic  concerns  and^the  surest  bulwarks 
against  anti-republican  tendencies ;  and 
the  preservation  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment in  its  whole  constitutional  vigor  as 
the  best  sheet-anchor  of  our  peace  at  home 
and  our  safety  abroad. 

Second.  That  the  maintenance  of  the 
public  credit  of  Virginia  is  an  essential 
means  to  the  promotion  of  her  prosperity. 
We  condemn  repudiation  in  every  shape 
and  form  as  a  blot  upon  her  honor,  a  blow 
at  her  permanent  welfare,  and  an  obstacle 
to  her  progress  in  wealth,  influence  and 
power ;  and  that  we  will  make  every  effort 
to  secure  a  settlement  of  the  public  debt, 
with  the  consent  of  her  creditors,  which  is 
consistent  with  her  honor  and  dictated  by 
justice  and  sound  public  policy ;  that  it  is 
eminently  desirable  and  proper  that  the 
several  classes  of  the  debt  now  existing 
should  be  unified,  so  that  equality,  which 
is  equity,  may  control  in  the  annual  pay- 
ment oi  interest  and  the  ultimate  redemp- 
tion of  principal ;  that,  with  a  view  of  se- 
curing such  equality,  we  pledge  our  party 
to  use  all  lawful  authority  to  secure  a  settle- 
ment of  the  State  debt  so  that  there  shall 
be  but  one  class  of  the  public  debt ;  that 
we  will  use  all  lawful  and  constitutional 
means  in  our  power  to  secure  a  settlement 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL  PLATFORM. 


69 


of  the  State  debt  upon  the  basis  of  a  3  per 
cent,  bond,  and  tnat  the  Conservative- 
Democratic  party  pledges  itself,  as  a  part 
of  its  policy,  not  to  increase  the  present 
rate  or  taxation.  ' 

Third.  That  we  will  uphold,  in  its  full 
constitutional  integrity  and  efficiency,  our 
public-school  system  for  the  education  of 
both  white  and  colored  children — a  system 
inaugurated  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
State  and  established  by  the  action  of  the 
Conservative  party  years  before  it  was  re- 
quired by  the  Constitution  ;  and  will  take 
tlie  most  effectual  means  for  the  faithful 
execution  of  the  same  by  applying  to  its 
support  all  the  revenues  set  apart  for  that 
object  by  the  Constitution  or  otherwise. 
■  Fourth.  Upon  this  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples we  cordially  invite  the  co-operation 
of  all  Conservative  Democrats,  whatever 
may  hav6  been  or  now  are  their  views 
upon  the  public  debt,  in  the  election  of  the 
nominees  of  this  Convention  and  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  this  State. 

Resolved,  further,  That  any  intimation, 
cominw  from  any  q^uarter,  that  the  Con- 
servative-Democratic party  of  Virginia  has 
been,  is  now,  or  proposes  to  be,  opposed  to 
an  honest  ballot  and  a  fair  count,  h  a 
calumny  upon  the  State  of  Virginia  as  un- 
founded in  fact  as  it  is  dishonorable  to  its 
authors. 

That  special  efforts  be  made  to  foster  and 
encourage  the  agricultural,  mechanical, 
mining,  manufacturing  and  other  indus- 
trial interests  of  the  State. 

That,  in  common  with  all  good  citizens 
of  the  Union,  we  reflect  with  deep  abhor- 
rence upon  the  crime  of  the  man  who 
aimed  a  blow  at  the  life  of  the  eminent 
citizen  who  was  called  by  the  constitutional 
voice  of  fifty  millions  of  people  to  be  the 
President  of  the  United  States ;  and  we 
tender  to  him  and  to  his  friends  the  sym- 
pathy and  respect  of  this  Convention  and 
of  those  we  represent,  in  this  great  calam- 
ity, and  our  hearty  desire  for  his  complete 
restoration  to  health  and  return  to  the  dis- 
charge of  his  important  duties,  for  the  wel- 
Care  and  honor  of  our  common  country. 


1884— Democratic  Pl«tforin. 

Adopted  by  the  Chicago  Convention,  July  lOth. 

The  Democratic  party  of  the  L^nion 
through  its  representatives  in  the  National 
Convention  assembled,  recognizes  that  as 
the  Nation  grows  older  new  issues  are  born, 
of  time  and  progress,  and  old  issues  perish. 
But  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Democracy  approved  by  the  united  voice 
of  the  people,  remain  and  v/ill  ever  remain 


as  the  best  and  only  security  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  free  government.  The  pre- 
servation of  personal  rights,  the  equality 
of  all  citizens  before  the  law,  the  reserved 
rights  of  the  States  and  the  supremacy  of 
the  Federal  Government  within  the  limits 
of  the  Constitution  will  ever  form  the  true 
basis  of  our  liberties,  and  can  never  be 
surrendered  without  destroying  that  bal- 
ance of  rights  and  powers  which  enables 
a  continent  to  be  developed  in  peace,  and 
social  order  to  be  maintained  by  means  of 
local  self-government.  But  it  is  indispensa- 
ble for  the  practical  application  and  en- 
forcement of  these  fundamental  principles 
that  the  Government  should  not  always  be 
controlled  by  one  political  party.  Frequent 
change  of  administration  is  as  necessary  as 
a  constant  recurrence  to  the  popular  will. 
Otherwise  abuses  grow,  and  the  Govern- 
ment, instead  of  being  carried  on  for  the 
general  welfare,  becomes  an  instrumentality 
for  imposing  heavy  burdens  on  the  many 
who  are  governed  for  the  benefit  of  the  few 
who  govern.  Public  servants  thus  become 
arbitrary  rulers. 

This  is  now  the  condition  of  the  country, 
hence  a  change  is  demanded.  The  Repub- 
lican party,  so  far  as  principle  is  concerned, 
is  a  reminiscence  in  practice,  it  is  an 
organization  for  enriching  those  who 
control  its  machinery.  The  frauds  and 
jobbery  which  have  been  brought  to  light 
in  every  department  of  the  Government 
are  sufficient  to  have  called  for  reform 
within  the  Republican  party.  Yet  those 
in  authority,  made  reckless  by  the  long 
possession  of  power,  have  succumbed  to  its 
corrupting  influences,  and  have  placed  in 
nomination  a  ticket  against  which  the 
Independent  portion  of  the  party  are  in 
open  revolt.  Therefore  a  change  is  de- 
manded. Such  a  change  was  alike  neces- 
sary in  1876,  but  the  will  of  the  people  was 
then  defeated  by  a  fraud  which  can  never 
be  forgotten  nor  condoned.  Again  in 
1880  the  change  demanded  by  the  people 
was  defeated  by  the  lavish  use  of  money, 
contributed  by  unscrupulous  contractors 
and  shameless  jobbers,  who  had  bargained 
for  unlawful  profits  or  for  high  office. 

The  Republican  party  during  its  legal, 
its  stolen  and  its  bought  tenures  of  power, 
has  steadily  decayed  in  moral  character 
and  political  capacity.  Its  platform  pro- 
mises are  now  a  list  of  its  past  failures.  It 
demands  the  restoration  of  our  navy.  It 
has  squandered  hundreds  of  millions  to 
create  a  navy  that  does  not  exist.  It  calls 
upon  Congress  to  remove  the  burdens 
under  which  American  shipping  has  been 
depressed.  It  imposed  and  nas  continued 
those  burdens.  It  professes  the  policy  of 
reserving  the  public  lands  for  small  hold- 
ings by  actual  settlers.  It  has  given  away 
the  people's  heritage  till  now  a  few  rail- 


70 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  ii; 


roads  and  non-resident  aliens,  individual 
and  corporate,  possess  a  larger  area  than 
that  of  all  our  farms  between  the  two  seas. 
It  professes  a  preference  for  free  institu- 
tions. It  organized  and  tried  to  legalize 
a  control  of  State  elections  by  Federal 
troops.  It  professes  a  desire  to  elevate 
labor.  It  has  subjected  American  work- 
ingmen  to  the  competition  of  convict  and 
imported  contract  labor.  It  professes  grat- 
itude to  all  who  were  disabled  or  died  in 
the  war  leaving  widows  and  orphans.  It 
left  to  a  Democratic  House  of  Representa- 
tives the  first  effort  to  equalize  both  boun- 
ties and  pensions.  It  proffers  a  pledge  to 
correct  the  irregularities  of  our  tariff.  It 
created  and  has  continued  them.  Its  own 
tariff  commission  confessed  the  need  of 
more  than  20  per  cent,  reduction.  Its  Con- 
gress gave  a  reduction  of  less  than  4  per 
cent.  It  professes  the  protection  of  Amer- 
ican manufacturers.  It  has  subjected 
them  to  an  increasing  flood  of  manufac- 
tured goods  and  a  hopeless  competition 
with  manufacturing  nations,  not  one  of 
which  taxes  raw  materials.  It  professes 
to  protect  all  American  industries.  It  has 
impoverished  many  to  subsidize  a  few.  It 
professes  the  protection  of  American  labor. 
It  has  depicted  the  returns  of  American 
agriculture,  an  industry  followed  by  half 
our  people.  It  professes  the  equality  of 
men  before  the  law.  Attempting  to  fix 
the  status  of  colored  citizens,  the  act  of  its 
Congress  was  overset  by  the  decision  of  its 
courts.  It  "  accepts  anew  the  duty  of  lead- 
ing in  the  work  of  progress  and  reform." 
Its  caught  criminals  are  permitted  to  es- 
cape through  contrived  delays  or  actual 
connivance  in  the  prosecution.  Honey- 
combed with  corruption,  outbreaking  ex- 
Eosures  no  longer  shock  its  moral  sense,  its 
onest  members.  Its  independent  journals 
no  longer  maintain  a  successful  contest 
for  authority  in  its  counsels  or  a  veto  upon 
bad  nominations. 

That  a  change  is  necessary  is  proved  by 
an  existing  surplus  of  more  than.$100,000,- 
000,  which  has  yearly  been  collected  from 
a  suffering  people.  Unnecessary  taxation 
is  unjust  taxation.  We  denounce  the  Re- 
publican party  for  having  failed  to  relieve 
the  people  from  crushing  war  taxes  which 
have  paralyzed  business,  crippled  indus- 
tnr,  and  deprived  labor  of  employment  and 
of^just  reward.  The  Democracy  pledges 
itself  to  purify  the  administration  from 
corruption,  to  restore  economy,  to  revive 
the  respect  of  the  law,  and  to  reduce  taxa- 
tion to  the  lowe.st  limit  consistent  with  due 
regard  to  the  preservation  of  the  faith  of 
the  nation  to  its  creditors  and  pensioners. 

Knowing  full  well,  however  that  legisla- 
tion affecting  the  occupations  of  the  people 
should  be  cautious  and   conservative  in 


method,  not  in  advance  of  public  opinion, 
but  responsive  to  its  demands,  the  Demo- 
cratic party  is  pledged  to  revise  the  tarift'  in 
a  spirit  of  fairness  to  all.  But  in  making 
a  reduction  in  taxes,  it  is  not  proposed  to 
injure  any  domestic  industries,  but  rather 
to  promote  their  healthy  growth.  From 
the  foundation  of  this  Government  taxes 
collected  at  the  custom  house  have  been 
the  chief  source  of  Federal  revenue.  Such 
they  must  continue  to  be.  Moreover,  many 
industries  have  come  to  rely  upon  legisla- 
tion for  successful  continuance,  so  that  any 
change  of  law  must  be  at  every  stej)  re- 
gardful of  the  labor  and  the  capital  thus 
involved.  The  process  of  reform  must  be 
subject  in  the  execution  to  this  plain  dic- 
tate of  justice.  All  taxation  shall  be 
limited  to  the  requirements  of  economical 
government.  The  necessary  reduction  in 
taxation  can  and  must  be  effected  without 
depriving  American  labor  of  the  ability  to 
compete  successfully  wiCh  foreign  labor, 
and  without  imposing  lower  rates  of  duty 
than  will  be  ample  to  cover  any  increased 
cost  of  production  which  may  exist  in 
consequence  of  the  higher  rate  of  wages 
prevailing  in  this  country.  Sufficient  rev- 
enue to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  Federal 
Government,  economically  administered, 
including  pensions,  interest  and  principal 
of  the  public  debt,  can  be  got,  under  our 
present  system  of  taxation,  from  custom 
house  taxes  on  fewer  imported  articles, 
bearing  heaviest  on  articles  of  luxury,  and 
bearing  lightest  on  articles  of  necessity. 
We  therefore  denounce  the  abuses  of  the 
existing  tariff,  and  subject  to  the  preceding 
limitations,  we  demand  that  Federal  taxa- 
tion shall  be  exclusively  for  public  pur- 
poses and  shall  not  exceed  the  needs  of 
the  Grovernment  economically  adminis- 
tered. 

The  system  of  direct  taxation,  known  as 
the  "  internal  revenue,"  is  a  war  tax,  and 
so  long  as  the  law  continues,  the  money 
derived  therefrom  should  be  sacredly 
devoted  to  the  relief  of  the  people  from 
the  remaining  burdens  of  the  war,  and  be 
made  a  fund  to  defray  the  expense  of  the 
care  and  comfort  of  the  worthy  soldiers 
disabled  in  line  of  duty  in  the  wars  of  the 
Republic,  and  for  the  payment  of  such 
pensions  as  Congress  may  from  time  to 
time  grant  to  such  soldiers,  a  like  fund  for 
the  sailors  having  been  already  provided  ; 
and  any  surplus  should  be  paid  into  the 
treasury. 

We  favor  an  American  continental  pol- 
icy, based  upon  more  intimate  commercial  ■ 
aiid  political  relations  with  the  fifteen 
sister  Republics  of  North,  Central  and 
South  America,  but  entangling  alliances 
with  none.  We  believe  in  honest  money, 
the  gold  and  silver  coinage  of  the  Consti- 


BOOK  11.^ 


POLITICAL  PLATFORMS. 


71 


tution,  and  a  circulating  medium  convert- 
ible into  such  money  without  loss. 

Asserting  the  equality  of  all  men  before 
the  law,  we  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Government,  in  its  dealings  with  the 
people,  to  mete  out  equal  and  exact  justice 
to  all  citizens,  of  whatever  nativity,  race, 
color  or  persuasion,  religious  or  political. 
We  believe  in  a  free  ballot  and  a  fair 
count,  and  we  recall  to  the  memory  of  the 
people  the  noble  struggle  of  the  Democrats 
in  the  Forty-fifth  and  Forty-sixth  Con- 
gresses by  which  a  reluctant  Republican 
opposition  was  compelled  to  assent  to 
legislation  making  everywhere  illegal  the 
presence  of  troops  at  the  polls,  as  the  con- 
clusive proof  that  a  Democratic  adminis- 
tration will  preserve  liberty  with  order. 
The  selection  of  Federal  officers  for  the 
Territories  should  be  restricted  to  citizens 
previously  resident  therein.  We  oppose 
sumptuary  laws,  which  vex  the  citizens 
and  interfere  with  individual  liberty.  We 
favor  honest  civil  service  reform,  and  the 
compensation  of  all  United  States  officers 
by  fixed  salaries ;  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State  and  the  diffusion  of  free  educa- 
tion by  common  schools,  so  that  every 
child  in  the  land  may  be  taught  the  rights 
and  duties  of  citizenship. 

While  we  favor  all  legislation  which  will 
tend  to  the  equitable  distribution  of  pro- 
perty to  the  prevention  of  monopoly,  and 
to  the  strict  enforcement  of  individual 
rights  against  corporate  abuses,  we  hold 
that  the  welfare  of  society  depends  upon  a 
scrupulous  regard  for  the  rights  of  pro- 
perty as  defined  by  law. 

We  believe  that  labor  is  best  rewarded 
where  it  is  freest  and  most  enlightened.  It 
should,  therefore,  be  fostered  and  chei»- 
ished.  We  favor  the  repeal  of  all  laws 
restricting  the  free  action  of  labor,  and  the 
enactment  of  laws  by  which  labor  organi- 
zations may  be  incorporated,  and  of  all 
such  legislation  as  will  tend  to  enlighten 
the  people  as  to  the  true  relations  of  capi- 
tal and  labor. 

We  believe  that  the  public  lands  ought, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  be  kept  as  homesteads 
for  actual  settlers ;  that  all  unearned  lands 
heretofore  improvidently  granted  to  rail- 
road corporations  by  the  action  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  should  be  restored  to  the 
f»ublic  domain,  and  that  no  more  grant  of 
and  shall  be  made  to  corporations,  or  be 
allowed  to  fall  into  the  ownership  of  alien 
absentees.  We  are  opposed  to  all  pro- 
positions which  upon  any  pretext  would 
convert  the  General  Government  into  a 
machine  for  collecting  taxes  to  be  distrib- 
uted among  the  States  or  the  citizens 
thereof. 


All  the  great  woes  of  our  country  hav6 
come  because  of  imported  labor.  Our 
fathers  made  this  land  the  home  of  the  freo 
for  all  men  appreciating  our  institutions, 
with  energy  enough  to  bring  themselves 
here,  and  such  we  welcome,  but  our  coun- 
try ought  never  to  be  a  lazar-house  for  the 
deportation  of  the  pauper  labor  of  othter 
countries  through  governmental  aid,  or  the 
importation  of  the  same  kind  of  labor  as 
an  instrument  with  which  capital  can  de- 
base American  workingmen  and  women 
from  the  proud  position  they  now  occupy 
by  competing  with  them  by  imported  labor 
or  convict  labor,  while  at  the  same  time, 
capital  asks  and  receives  protection  of  its 
interests  at  the  hands  of  the  Government, 
under  guise  of  providing  for  American 
labor.  This  evil  like  all  others  finds  birth 
in  the  cupidity  and  selfishness  of  men. 
The  laborer's  demands  should  be  redressed 
by  law.  Labor  has  a  right  to  demand  a 
just  share  ot  the  profits  of  its  own  produc- 
tions. 

The  future  of  the  country  unites  with 
the  laboring  men  in  the  demand  for  the 
liberal  support  by  the  United  States  of  the 
school  system  of  the  States  for  the  com- 
mon education  of  all  the  children,  the 
same  affording  a  sufficient  foundation  for 
the  coming  generations  to  acquire  due 
knowledge  of  their  duties  as  citizens. 

That  every  species  of  monopoly  engend- 
ers two  classes,  the  very  rich  and  the  veiy 
poor,  both  of  which  are  equally  hurtful  to 
a  Republic  which  should  give  to  its  people 
equal  rights  and  equal  privileges  under  the 
law. 

That  the  public  lands  of  the  United 
States  were  tne  equal  heritage  of  all  the 
citizens  and  should  have  been  held  open 
to  the  use  of  all  in  such  quantities  only  as 
are  needed  for  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment by  all.  Therefore  we  view  with 
alarm  the  absorption  of  these  lands  by  cor- 
porations and  individuals  in  large  areas, 
some  of  them  more  than  equal  to  princely 
domains,  and  demand  of  Congress  to  apply 
appropriate  remedies  with  a  stern  hand  so 
that  the  lands  of  the  people  may  be  held 
by  the  many  and  not  by  the  few. 

That  the  public  lands  of  the  Nation  arv 
held  by  the  Government  in  trust  for  tnose 
who  make  their  homes  in  the  United 
States,  and  who  mean  to  become  citizens  of 
the  Republic,  and  we  protest  against  the 

Eurchase  and  monopolization  of  these  lands 
y  corporations  ana  the  alien  aristocracy 
01  Europe. 

That  all  corporate  bodies,  created  eithei 


72 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  It 


Id  the  States  or  Nation  for  the  purpose  of 
performing  public  duties,  are  public  ser- 
vants and  to  oe  regulated  in  all  their  actions 
by  the  same  power  that  created  them  at  its 
own  will,  and  that  it  is  within  the  power 
and  is  the  duty  of  the  creator  to  so  govern 
its  creature  that  by  its  acts  it  shall  become 
neither  a  monopoly  nor  a  burden  upon  the 
j>eople,  but  be  their  servant  and  conveni- 
ence, which  is  the  true  test  of  its  useful- 
ness. Therefore  we  call  upon  Congress  to 
exercise  its  great  constitutional  powers  for 
regulating  inte^ -estate  commerce  to  provide 
that  by  no  contrivance  whatever,  under 
forms  of  law  or  otherwise,  shall  discrimi- 
nating rates  and  charges  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  freight  and  travel  be  made  in 
favor  of  the  few  against  the  many  or  en- 
hance the  rates  of  transportation  between 
the  producer  and  the  consumer. 

The  various  oflSces  of  the  Government 
belong  to  the  people  thereof  and  who 
rightfully  demand  to  exercise  and  fill  the 
same  whenever  they  are  fitted  by  capacity, 
integrity  and  energy,  the  last  two  qualifi- 
cations never  to  be  tested  by  any  scholastic 
examination.  We  hold  that  frequent 
changes  of  Federal  oflScials  are  shown  to  be 
necessary.  First,  to  counteract  the  grow- 
ing aristocratic  tendencies  to  a  caste  of  life 
offices.  Second,  experience  having  shown 
that  all  investigation  is  useless  while  the 
incumbent  and  his  associates  hold  their 
places.  Frequent  change  of  officers  is 
necessary  to  the  discovery  and  punishment 
of  frauds,  peculations,  defalcations  and  em- 
bezzlements of  the  public  money. 

In  reaffirming  the  declaration  of  the 
Democratic  platform  of  1856,  that  "  The 
liberal  principles  embodied  by  Jefferson 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
sanctioned  in  the  Constitution,  which 
make  oum  a  land  of  liberty  and  the  asylum 
of  the  oppressed  of  every  nation  have  ever 
been  cardinal  principles  in  the  Democratic 
faith,"  we  neverthlcss  do  not  sanction  the 
importation  of  foreign  labor  or  the  admis- 
sion of  servile  races,  unfitted  by  habits, 
training,  religion  or  kindred  for  absorption 
into  the  ^reat  body  of  our  people,  or  for  the 
citizenship  which  our  laws  confer.  Ameri- 
can civilization  demands  that  against  the 
immigration  or  importation  of  Mongolians 
to  these  shores  our  gates  be  closed.  The 
Democratic  party  insists  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  this  Government  to  protect  with  great 
fidelity  and  vigilance  the  rights  of  its  citi- 
zens, native  and  naturalized,  at  home  and 
abroad ;  and  to  the  end  that  this  protection 
may  be  assured  to  the  United  States, 
papers  of  naturalization,  issued  by  courts 
of  competent  jurisdiction,  must  be  re- 
spected by  the  exe'^utive  legislative  depart- 
ments of  our  own  Government  and  by  all 
foreign  powers.    It  is  an  imperative  ^uty 


of  this  Government  to  efficiently  protect 
all  the  rights  of  persons  and  property  of 
every  American  citizen  in  foreign  lands, 
and  demand  and  enforce  full  reparation 
for  any  violation  thereof.  An  American 
citizen  is  only  responsible  to  his  own  Gov- 
ernment for  an  act  done  in  his  own  coun- 
try or  under  her  flag,  and  can  only  be  tried 
therefore  on  her  own  soil  and  according  to 
her  laws;  and  no  power  exists  in  this 
Government  to  expatriate  an  American 
citizen  to  be  tried  in  any  foreign  land  for 
any  such  act.  This  country  has  never  had 
a  well  defined  and  executeu  foreign  policy, 
save  under  the  Democratic  administration. 
That  policy  has  never  been  in  regard  to 
foreign  Nations,  so  long  as  they  do  not  act 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  country 
or  hurtful  to  our  citizens,  to  let  them  alone. 
That  as  the  result  of  this  policy  we  re- 
call the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  Florida, 
California  and  of  the  adjacent  Mexican 
Territory  by  purchase  alone,  and  contrast 
these  grand  acquisitions  of  Democratic 
Statesmanship  with  the  purchase  of  Alaska, 
the  sole  fruit  of  a  Republican  administra- 
tion of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

The  Federal  Government  should  care 
for  and  improve  the  Mississippi  river  and 
other  great  water  ways  of  the  Republic,  so 
as  to  secure  for  the  interior  States  easy  and 
cheap  transportation  to  tide  water. 

Under  a  long  period  of  Democratic  rule 
and  policy  our  merchant  marine  was  fast 
overtaking  and  on  the  point  of  outstrip- 
ping that  of  Great  Britain.  Under  twenty- 
five  years  of  Republican  rule  and  policy 
our  commerce  has  been  leil  to  British  bot- 
toms, and  almost  has  the  American  flag 
been  swept  off  the  high  seas.  Instead  of 
the  Republican  party  s  British  policy,  we 
demand  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States  an  American  policy.  Under  Dem- 
ocratic rule  and  policy  our  merchants  and 
sailors  flying  the  stars  and  stripes  in  every 
port,  successfully  searched  out  a  market 
for  the  varied  products  of  American  indus- 
try. Under  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  Re- 
publican rule  and  policv,  despite  our 
manifest  advantage  over  all  other  nations, 
high-paid  labor,  favorable  climates  and 
teeming  soils ;  despite  freedom  of  trade 
among  these  United  States  ;  despite  their 
population  by  the  foremost  races  of  men 
and  the  annual  immigration  of  the  young, 
thrifty  and  adventurous  of  all  nations  ;  de- 
spite our  freedom  here  from  the  inherited 
burdens  of  life  and  industry  in  the  Old 
World  monarchies — their  costly  war  navies 
their  vast  tax-consuming,  non-producing 
standing  armies ;  despite  twenty  years  of 

Eeace — that  Republican  rule  and  policy 
ave  managed  to  surrender  to  Great 
Britain,  along  with  our  commerce,  the 
control  of  the  markets  of  the  world.    In« 


BOOK  n.] 


POLITICAL   PLATFORMS. 


73 


Btead  of  the  Republican  party's  British 
policy,  we  demand  in  behalf  of  the  Amer- 
ican Democracy  an  American  policy.  In- 
stead of  the  Republican  party's  discredited 
scheme  and  false  pretense  of  friendship  for 
American  labor,  expressed  by  imposing 
taxes,  we  demand  in  behalf  of  the  Demo- 
cracy freedom  for  American  labor  by  re- 
ducing taxes,  to  the  end  that  these  United 
States  may  compete  with  unhindered 
powers  for  the  primacy  among  nations  in 
all  the  arts  of  peace  and  fruits  of  liberty. 

With  profound  regret  we  have  been  ap- 
prised by  the  venerable  statesman  through 
whose  person  was  struck  that  blow  at  the 
vital  principle  of  republics — acquiescence 
in  the  will  of  the  majority — that  he  can- 
not permit  us  again  to  place  in  his  hands 
the  leadership  of  the  Democratic  hosts  for 
the  reason  that  the  achievement  of  reform 
in  the  administration  of  the  Federal  Go- 
vernment is  an  undertaking  now  too 
heavy  for  his  age  and  failing  strength.  Re- 
joicing that  his  life  has  been  prolonged 
until  the  general  judgment  of  our  fellow- 
countrymen  is  united  in  the  wish  that, 
wrong  were  righted  in  his  person  for  the 
Democracy  of  the  United  States,  we  offer 
to  him  in  his  withdrawal  from  public 
career  not  only  our  respectful  sympathy 
and  esteem,  but  also  the  best  homage  of 
freedom,  the  pledge  of  our  devotion  to  the 
principles  and  the  cause  now  inseparable 
in  the  history  of  this  Republic,  from  the 
labors  and  the  name  of  Samuel  J. 
Tilden. 

With  this  statement  of  the  hopes,  prin- 
ciples and  purposes  of  the  Democratic 
party,  the  great  issue  of  reform  and  change 
m  administration  is  submitted  to  the  peo- 
ple in  calm  confidence  that  the  popular 
voice  will  pronounce  in  favor  of  new  men 
and  new  and  more  favorable  conditions 
for  the  growth  of  industry,  the  exten- 
sion of  trade,  the  employment  and  due 
reward  of  labor  and  capital  and  the  gene- 
ral welfare  of  the  whole  country. 


1884.— Republican  Platform. 


Adopted  by  tht  Chicago  ConvetUUm,  June  3d  to  6th. 


The  Republicans  of  the  United  States, 
in  National  Convention  assembled,  renew 
their  allegiance  to  the  principles  upon 
which  they  have  triumphed  in  six  suc- 
cessive Presidential  elections,  and  con- 
gratulate   the    American   people    on  the 


attainment  of  so  many  results  in  legisla- 
tion and  administration  by  which  (he  Re- 
publican party  has,  after  saving  the  Union, 
done  so  much  to  render  its  institutions 
just,  equal  and  beneficent — the  safeguard 
of  liberty  and  the  embodiment  of  the  best 
thought  and  highest  purposes  of  our 
citizens.  The  Republican  party  has  gained 
its  strength  by  quick  and  faithful  response 
to  the  demands  of  the  people  for  the  free- 
dom and  the  equality  of  all  men ;  for  a 
united  nation,  assuring  the  rights  of  all 
citizens ;  for  the  elevation  of  labor ;  for  an 
honest  currency ;  for  purity  in  legislation, 
and  for  integrity  and  accountability  in  all 
departments  of  the  Government;  and  it 
accepts  anew  the  duty  of  leading  in  th* 
work  of  progress  and  reform. 

We  lament  the  death  of  President  Gar- 
field, whose  sound  statesmanship,  long 
conspicuous  in  Congress,  gave  promise  of 
a  strong  and  successful  administration,  a 
promise  fully  realized  during  the  short 
period  of  his  ofiice  as  President  of  the 
United  States.  His  distinguished  success 
in  war  and  in  peace  has  endeared  him  to 
the  hearts  of  the  American  people. 
• 

In  the  administration  of  President 
Arthur  we  recognizee  a  wise,  conservative, 
and  patriotic  policy,  under  which  the 
country  has  been  blessed  with  remarkable 
prosperity,  and  we  believe  his  eminent  ser- 
vices are  entitled  to,  and  will  receive,  the 
hearty  approval  of  every  citizen. 

It  is  the  first  duty  of  a  good  Government 
to  protect  the  rights  and  promote  the  in- 
terests of  its  own  people.  The  largest 
diversity  of  industry  IS  most  productive  of 
general  prosperity  and  of  the  comfort  and 
independence  of  the  people.  We,  there- 
fore, demand  that  the  imposition  of  duties 
on  foreign  imports  shall  be  made,  not  for 
revenue  only,  but  that  in  raising  the  requi- 
site revenues  for  the  Governmenl  such 
duties  shall  be  so  levied  as  to  afford 
security  to  our   diversified  industries  and 

f)rotection  to  the  rights  and  wages  of  the 
aborer,  to  the  end  that  active  and  intelli- 
gent labor,  as  well  as  capital,  may  have  its 
just  reward,  and  the  laboring  man  hi  11 
share  in  the  national  prosperity. 

Against  the  so-called  economic  system  of 
the  Democratic  party  which  would  degrade 
our  labor  to  the  foreign  standard,  we  enter 
our  earnest  protest.  The  Democratic 
party  has  failed  completely  to  relieve  the 
people  of  the  burden  of  unnecessary  taxa- 
tion by  a  wise  reduction  of  the  surplus. 

The  Republican  party  pledges  itself  to 
correct  the  inequalities  of  the  tariff,  and  to 
reduce  the  surplus,  not  by  the  vicious  and 
indiscriminate  process  of  horizontal  reduc- 


74 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


tion,  but  by  such  methods  aa  will  relieve 
the  taxpayer  without  injuring  the  laborer 
or  the  great  productive  interests  of  the 
country. 

We  recognize  the  importance  of  sheep 
husbandry  in  the  United  States,  the  serious 
depression  which  it  is  now  experiencing 
and  the  danger  threatening  its  future  pros- 
perity ;  and  we  therefore  respect  the  de- 
mands of  the  representatives  of  this  impor- 
tant agricultural  interest  for  a  re-adjust- 
ment of  duty  upon  foreign  wool,  in  order 
that  such  industry  shall  have  full  and  ade- 
quate protection. 

We  have  always  recommended  the  best 
money  known  to  the  civilized  world,  and 
we  urge  that  an  effort  be  made  to  unite  all 
commercial  nations  in  the  establishment 
of  an  international  standard  which  shall 
fix  for  all  the  relative  value  of  gold  and 
silver  coinage. 

The  regulation  of  commerce  with  foreign 
nations  and  between  the  States  is  one  of 
the  most  important  prerogatives  of  the 
General  Government,  and  the  Republican 
party  distinctly  announces*  its  puroose  to 
support  such  legislation  as  will  fully  and 
efficiently  carry  out.  the  constitutional 
power  of  Congress  over  inter-State  com- 
merce. 

The  principle  of  the  public  regulation 
of  railway  corporations  is  a  wise  and  salu- 
tary one  for  the  protection  of  all  classes  of 
the  people,  and  we  favor  legislation  that 
shall  prevent  unjust  discrimination  and 
excessive  charges  for  transportation,  and 
that  shall  secure  to  the  people  and  to  the 
railways  alike  the  fair  ana  equal  protection 
of  the  laws. 

We  favor  the  establishment  of  a  national 
bureau,  of  labor,  the  enforcement  of  the 
eight-hour  law,  and  a  wise  and  judicious 
system  of  general  education  by  adequate 
appropriation  from  the  national  revenues 
wherever  the  same  is  needed.  We  believe 
that  everywhere  the  protection  to  a  citizen 
of  American  birth  must  be  secured  to  citi- 
zens of  American  adoption,  and  we  favor 
the  settlement  of  national  differences  by 
international  arbitration. 

The  Republican  party  having  its  birth 
in  a  hatred  of  slave  labor,  and  in  a  desire 
that  all  men  mav  be  free  and  equal,  is  un- 
alterably opposed  to  placing  our  working- 
men  in  competition  with  any  form  of  ser- 
vile labor,  whether  at  home  or  abroad.  In 
this  spirit  we  denounce  the  importation  of 
contract  labor,  whether  from  Europe  or 
Asia,  as  an  offense  against  the  spirit  of 
American  institutions,  and  we  pledge  our- 
■elrea  to  sustain  the  present  law  restricting 


Chinese  immigration,  and  to  provide  such 
further  legislation  as  is  necessary  to  carry 
out  its  purposes. 

The  reform  of  the  civil  service,  auspi- 
ciously begun  under  Republican  adminis- 
tration, should  be  completed  by  the  further 
extension  of  the  reformed  system,  already 
established  by  law,  to  all  the  grades  of  the 
service  to  which  it  is  applicable.  The 
spirit  and  purpose  of  the  reform  should  be 
observed  in  all  executive  appointments, 
and  all  laws  at  variance  with  the  objects  of 
existing  reformed  legislation  should  be  re- 
pealed, to  the  end  that  the  danger  to  free 
institutions  which  lurks  in  the  power  of 
official  patronage  may  be  wisely  and  effect- 
ively avoided. 

The  public  lands  are  a  heritage  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  should  be 
reserved,  as  far  as  possible,  for  small  hold- 
ings by  actual  settlers.  We  are  opposed  to 
the  acquisition  of  large  tracts  of  these 
lands  by  corporations  or  individuals,  esi)e- 
cially  where  such  holdings  are  in  the  hands 
of  non-resident  aliens,  and  we  will  endea- 
vor to  obtain  such  legislation  as  will  tend 
to  correct  this  evil.  We  demand  of  Con- 
gress the  speedy  forfeiture  of  all  land 
grants  which  have  lapsed  by  reason  of  non- 
compliance with  acts  of  incorporation,  in 
all  cases  where  there  has  been  no  attempt 
in  good  faith  to  perform  the  conditions  of 
such  grants. 

The  grateful  thanks  of  the  American 
people  are  due  to  the  Union  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  the  late  war,  and  the  Republican 
party  stands  pledged  to  suitable  pensi(>n3 
for  all  who  were  disabled,  and  for  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  died  in 
the  war.  The  Republican  party  also 
pledges  itself  to  the  repeal  of  the  limita- 
tion contained  in  the  arrears  act  of  1879, 
so  that  all  invalid  soldiers  shall  share 
alike  and  their  pensions  shall  begin  with 
the  date  of  disability  or  discharge,  and  not 
with  the  date  of  their  application. 

The  Republican  party  favors  a  policy 
which  shall  keep  us  froni  entangling  alli- 
ances with  foreign  nations,  and  which 
shall  give  the  right  to  expect  that  foreign 
nations  shall  refrain  from  meddling  in 
American  affairs — the  policy  which  seeks 
peace,  and  can  trade  with  all  Powers,  but 
especially  with  those  of  the  Western  Hem- 
isphere. 

We  demand  the  restoration  of  our  navy 
to  its  old-time  strength  and  efficiency,  that 
it  may,  in  any  sea,  protect  the  rights  of 
American  citizens  and  the  interests  of 
American  commerce,  and  we  call  upon 
Congress  to  remove  the  burdens  under 
which  American  shipping  has  been  de- 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


76 


pressed,  so  that  it  may  again  be  true  that 
we  have  a  commerce  which  leaves  no  sea 
unexplored,  and  a  navy  which  takes  no  law 
from  superior  force. 

Resolved,  That  appointments  by  the 
President  to  offices  in  the  Territories 
should  be  made  from  the  bona-fide  citizens 
and  residents  of  the  Territories  wherein 
they  are  to  serve. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  Congress 
to  enact  such  laws  as  shall  promptly  and 
effectually  suppress  the  system  of  polyg- 
amy within  our  territory,  and  divorce  the 
political  from  the  ecclesiastical  power  of 
the  so-called  Mormon  Church,  and  that 
the  law  so  enacted  should  be  rigidly  en- 
forced by  the  civil  authorities  if  possible, 
and  by  the  military  if  need  be. 

The  people  of  the  United  States,  in  their 
organized  capacity,  constitute  a  Nation  and 
not  a  mere  confederacy  of  States.  The 
National  Q-overnment  is  supreme  within 
the  sphere  of  its  national  duty,  but  the 
States  have  reserved  rights  which  should 
be  faithfully  maintained ;  each  should  be 
guarded  with  jealous  care,  so  that  the  har- 
mony of  our  system  of  government  may  be 
preserved  and  the  Union  be  kept  inviolate. 
The  perpetuity  of  our  institutions  rests 
upon  the  maintenance  of  a  free  ballot,  an 
honest  count,  and  correct  returns. 

We  denounce  the  fraud  and  violence 
practised  by  the  Democracy  in  Southern 
States  by  which  the  will  of  the  voter  is  de- 
feated, as  dangerous  to  the  preservation  of 
free  institutions,  and  we  solemnly  arraign 
the  Democratic  party  as  being  the  guilty 
recipient  of  the  fruits  of  such  fraud  and 
violence.  We  extend  to  the  Republicans 
of  the  South,  regardless  of  their  former 
party  affiliations,  our  cordial  sympathy, 
and  pledge  to  them  our  most  earnest 
efforts  ^  to  promote  the  passage  of  such 
legislation  as  will  secure  to  every  citizen, 
or  whatever  race  and  color,  the  full  and 
complete  recognition,  possession  and  exer- 
cise of  all  civil  and  political  rights. 


1888.— Democratic  National  Platform. 

Adopted  b{i  (he  St.  Louis  Convention,  June  6,  1888. 

The  Democratic  party  of  the  United 
States,  in  National  Convention  assembled, 
renews  the  pledge  of  its  fidelity  to  Demo- 
cratic faith,^  and  reaffirms  the  platform 
adopted  by  its  representatives  in  the  Con- 
vention of  1884,  and  endorses  the  views  ex- 
pressed by  President  Cleveland  in  his  last 
annual  message  to  Congress  as  the  correct 
interpretation  of  that  platform  upon  the 

Question  of  tariff  reduction  ;  and  also  en- 
orses  the  efforts  of  our  Democratic  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress  to  secure  a  reduction 
of  excessive  taxation.  Chief  among  its 
principles  of  party  faith  are  the  mainten- 
ance of  an  indissoluble  union  of  free  and 
indestructible  States,  now  about  to  enter 
upon  its  second  century  of  unexampled 
progress  and  renown ;  devotion  to  a  plan 
of  goverment  regulated  by  a  written  con- 


'stltution  strictly  specifying  every  granted 
'  power  and  expressly  reserving  to  the  States 
or  people  the  entire  ungranted  residue  of 
power;  the  encouragement  of  a  jealous 
popular  vigilance,  directed  to  all  who  have 
been  chosen  for  brief  terms  to  enact  and 
execute  the  laws,  and  are  charged  with  the 
duty  of  preserving  peace,  ensuring  equality 
and  establishing  justice. 

The  Democratic  party  welcome  an  ex- 
acting scrutiny  of  the  administration  of 
the  executive  power  which,  four  yeais  ago, 
was  committed  to  its  trusts  in  the  election 
of  Grover  Cleveland,  President  of  the 
United  States,  but  it  challenges  the  most 
searching  inquiry  concerning  its  fidelity 
and  devotion  to  the  pledges  which  then 
invited  the  suffrages  of  the  people.  Dur- 
ing a  most  critical  period  oi  our  financial 
affairs,  resulting  from  over  taxation,  the 
anomalous  condition  of  our  currency  and 
a  public  debt  unmatured,  it  has,  by  the 
adoption  of  a  wise  and  conseruative  course, 
not  only  averted  a  disaster,  but  greatly  pro- 
moted the  prosperity  of  our  people. 

It  has  reversed  the  improvident  and 
unwise  policy  of  the  Republican  party  touch- 
ing the  public  domain,  and  has  reclaimed 
from  corporations  and  syndicates  alien  and 
domestic  and  restored  to  the  people  nearly 
one  hundred  million  acres  of  valuable  land, 
to  be  sacredly  held  as  homesteads  for  our 
citizens. 

While  carefully  guarding  the  interest  to 
the  principles  of  justice  and  equity,  it  has 
paid  out  more  for  pensions  and  bounties  to 
the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  Republic 
than  was  ever  paid  out  during  an  equal 
period.  It  has  adopted  and  constantly 
pursued  a  firm  and  prudent  foreign  policy, 
preserving  peace  with  all  nations  while 
scrupulously  maintaining  all  the  rights  and 
interests  of  our  own  Government  and  peo- 
ple at  home  and  abroad.  The  exclusion 
from  our  shores  of  Chinese  laborers  has 
been  effectually  secured  under  the  provi- 
sion of  a  treaty,  the  operation  of  which  has 
been  postponed  by  the  action  of  a  Repub- 
lican majority  in  the  Senate. 

Honest  reform  in  the  Civil  Service  has  been 
inaugurated  and  maintained  by  President 
Cleveland,  and  he  has  brought  the  public 
service  to  the  highest  standard  of  efficiency, 
not  only  by  rule  and  precept,  but  by  the 
example  of  his  own  untiring  and  unselfish 
administration  of  public  affairs. 

In  every  department  and  branch  of  the 
G-ovemment,  under  Democratic  control,  the 
rights  and  the  welfare  of  all  the  people 
have  been  guarded  and  defended;  every 
public  interest  has  been  protected,  and  tlie 
equality  of  all  our  citizens  before  the  law 
without  regard  to  race  or  color  has  been 
steadfastly  maintained.  Upon  its  record 
thus  exhibited,  and  upon  the  pledse  of  a 
continuance  to  the  people  of  the  oenefits 
of  Democracy,  invokes  a  renewal  of  popu- 
lar trust  by  the  re-election  of  a  Chief  Magis- 
trate who  has  been  faithful,  able  and 
prudent.    To  invoke  in  addition  to  that 


76 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


trust  by  the  transfer  also  to  the  Democracy 
of  the  entire  legislative  power. 

The  Republican  party  controlling  the 
Senate  and  resisting  in  both  Houses  of 
Congress  a  reformation  of  unjust  and  un- 
equal tax  laws,  which  have  outlasted  the 
necessities  of  war  and  are  now  undermin- 
ing the  abundance  of  a  long  peace,  deny  to 
the  people  equality  before  the  law,  and  the 
fairness  and  the  justice  which  are  their 
right.  Then  the  cry  of  American  labor  for 
a  better  share  in  the  rewards  of  industry  is 
stiffled  with  false  pretences,  enterprise  is 
fettered  and  bound  down  to  home  markets, 
capital  is  discouraged  with  doubt,  and  un- 
equal, unjust  laws  can  neither  be  properly 
amended  nor  repealed. 

The  Democratic  party  will  continue  with 
all  the  power  confided  to  it,  the  struggle  to 
reform  these  laws  in  accordance  with  the 
pledges  of  its  last  platform,  endorsed  at 
the  ballot-box  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
people.  Of  all  the  industrious  freemen  of 
our  land,  the  immense  majority,  including 
every  tiller  of  the  soil,  gain  no  advantage 
from  excessive  tax  laws,  but  the  price  of 
nearly  everything  they  buy  is  increased  by 
the  favoritism  of  an  unequal  system  of  tax 
legislation.  All  unnecessary  taxation  is 
unjust  taxation. 

It  is  repugnant  to  the  creed  of  Demo- 
cracy that  by  such  taxation  the  cost  of  the 
necessaries  of  life  should  be  unjustifiably 
ncrcixsed  to  a'l  our  people.  Judged  by 
iDemocratic  principles  the  interests  of  the 
people  are  betrayeil  when,  by  unnecessary 
taxation,  trusts  and  combinations  are  per- 
mitted to  exist,  which,  while  unduly  enrich- 
ing the  few  that  combine,  rob  the  body  of 
the  citizens  by  depriving  them  of  the  bene- 
fits of  natural  competition.  Every  Demo- 
cratic rule  of  governmental  action  is  violated 
when,  through  unnecessary  taxation,  a  vast 
sum  of  money,  far  beyond  the  needs  of  an 
economical  administration,  is  drawn  from 
the  people  and  the  channels  of  trade  and 
accumulated  as  a  demoralizing  surplus  in 
the  National  Treasury. 

The  money  now  lying  idle  in  the  Federal 
Treasury,  resulting  from  superfluous  taxa- 
tion, amounts  to  more  than  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  millions,  and  the  surplus 
collected  is  reaching  the  sum  of  more  than 
sixty  millions  annually.  Debauched  by  this 
immense  temptation,  the  remedy  of  the 
Republican  party  is  to  meet  and  exhaust 
by  extravagant  appropriations  and  expen- 
ses, wliether  constitutional  or  not,  the 
accumulation  of  extravagant  taxations. 
The  Democratic  policy  is  to  enforce  fru- 
gality in  public  expense  and  abolish  un- 
necessary taxation.  Our  established  do- 
mestic industries  and  enterprises  should 
not  and  need  not  be  endangered  by  the 
reduction  ami  correction  of  the  burdens  of 
taxation.  On  the  contrary,  a  fair  and 
careful  revision  of  our  tax  laws,  with  due 
allowance  for  the  difference  between  the  i 
wages  of  American  and  foreign  labor. ' 
must  promote  and  encourage  every  branch 


of  such  industries  and  enterprises  by  giving 
them  assurance  of  an  extended  market  and 
steady  and  continuous  operations.  In  the 
interests  of  American  labor,  which  should 
in  no  event  be  neglected,  revision  of  our 
tax  laws,  contemplated  by  the  Democratic 
party,  should  promote  the  advantage  of 
such  labor  by  cheapening  the  cost  of  neces- 
saries of  life  in  the  home  of  every  working 
man,  and  at  the  same  time  securing  to  him 
steady  and  remunerative  employment. 
Upon  this  question  of  tariff  reform,  so 
closely  concerning  every  phase  of  our 
national  life,  and  upon  every  question 
involved  in  the  problem  of  good  govern- 
ment, the  Democratic  party  submits  its 
principles  and  professions  to  the  intelligent 
suffrages  of  the  American  people. 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  hereby 
endorses  and  recommends  the  early  passage 
of  the  bill  for  the  reduction  of  the  revenue 
now  pending  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives    (Referring  to  the  Mills  bill. ) 

Kesolvecl,  That  we  express  our  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  struggling  people  of  all 
nations  in  their  efforts  to  secure  for  them- 
selves the  inestimable  blessings  of  self- 
government  and  civil  and  religious  liberty; 
and  we  especially  declare  our  sympathy 
with  the  efforts  of  those  noble  patriots 
who,  led  by  Glad.stone  and  Parnell,  have 
conducted  their  grand  and  peaceful  contest 
for  Home  Rule  in  Ireland. 


Tbe  Republican  National  Platform, 

AdopUd  at  Chicago  Convention,  June  19,  1888. 

The  Republicans  of  the  United  States, 
assembled  by  their  delegates  in  National 
Convention,  pause  on  the  threshold  of  their 
proceedings  to  honor  the  memory  of  their 
first  great  leader,  the  immortal  cham- 
pion of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple— Abraham  Lincoln — and  to  cover  also 
with  wreaths  of  imperishable  remem- 
brance and  gratitude  the  heroic  names  of 
our  later  leaders  who  have  more  recently 
been  called  away  from  our  councils — 
Grant,  Garfield,  Arthur,  Logan,  Conkling. 
I^Iay  their  memories  be  faithfully  cher- 
ished. We  also  recall  with  our  greetings, 
and  with  prayer  for  his  recovery,  the 
name  of  one  of  our  living  heroes  whose 
memory  will  be  treasured  in  the  history 
both  o^  the  Republicans  and  the  republic — 
the  name  of  that  noble  soldier  ami  favorite 
child  of  victory,  Philip  H.  Sheridan. 

In  the  spirit  of  these  great  leaders  and 
of  our  own  devotion  to  human  liberty, 
and  with  that  hostility  to  all  forms  of  des- 
potism and  oppression  which  is  the  funda- 
mental idea  of  the  RepublioAn  party,  we 
add  fraternal  congratulation  to  our  fellow- 
Americans  of  Brazil  upon  their  great  set  of 
emancipation,  which  completed  the  abol- 
ition of  slavery  throughout  the  two  Ameri- 
can continents.  We  earnestly  hope  that 
we  may  soon  congratulate  our  fellow-citi- 
zens of  Irish  birth  upon  the  peaceful  re- 
covery of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland. 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


77 


We  reaffirm  our  unswerving  devotion  to 
the  National  Constitution  and  to  the  in- 
dissoluble union  of  the  States;  to  the 
autonomy  reserved  to  the  States  under  the 
Constitution ;  to  the  personal  rights  and 
liberties  of  citizens  in  all  the  States  and 
Territories  in  the  Union,  and  especially 
to  the  supreme  and  sovereign  right  of 
every  lawful  citizen,  rich  or  poor,  native  or 
foreign  born,  white  or  black,  to  cast  one 
free  ballot  in  public  elections,  atid  to  have 
that  duly  counted.  AVe  hold  the  free  and 
honest  popular  ballot  and  the  just  and 
equal  representation  of  all  the  people  to 
be  the  foundation  of  our  Republican  gov- 
ernment, and  demand  effective  legislation 
to  secure  the  integrity  and  purity  of  elec- 
tions, which  are  the  fountains  of  all  public 
authority.  We  charge  that  the  present 
administration  and  the  Democratic  major 
ity  in  Congress  owe  their  existence  to  the 
suppression  of  the  ballot  by  a  criminal 
nullification  of  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  United  States. 

We  are  uncompromisingly  in  favor  of 
the  American  system  of  protection.  We 
protest  against  its  destruction  as  proposed 
Dy  the  President  and  his  party.  They 
serve  the  interests  of  Europe ;  we  will  sup- 
port the  interests  of  America.  We  accept 
the  issue  and'  confidently  appeal  to  the 
people  for  their  judgment.  The  protective 
system  must  be  maintained.  Its  abandon- 
ment has  always  been  followed  b}'  general 
disaster  to  all  interests  except  those  of 
the  usurer  and  the  sheriff.  We  denounce 
the  Mills  bill  as  destructive  to  the  general 
business,  the  labor  and  the  farming  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  and  we  heartily  en- 
dorse the  consistent  and  patriotic  action  of 
the  Republican  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress in  opposing  its  passage. 

We  condemn  the  proposition  of  the 
Democratic  party  to  place  wool  on  the  free 
list,  and  we  insist  that  the  duties  thereon 
shall  he  adjusted  and  maintained  so  as  to 
furnish  full  and  adequate  protection  to 
that  industry. 

The  Republican  party  would  effect  all 
needed  reduction  of  the  national  revenue 
by  repealing  the  taxes  upon  tobacco,  which 
are  an  annoyance  and  burden  to  agricul- 
ture, and  the  tax  upon  spirits  used  in  the 
arts  and  for  mechanical  purposes,  and  by 
such  revision  of  the  tariff  laws  as  will  tend 
to  check  imports  of  such  articles  as  are 
P'.oduced  by  our  people,  the  production  of 
which  gives  employment  to  our  labor,  and 
release  from  import  duties  those  articles  of 
foreign  production  (except  luxuries)  the 
like  of  which  cannot  be  produced  at  home. 
If  there  shall  still  remain  a  larger  revenue 
than  is  requisite  for  the  wants  of  the  G-ov- 
ernment,  we  favor  the  entire  repeal  of  in- 
ternal taxes  rather  than  the  surrender  of 
any  part  of  our  protective  system  at  the 
joint  behest  of  the  whisky  trusts  and  the 
agents  of  foreign  manufacturers. 

We  declare  our  hostility  to  the  introduc- 
tion into  this  country  of  foreign  contract 


labor,  and  of  Chinese  labor,  alien  to  our 
civilization  and  our  Constitution,  and  we 
demand  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  ex- 
isting laws  again.st  it,  and  favor  sucJi  im- 
mediate legislation  as  will  exclude  such 
labor  from  our  shores. 

We  declare  our  opposition  to  all  com- 
binations of  capital  oiganized  in  trusts  or 
otherwise  to  control  arbitrarily  the  condi- 
tion of  trade  among  our  citizens,  and  we 
recommend  to  Congress  and  to  the  State  ' 
Legislatures  in  their  respective  jurisdic- 
tions such  legislation  as  will  prevent  the 
execution  of  all  the  schemes  to  oppress  the 
people  by  undue  charges  on  their  supplies, 
or  by  the  unjust  rates  fur  the  transporta- 
tion of  their  products  to  market.  We  ap- 
prove the  legislation  by  Congress  to  pre- 
vent alike  unjust  burdens  and  unfair  dis- 
criminations between  the  States. 

We  reafiirm  the  policy  of  appropriating 
the  public  lands  of  the  United  States  to  be 
homesteads  lor  American  citizens  and 
settlers,  not  aliens,  which  the  Republican 
party  established  in  1862,  aga  nst  the  per- 
sistent opposition  of  the  Democrats  in 
Congress,  and  which  has  brought  our  great 
western  domain  into  such  magnificent  de- 
velopment. The  restoration  of  unearned 
railroad  land  grants  to  the  public  domain, 
for  the  use  of  the  actual  settlers,  which 
was  begun  under  the  administration  of 
President  Arthur,  should  be  continued. 
We  deny  that  the  Democratic  party  has 
ever  revoked  one  acre  to  the  people,  but 
declare  that,  by  the  joint  action  of  Re- 
publicans and  Democrats,  about  fifty  mil- 
lions of  acres  of  unearned  lands  originally 
granted  for  the  construction  of  railroads 
have  b  en  restored  to  the  public  domain, 
in  pursuance  of  the  conditions  inserted  by 
the  Republican  party  in  the  original  grants. 
We  charge  the  Democratic  administration 
with  failure  to  execute  the  laws  securing  to 
settlers  titles  to  their  homesteads,  and  with 
using  appropriations  made  for  that  purpose 
to  harass  innocent  settlers  with  spies  and 
prosecutions  under  the  false  preten.-e  of  ex- 
posing frauds  and  vindicating  the  law. 

The  Government  by  Congress  of  the 
Territories  is  based  upon  necessity  only,  to 
the  end  that  they  may  become  States  in 
the  Union ;  therefore,  whenever  the  con- 
ditions of  population,  material  resources, 
public  intelligence  and  morality  are  such  as 
to  insure  a  stable  Govertmient  therein,  the 
people  of  such  territories  should  be  per- 
mitted, a.s  a  right  inherent  in  them,  the 
right  to  form  for  themselves  constitutions 
and  State  Governments  and  be  admitted 
into  the  Union.  Pending  the  preparation 
for  statehood,  all  officers  thereof  should  be 
selected  from  the  bona-fide  residents  and 
citizens  of  the  territory  wherein  they  are 
to  serve.  South  Dakota  should  of  right  be 
immediately  admitted  a.s  a  State  in  the 
Union  under  the  Constitution  framed  and 
adopted  by  her  people,  and  we  heartily  en- 
dorse the  action  of  the  Republican  Senate 
in  twice  passing  bills  for  admission.    The 


Tb 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


refuanl  of  the  Democratic  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, for  partisan  purposes,  to 
favorably  consider  these  bills,  is  a  willful 
violation  of  the  sacred  American  principle 
of  local  self  government  and  merits  the 
condeujnation  of  all  just  men.  The  pend- 
ing bills  in  the  Senate  for  acts  to  enable  the 
people  of  Washington,  North  Dakota  and 
Montana  territories  to  form  Constitutions 
and  establish  State  Governments,  should  be 
passed  without  unnecessary  delay.  The  Re- 
publican party  pledges  itself  to  do  all  in  its 
power  to  facilitate  the  admission  of  the  Ter- 
ritories of  New  Mexico,  Wyoming,  Idaho 
and  Arizona  to  the  enjoyment  of  self- 
government  as  States,  such  of  them  as  are 
not  qualified  as  soon  as  they  may  become  so. 

The  political  power  of  the  Mormon 
church  m  the  Territories,  as  exercised  in 
the  past,  is  a  menace  to  free  institutions,  a 
danj^er  no  longer  to  be  suffered  ; 

Therefore,  we  pledge  the  Republican 
party  to  appropriate  legislation  asserting 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Nation  in  all  Terri- 
tories where  the  same  is  questioned,  and  in 
furtherance  of  that  end  to  place  upon  the 
statute  books  legislation  stringent  enough 
to  divorce  the  political  from  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal power,  ana  thus  stamp  out  the  attend- 
ant wickedness  of  polygamy. 

The  Republican  party  is  in  favor  of  the 
use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  money,  and 
condemns  the  policy  of  the  Democratic 
Administration  m  its  efforts  to  demonetize 
silver. 

We  demand  the  reduction  of  letter  pos- 
tage to  one  cent  per  ounce. 

In  a  Republic  like  ours,  where  the  citi- 
zen ii  the  sovereign  and  the  oflBcial  the  ser- 
vant ;  where  no  power  is  exercised  except 
by  the  will  of  the  people,  it  is  important 
that  the  sovereign— the  people — should 
possess  intelligence.  The  free  school  is  the 
promotor  of  that  intelligence  which  is  to 
preserve  us  as  a  free  nation  ;  the  State  or 
nation,  or  both  combined,  should  support 
free  institutions  of  learning  sufficient  to  af- 
ford to  every  child  growing  up  in  the  land 
the  opportunity  of  a  good  common  school 
education. 

We  earnestly  recommend  that  prompt 
action  be  taken  by  Congress  in  the  enact- 
ment of  such  legislation  as  will  best  secure 
the  rehabilitsition  of  the  American  mer 
chant  marine,  and  we  protest  against  the 
passage  bv  Congress  of  a  free  ship  bill,  as 
calculated  to  work  injustice  to  labor  by 
lessening  the  wages  of  those  engaged  in 
preparing  materials  as  well  as  those  di- 
rectly employed  in  our  »hip  yards.  We  de- 
mand appropriations  for  the  early  re- 
building of  our  navy  ;  for  the  construction 
of  coast  fortifications  and  modern  ordnance 
and  other  approved  modern  means  of  de- 
fence for  the  protection  of  our  defenceless 
harbors  and  ciiios;  fvjr  the  payment  of 
just  pensions  to  our  soldiers ;  for  neces- 
sary works  of  national  importance  in  the 
improvement  of  harbors  and  the  channels 
of  intern^,   coastwise  and  foreign   com- 


merce ;  for  the  encouragement  of  the  ship- 
ping interests  of  the  Atlantic,  Gulf  and 
Pacific  States,  as  well  as  for  the  payment 
of  the^  maturing  public  debt.  This  policy 
will  give  employment  to  our  labor,  ac- 
tivity to  our  various  industries,  increase 
the  security  of  our  country,  promote  trade, 
open  new  and  direct  markets  for  our  pro- 
duce, and  cheapen  the  cost  of  transporta- 
tion. We  affirm  this  to  be  far  better  for 
our  country  than  the  Democratic  policy  of 
loaning  the  Government's  money  without 
interest  to  "  pet  banks." 

The  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  by  the 
present  administration  has  been  distin- 
guished by  its  inefficiency  and  its  coward- 
ice. Having  withdrawn  from  the  Senate 
all  pending  treaties  affected  by  Republi- 
can administrations  for  the  removal  of 
foreign  burdens  and  restrictions  upon 
our  commerce  and  for  its  extension  into 
better  markets,  in  has  neither  effected  nor 
proposed  any  others  in  their  stead.  Pro- 
fessing adherence  to  the  Monroe  doctrine, 
it  has  seen  with  idle  complacency  the  ex- 
tension of  foreign  influence  in  Central 
America  and  of  foreign  trade  everywhere 
among  our  neighbors.  It  has  refused  to 
charter,  sanction  or  encourage  any  Amer- 
ican organization  for  constructing  the 
Nicaragua  canal,  a  work  of  vital  impor- 
tance to  the  maintenance  of  the  Monroe 
doctrine  and  of  our  national  influence  in 
Central  and  South  America,  and  neces- 
sary for  the  development  of  trade  with  our 
Pacific  territory,  with  South  America  and 
with  the  islands  and  further  coasts  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 

We  arraign  the  present  Democratic  ad- 
ministration for  its  weak  and  unpatriotic 
treatment  of  the  fisheries  question,  and  its 
pusillanimous  surrender  of  the  essential- 
privileges  to  which  our  fishing  vessels  are 
entitled  in  Canadian  ports  under  the  treaty 
of  1818,  the  reciprocal  maritime  legislation 
of  1830,  and  the  comity  of  nations,  and 
which  Canadian  fishing  vessels  receive  in 
ports  of  the  United  States. 

We  condemn  the  policy  of  the  present 
administration  and  the  Democratic  major- 
ity in  Congress  towards  our  fisheries  as  un- 
friendly and  conspicuously  unpatriotic,  and 
as  tending  to  destroy  a  valuable  national 
industry  and  an  indispensable  resource  of 
defense  against  a  foreign  enemy. 

The  name  of  American  applies  alike  to 
all  citizens  of  the  Republic,  and  imposes 
upon  all  alike  the  same  obligation  to  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws.  At  the  same  time  that 
citizenship  is  and  must  be  the  panoply  and 
safeguard  of  him  who  wears  it,  and  protect 
him,  whether  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  in 
all  his  civil  rights,  it  should  and  must  af- 
ford him  protection  at  home  and  follow  and 
protect  him  abroad  in  whatever  land  he 
may  be  oil  a  lawful  errand. 

The  men  who  abandoned  the  Republican 
party  in  1884  and  continue  to  adhere  to 
the  Democratic  party  have  deserted  not 
only  the  cause  oi  honest  government,  of 


BOOK.  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


79 


sound  finance,  of  freedom  and  purity  of  the 
ballot,  but  especially  have  deserted  the 
cause  of  reform  in  the  civil  service.  We 
will  not  fail  to  keep  our  pledges  because 
they  have  broken  theirs  or  because  their 
candidate  has  broken  his.  We  therefore  re- 
peat our  declaration  of  1884,  to-wit :  "The 
reform  of  the  Civil  Service,  auspiciously 
begun  under  the  Republican  administration 
should  be  completed  by  the  further  exten- 
sion of  the  reform  system  already  estab- 
lished by  law  to  all  grades  of  the  service  to 
which  it  is  applicable.  The  spirit  and  pur- 
pose of  the  reform  should  be  observea  in 
all  executive  appointments,  and  all  laws  at 
variance  with  the  object  of  existing  reform 
legislation  should  be  repealed,  to  the  end 
that  the  dangers  to  free  institutions  which 
lurk  in  the  power  ot  official  patronage  may 
be  wisely  and  effectively  avoided. ' ' 

The  gratitude  of  the  nation  to  the  de- 
fenders of  the  Union  cannot  be  measured 
by  laws.  The  legislation  of  Congress 
should  conform  to  the  pledge  made  by  a 
loyal  people,  and  be  so  enlarged  and  ex- 
tended as  to  provide  against  the  possibility 
that  any  man  who  honorably  woie  the 
Federal  uniform  shall  become  an  inmate  of 
an  almshouse,  or  dependent  upon  private 
charity.  In  the  presence  of  an  overflow- 
ing treasury  it  would  be  a  public  scandal 
to  do  less  for  those  whose  valorous  service 
preserved  the  G-ovemment.  We  denounce 
the  hostile  spirit  shown  by  President 
Cleveland  in  his  numerous  vetoes  of 
measures  for  pension  relief,  and  the  action 
of  the  Democratic  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  refusing  even  a  consideration  of 
general  pension  legislation. 

In  support  of  the  principles  herewith 
enunciated  we  invite  the  co-operation  of 
patriotic  men  of  all  parties,  and  especially 
of  all  workingmen,  whose  prosperity  is 
seriously  threatened  by  the  free  trade 
policy  of  the  present  administration. 

On  motion  of  Hon.  Chas.  A.  Boutelle  of 
Maine,  the  following  was  also  adopted : 

' '  The  first  concern  of  all  good  govern 
ment  is  the  virtue  and  sobriety  of  the  peo 
pie  and  the  purity  of  the  home.  The  Re 
publican  party  cordiall/  sympathizes  with 
all  wise  and  well-directed  efforts  for  the 
promotion  of  temperance  and  morality. ' ' 

OOMPABISON  OF  PLATFORM  PLANKS  ON  GREAT 

POLITICAL  QUESTIONS. 

General  Partjr  Doctrines. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1856— That  the 
liberal  principles 
embodied  by  Jeffer- 
son in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independ- 
ence, and  sanctioned 
in  the  Constitution, 
which    makes  ours 


REPUBLICAN. 

1856— That  the 
maintenance  of  the 
principles  promul- 
gated in  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independ- 
ence and  embodied 
in  the  Federal  Con- 


DEMOCRATIC. 

the  land  of  liberty 
and  the  asylum  of 
the  oppressed  o f 
every  nation,  have 
ever  been  cardinal 

Erinciples  in  the 
>emocratic  faith; 
and  every  attempt  to 
abridge  the  present 
privilege  of  becom- 
ing citizens  and  the 
owners  of  soil  among 
us  ought  to  be  re- 
sisted with  the  same 
spirit  which  swept 
the  alien  and  sedi- 
tion laws  from  our 
statute  books. 

[Plank  8. 


ed. 


1860— Reaffirm- 


1864— 

1868— 

1872— We  recog- 
nize the  equality  of 
all  men  before  the 


stitution,  is  essential '  law,  and  hold  that 


KEPUBLICAW. 

to  the  preservation 
of  our  Republican 
institutions,  and 
that  the  Federal 
Constitution,  the 
rights  of  the  States, 
and  the  union  of  the 
States  shall  be  pre- 
served; that  with  our 
Republican  fathers, 
we  hold  it  to  be  a 
self-evident  truth 
that  all  men  are  en- 
dowed with  the  in- 
alienable rights  to 
iife,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  o  f  happi- 
ness, and  that  tlie 
primary  object  and 
ulterior  design  of 
our  Federal  Govern- 
ment were  to  secure 
these  rights  to  all 
persons  within  ita 
exclusive  jurisdic- 
tion. [Plank  1. 

I860— That  the 
maintenance  of  the 
principles  promul- 
gated m  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independ- 
ence and  embodied 
in  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution. "That  all 
men  are  created 
equal ;  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain 
inalienable  rigl  ts ; 
that  among  tbese 
are  life,  libertv,  and 
the  pursuit  of  hap- 
piness; that  to  se- 
cure these  rights 
governments  are  in- 
stituted among  men, 
deriving  their  just 
powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  gov- 
erned," is  essential 
to  the  preservation 
of  our  Republican 
institutions ;  and 
that  the  Federal 
Constitution,  the 
rights  of  the  States, 
and  the  Union  of 
the  States  must  and 
shall  be  presenreJ. 
[Plank' 2. 

1864— 

1868— 

1872— Complete 
liberty  and  exacV 
equality  in  the  en- 
joyment of  all  civil, 


80 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II 


DEMOCRATIC. 

it  is  the  duty  of  Gov- 
ernment in  its  deal- 
ings witli  the  peo- 
ple to  mete  out 
CKjual  and  exact  jus- 
tice to  all,  of  what- 
ever nativity,  race, 
color,  or  persuasion, 
religious  or  politi- 
cal [Plank  1. 


1876— 


1880  — Opposi- 
tion to  centraliza- 
tionism,  and  to  that 
dangeroiis  spirit  of 
encroachment 
which  tends  to  con- 
solidate the  powers 
of  all  the  depart- 
ments in  one,  and 
thus  to  create,  what- 
ever be  the  form  of 
(jrovemment,  a  real 
dwH)tism. 

[Plank  2. 


REPUBLICAN. 

political  and  public 
rights  Bhould  be  es- 
tablished and  effec- 
tually  maintained 
throughout  the  Un- 
ion by  efficient  and 
appropriate  State 
and  federal  Legis- 
lation. Neither  the 
law  nor  its  adminis- 
tration should  ad- 
mit any  discrimina- 
tion in  respect  of 
citizens  by  reasons 
of  race,  creed,  color 
or  previous  condi- 
tion of  servitude. 

[Plank  3. 
1876— The  United 
States  of  America  is 
a  Nation  not  a 
league.  By  the  com- 
bined workings  of 
the  National  and 
State  Governments, 
under  their  respec- 
tive  constitutions, 
the  rights  of  every 
citizen  are  secured 
at  home  or  abroad, 
and  the  common 
welfare  promoted. 

1880— ^e  consti- 
tution of  the  United 
States  is  a  supreme 
law  and  not  a  mere 
contract.  Out  of 
confederate  States  it 
made  a  sovereign 
nation.  Some  pow- 
ers are  denied  to  the 
nation,  while  others 
are  denied  to  the 
States,  but  the 
boundary  between 
the  powers  dele- 
gated and  those  re- 
served is  to  be  de- 
termined bv  the  Na- 
tional, and  not  bj 
the  State  tribunal, 
f  Cheers.] 
[Plank  2. 


The  Rebellion. 


■DEMOCRATIC. 

1864— That  this 
convention  does  ex- 
plicitly declare,  as 
the  sense  of  the 
American  people, 
that  after  four  years 
of  failure  to  restore 
the  Union  by  the  ex- 


REPUBLICAN. 

1864— That  it  is 
the  highest  duty  of 
every  American  cit- 
i  z  e  n  to  maintain 
against  all  their 
enemies  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Union 
and  the  paramount 


DEMOCRATIC. 
periment  of  war, 
during  which,  un- 
der the  pretense  of 
a  military  necessity 
or  war-power  higher 
than  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  Constitu- 
tion itself  has  been 
disregarded  in  every 
part,  and  public  lib- 
erty and  private 
right  alike  trodden 
down,  and  the  ma- 
terial prosperity  of 
the  countrj^  essen- 
tially impaired,  jus- 
tice, humanity,  lib- 
ertVj  and  the  public 
welfare  demand  that 
immediate  efforts  be 
made  for  a  cessation 
of  hostilities,  with  a 
view  to  the  ultimate 
convention  of  the 
States,  or  other 
peaceable  means, 
to  the  end  that,  at 
the  earliest  practi- 
cable moment  peace 
may  be  restored  on 
the  basis  of  the  Fed- 
eral Union  of  the 
States. 

[1st  resolution. 


REPUBLICAN. 

authority  of  the 
Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United 
States ;  and  that  lay- 
ing aside  all  diifer- 
ences  of  political 
opinions,  we  pledge 
ourselves  as  union 
men,  animated  by 
a  common  senti- 
ment, and  aiming  at 
a  common  object,  to 
d  o  everything  i  n 
our  power  to  aid  the 
Government,  in 
quelling  by  force  of 
arms  the  rebellion 
now  raging  against 
its  authority,  and  in 
bringing  to  the  pun- 
ishment due  to  theii 
crimes  the  rebels 
and  traitors  arrajeil 
against  it. 

That  we  approve 
the  determinatio  u 
of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States 
not  to  compronii«e 
with  rebels,  or  fx> 
offer  them  any  terms 
of  peace,  excispt 
such  as  may  oe 
based  upon  an  un- 
conditional  isur- 
render  of  their  Iios- 
tility  and  a  return 
to  their  just  allegi- 
ance to  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  the 
United  States;  and 
that  we  call  upon 
the  Government  to 
maintain  this  posi- 
tion and  to  prose- 
cute the  war  with 
the  utmost  possible 
vigor  to  the  com- 
plete suppression  of 
the  rebellion,  in  full 
reliance  upon  the 
self-sacrificing  p  a- 
triotism,  the  neroic 
valor,  and  the  un- 
dying devotion  of 
the  American  peo- 
ple to  the  country 
and  its  free  institu- 
tions. 

[Ist  and  2d  resolu- 
tions.! 


Home  Rnle. 

DEMOCRATIC.  REPUBLICAN. 

1856— That   we        1856—    *     ♦     • 
recognize  the  right    The  dearest  consti- 


BOOK.  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


81 


DEMOCRATIC. 

of  the  people  in  all 
the  Territories,  in- 
cluding Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  acting 
through  the  legally 
and  fairly  expressed 
will  of  A  majority  of 
actual  residents, 
and  wherever  the 
number  of  their  in- 
habitants justifies  it, 
to  form  a  constitu- 
tion *  *  *  and 
be  admitted  into  the 
Union  upon  terms 
of  perfect  equality 
with  the  other 
States. 


KEPUBLICAN. 
tutional  rights  of 
the  people  of  Kan- 
sas have  been  fraud- 
ulently and  violent- 
ly taken  from  them ; 
their  territory  has 
been  invaded  by  an 
armed  force;  spur- 
ious and  pretended 
legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  of- 
ficers have  been  set 
over  them,  by  whose 
usurped  authority, 
sustained  by  tjie 
military  power  of 
the  Government, 
tyrannical  and  un- 
constitutional laws 
have  been  enacted 
and  enforced ;  the 
right  of  the  people 
to  keep  and  bear 
arms  has  been  in- 
fringed ;  test-oaths 
of  an  extraordinary 
and  entangling  na- 
ture have  been  im- 
posed as  a  condition 
of  exercising  the 
right  of  suffrage 
and  holding  ofiice; 
the  right  of  an  ac- 
cused person  to  a 
speedy  and  public 
trial  by  an  impartial 
jury  has  been  de- 
nied; the  right  of 
the  people  to  be  se- 
cure in  their  per- 
sons, houses,  papers, 
and  effects  against 
unreasonable 
searches  and  seiz- 
ures, has  been  vio- 
lated ;  they  have 
been  deprived  of  life, 
liberty,  and  prop- 
erty without  due 
process  of  law ;  that 
the  freedom  of 
speech  and  of  the 
press  has  been 
abridged;  the  right 
to  choose  their  rep- 
resentatives  has 
been  made  of  no 
effect ;  murders,  rob- 
beries, and  arsons 
have  been  instigated 
and  encouraged, 
and  the  offenders 
have  been  allowed 
to  go  unpunished ; 
that  all  these  things 
have  been  done 


DEMOCBATia 


28 


1860— That  when 
the  settlers  in  a  Ter- 
ritory, having  an  ad- 
equate population, 
form  a  State  Consti- 
tution, the  right  of 
sovereignty  com- 
mences, and,  being 
consummated  by  ad- 
mission into  the  Un- 
ion, they  stand  on 
an  equal  footing  with 
the  people  of  other 
States;  and  the  State 
thus  organized  ought 
to  be  admitted  into 
the  Federal  Union, 
whether  its  consti- 
tution prohibits  or 
recognizees  the  insti- 
t  u  1 1  o  n  o  f  slavery. 
[Plank  3,  Breckin- 
ridge, Dem. 


1864— 

1868  — After  the 
most  solemn  and 
unanimous  pledge  of 
both  Houses  of  Con- 
gress to  prosecute  the 
war  exclusively  for 
the  maintenance  of 
the  Government  and 
the  preservation  of 
the  Union  under  the 
Constitution,  it  [the 
Republican  party] 
has  repeatedly  vio- 


BEPUBLICAN. 

with  the  knowledge, 
sanction,  and  pro- 
curement of  the 
present  Adminis- 
tration, and  that  for 
this  high  crime 
against  the  Consti- 
tution, the  Union, 
and  humanity,  we 
arraign  the  Admin- 
istration, the  Presi- 
dent, his  advisers, 
agents,  supporters, 
apologists,  and  ac- 
cessories, either  be- 
fore or  after  the  fact, 
before  the  country 
and  before  the 
world;  and  that  it 
.  is  our  fixed  purp(«e 
to  bring  the  actu  al 
perpetrators  of  the.»e 
atrocious  outrag  ijs 
and  their  accom- 
plices to  a  sure  and 
condign  p  u  n  i  s  fat- 
ment.         [Plank  3. 

I860  — That  the 
maintenance  invio- 
late of  the  rights  of 
the  States,  and  esj)e- 
cially  the  right  of 
each  State  to  order 
and  control  its  own 
domestic  institutions 
according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusive- 
ly, is  essential  to  /.hat 
balance  of  powei  on 
which  the  perfection 
and  endurance  of  oui 
political  fabric  de- 
pends; and  we  de- 
nounce the  lawless 
invasion  by  armed 
force  of  the  soil  of 
any  State  or  Terri- 
tory, no  matter  un- 
der what  pretext,  as 
among  the  gravest 
of  crimes. 

[Plank  4. 

1864— 

1868— We  con- 
gratulate  the  coun- 
try on  the  assured 
success  of  the  recon- 
struction policy  of 
Congress,  as  evinced 
by  the  adoption,  in 
the  majority  of  the 
States  lately  in  re- 
bellion, of  constitu- 
tions securing  equal 
civil  and  political 
rights  to  all ;  and  it 


82 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IL 


DEMOCBATIC. 

lated  that  most  sa- 
cred pledge  under 
which  alone  was  ral- 
lied that  noble  vol- 
unteer army  which 
carried  our  flag  to 
victory.  Instead  of 
restoring  the  Union, 
it  has,  so  far  as  in  its 
power,  dissolved  it, 
and  subjected  ten 
States,  in  time  of 
profound  peace,  to 
military  despotism 
and  negro  suprema- 
cy. It  has  nullified 
there  the  right  of 
trial  by  jurv ;  it  has 
abolished  the  habeas 
corpus,  that  most  sa-  , 
cred  writ  of  liberbr ; 
ithasoverthrown  the 
freedom  of  speech 
and  the  press;  it  has 
substituted  arbitrary 
seizures  and  arrests, 
and  military  trials 
and  secret  star-cham- 
ber inquisitions  for 
the  constitutional 
tribunals;  it  has 
disregarded  in  time 
of  peace  the  right  of 
the  people  to  be  free 
from  searches  and 
seizures;  it  has  en- 
tered the  post  and 
telegraph  offices,  and 
even  the  private 
rooms  of  inaividuals, 
and  seized  their  pri- 
vate papers  and  let- 
ters without  any  spe- 
cific charge  or  notice 
of  affidavit,  as  re- 
quired by  the  or- 
ganic law;  it  haa 
converted  the  Amer- 
can  Capitol  into  a 
bastile ;  it  has  estab- 
lished a  system  of 
spies  and  official  es- 
pionage to  which  no 
constitutional  mon- 
archy of  Europe 
would  now  dare  to 
resort;  it  has  abol- 
ished the  right  of 
appeal  on  important 
constitutional  qiies- 
tions  to  the  supreme 
judicial  tribunals, 
and  threatens  to  cur- 
tail or  destroy^  ita 
original  jurisdiction 
wluch  is  irrevocably 


REPUBLICAIf. 

is  the  duty  of  the 
Grovernment  to  sus- 
tain those  institu- 
tions and  prevent 
the  people  of  such 
States  from  being 
remitted  to  a  state 
of  anarchy. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

vested  by  the  Con- 
stitution, while  the 
learned  Chief  Jus- 
tice has  been  sub- 
jected to  the  most 
atrocious  calumnies, 
merelv  because  he 
woulcl  not  prostitute 
his  high  office  to  the 
support  of  the  false 
and  partisan  charges 

?referred  against  the 
'resident.  *  *  * 
Under  its  repeated 
assaults  the  pillars 
of  the  Grovernment 
are  rocking  on  their 
base,  and  should  it 
succeed  in  Novem- 
ber next  and  inaugu- 
rate its  President,  we 
will'  meet  as  a  sub- 
jected and  conquered 
people,  amid  the 
ruins  of  liberty  and 
the  scattered  frag- 
ments of  the  Consti- 
tution. 

1872— Local  self- 
government,  with 
impartial  sufi'rage, 
vill  guard  the  rights 
.f  all  citizens  more 
fe^.curelj^  than  any 
centralized  power. 
The  public  welfare 
requires  the  supre- 
macy of  the  civil 
over  the  military  au- 
thority, and  freedom 
of  persons  under  the 
protection  of  the  ha- 
beas corpus.  We  de- 
mand for  the  indi- 
vidual the  largest 
liberty  consister.t 
with  public  order ; 
for  the  State  self- 
government,  and  for 
the  nation  a  return 
to  the  methods  of 
peace  and  the  con- 
stitutional limita- 
tions of  power. 

[Plank  4. 
1880— **  "Home 
Eule."     [Plank  3. 


BEPUBLICAJB. 


1872  — We  hold 
that  Congress  and 
the  President  have 
only  fulfilled  an  im- 
perative duty  in 
their  measures  for 
the  suppression  of 
violent  and  treason- 
able organization!*  in 
certain  lately  reNjl- 
lious  regions,  and  for 
the  protection  of  the 
ballot-box;  and, 
therefore,  they  are 
entitled  to  the  thanka 
of  the  nation. 

[Plank  12. 


1880— 


Internal  Improvementa. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1856— That  the 
Constitution  does 
not  confer  upon  the 
general  Grovemipent 
the  power  to  com- 


REPUB'  .tJAH. 
1856— That  ap- 
propriations by  con- 
gress for  the  im- 
provement of  rivers 
and  harbors  of  Si  oa^ 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


83 


DEMOCRATIC. 

mence  and  carry  on 
a  general  sjrstem  of 
internal  improve- 
ments.   [Plank  2. 


1860— Beaffinned. 


REPUBLICAN. 

tional  character,  re- 
quired for  the  ac- 
commodation and 
security  of  our  exist- 
ing commerce,  are 
authorized  by  the 
Constitution  and 
justified  by  the  obli- 
gation 01  Govern- 
ment to  protect  the 
lives  ana  propertj' 
of  its  citizens, 

[Plank  7. 

1860— That  ap- 
propriations by  Con- 
fress  for  river  and 
arbor  improve- 
ments of  a  national 
character,  required 
for  the  accommoda- 
tion and  security  of 
an  existing  com- 
merce, are  author- 
ized by  the  Constitu- 
tion and  justified  by 
the  obligation  of 
Government  to  pro- 
tect the  lives  and 
property  of  its  citi- 
zens.    [Plank  15. 

1864— 

1868— 

1872— 

1876— 

1880—  *  *  *  That 
we  deem  it  the  duty 
of  Congress  to  de- 
velop and  improve 
our  seacoast  and 
harbors,  but  insist 
that  further  subsi- 
dies to  private  per- 
sons or  corporations 
must  cease. 


Vhe  National  Oeln  and  Interest,  tbe  Public 
Credit*  Repudiation,  etc. 


V864^ 
1868— 
1872— 
1876— 

1880— Plank  2  of 
1856  reaffirmed. 


DEMOCRATia 

1864— 


REPUBLICAN. 

1864r— That    the 
National   faith. 

Sledged  for  the  re- 
emption  of  the 
public  debt,  must  be 
kept  inviolate,  and 
that  for  this  purpose 
we  recommend  eco- 
nomy and  ri^d  re- 
sponsibility m  the 
public  expenditures, 
and  a  vigorous  and 
just  system  of  taxa- 
tion ;  and  that  it  is 
the   duty   of  every 


DEMOCRATIC. 


1868— Payment  of 
the  public  debt  of 
the  United  States  as 
rapidly  as  practica- 
ble ;  all  moneys 
drawn  from  the  peo- 
ple by  taxation,  ex- 
cept so  much  aa  is 
requisite  for  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  Gov- 
ernment, economi- 
cally administered, 
being  honestly  ap- 
plied to  such  pay- 
ment, and  where  the 
obligations  of  the 
Government  do  not 
expressly  state  upon 
their  fece,  orthelaw 
under  which  they 
were  issued  does  not 
provide  that  they 
shall  be  paid  in  coin, 
they  ought,  in  right 
and  in  justice,  to  be 
paid  in  the  lawful 
money  of  the  United 
States.        [Plank  3. 

Equal  taxation  of 
every  species  of  pro- 
perty according  to 
its  real  value,  in- 
cluding Government 
bonds  and  other 
pubUc  securities. 

[Plank  4. 


1872  — We  de- 
mand a  system  of 
Federal  taxation 
which  shall  not  un- 
necessarily interfere 
with  the  industries 
of  the  people,  and 


REPUBLICAN. 

loyal  State  to  sustain 
the  credit  and  pro- 
mote the  use  of  the 
National  currency. 
[Plank  10. 

1868  —  We  de- 
nounce all  forms  of 
repudiation  as  a  Na- 
tional crime ;  and 
the  National  honor 
requires  the  pay- 
ment of  the  public 
indebtedness  in  the 
uttermost  good  faith 
to  all  creditors  at 
home  and  abroad, 
not  only  according 
to  the  letter,  but  the 
spirit  of  the  laws 
under  which  it  was 
contracted. 

[Plank  3. 

It  is  due  to  the 
labor  of  the  nation 
that  taxation  should 
be  equalized  and  re- 
duced as  rapidly  aa 
the  national  faith 
will  permit. 

[Plank  4. 

The  national  debt^ 
contracted  as  it  has 
been  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union 
fof  all  time  to  come, 
should  be  extended 
over  a  fair  period  for 
redemption;  and  it 
is  the  duty  of  Con- 
gress to  reduce  the 
rate  of  interest 
thereon  whenever  it 
can  be  honestly 
done.      [Plank  5. 

That  tne  best  po- 
licy to  diminish  our 
burden  of  debt  is  to 
80  improve  our  cred- 
it that  capitalists 
will  seek  to  loan  us 
money  at  lower  rates 
of  interest  than  we 
now  pay  and  must 
continue  to  pay  so 
long  as  repudiation, 
partial  or  total,  open 
or  covert,  is  threat- 
ened or  suspected. 
[Plank  6. 

1872—  *  *  *  A 
uniform  national 
currency  has  been 
provided,  repudia- 
tion frowned  down, 
the  national  credit 
sustained  under  th« 


84 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


1»EM0CEATIC. 

which  shall  provide 
the  means  necessa- 
ry t<)  pay  the  expen- 
ses ot  the  Grovern- 
ment,  economically 
administered,  the 
pensions,  the  inter- 
est on  the  public 
debt,  and  a  mode- 
rate reduction  at 
nually  of  the  princi 
pal  thereof.  *  *  * 

The  public  credit 
miist  oe  sacredly 
maintained,  and  we 
denounce  repudia- 
tion in  every  form 
and  guise.  [Plank  7. 

1876— Reform  is 
necessary  to  estab- 
lish a  sound  curren- 
cy, restore  the  pub- 
lic credit,  and  main- 
tain the  national 
h(iuior. 


1880— **♦  Hon- 
eet  m  o  n  e  y — t  h  e 
strict  maintenance 
of  the  public  faith 
— coasisting  of  gold 
and  silver,  and  pa- 
per convertible  into 
coin  on  demand; 
the  strict  mainte- 
nance of  the  public 
faith,  State  and  na- 
tionaL    [Plank  3. 


BEPUBLICAN. 

most  extraordinary 
burdens,  and  new 
bonds  negotiated  at 
lower  rates.  *  * 
[Plank  1. 
"We  denounce  re- 
pudiation of  the 
public  debt,  in  any 
form  of  disguise,  as 
a  national  crime. 
We  witness  with 
pride  the  reduction 
of  the  principal  of 
the  debt,  and  of  the 
rates  of  interest  upon 
the  balance. 

[Plank  13. 

1876— In  the  first 
act  of  Congress 
signed  by  President 
Grant,  the  National 
Government  as- 
sumed to  remove 
any  doubts  of  its 
purpose  to  discharge 
all  just  obligations 
to  the  public  credi- 
tors, and  "  solemnly 
pledged  its  faith  to 
make  provision  at 
the  earliest  practica- 
ble period  for  the 
redemption  of  the 
United  States  notes 
in  coin."  Commer- 
cial prosperity,  pub- 
lic morals,  and  na- 
tional credit  demand 
that  this  promise  be 
fulfilled  by  a  con- 
tinuance and  steady 
progress  to  specie 
payment.    [Plank  4. 

1880— It  [the  Re- 
publican party]  has 
raised  the  value  of 
our  paper  currency 
from  38  per  cent,  to 
the  par  of  gold  [ap- 
plause] ;  it  has  re- 
stored, upon  a  solid 
basis,  payment  in 
coin  of  all  national 
obligations,  and  has 
given  us  a  currency 
absolutely  good  and 

Sual  in  every  part 
our  extended 
country  [applause] ; 
it  has  lifted  the 
credit  of  the  nation 
froiti  the  point  of 
where  6  per  cent, 
bonds  sola  at  86,  to 
ttiat   where   4    per 


DEMOCRATIC. 


EEPUBLICAX. 

cent,  bonds  are 
eagerly  sought  at  a 
premium. 

[Preamble. 


Reamuptlon. 


DEMOCHATIC. 

1872  — A  speedy 
return  to  specie  pay- 
ment is  demanded 
alike  by  the  highest 
c  0  n  s  i  d  e  rations  of 
commercial  morali- 
ty and  honest  gov- 
ernment. 

[Plank  8. 

1876  —  We  de- 
nounce the  financial 
imbecility  and  im- 
morality of  that 
party,  which,  during 
eleven  years  of 
peace,  has  made  no 
advance  toward  re- 
sumption, no  prepa- 
ration for  resump- 
tion, but  instead  has 
obstructed  resump- 
tion, by  wasting  our 
resources  ana  ex- 
hausting all  our  sur- 
plus income;  and, 
while  annually  pro- 
fessing to  intend  a 
speedy  return  to 
specie  payments, 
has  annually  enac- 
ted fresh  hindrances 
thereto.  As  such 
hindrance  we  de- 
nounce the  resump- 
tion clause  of  the  act 
o/"1875,  and  we  here 
demand  its  repeal. 

1880—*  *  *  Hon- 
est money,  *  *  * 
consisting  of  gold, 
and  silver,  and  pa- 
per convertible  into 
coin  on  demand. 


DEMOCBATIC. 
1868  —  Resolved, 
That  this  conven- 
tion sympathize  cor- 
d  i  a  1 1  y  with  the 
working  men  of  the 
United    States    in 


REPUBLICAN. 

1872—*  *  *  Our 
excellent  national 
currency     will     be 

Serfected  by  a  spee- 
y    resumption    of 
specie  payment. 
[Plank  13. 


1876— In  the  first 
act  of  Congress 
signed  by  President 
Grant,  the  National 
Government  as- 
sumed to  remove 
any  doubts  of  its 
purpose  to  discharge 
all  just  obligations 
to  the  public  credi- 
tors, and  solemnly 
pledged  its  faitn 
to  make  provision 
at  the  "earliest 

J)racticable  period 
or  the  redeinption 
of  the  United  States 
notes  in  coin."  Com- 
mercial prosperity, 
public  morals  and 
national  credit  de- 
mand that  this  pro- 
mise be  fulfillea  6y 
a  continuous  aiM 
steady  progress  to 
specie  payment. 

1880—  *  *  »  It 
[the  Kepublican 
party]  has  restored, 
upon  a  solid  basis, 
payment  in  coin  of 
all  National  obli- 
g  a  t  i  0  n  s ,  and  has 
given  us  a  currency 
absolutely  good  and 
equal  in  every  p*»rt 
of  our  extenfliwl 
country. 


Capital  and  liabor. 

REPUBLICAir 

1868— 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


85 


DEMOCBATIC. 

their  efforts  to  pro- 
tect the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  la- 
boring classes  of  the 
country. 
187a— 


1880— The  Demo- 
cratic party  is  the 
friend  of  labor  and 
the  laboring  man, 
and  pledges  itself  to 
protect  him  alike 
against  the  cormo- 
rant and  the  com- 
mune. [Plank  13. 


EEPUBLICAIT. 


1872— Among  the 
questions  which 
press  for  attention  is 
that  which  concerns 
the  relations  of  capi- 
tal and  labor,  and 
the  Republican  par- 
ty recognizes  the  du- 
ty of  so  shaping  le- 
gislation as  to  secure 
mil  protection  and 
the  amplest  field  for 
capital,  and  for  labor, 
the  creator  of  capital 
the  largest  opportu- 
nities and  a  just 
share  of  the  mutual 
profits  of  these  two 
great  servants  of  ci- 
vilization. 

[Plank  11. 
1880— 


Tarlir. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1856  — The  time 
has  come  for  the 
people  of  the  United 
States  to  declare 
themselves  in  favor 
of  *  *  *  progressive 
free  trade  through- 
out the  world,  by 
solemn  manifesta- 
tions, to  place  their 
moral  influence  at 
the  side  of  their  suc- 
cessful example. 
[Resolve  I. 

That  justice  and 
sound  policy  forbid 
the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  foster  one 
branch  of  industry 
to  the  detriment  of 
any  other,  or  to 
cherish  the  interests 
of  one  portion  to 
the  injury  of  another 
portion  of  our  com- 
mon country. 

[Plank  4. 


REPUBLICAN. 
1856— 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1860— Reafirmed. 


1864— 

1868—  ♦  ♦  *  A 
tariff  for  revenue 
upon  foreign  im- 
ports, and  such  equal 
taxation  under  the 
Internal  Revenue 
laws  as  will  afford 
incidental  protec- 
tion to  domestic 
manufactures,  and 
as  will,  without  im- 
pairing the  revenue, 
impose  the  least 
burden  upon  and 
best  promote  and 
encourage  the  great 
industrial  interests 
of  the  country. 

[Plank  6. 

1872—  *  *  *  *  Re- 
cognizing  that  there 
are  in  our  midst 
honest  but  irrecon- 
cilable differences  of 
opinion  with  regard 
to  the  respective 
systems  of  protection 
and  free  trade,  we 
remit  the  discussion 
of  the  subject  to  the 
people  in  their  Con- 
gressional districts, 
and  to  the  decision 
of  the  Congress 
thereon,  wholly  free 
from  executive  in- 


BEPUBLICAN. 

1860— That,  while 
providing  revenue 
lor  the  support  of 
the  general  Govern- 
ment by  duties  upoa 
imports,  sound  poli- 
cy requires  such  an 
adjustment  of  these 
imposts  as  to  encour- 
age the  development 
of  the  industrial  in- 
terests of  the  whole 
country ;  and  we 
commend  that  poli- 
cy of  national  ex- 
cnanges  which  se- 
cures to  the  work- 
ingmen  liberal  wa- 
ges, to  agriculture  re- 
munerative prices, 
to  mechanics  and 
manufacturers  an 
adequate  reward  for 
their  skill,  labor,  and 
enterprise,  and  to 
the  nation  commer- 
cial prosperity  and 
independence. 

[Plank  12. 

1864^ 

1868— 


1872—  ♦  »  ♦  » 
Revenue  except 
so  much  as  may 
be  derived  from  a 
tax  upon  tobacco 
and  liquors,  should 
be  raised  by  duties 
upon  importations, 
the  details  of  which 
should  be  so  adjusted 
as  to  aid  in  securing 
remunerative  wages 
to  labor,  and  pro- 
mote the  industriea 
prosperity,  ana 

growth  of  the  whole 
country.  [Plank  7. 


86 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  Hi 


DEMOCRATIC. 

terference  or  dicta- 
tion.      [Plank  6. 

1876—  ****  m 

demand  that  all 
custom-house  taxa- 
tion shall  be  only  far 
revenue. 

[Plank  11. 


1880—  *  *  ♦  *  A 
tariflf  for  revenue  on- 
ly. [Plank  3. 


EEPUBLICAN. 


1876— The  reve- 
nue necessary  for 
current  expendi- 
tures and  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  public 
debt  must  be  largely 
derived  from  duties 
upon  importations, 
wnich  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, should  be  ad- 
justed to  promote 
the  interests  of 
American  labor  and 
advance  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  whole 
country,  [Plank  8. 
1880— Reaffirmed. 


DEMOCRATIC. 


Education. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1876— The  false 
issue  with  which 
they  [the  Republi- 
cans] would  enkindle 
sectarian  strife  in  re- 
spect to  the  public 
schools,  of  which 
the  establishment 
and  support  belong 
exclusively  to  the 
several  States,  and 
which  the  Democra- 
tic party  has  cherish- 
ed from  their  foun- 
dation, and  is  resolv- 
es! to  maintain  with- 
out prejudice  or 
preference  for  any 
class,  sect,  or  creea, 
and  without  larges- 
ses from  the  Trea- 
sury to  any. 

1880— **  ♦Com- 
mon Schools  foster- 
ed and  protected. 
[Plank  2. 


REPUBLICAN. 

1876— The  public 
school  system  of  the 
several  States  is  the 
bulwark  of  the 
American  Republic, 
and  with  a  view  to 
its  security  and  per- 
manence we  recom- 
mend an  Amend- 
ment to  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United 
States,  forbidding 
the  application  of 
any  public  funds  or 
property  for  the  ben- 
efit of  any  schools  or 
institutions  under 
sectarian  control. 
[Plank  4. 


1880— The  work 
of  popular  education 
is  one  left  to  the 
care  of  the  several 
States,  but  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  National 
(Government  to  aid 
that  work  to  the  ex- 
tent of  its  constitu- 
tional ability.  The 
intelligence  of  the 
nation  is  but  the 
aggregate  of  the  in- 
telligence in  the 
several  States,  and 
the  destiny  of  the 
Nation     must     be 


REPUBLICAN. 

guided,  not  by  the 
genius  of  any  one 
State,  but  by  the 
average  genius  of 
all.         [Plank  3. 


Dnty  to  Union  Soldlera  and  Sallora. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1864— That  the 
sympathy  of  the  De- 
mocratic party  is 
heartily  and  earnest- 
ly extended  to  the 
soldiery  of  our  army 
and  sailors  of  our 
navy,  who  are  and 
have  been  in  the  field 
and  on  the  sea  under 
the  flag  of  our  coun- 
try, and,  in  the  event 
of  its  attaining  pow- 
er, they  will  receive 
all  the  care,  protec- 
tion, and  regard  that 
the  brave  soldiers 
and  sailors  of  the 
Republic  so  nobly 
earned.  [Plank  6. 


1868— ******* 
That  our  soldiers 
and  sailors,  who  car- 
ried the  flag  of  our 
country  to  victory, 
against  a  most  gal- 
lant and  determined 
foe,  must  ever  be 
gratefully  remem- 
bered, and  all  the 
guarantees  given  in 
their  favor  must  be 
faithfully  carried 
into  execution. 


REPUBLICAN. 

1864— That  the 
thanks  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  are  due 
to  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  the  army 
and  navy,  who  have 
periled  their  lives  in 
defense  of  the  coun- 
try and  in  vindica- 
tion of  the  honor  of 
its  flag;  that  the  na- 
tion owes  to  them 
some  permanent  re- 
cognition of  their  pa- 
triotism and  their 
valor,  and  ample  and 
permanent  provi- 
sion for  those  of  their 
survivors  who  have 
received  disabling 
and  honorable 

wounds  in  the  serv- 
ice of  the  country ; 
and  that  the  memor- 
ies of  those  who  have 
fallen  in  its  defence 
shall  be  held  in 
grateful  and  ever- 
lasting remem- 
brance.  [Plank  4. 

1868— Of  all  who 
were  faithful  in  the 
trials  of  the  late  war, 
there  were  none  en- 
titled to  more  espe- 
cial honor  than  the 
brave  soldiers  and 
seamen  who  endured 
thie  hardships  of 
campaign  ana  cruise 
and  imperiled  their 
lives  in  the  service 
of  their  country ; 
the  bounties  and 
pensions  provided 
Dy  the  laws  for  these 
brave  defenders  of 
the  nation  are  obli- 
eations  never  to  be 
forgotten ;  the  wi- 
dows and  orphans  of 
the  gallant  dead  are 
the  wards  of  the  peo- 
ple— a  sacred  legacy 
Dequeathed  to  the 
nation's  care. 

[Plank  10. 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


87 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1872—*  We  re- 
member with  grati- 
tude the  heroism 
and  sacrifices  of  the 
soldiers  and  sailors 
of  the  Republic,  and 
no  act  of  ours  shall 
ever  detract  from 
their  justly  earned 
fame  for  the  full  re- 
ward of  their  patriot- 
liair         [Plank  9. 


KEPUBLICAN. 

1872— We  hold  in 
undying  honor  the 
soldiers  and  sailors 
whose  valor  saved 
the  Union.  Their 
pensions  are  a  sacred 
debt  of  the  nation, 
and  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  those 
who  died  for  their 
country  are  entitled 
to  the  care  of  a  gen- 
erous and  grateful 
people.  We  favor 
such  additional  le- 
gislation as  will  ex- 
tend the  bounty  of 
the  Grovernment  to 
all  our  soldiers  and 
sailors  who  were 
honorably  discharg- 
ed, and  who  in  the 
line  of  duty  became 
disabled,  without  re- 
gard to  the  length  of 
service  or  the  cause 
of  such  discharge. 
[Plank  8. 

1876— The  pledges 
which  the  nation 
has  given  to  her 
soldiers  and  sailors 
must  be  fulfilled, 
and  a  grateful  people 
will  always  hold 
those  who  imperiled 
their  lives  for  the 
country's  preserva- 
tion, in  the  kindest 
remembrance. 

[Plank  14. 

1880— That  the 
obligations  of  the 
Republic  to  the  men 
who  preserved  its  in- 
tegrity in  the  day  of 
battle  are  undimin- 
ished by  the  lapse 
of  fifteen  years  since 
their  final  victory. 
To  do  them  honor 
is  and  shall  forever 
be  the  grateful  pri- 
vilege and  sacred 
duty  of  the  Ameri- 
can people. 


Natnrallzatlom  and  Allef^laiioe. 


1876—***  The 
soldiers  and  sailors 
of  the  Republic,  and 
the  widows  and  or- 

Ehans  of  those  who 
ave  fallen  in  battle, 
have  a  just  claim 
upon  the  care,  pro- 
tection, and  grati- 
tude of  their  fellow- 
citizens. 
[Last  resolution. 

188a- 


DEMOCRATIC. 

I860— Thatthe  De- 
mocracy of  the  Uni- 
ted States  recognize 
it  as  the  imperative 


REPUBLICAN. 

1860— The  Re- 
publican  party  is 
opposed  to  any 
cnange  in  our  na- 


DEMOCRATIC. 

duty  of  this  Govern- 
ment to  protect  the 
naturalized  citizen 
in  all  his  rights, 
whether  at  home  or 
in  foreign  lands,  to 
the  same  extent  as 
its  native-born  ci- 
tizens.    [Plank  6. 


1864— 

1868  —  Equal 
rights  and  protec- 
tion for  naturalized 
and  native-born  citi- 
zens at  home  and 
abroad,  the  assertion 
of  American  nation- 
ality which  shall 
command  the  re- 
spect of  foreign 
powers,  and  furnish 
an  example  and  en- 
couragement to  peo- 
ple struggling  for 
national  integrity, 
constitutional  liber- 
ty, and  individual 
rights  and  the  main- 
tenance of  the  rights 
of  naturalized  citi- 
zens against  the  ab- 
solute doctrine  of 
immutable  allegi- 
ance, and  the  claims 
of  foreign  powers  to 

fmnish  them  for  al- 
eged  crime  com- 
mitted beyond  their 
jurisdiction. 

[Plank  8. 


1871— 


REPUBLICAN. 
turalization  laws,  or 
any  State  legislation 
by  which  the  rights 
of  citizenship  hith- 
erto accorded  to  im- 
migrants from  for- 
eign lands  shall  be 
abridged  or  impair- 
ed ;  and  in  favor  of 
giving  a  full  and  ef- 
ficient protection  to 
the  right  of  all  clas- 
ses of  citizens, 
whether  native  or 
naturalized,  both 
home  and  abroad. 
[Plank  14. 

1864r— 

1868— The  doc- 
trine of  Great  Bri- 
tain and  other  Eur(>- 
pean  Powers,  t}iat 
because  a  man  is 
once  a  subject  he  if 
always  so,  must  b» 
resisted  at  every 
hazard  by  the  Uni- 
ted States,  as  a  re- 
lic of  feudal  times, 
not  authorized  by 
the  laws  of  nations, 
and  at  war  with  our 
national  honor  and 
independence.  Na- 
turalized citizens  are 
entitled  to  protec- 
tion in  all  their 
rights  of  citizenship 
as  though  they  w  ere 
native-bom ;  and  no 
citizen  of  the  Unit-ed 
States,  native  or  ua- 
turalized,  must  be 
liable  to  arrest  and 
imprisonment  by 
any  foreign  power 
for  acts  done  or 
words  spoken  in  this 
country;  and,  if  eo 
arrested     and     im- 

Srisoned,  it  is  the 
uty  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  interfere  in 
his  behalf. 

[Plank  9. 
1872  — The  doc- 
trine of  Great  Bri- 
tain and  other  Eu- 
ropean Powers  con- 
cerning allegiance 
— "  once  a  subject 
always  a  subject  "— 
having  at  la»t, 
ihrouah  the  efftrrta 
of  the  Republican 
party,    been     abanr 


88 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II, 


DEMOCRATIC. 


1876— 


1880— 


REPUBLICAN. 

doned,  and  the  Ame- 
rican idea  of  the  in- 
dividual's right  to 
transfer  allegiance 
having  been  accep- 
ted by  European 
nations,  it  is  the 
duty  of  our  Govern- 
ment to  guard  with 
jealous  care  the 
rights  of  adopted 
citizens  against  the 
assumption  of  unau- 
thorised claims  by 
their  former  Gov- 
ernments, and  we 
urge  continued  care- 
ful encouragement 
and  protection  of 
voluntary  immigra- 
tion.        [Plank  9. 

1876— It  is  the  im- 
perative duty  of  the 
Government  so  to 
modify  existing  trea- 
ties with  European 
governments,  that 
the  same  protection 
shall  be  afforded  to 
the  adopted  Ameri- 
can citizen  that  is 
fiven  to  the  native- 
om,  and  that  all 
necessary  laws 
should  be  passed  to 
protect  emigrants  in 
the  absence  of  pow- 
er in  the  State  for 
that  purpose. 

[Plank  10. 
1880—  *  *  *  * 
Everywhere  the  pro- 
tection accorded  to  a 
citizen  of  American 
birth  must  be  se- 
cured to  citizens  by 
American  adoption. 
[Plank  6. 


Tbe  diUicse. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

187&— Reform  is 
necessary  to  correct 
the  omissions  of  a 
Republican  C  o  n  - 
gress,  and  the  errors 
of  our  treaties  and 
our  diplomacy, 
which  have  stripped 
our  fellow-citizens 
of  foreign  birth  and 
kindred  race  re- 
crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic, of  the  shield  of 
American     citizen- 


REPUBLICAN. 

1876— It  is  the 
immediate  duty  of 
Congress  to  fiUly  in- 
vestigate the  effect 
of  the  immigration 
and  importation 
of  Mongolians  upon 
the  moral  and  ma- 
terial interests  of  the 
coxmtry. 

[Plank  11. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

ship,  and  have  ex- 
posed our  brethren 
of  the  Pacific  coast 
to  the  incursions  of 
a  race  not  sprung 
from  the  same  great 
parent  stock,  and  in 
fact  now  by  law  de- 
nied citizenship 
through  naturaliza- 
tion as  being  neither 
accustomed  to  the 
traditions  of  a  pro- 
gressive civili- 
zation nor  ex- 
ercised in  liberty 
under  equal  laws. 
We    denounce   the 

Solicy  which  thus 
iscards  the  liberty- 
loving  German  and 
tolerates  a  revival  of 
the  coolie  trade  in 
Mongolian  women 
imported  for  im- 
moral purposes,  and 
Mongolian  men  held 
to  perform  servile 
labor  contracts,  and 
demand  such  modi- 
fication of  the  trea- 
ty with  the  Chinese 
Empire,  or  such  le- 
gislation within  con- 
stitutional limita- 
tions, as  shall  pre- 
vent further  impor- 
tation or  immigra- 
tion of  the  Mongo- 
lian race. 

1880  —  Amend- 
ment of  the  Burlin- 
game  Treaty.  No 
more  Chinese  immi- 
gration, except  for 
travel,  education, 
and  foreign  com- 
merce, and  therein 
carefully  guarded. 
[Plank  11. 


REPUBLICAN 


1880— Since  the 
authority  to  legu- 
1  a  t  e  immigration 
and  intercourse  be- 
tween the  United 
States  and  foreign 
nations  rests  with 
the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  and 
the  treaty-making 
power,  the  Republi- 
can party,  regarding 
the  unrestricted  im- 
migration of  Chinese 
as  a  matter  of  grave 
concernment  under 
the  exercise  of  both 
these  powers,  would 
limit  and  restrict 
that  immigration  by 
the  enactment  of 
such  just,  humane, 
and  reasonable  laws 
and  treaties  as  will 
produce  that  result, 
[Plank  e. 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


89 


ClvU  Serrice. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

1872— The  civil 
service  of  the  gov- 
ernment has  become 
a  mere  instrument 
of  partisan  tyranny 
and  personal  ambi- 
tion and  aa  object  of 
selfish  greed.  It  is 
a  scandal  and  're- 
proach upon  free  in- 
stitutions and  breeds 
a  demoral  iza- 
tion  dangerous  to 
the  perpetuity  of 
Republican  Govern- 
ment. We  therefore 
regard  a  thorough 
reform  of  the  civil 
service  as  one  of  the 
most  pressing  neces- 
sities of  the  hour; 
that  honesty,  ca- 
pacity and  fideli- 
ty constitute  the 
only  valid  claim  to 
public  employment ; 
and  the  offices  of  the 
Gk)vernment  cease 
to  be  a  matter  of  ar- 
bitrary favoritism 
and  patronage,  and 
public  station  be- 
come again  a  post 
of  honor.  To  this 
end  it  is  imperative- 
ly required  that  no 
President  shall  be  a 
candidate  for  re- 
election. 

1876— Reform  is 
necessary  in  the 
civil  service.  Ex- 
perience that  proves 
efficient,  economical 
conduct  of  Govern- 
mental business  is 
not  possible  if  the 
civil  service  be  sub- 
ject to  change  at 
every  election,  be  a 
prize  fought  for  at 
the  ballot-box,  be  a 
brief  reward  of  party 
zeal,  instead  of  posts 
of  honor  assigned  for 
proved  competency, 
and  held  for  fidelity 
in  the   public  em- 


REPUBLICAN. 

1872 — Any  system 
of  the  civil  service, 
under  which  the 
subordinate  p  o  s  i  - 
tions  of  the  Govern- 
ment are  considered 
rewards  for  mere 
party  zeal  is  fatally 
demoralizing,  and 
we  therefore  favor  a 
reform  of  the  system 
by  laws  which  shall 
abolish  the  evils  of 

Eatronage  and  make 
onesty,  efficiency 
and  fidelity  the  es- 
sential qualifications 
for  public  positions, 
without  practically 
creating  a  life  ten- 
ure of  office. 

[Plank  5. 


1876— Under  the 
Constitution  the 
President  and  heads 
of  Departments  are 
to  make  nomina- 
tions for  office ;  the 
Senate  is  to  advise 
and  consent  to  ap- 
pointments, and  tne 
House  of  Represen- 
tatives to  accuse  and 
prosecute  faithless 
officers.  The  best 
interest  of  the  pub- 
lic service  demands 
that  these  distinc- 
tions be  respected ; 
that  Senators  and 
Representa  tives 


DEMOCRATIC. 

ploy ;  that  the  dis- 
pensing of  patron- 
age should  neither 
be  a  tax  upon  the 
time  of  all  our  pub- 
lic men,  nor  the  in- 
strument of  their 
ambition. 


1880—*  *  Tho- 
rough reform  in  the 
civu  service. 


BEPUBLICAX. 
who  may  be  judges 
and  accusers  should 
not  dictate  appoint- 
ments tf)  office.  The 
invariable  rule  in 
appointments 
should  have  refer- 
ence to  the  honesty, 
fidelity  and  capacity 
of  the  appointees, 
giving  to  the  party 
in  power  those 
places  where  harmo-, 
ny  and  vigor  of  ad- 
ministration require 
its  policy  to  be  re- 
presented, but  per- 
mitting all  others  to 
be  filled  by  persons 
selected  witn  sole 
reference  to  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  public 
service,  and  the 
right  of  all  citizens 
to  share  in  the  hcnor 
of  rendering  faith- 
ful service  to  the 
country. 

[Plank  5. 

1880  — The    Re- 

Sublican  party,  ad- 
ering  to  the  prin- 
ciples affirmed  by 
its  last  National 
Convention  of  re- 
spect for  the  Consti- 
tutional rules  gov- 
erning appoint- 
ments to  office, 
adopts  the  declara- 
tion of  President 
Hayes,  that  the  re- 
form of  the  civil  ser- 
vice should  be  tho- 
rough, radical  and 
complete.  To  this 
end  it  demands  the 
co-operation  of  the 
legislative  with  the 
executive  depart- 
ments  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  that 
Congress  shall  so 
legislate  that  fitness, 
ascertained  by  pro- 
per practical  tests, 
shall  admit  to  the 
public  service. 


90 


POLITICAL  PLATFORMS. 


[book  il 


Tbe  TarUr  luae  of  1884. 


REPUBLICAN. 

We  therefore  de- 
mand that  the  im- 
position of  duties  on 
foreign  imports  shall 
be  made  not  for 
"revenue  only,''  but 
that  in  raising  the 
requisite  revenues 
for  the  government 
such  duties  shall  be 
so  levied  as  to  afford 
security  to  our  di- 
versified industries 
and  protection  to 
the  rights  and  wages 
of  the  laborer,  to  the 
end  that  active  and 
intelligent  labor,  as 
well  as  capital,  may 
have  its  just  award 
and  the  laboring 
man  his  full  share 
in  the  national  pros- 
perity. Against  the 
so-called  economi- 
cal system  of  the 
Democratic  party, 
which  would  de- 
grade our  labor  to 
the  foreign  standard, 
we  enter  our  earnest 
protest.  The  Dem- 
ocratic party  has 
failed  completely  to 
relieve  the  people  of 
the  burden  of  un- 
necessary taxation 
by  a  wise  reduction 
,of  the  surplus. 

The  Republican 
party  pledges  itself 
to  correct  the  ine- 
qualities of  the  tariff 
and  to  reduce  the 
surplus,  not  bv  the 
vicious  and  indis- 
criminate process  of 
horizontal  reduc- 
tion, but  by  such 
methods  as  will  re- 
lieve the  taxpayer 
without  injuring  the 
laborer  or  the  great 
productive  interests 
of  the  country. 

We  recognize  the 
importance  of  sheep 


DEMOCRATIC. 

The  Democracy 
pledges  itself  to 
purify  the  adminis- 
tration from  corrup- 
tion,  to  restore 
economy,  to  revive 
respect  for  law  and 
to  reduce  taxation 
to  the  lowest  limit 
consistent  with  due 
regard  to  the  preser- 
vation of  the  faith  of 
the  nation  to  its 
creditors  and  pen- 
sioners. Knowing 
full  well,  however, 
that  legislation  af- 
fecting the  occupa- 
tions of  the  people 
should  be  cautious 
and  conservative  in 
method,  not  in  ad- 
vance of  public 
opinion,  but  respon- 
sive to  its  demands, 
the  Democratic  par- 
ty is  pledged  to  re- 
vise the  tariff  in  a 
spirit  of  fairness  to 
all  interests.  But  in 
making  reduction  in 
taxes  it  is  not  pro- 
posed to  injure  any 
domestic  industries, 
but  rather  to  pro- 
mote their  healthy 
growth.  From  the 
foundation  of  this 
government  taxes 
collected  at  the 
Custom  House  have 
been  the  chief  source 
of  Federal  revenue; 
such  they  must  con-, 
tinue  to  be.  More- 
over, many  indus- 
tries have  come  to 
rely  upon  legisla- 
tion for  successful 
continuance,  so  that 
any  change  of  law 
must  be  at  every 
step  regardful  of  the 
labor  and  capital 
thus  involved.  The 
process  of  reform 
must  be  subject  ia 


REPUBLICAN. 

husbandry  in  the 
United  States,  the 
serious  depression 
which  it  is  now  ex- 
periencing and  the 
danger  threatening 
its  future  prosperity, 
and  we  therefore  re- 
spect the  demands 
of  the  representa- 
tives of  this  impor- 
tant agricultural  in- 
terest for  a  readjust- 
ment of  duty  upon 
foreign  wool,  in 
order  that  such  in- 
dustry shall  have 
full  and  adequate 
protection. 

We  have  always 
recora  m  ended  the 
best  money  known 
to  the  civilized  world 
and  we  urge  that  an 
effort  be  made  to 
unite  all  commercial 
nations  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  in- 
ternational standard 
which  shall  fix  for 
all  the  relative  value 
of  gold  and  silver 
coinage. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

the  execution  to  thie 
plain  dictate  of  jus- 
tice. 

All  taxation  shall 
be  limited  to  the 
requirements  of 
economical  govern- 
ment. The  necessary 
reduction  in  taxa- 
tion can  and  must 
be  effected  without 
depriving  American 
labor  of  the  ability 
to  compete  success- 
fully with  foreign 
labor  and  without 
imposing  lower  rates 
of  duty  than  will  be 
ample  to  cover  any 
increased  cost  of 
production  which 
may  exist  in  conse- 
quence of  the  higher 
rate  of  wages  pre- 
vailing in  this  coun- 
try. Sufficient  rev- 
enue to  pay  all  the 
expenses  of  the 
Federal  government 
economically  ad- 
ministered, includ- 
ing pensions,  inter- 
est and  principal  of 
the  public  debt,  can 
be  got  under  our 
present  system  of 
taxation  from  Cus- 
tom House  taxes  on 
fewer  imported  arti- 
cles, bearing  heav- 
iest on  articles  of 
luxury  and  bearing 
lightest  on  articles 
of  necessity. 

We  therefore  de- 
nounce the  abuses 
of  the  existing  tariff 
and  subject  to  the 
preceding  limita- 
tions we  demand 
that  Federal  taxa- 
tion shall  be  exclu- 
sively for  public 
purposes  and  shall 
not  exceed  the  needs 
of  the  government 
economically  ad- 
ministered. 


BOOK  11.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


91 


Tbe  Tariff  and  Re-venue,  1888. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

The  Democratic 
party  of  the  United 
States,  in  National 
Convention  assem- 
bled, renews  the 
pledge  of  its  fidelity 
to  Democratic  faith, 
and  reaffirms  the 
platform  adopted  by 
Its  representatives  in 
the  Convention  of 
1884,  and  endorses 
the  views  expressed 
by  President  Cleve- 
land in  his  last  an- 
nual message  to 
Congress  as  the  cor- 
rect interpretation 
of  that  platform 
upon  the  question  of 
tariff  reduction ;  and 
also  endorses  the 
efforts  of  our  Demo- 
cratic representa- 
tives in  Congress  to 
secure  a  reduction 
of  excessive  taxa- 
tion. Chief  among 
its  principles  of 
party  faith  are  the 
maintenance  of  an 
indissoluble  union  of 
free  and  indestruc- 
tible States,  ■  now 
about  to  enter  upon 
its  second  century  of 
un.exampled  pro- 
gress and  renown ; 
devotion  to  a  plan  of 

ffovernment  regu- 
ated  by  a  written 
constitution  strictly 
specifying  every 
granted  power  and 
expressly  reserving 
to  the  States  or 
people  the  entire  un- 
granted  residue  of 
power;  the  encour- 
agement of  a  jealous 
popular  vigilance, 
directed  to  all  who 
have  been  chosen  for 
brief  terms  to  enact 
and  execute  the 
laws,  and  are  charged 
with  the  duty  of 
preserving  peace, 
ensuring  eciuality, 
and  establishing 
justice. 

•x-      *      *      *      * 

It  is  repugnant  to 
the  creed  or  Demo- 


REPUBLICAN. 

We  ^  are  uncom- 
promisingly in  favor 
of  the  American 
system  of  protection. 
We  protest  against 
its  destruction  as 
proposed  by  the 
President  and  his 
party.  They  serve 
the  interests  of 
Europe ;  we  will 
support  the  interests 
of  America.  We 
accept  the  issue  and 
confidently  appeal  to 
the  people  for  their 
judgment.  The  pro- 
tective system  must 
be  maintained.  Its 
abandonment  has 
always  been  followed 
by  general  disaster 
to  all  interests  except 
those  of  the  usurer 
and  the  sheriff.  We 
denounce  the  Mills 
bill  as  destructive  to 
the  general  business, 
the  labor  and  the 
farming  interests  of 
the  country,  and  we 
heartily  endorse  the 
consistent  and  patri- 
otic action  of  the  Re- 
publican Represen- 
tatives in  Congress 
in  opposing  its  pas- 
sage. 

We  condemn  the 

Sroposition  of  the 
'emocratic  party  to 
place  wool  on  the 
free  list,  and  we  in- 
sist that  the  duties 
thereon  shall  be  ad- 
justed and  main- 
tained so  as  to  fur- 
nish full  and  ade- 
•auate  protection  to 
that  industry. 

The  Republican 
party  would  effect  all 
needed  reduction  of 
of  the  national  rev- 
enue by  repealing 
the  taxes  upon  to- 
bacco, which  are  an 
annoyance  and  bur- 
den to  agriculture, 
and  the  tax  upon 
spirits  used  in  the 
arts  and  for  mechan- 
ical purposes,  and 
by  such  revision  of 


DEMOCRATIC. 

cracy  that  by  such 
taxation  the  cost  of 
the  necessaries  of 
life  should  be  un- 
justifiably increased 
to  all  our  people. 
Judged  by  Demo- 
cratic principles  the 
interest  of  the  peo- 
ple are  betrayed 
when,  by  unneces- 
sary taxation,  trusts 
and  combinations 
are  permitted  to  ex- 
ist, which,  while  un- 
duly enriching  the 
few  that  combine, 
rob  the  body  of  the 
citizens  by  depriving 
them  of  the  benefits 
of  natural  competi- 
tion. Every  Demo- 
cratic rule  of  govern- 
mental action  is  vio- 
lated when,  through 
unnecessary  taxa- 
tion, a  vast  sum  of 
money,  far  beyond 
the  needs  of  an  eco- 
nomical administra- 
tion, is  drawn  from 
the  people  and  the 
channels  of  trade 
and  accumulated  as 
a  demoralizing  sur- 
plus in  the  National 
Treasury. 

The  money  now 
lying  idle  in  the 
Federal  Treasury,  re- 
sulting from  super- 
fluous taxation, 
amounts  to  more 
than  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  mil- 
lions, and  the  surplus 
collected  is  reaching 
the  sum  of  more  than 
sixty  millions  aniu- 
all^.  ^  Debauched  by 
this  immense  temp- 
tation, the  remedy 
of  the  Republican 
party  is  to  meet  and 
exhaust  by  extrava- 
gant appropriations 
and  expenses, 
whether  constitu- 
tional or  not,  the 
accumulation  of  ex- 
travagant taxations. 
The  Democratic 
policy  is  to  enforce 
frugality  in  public 
expense  and  abolish 
unnecessary      taxa- 


REPUBLICAN. 

the  tariff  laws  as 
will  tend  to  check 
imports  of  such  arti- 
cles as  are  produced 
by  our  people,  the 
production  of  which 
gives  employment 
to  our  labor,  and  re- 
lease from  import 
duties  those  articles 
of  foreign  production 
(except  luxuries)  the 
like  of  which  cannot 
be  produced  at  home. 
If  there  shall  still 
remain  a  larger  rev- 
enue than  is  requi- 
site for  the  wants  of 
the  Grovemment,  we 
favor  the  entire  re- 
peal of  internal  taxes 
rather  than  the  sur- 
render of  any  part 
of  our  protective 
system  at  the  joint 
behest  of  the  whisky 
trusts  and  the  agents 
of  foreign  manufac- 
turers. 


92 


AMERI0A]S     POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

tion.  Our  estab- 
lished domestic  in- 
dustries and  enter- 
prises should  not 
and  need  not  be  en- 
dangered by  the  re- 
duction and  correc- 
tion of  the  burdens 
of  taxation.  On 
the  contrary,  a  fair 
and  careful  revision 
of  our  tax  laws,  with 
due  allowance  for 
the  difference  be- 
tween the  wages  of 
America  and  foreign 
labor,  must  promote 
and  encourage  every 
branch  of  such  in- 
dustries and  enter- 
prises bygivingthem 
assurances  of  an  ex- 
tended market  and 
steady  and  continu- 
ous operations.  In 
the  interests-  of 
American  labor, 
which  should  in  no 
event  be  neglected, 
revision  of  our  tax 
laws,  contemplated 
by  the  Democratic 
party,  should  pro- 
mote the  advantage 
of  such  labor  by 
cheapening  the  cost 
of  necessaries  of  life 
in  the  home  of  every 
working  man,  and 
at  the  same  time  se- 
curing to  him  steady 
and  remunerative 
employment.  Upon 
this  question  of  tariff 
reform,  so  closely 
concerning     every 

f»hase  of  our  national 
ife,  and  upon  every 
question  involved  in 
tne  problem  of  good 
government,  the 
Democratic  party 
submits  its  princi- 
ples and  professions 
to  the  intelligent 
suffrages  of  the 
American  people, 

Regolved,  That 
this  Convention 
hereby  endorses  and 
recommends  the 
early  passage  of  the 
bill  for  the  reduction 
of  the  revenue  now 
pending  in  the  House 
of  Representatives. 


REPUBLICAN. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

Resolved,  That  we 
express  our  cordial 
sympathy  with 
struggling  people  of 
all  nations  in  their 
efforts  to  secure  for 
themselves  the  ines- 
timable blessings  of 
self-government  and 
civil  and  religious 
liberty ;  and  we  espe- 
cially declare  our 
sympathy  with  the 
efforts  of  those  noble 

Satriots  who,  led  by 
riadstone  and  Par- 
nell,  have  conducted 
their     grand      and 

Seaceful  contest  for 
[ome   rule  in  Ire- 
land. 


REPUBLICAN. 


ClvU  Service  Reform,  1888. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

Honest  reform  in 
the  Civil  Service  has 
been  inaugurated  and 
maintained  by  Presi- 
dent Cleveland,  and 
he  has  brought  the 
public  service  to  the 
highest  standard  of 
eflSciency,  not  only 
by  rule  and  precept, 
but  by  the  example 
of  his  own  untiring 
and  unselfish  admin- 
istration of  public 
affairs. 


REPUBLICAN. 

The  men  who 
abandoned  the  Re- 
publican party  in 
1884  and  continue  to 
adhere  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party  have  de- 
serted not  only  the 
cause  of  honest  gov- 
ernment, of  sound 
finance,  of  freedom 
and  purity  of  the 
ballot,  but  especially 
have  deserted  the 
cause  of  reform  in 
the  civil  service.  We 
will  not  fail  to  keep 
our  pledges  because 
they  have  broken 
theirs  or  because 
their  candidate  has 
broken  his.  We 
therefore  repeat  our 
declaration  of  1884, 
to  wit:  "The  re- 
form of  the  Civil 
Service,  auspiciously 
begun  under  the  Re- 
publican administra- 
tion should  be  com- 
pleted by  the  further 
extension  of  the  re- 
form system  already 
established  by  law  to 
all  the  grades  of  the 
service  to  which  it  is 
applicable.  The 
spirit  and  purpose 
of  the  reform  should 
be  observed  in  all 
executive  appoint- 
ments, and  all  laws 
at  variance  with  the 


BOOTK  II.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


DEMOCaATIC. 


REPUBLICAN. 

object  of  existing  re 
form  le  ^i  slation 
should  be  repealed, 
to  the  end  that  the 
dangers  to  free  insti- 
tutions which  lurk 
in  the  power  of  offi- 
cial paronage  may  be 
wisely  and  effectively 
avoided. ' ' 


Pensions,  Ktc.,  1888. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

While  carefully 
guarding  the  interest 
to  the  principles  of 
justice  and  equity,  it 
has  paid  out  more 
for  pensions  and 
bounties  to  the  sol- 
diers and  sailors  of 
the  Republic  than 
was  ever  paid  out 
during  an  equal 
period. 


REPCTBLICAN. 

The  gratitude  of 
the  nation  to  the  de 
fenders  of  the  Union 
cannot  be  measured 
by  laws.  The  legis- 
lation of  Congress 
should  conform  to 
the  pledge  made  by 
a  loyal  people,  and 
be  so  enlarged  and 
extended  as  to  pro- 
vide against  the  pos- 
sibility that  any  man 
who  honorably  wore 
the  Federal  uniform 
shall  become  an  in- 
mate of  an  alms- 
house, or  dependent 
upon  private  charity. 
In  the  presence  of  an 
overflowing  treasury 
it  would  be  a  public 
scandal  to  do  less  for 
those  whose  valorous 
service  preserved  the 
Government.  We 
denounce  the  hostile 
spirit  shown  by 
President  Cleveland 
in  his  numerous 
vetoes  of  measures 
for  pension  relief, 
and  the  action  of  the 
Democratic  House  of 
Representatives  in 
refusing  even  a  con- 
sideration of  general 
pension  legislation. 

The  Republican 
party  is  in  favor  of 
the  use  of  both  gold 
and  silver  as  money, 
and  condemns  the 
policy  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Administra- 
tion in  its  efforts  to 
demonetize  silver. 

We  demand  the 
reduction  of  letter 
postage  to  one  cent 
per  ounce. 


Panper  Xiabor. 


DEMOCRATIO. 

The  exclusion  from 
our  shores  of  (^liinese 
laborers  has  been  ef- 
fectually secured  un- 
der the  provision  of 
a  treaty,  the  opera- 
tion 01  which  has 
been  postponed  by 
the  action  of  a  Re- 
publican majority  in 
the  Senate. 


REPUBLICAN. 

We  declare  our 
hostility  to  the  intro- 
duction into  this 
country  of  foreign 
contract  labor,  and  of 
Chinese  labor,  alien 
to  our  civilization 
and  our  Consti  tution, 
and  we  demand  the 
rigid  enforcement  of 
the  existing  laws 
against  it,  and  favor 
such  ^  immediate 
legislation  as  will 
exclude  such  labor 
from  our  shores. 


Foreign  Policy,  1888. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

It  has  adopted 
and  constantly  pur- 
sued a  firm  and  pru- 
dent foreign  policy, 
preserving  peace 
with  all  nations, 
while  scrupulously 
maintaining  all  the 
rights  and  interests 
of  our  government 
and  people  at  home 
and  abroad. 


REPUBLICAN. 

The  conduct  of 
foreign  affair.^  by  the 
present  administra- 
tion has  been  distin- 
guished by  its  ineffi- 
ciency and  its  cow- 
ardice. Having 
withdrawn  from  the 
Senate  all  pending 
treaties  affected  by 
Republican  admin- 
istrations for  the  re- 
moval of  foreign 
burdens  and  restric- 
tions upon  our^  com- 
merce and  for  its  ex- 
tension into,  better 
markets,  it  has 
neither  affected  nor 
proposed  any  others 
in  their  stead.  Pro- 
fessing adherence  to 
the  Monroe  doctrine, 
it  has  seen  with  idle 
complacency  the  ex- 
tension of  foreign 
influence  in  Central 
America  and  of  for- 
eign trade  every- 
where among  our 
neighbois.  It  has 
refused  to  charter, 
sanction,  or  encour- 
age any  American 
organization  for  con- 
structing the  Nica- 
ragua canal,  a  woik 
or  vital  importance 
to  the  maintenance 
of  the  Monroe  doc- 
trine and  of  our  na- 
tional influence  in 
Central  and  South 
America,  and  neoet- 


94 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


DEMOCRATIC. 


REPUBLICAN. 

sary  for  the  develop- 
ment of  trade  with 
our  Pacific  territory, 
with  South  America 
and  with  the  iblande 
and  further  coasts  of 
the  Pacific  ocean. 

We  arraign  the 
present  Democratic 
administration  for 
its  weak  and  unpa- 
triotic treatment  of 
the  fisheries  ques- 
tion, and  its  pusil- 
lanimous surrender 
of  the  essential  privi- 
leges to  which  our 
fishing  vessels  are 
entitled  in  Canadian 
ports  under  the 
treaty  of  1818,  the 
reciprocal  maritime 
legislation  of  1830, 
and  the  comity  of 
nations,  and  which 
Canadian  fishing 
vessels  receive  in  the 
ports  of  the  United 
States. 

We  condemn  the 
policy  of  the  present 
administration  and 
the  Democratic  ma- 
jority   in    Congress 


DE«OCEATIC. 


REPUBLICAN. 

toward  our  fisheries 
as  unfriendly  and 
conspicuously  unpa- 
triotic, and  as  tend- 
ing to  destroy  a 
valuable  national  in- 
dustry and  an  indis- 
pensable resource  of 
aefence  against  a 
foreign  enemy. 

The  name  of 
American  applies 
alike  to  all  citizens 
of  the  Republic,  and 
imposes  upon  all 
alike  the  same  obli- 
gation to  obedience 
to  the  laws.  At  the 
same  time  that  citi- 
zenship is  and  must 
be  the  panoply  and 
safeguard  of  him 
who  wears    it,   and 

Erotecthim,  whether 
igh  or  low,  rich  or 
poor,  in  all  his  civil 
rights.  It  should 
and  must  afford  him 
protection  at  home 
and  follow  and  pro- 
tect him  abroad  in 
whatever  land  he 
may  be  on  a  lawful 
«rrand. 


THE  FARxMERS'  ALLIANCE. 

This  organization  sprang  into  active  political  existence  in  1890,  and  it  swept  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  and  the  two  Dakotas ;  not,  however,  without  local  fusions  with  the  Demo- 
crats. It  originated  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  and  so  rapidly  extended  to  South 
Carolina  that  it  controlled  the  Democratic  State  nominations,  and  elected  a  Democratic- 
Alliance  State  ticket  against  one  run  by  the  old  or  Bourbon  Democracy.  In  Georgia 
it  sought  control  of  the  Legislature,  and  acquired  it,  but  was  defeated  by  Gen.  Gordon 
for  the  United  States  Senate ;  not,  however,  without  committals  from  the  latter  upon 
all  anti-corporation  points.  It  was  defeated  in  like  contests  in  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
and  Florida.  As  yet  it  has  not  adopted  a  National  political  platform,  unless  that  at 
Ocala,  Fla.,  can  be  called  National.  Here  the  chief  idea  was  a  sub-treasury  plan, 
calling  upon  the  government  to  establish  State  agencies  for  the  receipt  of  farm  products, 
upon  which  80  per  cent,  of  their  market  value  was  to  be  advanced,  at  a  cost  to  tho 
producer  of  not  more  than  2  percent,  interest.  This  plank  has  since  divided  the  or- 
ganization, and  at  this  writing  (May,  1892]  it  seems  impossible  to  make  the  organiza-  ■ 
tion  a  National  one,  committed  to  political  objects.  In  the  elections  of  1891-92  it 
lost  its  hold  upon  all  of  the  Western  States,  and  maintains  its  spirit  only  in  the 
Southern  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  river.  The  party  quickly  divided  itself  upon 
its  sub-treasury  and  free-coinage  planks,  and  lost  all  opportunity  for  National  promise 
after  its  first  battle — much  of  its  membership  refusing  to  break  old  political  ties,  while 
others  endeavored  to  limit  the  organization  to  social  and  business  purposes. 


BOOK  11.] 


POLITICAL  PLATFORMa 


95 


1802.— Bepablican  Katlonal  Platform. 

Adopted  at  Minneapolis,  June  9th. 

The  representatives  of  the  Republicans 
of  the  United  States,  assembled  in  general 
convention  on  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  the  everlasting  bond  of  an  indestruc- 
tible republic,  whose  most  glorious  chap- 
ter of  history  is  the  record  of  the  Republi- 
can party,  congratulate  their  countrymen 
on  the  majestic  march  of  the  nation  under 
the  banners  inscribed  with  the  principles 
of  our  platform  of  1888,  vindicated  by 
victory  at  the  polls  and  prosperity  in  our 
fields,  workshops  and  mines,  and  make  the 
following  declaration  of  principles. 

We  reaffirm  the  American  doctrine  of 
Protection.  We  call  attention  to  its 
growth  abroad.  ^  We    maintain  that  the 

{)rosperou8  condition  of  our  country^  is 
argely  due  to  the  wise  revenue  legislation 
of  the  Republican  Congress. 

We  believe  that  all  articles  which  cannot 
be  produced  in  the  United  States,  except 
luxuries,  should  be  admitted  free  of  duty, 
and  that  on  all  imports  coming  into  com- 

})etition  with  the  products  of  American 
abor  there  should  be  levied  duties  equal 
to  the  difference  between  wages  abroad 
and  at  home. 

We  assert  that  the  prices  of  manu- 
factured articles  of  general  consumption 
have  been  reduced  under  the  operations  of 
thetariff  actof  1890. 

We  denounce  the  efforts  of  the  Democra- 
tic majority  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives to  destroy  our  tariff  laws,  as  is  mani- 
fested by  their  attacks  upon  wool,  lead  and 
lead  ores,  the  chief  product  of  a  number  of 
States,  and  we  ask  the  people  for  their 
judgment  thereon. 

We  point  to  the  success  of  the  "Republi- 
can policy  of  reciprocity,  under  which  our 
export  trade  has  vastly  increased  and  new 
and  enlarged  markets  have  been  opened 
for  the  products  of  our  farms  and  work- 
shops. 

We  remind  the  people  of  the  bitter  op- 
position of  the  Democratic  party^  to  this 
practical  business  measure,  and  claim  that, 
executed  by  a  Republican  administration, 
our  present  laws  will  eventually  give  us 
control  of  the  trade  of  the  world. 

The  American  people,  from  tradition 
and  interest,  favor  bi-metallism,  and  the 
Republican  party  demands  the  use  of  both 
gold  and  silver  as  standard  money,  with 
such  restrictions  and  under  such  pro- 
visions, to  be  determined  by  legislation , 
as  will  secure  the  maintenance  of  tbe  parity 
values  of  the  two  metals,  so  that  the  pur- 
chasing and  debt-paying  power  of  the 
dollar,  whether  of  silver,  gold  or  paper, 
shall  be  at  all  times  equal.  The  interests 
of  the  producers  of  the  country,  its  farmers 
and  its  workingman,  demand  that  every 


dollar,  paper  or  coin,  issued  by  the  govern- 
ment, shall  be  as  good  as  any  other.  We 
commend  the  wise  and  patriotic  steps 
already  taken  bv  our  government  to  secure 
an  international  conference,  to  adopt  such 
measures  as  will  insure  a  parity  of  value 
between  gold  and  silver  for  use  as  money 
throughout  the  world. 

We  demand  that  every  citizen  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  allowed  to  cast  one 
free  and  unrestricted  ballot  in  all  public 
elections  and  that  such  ballot  shall  be 
counted  and  returned  as  cast;  that  such 
laws  shall  be  enacted  and  enforced  as  will 
secure  to  eveiy  citizen,  be  he  rich  or  poor, 
native  or  foreign  born,  white  or  black,  this 
sovereign  right  guaranteed  by  the  Con- 
stitution, 

The  free  and  honest  popular  ballot,  the 
just  and  equal  representation  of  all  the 
people,^  as  well  as  their  just  and  equal 
protection  under  the  laws,  are  the  founda- 
tion of  our  republican  institutions,  and  the 
party  will  never  relax  its  efforts  until  the 
integrity  of  the  ballot  and  the  purity  of 
election  shall  be  fully  guaranteed  and 
protected  in  every  State. 

We  denounce  the  continued  inhuman 
outrages  perpetrated  upon  American  citi- 
zens for  political  reasons  in  certain  South- 
ern States  of  the  Union. 

We  favor  the  extension  of  our  foreign 
commerce,  the  restoration  of  our  mercan- 
tile marine  by  home-built  ships  and  the 
creation  of  a  navy  for  the  protection  of  our 
national  interests  and  the  honor  of  our 
flag ;  the  maintenance  of  the  most  friendly 
relations  with  all  foreign  powers,  entan- 
gling alliance  with  none,  and  the  protection 
of  the  rights  of  our  fishermen. 

We  reaffirm  our  approval  of  the  Monroe 
doctrine,  and  believe  in  the  achievementof 
the  manifest  destiny  of  the  Republic  in  its 
broadest  sense. 

We  favor  the  enactment  of  more 
stringient  laws  and  regulations  for  the 
restnction  of  criminal,  pauper  and  contract 
immigration. 

We  favor  efficient  legislation  by  Congress 
to  protect  the  life  ana  limbs  of  employes 
of  transportation  companies  engaged  in 
carrying  on  inter-state  commerce,  and  re- 
commend legislation  by  the  respective 
States  that  will  protect  employes  engaged 
in  State  commerce,  in  mining  and  manu- 
facturing. The  RepublicAn  party  has 
always  l^en  the  champion  of  the  oppressed 
and  recognizes  the  dignity  of  manhood, 
irrespective  of  faith,  color  or  nationality ; 
it  sympathizes  with  the  cause  of  Home 
Rule  in  Ireland,  and  protests  against  the 
persecution  of  the  Jews  in  Russia. 

The  ultimate  reliance  of  free  popular 
government  is  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  and  the  maintenance  of  freedom 
among  its  men.    We,  therefore,  declare 


96 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


anew  our  devotion  to  liberty  of  thought 
and  conscience,  of  speech  and  press,  and 
approve  all  agencies  and  instrumentalities 
which  contribute  to  the  education  of  the 
children  of  the  land ;  but,  while  insisting 
upon  the  fullest  measure  of  religious 
liberty,  we  are  opposed  to  any  union  of 
church  and  State. 

We  reaffirm  our  opposition,  declared  in 
the  Republican  platform  of  1888,  to  all 
combinations  of  capital  organized  in  trusts 
or  otherwise  to  control  arbitrarily  the  con- 
dition of  trade  among  our  citizens.  We 
heartily  endorse  the  action  already  taken 
upon  this  subject,  and  ask  for  such  further 
legislation  as  may  be  required  to  remedy 
any  defects  in  existing  laws  and  to  render 
their  enforcement  more  complete  and 
effective. 

We  approve  the  policy  of  extending  to 
towns,  villages  and  rural  communities  the 
advantages  of  the  free  delivery  service, 
now  enjoyed  by  the  larger  cities  of  the 
country,  and  reaffirm  the  declaration  con 
tained  in  the  Republican  platform  of  1888 
pledging  the  reduction  of  letter  postage  to 
one  cent  at  the  earliest  possible  moment 
consistent  with  the  maintenance  of  the 
Post-office  Department  and  the  highest 
class  of  postal  service. 

We  commend  the  spirit  and  evidence 
reform  in  the  Civil  Service  and  the  vrise 
and  consistent  enforcement  by  the  Re 
publican  party  of  the  laws  regulating  the 
same. 

The  construction  of  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
American  people  as  a  measure  of  a  national 
defence  and  to  build  up  and  maintain 
American  commerce,  and  it  should  be  con- 
trolled by  the  United  States  Government. 

We  favor  the  admission  of  the  remain- 
ing Territories  at  the  earliest  practical 
date,  having  due  regard  to  the  interests 
of  the  people  of  the  Territories  and  of  the 
United  States.  All  the  Federal  officers 
appointed  for  the  Territories  should  be 
selected  from  bona  fide  residents  thereof, 
and  the  right  of  self-government  should  be 
accorded  as  far  as  practicable. 

We  favor  cession,  subject  to  the  home- 
stead laws,  of  the  arid  public  lands  to  the 
States  and  Territories  m  which  they  lie, 
under  such  Congressional  restrictions  as  to 
disposition,  reclamation  and  occupancy  by 
settlers  as  will  secure  the  maximum  bene- 
fit to  the  people. 

The  World's  Columbian  Exposition  is 
a  great  national  undertaking,  and  Con- 

(fress should  promptly  enact  such  reasonable 
egislation  in  aid  thereof  as  will  insure  a 
discharging  of  the  expense  and  obliga- 
tions incident  thereto  and  the  attainment 
of  results  commensurate  with  the  dignity 
andprocess  of  the  nation. 
We  sympathize  with  all  wise  and  legiti- 


of  cipl 


mate  efforts  to  lesson  and  prevent  the  evils 
of  intemperance  and  promote  morality. 

Ever  mindful  of  the  services  and  sacri- 
fices of  the  men  who  saved  the  life  of  the 
nation,  we  pledge  anew  to  the  veteran 
soldiers  of  the  republic  a  watchful  care  and 
recognition  of  tneir  just  claims  upon  a 
grateful  people. 

We  commend  the  able,  patriotic  and 
thoroughly  American  administration  of 
President  Harrison.  Under  it  the  country 
has  enjoyed  remarkable  prosperity,  and 
the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  nation  at 
home  and  abroad  have  been  faithfully 
managed,  and  we  offer  the  record  of 
pledges  kept  as  a  guarantee  of  perfor- 
mance in  the  future. 


1892.— Democratle   National  Platform. 

Adopted  at  Chicago,  June  22d. 

Section  1. — ^The  representatives  of  the 
Democratic  party  of  the  United  States,  in 
National  Convention  assembled,  do  reaf- 
firm their  allegiance  to  the  principles  of  the 
party  as  formulated  by  Jefferson,  and  ex- 
emplified by  the  long  and  illustrious  line  of 
his  successors  in  Democratic  leadership 
from  Madison  to  Cleveland.  We  believe 
the  public  welfare  demands  that  these  prin- 
'_  "es  be  applied  in  the  conduct  of  the  fed- 
eral government  through  the  accession  to 
power  of  the  party  that  advocates  them, 
and  we  solemnly  declare  that  the  need  of  a 
return  to  these  fundamental  principles  of  a 
free  popular  government,  based  on  home 
rule  ana  individual  liberty,  was  never  more 
urgent  than  now,  when  the  tendency  to 
centralize  all  power  at  the  federal  capital 
has  become  a  menace  to  the  reserved  rights 
of  the  States,  that  strikes  at  the  veiy  roots 
of  our  government  under  the  constitution 
as  framed  by  the  fathers  of  the  Republic. 

Sec.  2. — We  warn  the  people  of  our 
common  country,  jealous  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  free  institutions,  thattne  policy 
of  federal  control  of  electionSj  to  which  the 
Republican  party  has  committed  itself,  is 
fraught  with  the  gravest  dangers,  scarcely 
less  momentous  than  would  result  from  a 
revolution  practically  establishing  mon- 
archy on  the  ruins  of  the  Republic.  It 
strikes  at  the  North  as  well  as  the  South, 
and  iniures  the  colored  citizen  even  more 
than  the  white;  it  means  a  horde  of  dep- 
uty marshals  at  every  polling  place,  armed 
with  federal  power ;  returning  boards  ap- 
pointed and  controlled  by  federal  author- 
ity; the  outrage  of  the  electoral  rights  of 
the  people  in  the  several  States;  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  colored  people  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  party  in  power  and  the  reviving 
of  race  antagonisms  now  happily  abated, 
of  the  utmost  peril  to  the  pafety  and  hap- 
piness of  all ;  a  measure  deliberately  and 
justly  described  by  a  leading  Republican 


BOOK  II.] 


POLITICAL   PLATFORMS. 


97 


Senator  as  "  the  most  infamous  bill  that  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  among  our 
ever  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  Senate."  own  people. 

Such  a  policy,  if  sanctioned  bylaw,  Sec.  5. — We  recognize  in  the  trusts  and 
would  mean  the  dominance  of  a  self-per-' combinations  which  are  designed  to  enable 
petuating  oligarchy  of  office-holders,  andjcapital  to  secure  more  than  its  just  share 
the  party  first  intrusted  with  its  machinery!  of  the  ioint  product  of  capital  and  labor,  a 
could  be  dislodged  from  power  only  by  an 'natural  consequence  of  the  prohibitive 
appeal  to  the  reserved  right  of  the  people  j  taxes  which  prevent  the  free  competition 
to  resist  oppression  which  is  inherent  in  all  which  is  the  life  of  honest  trade,  but  we 


self-governing  communities 

Two  years  ago  this  revolutionary  policy 
was  emphatically  condemned  by  the  people 
at  the  polls  ;  but  in  contempt  of  that  ver- 
dict the  Republican  party  has  defiantly  de- 
clared in  its  latest  authoritative  utterance 
that  its  success  in  the  coming  elections  will 


believe  their  worst  evils  can  be  abated  by 
law,  and  we  demand  the  rigid  enforcement 
of  the  laws  made  to  prevent  and  control 
them,  together  with  such  further  legisla- 
tion in  restraint  of  their  abuses  as  exper- 
ience may  show  to  be  necessary. 
Sec.  6. — The  Republican  party,  while 


mean  the  enactment  of  the  Force  bill  and  professing  a  policy  of  reserving  the  public 


the  usurpation  of  despotic   control  over 
elections  m  all  the  States. 

Believing  that  the  preservation  of  re- 
publican government  in  the  United  States 
IS  dependent  upon  the  defeat  of  this  policy 


land  for  small  holdings  by  actual  settlers, 
has  given  away  the  people's  heritage  till 
now  a  few  railroad  and  non-resident  aliens, 
individual  and  corporate,  possess  a  larger 
area  than  that  of  all  our  farms  between  the 


of  legalized  force  and  fraud,  we  invite  the!  two  seas.  The  last  Democratic  adminis- 
support  of  all  citizens  whodesire  to  see  the  j  tration  reversed  the  improvident  and  un- 
constitution  maintained  in  its  integrity  J  wise  policy  of  the  Republican  party  touch- 
with  the  laws  pursuantthereto,  which  have! ing  the  public  domain,  and  reclaimed 
given  our  country  a  hundred  years  of  un-{from  corporations  and  syndicates,  alien  and 
exam  pled  prosperity,  and  we  pledge  the  j  domestic,  and  restored  to  the  people 
Democratic  party,  if  it  be  entrusted  with  [nearly  one  hundred  million  acres  of  valu- 
power,  not  only  to  the  defeat  of  the  Force  able  land  to  be  sacredly  held  as  homesteads 


bill,  but  also  to  relentless  opposition  to  the 
Republican  policy  of  profligate  expenditure 
which  in  the  short  space  of  two  years  has 
squandered  an  enormous  surplus  and  emp- 
tied   an  overflowing  treasury  after  piling 


for  our  citizens,  and  we  pledge  ourselves 
to  continue  this  policy  until  every  acre  of 
land  so  unlawfully  held  shall  be  reclaimed 
and  restored  to  the  people. 
Sec.  7. — We  denounce  the  Republican 


new  burdens  of  taxation  upon  the  already  ilegislation  known  as  the  Sherman  act  of 
overtaxed  labor  of  the  country.  1890  as  a  cowardly  makeshift  fraught  with 

Sec.   3. — We  denounce  the  Republican  possibilities  of  danger  in  the  future  which 
policy  of  protection  as  a  fraud  on  the  labor  jshould  make  all  of  its  supporters,  as  well 


of  the  great  majority  of  the  American  peo- 
ple for  the  benefit  of  the  few. 
^  We  declare  it  to  be  a  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  the  Democratic  party  that  the  fed- 
eral government  has  no  constitutional 
power  to  impose  and  collect  tariff'  duties 
except  for  the  purposes  of  revenue  only, 
and  we  demand  that  the  collection  of  such 


as  its  author,  anxious  for  its  speedy  repeal. 
We  hold  to  the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver 
as  the  standard  money  of  the  country,  and 
to  the  coinage  of  both  ^old  and  silver 
without  discriminating  against  either  metal 
or  charge  of  mintage,  but  the  dollar  unit 
of  coinage  for  both  metals  must  be  of  equal 
intrinsic  and  exchangeable  value,  or  be 


taxes  shall  be  limited  to  the  necessities  of  jadjusted  through  international  agreement 
the  government  when  honestly  and  eco- or  by  such  safeguards  of  legislation  as 
nomically  administered.  jshall  insure  the  maintenance  of  the  parity 

Sec.  4. — Trade  interchange  on  the  basis 'of  the  two  metals,  and  the  equal  power  of 


of  reciprocal  advantages  to  the  countries 
participating  is  a  time-honored  doctrine 
of  the  Democratic  faith,  but  we  denounce 
the  sham  reciprocity  which  juggles  with 
the  people's  desire  for  enlarged  foreign 


every  dollar  at  all  times  in  the  markets 
and  in  the  payment  of  debts,  and  we  de- 
mand that  all  paper  currency  shall  be  kept 
at  par  with  and  redeemable  in  such  coin. 
We  insist  upon  this  policy  as  especially 


markets  and  freer  exchanges  by  pretend- 1  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  farmers 
ing  to  establish  closer  trade  relations  for  aland  laboring^  classes,  the  first  and  most 
country  whose  articles  of  export  are  almost  defenceless  victims  of  unstable  money  and 


exclusively  agricultural  products  with 
other  countries  that  are  also  agricultural 
while  erecting  a  Custom  House  barrier  of 
prohibitive  tariff'  taxes  against  the  rich 
countries  of  the  world  that  stand  ready  to 
take  our  entire  surplus  of  products  and  to 


a  fluctuatingciirrency. 

Sec.  8.— We  recommend  that  the  pro- 
hibitory ten  per  cent,  tax  on  State  bank 
issues  DC  repealed. 

Sec.  9.— Public  office  is  a  public  trust 
We  reaffirm  the  declaration  of  the  Demo- 


exchange  therefor  commodities  which  ardcratic  National  Convention  of  1876  for  the 


98 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


reform  of  the  civil  service  and  we  call  for 
the  honest  enforcement  of  all  laws  regula- 
ting the  same.  The  nomination  of  a  Pres- 
ident, as  in  the  recent  Republican  conven- 
tion, by  delegations  composed  largely  of 
his  appointees,  holding  office  at  his  pleas- 
ure, is  a  scandalous  satire  upon  free  popu- 
lar institutions  and  a  startling  illustration 
of  the  methods  by  which  a  President  may 
gratify  his  ambition.  We  denounce  a 
policy  under  which  federal  office-holders 
usurp  control  of  party  conventions  in  the 
States,  and  we  pledge  the  Democratic 
party  to  the  reform  of  these  and  all  other 
abuses  which  threaten  individual  liberty 
and  local  self-government. 

Sec.  10. — The  Democratic  party  is  the 
only  party  that  has  ever  given  the  country 
a  foreign  policy  consistent  and  vigorous, 
compelling  respect  abroad  and  inspiring 
confidence  at  home.  While  avoiding 
entangling  alliances  it  has  aimed  to  culti- 
vate friendly  relations  with  other  nations 
and  especially  with  our  neighbors  on  the 
American  continent  whose  destiny  is' 
closely  linked  with  our  own,  and  we  view 
with  alarm  the  tendency  to  a  policy  of 
irritation  and  bluster,  which  is  liable  at 
any  time  to  confront  us  with  the  alternative 
of  humiliation  or  war. 

We  favor  the  maintenance  of  a  navy 
strong  enough  for  all  purposes  of  national 
defence  and  to  properly  maintain  the 
honor  and  dignity  of  the  country  abroad. 

Sec.  11. — The  country  has  alwaj's  been 
the  refuge  of  the  oppressed  from  every 
land — exiles  for  conscience  sake — and  in 
the  spirit  of  the  founders  of  our  govern- 
ment we  condemn  the  oppression  practised 
by  the  Russian  government  upon  its  Lu- 
theran and  Jewish  subjects,  and  we  call 
upon  our  national  government,  in  the  in- 
terest of  justice  and  humanity,  by  all  just 
and  proper  means,  to  use  its  prompt  and 
best  efforts  to  bring  about  a  cessation  of 
these  cruel  persecutions  in  the  dominions 
of  the  Czar  and  to  secure  to  the  oppressed 
equal  rights. 

We  tender  our  profound  and  earnest 
sympathy  to  those  lovers  of  freedom  who 
are  struggling  for  home  rule  and  the  great 
cause  of  local  self  government  in  Ireland. 
^  Sec.  12. — We  heartily  approve  all  legi- 
timate efforts  to  prevent  the  United  States 
from  being  used  as  the  dumping  ground 
for  the  known  criminals  and  professional 
paupers  of  Europe,  and  we  aemand  the 
rigid  enforcement  of  the  laws  aeainst 
Chinese  immigration  or  the  importation  of 
foreign  workmen  under  contract  to  degrade 
American  labor  and  lessen  its  wages,  but 
we  condemn  and  denounce  any  and  all 
attempts  to  restrict  the  immigration  of 
the  industrious  and  worthy  of  foreign 
lands. 

Sec.  13. — ^This  Convention  hereby  re- 


news the  expression  of  appreciation  of  the 
patriotism  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the 
Union  in  the  war  for  its  preservation,  and 
we  favor  just  and  liberal  pensions  for  all 
disabled  Union  soldiers,  their  widows  and 
dependents,  but  we  demand  that  the  work 
of  the  Pension  Office  shall  be  done  indus- 
triously, impartially  and  honestly.  We 
denounce  the  present  administration  of  that 
office  as  incompetent,  corrupt,  disgraceful 
and  dishonest. 

Seo  14.  — ^The  federal  government  should 
care  for  and  improve  the  Mississippi  River 
and  other  great  waterways  of  the  Republic 
so  as  to  secure  for  the  interior  States  easy 
and  cheap  transportation  to  the  tidewater. 

When  any  waterway  of  the  Republic  is 
of  sufficient  importance  to  demand  the  aid 
of  the  governnjcnt,  that  such  aid  should  be 
extended,  a  definite  plan  of  continuous 
work  until  permanent  improvement  is  se- 
cured. 

Sec.  15. — For  purposes  of  national  de- 
fence and  the  promotion  of  commerce 
between  the  States  we  recognize  the  early 
construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  and  its 
protection  against  foreign  control  as  of 
great  importance  to  the  United  States. 

Sec.  16. — Recognizing  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  as  a  national  under- 
taking of  vast  importance,  in  which  the 
general  government  has  invited  the  co- 
operation of  all  the  Powers  of  the  world, 
and  appreciating  the  acceptance  by  many 
of  such  Powers  of  the  invitation  for  ex- 
tended and  the  broadest  liberal  efforts 
being  made  by  them  to  contribute  to  the 
grandeur  of  the  undertaking,  we  are  of  the 
opinion  that  Congress  should  make  such 
necessary  financial  provision  as  shall  be 
requisite  to  the  maintenance  of  the  national 
honor  and  public  faith. 

Sec.  17. — Popular  education  being  the 
only  safe  basis  of  popular  suffrage,  we 
recommend  to  the  several  States  most 
liberal  appropriations  for  the  public 
schools.  Free  common  schools  are  the 
nurseiy  of  good  government  and  they  have 
always  received  the  fostering  care  of  the 
Democratic  party,  which  favors  every 
means  of  increasing  intelligence.  Freedom 
of  education  being  an  essential  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  as  well  as  a  necessity  for 
the  development  of  intelligence,  must  not 
be  interfered  with  under  any  pretext  what- 
ever. We  are  opposed  to  State  interfer- 
ence with  parental  rights  and  rights  of 
conscience  in  the  education  of  children  as 
an  infringement  of  the  fundamental  dem- 
ocratic doctrine  that  the  largest  individual 
liberty  consistent  with  the  rights  of  others 
insures  the  highest  type  of  American  citi- 
zenship and  the  best  government. 

Sec.  18. — We  approve  the  action  of  the 
present  House  of  Representatives  in  pas- 
sing bills  for  the  admission  into  the  Union 


BOOK  11.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


99 


as  States  of  the  Territories  of  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona,  and  we  favor  the  early  ad- 
mission of  all  the  Territories  having  nec- 
essary population  and  resources  to  admit 
them  to  Statehood,  and  while  they  remain 
Territories  we  hold  that  the  officials  ap- 
pointed to  administer  the  government  of 
any  Temtory,  together  with  the  Districts 
of  Columbia  and  Alaska,  should  be  bona 
fide  residents  of  the  Territory  or  District 
in  which  their  duties  are  to  be  performed. 
The  Democratic  party  believes  in  home  rule 
and  the  control  of  their  own  afiairs  by  the 
people  of  the  vicinage. 

Sec.  19. — We  favor  legislation  by  Con- 
gress and  Stat«  Legislatures  to  protect  the 
lives  and  limbs  of  railway  employes  and 
those  of  other  hazardous  transportation 
companies  and  denounce  the  inactivity  of 
the  Republican  party  and  particularly  the 
liepnblican  Senate  for  causing  the  defeat  of 
measures  beneficial  and  protective  to  this 
class  of  wageworkers. 

Sec.  20. — We  are  in  favor  of  the  enact- 
ment by  the  States  of  laws  for  abolishing 
the  notorious  sweating  system,  for  abolish- 
ing contract  convict  labor  and  for  prohib- 
iting the  employment  in  factories  of  chil- 
dren under  fifteen  years  of  age. 

Sec.  21. — ^We  are  opposed  to  all  sump- 
tuary laws  as  an  interference  with  the 
individual  rights  of  the  citizen. 

Sec.  22. — Upon  this  statement  of  prin- 
ciples and  policies  the  Democratic  party 
asks  the  intelligent  judgment  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.  It  asks  a  change  of  adminis- 
tration and  a  change  of  party  in  order  that 
there  may  be  a  change  of  system  and  a 
change  of  methods,  thus  assuring  the 
maintenance,  unimpaired,  of  institutions 
under  which  the  Republic  has  grown  great 
and  powerful. 


REPUBLICAN. 

coming  into  compe- 
tition with  the  pro- 
ducts of  American 
labor  there  should 
be  levied  duties 
equal  to  the  diflfer- 
ence  between  wages 
abroad  and  at  home. 

We  assert  that  the 
prices  of  manu- 
factured articles  of 
general  consump- 
tion have  been  re- 
duced  under  the 
operation  o  f  t  h  e 
tariff  act  of  1890. 

We  denounce  the 
efforts  of  the  Demo- 
cratic majority  of 
the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives to  de- 
stroy our  tariff  laws, 
as  is  manifested  by 
their  attacks  upon 
wool,  lead  and  lead 
ores,  the  chief  pro- 
duct of  a  number  of 
States,  and  we  ask 
the  people  for  their 
judgment  thereon. 


The  Tarlflriflsne,  1S93. 


REPUBLICAN. 

We  reaffirm  the 
American  doctrine 
of  Protection.  We 
call  attention  to  its 
growth  abroad.  We 
maintain  that  the 
prosperous  c  o  n  d  i- 
tion  of  our  country 
is  largely  due  to  the 
wise  revenue  legisla- 
tion of  the  Republi- 
can Congress. 

We  believe  that 
all  articles  which 
cannot  be  produced 
in  the  United  States, 
except  luxuries, 
should  be  admitted 
free  of  duty,  and 
that  on  all  imports 


DEMOCRATIC. 

We  denounce  Re- 
publican Protection 
as  a  fraud — as  a  rob- 
bery of  the  ^reat 
majority  of  the 
American  people  for 
the  benefit  of  a  few. 
We  declare  it  to  be 
a  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  that  the 
government  has  no 
constitutional  power 
to  impose  and  col- 
lect a  dollar  for  tax 
except  for  purposes 
of  revenue  only,  and 
demand  that  the 
collection  of  such 
taxes  be  imposed  by 


DEMOCRATIC. 

the  government 
when  only  honestly 
and     economically 
administered. 
[The  above  para- 

fraph  was  adopted 
y  a  vote  of  604  to 
342  as  a  substitute 
for  the  following, 
reported  from  the 
majority  of  thecom- 
mittee :  "We  re- 
iterate the  oft- re- 
peated doctrines  of 
the  Democratic 
party  that  the  neces- 
sity of  the  govern- 
ment is  the  only 
justification  fortaxa- 
tions,  and  whenever 
a  tax  is  unnecessary 
it  is  unjustifiable  ; 
that  when  Custom 
House  taxation  is 
levied  upon  articles 
of  any  kind  pro- 
duced in  this  coun- 
try, the  difference 
between  the  cost  of 
labor  here  and  labor 
abroad,  when  such 
a  difference  exists, 
fully  measures  any 

{)Ossible  benefits  to 
abor,  and  the  enor- 
mous additional  im- 
positions of  the  ex- 
isting tariff  fall  with 
crushing  force  upon 
our  farmers  and 
workingmen,  and, 
for  the  mere  advan- 
tage of  the  few 
whom  it  enriches, 
exact  from  labor  a 
grossly  unjust  share 
of  the  expenses  of 
the  government,and 
we  demand  such  a 
revision  of  the  tariff 
laws  as  will  remove 
their  iniquitous  in- 
equalities, lighten 
their  oppressions 
and  put  tliem  on  a 
constitutional  and 
equitable  basis.  But 
in  making  reduction 
in  taxes,  it  is  not 
proposed  to  injure 
any  domestic  indus- 
tries, but  rather  to 
Sromote  their 
ealthy  growth. 
From    the   founda- 


100 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


REPUBLICAN.  DEMOCRATIC 

tion  of  this  govern-        republican. 
ment,taxes  collected  I     The  American 
at   the    Gusto mjpeople,   from  tradi- 
House   have     been jt ion  and  interest, 
favor    bi-metallism, 


Tbe  Silver  Issae.  1892. 


the  chief  source  of 


Federal  revenue. 
Such  thev  must  con- 
tinue to  be.  More- 
over, many  indus- 
tries have  come  to 
rely  upon  legislation 
forj  successful  con- 
tinuance, 80  that 
any  change  of  law 
must  be  at  every 
step  regardful  of  the 
1  a  D  o  r  and  capital 
thus  involved.  The 
process  of  reform 
must  be  subject  in 
the  execution  of  this 
plain  dictate  of  jus- 
tice."] 

Tbe  Reciprocity  Issue,  1892. 


REPUBLICAN. 

We  point  to  the 
success  of  the  Re- 
publican policy  of 
reci  procity ,  under 
which  our  export 
trade  has  vastly  in- 
creased and  new  and 
enlarged  markets 
have  been  opened 
for  the  products  of 
our  farms  and  work- 
shops. 

We  remind  the 
people  of  the  bitter 
opposition  o  f  t  h  e 
Democratic  party  to 
this  practical  busi- 
ness measure,  and 
claim  that,  executed 
by  a  Repuolican  ad- 
ministration, our 
present  laws  will 
eventually  give  us 
control  of  the  trade 
of  the  world. 


and  the  Repubhcan 
party  demands  the 
use  of  both  gold  and 
silver  as  ^  standard 
money,  with  such 
restrictions  and 
under  such  provi- 
sions, to  be  deter- 
mined by  legislation, 
as  will  secure  the 
maintenance  of  the 
parity  values  of  the 
two  metals,  so  that 
the  purchasing  and 
debt-paying  power 
of  the  dollar, 
whether  of  silver, 
gold  or  paper,  shall 
be  at  all  times 
equal.  The  interests 
01  the  producers  of 
the  country,  its 
farmers  and  its 
workin gmen,  de- 
mand that  every 
dollar,      paper 


DEMOCRATIC. 

Trade  interchange 
on  the  basis  of  reci- 
procal advantages  to 
the  countries  parti- 
cipating is  a  time- 
honored  doctrine  of  coin,  issued^by  the 
the  D  e  m  o  c  r  a  t  i  c  government,shall  be 
faith,    but   we    de-  as     good    as     any 
nounce     the    sham  .other.      We     corn- 
reciprocity   which  mend  the  wise  and 
juggles  with  thelpatriotic    steps 
people's  desire    forjalready  taken  by  our 
enlarged    foreign  go  ve  rnmen  t  to 


markets  and  frees 
exchanges  by  pre- 
tending to  establish 
closer  trade  relations 
for  a  country  whose 
articles  of  export  are 
almost  exclusively 
agricultural  pro- 
ducts with  other 
countries  that  are 
also  agricultural, 
while  erecting  a 
Custom  House  bar- 
rier of  prohibitive 
tariff  taxes  against 
the  richest  countries 
of  the  world  that 
stand  ready  to  take 
our  entire  surplus  of 
products  and  to  ex- 
change th  erefor 
commodities  which 
are  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life 
among  our  own 
people. 


DEilOCRATIC. 

We  denounce  the 
Republican  legisla- 
tion known  as  the 
Sherman  act  of  1890 
as  a  cowardly  make- 
shift, fraught  with 
possibilities  of  dan- 
ger in  the  future, 
which  should  make 
all  its  supporters,  as 
well  as  its  author, 
anxious  for  its 
speedy  repeal.  We 
hold  to  tne  use  of 
both  gold  and  silver 
as  the  standard 
money  of  the  coun- 
try, and  to  the  coin- 
age of  both  gold  and 
silver,  without  dis- 
criminating against 
either  metal  or 
charge  for  mint- 
age, the  dollar  unit 
of  coinage  of  both 
metals  must  be  of 
equal  intrinsic  and 
exchangeable  value, 
or  be  adjusted 
through  interna- 
tional agreement  or 
by  such^  safeguards 
of  legislation  as 
shall  insure  the 
maintenance  of  the 
parity  of  the  two 
metals,  and  the 
equal  power  of  every 
dollar  at  all  times  in 
the  markets  and  in 
the  payment  of 
debts,  and  we  de- 
mand that  all  paper 
currency  shall  be 
kept  at  par  .  with 
and  redeemable  in 
such  coin.  We  in- 
sist upon  this  policy 
as  specially  neces- 
sary for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  farmers 
and  laboring  classes 
the  first  and  most  de- 
fenceless victims  of 
unstable  money  and 
a  fluctuating  cur- 
rency. 

Tbe  Ballot  lasne,  1893. 

DEMOCRATIC. 

We  w  arn  the 
people  of  our  com- 
mon country,  jeal- 
ous for  the  preserva- 


secure  an  interna- 
tional conference,  to 
adopt  such  meast 
ures  as  will  insure  a 
parity  of  value  be- 
t  w  e  e  n  gold  and 
silver  for  use  as 
money  throughout 
the  world. 


REPUBLICAN. 

We  demand  that 
every  citizen  of  the 
United  States  shall 
be   allowed   to  cast 


BOOK  n.] 


POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 


101 


REPUBLICAN. 

one  free  and  un- 
restricted ballot  in 
all  public  elections 
and  that  sboh  ballot 
shall  be  counted 
and  returned  as 
cast ;  that  such  laws 
shall  be  enacted  and 
enforced  as  will 
secure  to  every  citi- 
zen, be  he  rich  or 
f>oor,  native  or 
oreign  born,  white 
or  black,  this 
sovereign  right 
guaranteea  by  the 
Constitution. 

The  free  and 
honest  popular 
ballot,  tne  just  and 
equal  representation 
of  all  the  people,  as 
well  as  their  just 
and  equal  protection 
under  the  laws,  are 
the  foundation  of 
our  republican  in- 
stitutions, and  the 
{)arty  will  never  re- 
ax  its  efforts  until 
the  integrity  of  the 
ballot  and  the  purity 
of  elections  shall  be 
f  u  11  y  guaranteed 
and  protected  in 
every  State. 

We  denounce  the 
continued  inhuman 
outrages  perpe- 
trated apon  Ameri- 
can citizens  for  poli- 
cal  reasons  in  certain 
Southern  States  of 
the  Union. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

tion  of  their  free  in- 
stitutions, that  the 
policy    of    Federal 
control  of  elections 
to   which   the»  Re- 
publican party  has 
committed  itself  is 
fraught    with    the 
gravest   dangers, 
scarcely     less     mo- 
mentous than  would 
result  from  a  revolu- 
tion practically    es- 
tablisning  a  monar- 
chy on  the  ruins  of 
the  rej)ublic.   It 
strikes  at  the  North 
as  well  as  the  South, 
and  injures    the 
colored  citizen  even 
more     than    the 
white ;  it  means  a 
horde  of  deputy 
marshals    at    every 
polling  place,  armed 
with  Federal  power, 
returning  boards  ap- 
pointed   and   c  o  n- 
trolled    by  Federal 
authority  ;  the  out- 
rage of  the  electoral 
rights  of  the  people 
in  the  several  States; 
the  subjugation    of 
the  colored   people 
to  the  control  of  the 
party  in  power  and 
the  reviving  of  race 
antagonisms,    now 
happily    abated,  of 
the  utmost  peril  to 
the      safety     and 
happiness  of  all — a 
measure  deliberately 
and  justly  described 
by  a  leading  Repub- 
lican Senator  as 
"  the  most  infamous 
bill  that  ever  crossed 
the  threshold  of  the 
Senate.]'    Such  a 
policy,  if  sanctioned 
by  law,  would  mean 
the  dominance  of  a 
s  e  1  f-p  e  r  petuating 
oligarchy  of  office- 
holders,    and    the 
party  first  intrusted 
with  ita  machinery 
could    be  dislodged 
from  power  only  by 
an  appeal  to  the  re- 
served right  of  the 
people  to  resist  op- 


REPUBLICAN. 


DEMOCRATIC. 

pression  which  is 
inherent  in  all  self- 
governing  com- 
munities. Two  years 
ago  this  revolu- 
tionary policy  was 
emphatically  con- 
demned by  the 
people  at  the  polls ; 
but,  in  contempt  oi 
that  verdict,  the 
Republican  party 
has  defiantly  de- 
clared, _  in  its  latest 
authoritative  utter- 
ance, that  its  suc- 
cess in  the  coming 
elections  will  mean 
the  enactment  of  the 
Force  bill  and  the 
usurpation  of  despo- 
tic control  over  elec- 
tions in  all  the 
States. 

Believing  that  the 
preservation  of  re- 
publican govern- 
ment in  the  United 
States  is  dependent 
upon  the  defeat  of 
this  policy  of  legal- 
ized force  and 
fraud,  we  invite  the 
support  of  all  citi- 
zens who  desire  to 
see  the  Constitution 
maintained  in  its 
integrity  with  the 
laws  pursuant  there- 
to which  have  given 
our  country  a  hun- 
dred years  of  unex- 
ampled prosperity ; 
and  we  pledge  the 
Democratic  party,  if 
it  be  intrusted  with 
power,  not  only  to 
the  defeat  of  the 
Force  bill  but  also  to 
relentless  opposition 
to  the  Republican 
policy  of  profligate 
expenditure,  which 
in  the  short  space  of 
two  years  has  squan- 
dered an  enormous 
surplus  and  emptied 
an  overflowing 
Treasury,  after  pil- 
ing new  burdens  of 
taxation  upon  the 
already  overtaxed 
labor  of  the  country. 


102 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[BOOK  II. 


REPUBLICAN. 

We  commend  the 
spirit  and  evidence 
of  reform  in  the 
Civil  Service  and 
the  wise  and  con- 
sistent enforcement 
by  the  Republican 
party  of  the  laws  re- 
gulating the  same. 


Civil  Service.  1803. 

DEMOCRATIC. 

Public  office  is  * 
public  trust.  We 
reaffirm  the  declara- 
tion of  the  Demo- 
cratic National  Con- 
vention of  1876  for 
the  reform  of  the 
civil  service,  and  we 
call  for  the  honest 
enforcement  of  all 
laws  regulating  the 
same.  The  nomina- 
tion of  a  President, 
as  in  the  recent  Re- 
|)ublican  Conven- 
tion, by  delegations 


composed  largely  of]  s«°^^ 
his  appointees, hold 
ing  office  at  his 
pleasure,  is  a  scan- 
dalous satire  upon 
free  popular  institu- 
tions and  a  startling 
illustration  of  the 
methods  by  which  a 
President  may 
gratify  his  ambition. 
We  denounce  a 
policy  under  which 
Federal  office- 
holders usurp  con- 
trol of  party  con- 
ventions in  the 
States,  and  we 
pledge  the  Demo- 
cratic party  to  the 
reform  of  these  and 
all  other  abuses 
which  threaten  in- 
dividual liberty  and 
local  self-govern- 
ment. 


support,  but  this  was  denied  by  what  were 
called  "the  old  guard,"  who  favored  the 
recognition  of  those  only  who  were  plainly 
identified  with  the  Third  party. 

At  12  o'clock  the  roll  of  States  for  nomi- 
nation for  President  was  hardly  completed 
and  there  were  four  candidates  before  the 
Convention — Weaver,  of  Iowa  ;  Kyle,  of 
South  Dakota ;  Field,  of  Virginia,  and 
Page  of  Virginia.  The  chance  seemed 
favorable^  to  Weaver,  but  the  uncertainty 
of  a  nomination  on  the  first  ballot  made  his 
friends  still  painfully  anxious.  Gresham's 
declination  had  been  at  last  reluctantly  ac- 
cepted by  his  admirers,  and  the  refusal  of 
Van  Wyck  to  allow  the  consideration  of  his 
name  practically  left  the  field  to  the  four 
candidates  who  had   been   formally  pre- 


The  Third  or  People's  Party. 

The  political  wing  of  the  Farmers'  Al- 
liance and  the  elements  favoring  the  enter- 
ing of  the  Labor  organizations  into  poli- 
tics, united  in  a  National  Convention  at 
Omaha  on  the  4th  of  July,  1892.  This 
Convention  was  the  outcome  of  several 
previous  efforts  on  the  part  of  these  several 
organizations  to  enter  national  politics.  In 
many  State  Conventions  of  the  Alliance 
its  sub-treasury  plan  divided  the  organiza- 
tion into  two  factions — political  and  non- 
. political,  and  as  a  result  the  representation 
at  Omaha  did  not  reflect  the  views  of  the 
entire  organization. 

Judge  Greshani  of  Indiana,  was  promi- 
nently named  as  a  Presidential  candidate, 
and  he  finally  consented  to  the  use  of  hb 
name  if  it   could    command  unanimous 


Tlie  Ballot. 

The  first  ballot  for  President  resulted  as 
follows,  only  one  ballot  necessary.  Weaver 
being  successful : 

Alabama,  Weaver,  43,  Arkansas,  Weaver 
12;  Kyle,  20;  California,  Weaver,  25; 
Colorado,  Weaver,  6;  Kyle,  10;  Connec- 
ticut, Weaver,  8 ;  Kyle,  2 ;  Delaware, 
Weaver,  1 ;  Florida,  AVeaver,  1 6  ;  Georgia, 
Weaver,  16;  Kyle,  39;  Idaho,  Weaver, 
12;  Illinois,  Weaver,  41;  Kyle,  42;  In- 
diana, Weaver  54 ;  Kyle,  5 ;  Norton,  1 ; 
Iowa,  Weaver,  52;  Kansas,  Weaver, 
40;  Kentucky,  Weaver,  40;  Louisiana, 
Weaver,  32;  Maine,  Weaver,  6;  Kyle, 
3  ;  Massachusetts,  Weaver,  9  ;  Kyle,  18  ; 
Page,  1 ;  Michigan,  Weaver,  56 ;  Minne- 
sota, Weaver,  27;  Kyle,  9;  Mississippi, 
Weaver,  17  ;  Missouri,  Weaver,  61  ;  iM'le, 
7  ;  Montana,  Kyle,  12;  Nebraska,  Weaver, 
23;  Kyle,  3;  Nevada,  Kyle,  7;  New 
Jersev,  Weaver,  4 ;  New  York,  Weaver, 
59 ;  North  Carolina,  Weaver,  20  ;  Kyle,  5 ; 
North  Dakota,  Weaver,  1 1 ;  Kyle,  1 ; 
Ohio,  Weaver,  30;  Kyle,  22:  Oregon, 
Weaver,  16;  Pennsylvania,  Weaver,  29; 
Stanford,  1  ;  South  Dakota,  Weaver,  1  ; 
Kyle,  15;  Tennessee,  Weaver,  45;  Texas, 
Weaver,  60;  Virginia,  Weaver,  48; 
Washington,  Weaver,  15;  West  Virginia, 
Weaver,  17  ;  Wisconsin,  Weaver,  7;  Kyle, 
41  ;  Wyoming,  Weaver,  3 ;  Dii*trict  of 
Columbia,  Weaver,  8  ;  Oklahoma,  Weaver, 
8.  Total:  Weaver,  995;  Kyle,  265; 
Norton,  1  ;  Page,  1  :  Stanford,  1. 

Maryland,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Is- 
land, South  Carolina,  Vermont,  Alaska, 
Arizona,  Indian  Territory,  New  Mexico 
and  Utah  are  blank. 

Norton  moved  to  make  the  nomination 
unanimous,  and  Schilling,  of  Wisconsin, 
Washburn,  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
delegates  from  South  Dakota,  Montana 
and  Massachusetts  seconded  the  motion.  It 
was  carried  with  a  hurrah  and  loud  cheer- 
ing. 


BOOK  n.] 


POLITICAL   PLATFORMS. 


103 


General  James  G.  Field,  of  Virginia, 
and  of  the  Confederate  service,  was  nomi- 
nated on  the  first  ballot  for  Vice  President. 

People's  Party  Platform. 

Preamble:  Corruption  dominates  the 
ballot  box,  the  Legislatures,  the  Congress 
and  touches  even  the  ermine  of  the  bench. 
The  people  are  demoralized,  most  of  the 
States  have  been  compelled  to  isolate  the 
voters  at  the  polling  places  to  prevent  uni- 
versal intimidation  or  bribery.  The  news- 
papers are  largely  subsidized  or  muzzled, 
public  opinion  silenced,  business  pros- 
trated, our  homes  covered  with  mortgages, 
labor  impoverished  and  the  land  concen-' 
trating  in  the  hands  of  the  capitalists. 

The  urban  workmen  are  denied  the  right 
of  organization  for  self-protection  ;  impor- 
ted pauperized  labor  beats  down  tneir 
wages;  a  hireling  standing  army,  unrec- 
ognized by  our  laws,  is  established  to  shoot 
them  down,  and  they  are  rapidly  degenera- 
ting into  Europern  conditions.  The  fniits 
of  the  toil  of  millions  are  boldly  stolen  to 
build  up  colossal  fortunes  for  a  few,  unpre- 
cedented in  the  history  of  mankind,  and 
the  possessors  of  these  in  turn  despise  the 
republic  and  endanger  liberty.  From  the 
same  prolific  womb  of  govermental  injustice 
we  breed  the  two  great  classes — tramps 
and  millionares. 

The  national  power  to  create  money  is 
appropriated  to  enrich  bond-holders;  a 
vast  public  debt  payable  in  legal  tender 
currency  has  been  funded  into  gold-bearing 
bonds,  thereby  adding  millions  to  the  bur- 
dens of  the  people. 

Silver,  which  has  been  accepted  as  coin 
since  the  dawn  of  history,  has  been  de- 
monetized to  add  to  the  purchasing  power 
of  gold  by  decreasing  the  value  of  all 
forms  of  property  as  well  as  human  labor, 
and  the  supply  of  currency  is  purposely 
abridged  to  fatten  usurers  and  bankrupt 
enterprise  and  slave  industry. 

We  declare  that  this  republic  can  only 
endure  as  a  free  government  while  built 
upon  the  love  of  the  whole  people  for  each 
other  and  for  the  nation ;  tnat  it  cannot  be 
pinned  together  by  bayonets ;  that  the 
civil  war  is  over,  and  that  every  passion 
and  resentment  which  grew  out  of  it  must 
die  with  it,  and  that  we  must  be,  in  fact, 
as  we  are  in  name,  one  united  brotherhood 
of  free  men. 

Our  country  finds  itself  confronted  by 
conditions  for  which  there  is  no  precedent 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  Our  annual 
agricultural  productions  amount  to  billions 
of  dollars  in  value,  which  must  within  a 
few  weeks  or  months  be  exchanged  for 
billions  of  dollars  of  commodities  consumed 
in  their  production.  The  existing  currency 
supply  is  wholly  inadequate  to  make  this 
exchange.    The  results  are  falling  prices, 


the  formation  of  combines  and  rings,  the 
impoverishment  of  the  producing  class. 
We  i>ledge  ourselves  that,  if  given  power, 
we  will  labor  to  correct  these  evils  by  wise 
and  reasonable  legislation,  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  our  platform. 

The  platform  proper,  declares : 

First.  —That  the  union  of  the  labor  forces 
of  the  United  States  this  day  consummated 
shall  be  permanent  and  perpetual.  May 
its  spirit  into  all  hearts  for  the  salvation 
of  the  Republic  aid  the  uplifting  of  man- 
kind. 

Second, — Wealth  belongs  to  him  who 
creates  it,  and  every  dollar  taken  from  in- 
dustry without  an  equivalent  is  robbery. 
"If  any  will  not  work,  neither  shall  he 
eat."  The  interests  of  rural  and  civic 
labor  are  the  same :  their  enemies  are 
identical. 

Third. — ^We  believe  that  the  time  haa 
come  when  the  railroad  corporations  will 
either  own  the  people  or  the  people  must 
own  the  railroaas,  and  should  the  govern- 
ment enter  upon  the  work  of  owning  and 
managing  all  railroads,  we  should  favor  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  by  which 
all  persons  engaged  in  the  government  ser- 
vice shall  be  placed  under  a  Civil  Service 
regulation  of  the  most  rigid  character,  so 
as  to  prevent  the  increase  of  the  power  of 
the  national  administration  by  the  use  of 
such  additional  government  employes. 

Finance. — We  demand  a  national  cur- 
rency, safe,  sound  and  flexible,  issued  by 
the  general  government  only,  a  full  legal 
tender  for  all  debts,  public  and  private, 
and  that  without  the  use  of  banking  cor- 
porations, a  just,  equitable  and  efficient 
means  of  distribution  direct  to  the  people, 
at  a  tax  rate  not  to  exceed  two  per  cent, 
per  annum  to  be  provided  as  set  forth  in 
the^  sub-Treasury  plan  of  the  Farmers' 
Alliance  or  a  better  system  :  also  by  pay- 
ments jn  discharge  or  its  obligations  for 
public  improvements. 

(a). — We  demand  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  silver  and  gold  at  the  present 
legal  ratio  of  16  to  1. 
^  (b).— We  demand  that  the  amount  of 
circulating  medium  be  speedily  increased 
to  not  less  than  $50  per  capita. 

(c). — We  demand  a  graduated  income 
tax. 

(d). — We  believe  that  the  money  of  the 
country  should  be  kept  as  much  as  possi- 
ble in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  nenoe 
we  demand  that  all  State  and  national 
revenues  shall  be  limited  to  the  necessary 
expenses  of  the  government,  economically 
and  honestly  administered. 

(e). — We  demand  that  postal  saving 
banks  be  established  by  the  government  for 
the  safe  deposit  of  the  earnings  of  the  peo- 
ple and  to  facilitate  exchange. 

Transportation. — Transportation  being  a 


104 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  II. 


means  of  exchange  and  a  public  necessity, 
the  government  should  own  and  operate 
the  railroads  in  the  interests  of  the  people. 

(a). — The  telegraph,  telephone,  like  the 
post-office  system,  being  a  necessity  for  the 
transmission  of  news,  should  be  owned  and 
operated  by  the  government  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  people. 

Land. — The    land,    including    all    the 


natural  sources  of  wealth,  is  the  heritage 
of  the  people  and  should  not  be  monopo- 
lized for  speculative  purposes,  and  alien 
ownership  of  land  should  be  prohibited. 
All  land  nov?  held  by  railroads  and  other 
corporations  in  excess  of  their  actual  needs, 
and  all  lands  now  owned  by  aliens,  should 
be  reclaimed  by  the  government  and  held 
for  actual  settlers  only. 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


BOOK  III. 


GREAT  SPEECHES  ON  GREAT  ISSUE& 


29 


AMEEICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK  III. 


GREAT  SPEECHES  ON  GEEAT  ISSUES. 


Speecli  ot  Jamea  AVllBon, 

Jaimary,    1775,    »'»  the    ConvetUion  for   the  Province  of 
Pennsylvania, 

IN  VINDICATION  OF  THE  COLONIES. 


'A  most  daring  spirit  of  resistance  and  disobedience 
still  prevails  in  Massachusetts,  and  has  broken  forth 
in  fresh  violences  of  a  criminal  nature.  The  most 
proper  and  effectual  methods  have  been  taken  to  pre- 
vent these  mischiefs ;  and  the  parliament  may  depend 
upon  a  firm  resolution  to  withstand  every  attempt  to 
weaken  or  impair  the  supreme  authority  of  parlia- 
ment over  all  the  dominions  of  the  crown." — Speech 
of  the  King  of  Great  Britain  to  Parliament,  Nov.,  1774. 


Mr.  Chairman: — Whence,  sir,  pro- 
ceeds all  the  invidious  and  ill-grounded 
clamor  against  the  colonists  of  America? 
Why  are  they  stigmatized  in  Britain  as 
licentious  and  ungovernable?  3Vhy  is 
their  virtuous  opposition  to  the  illegal  at- 
tempts of  their  governors,  represented  un- 
der the  falsest  colors,  and  placed  in  the 
most  ungracious  point  of  view?  This 
opposition,  when  exhibited  in  its  true 
light,  and  when  viewed,  with  unjaundiced 
eyes,  from  a  proper  situation,  and  at  a 
proper  distance,  stands  confessed  the  lovely 
offspring  of  freedom.  It  breathes  the  spirit 
of  its  parent.  Of  this  ethereal  spirit,  the 
whole  conduct,  and  particularly  the  late 
conduct,  of  the  colonists  has  shown  them 
eminently  possessed.  It  has  animated  and 
regulated  every  part  of  their  proceedings. 
It  has  been  recognized  to  be  genuine,  b^v 
all  those  symptoms  and  effects  oy  which  it 
has  been  distinguished  in  other  ages  and 
other  countries.  It  has  been  calm  and 
regular:  it  has  not  acted  without  occasion : 
it  has  not  acted  disproportionably  to  the 
occasion.  As  the  attempts,  open  or  secret, 
to  undermine  or  to  destroy  it,  have  been 
repeated  or  enforced,  in  a  just  degree,  its 
vigilance  and  its  vigor  have  been  exerted 
to  defeat  or  to  disappoint  them.  As  its 
exertions  have  been  sufficient  for  those 
purposes  hitherto,  let  us  hence  draw  a  joy- 


ftil  prognostic,  that  they  will  continue  suf- 
ficient for  those  purposes  hereafter.  It  is 
not  yet  exhausted :  it  will  still  operate  ir- 
resistibly whenever  a  necessarv  occasion 
shall  call  forth  its  strength. 

Permit  me,  sir,  by  appealing,  in  a  few 
instances,  to  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  the 
colonists,  to  evince  that  what  I  have  said 
of  them  is  just.  Did  they  disclose  any 
uneasiness  at  the  proceedings  and  claims 
of  the  British  parliament,  before  those 
claims  and  proceedings  afforded  a  reason- 
able cause  tor  it?  Did  they  even  dis- 
close any  uneasiness,  when  a  reasonable 
cause^  for  it  was  first  given  ?  Our  rights 
were  invaded  by  their  regulations  of  our 
internal  policy.  We  submitted  to  them : 
we  were  unwilling  to  oppose  them.  The 
spirit  of  liberty  was  slow  to  act.  When 
those  invasions  were  renewed ;  when  the 
efficacy  and  malignancv  of  them  were  at- 
tempted to  be  redoubled  by  the  stamp  act ; 
when  chains  were  formed  for  us;  and 
preparations  were  made  for  riveting  them 
on  our  limbs,  what  measures  did  we  pur- 
sue? The  spirit  of  liberty  found  it  neces- 
sary now  to  act ;  but  she  acted  with  the 
calmness  and  decent  dignity  suited  to  her 
character.  Were  we  rash  or  seditious? 
Did  we  discover  want  of  loyalty  to  our 
sovereign  ?  Did  we  betray  want  of  affec- 
tion to  our  brethren  in  Britain?  Let  our 
dutiful  and  reverential  petitions  to  the 
throne;  let  our  respectful,  though  firm, 
remonstrances  to  the  parliament ;  let  our 
warm  and  affectionate  addresses  to  our 
brethren  and  (we  wjll  still  call  them)  our 
friends  in  Great  Britain ,— let  all  those,  trans- 
mitted from  every  part  of  the  continent, 
testify  the  truth.  By  their  testimony  let 
our  conduct  be  tried. 

As  our  proceedings,  during  the  exist- 
ence and  operation  of  the  stamp  act,  prove 
fully  and  incontestably  the  painful  serifa- 
tions  that  tortured  our  brea-sts  from  the 
prospect  of  disunion  with   Britaui;    th« 

3 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


peals  of  joy,  which  burst  forth  universally, 
upon  the  repeal  of  that  odious  statute, 
loudly  proclaim  the  heartfelt  delight  pro- 
duced in  us  by  a  reconciliation  with  ner. 
Unsuspicious,  because  undesigning,  we 
buried  our  complaints,  and  the  causes  of 
them,  in  oblivion,  and  returned,  with  ea- 
gerness, to  our  former  unreserved  confi- 
dence. Our  connection  with  our  parent 
country,  and  the  reciprocal  blessings  re- 
sulting from  it  to  her  and  to  us,  were  the' 
favorite  and  pleasing  topics  of  our  public 
.discourses  and  our  private  conversations. 
Lulled  into  delightful  security,  we  dreamed 
of  nothing  but  increasing  fondness  and 
friendship,  cemented  and  strengthened  by 
a  kind  and  perpetual  communication  of 
good  offices.  Soon,  however,  too  soon, 
were  we  awakened  from  the  soothing 
dreams  1  Our  enemies  renewed  their  de- 
signs against  us,  not  with  less  malice,  but 
with  more  art.  Under  the  plausible  pre- 
tence of  regulating  our  trade,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  of  making  provision  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  and  the  support  of 
government,  in  some  of  the  colonies,  they 
pursued  their  scheme  of  depriving  us  of 
our  property  without  our  consent.  As  the 
attempts  to  distress  us,  and  to  degrade  us 
to  a  rank  inferior  to  that  of  freemen,  ap- 
peared now  to  be  reduced  into  a  regular 
system,  it  became  proper,  on  our  part,  to 
form  a  regular  system  for  counteracting 
them.  We  ceased  to  import  goods  from 
Great  Britain.  Was  this  mea.sure  dictated 
by  selfishness  or  by  licentiousness  ?  Did 
it  not  injure  ourselves,  while  it  injured  the 
British  merchants  and  manumcturers? 
Was  it  inconsistent  with  the  peaceful  de- 
meanor of  subjects  to  abstain  from  making 
purchases,  when  our  freedom  and  our 
safety  rendered  it  necessary  for  us  to  ab- 
stain from  them  ?  A  regard  for  our  free- 
dom and  our  safety  was  our  only  motive ; 
for  no  sooner  had  the  parliament,  by  re- 
pealing part  of  the  revenue  laws,  inspired 
us  with  the  flattering  hopes,  that  they  had 
departed  from  their  intentions  of  oppress- 
ing and  of  taxing  us,  than  we  forsook  our 
plan  for  defeating '  those  intentions,  and 
began  to  import  as  formerly.  Far  from 
being  peevish  or  captious,  we  took  no  pub- 
lic notice  even  of  their  declaratory  law  of 
dominion  over  us :  our  candor  led  us  to 
consider  it  as  a  decent  expedient  of  re- 
treating from  the  actual  exercise  of  that 
dominion. 

But,  alas  I  the  root  of  bitterness  still  re- 
mained. The  duty  on  tea  was  reserved  to 
furnish  occasion  to  the  ministry  for  a  new 
effort  to  enslave  and  to  ruin  us ;  and  the 
East  India  Company  were  chosen,  and  con- 
sented to  be  the  detested  instruments  of 
ministerial  despotism  and  cruelty.  A  cargo 
of  their  tea  arrived  at  Boston.  By  a  low 
artifice  of  the  governor,  and  by  the  wicked 
activity  of  the  tools  of  government,  it  was 


rendered  impossible  to  store  it  up,  or  to 
send  it  back,  as  was  done  at  other  places. 
A  number  of  persons,  unknown,  de- 
stroyed it. 

Let  us  here  make  a  concession  to  our 
enemies :  let  us  suppose,  that  the  transac- 
tion deserves  all  tne  dark  and  hideous 
colors  in  which  they  have  painted  it :  let 
us  even  suppose  (for  our  cause  admits  of 
an  excess  oi  candor)  that  all  their  exag- 
gerated accounts  of  it  were  confined  strict- 
ly to  the  truth :  what  will  follow?  Will 
it  follow,  that  every  British  colony  in  Amer- 
ica, or  even  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  or  even  the  town  of  Boston,  in  that 
colony,  merits  the  imputation  of  being  fac- 
tious and  seditious?  Let  the  frequent 
mobs  and  riots,  that  have  happened  in 
Great  Britain  upon  much  more  trivial  oc- 
casions, shame  our  calumniators  into  si- 
lence. Will  it  follow,  because  the  rules  of 
order  and  regular  government  were,  in  that 
instance,  violated  by  the  offenders,  that, 
for  this  reason,  the  principles  of  the  con- 
stitution, and  the  maxims  of  justice,  must 
be  violated  by  their  punishment?  Will  it 
follow,  because  those  who  were  guilty  could 
not  be  known,  that,  therefore,  those  who 
were  known  not  to  be  guilty  must  suffer? 
Will  it  follow,  that  even  the  guilty  should 
be  condemned  without  being  heard — ^that 
they  should  be  condemned  upon  partial 
testimony,  upon  the  representations  of 
their  avowed  and  imbittered  enemies? 
Why  were  they  not  tried  in  courts  of  justice 
known  to  their  constitution,  and  by  juries 
of  their  neighborhood  ?  Their  courts  and 
their  juries  were  not,  in  the  case  of  captain 
Preston,  transported  beyond  the  bounds 
of  justice  by  their  resentment :  why,  theUj 
should  i|  be  presumed,  that,  in  the  case  oi 
those  offenders,  they  would  be  prevented 
from  doing  justice  by  their  affection?  But 
the  colonists,  it  seems,  must  be  stripped  of 
their  judicial,  as  well  as  of  their  legislative 
powers.  They  must  be  bound  by  a  legisla- 
ture, they  must  be  tried  by  a  jurisdiction, 
not  their  own.  Their  constitutions  must 
be  changed:  their  liberties  must  be 
abridged :  and  those  who  shall  be  most  in- 
famously active  in  changing  their  constitu- 
tions and  abridging  their  liberties,  must, 
by  an  express  provision,  be  exempted 
from  punisnment. 

I  do  not  exaggerate  the  matter,  sir, 
when  I  extend  these  observations  to 
all  the  colonists.  The  parliament  meant 
to  extend  the  effects  of  their  pro- 
ceedings to  all  the  colonists.  The  plan, 
on  which  their  proceedings  are  formed, 
extends  to  them  all.  From  an  incident  of 
no  very  tincommon  or  atrocious  nature, 
which  happened  in  one  colony,  in  one 
town  in  that  colony,  and  in  which  only 
a  few  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  town  took 
a  part,  an  occasion  has  been  taken  by 
those,  who  probably  intended  it,  and  who 


BOOK  III.]     WILSON'S  VINDICATION  OF  THE  COLONIES. 


certainly  prepared  the  way  for  it,  to  im- 
pose upon  that  colony,  and  to  lay  a  foun- 
dation and  a  precedent  for  imposing  upon 
all  the  rest,  a  system  of  statute,  arbitrary, 
unconstitutional,  oppressive,  in  every  view, 
and  in  every  degree  subversive  of  the  rights, 
and  inconsistent  with  even  the  name,  of 
freemen. 

Were  the  colonists  so  blind  as  not  to 
discern  the  consequences  of  these  mea- 
sures ?  Were  they  so  supinely  inactive,  as 
to  take  no  steps  for  guarding  against  them? 
They  were  not.  They  ought  not  to  have 
been  so.  We  saw  a  breacn  made  in  those 
barriers,  which  our  ancestors,  British  and 
American,  with  so  much  care,  with  so 
much  danger,  with  so  much  treasure,  and 
with  so  much  blood,  had  erected,  cemented 
and  established  for  the  security  of  their 
liberties,  and — with  filial  piety  let  us  men- 
tion it — <)f  ours.  We  saw  the  attack  actu- 
ally begun  upon  one  part :  ought  we  to 
have  folded  our  hands  in  indolence,  to  have 
lulled  our  eyes  in  slumbers,  till  the  attack 
was  carried  on,  so  as  to  become  irresistible, 
in  every  part?  Sir,  I  presume  to  think  not. 
We  were  roused ;  we  were  alarmed,  as  we 
had  reason  to  be  But  still  our  measures 
have  been  such  as  the  spirit  of  liberty  and 
of  loyalty  directed ;  not  such  as  the  spirit 
of  sedition  or  of  disaffection  would  pursue. 
Our  counsels  have  been  conducted  without 
rashness  and  faction :  our  resolutions  have 
been  taken  without  phrensy  or  iViry. 

That  the  sentiments  of  every  individual 
concerning  that  important  object,  his  lib- 
erty, might  be  known  and  regarded,  meet- 
ings have  been  held,  and  deliberations  car- 
ried on,  in  every  particular  district.  That 
the  sentiments  of  all  those  ilidividuals 
might  gradually  and  regularly  be  collected 
into  a  single  point,  and  the  conduct  of 
each  inspired  and  directed  by  the  result  of 
the  whole  united,  county  committees,  pro- 
vincial conventions,  a  continental  congress, 
have  been  appointed,  have  met  and  resolved. 
By  this  means,  a  chain  —  more  inesti- 
mable, and,  while  the  necessity  for  it  con- 
tinues, we  hope,  more  indissoluble  than 
one  of  gold — a  chain  of  freedom  has  been 
formed,  of  which  every  individual  in  these 
colonies,  who  is  willing  to  preserve  the 

Greatest  of  human  blessings,  his  liberty, 
as  the  pleasure  of  beholding  himself  a 
link. 

Are  these  measures,  sir,  the  brats  of  dis- 
loyalty, of  disaffection?  There  are  mis- 
creants among  us,  wasps  that  suck  poison 
from  the  most  salubrious  flowers,  who  tell 
us  they  are.  They  tell  us  that  all  those 
assemblies  are  unlawful,  and  unauthorized 
by  our  constitutions ;  and  that  all  their 
deliberations  and  resolutions  are  so  many 
transgressions  of  the  duty  of  subjects.  The 
utmost  malice  brooding  over  the  utmost 
baseness,  and  nothing  out  such  a  hated 
commixture,    must    have   hatched     this 


calumny.  Do  not  those  men  know — would 
they  have  others  not  to  know — that  it  was 
impossible  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  same 
province,  and  for  the  legislatures  of  the 
different  provinces,  to  communicate  their 
sentiments  to  one  another  in  the  modes 
appointed  for  such  purposes,  by  their  dif- 
ferent constitutions  ?  Do  not  they  know — 
would  they  have  others  not  to  know — 
that  all  this  was  rendered  impossible  by 
those  very  persons,  who  now,  or  whose 
minions  now,  urge  this  objection  against 
us?  Do  not  they  know — would  they 
have  others  not  to  know — that  the 
different  assemblies,  who  could  be  dis- 
solved by  the  governors,  were  in  conse- 
quence 01  ministerial  mandates,  dissolved 
by  them,  whenever  they  attempted  to  turn 
their  attention  to  the  greatest  objects, 
which,  as  guardians  of  the  liberty  of  their 
constituents,  could  be  presented  to  their 
view?  The  arch  enemy  of  the  human 
race  torments  them  only  for  those  actions 
to  which  he  has  tempted,  but  to  which  he 
has  not  necessarily  obliged  them.  Those 
men  refine  even  upon  infernal  malice : 
they  accuse,  they  threaten  us,  (superlative 
impudence  ! )  for  taking  those  very  steps, 
which  we  were  laid  under  the  disagreeaole 
necessity  of  taking  by  themselves,  or  by 
those  in  whose  hateful  service  they  are  en- 
listed. But  let  them  know,  that  our 
counsels,  our  deliberations,  our  resolutions, 
if  not  authorized  by  the  forms,  because 
that  was  rendered  impossible  by  our 
enemies,  are  nevertheless  authorized  by 
that  which  weighs  much  more  in  the  scale 
of  reason — ^by  the  spirit  of  .our  constitu- 
tions. Was  the  convention  of  the  barons  at 
Runnymede,  where  the  tyranny  of  John 
was  checked,  and  magna  charta  was  signed, 
authorized  by  the  forms  of  the  constitu- 
tion? Was  the  convention  parliament, 
that  recalled  Charles  the  Second,  and  re- 
stored the  monarchy,  authorized  by  the 
forms  of  the  constitution  ?  Was  the  con- 
vention of  lords  and  commons,  that  placed 
king  William  on  the  throne,  and  secured 
the  monarchy  and  liberty  likewise,  author- 
ized by  the  forms  of  the  constitution  ?  I 
cannot  jconceal  my  emotions  of  pleasure, 
when  I  observe,  that  the  objections  of  our 
adversaries  cannot  be  urged  against  us, 
but  in  common  with  those  venerable 
assemblies,  whose  proceedings  formed  such 
an  accession  to  British  liberty  and  Britisn 


We  can  be  at  no  loss  in  resolving, 
that  the  king  cannot,  by  his  prerogative, 
alter  the  charter  or  constitution  of  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Upon  what 
principle  could  such  an  exertion  of  pre- 
rogative be  justified  ?  On  the  acts  of  par- 
liament? They  are  already  proved  to  be 
void.  On  the  discretionary  power  which 
the  king  has  of  acting  where  the  laws  ar9 


6 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


silent?  That  power  must  be  subservient  to 
the  interest  and  happiness  of  those  con- 
cerning whom  it  operates.  But  I  go  fur- 
ther. Instead  of  being  supported  by  law, 
or  the  principles  of  prerogative,  such  an 
alteration  is  totally  and  absolutely  repug- 
nant to  both.  It  is  contrary  to  express  law. 
The  charter  and  constitution,  we  speak  of, 
are  confirmed  W  the  only  legislative  power 
capable  of  confirming  them ;  and  no  other 
power,  but  that  which  can  ratify,  can 
destroy.  If  it  is  contrary  to  express  law, 
the  consequence  is  necessary,  that  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  principles  of  prerogative ;  for 
prerogative  can  operate  only  when  the  law 
IS  silent. 

In  no  view  can  this  alteration  be  justi- 
fied, or  so  much  as  excused.  It  cannot  be 
justified  or  excused  by  the  acts  of  parlia- 
ment ;  because  the  authority  of  parliament 
does  not  extend  to  it ;  it  cannot  be  justified 
or  excused  by  the  operation  of  prerogative ; 
because  this  is  none  of  the  cases  in  which 
prerogative  can  operate :  it  cannot  be  justi- 
fied or  excused  by  the  legislative  authority 
of  the  colony;  because  that  authority 
never  has  been,  and,  I  presume,  never  will 
be  given  for  any  such  purpose. 

If  I  have  proceeded  hitherto,  as  I  am 
persuaded  I  nave,  upon  safe  and  sure 
ground,  I  can,  with  great  confidence,  ad- 
vance a  step  further,  and  say  that  all  at- 
tempts to  alter  the  charter  or  constitution 
of  that  colony,  unless  by  the  authority  of 
its  own  legislature,  are  violations  of  its 
rights,  and  illegal. 

If  those  attempts  are  illegal,  must  not 
all  force,  employed  to  carry  them  into  ex- 
ecution, be  force  employed  against  law,  and 
without  authority?  The  conclusion  is  un- 
avoidable. 

Have  not  British  subjects,  then,  a  right 
to  resist  such  force — force  acting  without 
authority — force  employed  contrary  to  law 
— force  employed  to  destroy  the  very  exist- 
ence of  law  and  of  liberty?  They  have,  sir, 
and  this  right  is  secured  to  them  both  by 
the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  British  con- 
stitution, by  which  the  measures  and  the 
conditions  of  their  obedience  are  appointed. 
The  British  liberties,  sir,  and  the  means 
and  the  right  of  defending  them,  are  not 
the  grants  of  princes ;  and  of  what  our 
princes  never  granted  they  surely  can  never 
deprive  us. 

"  Id  rex  potest,*^  says  the  law,  "  quod  de 
jure  potest  The  king's  power  is  a  power 
according  to  law.  His  commands,  if  the 
authority  of  lord  chief  justice  Hale  may 
be  depended  upon,  are  under  the  directive 
power  of  the  law;  and  consequently  in- 
valid, if  unlawful.  "Commissions,"  says 
my  lord  Coke,  "  are  legal ;  and  are  like  the 
king's  writs;  and  none  are  lawful, but  such 
as  are  allowed  by  the  common  law,  or  war- 
ranted by  some  act  of  parliament." 


And  now,  sir,  let  me  appeal  to  the  ini- 
partial  tribunal  of  reason  and  truth ;  let 
me  appeal  to  every  unprejudiced  and 
judicious  observer  of  the  laws  of  Britain, 
and  of  the  constitution  of  the  British  gov- 
ernment; let  me  appeal,  I  say,  whether 
the  principles  on  which  I  argue,  or  the 
principles  on  which  alone  my  arguments 
can  be  opposed,  are  those  which  ou^ht  to 
be  adhered  to  and  acted  upon ;  which  of 
them  are  most  consonant  to  our  laws  and 
liberties  ;  which  of  them  have  the  strong- 
est, and  are  likely  to  have  the  most  effect- 
ual tendency  to  establish  and  secure  the 
royal  power  and  dignity. 

Are  we  deficient  in  loyalty  to  his  ma- 
jesty ?  Let  our  conduct  convict,  for  it  will 
fully  convict,  the  insinuation  that  we  are, 
of  falsehood.  Our  loyalty  has  always  ap- 
peared in  the  true  form  of  loyalty ;  in  obey- 
ing our  sovereign  according  to  law ;  let 
those,  who  would  require  it  in  any  other 
form,  know,  that  we  call  the  persons  who 
execute  his  commands,  when  contrary  to 
law,  disloyal  and  traitors.  Are  we  enemies 
to  the  power  of  the  crown  ?  No,  sir,  we 
are  its  best  friends :  this  friendship  prompts 
us  to  wish,  that  the  power  of  the  crown 
may  be  firmly  established  on  the  most  solid 
basis :  but  we  know,  that  the  constitution 
alone  will  perpetuate  the  former,  and  se- 
curely uphold  the  latter.  Are  our  princi- 
ples irreverent  to  maj  esty  ?  They  are  quit* 
the  reverse :  we  ascribe  to  it  perfection  al- 
most divine.  We  say,  that  tne  king  can 
do  no  wrong :  we  say,  that  to  do  wrong  is 
the  property,  not  oi  power,  but  of  weak- 
ness. We  feel  oppression,  and  will  oppose 
it ;  but  we  know,  for  our  constitution  tells 
us,  that  oppression  can  never  spring  from 
the  throne.  We  must,  therefore,  search 
elsewhere  for  its  source :  our  infallible 
guide  will  direct  us  to  it.  Our  constitution 
tells  us,  that  all  oppression  springs  from 
the  ministers  of  the  throne.  The  attri- 
butes of  perfection,  ascribed  to  the  king, 
are,  neither  by  the  constitution,  nor  in  fact, 
communicable  to  his  ministers.  They  may 
do  wrong ;  they  have  often  done  wrong ; 
they  have  been  often  punished  for  doing 
wrong. 

Here  we  may  discern  the  true  cause  of 
all  the  impudent  clamor  and  unsupported 
accusations  of  the  ministers  and  oi  their 
minions,  that  have  been  raised  and  made 
against  the  conduct  of  the  Americans. 
Those  ministers  and  minions  are  sensible, 
that  the  opposition  is  directed,  not  against 
his  majesty,  but  against  them;  because 
they  have  abused  his  majesty's  confidence, 
brought  discredit  upon  his  government, 
and  derogated  from  his  justice.  They  see 
the  public  vengeance  collected  in  dark 
clouas  around  them  :  their  consciences  tell 
them,  that  it  should  be  hurled,  like  a 
thunderbolt,  at  their  guilty  heads.  Ap- 
palled with  guilt  and  lear,  they  skulk  be- 


liOOK  III.J 


SPEECH    OF    PATRICK   HENRY. 


hind  the  throne.  Is  it  disrespectful  to  drag 
them  into  public  view,  and  make  a  dis- 
tinction between  them  and  his  majesty, 
under  whose  venerable  name  they  daringly 
attempt  to  shelter  their  crimes  ?  Nothing 
can  more  effectually  contribute  to  estab- 
lish his  majesty  on  the  throne,  and  to  se- 
cure to  him  the  afTections  of  his  people, 
than  this  distinction.  By  it  we  are  taught 
to  consider  all  the  blessings  of  government 
as  flowing  from  the  throne ;  and  to  con- 
sider every  instance  of  oppression  as  pro- 
ceeding, which,  in  truth,  is  oftenest  the 
case,  from  the  ministers. 

If,  now,  it  is  true,  that  all  force  employ- 
ed for  the  purposes  so  often  mentioned,  is 
force  unwarranted  by  any  act  of  parlia- 
ment; unsupported  by  any  principle  of 
the  common  law;  unauthorized  by  any 
commission  from  the  crown  ;  that,  instead 
of  being  employed  for  the  support  of  the 
constitution  and  his  m^'esty's  government, 
it  must  be  employed  for  the  support  of 
oppression  and  ministerial  tyranny  ;  if  all 
this  is  true  (and  I  flatter  myself  it  appears 
to  be  true),  can  any  one  hesitate  to  say, 
that  to  resist  such  force  is  lawful ;  and 
that  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the 
British  constitution  justify  such  resistance? 

Resistance,  both  by  the  letter  and  the 
spirit  of  the  British  constitution,  may  be 
carried  further,  when  necessity  requires  it, 
than  I  have  carried  it.  Many  examples  in 
the  English  history  might  be  adduced,  and 
many  authorities  of  the  greatest  weight 
might  be  brought  to  show,  that  when  the 
king,  forgetting  his  character  and  his 
dignity,  has  stepped  forth,  and  openly 
avowed  and  taken  a  part  in  such  iniquitous 
conduct  as  has  been  described ;  in  such 
cases,  indeed,  the  distinction  above  men- 
tioned, wisely  made  by  the  constitution 
for  the  security  of  the  crown,  could  not  be 
applied ;  because  the  crown  had  uncon- 
stitutionally rendered  the  application  of  it 
impossible.  What  has  been  the  conse- 
quence? The  distinction  between  him 
and  his  ministers  has  been  lost ;  but  they 
have  not  been  raised  to  his  situation :  he 
has  sunk  to  theirs. 


8pe«cli  of  Patrick  Henry, 

March  23,  1776.  in  the  Convention  of  Dekgatet  of  Virginia, 
On  thefoUoioing  retolutwm,  introduced  by  hinuelf: 

-  Bmolved,  That  a  well-regulated  militia,  composed  of 
gentlemen  and  yeomen,  Is  the  natural  gtrength  and 
only  security  of  a  free  government ;  that  such  a  militia 
in  this  colony,  would  forever  render  it  unnecessary  for 
the  mother  country  to  keep  among  us,  for  the  purpose 
of  our  defence,  any  standing  army  of  morrenary  sol- 
diers, always  subversive  of  tho  quiet,  and  dangerous 
to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  would  obviate  the 
pretext  of  taxing  UR  for  their  support. 

"  That  the  establinhment  of  Huch  a  militia  is,  at  this  time, 
peculiarly  necessarv,  by  the  state  of  our  laws  for  the 
protection  and  defence  of  the  country,  some  of  which 
are  already  expired,  and  others  will  shortly  be  so;  and 
that  the  known  remissness  of  government  in  calling  us 
together  in  legislative  rnpacity,  renders  It  too  insecure, 
iB  thU  time  of  daiij;<r  and  distress,  to  rely,  that  oppor- 


tunity will  be  given  of  renewing  them.  In  general  m- 
sembly,  or  malting  any  pnjvision  to  secure  our  inesti- 
mable rights  and  litx-rtius  from  those  further  violatioos 
with  which  they  are  threatened: 
"  Jfe»oI»e<J,  therefore.  That  tliin  colony  be  immediately  put 
into  a  state  of  defence,  and  tliut  be  a 

committee  to  prepare  a  plan  for  inibodying,  arming  and 
disciplining  such  a  numtwr  of  men  as  may  be  sufficient 
for  that  purpose." 

Mr.  President: — ^No  man  thinks  more 
highly  than  I  do  of  the  patriotism,  as  well 
as  abilities,  of  the  very  worthy  gentlemen 
who  have  just  addressed  the  house.  But 
different  men  often  see  the  same  subject  in 
different  lights ;  and,  therefore,  I  hope  it 
will  not  be  thought  disrespectful  to  those 
gentlemen,  if,  entertaining,  as  I  do,  opinions 
of  a  character  very  opposite  to  theirs,  I  shall 
speak  forth  my  sentiments  freely  and  with- 
out reserve.  This  is  no  time  for  ceremony. 
The  question  before  the  house  is  one  of  aw- 
ful moment  to  this  country.  For  mv  own 
part,  I  consider  it  as  nothing  less  than  a 
question  of  freedom  or  slavery ;  and  in 
proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  subject 
ougnt  to  be  the  freedom  of  the  debate.  It 
is  only  in  this  way  that  we  can  hope  to  ar- 
rive at  truth,  and  fulfil  the  great  responsi- 
bility which  we  hold  to  God  and  our  coun- 
try. Should  I  keep  back  my  opinions  at 
such  a  time,  through  fear  of  giving  offence, 
I  should  consider  myself  as  guilty  of  trea- 
son towards  my  country,  and  of  an  act  of 
disloyalty  towards  the  Majesty  of  Heaven, 
which  I  revere  above  all  earthly  kings. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  natural  to  man  to 
indulge  in  the  illusions  of  hope.  We  are 
apt  to  shut  our  eyes  against  a  painful  truth, 
and  listen  to  the  song  of  that  siren,  till  he 
transforms  us  into  beasts.  Is  this  the  part 
of  wise  men,  engaged  in  a  great  and  ardu- 
ous struggle  for  liberty  ?  Are  we  disposed 
to  be  of  the  number  of  those,  who,  having 
eyes,  see  not,  and,  having  ears,  hear  not,  the 
things  which  so  nearly  concern  their  tem- 
poral salvation?  For  my  part,  wha,teyer 
anguish  of  spirit  it  may  cost,  I  am  willing 
to  know  the  whole  truth;  to  know  the 
worst,  and  to  provide  for  it. 

I  have  but  one  lamp  by  which  my  feet 
are  guided  ;  and  that  is  the  lamp  of  expe- 
rience. I  know  of  no  way  of  judging  of  the 
future  but  by  the  past.  And  judging  by 
the  past,  I  wish  to  know  what  there  has 
been  in  the  conduct  of  the  British  ministry 
for  the  last  ten  years,  to  justify  those  hopes 
with  which  gentlemen  have  been  pleased 
to  solace  themselves  and  the  house  i  Is  it 
that  insidious  smile  with  which  our  petition 
has  been  lately  received  ?  Trust  it  not,  sir ; 
it  will  prove  a  snare  to  your  feet.  Suffer 
not  yourselves  to  be  betrayed  with  a  kiss. 
Ask  yourselves  how  this  gracious  reception 
of  our  petition  comports  with  those  warlike 
preparations  which  cover  our  waters  and 
darken  our  land.  Are  fleets  and  armies 
necessary  to  a  work  of  love  and  reconcilia- 
tion? Have  we  shown  ourselves  so  un. 
willing  to  be  reconciled,  that  force  must  be 


8 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


called  in  to  win  back  our  love?  Let  us 
not  deceive  ourselves,  sir.  These  are  the 
implements  of  war  and  subjugation ;  the 
last  arguments  to  which  kings  resort.  I 
ask  gentlemen,  sir,  what  means  this  mar- 
tial array,  if  its  purpose  be  not  to  force  us 
to  submission  ?  Can  gentlemen  assign  any 
other  possible  motive  for  it?  Has  Great 
Britain  any  enemy,  in  this  quarter  of  the 
world,  to  call  for  all  this  accumulation  of 
navies  and  armies  ?  No,  sir,  she  has  none. 
They  are  meant  for  us :  they  can  be  meant 
for  no  other.  They  are  sent  over  to  bind 
and  rivet  upon  us  those  chains,  which  the 
British  ministry  have  been  so  long  forging. 
And  what  have  we  to  oppose  to  them? 
Shall  we  try  argument  ?  Sir,  we  have  been 
trying  that  for  the  last  ten  years.  Have 
we  any  thing  new  to  offer  upon  the  sub- 
ject? Nothing.  We  have  held  the  subject 
up  in  every  light  of  which  it  is  capable ; 
but  it  has  been  all  in  vain.  Shall  we  re- 
sort to  entreaty  and  humble  supplication  ? 
What  terms  snail  we  find,  which  have  not 
been  already  exhausted?  Let  us  not,  I 
beseech  you,  sir,  deceive  ourselves  longer. 
Sir,  we  have  done  every  thing  that  could 
be  done,  to  avert  the  storm  which  is  now 
coming  on.  We  have  petitioned ;  we  have 
remonstrated ;  we  have  supplicated ;  we 
have  prostrated  ourselves  before  the  throne, 
and  have  implored  its  interposition  to  ar- 
rest the  tyrannical  hands  of  the  ministry 
and  parliament.  Our  petitions  have  been 
slighted ;  our  remonstrances  have  produced 
additional  violence  and  insult ;  our  suppli- 
cations have  been  disregarded ;  ana  we 
have  been  spumed,  with  contempt,  from  the 
foot  of  the  throne !  In  vain,  after  these 
things,  may  we  indulge  the  fond  hope  of 

f)eace  and  reconciliation.  There  is  no 
onger  any  room  for  bope.  If  we  wish  to 
be  free — if  we  mean  to  preserve  inviolate 
those  inestimable  privileges  for  which  we 
have  been  so  long  contending — if  we  mean 
not  basely  to  abandon  the  noble  struggle 
in  which  we  have  been  so  long  engaged, 
and  which  we  have  pledged  ourselves  ne- 
ver to  abandon,  until  the  glorious  object 
of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained — we  must 
fight  I  I  repeat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight!  An 
appeal  to  arms  and  to  the  God  of  Hosts  is 
ail  that  is  left  us  I 

They  tell  us,  sir,  that  we  are  weak ;  un- 
able to  cope  with  so  formidable  an  ad- 
versary. But  when  shall  we  be  stronger? 
Will  it  be  the  next  week,  or  the  next  year? 
Will  it  be  when  we  are  totally  disarmed, 
and  when  a  British  guard  shall  be  stationed 
in  every  house?  Shall  we  gather  strength 
by  irresolution  and  inaction?  Shall  we 
acquire  the  means  of  effectual  resistance, 
bjr  lying  supinely  on  our  backs,  and  hug- 
ging the  delusive  phantom  of  nope,  until 
our  enemies  shall  have  bound  us  hand  and 
foot?  Sir,  we  are  not  weak,  if  we  make  a 
proper  use  of  those  means  which  the  God 


of  nature  hath  placed  in  our  power.  Three 
millions  of  people,  armed  in  the  holy  cause 
of  liberty,  and  in  such  a  country  as  that 
which  we  possess,  are  invincible  by  any 
force  which  our  enemy  can  send  against 
us.  Besides,  sir,  we'  shall  not  fight  our 
battles  alone.  There  is  a  just  God  who 
presides  over  the  destinies  of  nations,  and 
who  will  raise  up  friends  to  fight  our  bat- 
tles for  us.  The  battle,  sir,  is  not  to  the 
strong  alone ;  it  is  to  the  vigilant,  the  ac- 
tive, the  brave.  Besides,  sir,  we  have  no 
election.  If  we  were  base  enough  to  de- 
sire it,  it  is  now  too  late  to  retire  from  the 
contest.  There  is  no  retreat,  but  in  sub- 
mission and  slavery !  Our  chains  are  forged ! 
Their  clanking  may  be  heard  on  the 
plains  of  Boston  1  The  war  is  inevitable — 
and  let  it  come !  I  repeat  it,  sir,  let  it 
come. 

It  is  in  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  mat- 
ter. Gentlemen  may  cry.  Peace,  peace — 
but  there  is  no  peace.  The  war  is  actually 
begun !  The  next  gale,  that  sweeps  from 
the  north,  will  bring  to  our  ears  the  clash 
of  resounding  arms !  Our  brethren  are 
already  in  the  field  1  Why  stand  we  here 
idle?  What  is  it  that  gentlemen  wish? 
What  would  they  have  ?  Is  life  so  dear,  or 
peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the 
price  of  chains  and  slavery?  Forbid  it, 
Almighty  God !  I  know  not  what  course 
others  may  take ;  but  as  for  me,  give  me 
liberty,  or  give  me  death  1 


Supposed  Speech,  of  John  AcUtms  In  fitvor  oi 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

At  given  by  Daniel  Webiter. 

Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or 
perish,  I  give  my  hand  and  my  heart  to  this 
vote.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  in  the  begin- 
ning we  aimed  not  at  independence.  But 
there's  a  divinity  which  shapes  our  ends. 
The  injustice  of  England  has  driven  us  to 
arms;  and,  blinded  to  her  own  interest 
for  our  good,  she  has  obstinately  persisted, 
till  independence  is  now  within  our  grasp. 
We  have  but  to  reach  forth  to  it,  and  it  la 
ours. 

Why  then  should  we  defer  the  declara- 
tion ?  Is  any  man  so  weak  as  now  to  hope 
for  a  reconciliation  with  England,  which 
shall  leave  either  safety  to  the  country  and 
its  liberties,  or  safety  to  his  own  life  and 
his  own  honor  ?  Are  not  you,  sir,  who  sit 
in  that  chair,  is  not  he,  our  venerable  col- 
league near  you,  are  you  not  both  already 
the  proscribed  and  predestined  objects  of 
punishment  and  of  vengeance  ?  Cut  off 
from  all  hope  of  royal  clemency,  what  are 
you.  what  can  you  be,  while  the  power  of 
England  remains,  but  outlaws? 

If  we  postpone  independence,  do  we 
mean  to  carry  on,  or  to  give  up  the  war? 


JdMjdam^ 


BOOK   III.J 


JOHN    ADAMS    ON    THE    DECLARATION. 


9 


Do  we  mean  to  submit  to  the  measures  of 
parliament,  Boston  port  bill  and  all  ?  Do 
we  mean  to  submit,  and  consent  that  we 
ourselves  shall  be  ground  to  powder,  and 
our  country  and  its  rights  trodden  down  in 
the  dust?  I  know  we  do  not  mean  to 
submit.    We  never  shall  submit. 

Do  we  intend  to  violate  that  most  solemn 
obligation  ever  entered  into  by  men,  that 
Iilighting,  before  God,  of  ouj  sacred  honor 
to  Washington,  when  putting  him  forth  to 
incur  the  dangers  of  war,  as  well  as  the 
political  hazards  of  the  times,  we  promised 
to  adhere  to  him,  in  every  extremity,  with 
our  fortunes  and  our  lives  ?  I  know  there 
is  not  a  man  here,  who  would  not  rather 
see  a  general  conflagration  sweep  over  the 
land,  or  an  earthquake  sink  it,  than  one 
jot  or  tittle  of  that  plighted  faith  fall  to 
the  ground. 

For  myself,  having,  twelve  months  ago, 
in  this  place,  moved  you  that  George 
Washington  be  appointed  commander  of 
the  forces,  raised  or  to  be  raised,  for  de- 
fence of  American  liberty,  may  my  right 
hand  forget  her  cunning,  and  my  tongue 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  I  hesitate 
or  waver  in  the  support  I  give  him.  The 
war,  then,  must  go  on.  We  must  fight  it 
through.  And  if  the  war  must  go  on,  why 
put  off  longer  the  declaration  of  independ- 
ence? That  measure  will  strengthen  us. 
It  will  give  us  character  abroad. 

The  nations  will  then  treat  with  us, 
which  they  never  can  do  while  we  acknow- 
ledge ourselves  subjects,  in  arms  against 
our  sovereign.  Nay,  I  maintain  that  Eng- 
land, herself,  will  sooner  treat  for  peace 
with  us  on  the  footing  of  independence, 
than  consent,  by  repealing  her  acts,  to  ac- 
knowledge that  her  whole  conduct  toward 
us  has  been  a  course  of  injustice  and  op- 
pression. Her  pride  will  be  less  wounded 
by  submitting  to  that  course  of  things 
which  now  predestinates  our  independ- 
ence, than  by  yielding  the  points  in  con- 
troversy to  her  rebellious  subjects.  The 
former  she  would  regard  as  the  result  of 
fortune ;  the  latter  she  would  feel  as  her 
own  deep  disgrace.  Why  then,  why  then, 
sir,  do  we  not  as  soon  as  possible  change 
this  from  a  civil  to  a  national  war  ?  And 
since  we  must  fight  it  through,  why  not 
put  ourselves  in  a  state  to  enjoy  all  the 
benefits  of  victory,  if  we  gain  the  victory  ? 

If  we  fail,  it  can  be  no  worse  for  us.  But 
we  shall  not  fail.  The  cause  will  raise  up 
armies ;  the  cause  will  create  navies.  The 
people,  the  people,  if  we  are  true  to  them, 
will  carry  us,  and  will  carry  themselves, 
gloriously,  through  this  struggle.  I  care 
not  how  fickle  other  people  have  been 
found.  I  know  the  people  of  these  colo- 
nies, and  I  know  that  resistance  to  British 
aggression  is  deep  and  settled  in  their 
hearts  and  cannot  be  eradicated.  Every 
colony,  indeed,  has  expressed  its  willing- 


ness to  follow,  if  we  but  take  the  lead. 
Sir,  the  declaration  will  inspire  the  people 
with  increased  courage.  Instead  of  a  long 
and  bloody  war  for  restoration  of  privi- 
leges, for  redress  of  grievances,  for  char- 
tered immunities,  held  under  a  British 
king,  set  before  them  the  glorious  object 
of  entire  independence,  and  it  will  breathe 
into  them  anew  the  breath  of  life. 

Read  this  declaration  at  the  head  of  the 
army ;  every  sword  will  be  drawn  from  its 
scabbard,  and  the  solemn  vow  uttered  to 
maintain  it,  or  to  perish  on  the  bed  of 
honor.  Publish  it  from  the  pulpit;  re- 
ligion will  approve  it,  and  the  love  of  re- 
ligious liberty  will  cling  round  it,  resolved 
to  stand  with  it,  or  fall  with  it.  Send  it 
to  the  public  halls ;  proclaim  it  there ;  let 
them  hear  it,  who  heard  the  first  roar  of 
the  enemy's  cannon  ;  let  them  see  it,  who 
saw  their  brothers  and  their  sons  fall  on 
the  field  of  Bunker  hill,  and  in  the  streets 
of  Lexington  and  Concord,  and  the  very 
walls  will  cry  out  in  its  support. 

Sir,  I  know  the  uncertainty  of  human 
affairs,  but  I  see,  I  see  clearly  through  this 
day's  business.  You  and  I,  indeed,  may 
rue  it.  We  may  not  live  to  the  time  when 
this  declaration  shall  be  made  good.  We 
may  die ;  die,  colonists ;  die,  slaves ;  die,  it 
may  be,  ignominiously  and  on  the  scaffold. 
Be  it  so.  Be  it  so.  If  it  be  the  pleasure 
of  Heaven  that  my  country  shall  require 
the  poor  offering  of  my  life,  the  victim  shall 
be  ready,  at  the  appointed  hour  of  sacri- 
fice, come  when  that  hour  may.  But  while 
I  do  live,  let  me  have  a  country,  or  at  least 
the  hope  of  a  country,  and  tiiat  a  free 
country. 

But  whatever  may  be  our  fate,  be  assured, 
be  assured,  that  this  declaration  will  stand. 
It  may  cost  treasure,  and  it  may  cost  blood ; 
but  it  will  stand,  and  it  will  richly  com- 
pensate for  both.  Through  the  thick  gloom 
of  the  present,  I  see  the  brightness  of  the 
future,  as  the  sun  in  heaven.  We  shall 
make  this  a  glorious,  an  immortal  day. 
When  we  are  m  our  graves,  our  children 
will  honor  it.  They  will  celebrate  it  with 
thanksgiving,  with  festivity,  with  bonfires 
and  illuminations.  On  its  annual  return 
they  will  shed  tears,  copious,  gushing  tears, 
not  of  subjection  and  slavery,  not  of  agony 
and  distress,  but  of  exultation,  of  gratitude, 
and  of  joy. 

Sir,  before  God,  I  believe  the  hour  is 
come.  My  judgment  approves  this  measure, 
and  my  whole  heart  is  in  it  All  that  I 
have,  and  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I 
hope,  in  this  life,  I  am  now  ready  here  to 
stalce  upon  it;  and  I  leave  off  as  I  begun, 
that  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  am  for 
the  declaration.  It  is  my  living  sentiment, 
and  by  the  blessing  of  God  it  shall  be  my 
dying  sentiment;  independence  now;  and 

INDEPENDBNCE  FOE  EVEB. 


10 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


Speeclk  ofPatrlelt  Henryy 

On  the  expediency  of  adopting  the  Federal  Comtitulion  de- 
livered in  the  convention  of  Virginia,  Jutie  24,  ITS^J."  Enun- 
ciating view$  which  have  ever  lince  been  accepted  by  the 
Detnocratic  party. 

Mb.  Chairman  : — The  proposal  of  rati- 
fication is  premature.  The  importance  of 
the  subject  requires  the  most  mature 
deliberation.  The  honorable  member  must 
forgive  me  for  declaring  my  dissent  from 
it,  oecause,  if  I  understand  it  rightly,  it 
admits  that  the  new  system  is  defective, 
and  most  capitally ;  for,  immediately  after 
the  proposed  ratification,  there  comes  a 
declaration,  that  the  paper  before  you  is 
not  intended  to  violate  any  of  these  three 
great  rights — the  liberty  of  religion,  liberty 
of  the  press,  and  the  trial  by  jury.  What 
is  the  inference,  when  you  enumerate  the 
rights  which  you  are  to  enjoy?  That  those 
not  enumerated  are  relinquished.  There 
are  only  three  things  to  be  retained — reli- 
gion, freedom  of  the  press,  and  jury  trial. 
Will  not  the  ratification  carry  every  thing, 
without  excepting  these  three  things? 
Will  not  all  the  world  pronounce,  that  we 
intended  to  give  up  all  the  rest?_  Every 
thing  it  speaks  of,  by  way  of  rights,  is 
comprised  in  these  three  things.  Your 
subsequent  amendments  only  go  to  these 
three  amendments.  I  feel  myself  distressed, 
because  the  necessity  of  securing  our 
personal  rights  seems  not  to  have  pervaded 
the  minds  of  men  ;  for  many  other  valuable 
things  are  omitted.  For  instance :  general 
warrants,  by  which  an  officer  may  search 
suspected  places  without  evidence  of  the 
commission  of  a  fact,  or  seize  any  person 
without  evidence  of  his  crime,  ought  to  be 
prohibited.  As  these  are  admitted,  any 
man  may  be  seized ;  any  property  may  be 
taken,  in  the  most  arbitrary  manner,  with- 
out any  evidence  or  reason.  Every  thing, 
the  most  sacred,  may  be  searched  and 
ransacked  by  the  strong  hand  of  power. 
We  have  infinitely  more  reason  to  dread 

feneral  warrants  here,  than  they  have  in 
England;  because  there,  if  a  person  be 
confiaed,  liberty  may  be  quickly  obtained 
by  the  writ  of  habeaa  corpus.  But  here,  a 
man  living  many  hundred  miles  from  the 
judges  may  rot  in  prison  before  he  can  get 
that  writ. 

Another  most  fatal  omission  is,  with  re- 
spect to  standing  armies.  In  your  bill  of 
rights  of  Virginia,  they  are  said  to  be  dan- 
gerous to  liberty ;  and  it  tells  you,  that  the 
proper  defence  of  a  free  state  consists  in 
militia ;  and  so  I  might  go  on  to  ten  or 
eleven  things  of  immense  consequence  se- 
cured in   your  bill  of  rights,  concerning 

•  Upon  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Wythe,  which  proposed, 
"That  thf  committee  should  ratify  the  constitution,  and 
that  whatsoever  amendments  mif^ht  be  deemed  neceasary 
should  be  recommen(le<i  to  the  consideration  of  the  con- 
gress, which  should  first  ass<-mble  under  the  constitu- 
tion, to  be  acted  upon  according  to  the  mode  prescribed 
therein  " 


which  that  proposal  is  silent.  Is  that  the 
language  of  the  bill  of  rights  in  England  ? 
Is  it  the  language  of  the  American  bill  of 
rights,  that  these  three  rights,  and  these 
only,  are  valuable?  Is  it  the»language  of 
men  going  into  a  new  government?  Is  it 
not  necessary  to  speak  of  those  things  be- 
fore you  go  into  a  compact?  How  do  these 
three  things  stand  ?  As  one  of  the  parties, 
we  declare  we  do  not  mean  to  give  them 
up.  This  is  very  dictatorial ;  much  more 
so  than  the  conduct  which  proposes  altera- 
tions as  the  condition  of  adoption.  In  a 
compact,  there  are  two  parties— one  ac- 
cepting, and  another  proposing.  As  a 
party,  we  propose  that  we  shall  secure  these 
three  things ;  and  before  we  have  the  as- 
sent of  the  other  contracting  party,  we  go 
into  the  compact,  and  leave  these  things  at 
their  mercy.  What  will  be  the  conse- 
quence ?  Suppose  the  other  states  will  call 
tnis  dictatorial:  they  will  say,  Virginia  has 
gone  into  the  government,  and  carried  with 
her  certain  propositions,  which,  she  says, 
ought  to  be  concurred  in  by  the  other 
states.  They  will  declare,  that  she  has  no 
right  to  dictate  to  other  states  the  condi- 
tions on  which  they  shall  come  into  the 
union.  According  to  the  honorable  mem- 
ber's proposal,  the  ratification  will  cease  to 
be  obligatory  unless  they  accede  to  these 
amendments.  We  have  ratified  it.  You 
have  committed  a  violation,  they  will  say. 
They  have  not  violated  it.  We  say  we  will 
go  out  of  it.  You  are  then  reduced  to  a 
sad  dilemma — ^to  give  up  these  three  rights, 
or  leave  the  government.  This  is  worse 
than  our  present  confederation,  to  which 
we  have  hitherto  adhered  honestly  and 
faithfully.  We  shall  be  told  we  have  vio- 
lated it,  because  we  have  left  it  for  the  in- 
fringement and  violation  of  conditions, 
which  they  never  agreed  to  be  a  part  oi 
the  ratification.  The  ratification  will  be 
complete.  The  proposal  is  made  by  one 
party.  We,  as  the  other,  accede  to  it,  and 
propose  the  security  of  these  three  great 
rights ;  for  it  is  only  a  proposal.  In  order 
to  secure  them,  you  are  left  in  that  state  of 
fatal  hostility,  which  I  shall  as  much  de- 
plore as  the  honorable  gentleman.  I  ex- 
tort gentlemen  to  think  seriously  before 
they  ratify  this  constitution,  and  persuade 
themselves  that  they  will  succeed  in  mak- 
ing a  feeble  effort  to  get  amendments  After 
adoption.  With  respect  to  that  part  of 
the  proposal  which  says  that  every  power 
not  granted  remains  with  the  people,  it 
must  be  previous  to  adoption,  or  it  will  in- 
volve this  country  in  inevitable  destruc* 
tion.  To  talk  of  it  is  a  thing  subsequent, 
not  as  one  of  your  inalienable  rights,  is 
leaving  it  to  the  casual  opinion  of  the  con- 
gress who  shall  take  up  the  consideration 
of  the  matter.  They  will  not  reason  with 
you  about  the  effect  of  this  constitution. 
They  will  not  take  the  opinion  of  this  com- 


BOOK  III.] 


HENRY'S    DEMOCRATIC    DOCTRINES. 


11 


mittee  concerning  its  operation.  They 
will  construe  it  as  they  please.  If  you 
place  it  subsequently,  let  me  ask  the  con- 
sequences. Among  ten  thousand  implied 
powers  which  they  may  assume,  they  may, 
if  we  be  engaged  in  war,  liberate  every  one 
of  your  slaves,  if  they  please.  And  this 
must  and  will  be  done  by  men,  a  majority 
of  whom  have  not  a  common  interest  with 
you.  They  will,  therefore,  have  no  feeling 
for  your  interests. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  said  here  that  the 
great  object  of  a  national  government  is 
national  defence.  That  power  which  is 
said  to  be  intended  for  security  and  safety, 
may  be  rendered  detestable  and  oppressive. 
If  you  give  power  to  the  general  govern- 
ment to  provide  for  the  general  defence, 
the  means  must  be  commensurate  to  the 
end.  All  the  means  in  the  possession  of  the 
people  must  be  given  to  the  government 
which  is  intrusted  with  the  public  defence. 
In  this  state  there  are  two  hundred  and 
thirty-six  thousand  blacks,  and  there  are 
many  in  several  other  states;  but  there  are 
few  or  none  in  the  Northern  States  ;  and  yet, 
if  the  Northern  States  shall  be  of  opinion 
that  our  numbers  are  numberless,  they 
may  call  forth  every  national  resource. 
May  congress  not  say,  that  every  black 
man  must  fight?  Did  we  not  see  a  little 
of  this  in  the  last  war?  We  were  not  so 
hard  pushed  as  to  make  emancipation 
general :  but  acts  of  assembly  passed,  that 
every  slave  who  would  go  to  the  army  should 
be  free.  Another  thing  will  contribute  to 
bring  this  event  about :  slavery  is  detested ; 
we  feel  its  fatal  effects ;  we  deplore  it  with 
all  the  pity  of  humanity.  Let  all  these 
considerations,  at  some  future  period,  press 
with  full  force  on  the  minds  of  congress. 
Let  that  urbanity,  which  I  trust  will  dis- 
tinguish America,  and  the  necessity  of  na- 
tional defence — let  all  these  things  operate 
on  their  minds,  and  they  will  search  that 
paper,  and  see  if  they  have  power  of  manu- 
mission. And  have  they  not,  sir?  Have 
they  not  power  to  provide  for  the  general 
defence  and  welfare  ?  May  they  not  think 
that  these  call  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  ? 
May  they  not  pronounce  all  slaves  free, 
and  will  they  not  be  warranted  by  that 
pov^er?  There  is  no  ambiguous  implica- 
tion, or  logical  deduction.  The  paper 
speaks  to  the  point.  They  have  the  power 
in  clear,  unequivocal  terms,  and  will 
clearly  and  certainly  exercise  it.  As  much 
as  I  deplore  slavery,  I  see  that  prudence 
forbids  its  abolition.  I  deny  that  the 
general  government  ought  to  set  them  free, 
because  a  decided  majority  of  the  states 
have  not  the  ties  of  sympathy  and  fellow- 
feeling  for  those  whose  interest  would  be 
affected  by  their  emancipation.  The  ma- 
jority of  congress  is  to  the  north,  and  the 
slaves  are  to  the  south.  In  this  situation, 
I  see  a  great  deal  of  the  property  of  the 


people  of  Virginia  in  jeopardy,  and  their 
peace  and  tranquillity  gone  away.  I  re- 
peat it  again,  that  it  would  rejoice  mv  very 
soul  that  every  one  of  my  fellow-beings 
was  emancipated.  As  we  ought  with 
gratitude  to  admire  that  decree  of  Heaven 
which  has  numbered  us  among  the  free,  we 
ought  to  lament  and  deplore  the  necessity 
of  holding  our  fellow-men  in  bondage. 
But  is  it  practicable,  by  any  human  means, 
to  liberate  them,  without  producing  the 
most  dreadful  and  ruinous  consequences  ? 
We  ought  to  possess  them  in  the  manner 
we  have  inherited  them  from  our  ancestors, 
as  their  manumission  is  incompatible  with 
the  felicity  of  the  countrj'.  But  we  ought 
to  soften,  as  much  as  possible,  the  rigor  of 
their  unhappy  fate.  I  know  that  in  a  va- 
riety of  particular  instances,  the  legisla- 
ture, listening  to  complaints,  have  admitted 
their  emancipation.  Let  me  not  dwell  on 
this  subject.  I  will  only  add,  that  this, 
as  well  as  every  other  property  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Virginia,  is  in  jeopardy,  and  put  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  have  no  similarity 
of  situation  with  us.  This  is  a  local  mat- 
ter, and  I  can  see  no  propriety  in  subject- 
ing it  to  congress. 

[Here  Mr.  Henry  informed  the  com- 
mittee, that  he  had  a  resolution  prepared, 
to  refer  a  declaration  of  rights,  witn  cer- 
tain amendments  to  the  most  exception- 
able parts  of  the  constitution,  to  the  other 
states  in  the  confederacy,  for  their  consid- 
eration, previous  to  its  ratification.  The 
clerk  then  read  the  resolution,  the  de- 
claration of  rights,  and  amendments^  which 
were  nearly  the  same  as  those  ultimately 
proposed  by  the  convention,  for  the  con- 
sideration of  congress.  He  then  resumed 
the  subject.]  I  have  thus  candidly  sub- 
mitted to  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  and  this 
committee,  what  occurred  to  me  as  proper 
amendments  to  the  constitution,  and  the  de- 
claration of  rights  containing  those  funda- 
mental, inalienable  privileges,  which  I 
conceive  to  be  essential  to  liberty  and  hap- 
piness. I  believe,  that,  on  a  review  of 
these  amendments,  it  will  still  be  found, 
that  the  arm  of  power  will  be  suflBciently 
strong  for  national  purposes,  when  these 
restrictions  shall  be  a  part  of  the  govern- 
ment. I  believe  no  gentleman,  who  op- 
poses me  in  sentiments,  will  be  able  to  dis- 
cover that  any  one  feature  of  a  strong 
government  is  altered ;  and  at  the  same 
time  your  inalienable  rights  are  secured  by 
them.  The  government  unaltered  may  be 
terrible  to  America,  but  can  never  be 
loved,  till  it  be  amended.  You  find  all 
the  resources  of  the  continent  may  be 
drawn  to  a  point.  In  danger,  the  presi- 
dent may  concentre  to  a  point  every  effort 
of  the  continent.  If  the  government  be 
constructed  to  satisfy  the  people  and  re- 
move their  apprehensions,  the  wealth  and 
strength  of  the  continent  will  go  where 


12 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


public  utility  shall  direct.  This  govern- 
ment, with  these  restrictions,  wiU  be  a 
strong  government  united  with  the  priv- 
ileges of  the  people.  In  my  weak  judg- 
ment, a  government  is  strong,  when  it  ap- 
plies to  the  most  important  end  of  all  gov- 
ernments— the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
people.  In  the  honorable  member's  pro- 
posal, jury  trial,  the  press,  and  religion, 
and  other  essential  rights,  are  not  to  be 
given  up.  Other  essential  rights — what 
are  they  ?  The  world  will  say,  that  you 
intended  to  give  them  up.  When  you  go 
into  an  enumeration  of  your  rights,  and 
stop  that  enumeration,  the  inevitable  con- 
clusion is,  that  what  is  omitted  is  intended 
to  be  surrendered. 

Anxious  as  I  am  to  be  as  little  trouble- 
some as  posible,  I  cannot  leave  this  part  of 
the  subject  without  adverting  to  one  re- 
mark of  the  honorable  gentleman.  He 
says,  that,  rather  than  bring  the  union  into 
danger,  he  will  adopt  it  with  its  imperfec- 
tions. A  great  deal  is  said  about  disunion, 
and  consequent  dangers.  I  have  no  claim 
to  a  greater  share  of  fortitude  than  others  ; 
but  I  can  see  no  kind  of  danger.  I  form 
my  judgment  on  a  single  fact  alone,  that 
we  are  at  peace  with  all  the  world ;  nor  is 
there  any  apparent  cause  of  a  rupture  with 
any  nation  m  the  world.  Is  it  among  the 
American  states  that  the  cause  of  disunion 
is  to  be  feared  ?  Are  not  the  states  using 
all  their  efforts  for  the  promotion  of  union  ? 
New  England  sacrifices  local  prejudices 
for  the  purposes  of  union.  We  hear  the 
necessity  of  the  union,  and  predilection  for 
the  union,  re-echoed  from  all  parts  of  the 
continent ;  and  all  at  once  disunion  is  to 
follow !  If  gentlemen  dread  disunion,  the 
very  thin^  they  advocate  will  inevitably 
produce  it.  A  previous  ratification  will 
raise  insurmountable  obstacles  to  union. 
New  York  is  an  insurmountable  obstacle 
to  it,  and  North  Carolina  also.  They  will 
never  accede  to  it  till  it  be  amended.  A 
great  part  of  Virginia  is  opposed,  most  de- 
cidedly, to  it,  as  it  stands.  This  very 
spirit  which  will  govern  us  in  these  three 
states,  will  find  a  kindred  spirit  in  the 
adopting  states.  Give  me  leave  to  say, 
that  it  Is  very  problematical  whether  the 
adopting  states  can  stand  on  their  own  legs. 
I  hear  only  on  one  side,  but  as  far  as  my  in- 
formation goes,  there  are  heart-burnings 
and  animosities  among  them.  Will  these 
animosities  be  cured  by  subsequent  amend- 
ments? 

Turn  away  from  American,  and  consid- 
er European  politics.  The  nations  there, 
which  can  trouble  us,  are  France,  Eng- 
land, and  Spain.  But  at  present  we  know 
for  a  certainty,  that  those  nations  are  en- 
gaged in  a  very  different  pursuit  from 
American  conquests.  We  are  told  hj  our 
intelligent  amDa'«''ador,  that  there  is  no 
such  danger  as  has  been    apprehended. 


Give  me  leave  then  to  say,  that  dangers 
from  beyond  the  Atlantic  are  imaginary. 
From  these  premises,  then,  it  may  be  con- 
cluded, that,  from  the  creation  of  the  world 
to  this  time,  there  never  was  a  more  fair 
and  proper  opportunity  than  we  have  at 
this  day  to  establish  such  a  government  as 
will  permanently  establish  the  most  tran- 
scendent political  felicity.  Since  the  rev- 
olution there  has  not  been  so  much  ex- 
perience. Since  then,  the  general  interests 
of  America  have  notbeen  better  understood, 
nor  the  union  more  ardently  loved,  than  at 
this  present  moment.  I  acknowledge  the 
weakness  of  the  old  confederation.  Every 
man  sajrs,  that  something  must  be  done. 
Where  is  the  moment  more  favorable  than 
this?  During  the  war,  when  ten  thous- 
and dangers  surrounded  us,  America  was 
magnanimous.  What  was  the  language  of 
the  little  state  of  Maryland  ?  "I  will  have 
time  to  consider.  I  will  hold  out  three 
years.  Let  what  may  come  I  will  have 
time  to  reflect."  Magnanimity  appeared 
everywhere.  What  was  the  upshot? — 
America  triumphed.*  Is  there  any  thing 
to  forbid  us  to  offer  these  amendments  to 
the  other  states?  If  this  moment  goes 
away  unimproved,  we  shall  never  see  its 
return.  We  now  act  under  a  happy  system, 
which  says,  that  a  majority  may  alter  the 
government  when  n.ecessary.  But  by  the 
paper  proposed,  a  majority  will  forever  en- 
deavor in  vain  to  alter  it.  Three  fourths 
may.  Is  not  this  the  most  promising  time 
for  securing  the  necessary  alterations? 
Will  you  go  into  that  government,  where 
it  is  a  principle,  that  a  contemptible  mino- 
rity may  prevent  an  alteration?  What 
will  be  the  language  of  the  majority? — ■ 
Change  the  government — Nay,  seven 
eighths  of  the  people  of  America  may  wish 
the  change;  but  the  minority  may  come 
with  a  Roman  Veto,  and  object  to  the  alter- 
ation. The  language  of  a  magnanimous 
country  and  of  freemen  is.  Till  you  remove 
the  defects,  we  will  not  accede.  It  would 
be  in  vain  for  me  to  show,  that  there  is  no 
danger  to  prevent  our  obtaining  those 
amendments,  if  you  are  not  convinced  al- 
ready. If  the  other  states  will  not  a^ee 
to  them,  it  is  not  an  inducement  to  union. 
The  language  of  this  paper  is  not  dic- 
tatorial, but  merely  a  proposition  for 
amendments.  The  proposition  of  Virginia 
met  with  a  favorable  reception  before. 
We  proposed  that  convention  which  met 
at  Annapolis.  It  was  not  called  dictatorial. 
We  proposed  that  at  Philadelphia.  Was 
Virginia  thought  dictatorial?  But  Vir- 
ginia is  now  to  lose  her  pre-eminence. 
Those  rights  of  equality,  to  which  the 
meanest  individual  in  the  community  is 
entitled,  are  to  bring  us  down  infinitely 
below  the  Delaware  people.  Have  we  not 
a  right  to  say.  Hear  our  propositions? 
Why,  sir,  your  slaves  have  a  right  to  make 


BOOK  in.]         JOHN  RANDOLPH   AGAINST   A   TARIFF. 


13 


their  humble  requests.  Those  who  are  in  the 
meanest  occupations  of  human  life,  have 
a  right  to  complain.  What  do  we  require? 
Not  pre-eminence,  but  safety ;  that  our  cit- 
izens may  be  able  to  sit  down  in  peace  and 
security  under  their  own  fig-trees.  I  am 
confident  that  sentiments  like  these  will 
meet  with  unison  in  every  state ;  for  they 
will  wish  to  banish  discard  from  the 
American  soil.  I  am  certain  that  the 
warmest  friend  of  the  constitution  wishes 
to  have  fewer  enemies — fewer  of  those  who 
pester  and  plague  him  with  opposition.  I 
could  not  withhold  from  my  fellow-citizens 
anything  so  reasonable.  I  fear  you  will 
have  no  imion,  unless  you  remove  the 
cause  of  opposition.  Will  you  sit  down 
contented  with  the  name  of  union 
without  any  solid  foundation  ? 


Speecb  of  John  Randolpli 

Against  the  Tar^f  Bill,  delivered  in  the  Bou$e  of  Represent- 
cJives  of  the  United  States,  April  15, 1824. 

I  AM,  Mr.  Speaker,  practising  no  de- 
ception upon  myself,  much  less  upon  the 
house,  when  I  say,  that  if  I  had  consulted 
my  own  feelings  and  inclinations,  I  should 
not  have  troubled  the  house,  exhausted  as 
it  is,  and  as  I  am,  with  any  further  re- 
marks upon  this  subject.  I  come  to  the 
discharge  of  this  task,  not  merely  with  re- 
luctance, but  with  disgust;  jaded,  worn 
down,  abraded,  I  may  say,  as  I  am  by 
long  attendance  upon  this  body,  and  con- 
tinued stretch  of  the  attention  upon  this 
subject.  I  come  to  it,  however,  at  the 
suggestion,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  wishes 
of  those,  whose  wishes  are  to  me,  in  all 
matters  touching  my  public  duty,  para- 
mount law ;  I  speak  with  those  reserva- 
tions, of  course,  which  every  moral  agent 
must  be  supposed  to  make  to  himself. 

It  was  not  more  to  my  surprise,  than  to 
my  disappointment,  that  on  my  return  to 
the  house,  after  a  necessary  absence  of  a 
few  days,  on  indispensable  business,  I 
found  it  engaged  in  discussing  the  general 
principle  of  the  bill,  when  its  details  were 
under  consideration.  If  I  had  expected 
such  a  turn  in  the  debate,  I  would,  at  any 
private  sacrifice,  however  great,  have  re- 
mained a  spectator  and  auditor'of  that  dis- 
cussion. With  the  exception  of  the  speech, 
already  published,  of  my  worthy  colleague 
on  my  right  (Mr.  P.  P.  Barbour),  I  have 
been  nearly  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  the 
discussion  which  has  taken  place.  Many 
weeks  have  been  occupied  with  this  bill  (I 
hope  the  house  will  pardon  me  for  saying 
so)  before  I  took  the  slightest  part  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  details;  and  I  now 
sincerely  regret  that  I  had  not  firmness 
enough  to  adhere  to  the  resolution  which 
I  had  laid  down  to  myself,  in  the  early 


stage  of  the  debate,  not  to  take  any  part 
in  the  discussion  of  the  details  of  the  mea- 
sure. But,  as  I  trust,  what  I  now  have  to 
say  upon  this  subject,  although  more  and 
better  things  have  been  said  by  others, 
may  not  be  the  same  that  they  have  said,  or 
may  not  be  said  in  the  same  manner.  I 
here  borrow  the  language  of  a  man  who 
has  been  heretofore  conspicuous  in  the 
councils  of  the  country ;  of  one  who  was 
unrivalled  for  readiness  and  dexterity  in 
debate ;  who  was  long  without  an  equal  on 
the  floor  of  this  Ijody ;  who  contributed  as 
much  to  the  revolution  of  1801,  as  any 
man  in  this  nation,  and  derived  as  little 
benefit  from  it ;  as,  to  use  the  words  of  that 
celebrated  man,  what  I  have  to  say  is  not 
that  which  has  been  said  by  others,  and 
will  not  be  said  in  their  manner,  the  house 
will,  I  trust,  have  patience  with  me  during 
the  time  that  my  .strength  will  allow  me  to 
occupy  their  attention.  And  I  beg  them 
to  understand,  that  the  notes  which  I  hold 
in  my  hand  are  not  the  notes  on  which  I 
mean  to  speak,  but  of  what  others  have 
spoken,  and  from  which  I  will  make  the 

smallest  selection  in  my  power. 

******* 

Sir,  when  are  we  to  have  enough  of  this 
tariff"  question  ?  In  1816  it  was  supposed 
to  be  settled.  Only  three  years  thereafter, 
another  proposition  for  increasing  it  was 
sent  from  this  house  to  the  senate,  baited 
with  a  tax  of  four  cents  per  pound  on 
brown  sugar.  It  was  fortunately  rejected 
in  that  body.  In  what  manner  this  bill  is 
baited,  it  does  not  become  me  to  say ;  but 
I  have  too  distinct  a  recollection  of  the 
vote  ^in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  the 
duty  upon  molasses,  and  afterwards  of  the 
vote  in  the  house  on  the  same  question  ; 
of  the  votes  of  more  than  one  of  tne  states 
on  that  question,  not  to  mark  it  well.  I 
do  not  say  that  the  change  of  the  vote  on 
that  question  was  affected  by  any  man's 
voting  against  his  own  motion  ;  but  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  it  was  effected  by 
one  man's  electioneering  against  his  own 
motion.  I  am  very  glad,  Mr.  Speaker, 
that  old  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  the  prov- 
ince of  Maine  and  Sagadahock,  by  whom 
we  stood  in  the  days  of  the  revolution,  now 
stand  by -the  south,  and  will  not  aid  in 
fixing  on  us  this  system  of  taxation,  com- 
pared with  which  the  taxation  of  Mr. 
Grenville  and  Lord  North  was  as  nothing, 
I  speak  with  knowledge  of  what  I  say, 
when  I  declare,  that  this  bill  is  an  attempt 
to  reduce  the  country,  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  and  east  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  to  a  state  of  worse  than  colonial 
bondage  ;  a  state  to  which  the  domination 
of  Great  Britain  was,  in  my  judgment,  far 
preferable ;  and  I  trust  I  shall  always  have 
the  fearless  integrity  to  utter  any  political 
sentiment  which  the  head  sanctions  and 
the  heart  ratifies ;  for  the  British  parU«r 


14 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


ment  never  would  have  dared  to  lay  such 
duties  on  our  imports,  or  their  exports  to 
us,  either  "  ai  home "  or  here,  as  is  now 
proposed  to  be  laid  upon  the  imports  from 
abroad.  At  that  time  we  had  the  com- 
mand of  the  market  of  the  vast  dominions 
then  subject,  and  we  should  have  had  those 
which  have  since  been  subjected,  to  the 
British  empire;  we  enjoyed  a  free  trade 
eminently  superior  to  any  thing  that  we 
can  enjoy,  if  this  bill  shall  go  into  opera- 
tion. It  is  a  sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  a 
part  of  this  nation  to  the  ideal  benefit  of 
the  rest  It  marks  us  out  as  the  victims 
of  a  worse  than  Egyptian  bondage.  It  is 
a  barter  of  so  much  of  our  rights,  of  so 
much  of  the  fruits  of  our  labor,  for  politi- 
cal power  to  be  transferred  to  other  hands. 
It  ought  to  be  met,  and  I  trust  it  will  be 
met,  in  the  southern  country,  as  was  the 
stamp  act,  and  by  all  those  measures, 
which  I  will  not  detain  the  house  by  re- 
capitulating, which  succeeded  the  stamp 
act,  and  produced  the  final  breach  with 
the  mother  country,  which  it  took  about 
ten  years  to  bring  about,  as  I  trust,  in  my 
conscience,  it  will  not  take  as  long  to  bring 
about  similar  results  from  this  measure, 
should  it  become  a  law. 

Sir,  events  now  passing  elsewhere,  which 
plant  a  thorn  in  my  pillow  and  a  dagger 
in  my  heart,  admonish  me  of  the  difficulty 
of  governing  with  sobriety  any  people  who 
are  over  head  and  ears  in  debt.  That  state 
of  things  begets  a  temper  which  sets  at 
nought  everv  thing  like  reason  and  com- 
mon sense.  'This  country  is  unquestionably 
laboring  under  great  distress ;  but  we  can- 
not legislate  it  out  of  that  distress^  We 
may,  by  your  legislation,  reduce  all  the 
country  south  and  east  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line,  the  whites  as  well  as  the 
blacks,  to  the  condition  of  Helots :  you 
can  do  no  more.  We  have  had  placed  be- 
fore us,  in  the  course  of  this  discussion,  for- 
eign examples  and  authorities ;  and  among 
other  things,  we  have  been  told,  as  an  ar- 
gument in  favor  of  this  measure,  of  the 
prosperity  of  Great  Britain.  Have  gentle- 
men taken  into  consideration  the  peculiar 
advantages  of  Great  Britain?  Have  they 
taken  into  consideration  that,  not  except- 
ing Mexico,  and  that  fine  country  which 
lies  between  the  Orinoco  and  Caribbean 
sea,  England  is  decidedly  superior,  in  point 
of  physical  advantages,  to  every  country 
under  the  sun?  This  is  unquestionablv 
true.  I  will  enumerate  some  of  those  ad- 
vantages. First,  there  is  her  climate.  In 
England,  such  is  the  temperature  of  the 
air,  that  a  man  can  there  do  more  days' 
work  in  the  year,  and  more  hours'  work  in 
the  day,  than  in  any  other  climate  in  the 
world ;  of  course  I  include  Scotland  and 
Ireland  in  this  description.  It  is  in  such 
a  climate  only,  that  the  human  animal  can 
bear  without  extirpation  the  corrupted  air, 


the  noisome  exhalations,  the  incessant 
labor  of  these  accursed  manufactories. 
Yes,  sir,  accursed ;  for  I  say  it  is  an  accurs- 
ed thing,  which  I  will  neither  taste,  nor 
touch,  nor  handle.  If  we  were  to  act  here 
on  the  English  system,  we  should  have 
the  yellow  fever  at  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  not  in  Aueust  merely,  out  from  June 
to  January,  and  from  January  to  June. 
The  climate  of  this  country  alone,  were 
there  no  other  natural  obstacle  to  it,  says 
aloud,  You  shall  not  manufacture !  Even 
our  tobacco  factories,  admitted  to  be  the 
most  wholesome  of  any  sort  of  factories, 
are  known  to  be,  where  extensive,  the  ver^ 
nidus  (if  I  may  use  the  expression)  of  yel- 
low fever  and  other  fevers  of  similar  type. 
In  another  of  the  advantages  of  Great 
Britain,  so  important  to  her  prosperity,  we 
are  almost  on  a  par  with  her,  if  we  know 
how  properly  to  use  it.  Fortunatos  nimi- 
um  sua  si  bona  norint — for,  as  regards  de- 
fence, we  are,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
almost  as  much  an  island  as  England  her- 
self. But  one  of  her  insular  advantages 
we  can  never  acquire.  Every  part  of  that 
country  is accessiole from  the  sea.  There,  as 
you  recede  from  the  sea,  you  do  not  get 
further  from  the  sea.  I  know  that  a  great 
deal  will  be  said  of  our  majestic  rivers, 
about  the  father  of  floods,  and  his  tributarv 
streams ;  but,  with  the  Ohio,  frozen  up  all 
the  winter  and  dry  all  the  summer,  with  a 
long  tortuous,  difficult,  and  dangerous  navi- 
gation thence  to  the  ocean,  the  gentlemen  of 
the  west  may  rest  assured  that  they  will 
never  derive  one  particle  of  advantage  from 
even  a  total  prohibition  of  foreign  manu- 
factures. You  may  succeed  in  reducing  us 
to  your  own  level  of  misery ;  but  if  we 
were  to  agree  to  become  your  slaves,  you 
never  can  derive  one  farthing  of  advantage 
from  this  bill.  What  parts  of  this  coun- 
try can  derive  any  advantage  from  it? 
Those  parts  only,  where  there  is  a  water 
power  in  immediate  contact  with  naviga- 
tion, such  as  the  vicinities  of  Boston,  Pro- 
vidence, Baltimore,  and  Richmond.  Pe- 
tersburg is  the  last  of  these  as  you  travel 
south.  You  take  a  bag  of  cotton  up  the 
river  to  Pittsbi^rg,  or  to  Zanesville,  to  have 
it  manufactured  and  sent  down  to  New 
Orleans  for  a  market,  and  before  your  bag 
of  cotton  has  got  to  the  place  of  manufac- 
ture, the  manufacturer  of  Providence  has 
received  his  returns  for  the  goods  made 
from  his  bag  of  cotton  purchased  at  the 
same  time  that  you  purchased  yours.  No, 
sir,  gentlemen  may  as  well  insist  that  be- 
cause the  Chesapeake  bay,  mare  nostrum, 
our  Mediterranean  sea,  gives  us  every  ad- 
vantage of  navigation,  we  shall  exclude 
from  it  every  thing  but  steam-boats  and 
those  boats  called  kit"  HoxTjv^per  emphasin, 
par  excellence,  Kentucky  boats —  a  sort  of 
huge  square,  clumsy,  wooden  box.  And 
why  not  insist  upon  it?   Hav'n't  you  "  the 


BOOK  III.]         JOHN   RANDOLPH   AGAINST    A   TARIFF. 


15 


power  to  REGULATE  COMMERCE  "  ?    Would 

not  that  too  be  a  "  regulation  of  com- 
merce? "  It  would,  indeed,  and  a  pretty 
regulation  it  is ;  and  so  is  this  bill.  And, 
sir,  I  marvel  that  the  representation  from 
the  great  commercial  state  of  New  York 
should  be  in  favor  of  this  bill.  If  opera- 
tive— and  if  inoperative  why  talk  of  it  ? — 
if  operative,  it  must,  like  the  embargo  of 
1807 — 1809,  transfer  no  small  portion  of 
the  wealth  of  the  London  of  America,  as 
New  York  has  been  called,  to  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  She  will  receive  the  most 
of  her  imports  from  abroad,  down  the  river. 
I  do  not  know  any  bill  that  could  be  better 
calculated  for  Vermont  than  this  bill ; 
because,  through  Vermont,  from  Quebec, 
Montreal,  and  other  positions  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  we  are,  if  it  p'asses,  unquestion- 
ably to  receive  our  supplies  of  foreign 
goods.  It  will,  no  doubt,  suit  the  Niagara 
frontier. 

But,  sir,  1  must  not  suffer  myself  to  be 
led  too  far  astray  from  the  topic  of  the  pe- 
culiar advantages  of  England  as  a  manu- 
facturing country.  Her  vast  beds  of  coal 
are  inexhaustible ;  there  are  daily  discov- 
eries of  quantities  of  it,  greater  than  ages 
past  have  yet  consumed ;  to  which  beds  of 
coal  her  manufacturing  establishments 
have  been  transferred,  as  any  man  may  see 
who  will  compare  the  present  population 
of  her  towns  with  what  it  was  formerly. 
It  is  to  these  beds  of  coal  that  Birmingham, 
Manchester,  Wolverhampton,  ^  Sheffield, 
Leeds,  and  other  manufacturing  towns, 
owe  their  growth.  If  you  could  destroy 
her  coal  in  one  day,  you  would  cut  at  once 
the  sinews  of  her  power.  Then,  there  are 
her  metals,  and  particularly  tin,  of  which 
she  has  the  exclusive  monopoly.  Tin,  I 
know,  is  to  be  found  in  Japan,  and  perhaps 
elsewhere;  but,  in  practice,  England  has 
now  the  monopoly  of  that  article.  I  might 
go  further,  and  I  might  say,  that  England 
possesses  an  advantage,  quoad  hoc,  in  her 
institutions;  for  there  men  are  compelled 
to  pay  their  debts.  But  here,  men  are  not 
oxAy  not  compelled  to  pay  their  debts,  but 
they  are  protscted  in  the  refusal  to  pay 
them,  in  the  scandalous  evasion  of  their 
legal  obligations ;  and,  after  being  convict- 
ed of  embezzling  the  public  money,  and 
the  money  of  others,  of  which  they  were 
appointed  guardians  and  trustees,  they 
have  the  impudenc§  to  obtrude  their  un- 
blushing fronts  into  society,  and  elbow 
honest  men  out  of  their  way.  There, 
though  all  men  are  on  a  footing  of  equality 
on  the  high  way,  and  in  the  courts  of  law, 
at  will  and  at  market,  yet  the  castes  in 
Hindoostan  are  not  more  distinctly  separa- 
ted, one  from  the  other,  than  the  different 
classes  of  society  are  in  England.  It  is 
true  that  it  is  practicable  for  a  wealthy 
merchant  or  manufacturer,  or  his  de- 
Bcendants,  after  having,  through  two  or 


three  generations,  washed  out,  what  is  con- 
siderea  the  stain  of  their  original  occupa. 
tion,  to  emerge,  by  slow  degrees  into  the 
higher  ranks  of  society ;  but  this  rarely 
happens.  Can  you  find  men  of  vast  for- 
tune, in  this  country,  content  to  move  in 
the  lower  circles — content  as  the  ox  under 
the  daily  drudgery  of  the  yoke  ?  Itis  true 
that,  in  England,  some  of  these  wealthy 
people  take  it  into  their  heads  to  buy  seats 
in  parliament.  But,  when  they  get  there, 
unless  they  possess  great  talents,  they  are 
mere  nonentities ;  their  existence  is  only  to 
be  found  in  the  red  book  which  contains  a 
list  of  the  members  of  parliament.  Now, 
sir,  I  wish  to  know  if,  in  the  western  coun- 
try, where  any  man  may  get  beastly  drunk 
for  three  pence  sterling — in  England,  you 
cannot  get  a  small  wine-glass  of  spirits  under 
twenty-five  cents ;  one  such  dnnk  of  grog 
as  I  aave  seen  swallowed  in  this  country, 
would  there  cost  a  dollar — in  the  western 
country,  where  every  man  can  get  as  much 
meat  and  bread  as  he  can  consume,  and  yet 
spend  the  best  part  of  his  days,  and  nights 
too,  perhaps,  on  the  tavern  benches,  or 
loitering  at  the  cross  roads  asking  the  news, 
can  you  expect  the  people  of  such  a  coun- 
try, with  countless  millions  of  wild  land 
and  wild  animals  besides,  can  be  cooped 
up  in  manufacturing  establishments,  and 
made  to  work  sixteen  hours  a  day,  under 
the  superintendence  of  a  driver,  yes,  a 
driver,  compared  with  whom  a  southern 
overseer  is  a  gentleman  and  man  of  refine- 
ment ;  for,  if  they  do  not  work,  these  work 
people  in  the  manufactories,  they  cannot 
eat ;  and,  among  all  the  punishments  that 
can  be  devised  (put  death  even  among  the 
number),  I  defy  you  to  get  as  much  work 
out  of  a  man  by  any  of  them,  as  when  he 
knows  that  he  must  work  before  he  can 

eat. 

******* 

In  the  course  of  this  discussion,  I  have 
heard,  I  will  not  say  with  surprise,  because 
nil  admirari  is  my  motto — no  doctrine 
that  can  be  broached  on  this  floor,  can 
ever,  hereafter,  excite  surprise  in  mv  mind 
— I  have  heard  the  names  of  Say,  Ganilh, 
Adam  Smith,  and  Ricardo,  pronounced 
not  only  in  terms,  but  in  a  tone  of  sneering 
contempt,  visionary  theorists,  destitute  of 
practical  wisdom,  and  the  whole  clan  of 
Scotch  and  Quarterly  Reviewers  lugged  in 
to  boot.  This,  sir,  is  a  sweeping  clause  of 
proscription.  With  the  names  of  Say, 
Smith,  and  Granilh,  I  profess  to  be  ac- 
quainted, for  I,  too,  am  versed  in  title- 
pages;  but  I  did  not  expect  to  hear,  in  this 
house,  a  name,  with  wnich  I  am  a  little 
further  acquainted,  treated  with  so  little 
ceremony ;  and  by  whom  ?  I  leave  Adam 
Smith  to  the  simplicity,  the  majesty,  and 
strength  of  his  own  native  genius,  which 
has  canonized  his  name — a  name  which 
will  be  pronounced  with  veneration,  when 


16 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


not  one  in  this  house  will  be  remembered. 
But  one  word  as  to  Ricardo,  the  last  men- 
tioned of  these  writers — a  new  authority, 
though  the  grave  has  already  closed  upon 
him,  and  set  its  seal  upon  his  reputation. 
I  shall  speak  of  him  in  the  language  of  a 
man  of  as  great  a  genius  as  this,  or  per- 
haps any,  age  has  ever  produced ;  a  man 
remarkable  for  the  depth  of  his  reflections 
and  the  acumen  of  his  penetration.  "I 
had  been  led,"  says  this  man,  "  to  look 
into  loads  of  books — my  understanding 
had  for.  too  many  years  been  intimate  with 
severe  thinkers,  with  logic,  and  the  great 
masters  of  knowledge,  not  to  be  aware  of 
the  utter  feebleness  of  the  herd  of  modern 
economists.  I  sometimes  read  chapters 
from  more  recent  works,  or  part  of  parlia- 
mentary debates.  I  saw  that  these  [omi- 
nous words !]  were  generally  the  very  dregs 
and  rinsings  of  the  human  intellect."  [I 
am  very  glad,  sir,  ho  did  not  read  our  de- 
bates. What  would  he  have  said  of  ours  ?] 
"  At  length  a  friend  sent  me  Mr.  Ricardo's 
book,  and,  recurring  to  my  own  prophetic 
anticipation  of  the  advent  of  some  legisla- 
tor on  this  science,  I  said.  Thou  art  the 
man.  Wonder  and  curiosity  had  long 
been  dead  in  me;  yet  I  wondered  once 
more.  Had  this  profound  work  been  really 
written  in  England  during  the  19th  cen- 
tury? Could  it  be  that  an  Englishman, 
and  he  not  in  academic  bowers,  but  op- 

Eressed  by  mercantile  and  senatorial  cares, 
ad  accomplished  what  all  the  universities 
and  a  century  of  thought  had  failed  to  ad- 
vance bv  one  hair's  breadth  ?  All  other 
writers  had  been  crushed  and  overlaid  by 
the  enormous  weight  of  facts  and  docu- 
ments :  Mr.  Ricardo  had  deduced,  a  priori, 
from  the  understanding  itself,  laws  which 
first  gave  a  ray  of  light  into  the  unwieldy 
chaos  of  materials,  and  had  constructed 
what  had  been  but  a  collection  of  tentative 
discussions,  into  a  science  of  regular  pro- 
portions, now  first  standing  on  an  eternal 
oasis." 

I  pronounce  no  opinion  of  my  own  on 
Ricardo ;  I  recur  rather  to  the  opinion  of  a 
man  inferior,  in  point  of  original  and  na- 
tive genius,  and  that  highly  cultivated, 
too,  to  none  of  the  modems,  and  few  of 
the  ancients.  Upon  this  subject,  what 
shall  we  say  to  the  following  fact  ?  Butler, 
who  is  known  to  gentlemen  of  the  profes- 
gion  of  the  law,  as  the  annotator,  with 
Hargrave,  on  lord  Coke,  speaking  with 
Fox  as  to  political  economy — that  most 
extraordinary  man,  unrivalled  for  his  pow- 
ers of  debate,  excelled  by  no  man  that 
ever  lived,  or  probablv  ever  will  live,  as  a 
public  debater,  and  of  the  deepest  political 
erudition,  fairly  confessed  that  he  had 
never  read  Adam  Smith.  Butler  said  to 
Mr.  Fox,  "  that  he  had  never  read  Adam 
Smith's  work  on  the  Wealth  of  Nations." 
*'To  tell  70U  the  truth,"  replied  Mr.  Fox, 


"  nor  I  neither.  There  is  something  in  all 
these  subjects  that  passes  my  comprehen- 
sion— something  so  wide  that  I  could  never 
embrace  them  myself,  or  find  any  one  who 
did."  And  yet  we  see  how  we,  with  our 
little  dividers,  undertake  to  lay  off"  the 
scale,  and  with  our  pack-thread  to  take 
the  soundings,  and  speak  with  a  confidence 

Eeculiar  to  quacks  (in  which  the  regular- 
red  professor  never  indulges)  on  this  ab- 
struse and  perplexing  subject.  Confidence 
is  one  thing,  Knowledge  another ;  of  the 
want  of  which,  overweening  confidence  is 
notoriously  the  indication.  What  of  that? 
Let  Ganilh,  Say,  Ricardo,  Smith,  all  Greek 
and  Roman  fame  be  against  us ;  we  appeal 
to  Dionysius  in  support  of  our  doctrines ; 
and  to  him,  not  on  the  throne  of  Syracuse, 
but  at  Corinth — not  in  absolute  possession 
of  the  most  wonderful  and  enigmatical 
city,  as  diflScult  to  comprehend  as  the  ab- 
strusest  problem  of  political  economy  which 
furnished  not  only  the  means  but  the  men 
for  supporting  the  greatest  wars — a  king- 
dom within  itself,  under  whose  ascendant 
the  genius  of  Athens,  in  her  most  high 
and  palmy  state,  quailed,  and  stood  re- 
buked. No ;  we  follow  the  pedagogue  to 
the  schools—dictating  in  the  classic  shades 
of  Lon^wood — {lucus  a  non  lucendo) — ^to 
his  disciples.      *    *    * 

But  it  is  said,  a  measure  of  this  sort  is 
necessary  to  create  employment  for  the 
people.  Why,  sir,  where  are  the  handles 
of  the  plough  ?  Are  they  unfit  for  young 
gentlemen  to  touch  ?  Or  will  they  rather 
choose  to  enter  your  military  academies, 
where  the  sons  of  the  rich  are  educated  at 
the  expense  of  the  poor,  and  where  so  many 
political  janissaries  are  every  year  turned 
out,  always  ready  for  war,  and  to  support  the 
powers  that  be — equal  to  the  strelitzes  of 
Moscow  or  St.  Petersburg.  I  do  not  speak 
now  of  individuals,  of  course,  but  01  the 
tendency  of  the  system — the  hounds  follow 
the  huntsman  because  he  feeds  them,  and 
bears  the  whip.  I  speak  of  the  system.  I 
concur  most  neartily,  sir,  in  the  censure 
which  has  been  passed  upon  the  greediness 
of  office,  which  stands  a  stigma  on  the  pre- 
sent generation.  Men  from  whom  we  might 
expect,  and  from  whom  I  did  expect,  bet- 
ter things,  crowd  the  ante-chamber  of  the 
palace,  for  every  vacant  office ;  nay,  even 
before  men  are  dead,  their  shoes  are  wanted 
for  some  barefooted  office-seeker.  How 
mistaken  was  the  old  Roman,  the  old  con- 
sul, who,  whilst  he  held  the  plough  hj  one 
hand,  and  death  held  the  other,  exclauued, 
"  Dii3  immortalibus  sero  I " 

Our  fathers,  how  did  they  acquire  their 
propertv?  By  straightforward  industry, 
rectitude,  and  frugality.  How  did  they 
become  dispossessed  of  their  property  ?  By 
indulging  in  speculative  hopes  and  designs ; 
seeking  the  shadow  whilst  they  lost  the 
substance;  and  now,  instead  of  being,  as 


BOOK  III.]  JOHN   RANDOLPH    AGAINST    A    TARIFF. 


11 


they  were,  men  of  respectability,  men  of 
substance,  men  capable  and  willing  to  live 
independently  and  honestly,  and  hospita- 
bly too — for  who  so  parsimonious  as  the 
prodigal  who  has  nothing  to  give  ? — what 
nave  we  become?  A  nation  of  sharks, 
preying  on  one  another  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  this  paper  system,  which,  if 
Lycurgus  had  known  of  it,  he  would  un- 
questionably have  adopted,  in  preference 
to  his  iron  money,  if  his  object  had  been 
to  make  the  Spartans  the  most  accom- 
plished knaves  as  well  as  to  keep  them 
poor. 

The  manufacturer  of  the  east  may  carry 
his  woolens  or  his  cottons,  or  his  coffins, 
to  what  market  he  pleases — I  do  not  buy 
of  him.  Self-defence  is  the  first  law  of  na- 
ture. You  drive  us  into  it.  You  create 
heats  and  animosities  among  this  great  fa- 
mily, who  ought  to  live  like  brothers ;  and, 
after  you  have  got  this  temper  of  mind 
roused  among  the  southern  people,  do  you 
expect  to  come  among  us  to  trade,  and  ex- 
pect us  to  buy  your  wares  ?  Sir,  not  only 
shall  we  not  buy  them,  but  we  shall  take 
such  measures  (I  will  not  enter  into  the 
detail  of  them  now)  as  shall  render  it  im- 
possible for  you  to  sell  them.  Whatever 
may  be  said  here  of  the  "  misguided  coun- 
sels," as  they  have  been  termed,  "  of  the 
theorists  of  Virginia,"  they  have,  so  far  as 
regards  this  question,  the  confidence  of 
united  Virginia.  We  are  asked — Does  the 
south  lose  any  thing  by  this  bill — why  do 
you  cry  out  ?  I  put  it,  sir,  to  any  man  from 
any  part  of  the  country,  from  the  gulf  of 
Mexico,  from  the  Balize,  to  the  eastern 
shore  of  Maryland — which,  I  thank  Hea- 
ven, is  not  yet  under  the  government  of 
Baltimore,  and  will  not  be,  unless  certain 
theories  should  come  into  play  in  that 
state,  which  we  have  lately  heard  of,  and 
a  majority  of  men,  told  by  the  head,  should 
govern — whether  the  whole  country  be- 
tween the  points  I  have  named,  is  not  una- 
nimous in  opposition  to  this  bill.  Would 
it  not  be  unexampled,  that  we  should  thus 
complain,  protest,  resist,  and  that  all  the 
while  nothing  should  be  the  matter  ?  Are 
our  understandings  (however  low  mine 
maybe  rated,  much  sounder  than  mine  are 
engaged  in  this  resistance),  to  be  rated  so 
low,  as  that  we  are  to  be  made  to  believe 
that  we  are  children  affrighted  by  a  bug- 
bear? We  are  asked,  however,  why  do 
you  cry  out?  it  is  all  for  your  good.  Sir, 
this  reminds  me  of  the  mistresses  of  Greorge 
II.,  who,  when  thej  were  insulted  by  the 
populace  on  arriving  in  London  (as  all 
such  creatures  deserve  to  be,  by  every 
mob),  put  their  heads  out  of  the  window, 
and  said  to  tbem  in  their  broken  English, 
"  Goot  people,  we  be  come  for  your  goats ;" 
to  which  one  of  the  mob  rejoined — "Yes, 
and  for  our  chattels  too,  I  fancy."  Just  so 
it  is  with  the  oppressive  exactions  proposed 

30 


and  advocated  by  the  supporters  of  this 
bill,  on  the  plea  of  the  good  of  those  who 
are  its.  victims.      »        *        *        « 

I  had  more  to  say,  Mr.  Speaker,  could  } 
have  said  it,  on  tliis  subject.  But  I  cannot 
sit  down  without  asking  those,  who  were 
once  my  brethren  of  the  church,  the  elders 
of  the  young  family  of  this  ^ood  old  repub- 
lic of  the  thirteen  states,  it  they  can  con- 
sent to  rivet  upon  us  this  system,  from  which 
no  benefit  can  possibly  result  to  themselves. 
I  put  it  to  them  as  descendants  of  the  re- 
nowned colony  of  Virginia;  as  children 
sprung  from  her  loins ;  if  for  the  sake  of 
all  the  benefits,  with  which  this  bill  is  pre- 
tended to  be  freighted  to  them,  granting 
such  to  be  the  fact  for  argument's  sake,  they 
could  consent  to  do  such  an  act  of  violence 
to  the  unanimous  opinion,  feelings,  preju- 
dices, if  you  will,  of  the  whole  Southern 
States,  as  to  pass  it?  I  go  farther.  I  ask 
of  them  what  is  there  in  the  condition  of 
the  nation  at  this  time,  that  calls  for  the 
immediate  adoption  of  this  measure?  Are 
the  Gauls  at  the  gate  of  the  capitol?  If 
they  are,  the  cacklings  of  the  Capitoline 
geese  will  hardly  save  it.  What  is  there  to 
induce  us  to  plunge  into  the  vortex  of 
those  evils  so  severeljr  felt  in  Europe  from 
this  very  manufacturing  and  paper  policy? 
For  it  is  evident  that,  if  we  go  into  this 
system  of  policy,  we  must  adopt  the  Euro- 
.pean  institutions  also.  We  have  very  good 
materials  to  work  with;  we  have  only  to 
make  our  elective  king  president  for  life, 
in  the  first  place,  and  then  to  make  the 
succession  hereditary  in  the  family  of  the 
first  that  shall  happen  to  have  a  promising 
son.  For  a  king  we  can  be  at  no  loss — 
ex  quovis  ligno — any  block  will  do  for  him. 
The  senate  may,  perhaps,  be  transmuted 
into  a  house  of  peers,  although  we  should 
meet  with  more  difficulty  than  in  the  other 
case ;  for  Bonaparte  himself  was  not  more 
hardly  put  to  it,  to  recruit  the  ranks  of  his 
mushroom  nobility,  than  we  should  be  to 
furnish  a  house  of  peers.  As  for  us,  we 
are  the  faithful  commons,  ready  made  to 
hand ;  but  with  all  our  loyalty,  I  congratu- 
late the  house — I  congratulate  the  nation 
— that,  although  this  body  is  daily  degraded 
by  the  sight  of  members  of  Congress  manu- 
factured into  placemen,  we  have  not  yet 
reached  such  a  point  of  degradation  as  to  * 
suffer  executive  minions  to  be  manufac- 
tured into  members  of  congress.  We  have 
shut  that  door;  I  wish  we  cQuld  shut  the 
other  also.  I  wish  we  could  have  a  per- 
petual call  of  the  house  in  this  view,  and 
suffer  no  one  to  get  out  from  its  closed 
doors.  The  time  is  peculiarly  inaus|)iciou8 
for  the  change  in  our  policy  which  is  pro- 
posed by  this  bill.  Wc  are  on  the  eve  of 
an  election  that  promises  to  be  the  mo«rt 
distracted  that  this  nation  has  ever  yet 
undergone.  It  may  turn  out  to  be  a  PolinU 
election,    ^t  such   a   time,    oughti   any 


18 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iir. 


measure  to  be  brought  forward  which  is 
supposed  to  be  capable  of  being  demon- 
strated to  be  extremely  injurious  tp  one 
great  portion  of  this  country,  and  benefi- 
cial in  proportion  to  another?  Sufficient 
for  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.  There  are 
firebrands  enough  in  the  land,  without  this 
apple  of  discord  being  cast  into  this  assem- 
bly. Suppose  this  measure  is  not  what  it 
is  represented  to  be ;  that  the  fears  of  the 
south  are  altogether  illusory  and  visionary ; 
that  it  will  produce  all  the  good  predicted 
of  it — an  honorable  gentleman  from  Ken- 
tucky said  yesterday — and  I  was  sorry  to 
hear  it,  for  I  have  great  respect  for  that 
gentleman,  and  for  other  gentlemen  from 
that  state — that  the  question  was  not 
whether  a  bare  majority  should  pass  the 
bill,  but  whether  the  majority  or  the  mi- 
nority should  rule.  The  gentleman  is 
wrong,  and,  if  he  will  consider  the  matter 
rightly,  he  will  see  it.  Is  there  no  differ- 
ence between  the  patient  and  the  actor? 
We  are  passive :  we  do  not  call  them  to  act 
or  to  suffer,  but  we  call  upon  them  not  so 
to  act  as  that  we  must  necessarily  suffer; 
and  I  venture  to  say,  that  in  any  govern- 
ment, properly  constituted,  this  very  con- 
sideration would  operate  conclusively,  that 
if  the  burden  is  to  be  laid  on  102,  it  ou^ht 
not  to  be  laid  by  105.  We  are  the  eel  that 
is  being  flayed,  while  the  cook-maid  pats 
us  on  the  head,  and  cries,  with  the  clown 
in  King  Lear,  "  Down,  wantons,  down." 
There  is  but  one  portion  of  the  country 
which  can  profit  by  this  bill,  and  from  that 
portion  of  the  country  comes  this  bare 
majoritnr  in  favor  of  it.  I  bless  God  that 
Massachusetts  and  old  Virginia  are  once 
again  rallying  under  the  same  banner, 
against  oppressive  and  unconstitutional 
taxation;  for,  if  all  the  blood  be  drawn 
from  out  the  body,  I  care  not  whether  it  be 
by  the  British  parliament  or  the  American 
congress ;  by  an  emperor  or  a  king  abroad, 
or  by  a  president  at  home. 

Under  these  views,  and  with  feelings  of 
mortification  and  shame  at  the  very  weak 
opposition  I  have  been  able  to  make  to  this 
bill,  I  entreat  gentlemen  to  consent  that  it 
may  lie  over,  at  least,  until  the  next  ses- 
sion of  congres«t.  We  have  other  busi- 
ness to  attend  to,  and  our  families  and 
affairs  need  our  attention  at  home;  and 
indeed  I,  sir,  would  not  give  one  farthing 
for  any  man  who  prefers  being  here  to 
being  at  home ;  who  is  a  good  public  man 
and  a  bad  private  one.  With  these  views 
and  feelings,  I  move  you,  sir,  that  the  bill 
be  indefinitely  postponed. 


Kdward  ET-errtt. 

Jhe  exampU  of  the  Northern  tn  the  Southern  Kejmbtioi  of 
Amtrica 

The  great  triumphs  of  constitutional 
freedom^ to  which  our  independence  has  fur- 


nished the  example,  have  been  witnessed 
in  the  southern  portion  of  our  hemisphere. 
Sunk  to  the  last  point  of  colonial  degrada- 
tion, they  have  risen  at  once  into  the 
organization  of  three  republics.  Their 
struggle  has  been  arduous;  and  eighteen 
years  of  checkered  fortune  have  not  yet 
brought  it  to  a  close.  But  we  must  not 
infer,  from  their  prolonged  agitation,  that 
their  independence  is  uncertain ;  that  they 
have  prematurely  put  on  the  toga  virilis  of 
freedom.  They  have  not  begun  too  soon  ; 
they  have  more  to  do.  Our  war  of  inde- 
pendence was  shorter ; — ^happily  we  were 
contending  with  a  government,  that  could 
not,  like  that  of  Spain,  pursue  an  inter- 
minable and  hopeless  contest,  in  defiance 
of  the  people's  will.  Our  transition  to  a 
mature  and  well  adjusted  constitution  was 
more  prompt  than  that  of  our  sister  repub- 
lics; for  the  foundations  had  long  been 
settled,  the  preparation  long  made.  And 
when  we  consider  that  it  is  our  example, 
which  has  aroused  the  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence fi*om  California  to  Cape  Horn  ;  that 
the  experiment  of  liberty,  if  it  had  failed 
with  us,  most  surely  would  not  have  been 
attempted  by  them;  that  even  now  our 
counsels  and  acts  will  operate  as  powerful 
precedents  in  this  great  family  of  republics, 
we  learn  the  importance  of  the  post  which 
Providence  has  assigned  us  in  the  world. 
A  wise  and  harmonious  administration  of 
the  public  affairs, — a  faithful,  liberal,  and 
patriotic  exercise  of  the  private  duties  of 
the  citizen, — while  they  secure  our  happi- 
ness at  home,  will  diffuse  a  healthful  in- 
fluence through  the  channels  of  national 
communication,  and  serve  the  cause  of 
liberty  beyond  the  Equator  and  the  Andes. 
When  we  show  a  united,  conciliatory,  and 
imposing  front  to  their  rising  states  we 
show  them,  better  than  sounding  eulodes 
can  do,  the  true  aspect  of  an  independent 
republic;  we  give  them  a  living  example 
that  the  fireside  policy  of  a  people  is  like 
that  of  the  individual  man.  As  the  one, 
commencing  in  the  prudence,  order,  and 
industry  of  the  private  circle,  extends  itself 
to  all  the  duties  of  social  life,  of  the  family, 
the  neighborhood,  the  country ;  so  the  true 
domestic  policy  of  the  republic,  beginning 
in  the  wise  organization  of  its  own  institu- 
tions, pervades  its  territories  with  a 
vigilant,  prudent,  temperate  administra- 
tion ;  and  extends  the  nand  of  cordial  in- 
terest to  all  the  friendly  nations,  especially 
to  those  which  are  of  the  household  of 
liberty. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  we  are  to  fulfil  our 
destiny  in  the  world.  The  greatest  engine 
of  moral  power,  which  human  nature 
knows,  is  an  organized,  prosperous  state. 
All  that  man,  in  his  individual  capacity, 
can  do — all  that  he  can  effect  oy  his 
fraternities — by  his  ingenious  discoveries 
and  wonders  of  art, — or  by  his  influence 


BOOK  III.] 


WEBSTER  ON  THE  GREEK  QUESTION. 


19 


over  others — is  as  nothing,  compared  with 
the  collective,  perpetuated  influence  on 
human  affairs  and  human  happiness  of  a 
well  constituted,  powerful  commonwealth. 
It  blesses  generations  with  its  sweet  influ- 
ence ; — even  the  barren  earth  seems  to  pour 
out  its  fruits  under  a  system  where  pro- 
perty is  secure,  while  her  fairest  gardens 
are  blighted  by  despotism  ; — men,  think- 
ing, reasoning  men,  abound  beneath  its 
benignant  sway; — nature  enters  into  a 
beautiful  accord,  a  better,  purer  asiento 
with  man,  and  guides  an  industrious  citizen 
to  every  rood  of  her  smiling  wastes ; — and 
we  see,  at  length,  that  what  has  been  called 
a  state  of  nature,  has  been  most  falsely, 
calumniously  so  denominated ;  that  the  na- 
ture of  man  is  neither  that  of  a  savage,  a 
hermit,  nor  a  slave ;  but  that  of  a  member 
of  a  well-ordered  family,  that  of  a  good 
neighbor,  a  free  citizen,  a  well  informed, 
good  man,  acting  with  others  like  him. 
This  is  the  lesson  which  is  taught  in  the 
charter  of  our  independence ;  this  is  the 
lesson  which  our  example  is  to  teach  the 
world. 

The  epic  poet  of  Eome — the  faithful 
subject  of  an  absolute  prince — in  unfold- 
ing the  duties  and  destinies  of  his  coun- 
trymen, bids  them  look  down  with  disdain 
on  the  polished  and  intellectual  arts  of 
Greece,  and  deem  their  arts  to  be 

To  rule  the  nations  with  imperial  sway ; 

To  spare  the  tribes  that  j-ield ;  fight  down  the  proud ; 

And  force  the  mood  of  peace  upoa  the  world. 

A  nobler  counsel  breathes  from  the  char- 
ter of  our  independence ;  a  happier  pro- 
vince belongs  to  our  republic.  JPeace  we 
would  extend,  but  by  persuasion  and  ex- 
ample,— the  moral  force,  by  which  alone  it 
can  prevail  among  the  nations.  Wars  we 
may  encounter,  out  it  is  in  the  sacred 
character  of  the  injured  and  the  wronged ; 
to  raise  the  trampled  rights  of  humanity 
from  the  dust ;  to  rescue  the  mild  form  of 
liberty  from  her  abode  among  the  prisons 
and  the  scafiblds  of  the  elder  world,  and 
to  seat  her  in  the  chair  of  state  among  her 
adoring  children ;  to  give  her  beauty  for 
ashes;  a  healthful  action  for  her  cruel 
agony ;  to  put  at  last  a  period  to  her  war- 
fare on  earth;  to  tear  her  star-spangled 
banner  from  the  perilous  ridges  oi  battle, 
and  plant  it  on  tne  rock  of  ages.  There 
be  it  fixed  for  ever, — ^the  power  of  a  free 
people  slumbering  in  its  folds,  their  peace 
reposing  in  its  shade ! 


Cloae  of  tbe  Speech  of  Daniel  "Webster 

On  the  Greek  qtie»tion,  in  (he  House  of  RepreierUatives 
of  the  United  Stale*,  January,  1824. 

The  house  had  gone  into  committee  of  the  whole,  Mr. 
Tbylor  ia  the  chair,  on  the  resolution  offered  by  Mr. 
Webster,  which  is  in  the  words  following: 

"  Resolved,  That  provision  ought  to  be  made  by  law  for 


defraying  the  expense  incident  to  tho  appointment  of  an 
agent,  orc(imiuiHsi<'Ui'r,  tu  (ireece,  whuncver  the  Presi- 
dent sliall  deem  it  expedient  to  make  sucli  u{ii>ointmeut." 

Mr.  Chairman,— It  may  be  asked,  will 
this  resolution  do  the  Greeks  any  good? 
Yes,  it  will  do  them  much  good.  It  will 
give  them  courage  and  spirit,  which  i« 
better  than  money.  It  will  assure  them 
of  the  public  sympathy,  and  will  inspire 
them  with  fresh  constancy.  It  will  teach 
them  that  they  are  not  ibrgotten  by  the 
civilized  world,  and  to  hope  one  day  to  oc- 
cupy, in  that  world,  an  honorable  station. 

A  farther  question  remains.  Is  this 
measure  pacific  ?  It  has  no  other  charac- 
ter. It  simply  proposes  to  make  a  pecuni- 
ary provision  for  a  mission,  when  tne  pre- 
sident shall  deem  such  mission  expedient. 
It  is  a  mere  reciprocation  to  the  sentiments 
of  his  message;  it  imposes  upon  him  no 
new  duty ;  it  gives  him  no  new  power  ;  it 
does  not  hasten  or  urge  him  forward ;  it 
simply  provides,  in  an  open  and  avowed 
manner,  the  means  of  doing,  what  would 
else  be  done  out  of  the  contingent  fund. 
It  leaves  him  at  the  most  perfect  libertv', 
and  it  reposes  the  whole  matter  in  his  sole 
discretion.  *He  might  do  it  without  this 
resolution,  as  he  did  in  the  case  of  South 
America, — but  it  merely  answers  the  query, 
whether  on  so  great  and  interesting  a  ques- 
tion as  the  condition  of  the  Greeks,  this 
house  holds  no  opinion  which  is  worth  ex- 
pressing? But,  suppose  a  commissioner  is 
sent,  the  measure  is  pacific  still.  Where 
is  the  breach  of  neutrality  ?  Where  a  just 
cause  of  offence  ?  And  besides,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, is  all  the  danger  in  this  matter  on 
one  side?  may  we  not  inquire,  whose 
fleets  cover  the  Archipelago  ?  may  we  not 
ask,  what  would  be  the  result  to  our  trade 
should  Smyrna  be  blockaded?  A  com- 
missioner could  at  least  procure  for  us 
what  we  do  not  now  possess — that  is,  au- 
thentic information  of  the  true  state  of 
things.  The  document  on  your  table  ex- 
hibits a  meagre  appearance  on  this  point 
— what  does  it  contain  ?  Letters  of  Mr. 
Luriottis  and  paragraphs  from  a  French 
paper.  My  personal  opinion  is,  that  an 
agent  ought  immediately  to  be  sent ;  but 
the  resolution  I  have  offered  by  no  means 
goes  so  far. 

Do  gentlemen  fear  the  result  of  this  re- 
solution in  embroiling  us  with  the  Porte? 
Why,  sir,  how  much  is  it  ahead  of  the 
whole  nation,  or  rather  let  me  ask  how 
much  is  the  nation  ahead  of  it?  Is  not 
this  whole  people  already  in  a  state  of 
open  and  avowed  excitement  on  this  sub- 
ject? Does  not  the  land  ring  from  side  to 
side  with  one  common  sentiment  of  sym- 

Eathy  for  Greece,  and  indignation  toward 
er  oppressors?  nav,  more,  sir — are  we  not 
giving  money  to  this  cause?  More  still, 
sir — is  not  the  secretary  of  state  in  open 
correspondence  with  the  president  of  the 
Greek  committee  in  London  ?    The  nation 


20 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


has  gone  as  far  as  it  can  g;o,  short  of  an  offi- 
cial act  of  hostility.  This  resolution  adds 
nothing  beyond  what  is  already  done — 
nor  can  any  of  the  European  governments 
take  offence  at  such  a  measure.  But  if 
they  would,  should  we  be  withheld  from 
an  honest  expression  of  liberal  feelings  in 
the  cause  of  freedom,  for  fear  of  giving 
umbrage  to  some  member  of  the  holy 
alliance?    We  are  not,  surely,  yet   pre- 

Sared  to  purchase  their  smiles  by  a  sacri- 
ce  of  every  manly  principle.  Dare  any 
Christian  prince  even  ask  us  not  to  sym- 
pathize with  a  Christian  nation  struggling 
against  Tartar  tyranny  ?  We  do  not  inter- 
fere— we  break  no  engagements — we  violate 
no  treaties ;  with  the  Porte  we  have  none. 
Mr.  Chairman,  there  are  some  things 
which,  to  be  well  done,  must  be  promptly 
done.  If  we  even  determine  to  do  the 
thing  that  is  now  proposed,  we  may  do  it 
too  late.  Sir,  I  am  not  of  those  who  are 
for  withholding  aid  when  it  is  most  ur- 
gently needed,  and  when  the  stress  is  past, 
and  the  aid  no  longer  necessary,  over- 
whelming the  sufferers  with  caresses.  I 
will  not  stand  by  and  see  myjellow  man 
drowning  without  stretching  out  a  hand  to 
help  him,  till  he  has  by  his  own  efforts  and 
presence  of  mind  reached  the  shore  in 
safety,  and  then  encumber  him  with  aid. 
With  suffering  Greece  now  is  the  crisis  of 
her  fate, — her  great,  it  may  be,  her  last 
struggle.  Sir,  while  we  sit  here  deliberat- 
ing, her  destiny  may  be  decided.  The 
Greeks,  contending  with  ruthless  oppres- 
sors, turn  their  eyes  to  us,  and  invoke  us 
by  their  ancestors,  slaughtered  wives  and 
children,  by  their  own  blood,  poured  out 
like  water,  by  the  hecatombs  of  dead  they 
have  heaped  up  as  it  were  to  heaven,  they 
invoke,  they  implore  us  for  some  cheering 
sound,  some  look  of  sympathy,  some  token 
of  compassionate  regard.  They  look  to  us 
as  the  great  republic  of  the  earth — and 
they  ask  us  by  our  common  faith,  whether 
we  can  forget  that  they  are  struggling,  as 
we  once  struggled,  for  what  we  now  so 
happily  enjoy  ?  I  cannot  say,  sir,  that  they 
will  succeed ;  that  rests  with  heaven.  But 
for  myself,  sir,  if  I  should  to-morrow  hear 
that  they  have  failed — ^that  their  last  pha- 
lanx had  sunk  beneath  the  Turkish  cime- 
ter,  that  the  flames  of  their  la.st  city  had 
•ank  in  its  ashes,  and  that  naught  remained 
but  the  wide  melancholy  waste  where 
Greece  once  was,  I  should  still  reflect,  with 
the  most  heartfelt  satisfaction,  that  I  have 
asked  you  in  the  name  of  seven  millions  of 
freemen,  that  you  would  give  them  at  least 
the  cheering  of  one  friendly  voice. 


Jelm    Randolplt    on    Ute   other    aide    ot 
8am«  Question. 

Mr.  Chairman, — It  is  with  serious  con- 
cern and  alarm,  that  I  have  heard  doc- 


trines broached  in  this  debate,  fraught 
with  consequences  more  disastrous  to  the 
i  best  interests  of  this  people  than  any  that 
I  have  ever  heard  advanced  during  the 
five-and-twenty  years  that  I  have  been 
honored  with  a  seat  on  this  floor.  They 
imply,  to  my  apprehension,  a  total  and 
fundamental  change  of  the  policy  pursued 
by  this  government,  ab  urbe  condita — from 
the  foundation  of  the  republic,  to  the 
present  day.  Are  we,  sir,  to  go  on  a  cru- 
sade, in  another  hemisphere,  ibr  the  pro- 
pagation of  two  objects — objects  as  dear 
and  delightful  to  my  heart  as  to  that  ol 
any  gentleman  in  this,  or  in  any  other  as- 
sembly— liberty  and  religion — and,  in  the 
name  of  these  holy  words — by  this  power- 
ful spell,  is  this  nation  to  be  conjured  and 
persuaded  out  of  the  highway  of  heaven 
— out  of  its  present  comparatively  happy 
state,  into  all  the  disastrous  conflicts  aris- 
ing from  the  policy  of  European  powers, 
with  all  the  consequences  which  flow  from 
them? 

Liberty  and  religion,  sir !  I  believe  that 
nothing  similar  to  this  proposition  is  to  be 
found  in  modern  history,  unless  in  the 
famous  decree  of  the  French  national  as- 
sembly, which  brought  combined  Europe 
against  them,  with  its  united  strength, 
and,  after  repeated  struggles,  finally  effect- 
ed the  downfall  of  the  French  power.  Sir, 
I  am  wrong — there  is  another  example  of 
like  doctrine  ;  and  you  find  it  among  that 
strange  and  peculiar  people — in  that  mys- 
terious book,  which  is  ot  the  highest  au- 
thority with  them,  (for  it  is  at  once  their 
gospel  and  their  law,)  the  Koran,  which 
enjoins  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all  good  Mos- 
lems to  propagate  its  doctrines  at  the  point 
of  the  sword — by  the  edge  of  the  cimeter. 
The  character  of  that  people  is  a  peculiar 
one  :  they  differ  from  every  other  race.  It 
has  been  said,  here,  that  it  is  four  hundred 
years  since  they  encamped  in  Europe.  Sir, 
they  were  encamped,  on  the  spot  where  we 
now  find  them, .  before  this  country  was 
discovered,  and  their  title  to  the  country 
which  they  occupy  is  at  least  as  good  aa 
ours.  They  hold  their  possessions  there 
by  the  same  title  by  which  all  other  coun- 
tries are  held — possession,  obtained  at  first 
by  a  successful  employment  of  force,  con- 
firmed by  time,  usage,  prescription — the 
best  of  all  possible  titles.  Their  policy 
has  been  not  tortuous,  like  that  of  other 
states  of  Europe,  but  straightforward :  they 
had  invariably  appealed  to  the  sword,  and 
they  held  by  the  sword.  The  Russ  had, 
indeed,  made  great  encroachments  on  their 
empire,  but  the  ground  had  been  contested 
inch  by  inch;  and  the  acquisitions  of 
Russia  on  the  side  of  Christian  Europe — 
Livonia,  Ingria,  Courland — Finland,  to  the 
Gulf  of  R)thnia — Poland  ! — had  been 
greater  than  that  of  the  Mahometans. 
And,  in  consequence  of  this  straightfor» 


BOOK  III.J 


HAYNE    AGAINST    A    TARIFF. 


21 


ward  policy  to  which  I  before  referred,  this 
peculiar  people  could  boast  of  being  the 
only  one  of  the  continental  Europe,  whose 
capital  had  never  been  insulted  by  the 
presence  of  a  foreign  military  force.  It 
was  a  curious  fact,  well  worthy  of  atten- 
tion, that  Constantinople  was  the  only 
capital  in  continental  Europe — for  Moscow 
was  the  true  capital  of  Russia — that  had 
never  been  in  possession  of  an  enemy.  It 
is,  indeed,  true,  that  the  Empress  Catharine 
did  inscribe  over  the  gate  of  one  of  the 
cities  that  she  had  won  in  the  Krimea, 
(Cherson,  I  think,)  "the  road  to  Byzan- 
tium ;"  but,  sir,  it  has  proved — perhaps  too 
low  a  word  for  the  subject — but  a  stumpy 
road  for  Russia.  Who,  at  that  day,  would 
have  been  believed,  had  he  foretold  to  that 
august  (for  so  she  was)  and  illustrious 
woman  that  her  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine, 
and  of  the  Don,  would  have  encamped  in 
Paris  before  tbey  reached  Constantinople? 
Who  would  have  been  believed,  if  he  had 
foretold  that  a  French  invading  force — 
such  as  the  world  never  saw  before,  and,  I 
trust,  will  never  again  see — would  lay 
Moscow  itself  in  ai>hes  ?  These  are  con- 
siderations worthy  of  attention,  before  we 
embark  in  the  project  proposed  by  this 
resolution,  the  consequences  of  which  no 
human  eye  can  divine. 

I  would  respectliiUy  ask  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts,  whether  in  his  very 
able  and  masterly  argument. — and  he  has 
said  all  that  could  be  said  upon  the  sub- 
jeci,  and  more  than  I  supposed  could  be 
said  by  any  man  in  favor  of  his  resolution 
— whether  he  himself  has  not  furnished  an 
answer  to  his  speech — I  had  not  the  happi- 
ness myself  to  hear  his  speech,  but  a  friend 
has  read  it  to  me.  In  one  of  the  argu- 
ments in  that  speech,  toward  the  conclu- 
sion, I  think,  of  his  speech,  the  gentleman 
lays  down,  from  Puffendorf,  in  reference 
to  the  honeyed  words  and  pious  profes- 
sions of  the  holy  alliance,  that  these  are 
all  surplusage,  because  nations  are  always 
supposed  to  be  ready  to  do  what  justice 
and  national  law  require.  Well,  sir,  if 
this  be  so,  wTiy  may  not  the  Greeks  pre- 
sume— why  are  they  not,  on  this  principle, 
bound  to  presume,  that  this  government  is 
disposed  to  do  al',  in  reference  to  them, 
that  they  ought  tx)  do,  without  any  formal 
resolutions  to  that  effect  ?  I  ask  the  gen- 
tleman from  Massachusetts,  whether  the 
doctrine  of  Puffendorf  does  not  apply  as 
strongly  to  the  resolution  as  to  the  declara- 
tion of  the  allies — that  is,  if  the  resolution 
of  the  gentleman  be  indeed  that  almost 
nothing  he  would  have  us  suppose,  if  there 
be  not  something  behind  this  nothing 
which  divides  this  house  (not  horizontally, 
as  the  gentleman  has  ludicrously  said — but 
vertically)  into  two  unequal  parties,  one 
the  advocate  of  a  splendid  system  of  cru- 
sades, the  other  the  friends  of  peace  and 


harmony ;  the  advocates  of  a  fireside  pol- 
icy— for,  as  had  been  truly  said,  as  long  as 
all  is  right  at  the  fireside,  there  cannot  be 
much  wrong  elsewhere — whether,  I  repeat, 
does  not  the  doctrine  of  Puffendorf  apply 
as  well  to  the  words  of  the  resolution  as  to 
the  words  of  the  holv  alliance  ? 

But,  sir,  we  have  already  done  more  than 
this.  The  president  of  the  United  States, 
the  only  organ  of  communication  which 
the  people  have  seen  fit  to  establish  be- 
tween us  and  foreign  powers,  has  already 
expressed  all,  in  reference  to  Greece,  that 
the  resolution  goes  to  express  actiim  est — 
it  is  done — it  is  finished — there  is  an  end. 
Not,  that  I  would  have  the  house  to  infer, 
that  I  mean  to  express  any  opinion  as  to  the 
policy  of  such  a  declaration — the  practice 
of  responding  to  presidential  addresses 
and  messages  nad  gone  out  for,  now,  these 
two  or  three-and-twenty  years. 


Extract  from  Mr.  Hayne's  Speech  against 
the  Tariff  BlU,  In  Cong^reas, 

Jannary,   18;J2. 

Mr.  President, — The  plain  and  seem- 
ingly obvious  truth,  that  in  a  fair  and  equal 
exchange  of  commorlities  all  parties  gained, 
is  a  noble  discovery  of  modern  times.  The 
contrary  principle  naturally  led  to  com- 
mercial rivalries,  wars,  and  abuses  of  all 
sorts.  The  benefits  of  commerce  being  re- 
garded as  a  stake  to  be  won,  or  an  advan- 
tage to  be  wrested  from  others  by  fraud  or 
by  force,  governments  naturally  strove  to  se- 
cure them  to  their  own  subjects;  and  when 
they  once  set  out  in  this  wrong  direction, 
it  was  quite  natural  that  they  should  not 
stop  short  till  they  ended  in  binding,  in  the 
bonds  of  restriction,  not  only  the  whole 
country,  but  all  of  its  parts.  Thus  we  are 
told  tiiat  England  first  protected  by  her 
restrictive  policy,  her  whole  empire  against 
all  the  world,  then  Great  Britain  against 
the  colonies,  then  the  British  islands 
against  each  other,  and  ended  by  vainly 
attempting  to  protect  all  the  great  interest*} 
and  employment  of  the  state  by  balancing 
them  against  each  other.  Sir,  such  a  system, 
carried  fully  out,  is  not  confined  to  rival  na- 
tions, but  protects  one  town  against  another, 
considers  villages,  and  even  families  as 
rivals ;  and  cannot  stop  short  of  "  Robin- 
son Crusoe  in  his  goat  skins."  It  takes 
but  one  step  further  to  make  every  man 
his  own  lawyer,  doctor,  farmer,  and  shoe- 
maker—and, if  I  may  be  allowed  an  Irish- 
ism, his  own  seamstress  and  washerwoman. 
The  doctrine  of  free  trade,  on  the  contrary, 
is  founded  on  the  true  social  system.  It 
looks  on  all  mankind  as  children  of  a  com- 
mon parent — and  the  great  family  of  na- 
tions as  linked  together  by  mutual  interests. 
Sir,  as  there  is  a  religion,  so  I  believe  there 
is  a  politics  of  nature.  Cast  your  eyes  over 


22 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


this  various  earth — eee  its  surface  diversi- 
fied by  hills  and  valleys,  rocks,  and  fertile 
fields.  Notice  its  different  productions — 
its  infinite  varieties  of  soil  and  climate.  See 
the  mighty  rivers  winding  their  way  to  the 
very  mountain's  base,  and  thence  guiding 
•man  to  the  vast  ocean,  dividing,  yet  con- 
necting nations.  Can  any  man  who  con- 
siders these  things  with  the  eye  of  a  philo- 
sopher, not  read  the  design  of  the  great 
Creator  (written  legibly  in  his  works)  that 
his  children  should  be  drawn  together  in 
a  free  commercial  intercourse,  and  mutual 
exchanges  of  the  various  gifts  with  which 
a  bountiful  Providence  has  blessed  them. 
Commerce,  sir,  restricted  even  as  she  has 
been,  has  been  the  great  source  of  civiliza- 
tion and  refinement  all  over  the  world. 
Next  to  the  Christian  religion,  I  consider 
free  trade  in  its  largest  sense  as  the  greatest 
blessing  that  can  be  conferred  upon  any 
people.  Hear,  sir,  what  Patrick  Henry, 
the  great  orator  of  Virginia,  whose  soul 
was  the  very  temple  of  freedom,  says  on 
this  subject : — 

"  Why  should  we  fetter  commerce?  If 
a  man  is  in  chains,  he  droops  and  bows  to 
the  earth,  because  his  spirits  are  broken, 
but  let  him  twist  the  fetters  from  his  legs, 
and  he  will  stand  erect.  Fetter  not  com- 
merce !  Let  her  be  as  free  as  the  air.  She 
will  range  the  whole  creation,  and  return 
on  the  four  winds  of  heaven  to  bless  the 
land  with  plenty." 

But,  it  has  been  said,  that  free  trade 
would  do  very  well,  if  all  nations  would 
adopt  it;  but  as  it  is,  every  nation  must 
protect  itself  from  the  effe^it  of  restrictions 
Dy  countervailing  measures.  I  am  per- 
suaded, sir,  that  this  is  a  great,  a  most 
fatal  error.  If  retaliation  is  resorted  to  for 
the  honest  purpose  of  producing  a  redress 
of  the  grievance,  and  while  adhered  to  no 
longer  than  there  is  a  hope  of  success,  it 
may,  like  war  itself,  be  sometimes  just  and 
necessary.  Bit  if  it  have  no  such  object, 
"  it  is  the  unprofitable  combat  of  seeing 
which  can  do  the  other  the  most  harm." 
The  case  can  hardly  be  conceived  in  which 
permanent  restrictions,  as  a  measure  of  re- 
taliation, could  be  profitable.  In  every 
possible  situation,  a  trade,  whether  more 
or  less  restricted,  is  profitable,  or  it  is  not. 
This  can  only  be  decided  by  experience, 
and  if  the  trade  be  left  to  regulate  itself, 
water  would  not  more  naturally  seek  its 
level,  thaH  the  intercourse  adjust  itself  to 
the  true  interest  of  the  parties.  Sir,  as  to 
this  idea  of  the  regulation  by  government 
of  the  pursuits  of  men,  I  consider  it  as  a 
remnant  of  barbarism  disgraceful  to  an  en- 
lightened age,  and  inconsistent  with  the 
first  principles  of  rational  liberty.  I  hold 
government  to  be  utterly  incapable,  from 
its  position,  of  exercising  sucii  a  power 
wisely,  prudently,  or  jastly.  Are  the 
rulers  of^  the  world  the  dei>ositarie8  of  its 


collected  wisdom  ?  Sir,  can  we  forget  the 
advice  of  a  great  statesman  to  his  son — 
"  Go,  see  the  world,  my  son,  that  you  may 
learn  with  how  little  wisdom  mankind  is 
governed."  And  is  our  own  government 
an  exception  to  this  rule,  or  do  we  not  find 
here,  as  every  where  else,  that 

"  Man,  proud  man, 
Kobed  in  a  little  brief  authority, 
Pla.v8  such  fantastic  tricks  before  high  heaven. 
As  make  the  angeU  weep?" 

The  gentleman  has  appealed  to  the  ex- 
ample of  other  nations.    Sir,  they  are  all 
against  him.     They  have  had  restrictions 
enough,  to  be  sure;   but  they  are  getting 
heartily  sick  of  them,  and  in  England,  par- 
ticularly, would  willingly  get  rid  of  them 
if  they  could.     We  have  been  assured,  by 
the  declaration  of  a  minister  of  the  crown, 
from  his  place  in  parliament,  "  that  there 
is  a  growing  conviction,  among  all  men  of 
sense  and  reflection  in  that  country,  that 
the  true  policy  of  all  nations  is  to  be  found 
in  unrestricted  industry.    Sir,  in  England 
they  are  now  retracing  their  steps,  and  en- 
deavoring to  relieve  themselves   of    the 
systenj  as  fast  as  they  can.    Within  a  few 
years  past,  upwards  of  three  hundred  sta- 
tutes, imposing  restrictions  in  that  coun- 
try, have  been  repealed ;  and  a  case  has 
recently  occurred  there,  which  seems  to 
leave  no  doubt  that,  if  Great  Britain  has 
grown  great,  it  is,  as  Mr.  Huskisson  has 
declared,  "  not  in  consequence  of,  but  in 
spite  of  their  restrictions."  The  silk  manu- 
facture, protected  by  enormous  bounties, 
was  found  to  be  in  such  a  declining  condi- 
tion, that  the  government  was  obliged  to 
do  something  to  save  it  from  total  ruin. 
And  what  did  they  do?    They  consider- 
ably reduced  the  duty  on  foreign  silks, 
both  on  the  raw  material  and  the  manu- 
factured  article.     The    consequence  was 
the  immediate  revival  of  the  silk  manufac- 
ture, which  has  since  been  nearly  doubled. 
Sir^  the  experience  of  France  is  equally 
decisive.     Bonaparte's  effort  to  introduce 
cotton   and  sugar  has   cost  that  country 
millions ;  and,  out  the  other  day,  a  foolish 
attempt  to  protect  the  iron  mines  spread 
devastation  through  half  of  France,  and 
nearly  ruined  the  wine  trade,  on  which  one 
fifth  of  her  citizens  depend  for  subsistence. 
As    to    Spain,   unhappy    Spain,   "  fenced 
round  with  restrictions,"  her  experience, 
one  would  suppose,  would  convince  us,  if 
anything  could,  that  the  protecting  system 
in  politics,  like  bigotry  in  religion,  was  ut- 
terly at  war  with  sound  principles  and  a 
liberal  and  enlightened  policy.    Sir,  I  say, 
in  the  words  of  the  philosophical  statesman 
of  England,  "  leave  a  generous  nation  free 
to  seek    their  own  road  to  perfection." 
Thank  God,  the  night  is  passing  away,  and 
we  have  lived  to  see  the  dawn  of  a  glorious 
day.   The  cause  of  free  trade  must  and  will 
prosper,  and  finally  triumph.    The  politi- 


BOOK  III.] 


CLAY    ON    HIS    LAND  BILL. 


23 


cal  economist  is  abroad ;  light  has  come 
into  the  world ;  and,  in  this  instance  at 
least,  men  will  not  "  prefer  darkness  rather 
than  light."  Sir,  let  it  not  be  said,  in  after 
times,  that  the  statesmen  of  America  were 
behind  the  age  in  which  they  lived — that 
they  initiated  this  young  and  vigorous 
country  into  the  enervating  and  corrupt- 
ing practices  of  European  nations — and 
that,  at  the  moment  when  the  whole  world 
were  looking  to  us  for  an  example,  we  ar- 
rayed ourselves  in  the  cast-oflf  follies  and 
exploded  errors  of  the  old  world,  and,  by 
the  introduction  of  a  vile  system  of  artifi- 
cial stimulants  and  political  gambling,  im- 
paired the  healthful  vigor  of  the  body 
politic,  and  brought  on  a  decrepitude  and 
premature  dissolution. 


Mr.  Clajr's  Speech  on  his  Fahllc  liands  Bill. 

Mb.  President, — Although  I  find  my- 
self borne  down  by  the  severest  afliiction 
with  which  Providence  has  ever  been 
pleased  to  visit  me,  I  have  thought  that 
my  private  griefs  ought  not  longer  to  pre- 
vent me  from  attempting,  ill  as  I  feel  quali- 
fied, to  discharge  my  public  duties.  And  I 
now  rise,  in  pursuance  of  the  notice  which 
has  been  given,  to  ask  leave  to  introduce  a 
bill  to  appropriate,  for  a  limited  time,  the 
proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  of 
the  United  States,  and  for  granting  land  to 
certain  states. 

I  feel  it  incumbent  on  me  to  make  a 
brief  explanation  of  the  highly  important 
measure  which  I  have  now  the  honor  to 
propose.  The  bill  which  I  desire  to  intro- 
duce, provides  for  the  distribution  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  public  lands  in  the  years 
1833,  1834, 1835, 1836  and  1837,  among  the 
twenty-four  states  of  the  union,  and  con- 
forms substantially  to  that  which  passed  in 
1833.  It  is  therefore  of  a  temporary  char- 
acter ;  but  if  it  shall  be  found  to  have  sal- 
utary operation,  it  will  be  in  the  power  of 
a  future  congress  to  give  it  an  indefinite 
continuance ;  and  if  otherwise,  it  will  ex- 
pire by  its  own  terms.  In  the  event  of  war 
unfortunately  breaking  out  with  any  for- 
eign power,  the  bill  is  to  cease,  and  the 
fund  which  it  distributes  is  to  be  applied 
to  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  The  bill 
directs  that  ten  per  cent,  of  the  net  pro- 
ceeds of  the  public  lands  sold  within  the 
limits  of  the  seven  new  states,  shall  be  fiirst 
set  apart  for  them,  in  addition  to  the  five 
per  cent,  reserved  by  their  several  com- 
pacts with  the  United  States  ;  and  that  the 
residue  of  the  proceeds,  whether  from  sales 
made  in  the  states  or  territories,  shall  be 
divided  among  the  twenty-four  states  in 
proportion  to  their  respective  federal  popu- 
lation. In  this  respect  the  bill  conforms 
to  that  which  was  introduced  in  1832.  For 
«ne,  I  should  have  been  willing  to  have 


allowed  the  new  states  twelve  and  a  half 
instead  of  ten  per  cent. ;  but  as  that  was 
objected  to  by  the  president,  in  his  veto 
message,  and  has  been  opposed  in  other 
quarters,  I  thought  it  best  to  restrict  the 
allowance  to  the  more  moderate  sum.  The 
bill  also  contains  large  and  liberal  grants 
of  land  to  several  of  tne  new  states,  to  place 
them  upon  an  equality  with  others  to  which 
the  bounty  of  congress  has  been  heretofore 
extended,  and  provides  that,  when  other 
new  states  shall  he  admitted  into  the  union, 
they  shall  receive  their  share  of  the  com- 
mon fund. 
****♦«»* 

Mr.  President,  I  have  ever  regarded,  with 
feelings  of  the  profoundest  regret,  the  de- 
cision which  the  president  of  the  United 
States  felt  himself  induced  to  make  on  the 
bill  of  1833.  If  the  bill  had  passed,  about 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  would  have  been, 
during  the  last  three  years,  in  the  hands  of 
the  several  states,  applicable  by  them  to 
the  beneficent  purposes  of  internal  improve- 
ment, education  or  colonization.  What 
immense  benefits  might  not  have  been  dif- 
fused throughout  the  land  by  the  active 
employment  of  that  larg©  sum  ?  What  new 
channels  of  commerce  and  communication 
might  not  have  been  opened  ?  What  in- 
dustry stimulated,  what  labor  rewarded? 
How  many  youthful  minds  might  have  re- 
ceived the  blessings  of  education  and  know- 
ledge, and  been  rescued  from  ignorance, 
vice,  and  ruin?  How  many  descendants 
of  Africa  might  have  been  transported  from 
a  country  where  they  never  can  enjoy  po- 
litical or  social  equality,  to  the  native  land 
of  their  fathers,  where  no  impediment  ex- 
ists to  their  attainment  of  the  highest  de- 
gree of  elevation,  intellectual,  social  and 
political!  where  they  might  have  been 
successful  instruments,  in  the  hands  of  God, 
to  spread  the  religion  of  His  Son,  and  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  civil  liberty. 

But,  although  we  have  lost  three  precious 
years,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  tells  us 
that  the  principal  of  this  vast  sum  is 
yet  safe;  and  much  good  may  still  be 
achieved  with  it.  The  spirit  of  improve- 
ment pervades  the  land  in  every  variety 
of  form,  active,  vigorous  and  enterprising, 
wanting  pecuniary  aid  as  well  as  intelligent 
direction.  The  states  are  strengthening  the 
union  by  various  lines  of  communication 
thrown  across  and  through  the  mountjuns. 
New  York  has  completed  one  great  chain. 
Pennsylvania  another,  bolder  in  conception 
and  more  arduous  in  the  execution.  Vir- 
ginia has  a  similar  work  in  progress,  worthy 
of  all  her  enterprise  and  energy.  A  fourth, 
further  south,  where  the  parts  of  the  union 
are  too  loosely  connected,  has  been  pro- 
jected, and  it  can  certainly  bo  executed 
with  the  supplies  which  this  bill  aifords, 
and  perhaps  not  without  them. 

This  bill  passed,  and  these  and  other  »• 


24 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


milar  undertakings  completed,  we  may  in- 
dulge the  patriotic  hope  that  our  union  will 
be  bound  by  ties  and  interests  that  render 
it  indissoluble.  As  the  general  government 
withholds  all  direct  agency  from  these  truly 
national  works,  and  from  all  new  objects  of 
internal  improvement,  ought  it  not  to  yield 
to  the  states,  what  is  their  own,  the  amount 
received  from  the  public  lands  ?  It  would 
thus  but  ex'ecute  faithfully  a  trust  expressly 
created  by  the  original  deeds  of  cession,  or 
resulting  from  the  treaties  of  acquisition. 
With  this  ample  resource,  every  desirable 
object  of  improvement,  in  every  part  of  our 
extensive  country,  may  in  due  time  be  ac- 
complished.— Placing  this  exhaustless  fund 
in  the  hands  of  the  several  members  of  the 
confederacy,  their  common  federal  head 
may  address  them  in  the  glowing  language 
of  the  British  bard,  and, 

Bid  harbors  open,  public  ways  extend, 

Bid  temples  worthier  of  the  God  ascend. 

Bid  the  broad  arch  the  dangerous  flood  contain, 

The  mole  projecting  break  the  roaring  main. 

Back  to  bis  bounds  their  subject  sea  command. 

And  roll  obedient  rivers  through  the  land. 

I  confess  I  feel  anxious  for  the  fate  of 
this  measure,  less  on  account  of  any  agency 
I  have  had  in  proposing  it,  as  I  hope  and 
believe,  than  from  a  firm,  sincere  and  tho- 
rough conviction,  that  no  one  measure  ever 
presented  to  the  councils  of  the  nation,  was 
fraught  with  so  much  unmixed  good,  and 
could  exert  such  powerful  and  enduring 
influence  in  the  preservation  of  the  union 
itself  and  upon  some  of  its  highest  interests. 
If  I  can  be  instrumental,  in  any  degree,  in 
the  adoption  of  it,  I  shall  enjoy,  in  that  re- 
tirement into  which  I  hope  shortly  to  en- 
ter, a  heart-feeling  satisfaction  and  a  lasting 
consolation.  I  shall  carry  thereto  regrets, 
no  complaints,  no  reproaches  on  my  own 
account.  When  I  look  back  upon  my  hum- 
ble origin,  left  an  orphan  too  young  to  have 
been  conscious  of  a  father's  smiles  and  ca- 
resses ;  with  a  widowed  mother,  surrounded 
by  a  numerous  offspring,  in  the  midst  of 
pecuniary  embarrassments ;  without  a  re- 
gular education,  without  fortune,  without 
friends,  without  patrons,  I  have  reason  to 
be  satisfied  with  my  public  career.  I  ought 
to  be  thankful  for  the  high  places  and  ho- 
nors to  which  I  have  been  called  by  the 
favor  and  partiality  of  my  countrj'men, 
and  I  am  tnankful  and  grateful.  And  I 
shall  take  with  me  the  pleasing  conscious- 
•ness  that  in  whatever  station  I  have  been 

E laced,  I  have  earnestly  and  honestly  la- 
ored  to  justify  their  confidence  by  a  faith- 
ful, fearless,  and  zealous  discharge  of  my 
ftublic  duties.  Pardon  these  personal  al- 
osions. 


8pe«cli  of  Jolm  C.  Calhonn, 

Agaitut  Uu  PMic  Lands  BiU,  January  2.3,  1841. 

**  Whether  the  government  can  constitu- 
tionally distribute  the  revenue  from  the 


public  lands  among  the  states  must  depend 
on  the  fact  whether  they  belong  to  them 
in  their  united  federal  character,  or  indi- 
vidually and  separately.  If  in  the  for- 
mer, it  is  manifest  that  the  government,  as 
their  common  agent  or  trustee,  can  have 
no  right  to  distribute  among  them,  for 
their  individual,  separate  use,  a  fund  de- 
rived from  property  held  in  their  united 
and  federal  character,  without  a  special 
power  for  that  purpose  which  is  not  pre- 
tended. A  position  so  clear  of  itself  and 
resting  on  the  established  principles  of 
law,  when  applied  to  individuals  holding 
property  in  like  manner,  needs  no  illustra- 
tion. If,  on  the  contrary,  they  belong  to 
the  states  in  their  individual  and  separate 
character,  then  the  government  would  not 
only  have  the  right  but  would  be  bound  to 
apply  the  revenue  to  the  separate  use  of 
the  states.  So  far  is  incontrovertible, 
which  presents  the  question :  In  which  of 
the  two  characters  are  the  lands  held  by 
the  state? 

"To  give  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this 
question,  it  will  be  necessary  to  distinguish 
between  the  lands  that  have  been  ceded  by 
the  states,  and  those  that  have  been  pur- 
chased by  the  government  out  of  the  com- 
mon funds  of  the  Union. 

"The  principal  cessions  were  made  by 
Virginia  and  Georgia.  The  former  of  all 
the  tract  of  country  between  the  Ohio,  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  lakes,  including  the 
states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Mich- 
igan, and  the  territory  of  Wisconsin  ;  and 
the  latter,  of  the  tract  included  in  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi.  I  shall  begin  with 
the  cession  of  Virginia,  as  it  is  on  that 
the  advocates  for  the  distribution  mainly 
rely  to  establish  the  right. 

"  I  hold  in  my  hand  an  extract  of  all 
that  portion  of  the  Virginia  deed  of  cession 
which  has  any  bearing  on  the  point  at 
issue,  taken  from  the  volume  lying  on  the 
table  before  me,  with  the  place  marked, 
and  to  which  any  one  desirous  of  examin- 
ing the  deed  may  refer.  The  cession  is 
'  to  the  United  States  in  Congress  assem- 
bled, for  the  benefit  of  said  states.'  Every 
word  implies  the  states  in  their  united 
federal  character.  That  is  the  meaning  of 
the  phrase  United  States.  It  stands  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  states  taken  separately 
and  individually ;  and  if  there  could  be, 
by  possibility,  any  doubt  on  that  point,  it 
would  be  removed  by  the  expression  '  in 
Congress  assembled ' — an  assemblage  which 
constituted  the  very  knot  that  united  them. 
I  regard  the  execution  of  such  a  deed  to 
the  United  States,  so  assembled,  so  con- 
clusive that  the  cession  was  to  them  in 
their  united  and  aggregate  character,  in 
contradistinction  to  their  individual  and 
separate  character,  and,  by  necessary  con- 
sequence, that  the  lands  so  ceded  belonged 
to  them  in  their  former  and  not  in  theiz 


BOOK  HI.]  HAYNE    ON   SALES    OF   PUBLIC   LANDS. 


25 


latter  character,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  for 
words  to  make  it  clearer.  To  deny  it, 
would  be  to  deny  that  there  ia  any  truth  in 
language. 

"But  strong  as  this  is,  it  is  not  all. 
The  deed  proceeds  and  says,  that  all  the 
lands  so  reded  *  shall  be  considered  a  com- 
mon fund  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  such  of 
the  United  States  as  have  become,  or  shall 
become,  members  of  the  confederation  or 
federal  alliance  of  said  states,  Virginia  in- 
clusive, and  concludes  by  saying,  'and 
shall  be  faithfully  and  bona  fide  disposed 
of  for  that  purpose,  and  for  no  other  use 
or  purpose  whatever.'  12  it  were  possible 
to  raise  a  doubt  before,  those  full,  clear, 
and  explicit  terms  would  dispel  it.  It  is 
impossible  for  language  to  be  clearer.  To 
be  '  considered  a  common  fund '  is  an  ex- 
pression directly  in  contradistinction  to 
separate  or  individual,  and  is,  by  necessary 
implication,  as  clear  a  negative  of  the  lat- 
ter as  if  it  had  been  positively  expressed. 
This  common  fund  to  '  be  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  such  of  the  United  States  as 
have  become,  or  shall  become,  members  of 
the  confederation  or  federal  alliance.'  That 
is  as  clear  as  language  can  express  it,  for 
their  common  use  in  their  united  federal 
character,  Virginia  being  included  as  the 
grantor,  out  of  abundant  caution." 

"The  Senator  from  Kentucky  (Mr. 
Clay),  and,  as  I, now  understand,  the  Sena- 
tor from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Webster), 
agree,  that  the  revenue  from  taxes  can  be 
applied  only  to  the  objects  specifically 
enumerated  in  the  Constitution.  Thus  re- 
pudiating the  general  welfare  principle,  as 
applied  to  the  money  power,  so  far  as  the 
revenue  may  be  derived  from  that  source. 
To  this  extent  they  profess  to  be  good 
State  Rights  JefFersonian  Republicans. 
Now,  sir,  I  would  be  happy  to  be  informed 
by  either  of  the  able  senators,  by  what 
political  alchemy  the  revenue  from  taxes, 
by  being  vested  in  land,  or  other  property, 
can,  when  again  turned  into  revenue  by 
sales,  be  entirely  freed  from  all  the  consti- 
tutional restrictions  to  which  they  were  lia- 
ble before  the  investment,  according  to 
their  own  confessions.  A  satisfactory  ex- 
planation of  so  curious  and  apparently  in- 
comprehensible a  process  would  be  a  treat. 

"  When  I  look,  Mr.  President,  to  what 
induced  the  states,  and  especially  Virginia, 
to  make  this  magnificent  cession  to  the 
Union,  and  the  high  and  patriotic  motives 
urged  by  the  old  Congress  to  induce  them 
to  do  it,  and  turn  to  what  is  now  pro- 
posed, I  am  struck  with  the  contrast  and 
the  great  nwitation  to  which  human  affairs 
are  subject.  The  great  and  patriotic  men 
of  former  times  regarded  it  as  essential  to 
the  consummation  of  the  Union  and  the 

{)re8ervation  of  the  public  faith  that  the 
ands  should  be  ceded  as  a  common  fund ; 
but    now,    men   distinguished   for   their 


ability  and  influence  are  striving  with  all 
their  might  to  undo  their  holy  work.  Yes, 
sir ;  distribution  and  cession  are  the  very 
reverse,  in  character  and  effect;  the  ten- 
dency of  one  is  to  union,  and  the  other  to 
disunion.  The  wisest  of  modern  states- 
men, and  who  had  the  keenest  and  deepest 
glance  into  futurity  (Edmund  Burke), 
truly  said  that  the  revenue  is  the  state ;  to 
which  I  add,  that  to  distribute  the  revenue, 
in  a  confederated  community,  amongst  its 
members,  is  to  dissolve  the  community — 
that  is,  with  us,  the  Union — as  time  will 
prove,  if  ever  this  fatal  measure  should  be 
adopted." 


Speech  of  Hon.  Robt.  T.  Hayne 

Senator  from  South  CarolUia,  delivered  in  the  Senate  Chambtr 

January  21,18;jO,  on  Mr.  Foot's  resolution  relating 

to  the  sale*  of  the  public  lands. 

Mr.  Hayne  said,  when  he  took  occasion, 
two  days  ago,  to  throw  out  some  ideas  with 
respect  to  the  policy  of  the  government, 
in  relation  to  the  public  lands,  nothing 
certainly  could  have  been  further  from  his 
thoughts,  than  that  he  should  have  been 
compelled  again  to  throw  himself  upon  the 
indulgence  of  the  Senate.  Little  did  I 
expect,  said  Mr.  H.,  to  be  called  upon  to 
meet  such  an  argument  as  was  yesterday 
urged  by  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
(Mr.  Webster.)  Sir,  I  questioned  no  man's 
opinions ;  I  impeached  no  man's  motives ; 
I  charged  no  party,  or  state,  or  section  of 
country  with  hostility  to  any  other,  but 
ventured,  as  I  thought,  in  a  becoming  spirit 
to  put  forth  my  own  sentiments  in  relation 
to  a  great  national  question  of  public 
policy.  Such  was  my  course.  The  gentle- 
man from  Missouri,  (Mr.  Benton,)  it  is 
true,  had  charged  upon  the  Eastern  States 
an  early  and  continued  hostility  towards 
the  west,  and  referred  to  a  number  of  his- 
torical facts  and  documents  in  support  of 
that  charge.  Now,  sir,  how  have  these 
different  arguments  been  met?  The  honor- 
able gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  after 
deliberating  a  whole  night  upon  his  course, 
comes  into  .this  chamber  to  vindicate  New 
England;  and  instead  of  making  up  his 
issue  with  the  gentleman  from  Missouri, 
on  the  charges  which  he  had  preferred, 
chooses  to  consider  me  as  the  author  of 
those  charges,  and  losing  sight  entirely  of 
that  gentleman,  selects  me  as  his  adversary, 
and  pours  out  all  the  vials  of  his  mighty 
wratn  upon  my  devoted  head.  Nor  is  he 
willing  to  stop  there.  He  goes  on  to  assail 
the  institutions  and  policy  of  the  south, 
and  calls  in  question  the  principles  and 
conduct  of  the  state  whicii  I  have  the 
honor  to  represent.  When  I  find  a  gentle- 
man of  mature  age  and  experience,  of  ac- 
knowledged talents  and  profound  sagacity, 
pursuing  a  course  like  this,  declining  tHe 
contest  oflfered  from  the  West,  and  making 


26 


A.MERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


war  upon  the  unoffending  south,  I  must 
believe,  I  am  bound  to  believe,  he  has  some 
object  in  view  which  he  has  not  ventured 
to  disclose.  Mr.  President,  why  is  this  ? 
Has  the  gentleman  discovered  in  former 
controversies  with  the  gentleman  from 
Missouri,  that  he  is  overmatched  by  that 
senator?  And  does  he  hope  for  an  easy  vic- 
tory over  a  more  feeble  adversary  ?  Has  the 
gentleman's  distempered  fancy  been  dis- 
turbed by  gloomy  forebodings  of  "new 
alliances  to  be  formed,"  at  which  he  hinted  ? 
Has  the  ghost  of  the  murdered  Coalition 
come  back,  like  the  ghost  of  Banquo,  to 
"sear  the  eyeballs  of  the  gentleman,"  and 
will  it  not  down  at  his  bidding?  Are  dark 
visions  of  broken  hopes,  and  honors  lost 
forever,  still  floating  before  his  heated 
imagination?  Sir,  if  it  be  his  object  to 
thrust  me  between  the  gentleman  from 
Missouri  and  himself,  in  order  to  rescue 
the  east  from  the  contest  it  has  provoked 
with  the  west,  he  shall  not  be  gratified. 
Sir,  I  will  not  be  dragged  into  the  defence 
of  my  friend  from  Missouri.  The  south 
shall  not  be  forced  into  a  conflict  not  its 
own.  The  gentleman  from  Missouri  is 
able  to  fight  his  own  battles.  The  gallant 
west  needs  no  aid  from  the  south  to  repel 
any  attack  which  may  be  made  on  them 
from  any  quarter.  Let  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  con..rovert  the  facts  and 
arguments  of  the  gentleman  from  Mis- 
souri, if  he  can — and  if  he  win  the  victory, 
let  him  wear  the  honors ;  I  shall  not  de- 
prive him  of  his  laurels. 

The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  in 
reply  to  my  remarks  on  the  injurious 
operations  oi  our  land  system  on  the  pros- 
perity of  the  west,  pronounced  an  extrav- 
agant eulogium  on  the  paternal  care  which 
the  government  had  extended  towards  the 
west,  to  which  he  attributed  all  that  was 
great  and  excellent  in  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  new  states.  The  language  of 
the  gentleman  on  this  topic  fell  upon  my 
ears  like  the  almost  forgotten  tones  of  the 
tory  leaders  of  the  British  Parliament,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  American  revo- 
lution. They,  too,  discovered  that  the 
colonies  had  grown  great  under  the  foster- 
ing care  of  the  mother  country;  and  I 
must  confess,  while  listening  to  the  gentle- 
man, I  thought  the  appropriate  reply  to 
his  argument  was  to  be  found  in  the  re- 
mark of  a  celebrated  orator,  made  on  that 
occasion :  "  They  have  grown  great  in  spite 
of  your  protection." 

The  gentleman,  in  commenting  on  the 
policy  of  the  government  in  relation  to  the 
new  states,  has  introduced  to  our  notice  a 
certain  Nathan  Dane,  of  Massachusetts, 
to  whom  he  attributes  the  celebrated  ordi- 
nance of  '87,  by  which  he  tells  us,  "  slavery 
was  forever  excluded  from  the  new  states 
north  of  the  Ohio."  After  eulogizing  the 
wisdom  of  this  provision  in  terms  of  the 


most  extravagant  praise,  he  breaks  forth  in 
admiration  of  the  greatness  of  Nathan 
Dane — ^and  great  indeed  he  must  be,  if  it 
be  true,  as  stated  by  the  senator  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, that  "he  was  greater  than 
Solon  and  Lycurgus,  Minos,  Numa  Pom- 
pilius,  and  all  the  legislators  and  philoso- 
phers of  the  world,"  ancient  and  modern. 
Sir,  to  such  high  authority  it  is  certainly 
my  duty,  in  a  becoming  spirit  of  humility, 
to  submit.  And  yet,  the  gentleman  will 
pardon  me,  when  I  say,  that  it  is  a  little 
unfortunate  for  the  fame  of  this  great  legis- 
lator, that  the  gentleman  from  Missouri 
should  have  proved  that  he  was  not  the 
author  of  the  ordinance  of  '87,  on  which 
the  senator  from  Massachusetts  has  reared 
so  glorious  a  monument  to  his  name.  Sir, 
I  doubt  not  the  senator  will  feel  some  com- 
passion for  our  ignorance,  when  I  tell  him, 
that  so  little  are  we  acquainted  with  the 
modern  great  men  of  New  England,  that 
until  he  informed  us  yesterday  that  we  pos- 
sessed a  Solon  and  a  Lycurgus  in  the  person 
of  Nathan  Dane,  he  was  only  known  to 
the  south  as  a  member  of  a  celebrated 
assembly,  called  and  known  by  the  name 
of  the  "Hartford  Convention."  In  the 
proceedings  of  that  assembly,  which  I  hold 
in  my  hand,  (at  p.  19,)  will  be  found  in  a 
few  lines,  the  history  of  Nathan  Dane; 
and  a  little  farther  on,  there  is  conclusive 
evidence  of  that  ardent  devotion  to  the 
interest  of  the  new  states,  which,  it  seems, 
has  given  him  a  just  claim  to  the  title  oi 
"  Father  of  the  West."  By  the  2d  resolu- 
tion of  the  "  Hartford  Convention,"  it  is 
declared,  "  that  it  is  expedient  to  attempt 
to  make  provisionybr  restraining  Congvess 
in  the  exercise  of  an  unlimited  power  to 
make  new  states,  and  admitting  them  into 
the  Union."  So  much  for  Nathan  Dane, 
of  Beverly,  Massachusetts. 

In  commenting  upon  my  views  in  rela- 
tion to  the  public  lands,  the  gentleman  in- 
sists, that  it  being  one  of  the  conditions  of 
the  grants  that  these  lands  should  be  ap- 
plied to  "  the  common  benefit  of  all  the 
states,  they  must  always  remain  a  fund  for 
revenue; "  and  adds,  "  they  must  be  treated 
as  so  much  treasure."  Sir,  the  gentleman 
could  hardly  find  language  strong  enough 
to  convey  his  disapprobation  of  the  policy 
which  I  had  ventured  to  recommend  to  the 
favorable  consideration  of  the  country. 
And  what,  sir,  was  that  policy,  and  what 
is  the  difference  between  that  gentleman 
and  myself  on  that  subject?  I  threw  out 
the  idea  that  the  public  lands  ought  not  to 
be  reserved  forever,  as  "a  great  fund 
for  revenue ;  "  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
"  treated  as  a  great  treasure  ; "  but  that  the 
course  of  our  policy  should  rather  be  di- 
rected toward  the  creation  of  new  states, 
and  building  up  great  and  flourishing 
communities. 

Now,  sir,  will  it  be  believed,  by  those 


BOOK  III.] 


MR.  HAYNE  ON  FOOT'S  RESOLUTION. 


27 


who  now  hear  me, — and  who  listened  to 
the  gentleman's  denunciation  of  my  doc- 
trines yesterday, — ^that  a  book  then  lay 
open  before  him — nay,  that  he  held  it  in 
his  hand,  and  read  from  it  certain  passa- 
ges of  his  own  speech,  delivered  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  1825,  in  which 
speech  he  himself  contended  for  the  very 
doctrine  I  had  advocated,  and  almost  in 
the  same  terms  ?  Here  is  the  speech  of 
the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  contained  in  the 
first  volume  of  Grales  and  Seaton's  Regis- 
ter of  Debates,  (p.  251,)  delivered  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  on  the  18th  of 
January,  1825,  in  a  debate  on  the  Cum- 
herland  road — the  very  debate  from  which 
the  senator  read  yesterday.  T  shall  read 
from  the  celebrated  speech  two  passages, 
from  which  it  will  appear  that  both  as  to 
the  past  and  the  future  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  relation  to  the  public  lands, 
the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  main- 
tained, in  1825j  substantially  the  same 
opinions  which  I  have  advanced,  but 
which  he  now  so  strongly  reprobates.  I 
said,  sir,  that  the  system  of  credit  sales  by 
which  the  west  had  been  kept  constantly 
in  debt  to  the  United  States,  and  by  which 
their  wealth  was  drained  off  to  be  expended 
elsewhere,  had  operated  injuriously  on 
their  prosperity.  On  this  point  the  gentle- 
man from  Massachusetts,  in  January,  1825, 
expressed  himself  thus  :  "  There  could  be 
no  doubt,  if  gentlemen  looked  at  the 
money  received  into  the  treasury  from  the 
sale  of  the  public  lands  to  the  west,  and 
then  looked  to  the  whole  amount  expended 
by  government,  (even  including  the  whole 
amount  of  what  was  laid  out  for  the  army,) 
the  latter  must  be  allowed  to  be  very  in- 
considerable, and  there  must  be  a  constant 
drain  of  money  from  the  west  to  pay  for  the 
public  lands."  It  might  indeed  be  said 
that  this  was  no  more  than  the  refluence  of 
capital  which  had  previously  gone  over 
the  mountains.  Be  it  so.  Still  its  practical 
effect  was  to  produce  inconvenience,  if  not 
distress,  by  absorbing  the  money  of  thepeople. 
I  contended  that  the  public  lands  ought 
not  to  be  treated  merely  as  "  a  fund  for  re- 
venue ; "  that  they  ought  not  to  be  hoarded 
"  as  a  great  treasure."  On  this  point  the 
senator  expressed  himself  thus  :  '  Govern- 
ment, he  believed,  had  received  eighteen 
or  twenty  millions  of  dollars  from  the  pub- 
lic lands,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  satis- 
faction he  adverted  to  the  change  which 
had  been  introduced  in  the  mode  of  pay- 
ing for  them  ;  yet  he  could  never  think  the 
national  domain  was  to  be  regarded  as  any 
great  source  of  revenue.  The  great  object 
of  the  government,  in  respect  of  these 
lands,  was  not  so  much  the  money  derived 
from  their  sale,  as  it  was  the  getting  them 
'settled.  What  he  meant  to  say  was,  he  did 
not  think  they  ought  to  hug  that  domain  AS  A 
GEEAT  TBEA8URE,  to  enrich  the  Exchequer." 


Now,  Mr.  President,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  very  doctrines  which  the  gentleman 
so  indignantly  abandons  were  urged  by 
him  in  1825 ;  and  if  I  had  actually  bor- 
rowed my  sentiments  from  those  which 
he  then  avowed,  I  could  not  have  followed 
more  closely  in  his  footsteps.  Sir,  it  is 
only  since  the  gentleman  quoted  this  book, 
yesterday,  that  my  attention  has  been 
turned  to  the  sentiments  he  expressed  in 
1825 ;  and  if  I  had  remembered  them,  I 
might  possibly  have  been  deterred  from 
uttering  sentiments  here,  which,  it  might 
well  be  supposed,  I  had  borrowed  from 
that  gentleman. 

In  1825,  the  gentleman  told  the  world 
that  the  public  lands  "  ought  not  to  be 
treated  as  a  treasure."  He  now  tells  us 
that  "they  must  be  treated  as  so  much 
treasure."  What  the  deliberate  opinion 
of  the  gentleman  on  this  subject  may  be, 
belongs  not  to  me  to  determine ;  but  I  do 
not  think  he  can,  with  the  shadow  of  jus- 
tice or  propriety,  impugn  my  sentiments, 
while  his  own  recorded  opinions  are  iden- 
tical with  my  own.  When  the  gentleman 
refers  to  the  conditions  of  the  grants  under 
which  the  United  States  have  acquired 
these  lands,  and  insists  that,  as  they  are 
declared  to  be  "  for  the  common  benefit  oi 
all  the  states,"  fhcy  can  only  be  treated  as 
so  much  treasure,  1  think  he  has  applied  a 
rule  of  construction  too  narrow  lor  the 
case.  If  in  the  deeds  of  cession  it  has 
been  declared  that  the  grants  were  in- 
tended for  "  the  common  benefit  of  all  the 
states,"  it  is  clear,  from  other  provisions, 
that  they  were  not  intended  merely  as  so 
much  property  ;  for  it  is  expressly  declared, 
that  the  object  of  the  grants  is  the  erection 
of  new  states  ;  and  the  United  States,  in 
accepting  this  trust,  bind  themselves  to 
tacilitate  the  foundation  of  these  states, 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  with 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
original  states.  This,  sir,  was  the  great 
end  to  which  all  parties  looked,  and  it  is 
by  the  fulfillment  of  this  high  trust  that 
"  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  states  "  is 
to  be  best  promoted.  Sir,  let  me  tell  the 
gentleman,  that  in  the  part  of  the  country 
in  which  I  live,  we  do  not  measure  politi- 
cal benefits  by  the  money  standard.  We 
consider  as  more  valuable  than  gold  liber- 
ty, principle,  and  justice.  But,  sir,  if  we 
are  Dound  to  act  on  the  narrow  principles 
contended  for  by  the  gentleman,  I  am 
wholly  at  a  loss  to  conceive  how  he  can 
reconcile  his  principles  with  his  own  prac- 
tice. The  lands  are,  it  seems,  to  be  treated 
"  as  so  much  treasure,"  and  must  be  ap- 
plied to  the  "  common  benefit  of  all  the 
states."  Now,  if  tliis  be  so,  whence  does 
he  derive  the  right  to  approi)riate  them  for 
partial  and  local  objects?  How  can  the 
gentleman  consent  to  vote  awajr  immense 
bodies  of  these  lands  for  canals  xn  Indiana 


28 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


and  Illinois,  to  the  Louisville  and  Portland 
Canal,  to  Kenyon  College  in  Ohio,  to 
Schools  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  and  other 
objects  of  a  similar  description  ?  If  grants 
of  this  character  can  fairly  be  considered 
as  made  "  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the 
states,"  it  can  only  be,  because  all  the 
states  are  interested  in  the  welfare  of  each 
— a  principle  which,  carried  to  the  full 
extent,  destroys  all  distinction  between 
local  and  national  objects,  and  is  certainly 
broad  enough  to  embrace  the  principles  for 
which  I  have  ventured  to  contend.  Sir, 
the  true  difference  between  as  I  take  to  be 
this :  the  gentleman  wishes  to  treat  the 
public  lan^  as  a  great  treasure,  just  as  so 
much  money  in  the  treasury,  to  be  applied 
to  all  objects,  constitutional  and  unconsti- 
tutional, to  which  the  public  money  is 
constantly  applied.  I  consider  it  as  a 
sacred  trust  which  we  ought  to  fulfil,  on 
the  principles  for  which  I  have  con- 
tended. 

The  senator  from  Massachusetts  has 
thought  proper  to  present,  in  strong  con- 
trast, the  friendly  feelings  of  the  east  to- 
wards the  west,  with  sentiments  of  an  op- 
posite character  displayed  by  the  south  in 
relation  to  appropriations  for  internal  im- 
provements. Now,  sir,  let  it  be  recollected 
that  the  south  have  made  no  professions ; 
I  have  certainly  made  none  m  their  be- 
half, of  regard  for  the  weit.  It  has  been 
reserved  for  the  gentleman  from  Massa- 
chusetts, while  he  vaunts  over  his  own 
personal  devotion  to  western  interests,  to 
claim  for  the  entire  section  of  country  to 
which  he  belongs  an  ardent  friendship  for 
the  west,  as  manifested  by  their  support  of 
the  system  of  internal  improvement,  while 
he  casts  in  our  teeth  the  reproach  that  the 
south  has  manifested  hostility  to  western 
interests  in  opposing  appropriations  for 
such  objects.  That  gentleman,  at  the 
same  time,  acknowledged  that  the  south 
entertains  constitutional  scruples  on  this 
subject.  Are  we  then,  sir,  to  understand  that 
the  gentleman  considers  it  a  just  subject 
of  reproach  that  we  respect  our  oaths,  by 
which  we  are  bound  "  to  preserve,  protect, 
and  defend  the  constitution  of  the  U. 
States?"  Would  the  gentleman  have  us 
manifest  our  love  to  the  west  by  trampling 
under  foot  our  constitutional  scruples  ? 
Doe?  he  not  perceive,  if  the  south  is  to  be 
reproached  with  unkindness  to  the  west,  in 
voting  against  appropriations  which  the 
gentleman  admits  they  could  not  vote  for 
without  doing  violence  to  their  constitu- 
tional opinions,,  that  he  exposes  himself  to 
the  q^uestion,  whether,  if  ne  was  in  our 
situation,  he  could  vote  for  these  appro- 
priations, regardless  of  his  scruples  ?  No, 
sir,  I  will  not  do  the  gentleman  so  great 
injustice.  He  has  fallen  into  this  error 
from  not  having  duly  weighed  the  force 
and  effect  of  the  reproach  which  he  was 


endeavoring  to  cast  upon  the  south.  In 
relation  to  the  other  point,  the  friendship 
manifested  by  New  England  towards  the 
west,  in  their  support  of  the  system  of  in- 
ternal improvement,  the  gentleman  will 
pardon  me  for  saying,  that  I  think  he  is 
equally  unfortunate  in  having  introduced 
that  topic.  As  that  gentleman  has  forced 
it  upon  us,  however,  I  cannot  suffer  it  to 
pass  unnoticed.  When  the  gentleman 
tells  us  that  the  appropriations  for  internal 
improvement  in  the  west  would,  in  almost 
every  instance,  have  failed  but  for  New 
England  votes,  he  has  forgotten  to  tell  us 
the  when,  the  how,  and  the  where/ore  this 
new-born  zeal  for  the  west  sprung  up  in 
the  bosom  of  New  England.  If  we  look 
back  only  a  few  years,  we  will  find  in 
both  houses  of  Congress  a  uniform  and 
steady  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  mem- 
bers from  the  Eastern  States,  generally,  to 
all  appropriations  of  this  character.  At 
the  time  I  became  a  member  of  this  house, 
and  for  some  time  afterwards,  a  decided 
majority  of  the  New  England  senators 
were  opposed  to  the  very  measures  which 
the  senator  from  Massachusetts  tells  us 
they  now  cordially  support.  Sir,  the 
Journals  are  before  me,  and  an  examina- 
tion of  them  will  satisfy  every  gentleman 
of  that  fact. 

It  must  be  well  known  to  every  one 
whose  experience  dates  back  as  lar  as 
1825,  that  up  to  a  certain  period.  New 
England  was  generally  opposed  to  appro- 
priations for  internal  improvements  in  the 
west.  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
may  be  himself  an  exception,  but  if  he 
went  for  the  system  before  1825,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  his  colleagues  did  not  go  with 
him. 

In  the  session  of  1824  and  '25,  however, 
(a  memorable  era  in  the  history  of  this 
country,)  a  wonderful  change  took  place 
in  New  England,  in  relation  to  western  in- 
terests. Sir,  an  extraordinary  union  of 
sympathies  and  of  interests  was  then  ef- 
fected, which  brought  the  east  and  the 
west  into  close  alliance.  The  book  from 
which  I  have  before  read  contains  the  first 
public  annunciation  of  that  happy  recon- 
ciliation of  conflicting  interests,  personal 
and  political,  which  brought  the  east  and 
west  together  and  locked  in  a  fraternal 
embrace  the  two  great  orators  of  the  east 
and  the  west.  Sir,  it  was  on  the  18th  of 
January,  1825,  while  the  result  of  the 
presidential  election,  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, was  still  doubtful,  while  the 
whole  country  was  looking  with  intense 
anxiety  to  that  legislative  hall  where  the 
mighty  drama  was  so  soon  to  be  acted, 
that  we  saw  the  leaders  of  two  great  par- 
ties in  the  house  and  in  the  nation,  "  tak- 
ing sweet  counsel  together,"  and  in  a  cele- 
brated debate  on  the  Cumberland  road, 
fighting  side  by  side  for  western  interests. 


BOOK  III.]  MR.    HAYNE    ON    FOOT'S    RESOLUTION. 


29 


It  was  on  that  memorable  occasion  that 
the  senator  from  Massachusetts  held  out 
the  white  flag  to  the  west,  and  uttered  those 
liberal  sentiments  which  he  yesterday  so 
indignantly  repudiated.  Then  it  was,  that 
that  happy  union  between  the  two  mem- 
bers of  the  celebrated  coalition  was  con- 
summated, whose  immediate  issue  was  a 
president  from  one  quarter  of  the  Union, 
with  the  succession  (as  it  was  supposed) 
secured  to  another.  The  "American  sys- 
tem," before  a  rude,  disjointed,  and 
misshapen  mass,  now  assumed  form 
and  consistency.  Then  it  was  that  it 
became  "  the  settled  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment," that  this  system  should  be  so  ad- 
ministered as  to  create  a  reciprocity  of  in- 
terests and  a  reciprocal  distribution  of 
government  favors,  east  and  west,  (the 
tariif  and  internal  improvements,)  while 
the  south — yes,  sir,  the  impracticable 
south — was  to  be  "  out  of  your  protec- 
tion." The  gentleman  may  boast  as  much 
as  he  pleases  of  the  friendship  of  New 
England  for  the  west,  as  displayed  in  their 
support  of  internal  improvement;  but 
when  he  next  introduces  that  topic,  I 
trust  that  he  will  tell  us  when  that  friend- 
ship commenced,  how  it  was  brought 
about,  and  why  it  was  established.  Before 
I  leave  this  topic,  I  must  be  permitted  to 
say  that  the  true  character  of  the  policy 
now  pursued  by  the  gentleman  from  Mas- 
sachusetts and  his  friends,  in  relation  to 
appropriations  of  land  and  money,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  west,  is  in  my  estimation 
very  similar  to  that  pursued  by  Jacob  of 
old  towards  his  brother  Esau :  "  it  robs 
them  of  their  birthright  for  a  mess  of 
pottage." 

The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  in 
alluding  to  a  remark  of  mine,  that  before 
any  disposition  could  be  made  of  the  public 
lands,  the  national  debt,  for  which  they  stand 
pledged,  must  be  first  paid,  took  occasion 
to  intimate  "  that  the  extraordinai-y  fervor 
which  seems  to  exist  in  a  certain  quarter, 
(meaning  the  south,  sir,)  for  the  payment 
of  the  debt,  arises  from  a  disposition  to 
weaken  the  ties  which  bind  the  people  to  the 
Union."  While  the  gentleman  deals  us 
this  blow,  he  professes  an  ardent  desire  to 
see  the  debt  speedily  extinguished.  He 
mast  excuse  me,  however,  for  feeling  some 
distrust  on  that  subject  until  I  find  this 
disposition  manifested  by  something 
stronger  than  professions.  I  shall  look 
for  acts,  decided  and  unequivocal  acts ; 
for  the  performance  of  which  an  opportu- 
nity will  very  soon  (if  I  am  not  greatly 
mistaken)  be  afforded.  Sir,  if  I  were  at 
liberty  to  judge  of  the  course  which  that 
gentleman  would  pursue,  from  the  princi- 
ples which  he  has  laid  down  in  relation  to 
this  matter,  I  should  be  bound  to  conclude 
that  he  will  be  found  acting  with  those 
with  whom  it  is  a  darling  object  to  pre- 


vent the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  He 
tells  us  he  is  desirous  of  paying  the  debt, 
"  because  we  are  under  an  obligation  to 
discharge  it."  Now,  sir,  suppose  it  should 
happen  that  the  public  creditors,  with 
whom  we  have  contracted  the  obligation, 
should  release  us  from  it,  so  far  as  to  de- 
clare their  willingness  to  wait  for  payment 
for  fifty  years  to  come,  provided  only  the 
interest  shall  be  punctually  discharged. 
The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  will 
then  be  released  from  the  obligation  which 
now  makes  him  desirous  of  paying  the 
debt;  and,  let  me  tell  the  gentleman,  the 
holders  of  the  stock  will  not  only  release 
us  from  this  obligation,  but  they  will  im- 
plore, nay,  they  will  even  pay  us  not  to 
pay  them.  But,  adds  the  gentleman,  so 
far  as  the  debt  may  have  an  effect  in  bind- 
ing the  debtors  to  the  country,  and  thereby 
serving  as  a  lin^:  to  hold  the  states  to- 
gether, he  would  be  glad  that  it  should 
exist  forever.  Surely  then,  sir,  on  the 
gentleman's  own  principles,  he  must  be  op- 
posed to  the  payment  of  the  debt. 

Sir,  let  me  tell  that  gentleman,  that  the 
south  repudiates  the  idea  that  a  pecuniary 
dependence  on  the  federal  government  is 
one  of  the  legitimate  means  of  holding  the 
states  together.  A  moneyed  interest  in 
the  government  is  essentially  a  ba.*e  inter- 
est ;  and  jijst  so  far  as  it  operates  to  bind 
the  feelings  of  those  who  are  subjected  to 
it  to  the  government, — just  so  lar  as  it 
operates  in  creating  sympathies  and  inter- 
ests that  would  not  otherwise  exist, — is  it 
opposed  to  all  the  principles  of  free  gov- 
ernment, and  at  war  witn  virtue  and  pa- 
triotism. Sir,  the  link  which  binds  the 
public  creditors,  as  such,  to  their  country, 
binds  them  equally  to  all  governments, 
whether  arbitrary^  or  free.  In  a  free  gov- 
ernment, this  principle  of  abject  dej^end- 
ence,  if  extended  through  all  the  ramifica- 
tions of  society,  must  be  fatal  to  liber^. 
Already  have  we  made  alarming  strides  m 
that  direction.  The  entire  class  of  manu- 
facturers, the  holders  of  stocks,  with  their 
hundreds  of  millions  of  capit^il,  are  held  to 
the  government  by  the  strong  link  of  pe- 
cuniary interests  ;  millions  of  people — en- 
tire sections  of  country,  interested,  or  be- 
lieving themselves  to  te  so,  in  the  public 
lands,  and  the  public  treasure — are  pound 
to  the  government  by  the  exjectation  of 
pecuniary  favors.  If  this  system  is  carried 
much  furtner,  no  man  can  fail  to  see  that 
every  generous  motive  of  attjuhment  to 
the  country  will  be  destroved,  and  in  its 
place  will  spring  up  those  low.  grovelling, 
base,  and  selfish  feelings  which  bind  men 
to  the  footstool  of  a  despot  bv  bonds  sh 
strong  and  enduring  as  tho-e  which  attach 
them  to  free  institutons.  Sir,  I  would  lay 
the  foundation  of  this  government  in  the 
affections  of  the  people— I  would  teach 
them  to  cling  to  it  by  dispensing  equal 


so 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book   III. 


justice,  and  above  all,  by  securing  the 
"  blessings  of  liberty  "  to  "  themselves  and 
to  their  posteritv." 

The  honorable  gentleman  from  Massa- 
chusetts hius  gone  out  of  his  way  to  pass  a 
high  eulogium  on  the  state  of  Ohio.  In 
the  most  impassioned  tones  of  eloquence, 
he  described  her  majestic  march  to  great- 
ness. He  told  us,  that,  having  already 
left  all  the  other  states  far  behind,  she  was 
how  passing  by  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
and  about  to  take  her  station  by  the  side 
of  New  York.     To  all  this,  sir,  I  was  dis- 

Eosed  most  cordially  to  respond.  When, 
owever,  the  gentleman  proceeded  to  con- 
trast the  state  of  Ohio  with  Kentucky,  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  latter,  I  listened  to 
him  with  regret ;  and  when  he  proceeded 
further  to  attribute  the  great,  and,  as  he 
supposed,  acknowledged  superiority  of  the 
former  in  population,  wealth,  and  general 
prosperity,  to  the  policy  of  Nathan  Dane, 
of  Massachusetts,  which  had  secured  to 
the  people  of  Ohio  (by  the  ordinance  of 
'87 )  a  population  of  freemen,  I  will  confess 
that  my  feelings  suffered  a  revulsion  which 
I  am  now  unable  to  describe  in  any  lan- 
guage sufficiently  respectful  tov/ards  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts.  In  con- 
trasting the  state  of  Ohio  with  Kentucky, 
for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  the  superi- 
ority of  the  former,  and  of  attributing  that 
superiority  to  the  existence  of  slavery  in  the 
one  state,  and  its  absence  in  the  other,  I 
thought  I  could  discern  the  very  spirit  of 
the  Missouri  question,  intruded  into  this 
debate,  for  objects  best  known  to  the  gen- 
tleman himself.  Did  that  gentleman,  sir, 
when  he  formed  the  determination  to  cross 
the  southern  border,  in  order  to  invade  the 
state  of  South  Carolina,  deem  it  prudent 
or  necessary  to  enlist  under  his  banners 
the  prejudices  of  the  world,  which,  like 
Swiss  troops,  may  be  engaged  in  any  cause, 
and  are  prepare<l  to  serve  under  any 
leader?  Did  he  desire  to  avail  himself  of 
those  remorseless  allies,  the  passions  of 
mankind,  of  which  it  may  be  more  truly 
said  than  of  the  savage  tribes  of  the  wil- 
derness, "  that  their  known  rule  of  warfare 
is  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  all  ages, 
sexes,  and  conditions?"  Or  was  it  sup- 
posed, sir,  that,  in  a  premeditated  and  un- 
provoked attack  upon  the  south,  it  was 
advisable  to  begin  by  a  gentle  admonition 
of  our  supposed  weakne^ss,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent us  from  making  that  firm  and  manly 
resistance  due  to  our  own  character  and  our 
dejirest  interests?  Wa.s  the  significant  hint 
of  the  weakness  of  slaveholding  states,  when 
contrasted  with  the  superior  strength  of 
free  states, — like  the  glare  of  the  weapon 
half  drawn  from  its  scabbard, — intended 
to  enforce  the  lessons  of  prudence  and  of 
patriotism,  which  the  gentleman  had  re- 
solved, out  of  his  abundant  generosity, 
gratuitously  to  bestow  upon  us  ?    Mr.  Pres- 


ident, the  impression  which  has  gone 
abroad  of  the  weakness  of  the  south,  as  con- 
nected with  the  slave  question,  exposes  us 
to  such  constant  attacks,  has  done  us  so 
much  injury,  and  is  calculated  to  produce 
such  infinite  mischiefs,  that  I  embrace  th& 
occasion  presented  by  the  remarks  of  the 
gentleman  of  Massachusetts,  to  declare 
that  we  are  ready  to  meet  the  question 
promptly  and  fearlessly.  It  is  one  from 
whicn  we  are  not  disposed  to  shrink,  in 
whatever  form  or  under  whatever  circum- 
stances it  may  be  pressed  upon  us. 

We  are  ready  to  make  up  the  issue  with 
the  gentleman,  as  to  the  influence  of 
slavery  on  individual  or  national  charac- 
ter— on  the  prosperity  and  greatness,  either 
of  the  United  States  or  of  particular  states. 
Sir,  when  arraigned  before  the  bar  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  on  this  charge  of  slavery,  we 
can  stand  up  with  conscious'  rectitude, 
plead  not  guilty,  and  put  ourselves  upon 
God  and  our  country.  Sir,  we  will  not  con- 
sent to  look  at  slavery  in  the  abstract.  We 
will  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  the  black 
man,  as  some  philosophers  have  contended, 
is  of  an  inferior  race,  nor  whether  his  color 
and  condition  are  the  effects  of  a  curse  in- 
flicted for  the  offences  of  his  ancestors.  We 
deal  in  no  abstractions.  We  will  not  look 
back  to  inquire  whether  our  fathers  were 
guiltless  in  introducing  slaves  into  this 
country.  If  an  inquiry  should  ever  be  in- 
stituted in  these  matters,  however,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  profits  of  the  slave  trade 
were  not  confined  to  the  south.  Southern 
ships  and  southern  sailors  were  not  the  in- 
struments of  bringing  slaves  to  the  shores 
of  America,  nor  did  our  merchants  reap 
the  profits  of  that  "  accursed  traffic."  But, 
sir,  we  will  pass  over  all  this.  If  slavery, 
as  it  now  exists  in  this  country,  be  an 
evil,  we  of  the  present  day  found  it  ready 
made  to  our  hands.  Finding  our  lot  cast 
among  a  people  whom  God  had  manifestly 
committed  to  our  care,  we  did  not  sit  down 
to  speculate  on  abstract  questions  of  theo- 
retical liberty.  We  met  it  as  a  practical 
question  of  obligation  and  duty.  We  re- 
solved to  make  the  best  of  the  situation  in 
which  Providence  had  placed  us,  and  to 
fulfil  the  high  trusts  which  had  devolved 
upon  us  as  the  owners  of  slaves,  in  the 
only  way  in  which  such  a  trust  could  b© 
fulfilled,  without  spreading  misery  and  ruin 
throughout  the  land.  We  found  that  we 
had  to  deal  with  a  people  whose  physical, 
moral,  and  intellectual  habits  ana  charac- 
ter totally  disqualified  them  from  the  en- 
joyment of  the  blessings  of  freedom.  We 
could  not  send  them  back  to  the  shores 
from  whence  their  fathers  had  been  taken ; 
their  numbers  forbade  the  thought,  even 
if  we  did  not  know  that  their  condition 
here  is  infinitely  preferable  to  what  it  pos- 
sibly could  be  among  the  barren  sands  and 
savage  tribes  of  Africa ;  and  it  was  wholly 


BOOK  III.] 


MR.    HAYNE    ON    FOOT'S    RESOLUTION. 


31 


irreconcilable  with  all  our  notions  of  hu- 
manity to  tear  asunder  the  tender  ties 
which  they  had  formed  among  us,  to  grat- 
ify the  feelings  of  a  false  philanthropy. 
What  a  commentary  on  the  wisdom,  jus- 
tice, and  humanity  of  the  southern  slave 
owner  is  presented  by  the  example  of  cer- 
tain benevolent  associations  and  charitable 
individuals  elsewhere  I  Shedding  weak 
tsars  over  sufferings  which  had  existence 
in  their  own  sickly  imaginations,  these 
"  friends  of  humanity  "  set  themselves  sys- 
tematically to  work  to  seduce  the  slaves  of 
the  south  from  their  masters.  By  means 
of  missionaries  and  political  tracts,  the 
scheme  was  in  a  great  measure  successful. 
Thousands  of  these  deluded  victims  of 
fanaticism  were  seduced  into  the  enjoy- 
ment of  freedom  in  our  northern  cities. 
And  what  has  been  the  consequence  ?  Go 
to  these  cities  now  and  ask  the  question. 
Visit  the  dark  and  narrow  lanes,  and  ob- 
scure recesses,  which  have  been  assigned 
by  common  consent  as  the  abodes  of  those 
outcasts  of  the  world,  the  free  people  of 
color.  Sir,  there  does  not  exist,  on  the 
face  of  the  whole  earth,  a  population  so 
poor,  so  wretched,  so  vile,  so  loathsome,  so 
utterly  destitute  of  all  the  comforts,  con- 
veniences, and  decencies  of  life,  as  the  un- 
fortunate blacks  of  Philadelphia,  and  New 
York,  and  Boston,  Liberty  has  been  to 
them  the  greatest  of  calamities,  the  heaviest 
of  curses.  Sir,  I  have  had  some  opportu- 
nities of  making  comparison  between  the 
condition  of  the  free  negroes  of  the  north 
and  the  slaves  of  the  south,  and  the  com- 
parison has  left  not  only  an  indelible  im- 
f»ression  of  the  superior  advantages  of  the 
atter,  but  has  gone  far  to  reconcile  me  to 
slavery  itself.  Never  have  I  felt  so  forci- 
bly that  touching  description,  "  the  foxes 
have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have 
nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where 
to  lay  his  head,"  as  when  I  have  seen  this 
unhappy  race,  naked  and  houseless,  al- 
most starving  in  the  streets,  and  abandoned 
by  all  the  world.  Sir,  I  have  seen  in  the 
neighborhood  of  one  of  the  most  moral, 
religious,  and  refined  cities  of  the  north, 
a  family  of  free  blacks,  driven  to  the  caves 
of  the  rocks,  and  there  obtaining  a  precar- 
ious subsistence  from  charity  and  plunder. 
When  the  gentleman  from  Ma.ssachu- 
eetts  adopts  and  reiterates  the  old  charge 
of  weakness  as  resulting  from  slavery,  I 
must  be  permitted  to  call  for  the  proof  of 
those  blighting  effects  which  he  ascribes  to 
its  influence.  I  suspect  that  when  the  sub- 
ject is  closely  examined,  it  will  be  found 
that  there  is  not  much  force  even  in  the 
plausible  objection  of  the  want  of  physical 
power  in  slaveholding  states.  The  power 
of  a  country  is  compounded  of  its  popula- 
tion and  its  wealth,  and  in  modern  times, 
where,  from  the  very  form  and  structure  of 
society,  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  the 


people  must,  even  during  the  continuance 
of  the  most  desolating  wars,  be  employed 
in  the  cultivation  ot  the  soil  ana  other 
peaceful  pursuits,  it  may  be  well  doubted 
whether  slaveholding  states,  by  reason  of 
the  superior  value  of  their  productions, 
are  not  able  to  maintain  a  number  of  troops 
in  the  field  fully  equal  to  what  could  be 
supported  by  states  with  a  larger  white  popu- 
lation, but  not  possessed  of  equal  resourceB. 
It  is  a  popular  error  to  suppose  that,  in 
any  possible  state  of  things,  the  people  of 
a  country  could  ever  be  cafled  out  en  masse, 
or  that  a  half,  or  a  third,  or  even  a  fifth 
part  of  the  physical  force  of  any  country 
could  ever  be  brought  into  the  field.  The 
difiiculty  is,  not  to  procure  men,  but  to 
provide  the  means  of  maintaining  them; 
and  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  may  be 
asked  whether  the  Southern  States  are  not 
a  source  of  strength  and  power,  and  not  of 
weakness,  to  the  country — whether  they 
have  not  contributed,  and  are  not  now  con- 
tributing, largely  to  the  wealth  and  pros- 
perity of  every  state  in  this  Union,  From 
a  statement  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  it 
appears  that  in  ten  years — from  1818  to 
1827,  inclusive — the  whole  amount  of  the 
domestic  exports  of  the  United  States  was 
$521,811,045;  of  which  three  articles,  (the 
product  of  slave  labor,)  viz.,  cotton,  rice, 
and  tobacco,  amounted  to  $339,203,232— 
equal  to  about  two  thirds  of  the  whole.  It 
is  not  true,  as  has  been  supposed,  that  the 
advantige  of  this  labor  is  confined  almost 
exclusively  to  the  Southern  States.  Sir,  I 
am  thoroughly  convinced  that,  at  this  time, 
the  states  north  of  the  Potomac  actually  de- 
rive greater  profits  from  the  labor  of  ou7 
slaves  than  we  do  ourselves.  It  appears 
from  our  public  documents,  that  in  seven 
vears — from  1821  to  1827,  inclusive — the 
six  Southern  States  exported  $190,337,281, 
and  imported  only  $55,646,301.  Now,  the 
difference  between  these  two  sums  (near 
$140,000,000)  passed  through  the  hands  of  the 
northern  merchants,  and  enabled  them  to 
carry  on  their  commercial  operations  with 
all  the  world.  Such  part  of  these  goods  as 
found  its  way  back  to  our  hands  came 
charged  with  the  duties,  as  well  as  the 
profits,  of  the  merchant,  the  ship  owner, 
and  a  host  of  others,  who  found  employ- 
ment in  carrying  on  these  immense  ex- 
changes ;  and'  for  such  part  as  was  con- 
sumed at  the  north,  we  received  in  ex- 
change northern  manufactures,  charged 
with  an  increased  price,  to  cover  all  the 
taxes  which  the  northern  consumer  had 
been  compelled  to  pay  on  the  imported  ar- 
ticle. It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  at  a  glance, 
how  much  slave  labor  has  contributed  to 
the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  United 
States,  and  how  largely  our  northern  breth- 
ren have  participated  in  the  profits  of  that 
labor.  Sir,  on  this  subject  I  will  quote  an 
authority,  which  will,  1  doubt  not,  be  con- 


32 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


sidered  by  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
as  entitled  to  high  respect.     It  is  from  the 

freat  father  of  the  '^American  System," 
onest  Matthew  Carey — no  great  friend,  it 
is  true,  at  this  time,  to  southern  rights  and 
southern  interests,  but  not  the  worst  author- 
ity on  that  account,  on  thepoint  in  question. 
Speaking  of  the  relative  importance  to  the 
Union  of  the  Southern  and  the  Eastern 
States,  Matthew  Carey,  in  the  sixth  edi- 
tion of  his  Olive  Branch,  (p.  278,)  after 
exhibiting  a  number  of  statistical  tables  to 
show  the  decided  superiority  of  the  former, 
thus  proceeds: — 

"  But  I  am  tired  of  this  investigation — I 
sicken  for  the  honor  of  the  human  species. 
What  idea  must  the  world  form  of  the  ar- 
rogance of  the  pretensions  of  the  one  side, 
[the  east,]  and  of  the  folly  and  weakness 
of  the  rest  of  the  Union,  to  have  so  long 
suffered  them  to  pass  without  exposure  and 
detection.  The  naked  fact  is,  that  the 
demagogues  in  the  Eastern  States,  not  sat- 
isfied with  deriving  all  the  benefit  from  the 
southern  section  of  the  Union  that  they  would 
from  so  many  wealthy  colonies— with,  making 
princely  fortunes  by  the  carriage  and  ex- 
portation of  its  bulky  and  valuable  pro- 
ductions, and  supplying  it  with  their  own 
manufactures,  and  the  productions  of  Eu- 
rope and  the  East  and  West  Indies,  to  an 
enormous  amount,  and  at  an  immense 
profit,  have  uniformly  treated  it  with  out- 
rage, insult,  and  injury.  And,  regardless 
of  their  vital  interests,  the  Eastern  States 
were  lately  courting  their  own  destruction, 
by  allowing  a  few  restless,  turbulent  men 
to  lead  them  blindfolded  to  a  separation 
which  was  pregnant  with  their  certain  ruin. 
Wneuever  that  event  takes  place,  they  sink 
into  insignificance.  If  a  separation  were 
desirable  to  any  part  of  the  Union,  it  would 
be  to  the  Middle  and  Southern  States,  par- 
ticularly the  latter,  who  have  been  so  long 
harassed  with  the  complaints,  the  restless- 
ness, the  turbulence,  and  the  ingratitude 
of  the  Eastern  States,  that  their  patience 
has  been  tried  almost  beyond  endurance. 
'Jeshurun  waxed  fat  and  kicked ' — and  he 
will  be  severely  punished  for  his  kicking, 
in  the  event  of  a  dissolution  of  theUnion.' 
Sir,  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood 
that  I  do  not  adopt  these  sentiments  as  my 
own.  I  quote  them  to  show  that  very  dif- 
ferent sentiments  have  pre.vailed  in  former 
times  as  to  the  weakness  of  the  slavehold- 
ing  states  from  those  which  now  seem  to 
have  become  fashionable  in  certain  quarters. 
I  know  it  has  been  supposed  by  certain  ill- 
informed  persons,  that  the  soutn  exists  only 
by  the  countenance  and  protection  of  the 
north.  Sir,  this  is  the  idlest  of  all  idle  and 
ridiculous  fancies  that  ever  entered  into 
the  mind  of  man.  In  every  state  of  this  j 
Union,  except  one,  the  free  white  popula- 
tion actually  preponderates;  while  in  the 
British  West  India  Islands,   (where  the! 


average  white  population  is  less  than  ten 
^er  cent,  of  the  whole, )  the  slaves  are  kept 
in  entire  subjection :  it  is  preposterous  to 
suppose  that  the  Southern  States  could  ever 
find  the  smallest  difficulty  in  this  respect. 
On  this  subject,  as  in  all  others,  we  ask 
nothing  of  our  northern  brethren  but  to 
"  let  us  alone."  Leave  us  to  the  undis- 
turbed management  of  our  domestic  con- 
cerns, and  the  direction  of  our  own  industry, 
and  we  will  ask  no  more.  Sir,  all  our  dif- 
ficulties on  this  subject  have  arisen  from 
interference  from  abroad,  which  has  dis- 
turbed, and  may  again  disturb,  our  domes- 
tic tranquillity  just  so  far  as  to  bring  down 
punishment  upon  the  heads  of  the  unfor- 
tunate victims  of  a  fanatical  and  mistaken 
humanity. 

There  is  a  spirit,  which,  like  the  father 
of  evil,  is  constantly  "  walking  to  and  fro 
about  the  earth,  seeking  whom  it  may 
devour :"  it  is  the  spirit  of  false  philan- 
thropy. The  persons  whom  it  possesses 
do  not  indeed  throw  themselves  into  the 
flames,  but  they  are  employed  in  lighting  up 
the  torches  of  discord  throughout  the  com- 
munity. Their  first  principle  of  action  is 
to  leave  their  own  affairs,  and  neglect 
their  own  duties,  to  regulate  the  affairs 
and  duties  of  others.  Theirs  is  the  task 
to  feed  the  hungry,  and  clothe  the  naked, 
of  other  lands,  while  they  thrust  the  naked, 
famished,  and  shivering  beggar  from  their 
own  doors ;  to  instruct  the  heathen,  while 
their  own  children  want  the  bread  of  life. 
Wh'en  this  spirit  infuses  itself  into  the 
bosom  of  a  statesman,  (if  one  so  possessed 
can  be  called  a  statesman,)  it  converts 
him  at  once  into  a  visionary  enthusiast. 
Then  it  is  that  he  indulges  in  golden 
dreams  of  national  greatness  and  prosper- 
ity. He  discovers  that  '*  liberty  is  power," 
and  not  content  with  vast  schemes  of  im- 
provement at  home,  which  it  would  bank- 
rupt the  treasury  of  the  world  to  execute, 
he  flies  to  foreign  lands,  to  fulfil  obligations 
to  "the  human  race"  by  inculcating  the 
principles  of  "  political  and  religious  lib- 
erty," and  promoting  the  "general  wel- 
fare "  of  the  whole  human  race.  It  is  a 
spirit  which  has  long  been  busy  with  the 
slaves  of  the  south;  and  is  even  now  dis- 
playing itself  in  vain  efforts  to  drive  the 
government  from  its  wise  policy  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Indians.  It  is  this  spirit 
which  has  filled  the  land  with  thousands 

£f  wild  and  visionary  projects,  which  can 
ave  no  effect  but  to  waste  the  energies 
and  dissipate  the  resources  of  the  coun- 
try. It  is  the  spirit  of  which  the  aspir- 
ing politician  dexterously  avails  himself, 
when,  by  inscribing  on  his  banner  the 
ma:^ical  words  liberty  and  philan- 
thropy, he  draws  to  his  support  that 
class  of  persons  who  are  reaay  to  bow 
down  at  the  very  name  of  their  idols. 
But,  sir,  whatever  difference  of  opinion 


BOOK  III.] 


MR.  HAYNE  ON  FOOT'S  RESOLUTION. 


33 


may  exist  as  to  the  effect  of  slavery  on 
national  wealth  and  prosperity,  if  we  may 
trust  to  experience,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  has  never  yet  produced  any  inju- 
rious effect  on  individual  or  national  char- 
acter. Look  through  the  whole  history 
of  the  country,  from  the  commencement 
of  the  revolution  down  to  the  present 
hour ;  where  are  there  to  be  found  brighter 
examples  of  intellectual  and  moral  great- 
ness than  have  been  exhibited  by  the 
sons  of  the  south  ?  From  the  Father  of 
HIS  Country  down  to  the  distinguished 
CHIEFTAIN  who  has  been  elevated  by  a 
grateful  people  to  the  highest  office  in 
their  ^ift,  the  interval  is  filled  up  by  a 
long  Ime  of  orators,  of  statesmen,  and  of 
heroes,  justly  entitled  to  rank  among  the 
ornaments  of  their  country,  and  the  bene- 
factors of  mankind.  Look  at  the  "Old 
Dominion,"  great  and  magnanimous  Vir- 
ginia, "whose  jewels  are  her  sons."  Is 
there  any  state  in  this  Union  which 
has  contributed  so  much  to  the  honor 
and  welfare  of  the  country?  Sir,  I 
will  yield  the  whole  question — I  will  ac- 
knowledge the  fatal  effects  of  slavery  upon 
character,  if  any  one  can  say,  that  for 
noble  disinterestedness,  ardent  love  of 
country,  exalted  virtue,  and  a  pure  and 
holy  devotion  to  liberty,  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  have  ever  been  surpassed 
by  any  in  the  world,  I  know,  sir,  that 
this  devotion  to  liberty  has  sometimes  been 
supposed  to  be  at  war  with  our  institutions ; 
but  it  is  in  some  degree  the  result  of  those 
very  institutions.  Burke,  the  most  philo- 
sophical of  statesmen,  as  he  was  the  most 
accomplished  of  orators,  well  understood 
the  operation  of  this  principle,  in  elevat- 
ing the  sentiments  and  exaltm^  the  princi- 
ples of  the  people  in  slaveholdmg  states.  I 
will  conclude  my  remarks  on  this  branch 
of  the  subject,  by  reading  a  few  passages 
from  his  speech  "  on  moving  his  resolu- 
tions for  conciliation  with  the  colonies," 
the  22d  of  March,  1775. 

"  There  is  a  circumstance  attending  the 
southern  colonies  which  makes  the  spirit 
of  liberty  still  more  high  and  haughty  than 
in  those  to  the  northward.  It  is,  that  in 
Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  they  have  a 
vast  multitude  of  slaves.  Where  this  is  the 
case,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  those  who 
are  free  are  oy  far  the  most  proud  and 
jealous  of  their  freedom.  Freedom  is  to 
them  not  only  an  enjoyment,  but  a  kind 
of  rank  and  privilege.  Not  seeing  there, 
aa  in  countries  where  it  is  a  common  bless- 
ing, and  as  broad  and  general  as  the  air, 
that  it  may  be  united  with  much  abject 
toil,  with  great  misery,  with  all  the  exte- 
rior of  servitude,  liberty  looks  among  them 
like  something  more  noble  and  liberal.  I 
do  not  mean,  sir,  to  commend  the  superior 
morality  of  this  sentiment,  which  has,  at 
least,  a-H  much  pride  as  virtue  in  it — but  I 
31 


cannot  alter  the  nature  of  man.  The  fact 
is  so;  and  these  people  of  the  southern 
colonies  are  much  more  strongly,  and  with 
a  higher  and  more  stubborn  spirit,  attached 
to  liberty  than  those  to  the  northward. 
Such  were  all  the  ancient  commonwealtLs 
— ^such  were  our  Gothic  ancestors — such,  in 
our  days,  were  the  Poles — and  such  will  be 
all  masters  of  slaves  who  are  not  slaves 
themselves.  In  such  a  people,  the  haughti- 
ness of  domination  combines  with  the  spir- 
it of  freedom,  fortifies  it,  and  renders  it  in- 
vincible." 

In  the  course  of  my  former  remarks,  Mr. 
President,  I  took  occasion  to  deprecate,  as 
one  of  the  greatest  evils,  the  consolidation 
of  this  government.  The  gentleman  takes 
alarm  at  the  sound.  "  Consolidation" 
"  like  the  tariff,"  grates  upon  his  ear.  He 
tells  us,  "we  have  heard  much  of  late 
about  consolidation  ;  that  it  is  the  rallying 
word  of  all  who  are  endeavoring  to  weaken 
the  Union,  by  adding  to  the  power  of  the 
states."  But  consolidation  (says  the  gen- 
tleman) was  the  very  object  for  which  the 
Union  was  formed ;  and,  in  support  of  that 
opinion,  he  read  a  passage  from  the  ad- 
dress of  the  president  of  the  convention  to 
Congress,  which  he  assumes  to  be  authority 
on  his  side  of  the  question.  But,  sir,  the 
gentleman  is  mistaken.  The  object  of  the 
framers  of  the  constitution,  as  disclosed  in 
that  address,  was  not  the  consolidation  of 
the  government,  but  "  the  consolidation  of 
the  Union."  It  was  not  to  draw  power 
from  the  states,  in  order  to  transfer  it  to  a 
great  national  government,  but,  in  the 
language  of  the  constitution  itself,  "  to  form 
a  more  perfect  Union;" — and  by  what 
means?  By  "establishing  justice,  pro- 
moting domestic  tranquillity,  and  securing 
the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity."  This  is  the  true  reading  of  the 
constitution.  But,  according  to  the  gen- 
tleman's reading,  the  object  of  the  consti- 
tution was,  to  consolidate  the  government, 
and  the  means  would  seem  to  be,  the  pro- 
motion of  injustice,  causing  domestic  dis- 
cord,  and  depriving  the  states  and  the 
people  "  of  the  blessings  of  liberty  "  for- 
ever. 

The  gentleman  boasts  of  belonging  to 
the  party  of  National  Republicans. 
National  Republicans !  A  new  name,  sir, 
for  a  very  old  thing.  The  National  Repub- 
licans of  the  present  dav  were  the  Federal' 
ists  of  '98,  who  became  Federal  Jiepublicans 
during  the  war  of  1812,  and  were  maiwfac- 
tured  into  National  Republicans  somewhere 
about  the  year  1825. 

As  a  parti/,  (by  whatever  name  distin- 
guished,) they  have  always  been  animated 
by  the  same  principles,  and  have  kept 
steadily  in  view  a  common  object,  the  con- 
solidation of  the  government.  Sir,  the 
{)arty  to  which  I  am  proud  of  having  be- 
onged,  from  the  ver}'  commencement  of 


;4 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


my  political  life  to  the  present  day,  were 
the  Democrats  of  '98,  {Anarchists,  Anti- 
Federalists,  Revolutionists,  I  think  they 
were  sometimes  called.)  They  assumed 
the  name  of  Democratic  Republicans  in 
1822,  and  have  retained  their  name  and 
principles  up  to  the  present  hour.  True  to 
their  political  faith,  they  have  always,  as  a 
party,  been  in  favor  of  limitations  of  pow- 
er ;  they  have  insisted  that  all  powers  not 
delegated  to  the  federal  government  are 
reserved,  and  have  been  constantly  strug- 
gling, as  they  now  are,  to  preserve  the 
rights  of  the  states,  and  to  prevent  them 
from  being  drawn  into  the  vortex,  and 
swallowed  up  by  one  great  consolidated 
jjrover'iment. 

Sir,  any  one  acquaint^cl  with  the  history 
.>f  parties  in  this  country  will  recognize  in 
the  points  now  in  dispute  between  the  sen- 
ator from  Massachusetts  and  myself  the 
very  grounds  which  have,  from  the  begin- 
viing,  divided  the  two  great  parties  in  this 
country,  and  which  (call  these  parties  by 
wh jt  names  you  will,  and  amalgamate  them 
as  /t>a  may)  will  divide  them  forever.  _  The 
true  ^listinctiou  between  those  parties  is 
laid  doTva  in  a  celebrated  manifesto,  issued 
bv  the  o^avention  of  the  I'ederalists  of 
Massachusetts,  assembled  in  Boston,  in 
February,  18:^-t,  on  the  occasion  of  organ- 
izing a  party  o,^v»osifeion  to  the  reelection 
of  Governor  Eustis.  The  gentleman  will 
recognize  this  as  ''the  canonical  book  of 
political  scripture;"  and  it  instructs  us 
that,  when  the  American  colonies  redeemed 
themselves  from  British  bondage,  and  be- 
came so  many  independent  nations,  they 
proposed  to  form  a  National  Union,  (not 
a  Federal  Union,  sir,  but  a  national  Union. ) 
Those  who  were  in  favor  of  a  union  of  the 
states  in  this  form  became  known  by  the 
name  of  Federalists  ;  those  who  wanted  no 
union  of  the  states,  or  disliked  the  proposed 
form  of  union,  became  known  by  the  name 
of  Anti-Federalists.  By  means  which  need 
not  be  enumerated,  the  Anti- Federalists 
became  (after  the  expiration  of  twelve 
years)  our  national  rulers,  and  for  a  period 
of  sixteen  years,  until  the  close  of  Mr. 
Madison's  administration,  in  1817,  contin- 
ued to  exer'jise  the  exclusive  direction  of 
our  public  affairs.  Here,  sir,  is  the  true 
history  of  the  origin,  rise,  and  progress  of 
the  party  of  National  Republicans,  who 
date  back  to  the  very  origin  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  who,  then,  as  now,  chose  to  con- 
sider the  constitution  as  having  created, 
not  a  Federal,  but  a  National  Union;  who 
regarded  "  consolidati')n  "  as  no  evil,  and 
who  doubtless  considered  it  "  a  consumma- 
tion devoutly  to  be  wished  "  to  build  up  a 
great " central  government,"  "one and  indi- 
visible." Sir,  there  have  existed,  in  every 
age  and  every  country,  two  distinct  orders  of 
men — ^the  lovers  of  freedom,  and  the  devoted 
advocates  of  power. 


The  same  great  leading  principles,  modi- 
fied only  by  the  peculiarities  of  manners, 
habits,  and  institutions,  divided  parties  in 
the  ancient  republics,  animated  the  whiga 
and  tories  of  Great  Britain,  distinguished 
in  our  own  times  the  liberals  and  ultras  of 
France,  and  may  be  traced  even  in  the 
bloody  struggles  of  unhappy  Spain.  Sir, 
when  the  gallant  Riego,  who  devoted  him- 
self, and  all  that  he  possessed,  to  the  libertiefe 
of  his  country,  was  dragged  to  the  scaffold, 
followed  by  the  tears  and  lamentations  or 
every  lover  of  freedom  throughout  the 
world,  he  perished  amid  the  deafening  cries 
of  "Long  live  the  absolute  king!"  The 
people  whom  I  represent,  Mr.  President, 
are  the  descendants  of  those  who  brought 
with  them  to  this  country,  as  the  most  pre- 
cious of  their  possessions,  "  an  ardent  love 
of  liberty ; "  and  whi'le  that  shall  be  pre- 
served, they  will  always  be  found  manfully 
struggling  against  the  consolidation  of  the 
government — AS  the  worst  of  EVILS. 

The  .senator  from  Massachusetts,  in  allu- 
ding to  the  tariff,  becomes  quite  facetious. 
He  tells  us  that  "  he  hears  of  nothing  but 
tariff,  tariff,  tariff;  and,  if  a  word  could 
be  found  to  rhyme  with  it,  he  presumes  it 
would  be  celebrated  in  verse,  and  set  to 
music."  Sir,  perhaps  the  gentleman,  in 
mockery  of  our  complaints,  may  be  himself 
disposed  to  sing  the  praises  of  the  tariff,  in 
doggerel  verse,  to  the  tune  of  "  Old  Hun- 
dred." I  am  not  at  all  surprised,  however, 
at  the  aversion  of  the  gentleman  to  the 
very  name  of  tariff.  I  doubt  not  that  it 
must  always  bring  up  some  very  unpleasant 
recollections  to  his  mind.  If  I  am  not 
greatly  mistaken,  the  senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts was  a  leading  actor  at  a  great 
meeting  got  up  in  Boston,  in  1820,  against 
the  tariff.  It  has  generally  been  supposed 
that  he  drew  up  the  resolutions  adopted  by 
that  meeting,  denouncing  the  tariff  system 
as  unequal,  oppressive,  and  unjust,  and  if  I 
am  not  much  mistaken,  denying  its  consti- 
tutionality. Certain  it  is,  that  the  gentle- 
man made  a  speech  on  that  occasion  in 
support  of  those  resolutions,  denouncing 
the  system  in  no  very  measured  terms; 
and,  if  my  memory  serves  me,  calling  its 
constitutionality  in  question.  I  regret  that 
I  have  not  been  able  to  lay  my  hands  on 
those  proceedings  ;  but  I  have  seen  them, 
and  cannot  be  mistaken  in  their  character. 
At  that  time,  sir,  the  senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts entertained  the  very  sentiments  in 
relation  to  the  tariff  which  the  south  now 
entertains.  We  next  find  the  senator  from 
Massachusetts  expressing  his  opinion  on 
the  tariff,  as  a  member  of  the  House  oi 
Representatives  from  the  city  of  Boston, 
in  1824.  On  that  occasion,  sir,  the  gentle- 
man assumed  a  position  which  commanded 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  his  countrj'. 
He  stood  forth  the  powerful  and  fearless 
champion  of  free  trade.    He  met,  in  that 


BOOK  HI.] 


MR.  HAYNE  ON  FOOT'S  RESOLUTION. 


3f. 


conflict,  the  advocates  of  restriction  and 
monopoly,  and  they  "  fled  from  before  his 
face."  With  a  profound  sagacity,  a  fulness 
of  knowledge,  and  a  richness  of  illustration 
that  have  never  been  surpassed,  he  main- 
tained and  established  the  principles  of 
commercial  freedom,  on  a  foundation  never 
to  be  shaken.  Great  indeed  was  the  vic- 
tory achieved  by  the  gentleman  on  that 
occasion;  most  striking  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  clear,  .forcible,  and  convincing 
arguments  by  which  he  carried  away  the 
understandings  of  his  hearers,  and  the 
narrow  views  and  wretched  sophistry  of 
another  distinguished  orator,  who  may  be 
truly  said  to  have  "  held  up  his  farthing 
candle  to  the  sun." 

Sir,  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  on 
that,  the  j^roudest  day  of  his  life,  like  a 
mighty  giant,  bore  away  upon  his  shoulders 
the  pillars  of  the  temple  of  error  and  delu- 
sion, escaping  himself  unhurt,  and  leaving 
his  adversaries  overwhelmed  in  its  ruins. 
Then  it  was  that  he  erected  to  free  trade  a 
beautiful  and  enduring  monument,  and 
"  inscribed  the  marble  with  his  name." 
Mr.  President,  it  is  with  pain  and  regret 
that  I  now  go  forward  to  the  next  great 
era  in  the  political  life  of  that  gentleman 
when  he  was  found  on  this  floor,  support- 
ing, advocating,  and  finally  voting  for  the 
tariff"  of  1828— that  "  bill  of  abominations." 
By  that  act,  sir,  the  senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts has  destroyed  the  labors  of  his 
whole  life,  and  given  a  wound  to  the  cause 
of  free  trade  never  to  be  healed.  Sir,  when 
I  recollect  the  position  which  that  gentle- 
man once  occupied,  and  that  which  he  now 
holds  in  public  estimation,  in  relation  to 
this  subject,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that 
the  tariff"  should  be  hateful  to  his  ears. 
Sir,  if  I  had  erected  to  my  own  fame  so 
proud  a  monument  as  that  which  the  gen- 
tleman built  up  in  1824,  and  I  could  have 
been  tempted  to  destroy  it  with  my  own 
hands,  I  should  hate  the  voice  that  should 
ring  "  the  accursed  tariff""  in  my  ears.  I 
doubt  not  the  gentleman  feels  very  much, 
in  relation  to  the  tariff",  as  a  certain  knight 
did  to  " instinct"  and  with  him  would  be 
disposed  to  exclaim, — 

"  Ah !  no  more  of  that,  Hal,  an  thou  lovest  me." 

But,  Mr.  President,  to  be  more  serious ; 
nrhat  are  we  of  the  south  to  think  of  what 
we  have  heard  this  day  ?  The  senator  from 
Massachusetts  tells  us  that  the  tariff  is  not 
an  eastern  measure,  and  treats  it  as  if  the 
east  had  no  interest  in  it.  The  senator 
from  Missouri  insists  it  is  not  a  western 
measure,  and  that  it  has  done  no  good  to 
the  west.  The  south  comes  in,  ana,  in  the 
most  earnest  manner,  represents  to  you  that 
this  measure,  which  we  are  told  "  is  of  no 
value  to  the  east  or  the  west,"  is  "  utterly 
destructive  of  our  interests."  We  represent 


to  you  that  it  has  spread  ruin  and  devasta- 
tion through  the  land,  and  prostrated  our 
hopes  in  the  dust.  We  solemnly  declare 
that  we  believe  the  system  to  be  wholly 
unconstitutional,  and  a  violation  of  the 
compact  between  the  states  and  the  Union  ; 
and  our  brethren  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  our 
complaints,  and  refuse  to  relieve  us  from  a 
system  "which  not  enriches  them,  but 
makes  us  poor  indeed."  Good  God !  Mr, 
President,  has  it  come  to  this  ?  Do  gentle- 
men hold  the  feelings  and  wishes  of  their 
brethren  at  so  cheap  a  rate,  that  they  re- 
fuse to  gratify  them  at  so  small  a  price? 
Do  gentlemen  value  so  lightly  the  peace 
and  harmony  of  the  country,  that  they  will 
not  yield  a  measure  of  this  description  to 
the  affectionate  entreaties  and  earnest  re- 
monstrances of  their  friends?  Do  gentle- 
men estimate  the  value  of  the  Union  at  so 
low  a  price,  that  they  will  not  even  make 
one  effort  to  bind  the  states  together  with 
the  cords  of  affection  ?  And  has  it  come  to 
this  ?  Is  this  the  spirit  in  which  this  gov- 
ernment is  to  be  administered?  If  so,  let 
me  tell,  gentlemen,  the  seeds  of  dissolu- 
tion are  already  sown,  and  our  children 
will  reap  the  bitter  fruit. 

The  honorable  gentleman  from  ]\Iassa- 
chusetts,  (Mr.  Webster,)  while  he  exoner- 
ates me  personally  from  the  charge,  inti- 
mates that  there  is  a  party  in  the  country 
who  are  looking  to  disunion.  Sir,  if  the 
gentleman  had  stopped  there,  the  accusa- 
tion would  have  "passed  by  me  like  the 
idle  wind,  which  I  regard  not."  But  when 
he  goes  on  to  give  to  his  accusation  "  a 
local  habitation  and  a  name,"  by  quoting 
the  expression  of  a  distinguished  citizen  of 
South  Carolina,  (Dr.  Cooper,)  "that  it  was 
time  for  the  south  to  calculate  the  value  of 
the  Union,"  and  in  the  language  of  the 
bitterest  sarcasm,  adds,  "  Surely  then  the 
Union  cannot  last  longer  than  July,  1831," 
it  is  impossible  to  mistake  either  the  allu- 
sion or  the  object  of  the  gentleman.  Now, 
Mr.  President,  I  call  upon  every  one  who 
hears  me  to  bear  witness  that  this  contro- 
versy is  not  of  my  seeking.  The  Senate 
will  do  me  the  justice  to  remember  that,  at 
the  time  this  unprovoked  and  uncalled-for 
attack  was  made  on  the  south,  not  one 
word  had  been  uttered  by  me  in  disparage- 
ment of  New  England ;  nor  had  I  made 
the  most  distant  allusion  either  to  the  sen- 
ator from  Massachusetts  or  the  state  he  re- 
presents. But,  sir,  that  gentleman  has 
thought  proper,  for  purposes  best  known 
to  himself,  to  strike  the  south,  through  me, 
the  most  unworthy  of  her  servants.  He 
has  crossed  the  border,  he  has  invaded  the 
state  of  South  Carolina,  is  making  war 
upon  her  citizens,  and  endeavoring  to  over- 
throw her  principles  and  her  institutions. 
Sir,  when  the  gentleman  provokes  me  to 
such  a  conflict,  I  meet  him  at  the  thresh- 
old ;  I  will  struggle,  while  I  have  life,  foj 


36 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


our  altars  and  our  firesides ;  and,  if  God 
gives  me  strength,  I  will  drive  back  the  in- 
vader discomfited.  Nor  shall  I  stop  there. 
If  the  gentleman  provokes  the  war,  he 
shall  have  war.  Sir,  I  will  not  stop  at  the 
border;  I  will  carry  the  war  into  the 
enemy's  territory,  and  not  consent  to  lay 
down' my  arms  until  I  have  obtained  "  in- 
demnity for  the  past  and  security  for  the 
future."  It  is  with  unfeigned  reluctance, 
Mr.  President,  that  I  enter  upon  the  per- 
formance of  this  part  of  my  duty ;  I  shrink 
almost  instinctively  from  a  course,  however 
necessary,  which  may  have  a  tendency  to 
excite  sectional  feelings  and  sectional  jeal- 
ousies. But,  sir,  the  task  has  been  forced 
upon  me ;  and  I  proceed  right  onward  to  the 
performance  of  my  duty.  Be  the  conse- 
quences what  they  may,  the  responsibility 
is  with  those  who  have  imposed  upon  me 
this  necessity.  The  senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts has  thought  proper  to  cast  the  first 
stone ;  and  if  he  shall  find,  according  to  a 
homely  adage,  "  that  he  lives  in  a  glass 
house,"  on  his  head  be  the  consequences. 
The  gentleman  has  made  a  great  flourish 
about  his  fidelity  to  Massachusetts.  I  shall 
make  no  professions  of  zeal  for  the  interests 
and  honor  of  South  Carolina ;  of  that  my 
constituents  shall  judge.  If  there  be  one 
state  in  the  Union,  Mr.  President,  (and  I 
say  it  not  in  a  boastful  spirit,)  that  may 
challenge  comparison  with  any  other,  for  a 
uniform,  zealous,  ardent,  and  uncalculating 
devotion  to  the  Union,  that  state  is  South 
Carolina.  Sir,  from  the  very  commence- 
ment of  the  revolution  up  to  this  hour, 
there  is  no  sacrifice,  however  great,  she  has 
not  cheerfully  made,  no  service  she  has 
ever  hesitated  to  perform.  She  has  adhered 
to  you  in  your  prosperity ;  but  in  your  ad- 
versity she  has  clung  to  you  with  more 
than  filial  affection.  No  matter  what  was 
the  condition  of  her  domestic  affairs,  though 
deprived  of  her  resources,  divided  by  par- 
ties, or  surrounded  with  difficulties,  the  call 
of  the  country  has  been  to  her  as  the  voice 
of  God.  Domestic  discord  ceased  at  the 
sound  ;  every  man  became  at  once  recon- 
ciled to  his  brethren,  and  the  sons  of  Car- 
olina were  all  seen  crowding  together  to 
the  temple,  bringing  their  gifts  to  the  altar 
of  their  common  country. 

What,  sir,  was  the  conduct  of  the  South 
during  the  revolution  ?  Sir,  I  honor  New 
Elngland  for  her  conduct  in  that  glorious 
struggle.  But  great  as  is  the  praise  which 
belongs  to  her,  I  think,  at  least,  equal 
honor  is  due  to  the  south.  They  espoused 
the  quarrel  of  their  brethren  with  a  gener- 
ous zeal,  which  did  not  suffer  them  to  stop 
to  calculate  their  interest  in  the  dispute. 
Favorites  of  the  mother  country,  possessed 
of  neither  ships  nor  seamen  to  create  a 
commercial  nvalship,  they  might  have 
found  in  their  situation  a  guarantee  that 
their  trade  would  be  forever  fostered  and 


protected  by  Great  Britain.  But,  tramp- 
ling on  all  considerations  either  of  inter- 
est or  of  safety,  they  rushed  into  the  conflict, 
and  fighting  for  principle,  perilled  all,  in 
the  sacred  cause  of  freedom.  Never  was 
there  exhibited  in  the  history  of  the  world 
higher  examples  of  noble  daring,  dreadful 
suffering,  and  heroic  endurance,  than  by 
the  whigs  of  Carolina  during  the  revolu- 
tion. The  whole  state,from  the  mountains  tc 
the  sea,  was  overrun  by  an  overwhelming 
force  of  the  enemy.  The  fruits  of  industry 
perished  on  the  spot  where  they  were  pro- 
duced, or  were  consumed  by  the  foe.  The 
"  plains  of  Carolina  "  drank  up  the  most 
precious  blood  of  her  citizens.  Black  and 
smoking  ruins  marked  the  places  which 
had  been  the  habitations  of  ner  children. 
Driven  from  their  homes  into  the  gloomy 
and  almost  impenetrable  swamps,  even 
there  the  spirit  of  liberty  survived,  and 
South  Carolina  (sustained  by  the  example 
of  her  Sumpters  and  her  Marions)  proved, 
by  her  conduct,  that  though  her  soil  might 
be  overrun,  the  spirit  of  her  people  was 
invincible. 

But,  sir,  our  country  was  soon  called 
upon  to  engage  in  another  revolutionary 
struggle,  and  that,  too,  was  a  struggle  for 
principle.  I  mean  the  political  revolution 
which  dates  back  to  '98,  and  which,  if  it  had 
not  been  successfully  achieved,  would  have 
left  us  none  of  the  fruits  of  the  revolution 
of  '76.  The  revolution  of  '98  restored  the 
constitution,  rescued  the  liberty  of  the  cit- 
izens from  the  grasp  of  those  who  were  aim- 
ing at  its  life,  and  in  the  emphatic  language 
of  Mr.  Jefferson,  "saved  the  constitution 
at  its  last  gasp."  And '  by  whom  was  it 
achieved  ?  By  the  south,  sir,  aided  only 
by  the  democracy  of  the  north  and  west. 

I  come  now  to  the  war  of  1812 — a  war 
which,  I  will  remember,  was  called  in 
derision  (while  its  event  was  doubtful) 
the  southern  war,  and  sometimes  the  Caro- 
lina war ;  but  which  is  now  universally  ac- 
knowledged to  have  done  more  for  the 
honor  and  prosperity  of  the  country  than 
all  other  events  in  our  history  put  togeth- 
er. What,  sir,  were  the  objects  of  that 
war?  "Free  trade  and  sailors'  rights!" 
It  was  for  the  protection  of  northern  ship- 
ping and  New  England  seamen  that  the 
country  flew  to  arms.  What  interest  had 
the  south  in  that  contest  ?  If  they  had  sat 
down  coldly  to  calculate  the  value  of  their 
interest  involved  in  it,  they  would  have 
found  that  they  had  every  thing  to  lose, 
and  nothing  to  gain.  But,  sir,  with  that 
generous  devotion  to  country  so  character- 
istic of  the  south,  they  only  asked  if  the 
rights  of  any  portion  of  their  fellow-citi- 
zens had  been  invaded ;  and  when  told 
that  northern  ships  and  New  England  sea- 
men had  been  arrested  on  the  common 
highway  of  nations,  they  felt  that  the  hon- 
or of  their  country  was  assailed ;  and  act- 


BOOK  III.]  MR.    HAYNE    ON    FOOT'S    RESOLUTION. 


87 


ing  on  that  exalted  sentiment  "  which  feels 
a  stain  like  a  wound,"  they  resolved  to  seek, 
in  open  war,  for  a  redress  of  those  injuries 
which  it  did  not  become  freemen  to  en- 
dure. Sir,  the  whole  south,  animated  as  ^ 
by  a  common  impulse,  cordially  united  in 
declaring  and  promoting  that  war.  South 
Carolina  sent  to  your  councils,  as  the  ad- 
vocates and  supporters  of  that  war,  the 
noblest  of  her  sons.  How  they  fulfilled 
that  trust  let  a  grateful  country  tell.  Not 
a  measure  was  adopted,  not  a  battle  fought, 
not  a  victory  won,  which  contributed,  in 
any  degree,  to  the  success  of  that  war,  to 
which  southern  councils  and  southern  valor 
did  not  largely  contribute.  Sir,  since 
South  Carolina  is  assailed,  I  must  be  suf- 
fered to  speak  it  to  her  praise,  that  at  the 
very  moment  when,  in  one.  quarter,  we 
heard  it  solemnly  proclaimed,  "that  it  did 
not  become  a  religious  and  moral  people 
to  rejoice  at  the  victories  of  our  anny  or 
our  na\'y,"  her  legislature  unanimously 

"  Resolved,  That  we  will  cordially  sup- 
port the  government  in  the  vigorous  pros- 
ecution of  the  war,  until  a  peace  can  be 
obtained  on  honorable  terms,  and  we  will 
cheerfully  submit  to  every  privation  that 
may  be  required  of  us,  by  our  government, 
for  the  accomplishment  of  this  object." 

South  Carolina  redeemed  that  pledge. 
She  threw  open  her  treasury  to  the  gov- 
ernment. She  put  at  the  absolute  disposal 
of  the  officers  of  the  United  States  all  that 
she  possessed — her  men,  her  money,  and 
her  arms.  She  appropriated  half  a  million 
of  dollars,  on  her  own  account,  in  defence 
of  her  maritime  frontier,  ordered  a  brigade 
of  state  troops  to  be  raised,  and  when  left 
to  protect  herself  by  her  own  means,  never 
suffered  the  enemy  to  touch  her  soil,  with- 
out being  instantly  driven  off  or  captured. 

Such,  sir,  was  the  conduct  of  the  south — 
such  the  conduct  of  my  own  state  in  that 
dark  hour  "  which  tried  men's  souls." 

When  I  look  back  and  contemplate  the 
spectacle  exhibited  at  that  time  in  another 
quarter  of  the  Union — when  I  think  of  the 
conduct  of  certain  portions  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  remember  the  part  which  was 
acted  on  that  memorable  occasion  by  the 
political  associates  of  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts — nay,  when  I  follow  that 
gentleman  into  the  councils  of  the  nation, 
and  listen  to  his  voice  during  the  darkest 
period  of  the  war,  I  am  indeed  astonished 
that  he  should  venture  to  touch  upon  the 
topics  which  he  has  introduced  into  this  de- 
bate. South  Carolina  reproached  by  Mas- 
sachusetts! And  from  whom  does  this  ac- 
cusation come  ?  Not  from  the  democracy  of 
New  England ;  for  they  have  been  in  times 
past,  as  they  are  now,  the  friends  and  allies 
of  the  south.  No,  sir,  the  accusation 
comes  from  that  party  whose  acts,  during 
the  most  trying  and  eventful  period  of  our 
national  history,  were  of  such  a  character, 


that  their  own  legislature,  but  a  few  years 
ago,  actually  blotted  them  out  from  their 
records,  as  a  stain  upon  the  honor  of  the 
country.  But  how  can  they  ever  be  blot- 
ted out  from  the  recollection  of  any  one 
who  had  a  heart  to  feel,  a  mind  to  com- 
prehend, and  a  memory  to  retain,  the 
events  of  that  day !  Sir,  I  shall  not  attempt 
to  write  the  history  of  the  party  in  New 
England  to  which  I  have  alluded — the  war 
party  in  peace,  and  the  peace  party  in  war. 
That  task  I  shall  leave  to  some  ftiture  bio- 
graj)her  of  Nathan  Dane,  and  I  doubt  not 
it  will  be  found  quite  easy  to  prove  that 
the  peace  party  of  Massachusetts  were  the 
only  defenders  of  their  country  during 
their  war,  and  actually  achieved  all  our 
victories  by  land  and  sea.  In  the  mean- 
time, sir,  and  until  that  history  shall  be 
written,  I  propose,  with  the  leeble  and 
glimmering  lights  which  I  possess,  to  re- 
view the  conduct  of  this  party,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  war,  and  the  events  which 
immediately  preceded  it. 

It  will  be  recollected,  sir,  that  our  great 
causes  of  quarrel  with  Great  Britain  were 
her  depredations  on  the  northern  com- 
merce, and  the  impressment  of  New  Eng- 
land seamen.  From  every  quarter  wc  were 
called  upon  for  protection.  Importunate 
as  the  west  is  new  represented  to  be  en 
another  subj  ect,  the  importunity  of  the 
east  on  that  occasion  was  far  greater.  I 
hold  in  my  hands  the  evidence  of  the  fact. 
Here  are  petitions,  memorials,  and  remon- 
strances from  all  parts  of  New  England, 
setting  forth  the  injustice,  the  oppressions, 
the  depredations,  the  insults,  the  outrages 
committed  by  Great  Britain  against  ihe 
unoffending  commerce  and  seamen  of  New 
England,  and  calling  upon  Congress  lor 
redress.  Sir,  I  cannot  stop  to  read  these 
memorials.  In  that  from  Boston,  after 
stating  the  alarming  and  extensive  con- 
demnation of  our  vessels  by  Great  Biitain, 
which  threatened  "to sweep  ourcommeice 
from  the  face  of  the  ocean,"  and  "to  in- 
volve our  merchants  in  bankruptcy,"  they 
call  upon  the  government  "  to  assert  our 
rights,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  as  will 
support  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the 
United  States.  - 

From  Salem  we  heard  a  language  still 
more  decisive  ;  they  call  explicitly  lor  "  an 
appeal  to  arms,"  and  pledge  their  lives  and 
property  in  support  of  any  measures  which 
Congress  mignt  adopt.  From  Ncwbury- 
port  an  appeal  was  made  "  to  the  firmness 
and  justice  of  the  government  to  obtain  com- 
pensation and  protection."  It  was  here,  I 
think,  that,  when  the  war  was  dt^-lared,  it 
was  resolved  "  to  resist  our  own  govern- 
ment even  unto  blood."  (Olive  Branch, 
p.  101.) 

In  other  quarters  the  common  language  of 
that  day  was,  that  our  commerce  and  our 
seamen  were  entitled  to  protection ;  and  that 


38 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in 


it  was  the  duty  of  the  government  to  afford  ] 
it  at  every  hazard.     The  conduct  of  Great  j 
Britain,  we  were  then  told,  was  "  an  out-  ! 
rage  upon  our   national    independence."  | 
These  clamors,  which  commenced  as  early  I 
as  January,  1806,  were  continued  up  to 
1812.     In  "a  message  from  the  governor  of : 
one  of  the  New  England  States,  as  late  as  ' 
the   10th   October,  1811,  this  language   is  | 
held :  "  A  manly  and  decisive  course  has 
become  indispensable ;  a  course  to  satisfy 
foreign    nations,   that,    while    we    desire 
peace,  we  have  the  means  and  the  spirit  to 
repel  aggression.    We  are  false  to  our- 
selves when  our  commerce,  or  our  terri- 
tory, is  invaded  with  impunity." 

About  this  time,  however,  a  remarkable 
change  was  observable  in  the  tone  and 
temper  of  those  who  had  been  endeavoring 
to  force  the  country  into  a  war.  The  lan- 
guage of  complaint  was  changed  into  that 
of  insult,  and  calls  for  protection  converted 
into  reproaches.  "Smoke,  smoke!"  says 
one  writer  ;  "  my  life  on  it,  our  executive 
has  no  more  idea  of  declaring  war  than 
my  grandmother."  The  committee  of 
ways  and  means,"  says  another,  "  have 
come  out  with  their  Pandora's  box  of 
taxes,  and  Vet  nobody  dreams  of  war." 
"  Congress  do  not  mean  to  declare  war; 
they  dare  not."  But  why  multiply  exam- 
ples ?  An  honorable  member  or  the  other 
house,  from  the  city  of  Boston,  [Mr. 
Quincy,]  in  a  speech  delivered  on  the  3d 
April,  1812,  says,  "  Neither  promises, 
nor  threats,  nor  asseverations,  nor  oaths 
will  m  ike  me  believe  that  you  will  go  to 
war.  The  navigation  states  are  sacrificed, 
and  the  spirit  and  character  of  the  country 
prostrated  by  fear  and  avarice."  "  You 
cannot,"  said  the  same  gentleman,  on 
another  occasion,  "  be  kicked  into  a  war." 

Well,  sir,  the  war  at  length  came,  and 
what  did  we  behold  ?  The  very  men  who 
had  been  f  jr  six  years  clamorous  for  war, 
and  for  whose  protection  it  was  waged, 
became  at  once  equally  clamorous  against  it. 
They  had  received  a  miraculous  visitation ; 
a  new  light  suddenly  beamed  upon  their 
minds ;  the  scales  fell  from  their  eyes,  and 
it  was  discovered  that  the  war  was  declared 
from  "subserviency  to  France;"  and  that 
Congress,  and  the  executive,  "  had  sold 
themselves  to  Napoleon ;  "  that  Great  Bri- 
tain had  in  fact  done  us  no  essential  in- 
jur^;" that  she  was  "the  bulwark  of  our 
religion ; "  that  where  "  she  took  one  of 
our  ships,  she  protected  twenty ; "  and  that, 
if  Great  Britain  had  impressed  a  few  of 
our  seamen,  it  was  because  "  she  could  not 
distinguish  them  from  their  own."  And 
80  far  did  this  spirit  extend,  that  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Massachusetts  legislature  ac- 
tually fell  to  calculation,  and  discovered, 
to  their  infinite  satisfaction,  but  to  the 
astonishment  of  all  the  world  besides,  that 
only  eleven  Massachusetts  sailors  had  ever 


been  impressed.  Never  shall  I  forget  the 
appeals  that  had  been  made  to  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  south  in  behalf  of  the  "  thou- 
sands of  impressed  Americans,"  who  had 
been  torn  from  their  families  and  friends, 
and  immured  in  the  floating  dungeons  of 
Britain."  The  most  touching  pictures 
were  drawn  of  the  hard  condition  of  the 
American  sailor,  "  treated  like  a  slave," 
forced  to  fight  the  battles  of  his  enemy, 
"  lashed  to  the  mast,  to  be  shot  at  like  a 
dog."  But,  sir,  the  very  moment  we  had 
taken  up  arms  in  their  defence,  it  was  dis- 
covered that  all  these  were  mere  "  fictions 
of  the  brain ; "  and  that  the  whole  number 
in  the  state  of  Massachusetts  was  but 
eleven;  and  that  even  these  had  been 
"  taken  by  mistake."  Wonderful  discov- 
ery I  The  secretary  of  state  had  collected 
authentic  lists  of  no  less  than  six  thousand 
impressed  Americans.  Lord  Castlereagh 
himself  acknowledged  sixteen  hundred. 
Calculations  on  the  basis  of  the  number 
found  on  board  of  the  Guerriere,  the 
Macedonian,  the  Java,  and  other  British 
ships,  (captured  by  the  skill  and  gallantry 
of  those  heroes  whose  achievements  are 
the  treasured  monuments  of  their  coun- 
try's glory,)  fixed  the  number  at  seven 
thousand ;  and  yet,  it  seems,  Massachusetts 
had  lost  but  eleven !  Eleven  Massachu- 
setts sailors  taken  by  mistake  I  A  cause 
of  war  indeed  !  Their  ships  too,  the  cap- 
ture of  which  had  threatened  "  universal 
bankruptcy,"  it  was  discovered  that  Great 
Britain  was  their  friend  and  protector; 
where  she  had  taken  one  she  had  protected 
twenty."  Then  was  the  discovery  made, 
that  subserviency  to  France,  hostility  to 
commerce,  "  a  determination,  on  the  part 
of  the  south  and  west,  to  break  down  the 
Eastern  States,"  and  especially  as  reported 
by  a  committee  of  the  ilassachusetts  legis- 
lature) "  to  force  the  sons  of  commerce  to 
populate  the  wilderness,"  were  the  true 
causes  of  the  war."  (Olive  Branch,  pp. 
134,  291.)  But  let  us  look  a  little  further 
into  the  conduct  of  the  peace  party  of  New 
England  at  that  important  crisis.  What- 
ever difference  of  opinion  might  have  ex- 
isted as  to  the  causes  of  the  war,  the  country 
had  aright  to  expect,  that,  when  once  in- 
volved in  the  contest,  all  America  would 
have  cordially  united  in  its  support.  Sir, 
the  war  effected,  in  its  progress,  a  union  of 
all  parties  at  the  south.  But  not  so  in 
New  England;  there  great  efforts  were 
made  to  stir  up  the  minus  of  the  people  to 
oppose  it.  Nothing  Avas  left  undone  to 
emoarrass  the  financial  operations  of  the 
government,  to  prevent  the  enlistment  of 
troops,  to  keep  back  the  men  and  money 
of  N  ew  England  from  the  service  of  the 
Union,  to  force  the  president  from  his  seat. 
Yes,  sir,  "  the  Island  of  Elba,  or  a  halter ! " 
were  the  alternatives  they  presented  to  the 
excellent  and  venerable  James  Madison. 


BOOK  III.J 


MR.  HAYNE  ON  FOOT'S  RESOLUTION. 


39 


Sir,  the  war  was  further  opposed  by  openly 
carrying  on  illicit  trade  with  the  enemy, 
by  permitting  that  enemy  to  establish  her- 
self on  the  very  soil  of  Massachusetts,  and 
by  opening  a  free  trade  between  Great 
Britain  and  America,  with  a  separate  cus- 
tom house.  Yes,  sir,  those  who  cannot 
endure  the  thought  that  we  should  insist 
on  a  free  trade,  in  time  of  profound  peace, 
could,  without  scruple,  claim  and  ex- 
ercise the  right  of  carrying  on  a  free  trade 
with  the  enemy  in  a  time  of  war ;  and 
finally  by  getting  up  the  renowned  "  Hart- 
ford Convention,"  and  preparing  the  way 
for  an  open  resistance  to  the  government, 
and  a  separation  of  the  states.  Sir,  if  I  am 
asked  for  the  proof  of  those  things,  I  fear- 
lessly appeal  to  the  contemporary  history, 
to  the  public  documents  of  the  country,  to 
the  recorded  opinion  and  acts  of  public 
assemblies,  to  the  declaration  and  acknow- 
ledgments, since  made,  of  the  executive 
and  legislature  of  Massachusetts  herself.* 

Sir,  the  time  has  not  been  allowed  me  to 
trace  this  subject  through,  even  if  I  had 
been  disposed  to  do  so.  But  I  cannot  re- 
frain from  referring  to  one  or  two  docu- 
ments, which  have  fallen  in  my  way  since 
this  debate  began.  I  read,  sir,  from  the 
Olive  Branch  of  Matthew  Carey,  in  which 
are  collected  "  the  actings  and  doings  "  of 
the  peace  party  in  New  England,  during 
the  continuance  of  the  embargo  and  the 
war.  I  know  the  senator  from  Massachu- 
setts will  respect  the  high  authority  of  his 
political  friend  and  fellow-laborer  in  the 
great  cause  of  "  domestic  industry." 

In  p.  301,  et  seq.,  309  of  this  work,  is  a 
detailed  account  of  the  measures  iidopted 
in  Massachusets  during  the  war,  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  embarrassing  the  financial 
operations  of  the  government,  by  prevent- 
ing loans,  and  thereby  driving  our  rulers 
from  their  seats,  and  forcing  the  country 


*  In  answer  to  an  address  of  Governor  Eustis,  denounc- 
ing the  conduct  of  the  peace  party  during  the  war,  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts,  in  June. 
1823,  gay,  "  The  change  of  tlie  political  sentiments 
evinced  in  the  late  elections  forms  indeed  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  our  commonwealth.  It  is  the  triumi)h  of 
reason  over  passion ;  of  patriotism  over  party  spirit 
Ma«sachusett8  has  returned  to  her  iirst  love,  and  is  no 
longer  a  stranger  in  the  Union.  We  rejoice  that  though, 
during  the  last  war,  such  measures  were  adopted  in  this 
state  as  occasioned  double  sacrifice  of  treasure  and  of 
life,  covered  the  friends  of  the  nation  with  humiliation 
and  mourning,  and  fixed  a  stain  on  the  page  of  our  his- 
tory, a  redeeming  spirit  has  at  length  arisen  to  take  away 
our  reproach,  and  restore  to  us  our  good  name,  our  rank 
among  our  sister  states,  and  our  just  influence  in  the 
Union. 

"  Though  we  would  not  renew  contentions,  or  irritate 
wantonly,  we  believe  that  there  are  cases  when  it  is 
necessary  we  should  '  wound  to  heal.'  And  we  consider 
it  among  the  first  duties  of  the  friends  of  our  national 
government,  on  tliis  return  of  jwwer,  to  disavow  the  un- 
warrantable course  pursued  by  this  state,  during  the  late 
war,  and  to  hold  up  the  measures  of  that  period  as  bea- 
cons; that  the  present  and  succeeding  generations  may 
shun  that  career  which  must  inevitably  terminate  in  the 
destruction  of  the  individual  or  party  who  pursues  it ; 
and  may  learn  the  important  lesson,  that,  in  h11  timee, 
the  path  of  duty  is  the  path  of  safety  ;  and  that  it  is  never 
dangerous  to  rally  around  the  standard  of  our  country." 


into  a  dishonorable  peace.  It  appears  that 
the  Boston  banks  commenced  an  operation, 
by  which  a  run  was  to  be  made  upon  all 
the  banks  of  the  south  ;  at  the  same  time 
stopping  their  own  discounts ;  the  effect  of 
which  was  to  produce  a  sudden  and  almost 
alarming  diminution  of  the  circulating 
medium,  and  universal  distress  over  the 
whole  country — "  a  distress  which  they 
failed  not  to  attribute  to  the  unholy  war." 

To  such  an  extent  was  this  system  car- 
ried, that  it  appears,  from  a  statement  of 
the  condition  of  the  Boston  banks,  made 
up  in  January,  1814,  that  with  nearly 
$5,000,000  of  specie  in  their  vaults,  they 
had  but  $2,000,000  of  bills  in  circulation. 
It  is  added  by  Carey,  that  at  this  very  time 
an  extensive  trade  was  carried  on  in  Brit- 
ish government  bills,  for  which  specie  was 
sent  to  Canada,  for  the  payment  of  the 
British  troops,  then  laying  waste  our  north- 
ern frontier ;  and  this  too  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  New  England  ships,  sailing 
under  British  licenses,  (a  trade  declared  to 
be  lawful  by  the  courts  both  of  Great  Brit- 
ain and  Massachusetts,*)  were  supplying 
with  provisions  those  very  armies  destined 
for  the  invasion  of  our  own  shores.  Sir, 
the  author  of  the  Olive  Branch,  with  a 
holy  indignation,  denounces  these  acts  as 
"treasonable;"  "giving  aid  and  comfort 
to  the  enemy."  I  shall  not  follow  his  ex- 
ample. But  I  will  ask,  With  what  justice 
or  propriety  can  the  south  be  accused  of 
disloyalty  from  that  quarter?  If  we  had 
any  evidence  that  the  senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts had  admonished  his  brethren  then, 
he  might,  with  a  better  grace,  assume  the 
office  of  admonishing  us  now. 

When  I  look  at  the  measures  adopted  in 
Boston,  at  that  day,  to  deprive  the  govern- 
ment of  the  necessary  means  for  carrying 
on  the  war,  and  think  of  the  success  and 
the  consequences  of  these  measures,  I  feel 
my  pride,  as  an  American,  humbled  in  the 
dust.  Hear,  sir,  the  language  of  that  day. 
I  read  from  pages  301  and  302  of  the  Olive 
Branch.  "  Let  no  man  who  wishes  to  con- 
tinue the  war,  by  active  jneans,  by  vote,  or 
lending  money,  dare  to  prostrate  himself 
at  the  altar  on  the  fast  day."  "  Will  fede- 
ralists subscribe  to  the  loan?  Will  they 
lend  money  to  our  national  rulers?  It  is 
impossible.  First,  because  of  principle, 
and  secondly,  because  of  principal  and  in- 
terest." "  Do  not  prevent  the  abusers  of 
their  trust  from  becoming  bankrupt.  Do 
not  prevent  them  from  becoming  odious  to 
the  public,  and  being  replaced  by  better 
men.^'  "  Any  federalist  who  lends  money 
to  government  must  go  and  shake  hands 
with  James  Madison,  and  claim  fellowship 
with  Felix  Grundy."  (I  beg  pardon  of 
my  honorable  friend  from  Tennessee — but 

•  2d  Dodson'g  Admiralty  Reiwrts,  48.  13th  Mm».  B«. 
ports,  26. 


40 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  ui. 


he  is  in  good  company .  I  had  thought  it  was 
"  James  Madison,  Felix  Grundy,  and  the 
devil.")  Let  him  no  more  "call  himself 
a  federalist,  and  a  friend  to  his  country  : 
he  will  be  called  by  others  infamous,"  &c. 

Sir,  the  spirit  of  the  people  sunk  under 
ihese  appeals.  Such  was  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  them  on  the  public  mind,  that 
the  very  agents  of  the  government  (as  ap- 
pears from  their  public  advertisements, 
now  before  me)  could  not  obtain  loans 
without  a  pledge  that  "  the  names  of  the 
subscribers  should  not  be  known."  Here 
are  the  advertisements :  "  The  names  of  all 
.mbscribers"  (say  Gilbert  and  Dean,  the 
brokers  employed  by  government)  "  shall 
be  known  only  to  the  undersigned."  As  if 
those  who  came  forward  to  aia  their  coun- 
try, in  the  hour  of  her  utmost  need,  were 
engaged  in  some  dark  and  foul  conspiracy, 
they  were  assured  "  that  their  names  should 
not  be  known."  Can  any  thing  show  more 
conclusively  the  unhappy  state  of  public 
feeling  which  prevailed  at  that  day  than 
this  single  fact?  Of  the  same  character 
with  these  measures  was  the  conduct  of 
Massachusetts  in  withholding  her  niilitia 
from  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and 
devising  measures  for  withdrawing  her 
quota  of  the  taxes,  thereby  attempting,  not 
merely  to  cripple  the  resources  of  the  coun- 
try, but  actually  depriving  the  government 
(as  far  as  depended  upon  her)  of  all  the 
means  of  carrying  on  the  war — of  the  bone, 
and  muscle,  and  sinews  of  war — "  of  man 
and  steel — the  soldier  and  his  sword."  But 
it  seems  Massachusetts  was  to  reserve  her 
resources  for  herself — she  was  to  defend 
and  protect  her  own  shores.  And  how  was 
that  duty  performed?  In  some  places  on 
the  coast  neutrality  was  declared,  and  the 
enemy  was  suffered  to  invade  the  soil  of 
Massachusetts,  and  allowed  to  occupy  her 
territory  until  the  peace,  without  one  ef- 
fort to  rescue  it  from  his  grasp.  Nay,  more 
— while  our  own  government  and  our 
rulers  were  considered  as  enemies,  the 
troops  of  the  enemy  were  treated  like 
friends — the  most  intimate  commercial  re- 
lations were  e-itablished  with  them,  and 
maintained  up  to  the  peace.  At  this  dark 
period  of  our  national  affairs,  where  was 
the  senator  from  Massachusetts?  How 
were  his  political  a-ssociates  employed  ? 
"  Calculatmg  the  value  of  the  Union?" 
Yes,  sir,  that  was  the  propitious  moment, 
when  our  country  stood  alone,  the  last 
liope  of  the  world,  struggling  for  her  ex- 
istence against  the  colossal  power  of  Great 
Britain,  "  concentrated  one  mighty  effort 
to  crush  us  at  a  blow ;"  that  was  the  chosen 
hour  to  revive  the  grand  scheme  of  build- 
ing up  "  a  great  northern  confederacy  " 
— ^a  scneme  which,  it  is  stated  in  the  work 
before  me,  had  its  origin  as  far  back  as  the 
year  17%,  and  whicn  appears  never  to 
have  been  entirely  abandoned. 


In  the  language  of  the  writers  of  that 
day,  (1796,)  rather  than  have  a  constitu- 
tion such  as  the  anti-federalists  were  con- 
tending for,  (such  as  we  are  now  contend- 
ing for,)  the  Union  ought  to  be  dissolved ; " 
and  to  prepare  the  way  for  that  measure, 
the  same  methods  were  resorted  to  then 
that  have  always  been  relied  on  for  that 
purpose,  exciting  prejudice  against  the 
south.  Yes,  sir,  our  northern  brethren 
were  then  told,  "  that  if  the  negroes  were 
good  for  food,  their  southern  masters  would 
claim  the  right  to  destroy  them  at  pleasure." 
(Olive  Branch,  p.  267.)  Sir,  in  1814,  all 
these  topics  were  revived.  Again  we  hear 
of  "  northern  confederacy."  "  The  slave 
states  by  themselves ; "  "  the  mountains  are 
the  natural  boundary ; "  we  want  neither 
"  the  counsels  nor  the  power  of  the  west,' 
&c.,  &c.  The  papers  teemed  with  accusa- 
tions against  the  south  and  the  west,  and 
the  calls  for  a  dissolution  of  all  connection 
with  them  were  loud  and  strong.  I  cannot 
consent  to  go  through  the  dis,^usting  details. 
But  to  show  the  height  to  which  the  spirit 
of  disaffection  was  carried,  I  will  take  you 
to  the  temple  of  the  living  God,  and  show 
you  that  sacred  place,  which  should  be  de- 
voted to  the  extension  of  "  peace  on  earth 
and  good  will  towards  men,"  where  "  one 
day's  truce  ought  surely  to  be  allowed  to 
the  dissensions  and  animosities  of  man- 
kind," converted  into  a  fierce  arena  of  po- 
litical strife,  where,  from  the  lips  of  the 
priest,  standing  between  the  horns  of  the 
altar,  there  went  forth  the  most  terrible 
denunciations  against  all  who  should  be 
true  to  their  country  in  the  hour  of  her 
utmost  need. 

"  If  you  do  not  wish,"  said  a  reverend 
clergyman,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  Bos- 
ton, on  the  23d  cf  July,  1812,  "  to  become 
the  slaves  of  those  who  own  slaves,  and 
who  are  themselves  the  slaves  of  French 
slaves,  you  must  either,  in  the  language  of 
theday,  CUT  THE  CONNECTION  or  so  far  alter 
the  national  compact  as  to  insure  to  your- 
siclves  a  due  share  in  the  government." 
(Olive  Branch,  p.  319.)  "The  Union," 
says  the  same  writer,  (p.  320,)  "has  been 
long  since  virtually  dissolved,  and  it  is  full 
time  that  this  part  of  the  disimited  states 
should  take  care  of  itself." 

Another  reverend  gentleman,  pastor  of 
a  church  at  Medford,  (p.  321,)  issues  his  ana- 
thema— "  Let  him  stand  accursed  " — 
against  all,  all  who  by  their  "  personal  servi- 
ces," for  "  loans  of  money,","  conversation," 
or  "  writing,"  or  "  influence,"  give  counte- 
nance or  support  to  the  righteous  war,  in 
the  following  terms :  "  That  man  is  an  ac- 
complice in  the  wickedness — he  loads  his 
conscience  with  the  blackest  crimes — he 
brings  the  guilt  of  blood  upon  his  soul,  and 
in  the  sight  of  God  and  his  law,  he  is  a 

MURDERER," 

One  or  two  more  quotations,  sir,  and  I 


KOOKin.1  MR.   HAYNE    ON    FOOT'S    RESOLUTION. 


41 


shall  have  done.  A  reverend  doctor  of  di- 
vinity, the  pastor  of  a  church  at  Byfield, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  7th  of  April,  1814, 
thus  addresses  his  flock,  (p.  321:)  "The 
Israelites  became  weary  of  yielding  the 
fruit  of  their  labor  to  pamper  their  splendid 
tyrants.  They  left  their  political  woes. 
They  separated;  where  is  our  Moses? 
Where  the  rod  of  his  miracles?  Where 
is  our  Aaron  ?  Alas  I  no  voice  from  the 
burning  bush  has  directed  them  here." 

"  We  must  trample  on  the  mandates  of 
despotism,  or  remain  slaves  forever," 
(p.  322.)  "You  must  drag  the  chains  of 
Virginian  despotism,  unless  you  discover 
some  other  mode  of  escape."  "Those 
Western  States  which  have  been  violent 
for  this  abominable  war — those  states 
which  have  thirsted  for  blood — God  has 
given  them  blood  to  drink,"  (p.  323.)  Mr. 
President;  I  can  go  no  further.  The  re- 
cords of  the  day  are  full  of  such  sentiments, 
issued  from  the  press,  spoken  in  public  as- 
semblies, poured  out  from  the  sacred  desk. 
God  forbid,  sir,  that  I  should  charge  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  with  participating 
in  these  sentiments.  The  south  and  the 
west  had  there  their  friends — men  who 
stood  by  their  country,  though  encom- 
passed all  around  by  their  enemies.  The 
senator  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Silsbee) 
was  one  of  them ;  the  senator  from  Con- 
necticut (Mr.  Foot)  was  another;  and 
there  are  others  now  on  this  floor.  The 
sentiments  I  have  read  were  the  sentiments 
of  a  party  embracing  the  political  associ- 
ates of  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts. 
If  they  could  only  be  found  in  the  columns 
of  a  newspaper,  in  a  few  occasional  pam- 
phlets, issued  by  men  of  intemperate  feel- 
ing, I  should  not  consider  them  as  afford- 
ing any  evidence  of  the  opinions  even  of 
the  peace  party  of  New  England.  But, 
sir,  they  were  the  common  language  of  that 
day ;  they  pervaded  the  whole  land ;  they 
were  issued  from  the  legislative  hall,  from 
the  pulpit,  and  the  press.  Our  books  are 
full  of  them ;  and  there  is  no  man  who  now 
hears  me  but  knows  that  they  were  the 
sentiments  of  a  party,  by  whose  members 
they  were  promulgated.  Indeed,  no  evi- 
dence of  this  would  seem  to  be  required 
beyond  the  fact  that  such  sentiments  found 
their  way  even  into  the  pulpits  of  New 
England.  What  must  be  the  state  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  where  any  respectable  clergy- 
man would  venture  to  preach,  and  to  print, 
sermons  containing  the  sentiments  I 
have  quoted?  I  doubt  not  the  piety 
or  moral  worth  of  these  gentlemen.  I  am 
told  they  were  respectable  and  pious  men. 
But  they  were  men,  and  they  "  Kindled  in 
a  common  blaze."  And  now,  sir,  I  must 
be  suffered  to  remark  that,  at  this  awful 
and  melancholy  period  of  our  national  his- 
tory, the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts, 
who  DOW  manifests  so  great  a  devotion  to 


the  Union,  and  so  much  anxiety  lest  it 
should  be  endangered  from  the  south,  was 
"  with   his  brethren  in   Israel,"     He  saw 

all  these  things  passing  before  his  eyes 

he  heard  these  sentiments  uttered  all 
around  him.  I  do  not  charge  that 
gentleman  with  any  participation  in  these 
acts,  or  with  approving  of  these  sentiments. 

But  I  will  ask,  why,  if  he  was  animated 
by  the  same  sentiments  then  which  he  now 
professes,  if  he  can  "au^ur  disunion  at  a 
distance,  and  snuff"  up  rebellion  in  every 
tainted  breeze,"  why  did  he  not,  at  that  day, 
exert  his  great  talents  and  acknowledged 
influence  with  the  political  associates  by 
whom  he  was  surrounded,  and  who  then, 
as  now,  looked  up  to  him  for  guidance  and 
direction,  in  allaying  this  general  excite- 
ment, in  pointing  out  to  his  deluded  friends 
the  value  of  the  Union,  in  instructing  them 
that,  instead  of  looking  "  to  some  prophet 
to  lead  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt," 
they  should  become  reconciled  to  their 
brethren,  and  unite  with  them  in  the  sup- 
port of  a  just  and  necessary  war  ?  Sir,  the 
gentleman  must  excuse  me  for  saying,  that 
if  the  records  of  our  country  afforded  any 
evidence  that  he  had  pursued  such  a 
courae,  then,  if  we  could  find  it  recorded 
in  the  history  of  those  times,  that,  like  the 
immortal  Dexter,  he  had  breasted  that 
mighty  torrent  which  was  sweeping 
before  it  all  that  was  great  and  valuable  in 
our  political  institutions — if  like  him  he 
had  stood  by  his  country  in  opposition  to 
his  party,  sir,  we  would,  like  little  children, 
listen  to  his  precepts,  and  abide  by  his 
counsels. 

As  soon  as  the  public  mind  was  suffi- 
ciently prepared  for  the  measure,  the  cele- 
brated Hartford  Convention  was  got  up  ; 
not  as  the  act  of  a  few  unauthorized  individ- 
uals, but  by  the  authority  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  Massachusetts ;  and,  as  has  been 
shown  by  the  able  historian  of  that  con- 
vention, in  accordance  with  the  views  and 
wishes  of  the  party  of  which  it  was  the 
organ.  Now,  sir,  I  do  not  desire  to  call 
in  question  the  motives  of  the  gentlemen 
who  composed  that  assembly.  I  knew 
many  of  them  to  be  in  private  life  accom- 
plished and  honorable  men,  and  I  doubt 
not  there  were  some  among  them  who  did 
not  perceive  the  dangerous  tendency  of 
their  proceeding.  I  will  even  go  further, 
and  say,  that  if  the  authors  of  the  Hart- 
ford Convention  believed  that  "  gross,  de- 
liberate, and  palpable  violations  of  the 
constitution  "  had  taken  place,  utterly  de- 
structive of  their  rights  and  interests,  I 
should  be  the  last  man  to  deny  their  right 
to  resort  to  any  constitutional  measures 
for  redress.  But,  sir,  in  any  view  of  the 
case,  the  time  when  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  that  convention  assembled, 
as  well  as  the  measures  recommended, 
render   their    conduct,    in    my   opiniou 


42 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


wholly  indefensible.  Let  us  contemplate, 
for  a  moment,  the  spectacle  then  exhibited 
to  the  view  of  the  world.  I  will  not  go 
over  the  disasters  of  the  war,  nor  describe 
the  difficulties  in  which  the  government 
was  involved.  It  will  be  recollected  that 
its  credit  was  nearly  gone,  Washington 
had  fallen,  the  whole  coast  was  blockaded, 
and  an  immense  force,  collected  in  the 
West  Indies,  was  about  to  make  a  de- 
scent, which  it  was  supposed  we  had  no 
means  of  resisting.  In  this  awftxl  state  of 
our  public  affairs,  when  the  government 
seemed  almost  to  be  tottering  on  its  base, 
when  Great  Britain,  relieved  from  all  her 
other  enemies,  had  proclaimed  her  purpose 
of  "  reducing  us  to  unconditional  submis- 
sion," we  beheld  the  peace  party  of  New 
England  (in  the  language  of  the  work  be- 
fore us)  pursuing  a  course  calculated  to  do 
more  injury  to  their  country,  and  to  ren- 
der England  more  effective  service  than  all 
her  armies."  Those  who  could  not  find  it 
in  their  hearts  to  rejoice  at  our  victories 
sang  Te  Deum  at  the  King's  Chapel  in 
Boston,  for  the  restoration  of  the  Bour- 
bons." Those  who  could  not  consent  to 
illuminate  their  dwellings  for  the  capture 
of  the  Guerriere  could  give  no  visible 
tokens  of  their  joy  at  the  fall  of  Detroit. 
The  "beacon  fires"  of  their  hills  were 
lighted  up,  not  for  the  encouragement  of 
their  friends,  but  as  signals  to  the  enemy  ; 
and  in  the  gloomy  hours  of  midnight,  the 
very  lights  burned  blue.  Such  were  the 
dark  and  portentous  signs  of  the  times, 
which  ushered  into  being  the  renowned 
Hartford  Conventien.  That  convention 
met,  and,  from  their  proceedings,  it  ap- 
pears that  their  chief  object  was  to  keep 
back  the  money  and  men  of  New  England 
from  the  service  of  the  Union,  and  to  ef- 
fect radical  changes  in  the  government — 
changes  that  can  never  be  effected  without 
»  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

Let  us  now,  sir,  look  at  their  proceed- 
ings. I  read  from  "A  Short  Account  of 
.the  Hartford  Convention,''  (written  by 
one  of  its  members,)  a  very  rare  book,  of 
which  I  was  fortunate  enough,  a  few  years 
ago,  to  obtain  a  copy.  [Here  Mr.  H.  read 
from  the  proceedings.*] 

•  It  appear*  at  p.  fl  of  the  "Accontit"  that  by  a  rote  of 
the  Honse  of  Reprcflentiitives  of  Mussachiisotts,  (200  to 
SSW)  delegated  to  this  convpntion  were  ordered  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  consult  upon  the  BUhject  "of  their  public 
gfieriuices  and  concerns,"  and  uiwn  "  the  best  means  of 
preoerving  their  resources,"  and  for  procuring  a  revision 
of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  "  more  effectu- 
ally to  secure  the  support  and  attarhment  of  all  the 
people,  by  placing  all  upm  the  bitsis  of  fair  represen- 
tation." 

The  convention  assembled  at  Hartford  on  the  15th 
Peoember,  1H14.     On  the  next  day  it  was 

IU»iUi>td,  That  the  most  inviolable  secrecy  shall  be  ob- 
•erved  by  each  memlwr  of  this  convention,  including  the 
secretary,  as  t<i  all  propositions,  delntes,  and  proceedings 
thereof,  until  ttls  ii^junction  shall  be  suspended  or  al- 
tered. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  the  committee  appointed  to 
^pare  and  report  a  general  project  of  sucli  measures  as 


It  is  unnecessary  to  trace  the  matter 
further,  or  to  ask  what  would  have  been 
the  next  chapter  in  this  history,  if  the 
measures  recommended  had  been  carried 
into  effect;  and  if,  with  the  men  and 
money  of  New  England  withheld  from  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  she  had 
been  withdrawn  from  the  war ;  if  New  Or- 
leans had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  ene- 
my; and  if,  without  troops  and  almost 
destitute  of  money,  the  Southern  and  the 
Western  States  had  been  thrown  upon 
their  own  resources,  for  the  prosecution  o^ 
the  war,  and  the  recovery  of  New  Orleans. 

Sir,  whatever  may  have  been  the  issue 
of  the  contest,  the  Union  must  have  been 
dissolved.  But  a  wise  and  just  Providence, 
which  "  shapes  our  ends,  roughhew  them 
as  we  will,"  gave  us  the  victory,  and 
crowned  our  efforts  with  a  glorious  peace. 
The  ambassadors  of  Hartford  were  seen  re- 
tracing their  steps  from  Washington,  "  the 
bearers  of  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy.'' 
Courage  and  patriotism  triumphed — the 
country  was  saved — the  Union  was  pre- 
served. And  are  we,  Mr.  President,  who 
stood  by  our  country  then,  who  threw  open 
our  coffers,  who  bared  our  bosoms,  who 
freely  perilled  all  in  that  conflict,  to  be  re- 

Eroached  with  want  of  attachment  to  the 
^nion  ?  If,  sir,  we  are  to  have  lessons  of 
patriotism  read  to  us,  they  must  come  from 
a    different   quarter.    The   senator   from 

may  be   proper  for  the  convention  to  adopt,  repotted 
among  otlier  things, — 

"  1.  That  it  wiis  expedient  to  recommend  to  the  l.'rris- 
latures  of  the  states  the  adojjtion  of  the  most  effey  lual 
and  decisive  measures  to  protect  the  militia  of  the  .«tates 
from  the  usur])atiuns  contained  in  these  proceedings." 
[The  proceedings  of  Congress  and  the  executive,  iu  rela- 
tion to  the  militia  and  the  war] 

"  2.  That  it  was  expedient  also  to  prepare  a  statement, 
exhibiting  the  necessity  which  the  improvidence  «nd  in- 
ability of  the  general  government  have  imposed  upon  the 
states  of  providing  for  their  own  defence,  and  the  im- 
possibility of  their  di«;harging  this  duty,  anlat  the 
same  tir.ie  fulfilling  the  requisitions  of  the  genu/al  gov- 
ernment, and  also  to  recommend  to  the  legislatuiies  of  the 
several  states  to  make  provision  for  mutual  defonce,  and 
to  make  an  earnest  application  to  the  governmicat  of  the 
United  States,  with  a  view  to  some  arrangemenv  whereby 
<he  state  may  be  enabled  to  re'jiin  a  ptjrtion  of  the  taxecr 
levied  by  Congress,  for  the  purpose  of  self-defence,  and 
for  the  reinilnirsoment  of  expenses  already  incurred  on 
account  of  the  United  States. 

"  3.  That  it  is  expedient  to  recommend  to  tl.e  several 
state  legislatures  certain  amendments  to  the  co.istitution, 
viz..— 

"  That  the  power  to  declare  or  make  war,  bj  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  be  restricted. 

"  That  it  is  expedient  to  attempt  to  make  prevision  for 
restraining  Congress  in  the  exercise  of  an  .inlimited 
power  to  make  new  states,  and  admit  them  into  the 
Union. 

"That  an  amendment  be  proposed  respecting  slave 
representation  and  slave  taxation." 

On  the  2i»th  of  December,  1814,  it  was  proposed  "  that 
the  capacity  of  naturalized  citizens  to  hold  offices  of  trust, 
honor,  or  profit  ought  to  ho  restrained,"  Ac. 

The  subseqnent  proc^ingo  »ro  not  given  at  large. 
But  It  seems  that  the  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted, 
and  also  a  recommendation  of  certain  measures  (of  the 
character  of  which  we  are  not  informed)  to  the  states  for 
their  mntnal  defence:  and  havinir  vote<l  that  the  injunc- 
tion of  s<'crecy,  in  rtfgard  to  all  the  delMites  and  proceed- 
ings of  the  convention,  (except  so  far  as  relates  to  th« 
report  finally  adopted,)  be  continued,  the  convention  ad 
Jonmed  »ine  die.  but  as  was  suppoeed,  to.meet  again  when 
circamstancee  riiould  requir*  it 


BooEiii.]  MR.    HAYNE    ON    FOOT'3   RESOLUTIOIf. 


43 


Massachusetts,  who  is  now  so  sensitive 
on  all  subjects  connected  with  the  Union, 
seems  to  have  a  memory  forgetful  of  the 
political  events  that  have  passed  away.  I 
must  therefore  refresh  his  recollection  a 
little  further  on  these  subjects.  The  his- 
tory of  disunion  has  been  written  bv  one 
whose  authority  stands  too  high  witli  the 
American  people  to  be  questioned ;  I  mean 
Thomas  Jefferson.  I  know  not  how  the 
gentleman  may  receive  this  authority. 
When  that  great  and  good  man  occupied 
the  presidential  chair,  I  believe  he  com- 
manded no  portion  of  the  gentleman's  re- 
spect. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  celebrated  pamph- 
let on  the  embargo,  in  which  language  is 
held,  in  relation  to  Mr,  Jefferson,  which 
my  respect  for  his  memory  will  prevent  me 
from  reading,  unless  any  gentleman  should 
call  for  it.  But  the  senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts has  since  joined  in  singing  hosan- 
nas  to  his  name ;  he  has  assisted  at  his 
apotheosis,  and  has  fixed  him  as  "  a  bril- 
liant star  in  the  clear  upper  sky."  I  hope, 
therefore,  he  is  now  prepared  to  receive 
with  deference  and  respect  the  high  author- 
ity of  Mr.  Jefferson.  In  the  fourth  volume 
of  his  Memoirs,  which  has  just  issued  from 
the  press,  we  have  the  following  history  of 
disunion  from  the  pen  of  that  illustrious 
statesman:  "Mr.  Adams  called  on  me 
pending  the  embargo,  and  while  endeavors 
were  making  to  obtain  its  repeal :  he  spoke 
of  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  eastern  portion 
of  our  confederacy  with  the  restraints  of 
the  embargo  then  existing,  and  their  rest- 
lessness under  it;  that  there  was  nothing 
which  might  not  be  attempted  to  rid  them- 
selves of  It;  that  he  had  information  of 
the  most  unquestionable  authority,  that 
certain  citizens  of  the  Eastern  States  (I 
think  henamed  Massachusetts  particularly) 
were  in  negotiation  with  agents  of  the 
British  government,  the  object  of  which 
was  an  agreement  that  the  New  England 
States  should  take  no  further  part  in  the 
war  (the  commercial  war,  the  'war  of  re- 
strictions,' as  it  was  called)  then  §oing  on, 
and  that,  without  formally  declaring  their 
separation  from  the  Union,  they  should 
withdraw  from  all  aid  and  obedience  to 
them,  &c.  From  that  moment,"  says  Mr. 
J.,  "  I  saw  the  necessity  of  abandoning  it, 
[the  embargo,]  and/  instead  of  effecting 
our  purpose  by  this  peaceful  measure,  we 
must  fight  it  out  or  break  the  Union."  In 
another  letter  Mr.  Jefferson  adds,  "  I  doubt 
whether  a  single  fact  known  to  the  world 
will  carry  as  clear  conviction  to  it  of  the 
correctness  of  our  knowledge  of  the  treason- 
able views  of  the  federal  party  of  that  day, 
as  that  disclosed  by  this,  the  most  nefa- 
rious and  daring  attempt  to  dissever  the 
Union,  of  which  the  Hartford  Convention 
was  a  subsequent  chapter;  and  both  of 
these  having  failed,  consolidation  becomes 


the  fourth  chapter  of  the  next  book  of 
their  history.  But  this  opens  with  a  vast 
accession  of  strength,  from  their  younger 
recruits,  who,  having  nothing  in  them  of 
the  feelings  and  principles  of  '76,  now  look 
to  a  single  and  splendid  government,  &c., 
riding  and  ruling  over  the  plundered 
ploughman  and  beggared  yeomanry."  (vol. 
iv.pp.  419,  422.) 

The  la.st  chapter,  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  of 
that  history,  is  to  be  found  in  the  conduct 
of  those  who  are  endeavoring  to  bring 
about  consolidation ;  ay,  sir,  that  very  con- 
solidation for  which  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  is  contending — the  exercise 
by  the  federal  goverment  of  powers  not 
delegated  in  relation  to  "  internal  improve- 
ments" and  "  the  protection  of  manufac- 
tures." And  why,  sir,  does  Mr.  Jefferson 
consider  consolidation  as  leading  directly 
to  disunion  ?  Because  he  knew  that  the 
exercise,  by  the  federal  government,  of. 
the  powers  contended  for,  would  make 
this  "a  government  without  limitation  of 
powers,"  the  submission  to  which  he  con- 
sidered as  a  greater  evil  than  disunion  it- 
self. There  is  one  chapter  in  this  history, 
however,  which  Mr.  Jefferson  has  not  filled 
up ;  and  I  must  therefore  supply  the  defi- 
ciency. It  is  to  be  found  in  the  protests 
made  by  New  England  against  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Louisiana.  In  relation  to  that  sub- 
ject, the  New  England  doctrine  is  thus  laid 
down  by  one  of  her  learned  doctors  of  that 
day,  now  a  doctor  of  laws,  at  the  head  of 
the  great  literary  institution  of  the  east ; 
I  mean  Josiah  Quincy,  president  of  Har- 
vard College.  I  quote  from  the  speech 
delivered  by  that  gentleman  on  the  floor 
of  Congress,  on  the  occasion  of  the  admis- 
sion of  Louisiana  into  the  Union. 

"  Mr.  Quincy  repeated  and  justified  a 
remark  he  had  made,  which,  to  save  all 
misapprehension,  he  had  committed  to 
writing,  in  the  following  words :  If  this  bill 
passes,  it  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  it  is 
virtually  a  dissolution  of  the  Union ;  that 
it  will  free  the  states  from  their  moral  obli- 
gation ;  and  as  it  will  be  the  right  of  a.\\ 
so  it  will  be  the  duty  of  some,  to  prepare 
for  a  separation,  amicably  if  they  can, 
violently  if  they  must." 

Mr.  President,  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly 
understood,  that  all  the  remarks  I  have 
made  on  this  subject  are  intended  to  be 
exclusively  applied  to  a  party,  which  I 
have  described  as  the  "  peace  party  of  New 
England" — embracing  the  political  asso- 
ciates of  the  senator  from  Massachusetts — 
a  party  which  controlled  the  operations  of 
that  state  during  the  embargo  and  the  war, 
and  who  are  justly  chargeable  with  all  the 
measures  I  have  reprobated.  Sir,  nothing 
has  been  further  from  my  thoughts  than  to 
impeach  the  character  or  conduct  of  the 
people  of  New  England.  For  their  steady 
habits  and  hardy  virtues  I  trust  I  enter. 


44 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


tain  a  becoming  respect.  I  folly  subscribe 
to  the  truth  of  the  description  given  be- 
fore the  revolution,  by  one  whose  praise  is 
the  highest  eulogy,  "  that  the  perseverance 
of  Holland,  the  activity  of  France,  and  the 
dexterous  and  firm  sagacity  of  English 
enterprise,  have  been  more  than  equalled 
by  this  recent  people."  The  hardy  peo- 
ple of  New  England  of  the  present  day 
are  worthy  of  their  ancestors.  Still  less, 
Mr.  President,  has  it  been  my  intention  to 
say  anything  that  could  be  construed  into 
a  want  of  respect  for  that  party,  who, 
have  been  true  to  their  principles  in  the 
worst  of  times ;  I  mean  the  democracy  of 
New  England. 

Sir,  I  will  declare  that,  highly  as  I  appre- 
ciate the  democracy  of  the  south,  I  con- 
Bider  even  higher  praise  to  be  due  to  the 
democracy  of  New  England,  who  have 
maintained  their  principles  "  through  good 
and  through  evil  report,"  who,  at  every 
period  of  our  national  history,  have  stood 
up  manfully  for  "  their  country,  their  whole 
country,  and  nothing  but  their  country." 
In  the  great  political  revolution  of  '98, 
they  were  found  united  with  the  democracy 
of  the  south,  marching  under  the  banner 
of  the  constitution,  led  on  by  the  patriarch 
of  liberty,  in  search  of  the  land  of  politi- 
cal promise,  which  they  lived  not  only  to 
behold,  but  to  possess  and  to  enjoy.  Again, 
sir,  in  the  darkest  and  most  gloomy  period 
of  the  war,  when  our  country  stood  single- 
handed  against "  the  conqueror  of  the  con- 
querors of  the  world,"  when  all  about  and 
around  them  was  dark  and  dreary,  disas- 
trous and  discouragingjthey  stood  a'Spartan 
band  in  that  narrow  pass,  where  the  honor 
of  their  country  was  to  be  defended,  or  to 
find  its  grave.  And  in  the  last  great  strug- 
gle, involving,  as  we  believe,  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  principle  of  popular  sover- 
eignty, where  were  tne  democracy  of  New 
England?  Where  they  always  have  been 
found,  sir,  struggling  side  by  side,  with 
their  brethren  ot  the  south  and  the  west 
for  popular  rights,  and  assisting  in  that  tri- 
umph, by  which  the  man  of  the  people  was 
elevated  to  the  highest  office  in  their  gift. 

Who,  then,  Mr.  President,  are  the  true 
friends  of  the  Union  ?  Those  who  would 
confine  the  federal  government  strictly 
within  the  limitis  prescribed  by  the  consti- 
tution ;  who  would  preserve  to  the  states 
and  the  people  all  powers  not  expressly 
delegated ;  who  would  make  this  a  federal 
and  not  a  national  Union,  and  who,  ad- 
ministering the  government  in  a  spirit  of 
equal  justice,  would  make  it  a  blessing, 
and  not  a  curse.  And  who  are  its  ene- 
mies? Those  who  are  in  favor  of  con- 
solidation ;  who  are  constantly  stealing 
power  from  the  states,  and  adding  strength 
to  the  federal  government ;  who,  assuming 
an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  the 
states  and  the  people,  undertake  to  regu- 


late the  whole  industry  and  capital  of  the 
country.  But,  sir,  of  all  descriptions  of 
men,  I  consider  those  as  the  worst  enemies 
of  the  Union,  who  sacrifice  the  equal  rights 
which  belong  to  every  member  of  the  con- 
federacy to  combinations  of  interested  ma- 
jorities, for  personal  or  political  objects. 
But  the  gentleman  apprehends  no  evil 
from  the  dependence  of  the  states  on  the 
federal  government ;  he  can  see  no  danger 
of  corruption  from  the  influence  of  money 
or  of  patronage.  Sir,  I  know  that  it  is 
supposed  to  be  a  wise  saying  that  "  patron- 
age is  a  source  of  weakness  ;"  and  in  sup- 
port of  that  maxim,  it  has  been  said,  that 

every  ten  appointments  make  a  hundred 
enemies."  But  I  am  rather  inclined  to 
think,  with  the  eloquent  and  sagacious 
orator  now  reposing  on  his  laurels  on  the 
banks  of  the  Roanoke,  that  "  the  power  of 
conferring  favors  creates  a  crowd  of  de- 
pendants ;"  he  gave  a  forcible  illustration 
of  the  truth  of  the  remark,  when  he  told 
us  of  the  effect  of  holding  up  the  savory 
morsel  to  the  eager  eyes  of  the  hungry 
hounds  gathered  around  his  door.  It  mat- 
tered not  whether  the  gift  was  bestowed 
on  Towzer  or  Sweetlips,  "  Tray,  Blanche,  or 
Sweetheart ;"  while  held  in  suspense,  they 
were  governed  by  a  nod,  and  when  the  mor- 
sel was  bestowed,  expectation  of  favors  of 
to-morrow  kept  up  the  subjection  of  to-day. 

The  senator  from  Massachusetts,  in  de- 
nouncing what  he  is  pleased  to  call  the 
Carolina  doctrine,  has  attempted  to  throw 
ridicule  upon  the  idea  that  a  state  has  any 
constitutional  remedy,  by  the  exercise  of 
its  sovereign  authority,  against  "  a  gross, 
palpable,  and  deliberate  violation  of  the 
constitution."  He  calls  it  "an  idle"  or 
"  a  ridiculous  notion,"  or  something  to  that 
effect,  and  added,  that  it  would  make  the 
Union  a  "  mere  rope  of  sand."  Now,  sir, 
as  the  gentleman  has  not  condescended  to 
enter  into  any  examination  of  the  question, 
and  has  been  satisfied  with  throwing  the 
weight  of  his  authority  into  the  scale,  I 
do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  do  more  than 
to  throw  into  the  opposite  scale  the  author- 
ity on  which  Soutli  Carolina  relies ;  and 
there,  for  the  present,  I  am  perfectly  will- 
ing to  leave  the  controversy.  The  South 
Carolina  doctrine,  that  is  to  say,  the  doc- 
trine contained  in  an  exposition  reported 
by  a  committee  of  the  legislature  in  De- 
cember, 1828,  and  published  by  their  au- 
thority, is  the  good  old  republican  doctrine 
of  '98 — the  doctrine  of  the  celebrated 
"Virginia  Resolutions"  of  that  year,  and 
of  "  Madison's  Report "  of  '99.  It  will  be 
recollected  that  the  legislature  of  Virginia, 
in  December,  '98,  took  into  consideration 
the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  then  considered 
by  all  republicans  as  a  gross  violation  of 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
on  that  day  passed,  among  others,  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions ,— 


BJOK  III.'] 


MR.  HAYNE  ON  FOOT'S  RESOLUTION. 


45 


"  The  General  Assembly  doth  explicitly 
and  peremptorily  declare,  that  it  views  the 
powers  of  the  federal  government,  as  re- 
sulting from  the  compact  to  which  the 
states  are  parties,  as  limited  by  the  plain 
sense  and  intention  of  the  instrument  con- 
stituting that  compact,  as  no  further  valid 
than  they  are  authorized  by  the  grants 
enumerated  in  that  compact ;  ^and  that  in 
case  of  a  deliberate,  palpable,  and  danger- 
ous exercise  of  other  powers  not  granted 
by  the  said  compact,  the  states  who  are 
parties  thereto  have  the  right,  and  are  in 
duty  bound,  to  interpose  for  arresting  the 
progress  of  the  evil,  and  for  maintaining, 
within  their  respective  limits,  authorities, 
rights,  and  liberties,  belonging  to  them." 

In  addition  to  the  above  resolution,  the 
General  Assembly  of  Virginia  "  appealed 
to  the  other  states,  in  the  confidence  that 
they  would  concur  with  that  common- 
wealth, that  the  acts  aforesaid  [the  alien 
and  sedition  laws]  are  unconstitutional, 
and  that  the  necessary  and  proper  mea- 
sures would  be  taken  by  each  for  co-operat- 
ing with  Virginia  in  maintaining  un- 
impaired the  authorities,  rights,  and  liber- 
ties reserved  to  the  states  respectively,  or 
to  the  people." 

The  legislatures  of  several  of  the  New 
England  States,  having,  contrary  to  the 
expectation  of  the  legislature  of  Virginia, 
expressed  their  dissent  from  these  doc- 
trines, the  subject  came  up  again  for 
consideration  during  the  session  of  1799, 
1806,  when  it  was  referred  to  a  select  com- 
mittee, by  whom  was  made  that  celebrated 
report  which  is  familiarly  known  as 
"  Madison's  Report,"  and  which  deserves 
to  last  as  long  as  the  constitution  itself.  In 
that  report,  which  was  subsequently 
adopted  by  the  legislature,  the  whole  sub- 
ject was  deliberately  re-examined,  and  the 
objections  urged  against  the  Virginia  doc- 
trines carefully  considered.  The  result 
was,  that  the  legislature  of  Virginia  re- 
affirmed all  the  principles  laid  down  in  the 
resolutions  of  1798,  and  issued  to  the  world 
that  admirable  report  which  has  stamped 
the  character  of  Mr.  Madison  as  the  pre- 
server of  that  constitution  which  he  nad 
contributed  so  largely  to  create  and  estab- 
lish. I  will  here  quote  from  Mr.  Madison's 
report  one  or  two  passages  which  bear 
more  immediately  on  the  point  in  contro- 
versy. "  The  resolutions,  having  taken 
this  view  of  the  federal  compact,  proceed 
to  infer  '  that  in  case  of  a  deliberate,  palpa- 
ble, and  dangerous  exercise  of  other  powers 
the  states  who  are  parties  thereto  have  the 
right,  and  are  in  duty  bound,  to  interpose 
for  arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil,  and 
for  maintaining,  within  their  respective 
limits,  the  authorities,  rights,  and  liberties 
appertaining  to  them.' " 

It  appears  to  your  committee  to  be  a 
plain  principle,  founded  in  common  sense, 


illustrated  by  common  practice,  and  essen- 
tial to  the  nature  of  compacts,  that,  where 
resort  can  be  had  to  no  tribunal  superior 
to  the  authority  of  the  parties,  the  parties 
themselves  must  be  the  rightful  judges  in 
the  last  resort,  whether  the  bargain  made 
has  been  pursued  or  violated.  The  con- 
stitution ot  the  United  States  was  formed 
by  the  sanction  of  the  states,  given  by  each 
in  its  sovereign  capacity.  It  adds  to  the 
stability  and  dignity,  as  well  as  to  the  au- 
thority, of  the  constitution,  that  it  rests 
upon  this  legitimate  and  solid  fomidation. 
The  states,  then,  being  the  parties  to  the 
constitutional  compact,  and  m  their  sov- 
ereign capacity,  it  follows  of  necessity  that 
there  can  be  no  tribunal  above  their  au- 
thority, to  decide,  in  the  last  resort,  wheth- 
er the  compact  made  by  them  be  violated, 
and  consequently  that,  as  the  parties  to  it, 
they  must  decide,  in  the  last  resort,  such 
questions  as  may  be  of  sufficient  magni- 
tude to  require  their  interposition." 

"The  resolution  has  guarded  against 
any  misapprehension  of  its  object  by  ex- 
pressly requiring  for  such  an  interposition 
'the  case  of  a  deliberate,  palpable,  and 
dangerous  breach  of  the  constitution,  by 
the  exercise  of  powers  not  granted  by  it.' 
It  must  be  a  case,  not  of  a  light  and  tran- 
sient nature,  but  of  a  nature  dangerous  to 
the  great  purposes  for  which  the  constitu- 
tion was  established. 

"  But  the  resolution  has  done  more  than 
guard  against  misconstructions,  by  ex- 
pressly referring  to  cases  of  a  deliberate, 
palpable,  and  dangerous  nature.  It  speci- 
fies the  object  of  the  interposition,  which 
it  contemplates,  to  be  solely  that  of  arrest- 
ing the  progress  of  the  evil  of  usurpation, 
and  of  maintaining  the  authorities,  rights, 
and  liberties  appertaining  to  the  states,  as 
parties  to  the  constitution. 

"From  this  view  of  the  resolution,  it 
would  seem  inconceivable  that  it  can  in- 
cur any  just  disapprobation  from  those 
who,  laying  aside  all  momentary  impress- 
ions, and  recollecting  the  genuine  source 
and  obiect  of  the  federal  constitution,  shall 
candidly  and  accurately  interpret  the 
meaning  of  the  General  Assembly.  If  the 
deliberate  exercise  of  dangerous  powers, 
palpably  withheld  by  the  constitution, 
could  not  justify  the  parties  to  it  in  inter- 
posing even  so  far  as  to  arrest  the  progress 
of  the  evil,  and  thereby  to  preserve  the 
constitution  itself,  as  well  as  to  provide  for 
the  safety  of  the  parties  to  it,  there  would 
be  an  end  to  all  relief  from  usurped  power, 
and  a  direct  subversion  of  the  rights  speci- 
fied or  recoganizod  under  all  the  state 
constitutions,  as  well  as  a  plain  denial  of 
the  fundamental  principles  on  which  our 
indepcn'^lence  itself  was  declared." 

But,  sir,  our  authorities  do  not  stop  here. 
The  state  of  Kentucky  responded  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  on  the  10th  of  November,  1798, 


46 


AMERICA-N    POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


adopted  those  celebrated  resolutions,  well 
known  to  have  been  penned  by  the  author 
of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independ- 
ence. In  those  resolutions,  the  legislature 
of  Kentucky  declare,  "that  the  govern- 
ment created  by  this  compact  was  not 
made  the  exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the 
extent  of  the  powers  delegated  to  itself, 
since  that  would  have  made  its  discretion, 
and  not  the  constitution,  the  measure  of 
its  powers ;  but  that,  as  in  all  other  cases 
of  compact  among  parties  having  no  com- 
mon judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right 
to  judge,  for  itself  as  well  of  infractions  as 
of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress," 

At  the  ensuing  session  of  the  legislature, 
the  subject  was  re-examined,  and  on  the 
14th  of  November,  1799,  the  resolutions  of 
the  preceding  year  were  deliberately  reaf- 
firmed, and  it  was,  among  other  things,  sol- 
emnly declared, — 

"That,  if  those  who  administer  the  gen- 
eral government  be  permitted  to  transgress 
the  limits  fixed  by  that  compact,  by  a  total 
disregard  to  the  special  delegations  of 
power  therein  contained,  an  annihilation 
of  the  state  governments,  and  the  erection 
upon  their  ruins  of  a  general  consolidated 
government,  will  be  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence. That  the  principles  of  construc- 
tion contended  for  by  sundry  of  the  state 
legislatures,  that  the  general  government 
is  the  exclusive  judge  of  the  extent  of  the 
powers  delegated  to  it,  stop  nothing  short 
of  despotism  ;  since  the  discretion  of  those 
who  administer  the  government,  and  not 
the  constitution,  would  be  the  measure  of 
their  powers.  That  the  several  states  who 
formed  that  instrument,  being  sovereign 
and  independent,  have  the  unquestionable 
right  to  judge  of  its  infraction,  and  that  a 
nullification,  by  those  sovereignties,  of  all 
unauthorized  acts  done  under  color  of  that 
instrument,  is  the  rightful  remedy." 

Time  and  experience  confirmed  Mr. 
Jefierson's  opinion  on  this  all  important 

Eoint.  In  tne  year  1821,  he  expressed 
imself  in  this  emphatic  manner :  "It  is 
a  fatal  heresy  to  suppose  that  either  our 
state  governments  are  superior  to  the  fed- 
eral, or  the  federal  to  the  state ;  neither  is 
authorized  literally  to  decide  which  be- 
longs to  itself  or  its  copartner  in  govern- 
ment ;  in  differences  or  opinion,  between 
their  different  sets  of  public  servants,  the 
appeal  is  to  neither,  but  to  their  employ- 
ers peaceably  assembled  by  their  repre- 
sentatives in  convention."  The  opinion  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  on  this  subject  has  been  so 
repeatedly  and  so  solemnly  expressed,  that 
they  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  most 
fixed  and  settled  convictions  of  his  mind. 
In  the  protest  prepared  by  him  for  the 
legislature  of  Virginia,  in  December,  1825, 
in  respect  to  the  powers  exercised  by  the 
federal  government  in  relation  to  the  tariff 
and  internal  improvements,  which  he  de- 


clares to  be  "usurpations  of  the  powers  re- 
tained by  the  states,  mere  interpolations 
into  the  compact,  and  direct  infractions  of 
it,"  he  solemnly  reasserts  all  the  principles 
of  the  Virginia  Resolutions  of  '98,  protests 
against  "  these  acts  of  the  federal  branch  of 
the  government  as  null  and  void,  and  de- 
clares that,  although  Virginia  would  con- 
sider a  dissolution  of  the  Union  as  among 
the  greatest  calamities  that  could  befall 
them,  yet  it  is  not  the  greatest.  There  it 
one  yet  greater — submission  to  a  govern- 
ment of  unlimited  powers.  It  is  only  when 
the  hope  of  this  shall  become  absolutely 
desperate,  that  further  forbearance  could 
not  be  indulged." 

In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Giles,  written  about 
the  same  time,  he  says, — 

"  I  see  as  you  do,  and  with  the  deepest 
affliction,  the  rapid  strides  with  which  the 
federal  branch  of  our  government  is  ad- 
vancing towards  the  usurpation  of  all  the 
rights  reserved  to  the  states,  and  the  con- 
solidation in  itself  of  all  powers,  foreign 
and  domestic,  and  that  too  by  constructions 
which  leave  no  limits  to  their  powers,  &c. 
Under  the  power  to  regulate  commerce, 
they  assume,  indefinitely,  that  also  over 
agriculture  and  manufactures,  &c.  Under 
the  authority  to  establish  post  roads,  they 
claim  that  of  cutting  down  mountains  for 
the  construction  of  roads,  and  digging 
canals,  &c.  And  what  is  our  resource  for 
the  preservation  of  the  constitution?  Reason 
and  argument?  You  might  as  well  reason 
and  argue  with  the  marble  columns  encir- 
cling them,  &c.  Are  we  then  to  stand  to 
our  arms  with  the  hot-headed  Georgian? 
No ;  [and  I  say  no,  and  South  Carolina  has 
said  no;]  that  must  be  the  last  resource. 
We  must  have  patience  and  long  endurance 
with  our  brethren,  &c.,  and  separate  from 
our  companions  only  when  the  sole  alter- 
natives left  are  a  dissolution  of  our  Union 
with  them,  or  submission.  Between  these 
two  evils,  when  we  must  make  a  choice, 
there  can  be  no  hesitation." 

Such,  sir,  are  the  high  and  imposing  au- 
thorities in  support  of  "  The  Carolina  doc- 
trine," which  IS,  in  fact,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Virginia  Resolutions  of  1798. 

Sir,  at  that  day  the  whole  country  was 
divided  on  this  very  question.  It  formed 
the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  federal 
and  republican  parties;  and  the  great  po- 
litical revolution  which  then  took  place 
turned  upon  the  very  questions  involved  in 
these  resolutions.  That  question  was  de- 
cided by  the  people,  and  by  that  decision 
the  constitution  was,  in  the  emphatic  lan- 
guage of  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  saved  at  its  last 
gasp."  I  should  suppose,  sir,  it  would  re- 
quire more  self-respect  than  any  gentleman 
here  would  be  willing  to  assume,  to  treat 
lightly  doctrines  derived  from  such  high 
resources.  Resting  on  authority  like  this,  I 
will  ask  gentlemen  whether  South  Carolina 


BOOK  m.J  MR.    HAYNE    ON    FOOT'S    RESOLUTION. 


47 


has  not  manifested  a  high  regard  for  the 
Union,  when,  under  a  tyranny  ten  times 
more  grievous  than  the  alien  and  sedition 
laws,  she  has  hitherto  gone  no  furtiier  than 
to  petition,  remonstrate,  and  to  solemnly 
protest  against  a  series  of  measures  which 
she  believes  to  be  wholly  unconstitutional 
and  utterly  destructive  of  her  interests. 
Sir,  South  Carolina  has  not  gone  one  step 
further  than  Mr.  Jefferson  himself  was  dis- 
posed to  go,  in  relation  to  the  present  sub- 
ject of  our  present  complaints — not  a  step 
further  than  the  statesman  from  New  Eng- 
land was  disposed  to  go,  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances; no  further  than  the  senator 
from  Massachusetts  himself  once  considered 
as  within  "the  limits  of  a  constitutional 
opposition."  The  doctrine  that  it  is  the 
right  of  a  state  to  judge  of  the  violations  of 
the  constitution  on  the  part  of  the  federal 
government,  and  to  protect  her  citizens 
from  the  operations  of  unconstitutional 
laws,  was  held  by  the  enlightened  citizens 
of  Boston,  who  assembled  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
on  the  25th  of  January,  1809.  They  state, 
in  that  celebrated  memorial,  that  "they 
looked  only  to  the  state  legislature,  who 
were  competent  to  devise  relief  against  the 
unconstitutional  acts  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment That  your  power  (say  they)  is 
adequate  to  that  object,  is  evident  from  the 
organization  of  the  confederacy." 

A  distinguished  senator  from  one  of  the 
New  England  States,  (Mr.  Hillhouse,)  in  a 
speech  delivered  here,  on  a  bill  for  enforc- 
ing the  embargo,  declared,  "  I  feel  myself 
bound  in  conscience  to  declare,  (lest  the 
blood  of  those  who  shall  fall  in  the  execu- 
tion of  this  measure  shall  be  on  my  head, ) 
that  I  consider  this  to  be  an  act  which  directs 
a  mortal  blow  at  the  liberties  of  my  country 
— an  act  containing  unconstitutional  pro- 
visions, to  which  the  people  are  not  bound 
to  submit,  and  to  which,  in  my  opinion, 
they  will  not  submit." 

And  the  senator  from  Massachusetts  him- 
self, in  a  speech  delivered  on  the  same  sub- 
ject in  the  other  house,  said,  "This  opposi- 
tion is  constitutional  and  legal ;  it  is  also 
conscientious.  It  rests  on  settled  and  sober 
conviction,  that  such  policy  is  destructive 
to  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  danger- 
ous to  the  being  of  government.  The  ex- 
perience of  everv  day  confirms  these  senti- 
ments. Men  who  act  from  such  motives 
are  not  to  be  discouraged  by  trifling  obsta- 
cles, nor  awed  by  any  dangers.  They  know 
the  limit  of  constitutional  opposition ;  up 
to  that  limit,  at  their  own  discretion,  they 
will  walk,  and  walk  fearlessly."  How  "  the 
being  of  the  government "  wtis  to  be  endan- 
gered by  "  constitutional  opposition  "  to  the 
embargo,  I  leave  the  gentleman  to  explain. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  Mr.  President,  that 
the  South  Carolina  doctrine  is  the  republi- 
can doctrine  of  '98 — that  it  was  promul- 
gated by  the  fathers  of  the  faith— that  it 


was  maintained  by  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
in  the  worst  of  times — that  it  constituted 
the  very  pivot  on  which  the  political  revo- 
lution of  that  day  turned — that  it  embraces 
the  very  principles,  the  triumph  of  which, 
at  that  time,  saved  the  constitution  at  its 
last  gasp,  and  which  New  England  states- 
men were  not  unwilling  to  adopt,  when 
they  believed  themselves  to  be  the  victims 
of  unconstitutional  legislation.  Sir,  as  to 
the  doctrine  that  the  federal  government  is 
the  exclusive  judge  of  the  extent  as  well  as 
the  limitations  of  its  powers,  it  seems  to  me 
to  be  utterly  subversive  of  the  sovereignty 
and  independence  of  the  states.  It  makes 
but  little  difference,  in  my  estimation, 
whether  Congress  or  the  Supreme  Court  are 
invested  with  this  power.  If  the  federal 
government,  in  all,  or  any,  of  its  depart- 
ments, is  to  prescribe  the  limits  of  its  own 
authority,  and  the  states  are  bound  to  sub- 
mit to  the  decision,  and  are  not  to  be  al- 
lowed to  examine  and  decide  for  them- 
selves, when  the  barriers  of  the  constitution 
shall  be  overleaped,  this  is  practically  "  a 
government  without  limitation  of  powers." 
The  states  are  at  once  reduced  to  mere 
petty  corporations,  and  the  people  are  en- 
tirely at  your  mercy.  I  have  but  one  word 
more  to  add.  In  all  the  efforts  that  have 
been  made  by  South  Carolina  to  resist  the 
unconstitutional  laws  which  Congress  has 
extended  over  them,  she  has  kept  steadily 
in  view  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  by 
the  only  means  by  which  she  believes  it 
can  be  long  preserved — a  firm,  manly,  and 
steady  resistance  against  usurpation.  The 
measures  of  the  federal  government  have, 
it  is  true,  prostrated  her  interests,  and  will 
soon  involve  the  whole  south  in  irretriev- 
able ruin.  But  even  this  evil,  great  as  it 
is,  is  not  the  chief  ground  of  our  complaints. 
It  is  the  principle  involved  in  the  contest 
— a  principle  which,  substituting  the  dis- 
cretion of  Congress  for  the  limitations  of 
the  constitution,  brings  the  states  and  the 
people  to  the  feet  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment, and  leaves  them  nothing  they  can 
call  their  own.  Sir,  if  the  measures  of  the 
federal  government  were  less  oppressive, 
we  should  still  strive  against  this  usurpa- 
tion. The  south  is  acting  on  a  principle 
she  has  always  held  sacred — resistance  to 
unauthorized  taxation.  These,  sir,  are  the 
principles  which  induced  the  immortal 
Hampden  to  resist  the  payment  of  a  tax 
of  twenty  shillings.  Would  twenty  shil- 
lings have  ruined  his  fortune?  No!  but 
the  payment  of  half  twenty  shillings, 
on  the  principle  on  which  it  was  demanded, 
would  nave  made  him  a  slave.  Sir,  if  act- 
ing on  these  high  motives — if  animated  by 
that  ardent  love  of  liberty  which  has  alwavs 
been  the  most  prominent  trait  in  the  south- 
ern character — we  should  be  hurried  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  a  cold  and  calculating 
prudence,  who  is  there,  with  one  noble  ana 


48 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


generous  sentiment  in  his  bosom j  that 
w  juid  not  be  disposed,  in  the  language  ol 
Burke,  to  exclaim,  "You  must  pardon 
something  to  the  spirit  of  liberty?  " 


l^ebster'a  Great  Repl^  to  Hajme, 

in  Ulhieh  Kl  "  Expoumh  the  ConftUution,'"  delivered  in 
Senate,  January  26,  1830. 

Following  Mr.  Hayne  in  the  debate,  Mr. 
Webster  addressed  the  Senate  as  fol- 
lows : — 

Mr.  President:  When  the  mariner  has 
been  tossed,  for  many  days,  in  thick 
weather,  and  on  an  unknown  sea,  he  natu- 
rally avails  himself  of  the  first  pause  in  the 
Btor'm,  the  earliest  glance  of  the  sun,  to 
take  his  latitude,  and  ascertain  how  far  the 
elements  have  driven  him  from  his  true 
course.  Let  us  imitate  this  prudence,  and 
before  we  float  farther,  refer  to  the  point 
from  which  we  departed,  that  we  may  at 
least  be  able  to  conjecture  where  we  now 
are.  I  ask  for  the  reading  of  the  resolu- 
tion. 

I  The  Secretary  read  the  resolution  as 
follows : 

"  Resolved^  That  the  committee  on  pub- 
lic lands  be  instructed  to  inquire  and  re- 
port the  quantity  of  the  public  lands 
remaining  unsold  within  each  state  and 
territory,  and  whether  it  be  expedient  to 
limit,  for  a  certain  period,  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands  to  such  lands  only  as  have 
neretofore  been  offered  for  sale,  and  are 
now  subject  to  entry  at  the  minimum  price. 
And,  also,  whether  the  office  of  surveyor 
general,  and  some  of  the  land  offices,  may 
not  be  abolished  without  detriment  to  the 
public  interest ;  or  whether  it  be  expedient 
to  adopt  measures  to  hasten  the  sales,  and 
extend  more  rapidly  the  surveys  of  the 
public  lands."] 

We  have  thus  heard,  sir,  what  the  reso- 
lution is,  which  is  actually  before  us  for 
consideration  ;  and  it  will  readily  occur  to 
every  one  that  it  is  almost  the  only  subject 
about  which  something  has  not  been  said 
in  the  speech,  running  through  two  days, 
by  which  the  Senate  has  been  now  enter- 
tained by  the  gentleman  from  South  Caro- 
lina. Everv  topic  in  the  wide  range  of  our 
public  affairs,  whether  past  or  present, — 
every  thing,  general  or  local,  whether  be- 
longing to  national  politics  or  party  poli- 
tics,— seems  to  have  attracted  more  or  less 
of  the  honorable  member's  attention,  save 
only  the  resolution  before  us.  He  has 
spoken  of  every  thing  but  the  public  lands. 
They  have  escaped  his  notice.  To  that 
object,  in  all  his  excursions,  he  has  not 
paid  even  the  cold  respect  of  a  passing 
glance. 

When  this  debate,  sir,  was  to  be  resumed, 
on  Thursday  morning,  it  so  happened  that 
it  would  have  been  convenient  for  me  to 


be  elsewhere.  The  honorable  member, 
however,  did  not  incline  to  put  off  the  dis- 
cussion to  another  day.  He  had  a  shot,  he 
said,  to  return,  and  he  wished  to  discharge 
it.  That  shot,  sir,  which  it  was  kind  thus 
to  inform  us  was  coming,  that  we  might 
stand  out  of  the  way,  or  prepare  ourselves 
to  fall  before  it,  and  die  with  decency,  has 
now  been  received.  Under  all  advantages, 
and  with  expectation  awakened  by  the 
tone  which  preceded  it,  it  has  been  dis- 
charged, and  has  spent  its  force.  It  may 
become  me  to  say  no  more  of  its  effect  than 
that,  if  nobody  is  found,  after  all,  either 
killed  or  wounded  by  it,  it  is  not  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  human  affairs  that 
the  vigor  and  success  of  the  war  have  not 
quite  come  up  to  the  lofty  and  sounding 
phrase  of  the  manifesto. 

The  gentleman,  sir,  in  declining  to  post- 
pone the  debate,  told  the  Senate,  with  the 
emphasis  of  his  hand  upon  his  heart,  that 
there  was  something  rankling  here,  which 
he  wished  to  relieve.  [Mr.  Hayne  rose 
and  disclaimed  having  used  the  word 
rankling. \  It  would  not,  Mr.  President, 
be  safe  for  the  honorable  member  to  appeal 
to  those  around  him,  upon  the  question 
whether  he  did,  in  fact,  make  use  of  that 
word.  But  he  may  have  been  unconscious 
of  it.  At  any  rate,  it  is  enough  that  he 
disclaims  it.  But  still,  with  or  without  the 
use  of  that  particular  word,  he  had  yet 
something  here,  he  said,  of  which  he  wished 
to  rid  himself  by  an  immediate  reply.  In 
this  respect,  sir,  I  have  a  great  aavantage 
over  the  honorable  gentleman.  There  is 
nothing  here,  sir,  which  gives  me  the  slight- 
est uneasiness ;  neither  fear,  nor  anger,  nor 
that  which  is  sometimes  more  troublesome 
than  either,  the  consciousness  of  having 
been  in  the  wrong.  There  is  nothing  either 
originating  here,  or  now  received  here,  by 
the  gentleman's  shot.  Nothing  original, 
for  I  had  not  the  slightest  feeline  of  disre- 
spect or  unkindness  towards  the  honorable 
member.  Some  passages,  it  is  true,  had 
occurred,  since  our  acquaintance  in  this 
body,  which  I  could  have  wished  might 
have  been 'otherwise;  but  I  had  used  phil- 
osophy, and  forgotten  them.  When  the 
honorable  member  rose,  in  his  first  speech, 
I  paid  him  the  respect  of  attentive  listen- 
ing ;  and  when  he  sat  down,  though  sur- 
prised, and  I  must  say  even  astonished,  at 
some  of  his  opinions,  nothing  was  farther 
from  my  intention  than  to  commence  any 
personal  warfare ;  and  through  the  whole 
of  the  few  remarks  I  made  in  answer,  I 
avoided,  studiously  and  carefully,  every 
thing  which  I  thought  possible  to  be  con- 
strued into  disrepect.  And,  sir,  while 
there  is  thus  nothing  originating  here, 
which  I  wished  at  any  time,  or  now  wish 
to  discharge,  I  must  repeat,  also,  that  no- 
thing has  been  received  Acre  which  rankles, 
or  in  any  way  gives  me  annoyance.    I  will 


)^0^^^-^.v9-       /'/^^^^jM\^ 


BOOK  III.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


49 


n^t  accuse  the  honorable  member  of  violat- 
ing the  rule*  of  civilized  war — I  will  not 
say  that  he  poisoned  his  arrows.  But 
whether  his  shafts  were,  or  were  not,  dipped 
in  that  which  would  have  caused  rankling 
if  they  had  reached,  there  wiis  not,  as  it 
happened,  quite  strength  enough  in  the 
bow  to  bring  them  to  their  marlc.  If  he 
wishes  now  to  find  those  shafts,  he  must 
look  for  them  elsewhere ;  they  will  not  be 
found  fixed  and  quivering  in  the  object  at 
which  they  were  aimed. 

The  honorable  member  complained  that 
I  had  slept  on  his  speech.  I  must  have 
slept  on  it,  or  not  slept  at  all.  The  mo- 
ment the  honorable  member  sat  down,  his 
friend  from  Missouri  arose,  and,  with  much 
honeyed  commendation  of  the  speech,  sug- 
gested that  the  impressions  which  it  had 
produced  were  too  charming  and  delight- 
ful to  be  disturbed  by  other  sentiments  or 
other  sound-i,  and  proposed  that  the  Senate 
should  adjourn.  Would  it  have  been  quite 
amiable  in  me,  sir,  to  interrupt  this  excel- 
lent good  feeling?  Must  I  not  have  been 
absolutely  malicious,  if  I  could  have  thrust 
myself  forward  to  destroy  sensations  thus 
pleasing?  Was  it  not  much  better  and 
kinder,  both  to  sleep  upon  them  myself, 
and  to  allow  others,  also,  the  pleasure  of 
sltieping  upon  them  ?  But  if  it  be  meant, 
by  sleeping  upon  his  speech,  that  I  took 
time  to  prepare  a  reply  to  it,  it  is  quite  a 
mistake;  owin^  to  other  engagements,  I 
could  not  employ  even  the  interval  be- 
tween the  adjournment  of  the  Senate  and 
its  meeting  the  next  morning  in  attention 
to  the  subject  of  this  debate.  Nevertheless, 
sir,  the  mere  matter  of  fact  is  undoubtedly 
true — I  did  sleep  on  the  gentleman's  speech, 
and  slept  soundly.  And  I  slept  equally 
well  on  his  speech  of  yesterday,  to  which 
I  am  now  replying.  It  is  quite  possible 
that,  in  this  respect,  also,  I  possess  some 
advantage  over  the  honorable  member,  at- 
tributable, doubtless,  to  a  cooler  tempera- 
ment on  my  part ;  for  in  truth  I  slept  upon 
his  speeches  remarkably  well.  But  the 
gentleman  inquires  why  he  was  made  the 
object  of  such  a  reply.  Why  was  he 
singled  out?  If  an  attack  had  been  made 
on  the  east,  he,  he  assures  us,  did  not  be- 

§in  it— it  was  the  gentleman  from  Missouri, 
ir,  I  answered  the  gentleman's  speech,  be- 
cause I  happened  to  hear  it ;  ana  because, 
also,  I  choose  to  give  an  answer  to  that 
speech,  which,  if  unanswered,  I  thought 
most  likely  to  produce  injurious  impres- 
sions. I  did  not  stop  to  inquire  who  was 
the  original  drawer  of  the  bill.  I  found  a 
responsible  endorser  before  me,  and  it  was 
my  purpose  to  hold  him  liable,  and  to 
bring  him  to  his  just  responsibility  without 
delay.  But,  sir,  this  interrogatory  of  the 
honorable  member  was  only  introductorj' 
to  another.  He  proceeded  to  ask  me 
whether  I  had  turned  upon  him  in  this  de- 
32 


bate  from  the  consciousness  that  I  should 
find  an  overmatch  if  I  ventured  on  a  con- 
test with  his  friend  from  Missouri.  If,  sir, 
the  honorable  member,  ex  gratia  modestice. 
had  chosen  thus  to  defer  to  his  friend,  and 
to  pay  him  a  compliment,  without  inten- 
tional disparagement  to  others,  it  would 
have  been  quite  according  to  the  friendly 
courtesies  of  debate,  and  not  at  all  ungrate- 
ful to  my  own  feelings.  I  am  not  one  of 
those,  sir,  who  esteem  any  tribute  of  regard, 
whether  light  and  occasional,  or  more  seri- 
ous and  deliberate,  which  may  be  be- 
stowed on  others,  as  so  much  unjustly  witL- 
holden  from  themselves.  But  the  tone 
and  manner  of  the  gentleman's  question, 
forbid  me  thus  to  interpret  it.  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  consider  it  as  nothing  more  than 
a  civility  to  his  friend.  It  had  an  air  of 
taunt  and  disparagement,  a  little  of  the 
loftiness  of  asserted  superiority,  which  does 
not  allow  me  to  pass  it  over  without  notice. 
It  was  put  as  a  question  for  me  to  answer, 
and  so  put  as  if  it  were  difficult  for  me  to 
answer,  whether  I  deemed  the  member 
from  Missouri  an  overmatch  for  myself  in 
debate  here.  It  seems  to  me,  sir,  that  is 
extraordinary  language,  and  an  extraordi- 
nary tone  for  the  discussions  of  this  body. 
Matches  and  overmatches?  Those 
terms  are  more  applicable  elewhere  than 
here,  and  fitter  for  other  assembliee  than 
this.  Sir,  the  gentleman  seems  to  forget 
where  and  what  we  are.  This  is  a  Senate ; 
a  Senate  of  equals ;  of  men  of  individual 
honor  and  personal  character,  and  of  ab- 
solute independence.  We  know  no  mas- 
ters ;  we  acknowledge  no  dictators.  This 
is  a  hall  of  mutual  consultation  and  dis- 
cussion, not  an  arena  for  the  exhibition  of 
champions.  I  offer  myself,  sir,  as  a  match 
for  no  man  ;  I  throw  the  challenge  of  de- 
bate at  no  man's  feet.  But,  then,  sir, 
since  the  honorable  member  has  put  the 
question  in  a  manner  that  calls  for  an 
answer.  I  will  give  him  an  answer;  and  I 
tell  him  that,  holding  myself  to  be  the 
humblest  of  the  members  here,  I  yet  know 
nothing  in  the  arm  of  his  friend  from 
Missouri,  either  alone  or  when  aided  by 
the  arm  of  his  friend  from  South  Carolina, 
that  need  deter  even  me  from  espousing 
whatever  opinions  I  may  choose  to  es- 
pouse, from  debating  whenever  I  may 
choose  to  debate,  or  from  speaking  what- 
ever I  may  see  fit  to  say  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate.  Sir,  when  uttered  as  matter  of 
commendation  or  compliment,  I  should 
dissent  from  nothing  which  the  honorable 
member  might  say  of  his  friend.  Still  less 
do  I  put  forth  any  pretensions  of  my  own. 
But  when  put  to  me  as  a  matter  of  taunt,  I 
throw  it  back,  and  say  to  the  gentleman 
that  he  could  possibly  say  nothing  less 
likely  than  such  a  comparison  to  wound 
my  pride  of  personal  character.  The  an- 
ger of  its  tone  rescued  the  remark  from 


50 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


intentional  irony,  which  otherwise,  pro- 
bably, would  have  been  its  general  accep- 
tation. But,  sir,  if  it  be  imagined  that  by 
this  mutual  quotation  and  commendation ; 
if  it  be  supposed  that,  hy  casting  the 
characters  of  the  drama,  assigning  to  each 
his  part, — to  'one  the  attack,  to  another 
the  cry  of  onset, — or  if  it  be  thought  that 
bjr  a  loud  and  empty  vaunt  of  anticipated 
victory  any  laurels  are  to  be  won  here ;  if 
it  be  imagined,  especially,  that  any  or  all 
these  things  will  shake  any  purpose  of 
mine,  I  can  tell  the  honorable  member, 
once  for  all,  that  he  is  greatly  mistaken, 
and  that  he  is  dealing  with  one  of  whose 
temper  and  character  he  has  yet  much  to 
learn.  Sir,  I  shall  not  allow  myself,  on 
this  occasion — I  hope  on  no  occasion — to 
be  betrayed  into  any  loss  of  temper ;  but 
if  provoked,  as  I  trust  I  never  shall  allow 
myself  to  be,  into  crimination  aAd  recrimi- 
nation, the  honorable  member  may,  per- 
haps, find  that  in  that  contest  there  will 
be  blows  to  take  as  well  as  blows  to  give ; 
that  others  can  state  comparisons  as  signi- 
ficant, at  least,  as  his  own ;  and  that  his 
impunity  niay,  perhaps,  demand  of  him 
whatever  powers  of  taunt  and  sarcasm  he 
may  possess.  I  commend  him  to  a  pru- 
dent nusbandry  of  his  resources. 

But,  sir,  the  coalition !  The  coalition ! 
Aye,  "  the  murdered  coalition  I  "  The 
gentleman  asks  if  I  were  led  or  frighted 
into  this  debate  by  the  spectre  of  the  coali- 
tion. "  Was  it  the  ghost  of  the  murdered 
coalition,"  he  exclaims,  "which  haunted 
the  member  from  Massachusetts,  and 
which,  like  the  ghost  of  Banquo,  would 
never  down?"  "The  murdered  coali- 
tion !  "  Sir,  this  charge  of  a  coalition,  in 
reference  to  the  late  administration,  is  not 
original  with  the  honorable  member.  It 
did  not  spring  up  in  the  Senate.  Whether 
as  a  fact,  as  an  argument,  or  as  an  embel- 
lishment, it  is  all  borrowed.  He  adopts 
it,  indeed,  from  a  very  low  origin,  and  a  still 
lower  present  condition.  It  is  one  of  the 
thousand  calumnies  with  which  the  press 
teemed  during  an  excited  political  can- 
vass. It  was  a  charge  of  which  there  was 
not  only  no  proof  or  probability,  but 
which  was,  in  itself,  wholly  impossible  to 
be  true.  No  man  of  common  information 
ever  believed  a  svUable  of  it.  Yet  it  was 
of  that  class  of  falsehoods  which,  by  con- 
tinued repetition  through  all  the  organs  of 
detraction  and  abuse,  are  capable  of  mis- 
leading those  who  are  alreaoy  far  misled, 
and  ot  further  fanning  passion  arlreauy 
kindling  into  flame.  Doubtless  it  served 
its  day,  and,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
the  end  designed  by  it.  Having  done  that, 
it  has  sunk  into  the  general  mass  of  stale 
and  loathed  calumnies.  It  is  the  very  cast- 
off  slough  of  a  polluted  and  shameless 
Eress.  Incapable  of  further  mischief,  it 
es  in  the  sewer  lifeless  and  despised.    It 


is  not  now,  sir,  in  the  power  of  the  honora* 
ble  member  to  give  it  dignity  or  decency, 
by  attempting  to  elevate  it,  and  to  intro- 
duce it  into  the  Senate.  He  cannot  change 
it  from  what  it  is — an  object  of  general 
disgust  and  scorn.  On  the  contrary,  the 
contact,  if  he  choose  to  touch  it,  is  more 
likely  to  drag  him  down,  down,  to  the 
place  where  it  lies  itself. 

But,  sir,  the  honorable  member  was  not, 
for  other  reasons,  entirely  happy  in  his  al- 
lusion to  the  story  of  Banquo's  murder  and 
Banquo's  ghost.  It  was  not,  I  think,  the 
friends,  but  the  enemies  of  the  murdered 
Banquo,  at  whose  bidding  his  spirit  would 
not  down.  The  honorable  gentleman  is 
fresh  in  his  reading  of  the  English  classics, 
and  can  put  me  right  if  I  am  wrong ;  but 
according  to  my  poor  recollection,  it  was 
at  those  who  had  begun  with  caresses,  and 
ended  with  foul  and  treacherous  murder, 
that  the  gory  locks  were  shaken.  The 
ghost  of  Banquo,  like  that  of  Hamlet,  was 
an  honest  ghost.  It  disturbed  no  innocent 
man.  It  knew  where  its  appearance  would 
strike  terror,  and  who  would  cry  out  A 
ghost  1  It  made  itself  visible  in  the  right 
quarter,  and  compelled  the  guilty,  and 
the  conscience-smitten,  and  none  others,  to 
start,  with, 

"  Prithee,  see  there !  behold  ! — look  !  lo ! 
If  1  Btand  here,  I  saw  him  t " 

Their  eyeballs  were  seared — was  it  not  so, 
sir? — who  had  thought  to  shield  them- 
selves by  concealing  their  own  hand  and 
laying  the  imputation  of  the  crime  on  a 
low  and  hireling  agency  in  wickedness; 
who  had  vainly  attempted  to  stifle  the 
workings  of  their  own  coward  consciences, 
by  circulating,  through  white  lips  and 
chattering  teeth,  "Thou  canst  not  say  I 
did  it  I "  I  have  misread  the  great  poet, 
if  it  was  those  who  had  no  way  partaken 
in  the  deed  of  the  death,  who  either  found 
that  they  were,  or  feared  that  they  should 
be,  pushed  from  their  stools  by  the  ghost  of 
the  slain,  or  who  cried  out  to  a  spectre 
created  bv  their  own  fears,  and  their  own 
remorse,     Avaunt !  and  quit  our  sight ! 

There  is  another  particular,  sir,  in 
which  the  honorable  member's  quick  per- 
ception of  resemblances  might,  I  should 
think,  have  seen  something  in  the  story  of 
Banquo,  making  it  not  altogether  a  sub- 
ject of  the  most  pleasant  contemplation. 
Those  who  murdered  Banquo,  what  did 
they  win  by  it?  Substantial  good?  Per- 
manent power?  Or  disappointment,  rath- 
er, and  sore  mortification — dust  and  ashes 
— the  common  fate  of  vaulting  ambition 
overleaping  itsself  ?  Did  not  even-handed 
justice,  ere  long,  commend  the  poisoned 
chalice  to  their  own  lips  ?  Did  thev  not 
soon  find  that  for  another  they  had  filed 
their  mind?"  that  their  ambition  though 
apparently  for  the  moment  successful,  had 


BOOK  III.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


61 


but  put  a  barren  sceptre  in  their  grasp  ? 
Aye,  sir, — 

"  A  barren  sceptre  in  their  gripe, 
Thence  lo  be  tcrenched  by  an  unlineal  hand, 
Ho  son  of  Oieirs  sttcceeding." 

Sir,  I  need  pursue  the  allusion  no  fur- 
ther. I  leave  the  honorable  gentleman  to 
run  it  out  at  his  leisure,  and  to  derive  from 
it  all  the  gratification  it  is  calculated  to 
administer.  If  he  finds  himself  pleased 
with  the  associations,  and  prepared  to  be 
quite  satisfied,  though  the  parallel  should 
be  entirely  completed,  I  had  almost  said  I 
am  satisfied  also — but  that  I  shall  think 
of.     Yes,  sir,  I  will  think  of  that. 

In  the  course  of  my  observations  the  oth- 
er day,  Mr.  President,  I  paid  a  passing 
tribute  of  respect  to  a  very  worthy  man, 
Mr.  Dane,  of  Massachusetts.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  he  drew  the  ordinance  of  1787 
for  the  government  of  the  North-western 
Territory.  A  man  of  so  much  ability,  and 
so  little  pretence ;  of  so  great  a  capacity  to 
do  good,  and  so  unmixed  a  disposition  to 
do  it  for  its  own  sake ;  a  gentleman  who 
acted  an  important  part,  forty  years  ago,  in 
a  measure  the  influence  of  which  is  still 
deeply  felt  in  the  very  matter  which  was 
the  subject  of  debatf>,  might,  I  thought,  re- 
ceive from  me  a  c( 'mmendatory  recogni- 
tion. 

But  the  honorable  gentleman  was  in- 
clined to  be  facetious  on  the  subject.  He 
was  rather  disposed  to  make  it  a  matter  of 
ridicule  that  I  had  /  ntroduced  into  the  de- 
bate the  name  of  one  Nathan  Dane,  of 
whom  he  assures  uft  he  had  never  before 
heard.  Sir,  if  the  honorable  member  had 
never  before  hea^'d  of  Mr.  Dane,  I  am 
sorry  for  it.  It  shows  him  less  acquainted 
with  the  public  men  of  the  country  than  I 
had  supposed.  Let  me  tell  him,  however, 
that  a  sneer  f'rm  him  at  the  mention  of 
the  name  of  l\f.r.  Dane  is  in  bad  taste.  It 
may  well  be  a  high  mark  of  ambition,  sir, 
either  with  the  honorable  gentleman  or 
myself,  to  accomplish  as  much  to  make 
our  names  known  to  advantage,  and  re- 
membered with  gratitude,  as  Mr.  Dane  has 
accomplished.  But  the  truth  is,  sir,  I  sus- 
pect that  Mr.  Dane  lives  a  little  too  far 
north.  He  is  of  Massachusetts,  and  too 
near  the  north  star  to  be  reached  by  the 
honorable  gentleman's  telescope.  If  his 
sphere  had  happened  to  range  south  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  he  might,  prob- 
ably, have  come  within  the  scope  of  his 
vision  I 

I  spoke,  sir,  of  the  ordinance  of  1787, 
which  prohibited  slavery  in  all  future 
times  north-west  of  the  Ohio,  as  a  measure 
of  great  wisdom  and  foresight,  and  one 
which  had  been  attended  with  highly 
beneficial  and  permanent  consequences.  I 
suppose  that  on  this  point  no  two  gentle- 
men in  the  Senate  could  entertain  different 


opinions.  But  the  simple  expression  of 
this  sentiment  has  led  the  gentleman,  not 
only  into  a  labored  defence  of  slavery  in 
the  abstract,  and  on  principle,  but  also  into 
a  warm  accusation  against  me,  as  having 
attacked  the  system  of  slavery  now  exist- 
ing in  the  Southern  States.  For  all  this 
there  was  not  the  slightest  foundation  in 
anything  said  or  intimated  by  me.  I  did 
not  utter  a  single  word  which  any  ingenu- 
ity could  torture  into  an  attack  on  th« 
slavery  of  the  South.  I  said  only  that  it 
was  highly  wise  and  useful  in  legislating 
for  the  north-western  country,  while  it  waa 
yet  a  wilderness,  to  prohibit  the  introduc- 
tion of  slaves ;  and  added,  that  I  presumed, 
in  the  neighboring  state  of  Kentucky, 
there  was  no  reflecting  and  intelligent 
gentleman  who  would  doubt  that,  if  the 
same  prohibition  had  been  extended,  at 
the  same  early  period,  over  that  common- 
wealth, her  strength  and  population  would, 
at  this  day,  have  been  far  greater  than  thev 
are.  If  these  opinions  be  thought  doubtful, 
they  are,  nevertheless,  I  trust,  neither  ex- 
traordinary nor  disrespectful.  They  at- 
tack nobody  and  menace  nobody.  And 
yet,  sir,  the  gentleman's  optics  have  dis- 
covered, even  in  the  mere  expression  of 
this  sentiment,  what  he  calls  the  very 
spirit  of  the  Missouri  question !  He  rep- 
resents me  as  making  an  attack  on  the 
whole  south,  and  manifesting  a  spirit 
which  would  interfere  with  and  disturb 
their  domestic  condition.  Sir,  this  in- 
justice no  otherwise  surprises  me  than  as 
it  is  done  here,  and  done  without  the 
slightest  pretence  of  ground  for  it.  I  say 
it  only  surprises  me  as  being  done  here ; 
for  I  know  full  well  that  it  is  and  has  been 
the  settled  policy  of  some  persons  in  the 
south,  for  years,  to  represent  the  people  of 
the  north  as  disposed  to  interfere  with 
them  in  their  own  exclusive  and  peculiar 
concerns.  This  is  a  delicate  and  sensitive 
point  in  southern  feeling ;  and  of  late  years 
it  has  always  been  touched,  and  generally 
with  effect,  whenever  the  object  has  been 
to  unite  the  whole  south  against  northern 
men  or  northern  measures.  This  feeling, 
always  carefully  kept  alive,  and  maintainea 
at  too  intense  a  heat  to  admit  discrimina- 
tion or  reflection,  is  a  lever  of  great  power 
in  our  political  machine.  It  moves  vast 
bodies,  and  gives  to  them  one  and  the 
same  direction.  But  the  feeling  is  without 
adequate  cause,  and  the  suspicion  which 
exists  wholly  groundless.  There  is  not, 
and  never  has  been,  a  disposition  in  the 
north  to  interfere  with  these  interests  of 
the  south.  Such  interference  has  never 
been  supposed  to  be  within  the  power  of  the 
government,  nor  has  it  been  m  any  way 
attempted.  It  has  always  been  regarded 
as  a  matter  of  domestic  policy,  lett  with 
the  states  themselves,  ana  with  which  th« 
federal  government  had  nothing  to  du 


52 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


Certainly,  sir,  I  am,  and  ever  had  been,  of 
that  opinion.  The  gentleman,  indeed, 
argues  that  slavery  in  the  abstract  is  no 
evil.  Most  assuredly  I  need  not  say  I  dif- 
fer with  him  altogether  and  most  widely 
on  that  point.  I  regard  domestic  slaverj' 
as  one  of  the  greatest  evils,  both  moral  and 
political.  But,  though  it  be  a  malady,  and 
whether  it  be  curable,  and  if  so,  by  what 
means ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  whether  it 
be  the  culnus  immedicabile  of  the  social 
system,  I  leave  it  to  those  whose  right  and 
duty  it  is  to  inquire  and  to  decide.  And  this 
I  believe,  sir,  is,  and  uniformly  has  been, 
the  sentiment  of  the  north.  Let  us  look  a 
little  at  the  history  of  this  matter. 

When  the  present  constitution  was  sub- 
mitted for  the  ratification  of  the  people, 
there  were  those  who  imagined  that  the 
powers  of  the  government  which  it  pro- 
posed to  establish  might,  perhaps,  in  some 
possible  mode,  be  exerted  in  measures 
tending  to  the  abolition  of  slavery.  This 
suggestion  would,  of  course,  attract  much 
attention  in  the  southern  conventions.  In 
that  of  Virginia,  Governor  Randolph 
said : — 

"  I  hope  there  is  none  here,  who,  consi- 
dering tne  subject  in  the  calm  light  of  phi- 
losophv,  will  make  an  objection  dishonora- 
ble to  Virginia — that,  at  the  moment  they 
are  securing  the  rights  of  their  citizens,  an 
objection  is  started,  that  there  is  a  spark  of 
hope  that  those  unfortunate  men  now  held 
in  bondage  may,  by  the  operation  of  the 
general  government,  be  made  free." 

At  the  very  first  Congress,  petitions  on 
the  subject  were  presented,  if  I  mistake 
not,  from  different  states.  The  Pennsylva- 
nia Society  for  promoting  the  Abolition  of 
Slavery,  took  a  lead,  and  laid  before  Con- 
gress a  memorial,  praying  Congress  to  pro- 
mote the  abolition  by  such  powers  as  it 
possessed.  This  memorial  was  referred,  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  to  a  select 
committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Foster,  of 
New  Hampshire,  Mr.  Gerry,  of  Massachu- 
setts, Mr.  Huntington,  of  Connecticut, 
Mr.  Lawrence,  of  New  York,  Mr.  Dickin- 
son, of  New  Jersey,  Mr.  Hartley,  of  Penn- 
■ylvania,  and  Mr.  Parker,  of  Virginia ;  all 
of  them,  air,  as  you  will  observe,  northern 
men,  but  the  last.  This  committee  made  a 
report,  which  was  committed  to  a  commit- 
tee of  the  whole  house,  and  there  consid- 
ered and  discussed  on  several  days ;  and 
being  amended,  although  in  no  material 
respect,  it  was  made  to  express  three  dis- 
tinct propoeitions  on  the  subjects  of  slavery 
and  the  slave  trade.  First,  in  the  words 
of  the  constitution,  that  Confess  could  not, 
prior  to  the  year  1808,  prohibit  the  migra- 
tion or  importation  of  such  persons  as  anv 
of  the  states  then  existing  should  think 

E roper  to  admit.    Second,  that  Congress 
ad  authority  to  restrain  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  from  carrying  on  the  African 


slave  trade  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
foreign  countries.  On  this  proposition,  our 
early  laws  against  those  who  engage  in  that 
traffic  are  founded.  The  third  proposition, 
and  that  which  bears  on  the  present  ques- 
tion, was  expressed  in  the  following 
terms : — 

"  Resolved,  That  Congress  have  no  au- 
thority to  interfere  in  the  emancipation  of 
slaves,  or  of  the  treatment  of  them  in  any 
of  the  states ;  it  remaining  with  the  several 
states  alone  to  provide  rules  and  regulations 
therein,  which  humanity  and  true  policy 
may  require." 

This  resolution  received  the  sanction  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  so  early  aa 
March,  1790.  And,  now,  sir,  the  honorable 
member  will  allow  me  to  remind  him,  that 
not  only  were  the  select  committee  who  re- 
ported the  resolution,  with  a  single  excep- 
tion, all  northern  men,  but  also  that  of  the 
members  then  composing  the  House  of 
Representatives,  a  large  majority,  I  believe 
nearly  two-thirds,  were  northern  men  also. 

The  house  agreed  to  insert  these  resolu- 
tions in  its  journal ;  and,  from  that  day  to 
this,  it  has  never  been  maintained  or  con- 
tended that  Congress  had  any  authority  to 
regulate  or  interfere  with  the  condition  of 
slaves  in  the  several  states.  No  northern 
gentleman,  to  my  knowledge,  has  moved 
any  such  question  in  either  house  of  Con- 
gress. 

The  fears  of  the  south,  whatever  fears 
they  might  have  entertained,  were  allayed 
ana  quieted  by  this  early  decision ;  and  so 
remained,  till  they  were  excited  afresh, 
without  cause,  but  for  collateral  and  indi- 
rect purposes.  When  it  became  necessary, 
or  was  thought  so,  by  some  political  per- 
sons, to  find  an  unvarying  ground  for  the 
exclusion  of  northern  men  from  confidence 
and  from  lead  in  the  affairs  of  the  republic, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  the  cry  was  raised, 
and  the  feeling  industriously  excited,  that 
the  influence  of  northern  men  in  the  public 
councils  would  endanger  the  relation  of 
master  and  slave.  For  myself,  I  claim  no 
other  merit,  than  that  this  gross  and  enor- 
mous injustice  towards  the  whole  north  has 
not  wrought  upon  me  to  change  my  opin- 
ions, or  my  political  conduct.  I  hope  I 
am  above  violating  my  principles,  even 
under  the  smart  of  injury  and  false  impu- 
tations. Unjust  suspicions  and  undeserved 
reproach,  whatever  pain  I  may  experience 
from  them,  will  not  induce  me,  I  trust, 
nevertheless,  to  overstep  the  limits  of  con- 
stitutional duty,  or  to  encroach  on  the 
rights  of  others.  The  domestic  slavery  of 
the  south  I  leave  where  I  find  it — in  the 
hands  of  their  own  governments.  It  is 
their  affair,  not  mine.  Nor  do  I  complain 
of  the  peculiar  effect  which  the  magnitude 
of  that  population  has  had  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  power  under  this  federal  govern- 
ment.   We  know,  sir,  that  the  represent*" 


BOOK  III.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT   REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


53 


tion  of  the  states  in  the  other  house  is  not 
equal.  We  know  that  great  advantage,  in 
that  respect,  is  enjoyed  by  the  slaveholding 
states ;  and  we  know,  too,  that  the  intended 
equivalent  for  that  advantage — that  is  to 
say,  the  imposition  of  direct  taxes  in  the 
same  ratio — ha3  become  merely  nominal ; 
the  habit  of  the  government  being  almost 
invariably  to  collect  its  revenues  from  other 
sources,  and  in  other  modes.  Nevertheless, 
I  do  not  complain;  nor  would  I  counte- 
nance any  movement  to  alter  this  arrange- 
ment of  representation.  It  is  the  original 
bargain,  the  compact — let  it  stand  ;  let  the 
advantage  of  it  be  fully  enjoyed.  The 
Union  itself  is  too  full  of  benefit  to  be 
hazarded  in  propositions  for  changing  its 
original  basis.  I  go  for  the  constitution  as 
it  is,  and  for  the  Union  as  it  is.  But  I  am 
resolved  not  to  submit,  in  silence,  to  accu- 
sations, either  against  myself  indi  vidually, 
or  against  the  north,  wholly  unfounded 
and  unjust — accusations  which  impute  to 
us  a  disposition  to  evade  the  constitutional 
compact,  and  to  extend  the  power  of  the 
government  over  the  internal  laws  and  do- 
mestic condition  of  the  states.  All  such 
accusations,  wherever  and  whenever  made, 
all  insinuations  of  the  existence  of  any  such 
purposes,  I  know  and  feel  to  be  groundless 
and  injurious.  And  we  must  confide  in 
southern  gentlemen  themselves  ;  we  must 
trust  to  those  whose  integrity  of  heart  and 
magnanimity  of  feeling  will  lead  them  to 
a  desire  to  maintain  and  disseminate  truths 
and  who  possess  the  moans  of  its  diffusion 
with  the  southern  public ;  we  must  leave 
it  to  them  to  disabuse  that  public  of  its 
prejudices.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  for  my 
own  part,  I  shall  continue  to  act  justly, 
whether  those  towards  whom  justice  is  ex- 
ercised receive  it  with  candor  or  with  con- 
tumely. 

Having  had  occasion  to  recur  to  the  or- 
dinance of  1787,  in  order  to  defend  myself 
against  the  inferences  which  the  honorable 
member  has  chosen  to  draw  from  my 
former  observations  on  that  subject,  I  am 
not  willing  now  entirely  to  take  leave  of  it 
without  another  remark.  It  need  hardly 
be  said,  that  that  paper  expresses  just  sen- 
timents on  the  great  subject  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty.  Such  sentiments  were 
common,  and  abound  in  all  our  state  papers 
of  that  day.  But  this  ordinance  did  that 
which  was  not  so  common,  and  which  is 
not,  even  now,  universal ;  that  is,  it  set 
forth  and  declared,  as  a  high  and  binding 
duty  of  government  itself,  to  encourage 
schools  and  advance  the  means  of  educa- 
tion; on  the  plain  reason  that  religion, 
morality  and  knowledge  are  necessary  to 
good  government,  audi  to  the  happiness  of 
mankind.  One  observation  further.  The 
important  provision  incorporated  into  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  sev- 
eral of  those  of  the  states,  and  recently,  as 


we  have  seen,  adopted  into  the  reformed 
constitution  of  Virginia,  restraining  legis- 
lative power,  in  questions  of  private  right, 
and  from  impairing  the  obligation  of  con- 
tracts, is  first  introduced  and  established, 
as  far  as  I  am  informed,  as  matter  of  ex- 
press written  constitutional  law,  in  this  or- 
dinance of  1787.  And  I  must  add,  also,  in 
regard  to  the  author  of  the  ordinance,  who 
has  not  had  the  happiness  to  attract  the 
gentleman's  notice  heretofore,  nor  to  avoid 
his  sarcasm  now,  that  he  was  chairman  of 
that  select  committee  of  the  old  Congress, 
whose  report  first  expressed  the  strong 
sense  of  that  body,  that  the  old  confedera- 
tion was  not  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  country,  and  recommending  to  the 
states  to  send  delegates  to  the  convention 
which  formed  the  present  constitution. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  transfer 
from  the  north  to  the  south  the  honor  of 
this  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  North- 
western territory.  The  journal,  without 
argument  or  comment,  refutes  such  at- 
tempt. The  session  of  Virginia  was  made 
March,  1784.  On  the  19th  of  April  fol- 
lowing, a  committee,  consisting  of^Messrs. 
Jefferson,  Chase  and  Howell,  reported 
a  plan  for  a  temporary  government  of 
the  territory,  in  which  was  this  article : 
"  That  after  the  year  1800,  there  should  be 
neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude 
in  any  of  the  said  states,  otherwise  than  in 
punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  convicted."  Mr.  Speight, 
of  North  Carolina,  moved  to  strike  out 
this  paragraph.  The  question  was  put  ac- 
cording to  the  form  then  practiced :  Shall, 
these  words  stand,  as  part  of  the  plan  ?  " 
&c.  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania — seven  states — 
voted' in  the  affirmative;  Maryland,  Virgin- 
ia and  South  Carolina,  in  the  negative. 
North  Carolina  was  divided.  As  the  consent 
of  nine  states  was  necessary,  the  words  could 
not  stand,  and  were  struck  out  accordingly, 
Mr.  Jefferson  voted  for  the  clause,  but  was 
overruled  by  his  colleagues. 

In  March  of  the  next  year  (1785)  Mr. 
King,  of  Massachusetts,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Ellery,  of  Rhode  Island,  proposed  the 
formerly  rejected  article,  with  this  addi- 
tion :  "  And  that  this  regulation  shall  he  an 
article  of  compact,  and  remain  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  constitution  between 
the  thirteen  original  states  and  each  of  the 
states  described  in  the  resolve,"  &c.  On 
this  clause,  which  provided  the  adequate 
and  thorough  security,  the  eight  Northern 
States,  at  that  time,  voted  affirmatively, 
and  the  four  Southern  States  negatively. 
The  votes  of  nine  states  were  not  yet  ob- 
tained, and  thus  the  provision  was  again 
rejected  by  the  Southern  States.  The  per- 
severance of  the  north  held  out,  and  two 
years  afterwards  the  object  was  attained. 


54 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


It  is  no  derogation  from  the  credit,  what- 
ever that  may  be,  of  drawing  the  ordi- 
nance, that  its  principles  had  before  been 
prepared  and  discussed,  in  the  form  of 
resolutions.  If  one  should  reason  in  that 
way,  what  would  become  of  the  distin- 
guished honor  of  the  author  of  the  decla- 
ration of  Independence?  There  is  not  a 
sentiment  in  that  paper  which  had  not 
been  voted  and  resolved  in  the  assemblies, 
and  other  popular  bodies  in  the  countrj', 
over  and  over  again. 

But  the  honorable  member  has  now 
found  out  that  this  gentleman,  Mr.  Dajie, 
was  a  member  of  the  Hartford  Convention. 
However  uninformed  the  honorable  mem- 
ber may  be  of  characters  and  occurrences 
at  the  north,  it  would  seem  that  he  has  at 
his  elbows,  on  this  occasion,  some  high- 
minded  and  lofty  spirit,  some  magnani- 
mous and  true-hearted  monitor,  possessing 
the  means  of  local  knowledge,  and  ready 
to  supply  the  honorable  member  with 
every  thing,  down  even  to  forgotten  and 
moth-eaten  twopenny  pamphlets,  which 
may  be  used  to  the  disadvantage  of  his 
own  country.  But,  as  to  the  Hartford 
Convention,  sir,  allow  me  to  say  that  the 

{>roceeding8  of  that  bodj^  seem  now  to  be 
ess  read  and  studied  in  New  England 
than  farther  south.  They  appear  to  be 
looked  to,  not  in  New  England,  but  else- 
where, for  the  purpose  of  seeing  how  far 
they  may  serve  as  a  precedent.  But  they 
will  not  answer  the  purpose — they  are 
quite  too  tame.  The  latitude  in  which 
tney  originated  was  too  cold.  Other  con- 
ventions, of  more  recent  existence,  have 
gone  a  whole  bar's  length  beyond  it.  The 
learned  doctors  of  Colleton  and  Abbeville 
have  pushed  their  commentaries  on  the 
Hartford  collect  so  far  that  the  original 
text  writers  are  thrown  entirely  into  the 
shade.  I  have  nothing  to  do,  sir^  with  the 
Hartford  Convention.  Its  journal,  which 
the  gentleman  has  quoted,  I  never  read. 
So  far  as  the  honorable  member  may  dis- 
cover in  its  proceedings  a  spirit  in  any 
degree  resembling  that  which  was  avowed 
and  justified  in  those  othei*  conventions  to 
which  I  have  alluded,  or  so  far  as  those 
proceedings  can  be  shown  to  be  disloyal  to 
the  constitution,  or  tending  to  disunion, 
so  far  I  shall  be  as  ready  as  any  one 
to  bestow  on  them  reprehension  and  cen- 
sure. 

Having  dwelt  long  on  this  convention, 
and  other  occurrences  of  that  day,  in  the 
hope,  probably,  (which  will  not  be  grati- 
fied,) that  I  should  leave  the  course  of  this 
debate  to  follow  him  at  length  in  those  ex- 
cursions, the  honorable  member  returned, 
and  attempted  another  object.  He  re- 
ferred to  a  speech  of  mine  in  the  other 
house,  the  same  which  I  had  occasion  to 
allude  to  myself  the  other  day ;  and  has 
quoted  a  passage  or  two  from  it,  with  a 


bold  though  uneasy  and  laboring  air  of 
confidence,  as  if  he  had  detected  in  me  an 
inconsistency.  Judging  from  the  gentle- 
man's manner,  a  stranger  to  the  course  of 
the  debate,  and  to  the  point  in  discussion, 
would  have  imagined,  from  so  triumphant 
a  tone,  that  the  honorable  member  was 
about  to  overwhelm  me  with  a  mani- 
fest contradiction.  Any  one  who  heard 
him,  and  who  had  not  heard  what  I  had, 
in  fact,  previously  said,  must  have  thought 
me  routed  and  dtiscomfited,  as  the  gentle- 
man had  promised.  Sir,  a  breath  blows 
all  this  triumph  away.  There  is  not  the 
slightest  diflference  in  the  sentiments  of 
my  remarks  on  the  two  occasions.  What 
I  said  here  on  Wednesday  is  in  exact  ac- 
cordance with  the  opinions  expressed  by 
me  in  the  other  house  in  1825.  Though 
the  gentleman  had  the  metaphysics  of 
Hudibras — though  he  were  able 

"  to  sever  and  divide 
A  hair  'twixt  north  and  northwest  side," 

he  could  not  yet  insert  his  metaphysical 
scissors  between  the  fair  reading  of  my  re- 
marks in  1825  and  what  I  said  here  last 
week.  There  is  not  only  no  contradiction, 
no  difference,  but,  in  truth,  too  exact  a 
similarity,  both  in  thought  and  language, 
to  be  entirely  in  just  taste.  I  had  myself 
c[Uoted  the  same  speech ;  had  recurred  to 
it,  and  spoke  with  it  open  before  me ;  and 
much  of  what  I  said  was  little  more  than 
a  repetition  from  it.  In  order  to  make 
finishing  work  with  this  alleged  contradic- 
tion, permit  me  to  recur  to  the  origin  of 
this  debate,  and  review  its  course.  This 
seems  expedient,  and  may  be  done  as  well 
now  as  at  any  time. 

Well,  then,  its  history  is  this :  the  hon- 
orable member  from  Connecticut  moved  a 
resolution,  which  constituted  the  first 
branch  of  that  which  is  now  before  us ;  that 
is  to  say,  a  resolution  instructing  the  com- 
mittee on  public  lands  to  inquire  into  the 
expediency  of  limiting,  for  a  certain  pe- 
riod, the  sales  of  public  lands  to  such  as 
have  heretofore  been  offered  for  sale ;  and 
whether  sundry  ofl5ces,  connected  with  the 
sales  of  the  lands,  might  not  be  abolished 
without  detriment  to  me  public  sen'ice. 

In  the  progress  of  the  discussion  which 
arose  on  tnis  resolution,  an  honorable  mem- 
ber from  New  Hampshire  moved  to  amend 
the  resolution,  so  as  entirely  to  reverse  its 
object ;  that  is  to  strike  it  all  out,  and  in- 
sert a  direction  to  the  committee  to  inquire 
into  the  expediency  of  adopting  measures 
to  hasten  tne  sales,  and  extend  more  ra- 
pidlv  the  surveys  of  the  lands. 

The  honorable  member  from  Maine  (Mr. 
Sprague)  suggested  that  both  these  propo- 
sitions might  well  enough  go,  for  considera- 
tion, to  the  committee ;  and  in  this  state 
of  the  question,  the  member  from  South 
Carolina  addressed  the  Senate  in  his  firsC 


sooKiii.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


55 


speech.  He  rose,  he  said,  to  give  his  own 
free  thoughts  on  the  public  lands.  I  saw 
him  rise,  with  pleasure,  and  listened  with 
expectation,  though  before  he  concluded 
I  was  filled  with  surprise.  Certainly,  I 
was  never  more  surprised  than  to  find  him 
following  up,  to  the  extent  he  did,  the  sen- 
timents and  opinions  which  the  gentleman 
from  Missouri  had  put  forth,  and  which  it 
is  known  he  has  long  entertained. 

I  need  not  repeat,  at  large,  the  general 
topics  of  the  honorable  gentleman's  speech. 
When  he  said,  yesterday,  that  he  did  not 
attack  the  Eastern  States,  he  certainly 
must  have  forgotten  not  only  particular 
remarks,  but  the  whole  drift  and  tenor  of 
his  speech ;  unless  he  means  by  not  at- 
tacking, that  he  did  not  commence  hostili- 
ties, but  that  another  had  preceded  him  in 
the  attack.  He,  in  the  first  place,  disap- 
proved of  the  whole  course  of  the  govern- 
ment for  forty  years,  in  regard  to  its  dis- 
positions of  the  public  land ;  and  then, 
turning  northward  and  eastward,  and  fan- 
cying he  had  found  a  cause  for  alleged 
narrowness  and  niggardliness  in  the  "  ac- 
cursed policy "  of  the  tariff,  to  which  he 
represented  the  people  of  New  England  as 
wedded,  he  went  on,  for  a  full  hour,  with 
remarks,  the  whole  scope  of  which  was  to 
exhibit  the  results  of  ihis  policy,  in  feelings 
and  in  measures  unfavorable  to  the  west. 
I  thought  his  opinions  unfounded  and  erro- 
neous, as  to  the  general  course  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  ventured  to  reply  to  them. 

The  gentleman  had  remarked  on  the 
analogy  of  other  cases,  and  quoted  the  con- 
duct of  European  governments  towards 
their  own  subjects,  settling  on  this  conti- 
nent, as  in  point,  to  show  that  we  had  been 
harsh  and  rigid  in  selling  when  we  should 
have  given  the  public  lands  to  settlers.  I 
thought  the  honorable  member  had  suf- 
fered his  judgment  to  be  betrayed  by  a 
false  analogy ;  that  he  was  struck  with  an 
appearance  of  resemblance  where  there 
was  no  real  similitude.  I  think  so  still. 
The  first  settlers  of  North  America  were 
enterprising  spirits,  engaging  in  private 
adventure,  or  fleeing  from  tyranny  at  home. 
When  arrived  here,  they  were  forgotten  by 
the  mother  country,  or  remembered  only 
to  be  oppressed.  Carried  away  again  by 
the  appearance  of  analogy,  or  struck  with 
the  eloquence  of  the  passage,  the  honor- 
able member  yesterday  observed  that  the 
conduct  of  government  towards  the  western 
emigrants,  or  my  representation  of  it, 
brought  to  his  mind  a  celebrated  speech 
in  the  British  Parliament.  It  was,  sir, 
the  speech  of  Colonel  Barre.  On  the  ques- 
tion of  the  stamp  act,  or  tea  tax,  I  forget 
which.  Colonel  Barre  had  heard  a  member 
on  the  treasury  bench  argue,  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States,  being  British 
colonists,  planted  by  the  maternal  care, 
nourished  Dy  the  indulgence,  and  protected 


by  the  arms  of  England,  would  not  grudge 
their  mite  to  relieve  the  mother  country 
from  the  heavy  burden  under  which  she 
groaned.  The  language  of  Colonel  Barre, 
in  reply  to  this,  was,  "  They  planted  by 
your  care  ?  Your  oppression  planted  them 
in  America.  They  fled  from  your  tyranny, 
and  grew  by  your  neglect  of  them.  So- 
soon  as  you  began  to  care  for  them,  you 
showed  your  care  by  sending  persons  to  spy 
out  their  liberties,  misrepresent  their  char- 
acter, prey  upon  them,  and  eat  out  their 
substance." 

And  does  this  honorable  gentleman  mean 
to  maintain  that  language  like  this  is  ap- 
plicable to  the  conduct  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  towards  the 
western  emigrants,  or  to  any  representa- 
tion given  by  me  of  that  conduct?  Were 
the  settlers  in  the  west  driven  thither  by 
our  oppression  ?  Have  they  flourished  only 
by  our  neglect  of  them  ?  Has  the  govern- 
ment done  nothing  but  prey  upon  them, 
and  eat  out  their  substance  ?  Sir,  this  fer- 
vid eloquence  of  the  British  speaker,  just 
when  and  where  it  was  uttered,  and  fit  to 
remain  an  exercise  for  the  schools,  is  not  a 
little  out  of  place,  when  it  was  brought 
thence  to  be  applied  here,  to  the  con- 
duct of  our  own  country  towards  her 
own  citizens.  From  America  to  England 
it  may  be  true ;  from  Americans  to  their 
own  government  it  would  be  strange  lan- 
guage. Let  us  leave  it  to  be  recited  and 
declaimed  hj  our  boys  against  a  foreign 
nation ;  not  introduce  it  here,  to  recite  and 
declaim  ourselves  against  our  own. 

But  I  come  to  the  point  of  the  alleged 
contradiction.  In  my  remarks  on  Wednes- 
day, I  contended  that  we  could  not  give 
away  gratuitously  all  the  public  lands ;  that 
we  held  them  in  trust ;  that  the  govern- 
ment had  solemnly  pledged  itself  to  dis- 
pose of  them  as  a  common  fiind  for  the 
common  benefit,  and  to  sell  and  settle  them 
as  its  discretion  should  dictate.  Now,  sir, 
what  contradiction  does  the  gentleman  find 
to  this  sentiment  in  the  speech  of  1826? 
He  quotes  me  as  having  then  said,  that  we 
ought  not  to  hug  these  lands  as  a  very 
great  treasure.  Very  well,  sir;  supposing 
me  to  be  accurately  reported  in  tnat  ex- 
pression, what  is  the  contradiction  ?  I  have 
not  now  said,  that  we  should  hu^  these 
lands  as  a  favorite  source  of  pecuniary  in- 
come. No  such  thing.  It  is  not  my  view. 
What  I  have  said,  and  what  I  do  say,  is, 
that  they  are  a  common  fund — to  be  dis- 
posed of  for  the  common  benefit — to  be  sold 
at  low  prices,  for  the  accommodation  of 
settlers,  seeping  the  object  of  settling  the 
lands  as  much  in  view  as  that  of  raising 
money  from  them.  This  I  say  now,  and 
this  I  have  always  said.  Is  this  hugging 
them  as  a  favorite  treasure  ?  Is  there  no 
difierence  between  hugging  and  hoard- 
ing this  fund,  on  the  one  hand«  as  a  great 


56 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


treasure,  and  on  the  other  of  disposing  of 
it  at  low  prices,  placing  the  proceeds  in  the 
general  trea-^ury  of  the  Union  ?  My  opin- 
ion is,  that  as  much  is  to  be  made  of  the 
land,  as  fair  and  reasonably  may  be,  selling 
it  all  the  while  at  such  rates  as  to  give  the 
fullest  effect  to  settlement.  This  is  not 
giving  it  all  away  to  the  states,  as  the  gen- 
tleman would  propose ,  nor  is  it  hugging 
the  fund  closely  and  tenaciously,  as  a  fa- 
vorite treasure ;  but  it  is,  in  my  judgment, 
a  just  and  wise  policy,  perfectly  according 
with  all  the  various  "duties  which  rest  on 
government.  So  much  for  my  contradic- 
tion. And  what  is  it?  "Where  is  the 
ground  of  the  gentleman's  triumph  ?  What 
inconsistency,  in  word  or  doctrine,  has  he 
been  able  to  detect?    Sir,  if  this  be  a  sam- 

Ele  of  that  discomfiture  with  which  the 
onorable  gentleman  threatened  me,  com- 
mend me  to  the  word  discomfiture  for  the 
rest  of  mv  life. 

But,  atter  all,  this  is  not  the  point  of  the 
debate;  and  I  must  bring  the  gentleman 
back  to  that  which  is  the  point. 

The  real  question  between  me  and  him 
is ,  Where  has  the  doctrine  been  advanced, 
at  the  south  or  the  east,  that  the  popula- 
tion of  the  west  should  be  retarded,  or,  at 
least,  need  not  be  hastened,  on  account  of 
its  effect  to  drain  off  the  people  from  the 
Atlantic  States?  Is  this  doctrine,  as  has 
been  alleged,  of  eastern  origin?  That  is 
the  question.  Has  the  gentleman  found  any- 
thing by  which  he  can  make  good  his  ac- 
cusation ?  t  submit  to  the  Senate,  that  he 
has  entirely  failed ;  and  as  far  as  this  de- 
bate has  shown,  the  only  person  who  has 
advanced  such  sentiments  is  a  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina,  and  a  friend  to  the 
honorable  member  himself.  This  honor- 
able gentleman  has  given  no  answer  to 
this;  there  is  iione  which  can  be  given. 
This  simple  fact,  while  it  requires  no  com- 
ment to  enforce  it,  defies  all  argument  to 
refute  it.  I  could  refer  to  the  speeches  of 
another  southern  gentleman,  in  years  be- 
fore, of  the  same  general  character,  and  to 
the  same  effect,  as  that  which  has  been 
quoted ;  but  I  will  not  consume  the  time 
of  the  Senate  by  the  reading  of  them. 

So  then,  sir,  New  England  is  guiltless  of 
the  policy  of  retarding  western  population, 
and  of  all  envy  and  jealousy  of  the  growth 
of  the  new  states.  Whatever  there  be  of 
that  policy  in  the  country,  no  part  of  it  is 
hers.  Ifithasalocal  habitation,  the  honor- 
able member  has  probably  seen,  by  this 
time,  where  he  is  to  look  for  it ;  and  if  it 
now  has  received  a  name,  he  himself  has 
christened  it. 

We  approach,  at  length,  sir,  to  a  more 
important  part  of  the  honorable  gentle- 
man's observations.  Since  it  does  not  ac- 
cord with  my  views  of  justice  and  policy, 
to  vote  away  the  public  lands  altogether, 
M  mere  matter  of  {p-atuity,  I  am  asked,  by 


the  honorable  gentleman,  on  what  ground 
it  is  that  I  consent  to  give  them  away  in 
particular  instances.  How,  he  inquires, 
do  I  reconcile  with  these  professed  senti- 
ments my  support  of  measures  appropri- 
ating portions  of  the  lands  to  particular 
roads,  particular  canals,  particular  rivers, 
and  particular  institutions  of  education  in 
the  west?  This  leads,  sir,  to  the  real  and 
wide  difference  in  political  opinions  be- 
tween the  honorable  gentleman  and  my- 
self. On  my  part,  I  look  upon  all  these 
objects  as  connected  with  the  common 
good,  fairly  embraced  in  its  objects  and  its 
terms ;  he,  on  the  contrary,  deems  them  all, 
if  good  at  all,  only  local  good.  This  is 
our  difference.  The  interrogatory  which 
he  proceeded  to  put,  at  once  explains  this 
difference.  "  What  interest,"  asks  he, "  has 
South  Carolina  in  a  canal  in  Ohio?"  Sir, 
this  very  question  is  full  of  significance. 
It  develops  the  gentleman's  whole  political 
system ;  and  its  answer  expounds  mine. 
Here  we  differ  toto  ccelo.  1  look  upon  a 
road  over  the  Alleghany,  a  canal  round  the 
falls  of  the  Ohio,  or  a  canal  or  railway 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  western  waters,  as 
being  objects  large  and  extensive  enough 
to  be  fairly  said  to  be  for  the  common 
benefit.  The  gentleman  thinks  otherwise, 
and  this  is  the  key  to  open  his  construction 
of  the  powers  of  the  government.  He 
may  well  ask,  upon  his  system.  What  in- 
terest has  South  Carolina  in  a  canal  in 
Ohio?  On  that  system,  it  is  true,  she  has 
no  interest.  On  that  system,  Ohio  and 
Carolina  are  different  governments  and 
different  countries,  connected  here,  it  is 
true,  by  some  slight  and  ill-defined  bond 
of  union,  but  in  all  main  respects  separate 
and  diverse.  On  that  system,  Carolina  has 
no  more  interest  in  a  canal  in  Ohio  than 
in  Mexico.  The  gentleman,  therefore, 
only  follows  out  his  own  principles;  he 
does  no  more  than  arrive  at  the  natural 
conclusions  of  his  own  doctrines ;  he  only 
announces  the  true  results  of  that  creed 
which  he  has  adopted  himself,  and  would 
persuade  others  to  adopt,  when  he  thus 
declares  that  South  Carolina  has  no  inter- 
est in  a  public  work  in  Ohio.  Sir,  we  nar- 
row-minded people  of  New  England  do 
not  reason  thus.  Our  notion  of  things  is 
entirely  different.  We  look  upon  the  states 
not  as  separated,  but  as  united.  We  love 
to  dwell  on  that  Union,  and  on  the  mutual 
happiness  which  it  has  so  much  promoted, 
and  the  common  renown  which  it  has  so 
greatly  contributed  to  acquire.  In  our  con- 
templation, Carolina  and  Ohio  are  parts  of 
the  same  country — states  united  under  the 
same  general  government,  having  interests 
common,  associated,  intermingled.  In 
whatever  is  within  the  proper  sphere  of  the 
constitutional  power  of  this  government, 
we  look  upon  the  states  as  one.  We  do 
not  impose  geographical  limits  to  our  patri< 


BooKin.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


5T 


otic  feeling  or  regard;  we  do  not  follow 
rivers,  and  mountains,  and  lines  of  latitude, 
to  find  boundaries  beyond  which  public 
improvements  do  not  benefit  us.  We,  who 
come  here  as  agents  and  representatives  of 
those  narrow-minded  and  selfish  men  of 
New  England,  consider  ourselves  as  bound 
to  regard,  with  equal  eye,  the  good  of  the 
whole,  in  whatever  is  within  our  power  of 
legislation.  Sir,  if  a  railroad  or  canal, 
beginning  in  South  Carolina,  appeared  to 
me  to  be  of  national  importance  and  nation- 
al magnitude,  believing  as  I  do  that  the 
power  of  government  extends  to  the  en- 
couragement of  works  of  that  description, 
if  I  were  to  stand  up  here  and  ask,  "  What 
interest  has  Massachusetts  in  a  railroad  in 
South  Carolina?"  I  should  not  be  willing  to 
face  my  constituents.  These  same  narrow- 
minded  men  would  tell  me  that  they  had 
sent  me  to  act  for  the  whole  country,  and 
that  one  who  possessed  too  little  compre- 
hension, either  of  intellect  or  feeling — one 
who  was  not  large  enough,  in  mind  and 
heart,  to  embrace  the  whole — was  not  fit 
to  be  intrusted  with  the  interest  of  any  part. 
Sir,  I  do  not  desire  to  enlarge  the  powers 
of  government  by  unjustifiable  construc- 
tion, nor  to  exercise  any  not  within  a  fair 
interpretation.  But  when  it  is  believed 
that  a  power  does  exist,  then  it  is,  in  my 
judgment,  to  be  exercised  for  the  general 
benefit  of  the  whole :  so  far  as  respects  the 
exercise  of  such  a  power,  the  states  are 
one.  It  was  the  very  great  object  of  the 
constitution  to  create  unity  of  interests  to 
the  extent  of  the  powers  of  the  general 
government.  In  war  and  peace  we  are 
one;  in  commerce  one;  because  the  author- 
ity of  the  general  government  reaches  to 
war  and  peace,  and  to  the  regulation  of 
commerce.  I  have  never  seen  any  more 
difficulty  in  erecting  lighthouses  on  the 
lakes  than  on  the  ocean ;  in  improving  the 
harbors  of  inland  seas,  than  if  they  were 
within  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide ;  or  of 
removing  obstructions  in  the  vast  streams 
of  the  west,  more  than  in  any  work  to  facili- 
tate commerce  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  If 
there  be  power  for  one,  there  is  power  also 
for  the  other ;  and  they  are  all  and  equally 
for  the  country. 

There  are  other  objects,  apparently  more 
local,  or  the  benefit  of  which  is  less  general, 
towards  which,  nevertheless,  I  have  con- 
curred with  others  to  give  aid  by  donations 
of  land.  It  is  proposed  to  construct  a  road 
in  or  through  one  of  the  new  states  in 
which  the  government  possesses  large 
quantities  of  land.  Have  the  United  States 
no  right,  as  a  great  and  untaxed  proprietor 
— are  they  under  no  obligation — to  con- 
tribute to  an  object  thus  calculated  to  pro- 
mote the  common  good  of  all  the  pro- 
prietors, themselves  included?  And  even 
with  respect  to  education,  which  is  the  ex- 
treme case,  let  the  question  be  considered. 


In  the  first  place,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was 
made  matter  of  compact  with  these  states 
that  they  should  do  their  part  to»promote 
education.  In  the  next  place,  our  whole 
system  of  land  laws  proceeds  on  the  idea 
that  education  is  for  the  common  good; 
because,  in  every  division,  a  certain  por- 
tion is  uniformly  reserved  and  appropriated 
for  the  use  of  schools.  And,  finally  have 
not  these  new  states  singularly  strong 
claims,  founded  on  the  ground  already 
stated,  that  the  government  is  a  great  un- 
taxed proprietor  in  the  ownership  of  the 
soil?  It  is  a  consideration  of  great  im- 
portance that  probably  there  is  in  no  part 
of  the  country,  or  of  the  world,  so  great.a 
call  for  the  means  of  education  as  in  those 
new  states,  owing  to  the  vast  number  of 
persons  within  those  ages  in  which  educa- 
tion and  instruction  are  usually  received, 
if  received  at  all.  This  is  the  natural  con- 
sequence of  recency  of  settlement  and 
rapid  increase.  The  census  of  these  states 
shows  how  great  a  proportion  of  the  whole 
population  occupies  the  classes  between 
infancy  and  childhood.  These  are  the 
wide  fields,  and  here  is  the  deep  and  quick 
soil  for  the  seeds  of  knowledge  and  virtue ; 
and  this  is  the  favored  season,  the  spring 
time  for  sowing  them.  Let  them  be  dis- 
seminated without  stint.  Let  them  be 
scattered  with  a  bountiful  broadcast. 
Whatever  the  government  can  fairly  do 
towards  these  objects,  in  my  opinion,  ought 
to  be  done. 

These,  sir,  are  the  grounds,  succinctly 
stated,  on  which  my  vote  for  grants  of  lands 
for  particular  objects  rest,  while  I  main- 
tain, at  the  same  time,  that  it  is  all  a  com- 
mon fund,  for  the  common  benefit.  And 
reasons  like  these,  I  presume,  have  in- 
fluenced the  votes  of  other  gentlemen  from 
New  England.  Those  who  have  a  diffier- 
ent  view  of  the  powers  of  the  government, 
of  course,  come  to  different  conclusions  on 
these  as  on  other  questions.  I  observed, 
when  speaking  on  this  subject  before,  that 
if  we  looked  to  any  measure,  whether  for 
a  road,  a  canal,  or  any  thing  else  intended 
for  the  improvement  of  the  west,  it  would 
be  found,  that  if  the  New  England  ayes 
were  struck  out  of  the  list  of  votes,  the 
southern  noes  would  always  have  rejected 
the  measure.  The  truth  of  this  has  not 
been  denied,  and  cannot  be  denied.  In 
stating  this,  I  thought  it  just  to  ascribe  it 
to  the  constitutional  scruples  of  the  south, 
rather  than  to  any  other  less  favorable 
or  less  charitable  cause.  But  no  sooner 
had  I  done  this,  than  the  honorable  gen- 
tleman asks  if  I  reproach  him  and  his 
friends  with  their  constitutional  scruples. 
Sir,  I  reproach  nobody.  I  stated  a  fact, 
and  gave  the  most  respectful  reason  for  it 
that  occurred  to  me.  The  gentleman  can- 
not deny  the  fact — he  may,  if  he  choose, 
disclaim  the  reason.    It  is  not  long  since 


58 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


I  had  "occasion,  in  presenting  a  petition 
from  his  own  state,  to  account  for  its  being 
intrusted  to  my  hands  by  saying,  that  the 
constitutional  opinions  of  the  gentleman 
and  his  worthy  colleague  prevented  them 
from  supporting  it.  Sir,  did  I  state  this  as 
a  matter  of  reproach  ?  Far  from  it.  Did 
I  attempt  to  find  any  other  cause  than  an 
honest  one  for  these  scruples  ?  Sir,  I  did 
not.  It  did  not  become  me  to  doubt,  nor 
to  insinuate  that  the  gentleman  had  either 
changed  his  sentiments,  or  that  he  had 
made  up  a  set  of  constitutional  opinions, 
accommodatod  to  any  particular  combina- 
tion of  political  occurrences.  Had  I  done 
»o,  1  should  have  felt,  that  while  I  was  en- 
titled to  little  respect  in  thus  questioning 
other  people's  motives,  I  justified  the  whole 
world  in  suspecting  my  own. 

But  how  has  the  gentleman  returned  this 
respect  for  others'  opinions?  His  own 
candor  and  justice,  how  have  they  been 
exhibited  towards  the  motives  of  others, 
while  he  has  been  at  so  much  pains  to 
maintain — what  nobody  has  disputed — the 
purity  of  his  own  ?  Why,  sir,  he  has  asked 
when,  and  how,  and  why  New  England 
votes  were  found  going  for  measures  favor- 
able to  the  west ;  he  has  demanded  to  bfe 
informed  whether  all  this  did  not  begin  in 
1825,  and  while  the  election  of  President 
teas  still  pending.  Sir,  to  these  questions 
retort  would  be  justified ;  and  it  is  both 
cogent  and  at  hand.  Nevertheless,  I  will 
answer  the  inquiry  not  by  retort,  but  by 
facts.  I  will  tell  the  gentleman  when,  and 
how,  and  why  New  England  has  supported 
measures  favorable  to  the  west.  I  have 
already  referred  to  the  early  history  of  the 
government — to  the  first  acquisition  of  the 
lands — ^to  the  original  laws  for  disposing 
of  them  and  for  governing  the  territories 
where  thev  lie ;  and  have  shown  the  in- 
fluence of  New  England  men  and  New 
England  principles  in  all  thase  leading 
measures.  I  should  not  be  pardoned  were 
I  to  go  over  that  ground  again.  Coming 
to  more  recent  times,  and  to  measures  of 
a  less  general  character,  I  have  endeavored 
to  prove  that  every  thing  of  this  kind  de- 
Bigned  for  western  improvement  has  de- 
pended on  the  votes  of  N^ew  England.  All 
this  is  true  beyond  the  power  of  contradic- 
tion. 

And  now,  sir,  there  are  two  measures  to 
which  I  will  refer,  not  so  ancient  as  to  be- 
long to  the  early  history  of  the  public 
lands,  and  not  so  recent  as  to  be  on  this 
side  of  the  period  when  the  gentleman 
charitably  imagines  a  new  direction  may 
have  been  given  to  New  England  feeling 
and  New  England  votes.  These  measures, 
and  the  New  England  votes  in  support  of 
them,  may  be  taken  as  samples  ana  speci- 
mens of  all  the  rest.  In  1820,  (observe, 
Mr.  President,  in  1820,)  the  people  of  the 
West  besought  CJongresa  for  a  reduction  in 


the  price  of  lands.  In  favor  of  that  reduc- 
tion, New  England,  with  a  delegation  of 
forty  members  in  the  other  house,  gave 
thirty-three  votes,  and  one  only  against  it. 
The  four  Southern  States,  with  fifty  mem- 
bers, gave  thirty-two  votes  for  it,  and  seven 
against  it.  Again,  in  1821,  (observe  again, 
sir,  the  time,)  th&law  passed  for  the  relief 
of  the  purchasers  of  the  public  lands. 
This  was  a  measure  of  vital  importance  to 
the  west,  and  more  especially  to  the  south- 
west. It  authorized  the  relinquishment  of 
contracts  for  lands,  which  had  been  entered 
into  at  high  prices,  and  a  reduction,  in 
other  cases,  of  not  less  than  37^  per  cent, 
on  the  purchase  money.  Many  millions  of 
dollars,  six  or  seven  I  believe  at  least, — • 
probably  much  more, — ^were  relinquished 
by  this  law.  On  this  bill  New  England, 
with  her  forty  members,  gave  more  affirma- 
tive votes  than  the  four  Southern  States 
with  their  fifty-two  or  three  members. 
These  two  are  far  the  most  important 
measures  respecting  the  public  lands  which 
have  been  adopted  within  the  last  twenty 
years.  They  took  place  in  1820  and  1821. 
That  is .  the  time  when.  And  as  to  the 
manner  how,  the  gentleman  already  sees 
that  it  was  by  voting,  in  solid  column,  for 
the  required  relief;  and  lastly,  as  to  the 
cause  Avhy,  I  tell  the  gentleman,  it  was  be- 
cause the  members  from  New  England 
thought  the  measures  just  and  salutary  ; 
because  they  entertained  towards  the  west 
neither  envy,  hatred,  nor  malice ;  because 
they  deemed  it  becoming  them,  as  just  and 
enlightened  public  men,  to  meet  the  exi- 
gency which  had  arisen  in  the  west  with 
the  appropriate  measure  of  relief;  because 
they  felt  it  due  to  their  own  characters  of 
their  New  England  predecessors  in  this 
government,  to  act  towards  the  new  states 
in  the  spirit  of  a  liberal,  patronizing,  mag- 
nanimous policy.  So  much,  sir,  for  the 
cause  why  ;  and  I  hope  that  by  this  time, 
sir,  the  honorable  gentleman  is  satisfied ; 
if  not,  I  do  not  know  when,  or  how.  or  tr Ay, 
he  ever  will  be. 

Having  recurred  to  these  t^'o  Important 
measures,  in  answer  to  the  gentleman's 
inquiries,  I  must  now  beg  permission  to  go 
back  to  a  period  still  something  earlier,  for 
the  purpose  still  further  of  showing  how 
mucn,  or  rather  how  little  reason  there  is 
for  the  gentleman's  insinuation  that  politi- 
cal hopes,  or  fears,  or  party  associations, 
were  tne  grounds  of  these  New  England 
votes.  And  after  what  has  been  said,  I 
hope  it  may  be  forgiven  me  if  I  allude  to 
some  political  opinions  and  votes  of  my 
own,  of  very  little  public  importance,  cer- 
tainly, but  which,  from  the  time  at  which 
they  were  given  and  expressed,  may  pass 
for  good  witnesses  on  this  occasion. 

This  government,  Mr.  President,  from  its 
origin  to  the  peace  of  1815,  had  oeen  too 
much  engrossed  with  various  other  impor- 


BOOK  in.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


59 


tant  concerns  to  be  able  to  turn  its 
thoughts  inward,  and  look  to  the  develop- 
ment of  its  vast  internal  resources.  In  the 
eaj-ly  part  of  President  Washington's  ad- 
ministration, it  was  fully  occupied  with 
organizing  the  government,  providing  for 
the  public  debt,  defending  the  frontiers, 
and  maintaining  domestic  peace.  Before 
the  termination  of  that  administration,  the 
fires  of  the  French  revolution  blazed  forth, 
as  from  a  new  opened  volcano,  and  the 
whole  breadth  of  the  ocean  did  not  en- 
tirely secure  us  from  its  effects.  The  smoke 
and  the  cinders  reached  us,  though  not  the 
burning  lava.  Difficult  and  agitating  ques- 
tions, embarrrassing  to  government,  and 
dividing  public  opinion,  sprung  out  of  the 
new  state  of  our  foreign  relations,  and  were 
succeeded  by  others,  and  yet  again  by 
others,  equally  embarrassing,  and  equally 
exciting  division  and  discord,  through  the 
long  series  of  twenty  years,  till  they  finally 
issued  in  the  war  with  England.  Down  to 
the  close  of  that  war,  no  distinct,  marked 
and  deliberate  attention  had  been  given, 
or  could  have  been  given,  to  the  internal 
condition  of  the  country,  its  capacities  of 
improvement,  or  the  constitutional  power 
of  the  government,  in  regard  to  objects 
connected  with  such  improvement. 

The  peace,  Mr.  President,  brought  about 
an  entirely  new  and  a  most  interesting 
state  of  things ;  it  opened  to  us  other  pros- 
pects, and  suggested  other  duties ;  we  our- 
selves were  changed,  and  the  whole  world 
was  changed.  The  pacification  of  Europe, 
after  June,  1815,  assumed  a  firm  and  per- 
manent aspect.  The  nations  evidently 
manifested  that  they  were  disposed  for 
peace :  some  agitation  of  the  waves  might 
be  expected,  even  after  the  storm  had  sub- 
sided ;  but  the  tendency  was,  strongly  and 
rapidly,  towards  settled  repose. 

It  so  happened,  sir,  that  I  was  at  that 
time  a  member  of  Congress,  and,  like 
others,  naturally  turned  my  attention  to 
the  contemplation  of  the  newly-altered 
condition  of  the  country,  and  of  the  world. 
It  appeared  plainly  enough  to  me,  as  well 
as  to  wiser  and  more  experienced  men, 
that  the  policy  of  the  government  would 
necessarily  take  a  start  in  anew  direction, 
because  new  directions  would  necessarily 
be  given  to  the  pursuits  and  occupa- 
tions of  the  people.  We  had  pushed 
our  commerce  far  and  fast,  under  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  neutral  flag.  But  there  were 
mow  no  longer  flags,  either  neutral  or  bel- 
ligerent. The  harvest  of  neutrality  had 
been  great,  but  we  had  gathered  it  all. 
With  the  peace  of  Europe,  it  was  obvious 
there  would  spring  up,  in  her  circle  of  na- 
tions, a  revived  and  invigorated  spirit  of 
trade,  and  a  new  activity  in  all  the  business 
and  objects  of  civilized  life.  Hereafter, 
our  commercial  ^ains  were  to  be  earned 
only  by  success  in  a  close  and  intense 


competition.  Other  nations  would  pro- 
duce for  themselves,  and  carry  for  them- 
selves, and  manufacture  for  themselves,  to 
the  full  extent  of  their  abilities.  The 
crops  of  our  plains  would  no  longer  sus- 
tain European  armies,  nor  our  ships  longer 
supply  those  whom  war  had  rendered  un- 
able to  supply  themselves.  It  was  obvious 
that  under  these  circumstances,  the  coun- 
try would  begin  to  survey  itself,  and  to 
estimate  its  own  capacity  of  improvement. 
And  this  improvement,  how  was  it  to  be  ac- 
complished, and  who  was  to  accomplish  it? 

We  were  ten  or  twelve  millions  of  peo- 
ple, spread  over  almost  half  a  world.  We 
were  twenty-four  states,  some  stretching 
along  the  same  sea-board,  some  along  the 
same  line  of  inland  frontier,  and  others  on 
opposite  banks  of  the  same  vast  rivers.  Two 
considerations  at  once  presented  them- 
selves, in  looking  at  this  state  of  things, 
with  great  force.  One  was  that  that  great 
branch  of  improvement,  which  consisted 
in  ftirnishing  new  facilities  of  intercourse, 
necessarily  ran  into  different  states,  in- 
every  leading  instance,  and  would  benefit 
the  citizens  of  all  such  states.  No  one 
state  therefore,  in  such  cases,  would  assume 
the  whole  expense,  nor  was  the  co-opera- 
tion of  several  states  to  be  expected.  Take 
the  instance  of  the  Delaware  Breakwater. 
It  will  cost  several  millions  of  money. 
Would  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and 
Delaware  have  united  to  accomplish  it  at 
their  joint  expense?  Certainly  not,  for 
the  same  reason.  It  could  not  be  done, 
therefore,  but  by  the  general  government. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  large  inland 
undertakings,  except  that,  in  them,  gov- 
ernment, instead  of  bearing  the  whole  ex- 
pense, co-operates  with  others  to  bear  a 
part.  The  other  consideration  is,  that  the 
United  States  have  the  means.  They  en- 
joy the  revenues  derived  from  commerce, 
and  the  states  have  no  abundant  and  easy 
sources  of  public  income.  The  custom 
houses  fill  the  general  treasury,  while  the 
states  have  scanty  resources,  except  by  re- 
sort to  heavy  direct  taxes. 

Under  this  view  of  things,  I  thought  it 
necessary  to  settle,  at  least  for  myself,  some 
definite  notions,  with  respect  to  the  powers 
of  government,  in  regard  to  internal  af- 
fairs. It  may  not  savor  too  much  of  self- 
commendation  to  remark,  that,  with  this  ob- 
ject, I  considered  the  constitution,  its  judi- 
cial construction,  its  contemporaneous  ex- 
position, and  the  whole  history  of  the 
legislation  of  Congress  under  it;  and  I 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  government 
had  power  to  accomplish  sundry  objects, 
or  aid  in  their  accomplishment,  which 
are  now  commonly  spoken  of  as  Internal 
Improvements.  That  conclusion,  sir,  may 
have  been  right  or  it  may  have  been  wrong. 
I  am  not  about  to  argue  the  grounds  of  it  at 
large.    I  say  only  that  it  was  adopted, and 


60 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ni. 


acted  on,  even  so  early  as  in  1816.  Yes,  Mr. 
President,  I  made  up  my  opinion,  and  de- 
termined on  my  intended  course  of  politi- 
cal conduct  on  these  subjects,  in  the  14th 
Congress  iu  1816.  And  now,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, I  have  further  to  say,  that  I  made  up 
these  opinions,  and  entered  on  this  course 
of  political  conduct,  Teucro  duce.  Yes,  sir, 
I  pursued,  in  all  this,  a  South  Carolina 
track.  On  the  doctrines  of  internal  im- 
provement. South  Carolina,  as  she  was 
then  represented  in  the  other  house,  set 
forth,  in  1816,  under  a  fresh  and  leading 
breeze ;  and  I  was  among  the  folluwers. 
But  if  my  leader  sees  new  lights,  and  turns 
a  sharp  corner,  unless  I  see  new  lights 
also,  I  keep  straight  on  in  the  same  path. 
I  repeat,  that  leading  gentlemen  from 
South  Carolina  were  first  and  foremost  in 
behalf  of  the  doctrines  of  internal  improve- 
ments, when  those  doctrines  first  came  to 
be  considered  and  acted  upon  in  Congress. 
The  debate  on  the  bank  question,  on  the 
tariff  of  1816,  and  on  the  direct  tax,  will 
show  who  was  who,  and  what  was  what, 
at  that  time.  The  tariff  of  1816,  one  of  the 
plain  ca«es  of  oppression  and  usurpation, 
from  which,  if  the  government  does  not 
recede,  individual  states  may  justly  secede 
from  the  government,  is,  sir,  in  truth,  a 
South  Carolina  tariflF,  supported  by  South 
Carolina  votes.  But  for  those  votes,  it 
could  not  have  passed  in  the  form  in  which 
it  didipass ;  whereas,  if  it  had  depended  on 
Massachusetts  votes,  it  would  have  been 
lost.  Does  not  the  honorable  gentleman 
well  know  all  this?  There  are  certainly 
those  who  do  full  well  know  it  all.  I  do 
not  say  this  to  reproach  South  Carolina ;  I 
only  state  the  fact,  and  I  think  it  will  ap- 
pear to  be  true,  that  among  the  earliest 
and  boldest  advocates  of  the  tariff,  as  a 
measure  of  protection,  and  on  the  express 
ground  of  protection,  were  leading  gentle- 
men of  South  Carolina  in  Congress.  I  did 
not  then,  and  cannot  now,  understand 
their  language  in  any  other  sense.  While 
this  tariff  of  1816  was  under  discussion  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  an  honora- 
ble gentleman  from  Georgia,  now  of  this 
house,  (Mr.  Forsyth,)  moved  to  reduce  the 
proposed  duty  on  cotton.  He  failed  by 
four  votes,  South  Carolina  gi^^ng  three 
votes  (enough  to  have  turned  the  scale) 
against  his  motion.  The  act,  sir,  then 
passed,  and  received  on  its  passage  the 
support  of  a  majority  of  the  representa- 
tives of  South  Carolina  present  and  voting. 
This  act  is  the  first,  in  the  order  of  those 
now  denounced  as  plain  usurpations.  We 
see  it  daily  in  the  list  by  the  side  of  those 
of  1824  and  1828,  as  a  case  of  manifest  op- 

Sression,  justifying  disunion.  I  put  it 
ome  to  the  honorable  member  from  South 
Carolina,  that  his  own  state  was  not  only  "art 
and  part"  in  this  measure,  but  the  causa 
eausans.    Without  her  aid,  this  seminal 


principle  of  mischief,  this  root  of  upas, 
could  not  have  been  planted.  I  have  al- 
ready said — and,  it  is  true — that  this  act 
preceded  on  the  ground  of  protection.  It 
interfered  directly  with  existing  in- 
terests of  great  value  and  amount.  It  cut 
up  the  Calcutta  cotton  trade  by  the  roots. 
But  it  passed,  nevertheless,  and  it  passed 
on  the  principle  of  protecting  manufac- 
tures, on  the  principle  against  free  trade, 
on  the  principle  opposed  to  that  which  lets 
us  alone. 

Such,  Mr.  President,  were  the  opinions 
of  important  and  leading  gentlemen  of 
South  Carolina,  on  the  subject  of  internal 
improvement,  in  1816.  I  went  out  of 
Congress  the  next  j'ear,  and  returning 
again  in  1823,  thought  I  found  South 
Carolina  where  I  had  left  her.  I  really 
supposed  that  all  things  remained  as  they 
were,  and  that  the  South  Carolina  doctrine 
of  internal  improvements  would  be  de- 
fended by  the  same  eloquent  voices,  and 
the  same  strong  arms  as  rormerly.  In  the 
lapse  of  these  six  years,  it  is  true,  political 
associations  had  assumed  a  new  aspect  and 
new  divisions.  A  party  had  arisen  in  the 
south,  hostile  to  the  doctrine  of  internal 
improvements,  and  had  vigorously  attacked 
that  doctrine.  Anti-consolidation  was  the 
flag  under  which  this  party  fought,  and 
its  supporters  inveighed  against  internal 
improvements,  much  after  the  same  man- 
ner in  which  the  honorable  gentleman  has 
now  inveighed  against  them,  as  part  and 
parcel  of  the  system  of  consolidation. 

W^hether  this  party  arose  in  South  Caro- 
lina herself,  or .  in  her  neighborhood,  is 
more  than  I  know.  I  think  the  latter. 
However  that  may  have  been,  there  were 
those  found  in  South  Carolina  ready  to 
make  war  upon  it,  and  who  did  make  in- 
trepid war  upon  it.  Names  being  regarded 
as  things,  in  such  controversies,  they  be- 
stowed on  the  anti-improvement  gentle- 
men the  appellation  of  radicals.  Yes,  sir, 
the  name  of  radicals,  as  a  term  of  distinc- 
tion, applicable  and  applied  to  those  who 
defended  the  liberal  doctrines  of  internal 
improvements,  originated,  according  to 
the  best  of  my  recollection,  somewhere  be- 
tween North  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Well, 
sir,  those  mischievous  radicals  were  to  be 
put  down,  and  the  strong  arm  of  South 
Carolina  was  stretched  out  to  put  them 
down.  About  this  time,  sir,  I  returned  to 
Congress.  The  battle  with  the  radicals 
had  Deen  fought,  and  our  South  Carolina 
champions  of  the  doctrine  of  internal  im- 
provements had  nobly  maintained  their 
ground,  and  were  understood  to  have 
achieved  a  victory.  They  had  driven 
back  the  enemy  with  discomfiture ;  a 
thing,  by  the  way,  sir,  which  is  not  always 
performed  when  it  is  promised.  A  gentle- 
man, to  whom  I  have  already  referred  in 
this  debate,  had  come  into  Congress,  dur- 


BooKui.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


61 


ing  my  absence  from  it,  from  South  Caro- 
lina, and  had  brought  with  him  a  high 
reputation  for  ability.  He  came  from  a 
school  with  which  we  had  been  acquainted, 
et  noscitura  sociis.  I  hold  in  my  hand,  sir,  a 
printed  speech  of  this  distinguished  gen- 
tleman, (Mr.  McDuFFiE,)  "ox  internal 
IMPROVEMENTS,"  delivered  about  the  pe- 
riod to  which  I  now  refer,  and  printed 
with  a  few  introductory  remarks  upon  con- 
solidation ;  in  which,  sir,  I  think  ne  quite 
consolidated  the  arguments  of  his  oppo- 
nents, the  radicals,  if  to  crush  be  to  con- 
solidate. I  give  you  a  short  but  substan- 
tive quotation  from  these  remarks.  He  is 
speaking  of   a  pamphlet,    then    recently 

Eublished,  entitled,  "  Consolidation  ;"  and 
aving  alluded  to  the  question  of  rechart- 
ering  the  former  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  he  says :  "  Moreover,  in  the  early 
history  of  parties,  and  when  Mr.  Crawford 
advocated  the  renewal  of  the  old  charter, 
it  was  considered  a  federal  measure; 
which  internal  improvement  never  was, 
as  this  author  erroneously  states.  This 
latter  measure  originated  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  the  appro- 
priation for  the  Cumberland  road ;  and 
was  first  proposed,  as  a  system,  by  Mr. 
Calhoun,  and  carried  through  the  House 
of  Representatives  by  a  large  majority  of 
the  republicans,  including  almost  every 
one  of  the  leading  men  who  carried  us 
through  the  late  war." 

So,  then,  internal  improvement  is  not 
one  of  the  federal  heresies.  One  para- 
graph more,  sir. 

"The  author  in  question,  not  content  with 
denouncing  as  federalists  Gen.  Jackson, 
^Ir.  Adams,  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  the  major- 
ity of  the  South  Carolina  delegation  in 
Congress,  modestly  extends  the  denuncia- 
tion to  Mr.  Monroe  and  the  whole  republi- 
can party.  Here  are  his  words  .  '  During 
the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe,  much 
has  passed  which  the  republican  party 
would  be  glad  to  approve,  if  they  could  !  I 
But  the  principal  feature,  and  that  which 
has  chiefly  elicited  these  observations,  is 
the  renewal  of  the  system  of  internal 
IMPROVEMENTS.'  Now,  this  measure  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  115  to  86,  of  a  repub- 
lican Congress,  and  sanctioned  by  a  repub- 
lican president.  Who,  then,  is  this  author, 
who  assumes  the  high  prerogative  of  de- 
nouncing, in  the  name  of  the  republican 
party,  the  republican  administration  of  the 
country — a  denunciation  including  within 
its  sweep  Calhoun,  Lowndes,  and  Cheves  ; 
men  who  will  be  regarded  as  the  brightest 
ornaments  of  South  Carolina,  and  the 
strongest  pillars  of  the  republican  party, 
as  long  as  the  late  war  shall  be  remem- 
bered, and  talents  and  patriotism  shall  be 
regarded  as  the  proper  objects  of  the 
admiration  and  gratitude  of  a  free 
people ! r " 


Such  are  the  opinions,  sir,  which  were 
maintained  by  South  Carolina  gentlemen 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
subject  of  internal  improvements,  when  I 
took  my  seat  there  as  a  member  from 
Massachusetts,  in  1823.  But  this  is  not 
all ;  we  had  a  bill  before  us,  and  passed  it 
in  that  house,  entitled,  "An  act  to  procure 
the  necessary  surveys,  plans,  and  estimates 
upon  the  subject  of  roads  and  canals."  It 
authorized  the  president  to  cause  surveys 
and  estimates  to  be  made  of  the  routes  o/ 
such  roads  and  canals  as  he  might  deem  of 
national  importance  in  a  commercial  or  mili- 
tary point  of  view,  or  for  the  transportation 
of  the  mail ;  and  appropriated  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  out  oi  the  treasury  to  defray 
the  expense.  This  act,  though  prelimi- 
nary in  its  nature,  covered  the  whole 
ground.  It  took  for  granted  the  complete 
power  of  internal  improvement,  as  far  as 
any  of  its  advocates  had  ever  contended 
for  it.  Having  passed  the  other  house, 
the  bill  came  up  to  the  Senate,  and  was 
here  considered  and  debated  in  April, 
1824.  The  honorable  member  from  South 
Carolina  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  at 
that  time.  While  the  bill  was  under  con- 
sideration here,  a  motion  was  made  to  add 
the  following  proviso  : — 

"Provided,  That  nothing  herein  con- 
tained shall  be  construed  to  affirm  or  admit 
a  power  in  Congress,  on  their  own  author- 
ity, to  make  roads  or  canals  within  any  of 
the  states  of  the  Union." 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  this 
proviso,  and  the  honorable  member  voted 
in  the  negative.    The  proviso  failed. 

A  motion  was  then  madi^.  to  add  this 
proviso,  viz : — 

'^Provided,  That  the  faith  of  the  United 
States  is  hereby  pledged,  that  no  money 
shall  ever  be  expended  for  i»ads  or  canals 
except  it  shall  be  among  the  several  states, 
and  in  the  same  proportion  as  direct  ta^ea 
are  laid  and  assessed  by  the  provisions  of 
the  constitution." 

The  honorable  member  voted  against 
this  proviso  also,  and  it  failed. 

The  bill  was  tl\en  put  on  its  passage, 
and  the  honorable  member  voted  for  it, 
and  it  passed,  and  became  a  law. 

Now,  it  strikes  me,  sir,  that  there  is  no 
maintaining  these  votes  but  upon  the 
power  of  internal  improvement,  in  \t8 
broadest  sense.  In  truth,  these  bills  for 
surveys  and  estimates  have  always  been 
considered  as  test  questions.  They  show 
who  is  for  and  who  against  internal  im- 
provement. This  law  itself  went  the 
whole  length,  and  assumed  the  full  and 
complete  power.  The  gentleman's  vote 
sustained  that  power,  in  every  form  in 
which  the  various  propositions  to  amend 
presented  it.  He  went  for  the  entire  and 
unrestrained  authority,  without  consulting 
the  states,  and  without  agreeing  to  any 


C2 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


proportionate  distribution.  And  now, 
suffer  me  to  remind  you,  Mr.  President, 
that  it  is  this  very  same  power,  thus  sanc- 
tioned, in  every  form,  by  the  gentleman's 
own  opinion,  that  is  so  plain  and  manifest 
a  usurpation,  that  the  state  of  South  Caro- 
lina is  supposed  to  be  justified  in  refusing 
submission  to  any  laws  carrying  the  power 
into  effect.  Truly,  sir,  is  not  this  a  little 
too  hard?  May  we  not  crave  some  mercy, 
under  favor  and  protection  of  the  gentle- 
man's own  authority  ?  Admitting  that  a 
road  or  a  canal  must  be  written  down  flat 
usurpation  as  ever  was  committed,  may  we 
find  no  mitigation  in  our  respect  for  his 

fdace,  and  his  vote,  as  one  that  knows  the 
aw? 

The  tariff  which  South  Carolina  had  an 
efficient  hand  in  establishing  in  1816,  and 
this  asserted  power  of  internal  improve- 
ment— advanced  by  her  in  the  same  year, 
and,  as  we  have  seen,  approved  and  sanc- 
tioned by  her  representatives  in  1824, — 
these  two  measures  are  the  great  grounds 
on  which  she  is  now  thought  to  be  justified 
in  breaking  up  the  Union,  if  she  sees  fit  to 
break  it  up. 

I  may  now  safely  say,  I  tnink,  that  we 
have  had  the  authority  of  leading  and  dis- 
tinguished gentlemen  from  South  Carolina 
in  support  of  the  doctrine  of  internal  im- 
provement. I  repeat  that,  up  to  1824,  I, 
for  one,  followed  South  Carolina;  but  when 
that  star  in  its  ascension  veered  off  in  an 
unexpected  direction,  I  relied  on  its  light 
no  loneer,  [Here  the  Vice-President  said, 
Does  the  Chair  understand  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts  to  say  that  me  person 
now  occupying  the  chair  of  the  Senate  has 
changed  his  opinion  on  the  subject  of  in- 
ternal improvement  ?]  From  nothing  ever 
said  to  me,  sir,  have  I  had  reason  to  know 
of  any  change  in  the  opinions  of  the  per- 
son filling  the  chair  of  the  Senate.  If 
such  change  has  taken  place,  I  regret  it ;  I 
gpeak  generally  of  the  state  of  South  Car- 
olina. Individuals  we  know  there  are  who 
hold  opinions  favorable  to  the  power.  An 
application  for  its  exercise  in  behalf  of  a 
puolic  work  in  South  Carolina  itself  is 
now  pending,  I  believe,  in  the  other  house, 
presented  by  members  from  that  state. 

I  have  thus,  sir,  perhaps  not  without 
some  tediousness  of  detail,  shown  that,  if  I 
am  in  error  on  the  subject  of  internal  im- 
provements, how  and  m  what  company  I 
fell  into  that  error.  If  I  am  wrong,  it  is 
apparent  who  misled  me. 

1  go  to  other  remarks  of  the  honorable 
meniber — and  I  have  to  complain  of  an  en- 
tire misapprehension  of  what  I  said  on  the 
subject  of  the  national  debt — though  I  can 
hardly  perceive  how  any  one  could  mis- 
understand me.  What  I  said  was,  not  that 
I  wished  to  put  off  the  payment  of  the  debt, 
but,  on  the  contrnrj',  that  I  had  always 
yoted  for  every  measure  for  its  reduction, 


as  uniformly  as  the  gentleman  himself. 
He  seems  to  claim  the  exclusive  merit  of  a 
disposition  to  reduce  the  public  charge ;  I 
do  not  allow  it  to  him.  As  a  debt,  I  was, 
I  am,  for  paying  it ;  because  it  is  a  charge 
on  our  finances,  and  on  the  industry  of  the 
country.  But  I  observed  that  I  thought  I 
perceived  a  morbid  fervor  on  that  subject ; 
an  excessive  anxiety  to  pay  off  the  dfebt ; 
not  so  much  because  it  is  a  debt  simply,  as 
because,  while  it  lasts,  it  furnishes  one  ob- 
jection to  disunion.  It  is  a  tie  of  common  in- 
terest while  it  lasts.  I  did  not  impute  such 
motive  to  the  honorable  member  himself; 
but  that  there  is  such  a  feeling  in  existence 
I  have  not  a  particle  of  doubt.  The  most 
I  said  was,  that  if  one  effect  of  the  debt  was 
to  strengthen  our  Union,  that  effect  itself 
was  not  regretted  by  me,  however  much 
others  might  regret  it.  The  gentleman  has 
not  seen  how  to  reply  to  this  otherwise 
than  by  supposing  me  to  have  advanced 
the  doctrine  that  a  national  debt  is  a  na- 
tional blessing.  Others,  I  must  hope,  will 
find  less  difliculty  in  understanding  me.  I 
distinctly  and  pointedly  cautioned  the 
honorable  member  not  to  understand  me 
as  expressing  an  opinion  favorable  to  the 
continuance  of  the  debt.  I  repeated  this 
caution,  and  repeated  it  more  than  once — 
but  it  was  thrown  away. 

On  yet  another  point  I  was  still  more 
unaccountably  misunderstood.  The  gentle- 
man had  harangued  against  "  consolida- 
tion." I  told  him,  in  reply,  that  there  was 
one  kind  of  consolidation  to  which  I  was 
attached,  and  that  was,  the  consolida- 
tion OF  OUR  Union  ;  and  that  this  was 
precisely  that  consolidation  to  which  I 
feared  others  were  not  attached  ;  that  such 
consolidation  was  the  very  end  of  the 
constitution — the  leading  object,  as  they 
had  informed  us  themselves,  which  its 
framers  had  kept  in  view.  I  turned  to 
their  communication,  and  read  their  very 
words, — "  the  consolidation  of  the  Union,'' 
— and  expressed  my  devotion  to  this  sort 
of  consolidation.  I  said  in  terms  that  I 
wished  not,  in  the  slightest  degree,  to  aug- 
ment the  powers  of  this  government ;  that 
my  object  was  to  preserve,  not  to  enlarge ; 
and  that,  by  consolidating  the  Union,  I 
understood  no  more  than  the  strengthening 
of  the  Union  and  perpetuating  it.  Having 
been  thus  explicit ;  having  thus  read,  from 
the  printed  book,  the  precise  words  which 
I  adopted,  as  expressing  my  own  senti- 
ments, it  passes  comprehension,  how  any 
man  could  understand  me  as  contending 
for  an  extension  of  the  powers  of  the  gov- 
ernment, or  for  consolidation  in  the  odious 
sense  in  which  it  means  an  accumulation, 
in  the  federal  government,  of  the  powers 
properly  belonging  to  the -states. 

I  repeat,  sir,  that,  in  adopting  the  senti- 
ments of  the  framers  of  the  constitution,  I 
read  their  language  audibly,  and  word  for 


BOOK  III.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT   REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


63 


word;  and  I  pointed  out  the  distinction, 
just  as  fully  as  I  have  now  done,  between 
the  consolidation  of  the  Union  and  that 
other  obnoxious  consolidation  which  I  dis- 
claimed; and  yet  the  honorable  gentle- 
man misunderstood  me.  The  gentleman 
had  said  that  he  wished  for  no  fixed  reve- 
nue— not  a  shilling.  If,  by  a  word,  he 
could  convert  the  Capitol  into  gold,  he 
would  not  do  it.  Why  all  this  fear  of 
revenue  ?  Why,  sir,  because,  as  the 
gentleman  told  us,  it  tends  to  consolida- 
tion. Now,  this  can  mean  neither  more 
or  less  than  that  a  common  revenue  is  a 
common  interest,  and  that  all  common  in- 
terests tend  to  hold  the  union  of  the  states 
together.  I  confess  I  like  that  tendency ; 
if  the  gentleman  dislikes  it,  he  is  right  in 
deprecating  a  shilling's  fixed  revenue.  So 
much,  sir,  for  consolidation. 

As  well  as  I  recollect  the  course  of  his 
remarks,  the  honorable  gentleman  next  re- 
curred to  the  subject  of  the  tariff.  He  did 
not  doubt  the  word  must  be  of  unpleasant 
sound  to  me,  and  proceeded,  with  an  effort 
.neither  new  nor  attended  with  new  success, 
to  involve  me  and  my  votes  in  inconsist- 
ency and  contradiction.  I  am  happy  the 
honorable  gentleman  has  furnished  me  an 
oppoitunity  of  a  timely  remark  or  two  on 
that  subject.  I  was  glad  he  approached 
it,  for  it  is  a  question  1  enter  upon  without 
fear  from  any  body.  The  strenuous  toil  of 
the  gentleman  has  been  to  raise  an  incon- 
sistency between  my  dissent  to  the  tariff, 
in  1824  and  my  vote  in  1828.  It  is  labor 
lost.  He  pays  undeserved  compliment  to 
my  speech  in  1824 ;  but  this  is  to  raise  me 
high,  that  my  fall,  as  he  would  have  it,  in 
1828  may  be  the  more  signal.  Sir,  there 
was  no  fall  at  all.  Between  the  ground  I 
stood  on  in  1824  and  that  I  took  in  1828, 
there  was  not  only  no  precipice,  but  no  de- 
clivity. It  was  a  change  of  position,  to 
meet  new  circumstances,  but  on  the  same 
level.  A  plain  tale  explains  the  whole 
matter.  In  1816,  I  had  not  acquiesced  in 
the  tariff,  then  supported  by  South  Caro- 
lina. To  some  parts  of  it,  especially,  I  felt 
and  expressed  great  repugnance.  I  held 
the  same  opinions  in  1821,  at  the  meeting 
in  Faneuil  Hall,  to  which  the  gentleman 
has  alluded.  I  said  then,  and  say  now, 
that,  as  an  original  question,  the  authority 
of  Congress  to  exercise  the  revenue  power, 
with  direct  reference  to  the  protection  of 
manufactures,  is  a  questionable  authority, 
far  more  questionable  in  my  judgment, 
than  the  power  of  internal  improvements. 
I  must  confess,  sir,  that,  in  one  respect, 
some  impression  has  been  made  on  my 
opinions  lately.  Mr.  Madison's  publica- 
tion has  put  the  power  in  a  very  strong 
light.  He  has  placed  it,  I  must  acknow- 
ledge, upon  grounds  of  construction  and 
argument  which  seem  impregnable.  But 
even  if  the  power  were  doubted,  on  the 


face  of  the  constitution  itself,  it  had  been 
assumed  and  asserted  in  the  first  revenue 
law  ever  passed  under  the  same  constitu- 
tion ;  and,  on  this  ground,  as  a  matter  set- 
tled by  contemporaneous  practice,  I  had 
refrained  from  expressing  the  opinion  that 
the  tariff  laws  transcended  constitutional 
limits,  as  the  gentleman  supposes.  What 
I  did  say  at  Faneuil  Hall,  as  far  as  I  now 
remember,  was,  that  this  was  originally 
matter  of  doubtful  construction.  The 
gentleman  himself,  I  suppose,  thinks  there 
is  no  doubt  about  it,  and  that  the  laws  are 
plainly  against  the  constitution.  Mr. 
Madison's  letters,  already  referred  to,  con- 
tain, in  my  judgment,  by  far  the  most  able 
exposition  extant  of  this  part  of  the  consti- 
tution. He  has  satisfied  me,  so  far  as  the 
practice  of  the  government  had  left  it  an 
open  question. 

With  a  great  majority  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Massachusetts,  I  voted  against 
the  tariff  of  1824.  My  reasons  were  then 
given,  and  I  will  not  now  repeat  them. 
But  notwithstanding  our  dissent,  the  great 
states  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
and  Kentucky  went  for  the  bill,  in  almost 
unbroken  column,  and  it  passed.  Congress 
and  the  president  sanctioned  it,  and  it  be- 
came the  law  of  the  land.  What,  then, 
were  we  to  do  ?  Our  only  option  was  eith- 
er to  fall  in  with  this  settled  course  of  pub- 
lic policy,  and  to  accommodate  ourselves 
to  it  as  well  as  we  could,  or  to  embrace  the 
South  Carolina  doctrine,  and  talk  of  nulli- 
fying the  statute  by  state  interference. 

The  last  alternative  did  not  suit  our 
principles,  and,  of  course,  we  adopted  the 
former.  In  1827,  the  subject  came  again 
before  Congress,  on  a  proposition  favorable 
to  wool  and  woolens.  We  looked  upon 
the  system  of  protection  as  being  fixed  and 
settled.  The  law  of  1824  remained.  It 
had  gone  into  full  operation,  and  in  regard 
to  some  objects  intended  by  it,  perhaps 
most  of  them  had  produced  all  its  expect- 
ed effects.  No  man  proposed  to  repeal  it 
— no  man  attempted  to  renew  the  general 
contest  on  its  principle.  But,  owing'  to 
subsequent  and  unforeseen  occurrences, 
the  benefit  intended  by  it  to  wool  and 
woolen  fabrics  had  not  been  realized. 
Events,  not  known  here  when  the  law 
passed,  had  taken  place,  which  defeat- 
ed its  object  in  that  particular  respect.  A 
measure  was  accordingly  brought  forward 
to  meet  this  precise  deficiency,  to  remedy 
this  particular  defect.  It  was  limited  to 
wool  and  woolens.  Was  ever  any  thing 
more  reasonable?  If  the  policy  of  the 
tariff  laws  had  become  estabhshea  in  prin- 
ciple as  the  permanent  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment, should  they  not  be  revised  and 
amended,  and  made  equal,  like  other  laws, 
as  exigencies  should  arise,  or  justice  re- 
quire? Because  we  had  doubted  about 
adopting  the  system,  were  we  to  refiwe  to 


64 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


cure  its  manifest  defects  after  it  became 
adopted,  and  when  no  one  attempted  its 
repeal  ?  And  this,  sir,  is  the  inconsistency 
80  much  bruited.  I  had  voted  against  the 
tariff  of  1824 — but  it  passed;  and  in  1827 
and  1828,  I  voted  to  amend  it  in  a  point 
essential  to  the  interest  of  my  constituents. 
Where  is  the  inconsistency  ?  Could  I  do 
Otherwise  ? 

Sir,  does  political  consistency  consist  in 
always  giving  negative  votes  ?  Does  it  re- 
quire of  a  puDlic  man  to  refuse  to  concur 
in  amending  laws  because  they  passed 
against  his  consent?  Having  voted  against 
the  tariff  originally,  does  consistency  de- 
mand that  I  should  do  all  in  my  power  to 
maintain  an  unequal  tariff,  burdensome  to 
my  own  constituents,  in  many  respects, — 
favorable  in  none  ?  To  consistency  of  that 
sort  I  lay  no  claim ;  and  there  is  another 
sort  to  which  I  lay  as  little — and  that  is, 
a  kind  of  consistency  by  which  persons 
feel  themselves  as  much  bound  to  oppose 
a  proposition  after  it  has  become  the  law 
of  the  land  as  before. 

The  bill  of  1827,  limited,  as  I  have  said, 
to  the  single  object  in  which  the  tariff  of 
1824  had  manifestly  failed  in  its  effects, 
passed  the  House  of  Representatives,  but 
was  lost  here.  We  had  then  the  act  of 
1828.  I  need  not  recur  to  the  history  of  a 
measure  so  recent.  Its  enemies  spiced  it 
with  whatsoever  they  thought  would  render 
it  distasteful ;  its  friends  took  it,  drugged 
as  it  was.  Vast  amounts  of  property,  many 
millions,  had  been  invested  in  manufac- 
tures, under  the  inducements  of  the  act  of 
1824.  Events  called  loudly,  I  thought  for 
further  regulations  to  secure  the  degree  of 

Srotection  intended  by  that  act.  I  was 
isposed  to  vote  for  such  regulations  and 
desired  nothing  more;  but  certainly  was 
not  to  be  bantered  out  of  my  purpose  by  a 
threatened  augmentation  of  duty  on  mo- 
lasses, put  into  the  bill  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  making  it  obnoxious.  The  vote 
may  have  been  right  or  wrong,  wise  or  un- 
wise ;  but  it  is  a  little  less  than  absurd  to 
allege  against  it  an  inconsistency  with  op- 
position to  the  former  law. 

Sir,  as  to  the  general  subject  of  the  tariff, 
I  have  little  now  to  say.  Another  oppor- 
tunity may  be  presented.  I  remarked,  the 
other  day,  that  this  policy  did  not  begin 
with  us  in  New  England ;  and  yet,  sir.  New 
England  is  charged  with  vehemence  as 
being  favorable,  or  charged  with  equal 
Tehemence  as  being  unfavorable,  to  the 
tariff  policv,  just  as  best  suits  the  time, 
place,  and  occasion  for  making  some 
charge  against  her.  The  credulity  of  the 
public  has  been  put  to  its  extreme  capacity 
of  false  impression  relative  to  her  conduct 
in  this  particular.  Through  all  the  south, 
during  the  late  contest,  it  was  New  Eng- 
land policy,  and  a  New  England  adminis- 
tration, that   was  inflicting  the  country 


with  a  tariff  policy  beyond  all  endurance, 
while  on  the  other  side  of  the  Alleghany, 
even  the  act  of  1828  itself— the  very  sub- 
limated essence  of  oppression,  according 
to  southern  opinions — was  pronounced  to 
be  one  of  those  blessings  for  which  the  west 
was  indebted  to  the  "  generous  south." 

With  large  investments  in  manufactur- 
ing establishments,  and  various  interests 
connected  with  and  dependent  on  them, 
it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  New  England, 
any  more  than  other  portions  of  the  coun- 
try, will  now  consent  to  any  measures  de- 
structive or  highly  dangerous.  The  duty 
of  the  government,  at  the  present  moment, 
would  seem  to  be  to  preserve,  not  to  de- 
stroy ;  to  maintain  the  position  which  it 
has  assumed ;  and  for  one,  I  shall  feel  it 
an  indispensable  obligation  to  hold  it 
steady,  as  far  as  in  my  power,  to  that  de- 
gree of  protection  which  it  has  undertaken 
to  bestow.    No  more  of  the  tariff. 

Professing  to  be  provoked  by  what  he 
chose  to  consider  a  charge  made  by  me 
against  South  Carolina,  the  honorable 
member,  Mr.  President,  has  taken  up  a  new 
crusade  against  New  England.  Leaving' 
altogether  the  subject  of  the  public  lands, 
in  which  his  success,  perhaps,  had  been 
neither  distinguished  nor  satisfactory,  and 
letting  go,  also,  of  the  topic  of  the  tariff, 
he  sailed  forth  in  a  general  assault  on  the 
opinions,  politics,  and  parties  of  New  Eng- 
land, as  they  have  been  exhibited  in  the 
last  thirty  years.  This  is  natural.  The 
"  narrow  policy  "  of  the  public  lands  had 
proved  a  legal  settlement  in  South  Car- 
olina, and  was  not  to  be  removed.  The 
"  accursed  policy  "  of  the  tariff,  also,  had 
established  the  fact  of  its  birth  and  pa* 
rentage  in  the  same  state.  No  wonder, 
therefore,  the  gentleman  wished  to  carry 
the  war,  as  he  expressed  it,  into  theenepiy's 
country.  Prudently  willing  to  quit  these 
subjects,  he  was  doubtless  desirous  of  fast- 
ening others,  which  could  not  be  transferred 
south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  Tht 
politics  of  New  England  became  hi» 
theme;  and  it  was  in  this  part  of  his 
speech,  I  think,  that  he  menaced  me  with 
such  sore  discomfiture. 

Discomfiture  1  why,  sir,  when  he  attacks 
anything  which  I  maintain,  and  over- 
throws it ;  when  he  turns  the  right  or  left 
of  any  position  which  I  take  up ;  when  he 
drives  me  from  any  ground  I  cnoose  to  oc- 
cupy, he  may  then  talk  of  discomfiture, 
but  not  till  that  distant  day.  What  has  he 
done?  Has  he  maintained  nis  own  charges? 
Has  he  proved  what  he  alleged  ?  Has  he 
sustained  himself  in  his  attack  on  the  gov- 
ernment, and  on  the  history  of  the  north, 
in  the  matter  of  the  public  lands  ?  Has 
he  disproved  a  fact,  refuted  a  proposition, 
weakened  an  ar^ment  maintained  by  me? 
Has  he  come  within  beat  of  drum  of  any 
position  of  mine?  O,  no;  but  he  has  "  car 


-ooKiii.]    WEBSTER'S  GREAT  REPLY  TO  HAYNE. 


65 


ried  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country  !  " 
Carried  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country! 
Yes,  sir,  and  what  sort  of  a  war  has  he 
made  of  it  ?  Why,  sir,  he  has  stretched 
a  dragnet  over  the  whole  surface  of  per- 
ished pamphlets,  indiscreet  sermons,  frothy 
paragraphs,  and  fuming  popular  addresses  ; 
over  whatever  the  pulpit  in  its  moments  of 
alarm,  the  press  in  its  heats,  and  parties  in 
their  extravagances,  have  severally  thrown 
off,  in  times  of  general  excitement  and 
violence.  He  has  thus  swept  together  a 
mass  of  such  things,  as,  but  they  are  not 
now  old,  the  public  health  would  have  re- 
quired him  rather  to  leave  in  their  state  of 
dispersion. 

For  a  good  long  hour  or  two,  we  had  the 
unbroken  pleasure  of  listening  to  the  hon- 
orable member,  while  he  recited,  with  his 
usual  grace  and  spirit,  and  with  evident 
high  gusto,  speeches,  pamphlets,  addresses, 
and  all  that  et  ceteras  of  the  political  press, 
such  as  warm  heads  produce  in  warm 
times,  and  such  as  it  would  be  "discomfi- 
ture '  indeed  for  any  one,  whose  taste  did 
not  delight  in  that  sort  of  reading,  to  be 
obliged  to  peruse.  This  is  his  war.  This 
is  to  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  coun- 
try. It  is  in  an  invasion  of  this  sort  that 
he  flatters  himself  with  the  expectation  of 
gaining  laurels  fit  to  adorn  a  senator's 
brow. 

Mr.  President,  I  shall  not,  it  will,  I 
trust,  not  be  expected  that  I  should,  either 
now  or  at  any  time,  separate  this  farrago 
into  parts,  and  answer  and  examine  its 
components.  I  shall  hardly  bestow  upon 
it  all  a  general  remark  or  two.  In  the  run 
of  forty  years,  sir,  under  this  constitution, 
we  have  experienced  sundry  successive 
violent  party  contests.  Party  arose,  in- 
deed, with  the  constitution  itself,  and  in 
some  form  or  other  has  attended  through 
the  greater  part  of  its  history. 

Whether  any  other  constitution  than  the 
old  articles  of  confederation  was  desirable, 
was  itself,  a  question  on  which  parties  di- 
vided ;  if  a  new  constitution  was  framed, 
what  powers  should  be  given  to  it  was 
another  que-stion ;  and  when  it  had  been 
formed,  what  was,  in  fact,  the  just  extent 
of  the  powers  actually  conferred  was  a 
third.  Parties,  as  we  know,  existed  under 
the  first  administration,  as  distinctly 
marked  as  those  which  manifested  them- 
selves at  any  subsequent  period. 

The  conte-it  immediately  preceding  the 
political  change  in  1801,  and  that,  again, 
which  existed  at  the  commencement  of  the 
late  war,  are  other  instances  of  party  ex- 
citement, of  something  more  than  usual 
strength  andintensity.  In  all  these  con- 
flicts there  was,  no  doubt,  much  of  vio- 
lence on  both  and  all  sides.  It  would  be 
impossible,  if  one  had  a  fancy  for  such 
employment,  to  adjust  the  relative  quantum 
of  violence  between  these  two  contending 

33 


parties.  There  was  enough  in  each,  as 
must  always  be  expected  in  popular  gov- 
ernments. With  a  great  deal  of  proper 
and  decorous  discussion  there  was  mingled 
a  great  deal,  also,  of  declamation,  viru- 
lence, crimination,  and  abuse. 

In  regard  to  any  party,  probably,  at  one  of 
the  leading  epochs  in  the  history  of  parties, 
enough  may  be  found  to  make  out  another 
equally  inflamed  exhibition  as  that  with 
wliich  the  honorable  member  has  edified 
us.  For  myself,  sir,  I  shall  not  rake  among 
the  rubbish  of  by-gone  times  to  see  what 
I  can  find  or  whether  I  cannot  find  some- 
thing by  which  I  can  fix  a  blot  on  the  escut- 
cheon of  any  state,  any  party,  or  any  part  of 
the  country.  General  Washington's  admin- 
istration was  steadily  and  zealously  main- 
tained, as  we  all  know,  by  New  England.  It 
was  violently  opposed  elsewhere.  We  know 
in  what  quarter  he  had  the  most  earnest, 
constant  and  persevering  support,  in  all 
his  great  and  leading  measures.  We  know 
where  his  private  and  personal  character 
was  held  in  the  highest  degree  of  attach- 
ment and  veneration  ;  and  we  know,  too, 
where  his  measures  were  opposed,  his  ser- 
vices slighted,  and  his  character  vilified. 

We  know,  or  we  might  know,  if  we  turn 
to  the  journals,  who  expressed  respect, 
gratitude,  and  regret,  when  he  retired  from 
the  chief  magistracy ;  and  who  refused  to 
express  either  respect,  gratitude  or  regret.  I 
shall  not  open  those  journals.  Publica- 
tions more  abusive  or  scurrilous  never  saw 
the  light  than  were  sent  forth  against 
Washington,  and  all  his  leading  measures, 
from  presses  south  of  New  England ;  but  I 
shall  not  look  them  up.  I  employ  no 
scavengers — no  one  is  in  attendance  on 
me,  tendering  such  means  of  retaliation ; 
and  if  there  were,  with  an  ass's  load  of 
them,  with  a  bulk  as  huge  as  that  which 
the  gentleman  himself  has  produced,  I 
would  not  touch  one  of  them.  I  see  enough 
of  the  violence  of  our  own  times  to  be  no 
way  anxious  to  rescue  from  forgetfulness 
the  extravagances  of  times  past.  Besides, 
what  is  all  this  to  the  present  purpose  ? 
It  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  public  lands, 
in  regard  to  which  the  attack  was  begun ; 
and  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  those  senti- 
ments and  opinions,  which  I  have  thought 
tend  to  disunion,  and  all  of  which  the 
honorable  member  seems  to  have  adopted 
himself,  and  undertaken  to  defend.  New 
England  has,  at  times — so  argues  the  gen- 
tleman,— held  opinions  as  dangerous  as 
those  which  he  now  holds.  Be  it  so.  But 
why,  therefore,  does  he  abuse  New  Eng- 
land ?  If  he  finds  himself  countenanced 
by  acts  of  hers,  how  is  it  that,  while  he  re- 
lies on  these  acts,  he  covers,  or  seeks  to 
cover,  their  authors  with  reproach  ? 

But,  sir,  if,  in  the  course  of  forty  years, 
there  have  been  undue  effervescences  of 
party  in  New  England,  has  the  same  thing 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


happened  no  where  else  ?  Party  animosi- 
ty and  party  outrage,  not  in  New  Eng- 
land, but  elsewhere,  denounced  President 
Washington,  not  only  as  a  federalist,  but 
as  a  tory,  a  British  agent,  a  man  who,  in 
his  high  office,  sanctioned  corruption.  But 
does  the  honorable  member  suppose  that,  if 
I  had  a  tender  here,  who  should  put  such 
an  effiision  of  wickedness  and  folly  in  my 
hand,  that  I  would  stand  up  and  read  it 
against  the  south  ?  Parties  ran  into  great 
heats,  again,  in  1799.  What  was  said,  sir, 
or  rather  what  was  not  said,  in  those  years, 
against  John  Adams,  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  its 
admitted  ablest  defender  on  the  floor  of 
Congress  ?  If  the  gentleman  wants  to  in- 
crease his  stores  of  party  abuse  and  frothy 
violence,  if  he  has  a  determined  proclivi- 
ty to  such  pursuits,  there  are  ti'easures  of 
that  sort  south  of  the  Potomac,  much  to 
his  taste,  yet  untouched.  I  shall  not 
touch  them. 

The  parties  which  divided  the  country, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  late  war,  were 
violent.  But,  then,  there  was  violence  on 
both  sides,  and  violence  in  every  state. 
Minorities  and  majorities  were  equally  vio- 
lent. There  was  no  more  violence  against 
the  war  in  New  England  than  in  other 
states;  nor  any  more  appearance  of  vio- 
lence, except  that,  owing  to  a  dense  popu- 
lation, greater  facility  for  assembling,  and 
more  presses,  there  may  have  been  more, 
in  quantity,  spoken  and  printed  there  than 
in  some  other  places.  In  the  article  of 
sermons,  too,  New  England  is  somewhat 
more  abundant  than  South  Carolina :  and 
for  that  reason,  the  chance  of  finding  here 
and  there  an  exceptionable  one  may  be 
greater.  I  hope,  too,  there  are  more  good 
ones.  Opposition  may  have  been  more 
formidable  in  New  England,  as  it  embraced 
a  larger,  portion  of  the  whole  population : 
but  it  was  no  more  unrestrained  in  its 
principle,  or  violent  in  manner.  The 
minorities  dealt  quite  as  harshly  with  their 
own  state  governments  as  the  majorities 
dealt  with  the  administration  here.  There 
were  preases  on  both  sides,  popular  meet- 
ings on  both  sides,  ay,  and  pulpits  on  both 
sides,  also.  The  gentleman's  purveyors 
have  only  catered  for  him  among  the  pro- 
ductions of  one  side.  I  certainly  shall  not 
supply  the  deficiency  by  furnishing  sam- 
ples of  the  other.  I  leave  to  him,  and  to 
them,  the  whole  concern. 

It  is  enough  for  me  to  say,  that  if,  in 
any  part  of  this,  their  grateful  occupation 
— if  m  all  their  researches — they  find  any- 
thing in  the  history  of  Massachusetts,  or 
New  England,  or  in  the  proceedings  of  any 
legislative  or  other  public  body,  disloyal  to 
the  Union,  speaking  slightly  of  its  value, 
proposing  to  oreak  it  up,  or  recommending 
non-intercourse  with  neighboring  states,  on 
account  of  difference  of  political  opinion, 


then,  sir,  I  give  them  all  up  to  the  honor- 
able gentleman's  unrestrained  rebuke ;  ex- 
pecting, however,  that  he  will  extend  his 
buflfetings,  in  like  manner,  to  all  similar 
proceedings,  wherever  else  found. 

The  gentleman,  sir,  has  spoken  at  large 
of  former  parties,  now  no  longer  in  being, 
by  their  received  appellations,  and  has  un- 
dertaken to  instruct  us,  not  only  in  the 
knowledge  of  their  principles,  but  of  their 
respective  pedigrees  also.  He  has  as- 
cended to  their  origin  and  run  out  their 
genealogies.  With  most  exemplary  modesty, 
he  speaks  of  the  party  to  whicn  he  professes 
to  have  belonged  himself,  as  the  true,  pure, 
the  only  honest,  patriotic  party,  derived  by 
regular  descent,  from  father  to  son,  from 
the  time  of  the  virtuous  Romans !  Spread- 
ing before  us  the  family  tree  of  political 
parties,  he  takes  especial  care  to  show  him- 
self snugly  perched  on  a  popular  bough ! 
He  is  wakeful  to  the  expediency  of  adopt- 
ing such  rules  of  descent,  for  political  par- 
ties, as  shall  bring  him  in,  in  exclusion  of 
others,  as  an  heir  to  the  inheritance  of  all 
public  virtue,  and  all  true  political  princi- 
ples. His  doxy  is  always  orthodoxy. 
Heterodoxy  is  confined  to  his  opponents. 
He  spoke,  sir,  of  the  federalists,  and  I 
thought  I  saw  some  eyes  begin  to  open  and  . 
stare  a  little,  when  he  ventured  on  that 
ground.  I  expected  he  would  draw  his 
sketches  rather  lightly,  when  he  looked  on 
the  circle  round  him,  and  especially  if  he 
should  cast  his  thoughts  to  the  high  places 
out  of  the  Senate.  Nevertheless,  he  went 
back  to  Rome,  ad  annum  urbs  condita,  and 
found  the  fathers  of  the  federalists  in  the 
primeval  aristocrats  of  that  renowned  em- 
pire !  He  traced  the  flow  of  federal  blood 
down  through  successive  ages  and  centu- 
ries, till  he  got  into  the  veins  of  the  Ameri- 
can tories,  (of  whom,  by  the  way,  there 
were  twenty  in  the  Carolinas  for  one  in 
Massachusetts.)  From  the  tories,  he  fol- 
lowed, it  to  the  federalists;  and  as  the 
federal  party  was  broken  up,  and  there  was 
no  possibility  of  transmitting  it  farther  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  he  seems  to  have 
discovered  that  it  has  gone  off,  collaterally, 
though  against  all  the  canons  of  descent, 
into  the  ultras  of  France,  and  finally  be- 
came extinguished,  like  exploded  gas, 
among  the  adherents  of  Don  Miguel. 

This,  sir,  is  an  abstract  of  the  gentle- 
man's history  of  federalism.  I  am  not 
about  to  controvert  it.  It  is  not,  at  pre- 
sent, worth  the  pains  of  reftitation,  because, 
sir,  if  at  this  day  one  feels  the  sin  of 
federalism  lying  heavily  on  his  conscience, 
he  can  easily  obtain  remission.  He  may 
even  have  an  indulgence,  if  he  is  desirous 
of  repeating  the  transgression.  It  is  an 
affair  of  no  difficulty  to  get  into  this  same 
right  line  of  patriotic  descent.  A  man, 
nowadays,  is  at  liberty  to  choose  his  politi- 
cal parentage.    He  may  elect  his  own  fa. 


BOOKiiLJ         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


67 


ther.  Federalist  or  not,  he  may,  if  he 
choose,  claim  to  belong  to  the  favored  stock, 
and  his  claim  will  be  allowed.  He  may 
carry  back  his  pretensions  just  as  far  as  the 
honorable  gentleman  himself;  nay,  he  may 
make'  himself  out  the  honorable  gentle- 
man's cousin,  and  prove  satisfactorily  that 
he  is  descended  from  the  same  political 
great-grandfather.  All  this  is  allowable. 
We  all  know  a  process,  sir,  by  which  the 
whole  Essex  Junto  could,  in  one  hour  be 
all  washed  white  from  their  ancient  federal- 
ism, and  come  out  every  one  of  them,  an 
original  democrat,  dyed  in  the  wool !  Some 
of  them  have  actually  undergone  the  ope- 
ration, and  they  say  it  is  quite  easy.  The 
only  inconvenience  it  occasions,  as  they 
tell  us,  is  a  slight  tendency  of  the  blood  to 
the  face,  a  soft  suffusion,  which,  however, 
is  very  transient,  since  nothing  is  said  cal- 
culated to  deepen  the  red  on  the  cheek, 
but  a  prudent  silence  observed  in  regard 
to  all  the  past.  Indeed,  sir,  some  smiles 
of  approbation  have  been  bestowed,  and 
some  crumbs  of  comfort  have  fallen,  not  a 
thousand  miles  from  the  door  of  the  Hartford 
Convention  itself.  And  if  the  author  of  the 
ordinance  of  1787  possessed  the  other  re- 
quisite qualifications,  there  is  no  knowing, 
notwithstanding  his  federalism,  to  what 
heights  of  favor  he  might  not  yet  attain. 

Mr.  President,  in  carrying  his  warfare, 
such  as  it  was,  into  New  England,  the 
honorable  gentleman  all  along  professes  to 
be  acting  on  the  defensive.  He  desires  to  con- 
sider me  as  having  assailed  South  Caro- 
lina- and  insists  that  he  comes  forth  only 
as  her  champion,  and  in  her  defence.  Sir, 
I  do  not  admit  that  I  made  any  attack  what- 
ever on  South  Carolina.  Nothing  like  it. 
The  honorable  member,  in  his  first  speech, 
expressed  opinions,  in  regard  to  revenue, 
and  some  other  topics,  which  I  heard  both 
with  pain  and  surprise.  I  told  the  gentle- 
man that  I  was  aware  that  such  sentiments 
were  entertained  out  of  the  government, 
but  had  not  expected  to  find  them  advanced 
in  it ;  that  I  Knew  there  were  persons  in 
the  south  who  speak  of  our  Union  with  in- 
difference, or  doubt,  taking  pains  to  mag- 
nify its  evils,  and  to  say  nothing  of  its 
benefits ;  that  the  honorable  member  him- 
self, I  was  sure,  could  never  be  one  of 
these ;  and  I  regretted  the  expression  of 
such  opinions  as  he  had  avowed,  because  I 
thought  their  obvious  tendency  was  to  en- 
courage feelings  of  disrespect  to  the  Union, 
and  to  weaken  its  connection.  This,  sir,  is 
the  sum  and  substance  of  all  I  said  on  the 
subject.  And  this  constitutes  the  attack 
which  called  on  the  chivalry  of  the  gentle- 
man, in  his  opinion,  to  harry  us  with  such 
a  forage  among  the  party  pamphlets  and 
party  proceedings  of  Massachusetts.  If  he 
means  that  I  spoke  with  dissatisfaction  or 
disrespect  of  the  ebullitions  of  individuals 
in  South  Carolina,  it  is  true.    But,  if  he 


means  that  I  had  assailed  the  character  of 
the  state,  her  honor,  or  patriotism,  that  I 
had  reflected  on  her  history  or  her  con- 
duct, he  had  not  the  slightest  ground  for 
any  such  assumption.  I  did  not  even  refer, 
I  think,  in  my  observations,  to  any  collec- 
tion of  individuals.  I  said  nothing  of  the 
recent  conventions,  I  spoke  in  the  most 
guarded  and  careful  manner,  and  only  ex- 
pressed my  regret  for  the  publication  of 
opinions  which  I  presumed  the  honorable 
member  disapproved  as  much  as  myself. 
In  this,  it  seems,  I  was  mistaken. 

I  do  not  remember  that  the  gentleman 
has  disclaimed  any  sentiment,  or  any  opin- 
ion, of  a  supposed  anti-Union  tendency, 
which  on  all  or  any  of  the  recent  occasions 
has  been  expressed.  The  whole  drift  of 
his  speech  has  been  rather  to  prove,  that, 
in  divers  times  and  manners,  sentiments 
equally  liable  to  objection  have  been 
promulgated  in  New  England.  And  one 
would  suppose  that  his  object,  in  this  refer- 
ence to  Massachusetts,  was  to  find  a  pre- 
cedent to  justify  proceedings  in  the  south, 
were  it  not  for  the  reproach  and  contumely 
with  which  he  labors,  all  along,  to  load 
his  precedents. 

By  way  of  defending  South  Carolina 
from  what  he  chooses  to  think  an  attack  on 
her,  he  first  quotes  the  example  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  then  denounces  that  example, 
in  good  set  terms.  This  twofold  purpose, 
not  very  consistent  with  itself,  one  would 
think,  was  exhibited  more  than  once  in  the 
course  of  his  speech.  He  referred,  for  in- 
stance, to  the  Hartford  Convention.  Did 
he  do  this  for  authority,  or  for  a  topic  of 
reproach  ?  Apparently  for  both ;  for  he 
told  us  that  he  should  find  no  fault  with 
the  mere  fact  of  holding  such  a  conven- 
tion, and  considering  and  discussing  such 
questions  as  he  supposes  were  then  and 
there  discussed ;  but  what  rendered  it  ob- 
noxious was  the  time  it  was  holden,  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  country  then  existing. 
We  were  in  a  war,  he  said,  and  the  coun- 
try needed  all  our  aid  ;  the  hand  of  gov- 
ernment required  to  be  strengthened,  not 
weakened ;  and  patriotism  should  have 
postponed  such  proceedings  to  another  day. 
The  thing  itself,  then,  is  a  precedent ;  the 
time  and  manner  of  it,  only,  subject  of 
censure. 

Now,  sir,  I  go  much  farther,  on  this 
point,  than  the  honorable  member.  Sup- 
posing, as  the  gentleman  seems  to,  that  the 
Hartford  Convention  assembled  for  any 
such  purpose  as  breaking  up  the  Union, 
because  they  thought  unconstitutional  laws 
had  been  passed,  or  to  concert  on  that  sub- 
ject, or  to  calculate  the  value  of  the  Union  ; 
supposing  this  to  be  their  purpose,  or  anv 
part  of  it,  then  I  say  the  meeting  itself 
was  disloyal,  and  obnoxious  to  censure, 
whether  held  in  time  of  peace,  or  time  of 
war,   or   under  whatever   circumstances. 


68 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


I^BOOK  III. 


The  material  matter  is  the  object.  Is  dis- 
solution the  object?  If  it  be,  external  cir- 
cumstances may  make  it  a  more  or  less 
aggravated  case,  but  cannot  affect  the  prin- 
ciple. I  do  not  hold,  therefore,  that  the 
Hartford  Convention  was  pardonable,  even 
to  the  extent  of  the  gentleman's  admission, 
if  its  objects  were  really  such  as  have  been 
imputed  to  it.  Sir,  there  never  was  a  time, 
under  any  degree  of  excitement,  in  which 
the  Hartford  Convention,  or  any  other 
convention,  could  maintain  itself  one  mo- 
ment in  New  England,  if  assembled  for 
any  such  purpose  as  the  gentleman  says 
would  have  been  an  allowable  purpose. 
To  hold  conventions  to  decide  questions  of 
constitutional  law !  to  try  the  validity  of 
statutes,  by  votes  in  a  convention  !  Sir, 
the  Hartford  Convention,  I  presume,  would 
not  desire  that  the  honorable  gentleman 
should  be  their  defender  or  advocate,  if 
he  puts  their  case  upon  such  untenable 
and  extravagant  grounds. 

Then,  sir,  the  gentleman  has  no  fault  to 
find  with  these  recently-promulgated  South 
Carolina  opinions.  And,  certainly,  he 
need  have  none  ;  for  his  own  sentiments, 
as  now  advanced,  and  advanced  on  reflec- 
tion, as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  compre- 
hend them,  go  the  full  length  of  all  these 
opinions.  I  propose,  sir,  to  say  something 
on  these,  and  to  consider  how  far  they  are 
just  and  constitutional.  Before  doing  that, 
however,  let  me  observe,  that  the  eulogium 
pronounced  on  the  character  of  the  state 
of  South  Carolina,  by  the  honorable  gen- 
tleman, for  her  revolutionary  and  other 
merits,  meets  my  hearty  concurrence.  I 
shall  not  acknowledge  that  the  honorable 
member  goes  before  me  in  regard  for  what- 
ever of  distinguished  talent  or  distin- 
guished character  South  Carolina  has  pro- 
duced. I  claim  part  of  the  honor,  I  par- 
take in  the  pride,  of  her  great  names.  I 
claim  them  for  countrj'men,  one  and  all. 
The  Laurenses,  the  Rutledges,  the  Pinck- 
neys,  the  Sumpters,  the  Marions — Ameri- 
cans all — whose  fame  is  no  more  to  be 
hemmed  in  by  state  lines  than  their  talents 
and  their  patriotism  were  capable  of  being 
circumscribed  within  the  same  narrow 
limits.  In  their  day  and  generation,  they 
served  and  honored  the  country,  and  the 
whole  country ;  and  their  renown  is  of  the 
treasures  of  the  whole  country.  Him 
whose  honored  name  the  gentleman  him- 
self bears — does  he  suppose  me  less  capable 
of  gratitude  for  his  patriotism,  or  sympa- 
thy for  his  sufferings,  than  if  his  eyes  had 
first  opened  upon  the  light  in  Massachu- 
setts instead  of  South  Carolina  ?  Sir,  does 
he  suppose  it  is  in  his  power  to  exhibit  a 
Carolina  name  so  bright  as  to  produce  envy 
in  my  bosom?  No,  sir,  increased  gratifica- 
tion and  delight,  rather. 

Sir,  I  thank  God  that  if  I  am  gifted  with 
little  of  the  spirit  which  is  said  to  be  able 


to  raise  mortals  to  the  skies,  I  have  vet 
none,  as  I  trust,  of  that  other  spirit,  which 
would  drag  angels  down.  When  I  shall 
be  found,  sir,  in  my  place  here  in  the 
Senate,  or  elsewhere,  to  sneer  at  public 
merit,  because  it  happened  to  spring  up 
beyond  the  little  limits  of  my  own  state,  or 
neighborhood ;  when  I  refuse,  for  any  such 
cause,  or  for  any  cause,  the  homage  due  to 
American  talent,  to  elevated  patriotism,  to 
sincere  devotion  to  liberty  and  the  coun- 
try ;  or  if  I  see  an  uncommon  endowment 
of  Heaven,  if  I  see  extraordinary  capacity 
and  virtue  in  any  son  of  the  south,  and  if, 
moved  by  local  prejudice,  or  gangrened  by 
state  jealousy,  I  get  up  here  to  abate  the 
tithe  of  a  hair  from  his  just  character  and 
just  fame, — may  my  tongue  cleave  to  the 
roof  of  my  mouth !  Sir,  let  me  recur  to 
pleasing  recollections ;  let  me  indulge  in 
refreshing  remembrance  of  the  past ;  let 
me  remind  you  that  in  early  times  no  states 
cherished  greater  harmony,  both  of  prin- 
ciple and  feeling,  than  Massachusetts  and 
South  Carolina.  Would  to  God  that  har- 
mony might  again  return.  .Shoulder  to 
shoulder  they  went  through  the  revolu- 
tion ;  hand  in  hand  they  stood  round  the 
administration  of  Washington,  and  felt 
his  own  great  arm  lean  on  them  for  sup- 
port. Unkind  feeling,  if  it  exist,  aliena- 
tion, and  distrust  are  the  growth,  unnatural 
to  such  soils,  of  false  principles  since  sown. 
They  are  weeds,  the  seeds  of  which  that 
same  great  arm  never  scattered. 

Mr.  President,  I  shall  enter  on  no  en- 
comium upon  Massachusetts — she  needs 
none.  There  she  is — behold  her,  and  judge 
for  vourselves.  There  is  her  history — the 
world  knows  it  by  heart.  The  past,  at 
least,  is  secure.  There  is  Boston,  and  Con- 
cord, and  Lexin^on,  and  Bunker  Hill; 
and  there  they  will  remain  forever.  The 
bones  of  her  sons,  fallen  in  the  great  strug- 
gle for  independence,  now  lie  mingled  with 
the  soil  of  every  state  from  New  England 
to  Georgia ;  and  there  they  will  lie  forever. 
And,  sir,  where  American  liberty  raised  its 
first  voice,  and  where  its  youth  was  nur- 
tured and  sustained,  there  it  still  lives,  in 
the  strength  of  its  manhood,  and  full  of  its 
original  spirit.  If  discord  and  disunion 
shall  wound  it ;  if  folly  and  madness,  if 
uneasiness  under  salutary  and  necessary 
restraint,  shall  succeed  to  separate  it  from 
that  Union  by  which  alone  its  existence  is 
made  sure, — it  will  stand,  in  the  end,  by 
the  side  of  that  cradle  in  which  its  infancy 
was  rocked ;  it  will  stretch  forth  its  arm, 
with  whatever  vigor  it  may  still  retain, 
over  the  friends  who  gather  around  it; 
and  it  will  fall  at  last,  if  fall  it  must, 
amidst  the  proudest  monuments  of  its 
glory,  and  on  the  very  spot  of  its  origin. 

There  yet  remains  to  be  performed,  Mr. 
President,  by  far  the  most  grave  and  im- 
portant duty ;  which  I  feel  to  be  devolved 


BOOK  in.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


69 


on  me  by  this  occasion.  It  is  to  state,  and 
to  defend,  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  true 
principles  of  the  constitution  under  which 
we  are  here  assembled.  I  might  well  have 
desired  that  so  weighty  a  task  should  have 
fallen  into  other  and  abler  hands.  I  could 
have  wished  that  it  should  have  been  exe- 
cuted by  those  whose  character  and  expe- 
rience give  weight  and  influence  to  their 
opinions,  such  as  cannot  possibly  belong  to 
mine.  But,  sir,  I  have  met  the  occasion, 
not  sought  it ;  and  I  shall  proceed  to  state 
my  own  sentiments,  without  challenging  for 
them  any  particular  regard,  with  studied 
plainness  and  as  much  precision  as  possi- 
ble. 

I  understand  the  honorable  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina  to  maintain  that  it  is 
a  right  of  the  state  legislatures  to  interfere, 
whenever  in  their  judgment,  this  govern- 
ment transcends  its  constitutional  limits, 
and  to  arrest  the  operation  of  its  laws. 

I  understand  him  to  maintain  this  right 
as  a  right  existing  under  the  constitution, 
not  as  a  right  to  overthrow  it,  on  the 
ground  of  extreme  necessity,  such  as  would 
justify  violent  revolution. 

I  understand  him  to  maintain  an  author- 
ity, on  the  part  of  the  states,  thus  to  inter- 
fere for  the  purpose  of  correcting  the  ex- 
ercise of  power  by  the  general  government, 
of  checking  it,  and  of  compelling  it  to  con- 
form to  their  opinion  of  the  extent  of  its 
power. 

I  understand  him  to  maintain  that  the 
ultimate  power  of  judging  of  the  constitu- 
tional extent  of  its  own  authority  is  not 
lodged  exclusively  in  the  general  govern- 
ment or  any  branch  of  it ;  but  that,  on  the 
contrary,  the  states  may  lawfully  decide 
for  themselves,  and  each  state  for  itself, 
whether,  in  a  given  case,  the  act  of  the 
general  government  transcends  its  power. 

I  understand  him  to  insist  that,  if  the 
exigency  of  the  case,  in  the  opinion,  of  any 
state  government,  require  it,  such  state 
government  may,  by  its  own  sovereign  au- 
thority, annul  an  act  of  the  general  govern- 
ment which  it  deems  plainly  and  palpably 
unconstitutional. 

This  is  the  sum  of  what  I  understand 
from  him  to  be  the  South  Carolina  doc- 
trine. I  propose  to  consider  it,  and  to 
compare  it  with  the  constitution.  Allow 
me  to  say,  as  a  preliminary  remark,  that  I 
call  this  the  South  Carolina  doctrine,  only 
because  the  gentleman  himself  has  so  de- 
nominated it.  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to 
say  that  South  Carolina,  as  a  state,  has  ever 
advanced  these  sentiments.  I  hope  she  has 
not,  and  never  may.  That  a  great  majority 
of  her  people  are  opposed  to  the  tariff  laws 
is  doubtless  true.  That  a  majority,  some- 
what less  than  that  just  mentioned,  consci- 
entiously believe  these  laws  unconstitu- 
tional, may  probably  be  also  true.  But 
that  any  majority  holds  to  the  right  of 


direct  state  interference,  at  state  discretion, 
the  right  of  nullifying  acts  of  Congress  by 
acts  of  state  legislation,  is  more  than  I 
know,  and  what  I  shall  be  slow  to  believe. 

That  there  are  individuals,  besides  the 
honorable  gentleman,  who  do  maintain 
these  opinions,  is  (juite  certain.  I  recollect 
the  recent  expression  of  a  sentiment  which 
circumstances  attending  its  utterance  and 
publication  justify  us  in  supposing  was  not 
unpremeditated — "  The  sovereignty  of  the 
state ;  never  to  be  controlled,  construed,  or 
decided  on,  but  by  her  own  feelings  of 
honorable  justice." 

[Mr.  Hayxe  here  rose,  and  said,  that  for 
the  purpose  of  being  clearly  understood,  he 
would  state  that  his  proposition  was  in  the 
words  of  the  Virginia  resolution,  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  That  this  Assembly  doth  explicitly  and 
peremptorily  declare,  that  it  views  the 
powers  of  the  federal  government,  as  re- 
sulting from  the  compact,  to  which  the 
states  are  parties,  as  limited  by  the  plain 
sense  and  intention  of  the  instrument  con- 
stituting that  compact,  as  no  further  valid 
than  they  are  authorized  by  the  grants 
enumerated  in  that  compact ;  and  that,  in 
case  of  a  deliberate,  palpable,  and  danger- 
ous exercise  of  other  powers  not  granted 
by  the  same  compact,  the  states  who  are 
parties  thereto  have  the  right  and  are  in 
duty  bound,  to  interpose  for  arresting  the 
progress  of  the  evil,  and  for  maintaining, 
within  their  respective  limits,  the  authori- 
ties, rights,  and  liberties  pertaining  to 
them."f 

Mr.  Webster  resumed : — 

I  am  quite  aware,  Mr.  President,  of  the 
existence  of  the  resolution  which  the  gen- 
tleman read,  and  has  now  repeated,  and 
that  he  relies  on  it  as  his  authority.  I 
know  the  source,  too,  from  which  it  is  un- 
derstood to  have  proceeded.  I  need  not 
say,  that  I  have  much  respect  for  the  con- 
stitutional opinions  of  Mr.  Madison ;  they 
would  weigh  greatly  with  me,  always. 
But,  before  the  authority  of  his  opinion  be 
vouched  for  the  gentleman's  proposition,  it 
will  be  proper  to  consider  what  is  the  fair 
interpretation  of  that  resolution,  to  which 
Mr.  Madison  is  understood  to  have  given 
his  sanction.  As  the  gentleman  construes 
it,  it  is  an  authority  for  him.  Possibly  he 
may  not  have  adopted  the  right  construe 
tion.  That  resolution  declares,  that  in  th* 
case  of  the  dangerous  exercise  of  poioers  not 
granted  by  the  general  government,  the  states 
may  interpose  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the 
evil.  But  how  interpose  ?  and  what  does 
this  declaration  purport?  Does  it  mean 
no  more  than  that  there  may  be  extreme 
cases  in  which  the  people,  in  any  mode  of 
assembling,  may  resist  usurpation,  and 
relieve  themselves  from  a  tyrannical  gov- 
ernment? No  one  will  deny  this.  Such 
resistance  is  not  only  acknowledged  to  be 


70 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


just  in  America,  but  in  England  also. 
"Blackstone  admite  as  much,  in  the  theory 
and  practice,  too,  of  the  English  constitu- 
tion. We,  sir,  who  oppose  the  Carolina 
doctrine,  do  not  deny  that  the  people  may, 
if  they  choose,  throw  otf  any  government, 
when  it  becomes  oppressive  and  intolerable, 
and  erect  a  better  in  its  stead.  We  all 
know  that  civil  institutions  are  established 
for  the  public  benefit,  and  that,  when  they 
cease  to  answer  the  ends  of  their  existence 
they  may  be  changed. 

But  I  do  not  understand  the  doctrine  now 
contended  for  to  be  that  which,  for  the  sake 
of  distinctness,  we  may  call  the  right  of 
revolution.  I  understand  the  gentleman  to 
maintain,  that  without  revolution,  without 
civil  commotion,  without  rebellion,  a  rem- 
edy for  supposed  abuse  and  transgression 
of  the  powers  of  the  general  government 
lies  in  a  direct  appeal  to  the  interference 
of  the  state  governments.  [Mr.  Hayxe 
here  rose :  He  did  not  contend,  he  said, 
for  the  mere  right  of  revolution,  but  for  the 
right  of  constitutional  resistance.  What 
he  maintained  was,  that,  in  case  of  a  plain, 
palpable  violation  of  the  constitution  by 
the  general  government,  a  state  may 
interpose;  and  that  this  interposition  is 
constitutional.] 

Mr.  Webster  resumed : 

So,  sir,  I  understood  the  gentleman,  and 
am  happy  to  find  that  I  did  not  misunder- 
stand mm.  What  he  contends  for  is,  that 
it  is  constitutional  to  interrupt  the  admin- 
istration of  the  constitution  itself,  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  are  chosen  and  sworn 
to  administer  it,  by  the  direct  interference, 
in  form  of  law,  of  the  states,  in  virtue  of 
their  sovereign  capacity.  The  inherent 
right  in  the  people  to  reform  their  govern- 
ment I  do  not  deny ;  and  that  they  have 
another  right,  and  that  is,  to  resist  uncon- 
stitutional laws  without  overturning  the 
government.  It  is  no  doctrine  of  mine, 
that  unconstitutional  laws  bind  the  people. 
The  great  question  is,  Whose pret-ogative  is 
it  to  decide  on  the  constitutionality  or  uncon- 
stitutionality of  the  laws  ?  On  that  the  main 
debate  hinges.  The  proposition  that,  in  the 
case  of  a  supposed  violation  of  the  consti- 
tution by  Congress,  the  states  have  a  con- 
stitutional right  to  interfere,  and  annul  the 
law  of  Congress,  is  the  proposition  of  the 
gentleman  ;  I  do  not  admit  it.  If  the  gen- 
tleman had  intended  no  more  than  to 
assert  the  right  of  revolution  for  justifiable 
cause,  he  would  have  said  only  what  all 
agree  to. — But  I  cannot  conceive  that  there 
can  be  a  middle  course  between  submission 
to  the  laws,  when  regularly  pronounced 
constitutional,  on  the  one  hand,  and  open 
resistance,  which  is  revolution  or  rebellion, 
on  the  other.  I  say  the  right  of  a  state  to 
annul  a  law  of  Congress  cannot  be  main- 
tained but  on  the  ground  of  the  unaliena- 
ble right  of  man  to  resist  oppression ;  that 


is  to  say,  upon  the  ground  of  revolution. 
I  admit  that  there  is  no  ultimate  violent 
remedy,  above  the  constitution,  and  defi- 
ance of  the  constitution,  which  may  be 
resorted  to,  when  a  revolution  is  to  be  jus- 
tified. But  I  do  not  admit  that  under  the 
constitution,  and  in  conformity  with  it, 
there  is  any  mode  in  which  a  state  govern- 
ment, as  a  member  of  the  Union  can 
interfere  and  stop  the  progress  of  the  gen- 
eral government,  by  force  of  her  own  laws, 
under  any  circumstances  whatever. 

This  leads  us  to  inquire  into  the  origin 
of  this  government,  and  the  source  of  its 
power.  Whose  agent  is  it?  Is  it  the 
creature  of  the  state  legislatures,  or  the 
creature  of  the  people  ?  If  the  government 
of  the  United  States  be  the  agent  of  the 
state  governments,  then  they  may  control 
it,  provided  they  can  agree  in  the  manner 
of  controlling  it ;  if  it  is  the  agent  of  the 
people,  then  the  people  alone  can  control 
it,  restrain  it,  modify  or  reform  it.  It  is 
observable  enough,  that  the  doctrine  for 
which  the  honorable  gentleman  contends 
leads  him  to  the  necessity  of  maintaining, 
not  only  that  this  general  government  is 
the  creature  of  the  states,  but  that  it  is  the 
creature  of  each  of  the  states  severally ;  so 
that  each  may  assert  the  power,  for  itself, 
of  determining  whether  it  acts  within  the 
limits  of  its  authority.  It  is  the  servant 
of  four  and  twenty  masters,  of  different 
wills  and  different  purposes ;  and  yet  bound 
to  obey  all.  This  absurdity  (for  it  seems 
no  less)  arises  from  a  misconception  as  to 
the  origin  of  this  government,  and  its  true 
character.  It  is,  sir,  the  people's  constitu- 
tion, the  people's  government;  made  for 
the  people;  made  by  the  people;  and 
answerable  to  the  people.  The  people  of 
the  United  States  have  declared  that  this 
constitution  shall  be  the  supreme  law.  We 
must  either  admit  the  proposition,  or  dis- 
pute their  authority.  The  states  are  un- 
questionably sovereign,  so  far  as  their  sover- 
eignty is  not  affected  by  this  supreme  law. 
The  state  legislatures,  as  political  bodies, 
however  sovereign,  are  yet  not  sovereign 
over  the  people.  So  far  as  the  people  have 
given  power  to  the  general  government,  so 
far  the  grant  is  unquestionably  good,  and 
the  government  holds  of  the  people,  and 
not  of  the  state  governments.  We  are  all 
agents  of  the  same  supreme  power,  the 
people.  The  general  government  and  the 
state  governments  derive  their  authority 
from  the  same  source.  Neither  can,  in  re- 
lation to  the  other,  be  called  primary; 
though  one  is  definite  and  restricted,  and 
the  other  general  and  residuary. 

The  national  government  possesses  those 

Eowers  which  it  can  be  shown  the  people 
ave  conferred  on  it,  and  no  more.  AH 
the  rest  belongs  to  the  state  governments, 
or  to  the  people  themselves.  So  far  as  the 
people  have  restrained  state  sovereignty 


BOOK  III.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


71 


by  the  expression  of  their  will,  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  so  far,  it 
must  be  admitted,  state  sovereignty  is 
effectually  controlled.  I  do  not  contend 
that  it  is,  or  ought  to  be,  controlled  further. 
The  sentiment  to  which  I  have  referred 
propounds  that  state  sovereignty  is  only 
to  be  controlled  by  its  own  "  feelings  of 
justice ;"  that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  to  be  con- 
trolled at  all ;  for  one  who  is  to  follow  his 
feelings,  is  under  no  legal  control.  Now, 
however  men  may  think  this  ought  to  be, 
the  fact  is,  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  chosen  to  impose  control  on 
state  sovereignties.  The  constitution  has 
ordered  the  matter  differently  from  what 
this  opinion  announces.  To  make  war,  for 
instance,  is  an  exercise  of  sovereignty ;  but 
the  constitution  declares  that  no  state  shall 
make  war.  To  coin  money  is  another  ex- 
ercise of  sovereign  power ;  but  no  state  is 
at  liberty  to  coin  money.  Again:  the 
constitution  says,  that  no  sovereign  state 
shall  be  so  sovereign  as  to  make  a  treaty. 
These  prohibitions,  it  tnust  be  confessed, 
are  a  control  on  the  state  sovereignty  of 
South  Carolina,  as  well  as  of  the  other 
states,  which  does  not  arise  "  from  feelings 
of  honorable  justice."  Such  an  opinion, 
therefore,  is  in  defiance  of  the  plainest 
provisions  of  the  constitution. 

There  are  other  proceedings  of  public 
bodies  which  have  already  been  alluded  to, 
and  to  which  I  refer  again  for  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  more  fully  what  is  the 
length  and  breadth  of  that  doctrine,  de- 
nominated the  Carolina  doctrine,  which 
the  honorable  member  has  now  stood  up 
on  this  floor  to  maintain. 

In  one  of  them  I  find  it  resolved  that 
"the  tariff  of  1828,  and  every  other  tariff 
designed  to  promote  one  branch  of  in- 
dustry at  the  expense  of  others,  is  contrary 
to  the  meaning  and  intention  of  the  federal 
compact-;  and  as  such  a  dangerous,  palp- 
able, and  deliberate  usurpation  of  power, 
by  a  determined  majority,  wielding  the 
general  government  beyond  the  limits  of 
its  delegated  powers,  as  calls  upon  the 
states  which  compose  the  suffering  minor- 
ity, in  their  sovereign  capacity,  to  exercise 
the  powers  which,  as  sovereigns,  neces- 
sarily devolve  upon  them,  when  their  com- 
pact is  violated." 

Observe,  sir,  that  this  resolution  holds 
the  tariff  of  1828,  and  every  other  tariff, 
designed  to  promote  one  branch  of  industry 
at  the  expense  of  another,  to  be  such  a 
dangerous,  palpable,  and  deliberate  usur- 
pation of  power,  as  calls  upon  the  states, 
m  their  sovereign  capacity,  to  interfere,  by 
their  own  power.  This  denunciation,  Mr. 
President,  you  will  please  to  observe,  in- 
cludes our  old  tariff  of  1816,  as  well  as  all 
others;  because  that  was  established  to 
promote  the  interest  of  the  manufacturers 
of  cotton,  to  the  manifest  and  admitted 


injury  of  the  Calcutta  cotton  trade.  Ob- 
serve, again,  that  all  the  qualifications  are 
here  rehearsed,  and  charged  upon  the  tariff, 
which  are  necessary  to  bring  the  case  within 
the  gentleman's  proposition.  The  tariff  is 
a  usurpation ;  it  is  a  dangerous  usurpation ; 
it  is  a  palpable  usurpation;  it  is  a  de- 
liberate usurpation.  It  is  such  a  usurpa- 
tion as  calls  upon  the  states  to  exercise 
their  right  of  interference.  Here  is  a  case, 
then,  within  the  gentleman's  principles, 
and  all  his  qualifications  of  his  principles. 
It  is  a  case  for  action.  The  constitution  ia 
plainly,  dangerously,  palpably,  and  de- 
liberately violated ;  and  the  states  must 
interpose  their  own  authority  to  arrest  the 
law.  Let  us  suppose  the  state  of  South 
Carolina  to  express  this  same  opinion,  by 
the  voice  of  her  legislature.  That  would 
be  very  imposing  ;  but  what  then  ?  Is  the 
voice  of  one  state  conclusive  ?  It  so  hap- 
pens that,  at  the  very  moment  when  South 
Carolina  resolves  that  the  tariff  laws  are 
unconstitutional,  Pennsylvania  and  Ken- 
tucky resolve  exactly  the  reverse.  They 
hold  those  laws  to  be  both  highly  proper 
and  strictly  constitutional.  And  now,  sir, 
how  does  the  honorable  member  propose 
to  deal  with  this  case  ?  How  does  he  get 
out  of  this  difficulty,  upon  any  principle  of 
his  ?  His  construction  gets  us  into  it ;  how 
does  he  propose  to  get  us  out  ? 

In  Carolina  the  tariff  is  a  palpable,  de- 
liberate usurpation  ;  Carolina,  therefore, 
may  nullify  it,  and  refuse  to  pay  the  du- 
ties. In  Pennsylvania,  it  is  both  clearly 
constitutional  and  highly  expedient ;  and 
there  the  duties  are  to  be  paid.  And  yet 
we  live  under  a  government  of  uniform 
laws,  and  under  a  constitution,  too,  which 
contains  an  express  provision,  as  it  hap- 
pens, that  all  duties  shall  be  equal  in  all 
the  states!  Does  not  this  approach  ab- 
surdity ? 

If  there  be  no  power  to  settle  such  ques- 
tions, independent  of  either  of  the  states, 
is  not  the  whole  Union  a  rope  of  sand? 
Are  we  not  thrown  back  again  precisely 
upon  the  old  confederation  ? 

It  is  too  plain  to  be  argued.  Four  and 
twenty  interpreters  of  constitutional  law, 
each  with  a  power  to  decide  for  itself,  and 
none  with  authority  to  bind  anybody  else, 
and  this  constitutional  law  the  only  bond 
of  their  union  I  What  is  such  a  state  of 
things  but  a  mere  connection  during  plea- 
sure, or,  to  use  the  phraseology  or  the 
times,  during  feeling  f  And  that  feeling, 
too,  not  the  feeling  of  the  people  who  es- 
tablished the  constitution,  out  the  feeling 
of  the  state  governments. 

In  another  of  the  South  Carolina  ad- 
dresses, having  premised  that  the  crisis  re- 
quires "all  tne  concentrated  energy  of 
passion,"  an  attitude  of  open  resistance  to 
the  laws  of  the  Union  is  advised.  Open 
resistance  to  the  laws,  then,  is  the  consti- 


72 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


tutional  remedy,  the  conservative  power 
of  the  state,  which  the  South  Carolina 
doctrines  teach  for  the  redress  of  political 
evils,  real  or  imaginarj\  And  its  authors 
further  say  that,  appealing  with  confidence 
to  the  constitution  itself  to  justify  their 
opinions,  they  cannot  consent  to  try  their 
accuracy  by  the  courts  of  justice.  In  one 
sense,  indeed,  sir,  this  is  assuming  an  atti- 
tude of  open  resistance  in  favor  of  liberty. 
But  what  sort  of  liberty  ?  The  liberty  of 
establishing  their  own  opinions,  in  defi- 
ance of  the  opinions  of  all  others ;  the 
liberty  of  judging  and  of  deciding  exclu- 
sively themselves,  in  a  matter  in  which 
others  have  as  much  right  to  judge  and 
decide  as  they;  the  liberty  of  placing 
their  opinions  above  the  judgment  of  all 
others,  above  the  laws,  and  above  the  con- 
stitution. This  is  their  liberty,  and  this  is 
the  fair  result  of  the  proposition  contended 
for  by  the  honorable  gentleman.  Or  it 
may  be  more  properly  said,  it  is  identical 
with  it,  rather  than  a  result  from  it.  In 
the  same  publication  we  find  the  follow- 
ing :  "  Previously  to  our  revolution,  when 
the  arm  of  oppression  was  stretched  over 
New  Englancl,  where  did  our  northern 
brethren  meet  with  a  braver  sympathy 
than  that  which  sprung  from  the  bosom  of 
Carolinians  ?  We  had  no  extortion,  no  op- 
pression, no  collision  with  the  king^s  minis- 
ters, no  navigation  interest  springing  up,  in 
envious  rivalry  of  England." 

This  seems  extraordinary  language. 
South  Carolina  no  collision  with  the  king's 
ministers  in  1775 1  no  extortion  I  no  op- 
pression I  But,  sir,  it  is  also  most  signifi- 
cant language.  Does  any  man  doubt  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  penned  ?  Can 
any  one  fail  to  see  that  it  was  designed  to 
raise  in  the  reader's  mind  the  question, 
whether,  at  this  time, — that  is  to  say,  in 
1828, — South  Carolina  has  any  collision 
with  the  king's  ministers,  any  oppression, 
or  extortion,  to  fear  from  England? 
whether,  in  short,  England  is  not  as  natur- 
ally the  friend  of  South  Carolina  as  New 
England,  with  her  navigation  interests 
springing  up  in  envious  rivalry  of 
England  ? 

Is  it  not  strange,  sir,  that  an  intelligent 
man  in  South  Carolina,  in  1828,  should 
thus  labor  to  prove,  that  in  1775,  there 
Ttas  no  hostility,  no  cause  of  war,  between 
South  Carolina  and  England?  that  she 
had  no  occasion,  in  reference  to  her  own 
interest,  or  from  regard  to  her  own  welfare, 
to  take  up  arms  in  the  revolutionary  con- 
test? Can  any  one  account  for  the  ex- 
pression of  such  strange  sentiments,  and 
their  circulation  through  the  state,  other- 
wise than  by  supposing  the  object  to  be, 
what  I  have  already  intimated,  to  raise  the 
question,  if  they  had  no  "  collision " 
(mark  the  expression)  with  the  ministers 
of  King  George  the  Third,  in  1775,  what 


collision  have  they,  in  1828,  with  the  min- 
isters of  King  George  the  Fourth  ?  What 
is  there  now,  in  the  existing  state  of 
things,  to  separate  Carolina  from  Old, 
more,  or  rather  less,  than  from  New 
England  ? 
Resolutions,  sir,  have    been    recently 

[>assed  by  the  legislature  of  South  Caro- 
ina.  I  need  not  refer  to  them ;  they  go 
no  further  than  the  honorable  gentleman 
himself  has  gone — and  I  hope  not  so  far. 
I  content  myself  therefore,  with  debating 
the  matter  with  him. 

And  now,  sir,  what  I  have  first  to  say  on 
this  subject  is,  that  at  no  time,  and  under 
no  circumstances,  has  New  England,  or 
any  state  in  New  England,  or  any  respect' 
able  body  of  persons  in  New  England,  or 
fany  public  man  of  standing  in  New  Eng- 
land, put  forth  such  a  doctrine  as  this 
Carolina  doctrine. 

The  gentleman  has  found  no  case — he 
can  find  none — to  support  his  own  opin. 
ions  by  New  England  authority.  New 
England  has  studied  the  constitution  in 
other  schools,  and  under  other  teachers. 
She  looks  upon  it  with  other  regards,  and 
deems  more  highly  and  reverently,  both  of 
its  just  authority  and  its  utility  and  excel- 
lence. The  history  of  her  legislative  pro- 
ceedings may  be  traced — the  ephemeral 
effusions  of  temporary  bodies,  called  to- 
gether by  the  excitement  of  the  occasion, 
may  be  hunted  up — they  have  been  hunted 
up.  The  opinions  and  votes  of  her  public 
men,  in  and  out  of  Congress,  may  be  ex- 
plored— it  will  all  be  in  vain.  The  Caro- 
lina doctrine  can  derive  from  her  neither 
countenance  nor  support.  She  rejects  it 
now ;  she  always  did  reject  it.  The  hon- 
orable member  has  referred  to  expressions 
on  the  subject  of  the  embargo  law,  made 
in  this  place  by  an  honorable  and  vener- 
able gentleman  (Mr.  Hillhouse)  now 
favoring  us  with  his  presence.  He  quotes 
that  distinguished  senator  as  saying,  that 
in  his  judgment  the  embargo  law  was  un- 
constitutional, and  that,  therefore,  in  his 
opinion,  the  people  were  not  bound  to 
ODcy  it. 

That,  sir,  is  perfectly  constitutional  lan- 
guage. An  unconstitutional  law  is  not 
binding ;  hut  then  it  does  not  rest  with  a 
resolution  or  a  law  of  a  state  legislature  to 
decide  whether  an  act  of  Congress  be  or  he 
not  constitutional.  An  unconstitutional 
act  of  Congress  would  not  bind  the  people 
of  this  district  although  they  have  no  leg- 
islature to  interfere  in  their  behalf;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  constitutional  law  of 
Congress  does  bind  the  citizens  of  every 
state,  although  all  their  legislatures  should 
undertake  to  annul  it,  by  act  or  resolution. 
The  venerable  Connecticut  senator  is  a 
constitutional  lawyer,  of  sound  principles 
and  enlarged  knowledge ;  a  statesman 
practiced  and  experienced,  bred   in  the 


BOOKiii.]         WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


73 


company  of  Washington,  and  holding  just 
views  upon  the  nature  of  our  governments. 
He  believed  the  embargo  unconstitutional, 
and  so  did  others  ;  but  what  then  ?  Who 
did  he  suppose  was  to  decide  that  ques- 
tion? The  state  legislature?  Certainly 
not.  No  such  sentiment  ever  escaped  his 
lips.  Let  us  follow  up,  sir,  this  New  Eng- 
land opposition  to  the  embargo  laws ;  let 
us  trace  it,  till  we  discern  the  principle 
which  controlled  and  governed  New  Eng- 
land throughout  the  whole  course  of  that 
opposition.  We  shall  then  see  what  simi- 
larity there  is  between  the  New  England 
school  of  constitutional  opinions  and  this 
modern  Carolina  school.  The  gentleman, 
I  think,  read  a  petition  from  some  single 
individual,  addressed  to  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  asserting  the  Carolina  doc- 
trine— that  is,  the  right  of  state  interfer- 
ence to  arrest  the  laws  of  the  Union.  The 
fate  of  that  petition  shows  the  sentiment 
of  the  legislature.  It  met  no  favor.  The 
opinions  of  Massachusetts  were  otherwise. 
They  had  been  expressed  in  1798,  in  an- 
swer to  the  resolutions  of  Virginia,  and 
she  did  not  depart  from  them,  nor  bend 
them  to  the  times.  Misgoverned,  wronged, 
oppressed,  as  she  felt  herself  to  be,  she 
still  held  fast  her  integrity  to  the  Union. 
The  gentleman  may  find  in  her  proceed- 
ings much  evidence  of  dissatisfaction  with 
the  measures  of  government,  and  great 
and  deep  dislike,  she  claimed  no  right 
still  to  sever  asunder  the  bonds  of  the 
Union.  There  was  heat,  and  there  was 
anger  in  her  political  feeling.  Be  it  so. 
Her  heat  or  her  anger  did  not,  neverthe- 
less, betray  her  into  infidelity  to  the  gov- 
ernment. The  gentleman  labors  to  prove 
that  she  disliked  the  embargo  as  much  as 
South  Carolina  dislikes  the  tariif,  and  ex- 
pressed her  dislike  as  strongly.  B3  it  so  ; 
but  did  she  propose  the  Carolina  remedy  ? 
Did  she  threaten  to  interfere,  by  state  au- 
thority, to  annul  the  laws  of  the  Union  f 
That  is  the  question  for  the  gentleman's 
consideration. 
No  doubt,  sir,  a  great  majority  of  the 

Eeople  of  New  England  conscientiously 
elieve  the  embargo  law  of  1807  unconsti- 
tutional— as  conscientiously,  certainly,  as 
the  people  of  South  Carolina  hold  that 
opinion  of  the  tariff. — ^They  reasoned  thus : 
Cfongress  has  power  to  regulate  commerce  ; 
but  here  is  a  law,  they  said,  stopping  all 
commerce,  and  stopping  it  indefinitely. 
The  law  is  perpetual,  therefore,  as  the  law 
against  treason  or  murder.  Now,  is  this 
regulating  commerce,  or  destroying  it?  Is 
it  guiding,  controlling,  giving  the  rule  to 
commerce,  as  a  subsisting  thing,  or  is  it 
putting  an  end  to  it  altogether  ?  Nothing 
IS  more  certain  than  that  a  majority  in  New 
England  deemed  this  law  a  violation  of  the 
constitution.  This  very  case  required  by 
the  gentleman  to  justify  state  interference 


had  then  arisen.  Massachusetts  believed 
this  law  to  be  "a  deliberate,  palpable,  and 
dangerous  exercise  of  a  power  not  granted 
by  the  constitution. ''''  Deliberate  it  was, 
for  it  was  long  continued ;  palpable  she 
thought  it,  as  no  words  in  the  constitution 
gave  the  power,  and  only  a  construction, 
in  her  opinion  most  violent,  raised  it ;  dan- 
gerous it  was,  since  it  threatened  utter  ruin 
to  her  most  important  interests.  Here, 
then,  was  a  Carolina  case.  How  did  Mas- 
sachusetts deal  with  it?  It  was,  as  she 
thought,  a  plain,  manifest,  palpable  viola- 
tion of  the  constitution ;  and  it  brought 
ruin  to  her  doors.  Thousands  of  families, 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  individuals, 
were  beggared  by  it.  While  she  saw  and 
felt  all  this,  she  saw  and  felt,  also,  that  as 
a  measure  of  national  policy,  it  was  per- 
fectly futile ;  that  the  country  was  no  way 
benefited  by  that  which  caused  so  much 
individual  distress ;  that  it  was  efficient 
only  for  the  production  of  evil,  and  all  that 
evil  inflicted  on  ourselves.  In  such  a  case, 
under  such  circumstances,  how  did  Mas- 
sachusetts demean  herself?  Sir,  she  re- 
monstrated, she  memorialized,  she  address- 
ed herself  to  the  general  government,  not 
exactly  "  with  the  concentrated  energy  of 
passion,"  but  with  her  strong  sense,  and  the 
energy  of  sober  conviction.  But  she  did 
not  interpose  the  arm  of  her  power  to  ar- 
rest the  law,  and  break  the  embargo.  Far 
from  it.  Her  principles  bound  her  to  two ' 
things;  and  she  followed  her  principles, 
lead  where  they  might.  First,  to  submit 
to  every  constitutional  law  of  Congress ; 
and  secondly,  if  the  constitutional  validity 
of  the  law  be  doubted,  to  refer  that  ques- 
tion to  the  decision  of  the  proper  tribunals. 
The  first  principle  is  vain  and  ineffectual 
without  the  second.  A  majority  of  us  in 
New  England  believe  the  embargo  law  un- 
constitutional ;  but  the  great  question  was, 
and  always  will  be  in  such  cases.  Who  is 
to  decide  this?  Who  is  to  judge  between 
the  people  and  the  government?  And,  sir, 
it  is  quite  plain,  that  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  confers  on  the  govern- 
ment itself,  to  be  exercised  by  its  appropri- 
ate department,  this  power  of  deciding, 
ultimately  and  conclusively,  upon  the  just 
extent  of  its  own  authority.  If  this  had  not 
been  done,  we  should  not  have  advancec^  a 
single  step  beyond  the  old  confederation. 

Being  fully  of  opinion  that  the  embargo 
law  was  unconstitutional,  the  people  of 
New  England  were  yet  equally  clear  in  the 
opinion — it  was  a  matter  they  did  not  doubt 
upon — that  the  question,  after  all,  must 
be  decided  by  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the 
United  States.  Before  those  tribunals, 
therefore,  they  brought  the  question.  Under 
the  provisions  of  the  law,  they  had  given 
bonds,  to  millions  in  amount,  and  which 
were  alleged  to  be  forfeited.  They  suffered 
the  bonds  to  be  sued,  and  thus  raised  the 


74 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


question.  In  the  old-fashioned  way  of  set- 
uing  disputes,  they  went  to  law.  The  case 
came  to  hearing  and  solemn  argument; 
and  he  who  espoused  their  cause  and  stood 
up  for  them  against  the  validity  of  the  act, 
was  none  other  than  that  great  man,  of 
whom  the  gentleman  has  made  honorable 
mention,  Samuel  Dexter.  He  was  then, 
sir,  in  the  fulness  of  his  knowledge  and  the 
maturity  of  his  strength.  He  had  retired 
from  long  and  distinguished  public  service 
here,  to  the  renewed  pursuit  of  professional 
duties ;  carrying  with  him  all  that  enlarge- 
ment and  expansion,  all  the  new  strength 
and  force,  which  an  acquaintance  with  the 
more  general  subjecta  discussed  in  the  na- 
tional councils  is  capable  of  adding  to  pro- 
fessional attainment,  in  a  mind  of  true 
f;reatness  and  comprehension.  He  was  a 
awyer,  and  he  was  also  a  statesman.  He 
had  studied  the  constitution,  when  he  filled 

Eublic  station,  that  he  might  defend  it ;  he 
ad  examined  its  principles,  that  he  might 
maintain  them.  More  than  all  men,  or  at 
least  as  much  as  any  man,  he  was  attached 
to  the  general  government,  and  to  the 
union  of  the  states.  His  feelings  and 
opinions  all  ran  in  that  direction.  A  ques- 
tion of  constitutional  law,  too,  was,  of  all 
subjects,  that  one  which  was  best  suited  to 
his  talents  and  learning.  Aloof  from  tech- 
nicality, and  unfettered  by  artificial  rule, 
such  a  question  gave  opportunity  for  that 
deep  and  clear  analysis,  that  mighty  grasp 
of  principle,  which  so  much  distinguished 
his  higher  efforts.  His  very  statement 
was  argument ;  his  inference  seemed  dem- 
onstration. The  earnestness  of  his  own 
conviction  wrought  conviction  in  others. 
One  was  convinced,  and  believed,  and  con- 
sented, because  it  was  gratifying,  delightful, 
to  think,  and  feel,  and  believe,  in  unison 
with  an  intellect  of  such  evident  superiority. 
Mr.  Dexter,  sir,  such  as  I  have  described 
him,  argued  the  New  England  cause.  He 
put  into  his  effort  his  whole  heart,  as  well 
as  all  the  powdrs  of  his  understanding  ;  for 
he  had  avowed,  in  the  most  public  manner, 
his  entire  concurrence  with  his  neighbors, 
on  the  point  in  dispute.  He  argued  the 
cause  ;  it  was  lost,  and  New  England  sub- 
mitted. The  established  tribunals  pro- 
nounced the  law  constitutional,  and  New 
England  acquiesced.  Now,  sir,  is  not  this 
the  exact  opposite  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
gentleman  from  South  Carolina?  Accord- 
ing to  him,  instead  of  referring  to  the 
judicial  tribunals,  we  should  have  broken 
up  the  embargo,  by  laws  of  our  own ;  we 
should  have  repealed  it,  quoad  New  Eng- 
land ;  for  we  had  a  strong,  palpable,  and 
oppressive  case.  Sir,  we  believe  the  em- 
bargo unconstitutional ;  but  still,  that  was 
matter  of  opinion,  and  who  was  to  decide 
it?  We  thought  it  a  clear  case;  but, 
nevertheless,  we  did  not  take  the  laws  into 
oiir  hands,    because   toe  did  not  toish  to 


bring  about  a  revolution,  nor  to  break  up 
the  Union;  for  I  maintain,  that,  between 
submission  to  the  decision  of  the  constituted 
tribunals,  and  revolution,  or  disunion, 
there  is  no  middle  ground — there  is  no 
ambiguous  condition,  half  allegiance  and 
half  rebellion.  There  is  no  treason,  mad- 
cosy.  And,  sir,  how  futile,  how  very  futile 
it  IS,  to  admit  the  right  of  state  interfer- 
ence, and  then  to  attempt  to  save  it  from 
the  character  of  unlawful  resistance,  by 
adding  terms  of  qualification  to  the  causes 
and  occasions,  leaving  all  the  qualifications, 
like  the  case  itself  in  the  discretion  of  the 
state  governments.  It  must  be  a  clear  case, 
it  is  said;  a  deliberate  case;  a  palpable 
case ;  a  dangerous  case.  But,  then,  the 
state  is  still  left  at  liberty  to  decide  for  her- 
self what  is  clear,  what  is  deliberate,  what 
is  palpable,  what  is  dangerous. 

Do  adjectives  and  epithets  avail  any 
thing  ?  Sir,  the  human  mind  is  so  consti- 
tuted, that  the  merits  of  both  sides  of  a 
controversy  appear  very  clear,  and  very 
palpable,  to  those  who  respectively  espouse 
them,  and  both  sides  usually  grow  clearer, 
as  the  controversy  advances.  South  Caro- 
lina sees  unconstitutionality  in  the  tariff — 
she  sees  oppression  there,  also,  and  she  sees 
danger.  Pennsylvania,  with  a  vision  not 
less  sharp,  looks  at  the  same  tariff",  and 
sees  no  such  thing  in  it — she  sees  it  all 
constitutional,  all  useful,  all  safe.  The 
faith  of  South  Carolina  is  strengthened  by 
opposition^  and  she  now  not  only  sees,  but 
resolves,  that  the  tariff"  is  palpably  uncon- 
stitutional, oppressive,  and  dangerous ;  but 
Pennsylvania,  not  to  be  behind  her  neigh- 
bors, and  equally  willing  to  strengthen  her 
own  faith  by  a  confident  asseveration,  re- 
solves also,  and  gives  to  every  warm  aflBrm- 
ative  of  South  Carolina,  a  plain  downright 
Pennsylvania  negative.  South  Carolina 
to  show  the  strength  and  unity  of  her  opin- 
ions, brings  her  assembly  to  a  unanimity, 
within  seven  votes ;  Pennsylvania,  not  to 
be  outdone  in  this  respect  more  than 
others,  reduces  her  dissentient  fraction  to 
one  vote.  Now,  sir,  again  I  ask  the  gen- 
tleman, what  is  to  be  done?  Are  these 
states  both  right?  Is  he  bound  to  con- 
sider them  both  rig  at  ?  If  not,  which  is 
in  the  wrong?  or,  rather,  which  has  the 
best  right  to  decide? 

And  if  he,  and  if  I,  are  not  to  know 
what  the  constitution  means,  and  what  it 
is,  till  those  two  state  legislatures,  and  the 
twenty-two  otliers,  shall  agree  in  its  con- 
struction what  have  we  sworn  to,  when 
we  have  sworn  to  maintain  it?  I  was 
forcibly  struck,  sir,  with  one  reflection,  as 
the  gentleman  went  on  with  his  speech. 
He  quoted' Mr.  Madison's  resolutions  to 
prove  that  a  state  may  inter  fere,  in  a  case 
of  deliberate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  ex- 
ercise of  a  power  not  granted.  The  hon- 
orable member  supposes  the  tariff"  law  to 


BOOK  III.]  WEBSTER'S    GREAT    REPLY    TO    HAYNE. 


75 


be  such  an  exercise  of  power,  and  that 
consequently,  a  case  has  risen  in  which 
the  state  may,  if  it  see  fit,  interfere  by  ife 
own  law.  Now,  it  so  happens,  neverthe- 
less, that  Madison  himself  deems  this  same 
tariff  law  quite  constitutional.  Instead  of 
a  clear  and  palpable  violation,  it  is,  in  his 
judgment,  no  violation  at  all.  So  that, 
while  they  use  his  authority  for  a  hypo- 
thetical case,  they  reject  it  in  the  very  case 
before  them.  All  this,  sir,  shows  the  in- 
herent futility.  I  had  almost  used  a 
stronger  word — of  conceding  this  power  of 
interference  to  the  states,  and  then  attempt- 
ing to  secure  it  from  abuse  by  imposing 
qualifications  of  which  the  states  them- 
selves are  to  judge.  One  of  two  things  is 
true ;  either  the  laws  of  the  Union  are  be- 
yond the  control  of  the  states,  or  else  we 
liave  no  constitution  of  general  govern- 
ment, and  are  thrust  back  again  to  the 
days  of  the  confederacy. 

Let  me  here  say,  sir,  that  if  the  gentle- 
man's doctrine  had  been  received  and 
acted  upon  in  New  England,  in  the  times 
of  the  embargo  and  non-intercourse,  we 
should  probably  not  now  have  been  here. 
The  government  would  very  likely  have 
gone  to  pieces  and  crumbled  into  dust. 
No  stronger  case  can  ever  arise  than  ex- 
isted under  those  laws ;  no  states  can  ever 
entertain  a  clearer  conviction  than  the 
New  England  States  then  entertained ;  and 
if  they  had  been  under  the  influence  of 
that  heresy  of  opinion,  as  I  must  call  it, 
whicR  the  honorable  member  espouses, 
this  Union  would,  in  all  probability  have 
been  scattered  to  the  four  winds.  I  ask 
the  gentleman,  therefore,  to  apply  his  prin- 
ciples to  that  case ;  I  ask  him  to  come  forth 
and  declare  whether,  in  his  opinion,  the 
New  England  States  would  have  been  jus- 
tified in  interfering  to  break  up  the  em- 
bargo system,  under  the  conscientious  opin- 
ions which  he  held  upon  it.  Had  they  a 
right  to  annul  that  law?  Does  he  admit, 
or  deny?  If  that  which  is  thought  palpa- 
bly unconstitutional  in  South  Carolina  jus- 
tifies that  state  in  arresting  the  progress -of 
the  law,  tell  me  whether  that  which  was 
thought  palpably  unconstitutional  also  in 
Massachusetts  would  have  justified  her  in 
doing  the  same  thing.  Sir,  I  deny  the 
whole  doctrine.  It  has  not  a  foot  of  ground 
in  the  constitution  to  stand  on.  No  public 
man  of  reputation  ever  advanced  it  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  the  warmest  times,  or  could 
maintain  himself  upon  it  there  at  any 
time. 

I  wish  now,  air,  to  make  a  remark  upon 
the  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798.  I  cannot 
undertake  to  say  how  these  resolutions 
were  understood  by  those  who  passed 
them.  Their  language  is  not  a  little  in- 
definite. In  the  case  of  the  exercise,  by 
Congress,  of  a  dangerous  power,  not  granted 
to  them,  the  resolutions  assert  the  right, 


on  the  part  of  the  state  to  interfere,  and 
arrest  the  progress  of  the  evil.  This  is 
susceptible  of  more  than  one  interpretation. 
It  may^  mean  no  more  than  that  the  states 
may  interfere  by  complaint  and  remon- 
strance, or  by  proposing  to  the  people  an 
alteration  of  the  federal  constitution.  This 
would  all  be  quite  unobj  ectionable ;  or  it  may 
be  that  no  more  is  meant  than  to  assert  the 
general  right  of  revolution,  as  against  all 
governments,  in  cases  of  intolerable  op- 
pression. This  no  one  doubts;  and  this, 
in  my  opinion,  is  all  that  he  who  framed 
these  resolutions  could  have  meant  by  it ; 
for  I  shall  not  readily  believe  that  he  was 
ever  of  opinion  that  a  state,  under  the 
constitution,  and  in  conformity  with  it, 
could,  upon  the  ground  of  her  own  opinion 
of  its  unconstitutionality,  however  clear 
and  palpable  she  might  think  the  case, 
annul  a  law  of  Congress,  so  far  as  it  should 
operate  on  herself,  by  her  own  legislative 
power. 

I  must  now  beg  to  ask,  sir.  Whence  is 
this  supposed  right  of  the  states  derived  ? 
Where  do  they  get  the  power  to  interfera 
with  the  laws  of  the  Union?  Sir,  the 
opinion  which  the  honorable  gentleman 
maintains  is  a  notion  founded  in  a  total 
misapprehension,  in  my  judgment,  of  the 
origin  of  this  government,  and  of  the  foun- 
dation on  which  it  stands.  I  hold  it  to  be 
a  popular  government,  erected  by  the 
people,  those  who  administer  it  responsi- 
ble to  the  people,  and  itself  capable  of  be- 
ing amended  and  modified,  just  as  the  peo- 
ple may  choose  it  should  be.  It  is  as  pop- 
ular, just  as  truly  emanating  from  the 
people,  as  the  state  governments.  It  is 
created  for  one  purpose ;  the  state  govern- 
ments for  another.  It  has  its  own  powers  ; 
they  have  theirs.  There  is  no  more  au- 
thority with  them  to  arrest  the  operation 
of  a  law  of  Congress,  than  with  Congress 
to  arrest  the  operation  of  their  laws.  We 
are  here  to  administer  a  constitution  ema- 
nating immediately  from  the  people,  and 
trusted  by  them  to  our  administration.  It 
is  not  the  creature  of  the  state  govern- 
ments. It  is  of  no  moment  to  the  argu- 
ment that  certain  acts  of  the  state  legisla- 
tures are  necessary  to  fill  our  seats  in  this 
body.  That  is  not  one  of  their  original 
state  powers,  a  part  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  state.  It  is  a  duty  which  the  people, 
by  the  constitution  itself,  have  imposed  on 
the  state  legislatures,  and  which  they 
might  have  left  to  be  performed  elsewhere, 
if  they  had  seen  fit.  So  they  have  left  the 
choice  of  president  with  electors ;  but  all 
this  does  not  affect  the  proposition  that 
this  whole  government — President,  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives — is  a  popu- 
lar government.  It  leaves  it  still  all  its 
popular  character.  The  governor  of  a 
state  (in  some  of  the  states)  is  chosen  not 
directly  by  t^'^   ^^-T^le  for  the  purpose  of 


76 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


performing,  among  other  duties,  that  of 
electing  a  governor.  Is  the  government  of 
the  state  on  that  account  not  a  popular 
government?  This  government,  sir,  is  the 
independent  offspring  of  the  popular  will. 
It  is  not  the  creature  of  state  legislatures ; 
nay,  more,  if  the  whole  truth  must  be  told, 
the  people  brought  it  into  existence,  es- 
tablished it,  and  have  hitherto  supported 
it,  for  the  very  purpose,  amongst  others,  of 
imposing  certain  salutary  restraints  on  state 
sovereignties.  The  states  cannot  now  make 
war ;  they  cannot  contract  alliances ;  they 
cannot  make,  each  for  itself,  separate  reg- 
ulations of  commerce ;  they  cannot  lay  im- 
posts ;  they  cannot  coin  money.  If  this 
constitution,  sir,  be  the  creature  of  state 
legislatures,  it  must  be  admitted  that  it 
has  obtained  a  strange  control  over  the 
volition  of  its  creators. 

The  people  then,  sir,  erected  this  govern- 
ment. They  gave  it  a  constitution,  and  in 
that  constitution  they  have  enumerated  the 

Eowers  which  they  bestow  on  it.  They 
ave  made  it  a  limited  government.  They 
have  defined  its  authority.  They  have  re- 
strained it  to  the  exercise  of  such  powers 
as  are  granted ;  and  all  others,  they  declare, 
are  reser\^ed  to  the  states  or  the  people. 
But,  sir,  they  have  not  stopped  here.  If 
they  had,  they  would  have  accomplished 
but  half  their  work.  No  definition  can  be 
60  clear  as  to  avoid  possibility  of  doubt ;  no 
limitation  so  precise  as  to  exclude  all  un- 
certainty. Wlio,  then,  shall  construe  this 
grant  of  the  people?  Who  shall  interpret 
their  will,  where  it  may  be  supposed  they 
have  left  it  doubtful  ?  With  whom  do  they 
leave  this  ultimate  right  of  deciding  on  the 
powers  of  the  government?  Sir,  they  have 
settled  all  this  in  the  fullest  manner.  They 
have  left  it  with  the  government  itself,  in 
its  appropriate  branches.  Sir,  the  very 
chief^end,  the  main  design  for  which  the 
whole  constitution  was  framed  and  adopt- 
ed, was  to  establish  a  government  that 
should  not  be  obliged  to  act  through  state 
a^ency^  or  depend  on  state  opinion  and 
discretion.  The  people  had  had  quite 
enough  of  that  kind  of  government  under 
the  confederacy.  Under  that  system,  the 
legal  action — the  application  of  law  to 
individuals — ^belonged  exclusively  to  the 
states.  Congress  could  only  recommend — 
their  acts  were  not  of  binding  force  till  the 
states  had  adopted  and  sanctioned  them. 
Are  we  in  that  condition  still?  Are  we  yet 
at  the  mercy  of  state  discretion  and  state 
construction?  Sir,  if  we  are,  then  vain 
will  be  our  attempt  to  maintain  the  consti- 
tution under  which  we  sit. 

But,  sir,  the  people  have  wisely  provided, 
in  the  constitution  itself,  a  proper,  suitable  I 
mode  and  tribunal  for  settling  questions  of' 
constitutional  law.     There  are,  in  the  con- 
stitution, grants  of  powers  to  Congress,  and 
restrictions  on  those  powers.     There  are 


also  prohibitions  on  the  states.  Some  au- 
thority must  therefore  necessarily  exist, 
having  the  ultimate  jurisdiction  to  fix  and 
ascertain  the  interpretation  of  these  grants, 
restrictions  and  prohibitions.  The  consti- 
tution has  itself  pointed  out,  ordained,  and 
established  that  authority.  How  has  it 
accomplished  this  great  and  essential  end  ? 
By  declaring,  sir,  that  "  the  constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  made  in  pur- 
suance  thereof  shall  be  the  supreme  laic  of 
the  land,  any  thing  in  the  constitution  or 
laws  of  any  state  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing." 

.  This,  sir,  was  the  first  great  step.  By 
this,  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  anH 
laws  of  the  United  States  is  declared.  The 
people  so  will  it.  No  state  law  is  to  be 
valid  which  comes  in  conflict  with  the  con- 
stitution or  any  law  of  the  United  States. 
But  who  shall  decide  this  question  of  inter- 
ference? To  whom  lies  the  last  appeal? 
This,  sir,  the  constitution  itself  decides  also, 
by  declaring  "  that  the  Judicial  power  shall 
extend  to  all  cases  arising  under  the  consti- 
tution and  laws  of  the  United  States." 
These  two  provisions,  sir,  cover  the  whole 
ground.  They  are,  in  truth,  the  keystone 
of  the  arch.  With  these  it  is  a  govern- 
ment; without  them  it  is  a  confederacy. 
In  pursuance  of  these  clear  and  express 
provisions.  Congress  established,  at  its  very 
first  session,  in  the  judicial  act,  a  mode  for 
carrying  them  into  fiill  effect,  and  for 
bringing  all  questions  of  constitutional 
power  to  the  final  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  It  then,  sir,  became  a  government. 
It  then  had  the  means  of  self-protection ; 
and  but  for  this,  it  would,  in  all  proba- 
bility, have  been  now  among  things  which 
are  passed.  Having  constituted  the  gov- 
ernment, and  declared  its  powers,  the  peo- 
ple have  further  said,  that  since  somebody 
must  decide  on  the  extent  of  these  poM'ers, 
the  government  shall  itself  decide — subject 
always  like  other  popular  governments,  to 
its  responsibility  to  the  people.  And  now, 
sir,  I  repeat,  how  is  it  that  a  state  legisla- 
ture acquires  any  right  to  interfere?  Who, 
or  what,  gives  them  the  right  to  say  to  the 
people,  "We,  who  are  your  agents  and  ser- 
vants for  one  purpose,  will  undertake  to 
decide,  that  your  other  agents  and  servants, 
appointed  by  you  for  another  purpose,  have 
transcended  the  authority  you  gave  them"? 
The  reply  would  be,  I  think,  not  imperti- 
nent, Who  made  you  a  judge  over  anoth- 
er's servants.  To  their  own  masters  they 
stand  or  fall." 

Sir,  I  denv  this  power  of  state  legisla- 
tures altogether.  It  cannot  stand  the  test 
of  examination.  Gentlemen  may  say,  that, 
in  an  extreme  case,  a  state  government 
might  protect  the  people  from  intolerable 
oppression.  Sir,  in  such  a  case  the  people 
might  protect  themselves,  without  the  aid 
of  the  state  governments.     Such  a  case 


BooKiii.J  WEBSTER'S    GREAT   REPLY   TO    HAYNE. 


77 


warrants  revolution.  It  must  make,  when 
it  comes,  a  law  for  itself.  A  nullifying  act 
of  a  state  legislature  cannot  alter  the  case, 
nor  make  resistance  any  more  lawful.  In 
maintaining  these  sentiments,  sir,  I  am 
but  asserting  the  rights  of  the  people.  I 
state  what  they  have  declared,  and  insist 
on  their  right  to  declare  it.  They  have 
chosen  to  repose  this  power  in  the  general 
government,  and  I  think  it  my  duty  to  sup- 
port it,  like  other  constitutional  powers. 

For  myself,  sir,  I  doubt  the  jurisdiction 
of  South  Carolina,  or  any  other  state,  to 
prescribe  my  constitutional  duty,  or  to 
settle,  between  me  and  the  people,  the  va- 
lidity of  laws  of  Congress  for  which  I  have 
voted.  I  decline  her  umpirage.  I  have 
not  sworn  to  support  the  constitution  ac- 
cording to  her  construction  of  its  clauses. 
I  have  not  stipulated,  by  my  oath  of  office 
or  otherwise,  to  come  under  any  responsi- 
bility, except  to  the  people  and  those  whom 
they  have  appointed  to  pass  upon  the  ques- 
tion, whether  the  laws,  supported  by  my 
votes,  conform  to  the  constitution  of  the 
country.  And,  sir,  if  we  look  to  the  gen- 
eral nature  of  the  case,  could  any  thing 
have  been  more  preposterous  than  to  have 
made  a  government  for  the  whole  Union, 
and  yet  left  its  po^'ers  subject,  not  to  one 
interpretation,  but  to  thirteen  or  twenty- 
four  interpretations  ?  Instead  of  one  tribu- 
nal, established  by  all,  res  xtnsible  to  all, 
with  power  to  decide  for  all,  shall  constitu- 
tional questions  be  left  to  four  and  twenty 
popular  bodies,  each  at  liberty  to  decide 
tor  itself,  and  none  bound  to  respect  the 
decisions  of  others;  and  each  at  liberty, 
%o,  to  give  a  new  construction,  on  every 
new  election  of  its  own  members  ?  Would 
any  thing,  with  such  a  principle  in  it,  or 
rather  with  such  a  destitution  of  all  prin- 
ciple, be  fit  to  be  called  a  government? 
No,  sir.  It  should  not  be  denominated  a 
constitution.  It  should  be  called,  rather, 
a  collection  of  topics  for  everlasting  con- 
troversy ;  heads  of  debate  for  a  disputatious 
people.  It  would  not  be  a  government.  It 
would  not  be  adequate  to  any  practical 
good,  nor  fit  for  any  country  to  live  under. 
To  avoid  all  possibility  of  being  misunder- 
stood, allow  me  to  repeat  again,  in  the  fiill- 
est  manner,  that  I  claim  no  powers  for  the 
government  by  forced  or  unfair  construc- 
tion. I  admit  that  it  is  a  government  of 
strictly  limited  powers,  of  enumerated, 
specified,  and  particularized  powers ;  and 
that  whatsoever  is  not  granted  is  withheld. 
But,  notwithstanding  all  this,  and  however 
the  grant  of  powers  may  be  expressed,  its 
Mmits  and  extent  may  yet,  in  some  cases, 
ad|;ait  of  doubt;  and  the  general  govern- 
ment would  be  good  for  nothing,  it  would 
be  incapable  of  long  existence,  if  some 
mode  had  not  been  provided  in  which 
those  doubts,  as  they  should  arise,  might 
be  peaceably,  but  not  authoritatively  solved. 


And  now,  Mr.. President,  let  me  run  tho 
honorable  gentleman's  doctrine  a  little  into 
its  practical  application.  Let  us  look  at 
his  probable  modus  operandi.  If  a  thin^ 
can  be  done,  an  ingenious  man  can  teil 
how  it  is  to  be  done.  Now,  I  wish  to  be 
informed  how  this  state  interference  is  to 
be  put  in  practice.  We  will  take  the  ex- 
isting case  of  the  tariff"  law.  South  Caro- 
lina is  said  to  have  made  up  her  opinion 
upon  it.  If  we  do  not  re[)eal  it,  (as  w« 
probably  shall  not,)  she  will  then  apply  to 
the  case  the  remedy  of  her  doctrine.  She 
will,  we  must  suppose,  pass  a  law  of  her 
legislature,  declaring  the  several  acts  of 
Congress,  usually  called  the  tariff"  laws, 
null  and  void,  so  for  as  they  respect  South 
Carolina,  or  the  citizens  thereof.  So  far, 
all  is  a  paper  transaction,  and  easy  enough. 
But  the  collector  at  Charleston  is  collect- 
ing the  duties  imposed  by  these  tariff'  laws 
— -he,  therefore,  must  be  stopped.  The 
collector  will  seize  the  goods  if  the  tariff" 
duties  are  not  paid.  The  state  authorities 
will  undertake  their  rescue :  the  marshal, 
with  his  posse,  will  come  to  the  collector's 
aid;  and  here  the  contest  begins.  The 
militia  of  the  state  will  be  called  out  to 
sustain  the  nullifying  act.  They  will 
march,  sir,  under  a  very  gallant  leader; 
for  I  believe  the  honorable  member  him- 
self commands  the  militia  of  that  part  of 
the  state.  He  will  raise  the  nullifying 
ACT  on  his  standard,  and  spread  it  out  as 
his  banner.  It  will  have  a  preamble,  bear- 
ing that  the  tariff"  laws  are  palpable,  de-  ^ 
liberate,  and  dangerous  violations  of  the 
constitution.  He  will  proceed,  with  his 
banner  flying,  to  the  custom  house  in 
Charleston, — 

"  all  the  while 
Sonorous  metal  blowing  martial  sounds." 

Arrived  at  the  custom  house,  he  will  tell 
the  collector  that  he  must  collect  no  more 
duties  under  any  of  the  tariff"  laws.  This 
he  will  be  somewhat  puzzled  to  say,  by  the 
way,  with  a  grave  countenance,  consider- 
ing what  hand  South  Carolina  herself  had 
in  that  of  1816.  But,  sir,  the  collector 
would,  probably,  not  desist  at  his  bidding. 
Here  would  ensue  a  pause ;  for  they  say, 
that  a  certain  stillness  precedes  the  tem- 
pest. Before  this  military  array  should 
fall  on  custom  house,  collector,  clerks,  and 
all,  it  is  very  probable  some  of  those  com- 
posing it  woul4  request  of  their  gallant 
commander-in-chief  to  be  informed  a  little 
upon  the  point  of  law  ;  for  they  have 
doubtless  a  just  respect  for  his  opinion  as 
a  lawyer,  as  well  as  for  his  bravorv  as  a 
soldier.  They  know  he  has  rea  I  Black- 
stone  and  the  constitution,  as  well  as  Tu- 
renne  and  Vauban.  They  would  ask  hini, 
therefore,  something  concerning  their 
rights  in  this  matter.  They  would  inquire 
whether  it  was  not  somewhat  dangerous  to 


78 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


resist  a  law  of  the  United  States.  "NV  hat 
would  be  the  nature  of  their  ofrence,  they 
would  wish  to  learn,  if  they,  by  military 
force  and  array,  resisted  the  execution  in 
Carolina  of  a  law  of  the  United  States,  and 
it  should  turn  out,  after  all,  that  the  law 
tca^  constittitional.  He  would  answer,  of 
course,  treason.  No  lawyer  could  give  any 
other  answer.  John  Fries,  he  would  tell 
them,  had  learned  that  some  years  ago. 
How,  then,  they  would  ask,  do  you  propose 
to  defend  us  ?  We  are  not  afraid  of  oullets, 
but  treason  has  a  way  of  taking  people  off 
that  we  do  not  much  relish.  How  do  you 
propose  to  defend  us ?  "  Look  at  my  floating 
tanner,"  he  would  reply ;  '*  see  there  the 
nullifying  law ! "  Is  it  your  opinion,  gal- 
lant commander,  they  would  then  say,  that 
if  we  should  be  indicted  for  treason,  that 
same  floating  banner  of  yours  would  make 
a  good  plea  in  bar?  "  South  Carolina  is  a 
sovereign  state,"  he  would  reply.  That  is 
true ;  but  would  the  iudge  admit  our  plea  ? 
"  These  tarifl*  laws,"  ne  would  repeat,  "  are 
unconstitutional,  palpably,  deliberately, 
dangerously,"  That  all  may  be  so  ;  but  if 
the  tribunals  should  not  happen  to  be  of 
that  opinion,  shall  we  swing  for  it?  We 
are  ready  to  die  for  our  country,  but  it  is 
rather  an  awkward  business,  this  dying 
without  touching  the  ground.  After  all, 
this  is  a  sort  of  hemp-ikxf  worse  than  any 
part  of  the  tariff. 

Mr.  President,  the  honorable  gentleman 
would  be  in  a  dilemma  like  that  of  another 
great  general.  He  would  have  a  knot  be- 
fore him  which  he  could  not  untie.  He 
must  cut  it  with  his  sword.  He  must  say 
to  his  followers,  Defend  yourselves  with 
your  bayonets ;  and  this  is  war — civil  war. 

Direct  collision,  therefore,  between  force 
and  force,  is  the  unavoidable  result  of  that 
remedy  for  the  revision  of  unconstitutional 
laws  which  the  gentleman  contends  for. 
It  must  happen  in  the  very  first  case  to 
which  it  is  applied.  Is  not  this  the  plain 
result?  To  resist,  by  force,  the  execution 
of  a  law,  generally,  is  treason.  Can  the 
courts  of  the  United  States  take  notice  of 
the  indulgence  of  a  state  to  commit  trea- 
son? The  common  saying,  that  a  state 
cannot  commit  treason  herself,  is  nothing 
to  the  purpose,  dan  it  authorize  others  to 
do  it?  If  John  Fries  had  produced  an  act 
of  Pennsylvania,  annulling  the  law  of  Con- 
gress, would  it  have  helped  his  case?  Talk 
about  it  as  we  will,  these  doctrines  go  the 
length  of  revolution.  Thev  are  incompa- 
tible with  any  peaceable  administration  of 
the  government.  They  lead  directly  to 
disunion  and  civil  commotion ;  and  there- 
fore it  is,  that  at  the  commencement,  when 
they  are  first  found  to  be  maintained  by 
respectable  men,  and  in  atangibleform.that 
I  enter  my  public  protest  against  them  all. 

The  honorable  gentleman  argues,  that  if 
this  government  be  the  sole  judge  of  the 


extent  of  its  own  powers,  whether  that 
right  of  Judging  be  in  Congress  or  the  Su- 
preme Court,  It  equally  subverts  state 
sovereignty.  This  the  gentleman  sees,  or 
thinks  he  sees,  although  he  cannot  per- 
ceive how  the  right  of  judging  in  this  mat- 
ter, if  left  to  the  exercise  of  state  legisla- 
tures, has  any  tendency  to  subvert  the 
government  of  the  Union.  The  gentle- 
man's opinion  may  be  that  the  right  otighi 
not  to  have  been  lodged  with  the  general 
government ;  he  may  like  better  such  a 
constitution  as  we  should  have  under  the 
right  of  state  interference  ;  but  I  ask  him 
to  meet  me  on  the  plain  matter  of  fact — I 
ask  him  to  meet  me  on  the  constitution  it- 
self— I  ask  him  if  the  power  is  not  there — 
clearly  and  visibly  found  there. 

But,  sir,  what  is  this  danger,  and  what 
the  grounds  of  it  ?  Let  it  be  remembered, 
that  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
is  not  unalterable.  It  is  to  continue  in  its 
present  form  no  longer  than  the  people 
who  established  it  shall  choose  to  continue 
it.  If  they  shall  become  convinced  that 
they  have  made  an  injudicious  or  inexpe- 
dient partition  and  distribution  of  power 
between  the  state  governments  and  the 
general  government,  they  can  alter  that 
distribution  at  will. 

If  anything  be  found  in  the  national 
constitution,  either  by  original  provision 
or  subsequent  interpretation,  which  ought 
not  to  be  in  it,  the  people  know  how  to  get 
rid  of  it.  If  any  construction  be  established, 
unacceptable  to  them,  so  as  to  become, 
practically,  a  part  of  the  constitution,  they 
will  amend  it  at  their  own  sovereign  plea- 
sure. But  while  the  people  choose  to  main- 
tain it  as  it  is,  while  they  are  satisfied  with 
it,  and  refuse  to  change  it,  who  has  given, 
or  who  can  give,  to  the  state  legislatures  a 
right  to  alter  it,  either  by  interference, 
construction,  or  otherwise?  Gentlemen 
do  not  seem  to  recollect  that  the  people 
have  any  power  to  do  anything  for  them- 
selves ;  they  imagine  there  is  no  safety  for 
them  any  longer  than  they  are  under  the 
close  guardianship  of  the  state  legislatures. 
Sir,  the  people  have  not  trusted  their 
safety,  in  regard  to  the  general  constitu- 
tion, to  these  hands  they  have  required 
other  security,  and  taken  other  bonds. 
They  have  chosen  to  trust  themselves,  first 
to  the  plain  words  of  the  instrument,  and 
to  such  construction  as  the  government  it- 
self, in  doubtful  cases,  should  put  on  its 
own  powers,  under  their  oaths  of  office, 
and  subject  to  their  responsibility  to  them ; 
just  as  the  people  of  a  state  trust  their  own 
state  governments  with  a  similar  power. 
Secondly,  they  have  reposed  their  trust  in 
the  eflScacy  of  frequent  elections,  and  in 
their  own  power  to  remove  their  own  ser- 
vants and  agents,  whenever  they  see  cause. 
Thirdly,  they  have  reposed  trust  in  the 
judicial  power,  which,  in  order  that  it  might 


flOOK  III.] 


WEBSTER'S  GREAT  REPLY  TO  HAYNE. 


79 


be  trustworthy,  they  have  made  as  respect- 
able, as  disinterested,  and  as  independent 
as  practicable.  Fourthly,  they  have  seen 
fit  to  rely,  in  case  of  necessity,  or  high  ex- 
pediency, on  their  known  and  admitted 
power  to  alter  or  amend  the  constitution, 
peaceably  and  quietly,  whenever  experi- 
ence shall  point  out  defects  or  imperfec- 
tions. And  finally,  the  people  of  the 
United  States  have  at  no  time,  in  no  way, 
directly  or  indirectly,  authorized  any  state 
legislature  to  construe  or  interpret  their 
instrument  of  government ;  much  less  to 
interfere,  by  their  own  power,  to  arrest  its 
course  and  operation. 

If  sir,  the  people,  in  these  respects,  had 
done  otherwise  than  they  have  done,  their 
constitution  could  neither  have  been  pre- 
served, nor  would  it  have  been  worth  pre- 
serving. And  if  its  plain  provision  shall 
now  be  disregarded,  and  these  new  doc- 
trines interpolated  in  it,  it  will  become  as 
feeble  and  helpless  a  being  as  enemies, 
whether  early  or  more  recent,  could  pos- 
sibly desire.  It  will  exist  in  every  state, 
but  as  a  poor  dependant  on  state  permis- 
sion. It  must  borrow  leave  to  be,  and  will 
be,  no  longer  than  state  pleasure,  or  state 
discretion,  sees  fit  to  grant  the  indulgence, 
and  to  prolong  its  poor  existence. 

But,  sir,  although  there  are  fears,  there 
are  hopes  also.  The  people  have  preserved 
this,  their  own  chosen  constitution,  for 
forty  years,  and  have  seen  their  happiness, 
prosperity,  and  renown  grow  with  its 
growth  and  strengthen  with  its  strength. 
They  are  now,  generally,  strongly  attached 
to  it.  Overthrown  by  direct  assault  it  can- 
not be ;  evaded,  undermined,  kullified, 
it  will  not  be,  if  we,  and  those  who  shall 
succeed  us  here,  as  agents  and  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  shall  conscientiously 
and  vigilantly  discharge  the  two  great 
branches  of  our  public  trust—faithful) y 
to  preserve  and  wisely  to  administer  it. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  thus  stated  the 
reasons  of  my  dissent  to  the  doctrines 
which  have  been  advanced  and  main- 
tained. I  am  conscious  of  having  detained 
you,  and  the  Senate,  much  too  long.  I  was 
drawn  into  the  debate  with  no  previous 
deliberation  such  as  is  suited  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  so  grave  and  important  a  subject. 
But  it  is  a  subject  of  which  my  heart  is  full, 
and  I  have  not  been  willing  to  suppress  the 
utterance  of  its  spontaneous  sentiments. 

I  cannot^  even  now,  persuade  myself  to 
relinquish  it,  without  expressing  once  more, 
my  deep  conviction,  that  since  it  re- 
spects nothing  less  than  the  union  of  the 
states,  it  is  of  most  vital  and  essential  im- 
portance to  the  public  happiness.  I  pro- 
fess, sir,  in  my  career  hitherto,  to  have 
kept  steadily  in  view  the  prosperity  and 
honor  of  the  whole  country,  ana  the  pres- 
ervation of  our  Federal  Union.  It  is  to 
that  Union  we  owe  our  safety  at  home  and 


our  consideration  and  dignity  abroad.  It 
is  to  that  Union  we  are  chiefly  indebted 
for  whatever  makes  us  most  proud  of  our 
country.  That  Union  we  reached  only  by 
the  discipline  of  our  virtues  in  the  severe 
school  of  adversity.  It  had  its  origin  in 
the  necessities  of  disordered  finance,^  pros- 
trate commerce,  and  ruined  credit.  Under 
its  benign  influences,  these  great  interests 
immediately  awoke,  as  from  the  dead,  and 
sprang  forth  with  newness  of  life.  Every 
year  of  its  duration  has  teemed  with  fresn 
proofs  of  its  utility  and  its  blessings ;  and 
although  our  territory  has  stretched  out. 
wider  and  wider,  and  our  population 
spread  farther  and  farther,  they  have  not 
outrun  its  protection  or  its  benefits.  It  has 
been  to  us  all  a  copious  fountain  of  na- 
tional, social,  personal  happiness.  I  have 
not  allowed  myself,  sir,  to  look  beyond  the 
Union,  to  see  what  might  lie  hidden  in  the 
dark  recess  behind.  I  have  not  coolly 
weighed  the  chances  of  preserving  liberty, 
when  the  bonds  that  unite  us  together 
shall  be  broken  asunder.  I  have  not  ac- 
customed myself  to  hang  over  the  precipice 
of  disunion,  to  see  whether,  with  my  short 
sight,  I  can  fathom  the  depth  of  the  abyss 
below ;  nor  could  I  regard  him  as  a  safe 
counsellor  in  the  affairs  of  this  govern- 
ment, whose  thoughts  should  be  mainly 
bent  on  considering,  not  how  the  Union 
should  be  best  preserved,  but  how  tolerable 
might  be  the  condition  of  the  people  when 
it  shall  be  broken  up  and  destroyed.  While 
the  Union  lasts,  we  have  high,  exciting, 
gratifying  prospects  spread  out  before  us,  , 
for  us  and  our  children.  Beyond  that  I 
seek  not  to  penetrate  the  veil.  God  grant 
that  in  my  day  at  least,  that  curtain  may 
not  rise.  God  grant  that  on  my  vision 
never  may  be  opened  what  lies  behind. 
When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  behold, 
for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I 
not  see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and 
dishonored  fragments  of  a  once-glorious 
Union ;  on  states  dissevered,  discordant, 
belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds, 
or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  fraternal  blood  I 
Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance, 
rather,  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the 
republic,  now  known  and  honored  through- 
out earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its 
arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  their  origi- 
nal lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted, 
nor  a  single  star  obscured — bearing  for  it« 
motto  no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as. 
What  is  all  this  worth  t  nor  those  other 
words  of  delusion  and  folly.  Liberty  first, 
and  Union  afterwards;  but  every  wnere, 
spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living 
light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds  as  they 
float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land,  and 
in  every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens, 
that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true 
American  heart — Liberty  and  Union,  now 
and  forever,  one  and  inseparable! 


80 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


Julim  C.  Call&onn   on  the    Rlghta    of  tbe 
States. 

Delivered  July  26, 1831. 

The  question  of  the  relation  which  the 
states  and  general  governn^ent  bear  to  each 
other,  is  not  one  of  recent  origin.  From  the 
commencement  of  our  system,  it  has  divi- 
ded public  sentiment.  Even  in  the  con- 
vention, while  the  Constitution  was  strug- 
gling into  existence,  there  were  two  par- 
ties, as  to  what  this  relation  should  be, 
whose  different  sentiments  constituted  no 
small  impediment  in  forming  that  instru- 
ment. After  the  general  government  went 
into  operation,  experience  soon  proved 
that  the  question  had  not  terminated  with 
the  labors  of  the  convention.  The  great 
struggle  that  preceded  the  political  revo- 
lution of  1801,  which  brought  Mr.  JefFer- 
Bon  into  power,  turned  essentially  on  it;  and 
the  doctrines  and  arguments  on  both  sides 
were  embodied  and  ably  sustained ;  on  the 
one,  in  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolu- 
tions and  the  report  to  the  Virginia  legis- 
lature ;  and  on  the  other,  in  the  replies  of 
the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  and  some 
of  the  other  states.  These  resolutions  and 
this  report,  with  the  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Pennsylvania  about  the 
same  time  (particularly  in  the  case  of  Cob- 
bett,  delivered  by  Chief  Justice  McKean, 
and  concurred  in  by  the  whole  bench), 
contain  what  I  believe  to  be  the  true  doc- 
trine on  this  important  subject.  I  refer  to 
them  in  order  to  avoid  the  necessity  of 
presenting  my  views,  with  the  reasons  in 
i8upport  of  them  in  detail. 

As  my  object  is  simply  to  state  my 
opinions,  I  might  pause  with  this  refer- 
ence to  documents  that  so  fully  and  ably 
state  all  the  points  immediately  connected 
with  this  deeply  important  subject;  but  ae 
there  are  many  who  may  not  have  the  op- 
portunity or  leisure  to  refer  to  them,  and, 
as  it  is  possible,  however  clear  they  may 
be,  that  different  persons  may  place  differ- 
ent interpretations  on  their  meaning,  I 
will,  in  order  that  my  sentiments  may  be 
fully  known,  and  to  avoid  all  ambiguity, 
proceed  to  state,  summarily,  the  doctrines 
which  I  conceive  they  embrace. 

The  great  and  leading  principle  is,  that 
the  general  government  emanated  from  the 
people  of  the  several  states,  forming  dis- 
tinct political  communities,  and  acting  in 
their  separate  and  sovereign  capacity,  and 
not  from  all  of  the  people  forming  one  ag- 
gregate political  community ;  that  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  is  in  fact  a 
compact,  to  which  each  state  is  a  party,  in 
the  character  already  described  ;  and  that 
the  several  states,  or  parties,  have  a  right 
to  judge  of  its  infractions,  and  in  case  of  a 
deliberate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  exer- 
cise of  power  not  delegated,  they  have  the 
right,  in  the  last  resort,  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Virginia  resolutions ;  "  to  in- 


terpose for  arresting  the  progress  of  the 
evil,  and  for  maintaining,  within  their  re- 
spective limits,  the  authorities,  rights,  and 
liberties  appertaining  to  them."  This 
right  of  interposition  thus  solemnly  as- 
serted by  the  state  of  Virginia,  be  it  called 
what  it  may — state  right,  veto,  nullifica- 
tion, or  by  any  other  name — I  conceive  to 
be  the  fundamental  principle  of  our  sys- 
tem, resting  on  facts,  nistorically  as  certain 
as  our  revolution  itself,  and  deductions  as 
simple  and  demonstrative  as  that  of  any 
political  or  moral  truth  whatever ;  and  I 
firmly  believe  that  on  its  recognition  de- 
pends the  stability  and  safety  of  our  poli- 
tical institutions. 

I  am  not  ignorant  that  those  opposed  to 
the  doctrine  have  always,  now  and  for- 
merly, regarded  it  in  a  very  different  light, 
as  anarchical  and  revolutionary.  Could  I 
believe  such  in  fact  to  be  its  tendency,  to 
me  it  would  be  no  recommendation.  I 
yield  to  none,  I  trust,  in  a  deep  and  sin- 
cere attachment  to  our  political  institu- 
tions, and  the  union  of  these  states.  I 
never  breathed  an  opposite  sentiment ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  I  have  ever  considered 
them  the  great  instruments  of  preserving 
our  liberty,  and  promoting  the  happiness 
of  ourselves  and  our  posterity ;  and  next  to 
these,  I  have  ever  held  them  most  dear. 
Nearly  half  my  life  haS  passed  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Union,  and  whatever  public  re- 
putation I  have  acquired,  is  indissolubly 
identified  with  it.  To  be  too  national  has, 
indeed,  been  considered,  by  many,  even  of 
my  friends,  to  be  my  greatest  political 
fault.  With  these  strong  feelings  of  at- 
tachment, I  have  examined,  with  the  ut- 
most care,  the  bearing  of  the  doctrine  in 
question ;  and  so  far  from  anarchical  or  re- 
volutionary, I  solemnly  believe  it  to  be  the 
only  solid  foundation  of  our  system,  and  of 
the  Union  itself,  and  that  the  opposite 
doctrine,  which  denies  to  the  states  the 
right  of  protecting  their  reserved  powers, 
and  whicn  would  vest  in  the  general  gov- 
ernment (it  matters  not  through  what  de- 
partment) the  right  of  determining  exclu- 
sively and  finally  the  powers  delegated  to 
it,  is  incompatible  with  the  sovereignty  of 
the  states,  and  of  the  Constitution  itself, 
considered  as  the  basis  of  a  Federal  Union. 
As  strong  as  this  language  is,  it  is  not* 
stronger  than  that  used  by  the  illustrious 
Jefferson,  who  said,  to  give  to  the  general 
government  the  final  and  exclusive  ri^ht  to 
judge  of  its  powers,  is  to  make  "  its  discre- 
tion and  not  the  Constitution  the  measure 
of  its  powers;"  and  that  "in  all  cases  of 
compact  between  parties  having  no  com- 
mon judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right 
to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  the  operation, 
&»  of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress." 
Language  cannot  be  more  explicit ;  nor 
can  higher  authority  be  adduced. 

That  different  opinions  are  entertained 


BOOK  in.]  CALHOUN    ON    THE    RIGHTS    OF    STATES. 


81 


\ 


on  this  subject,  I  consider  but  as  an  addi- 
tional evidence  of  the  great  diversity  of 
the  human  intellect.  Had  not  able,  ex- 
perienced, and  patriotic  individuals,  for 
whom  I  have  the  highest  respect,  taken 
different  views,. I  would  have  thought  the 
right  too  clear  to  admit  of  doubt ;  but  I  am 
taught  by  this,  as  well  as  by  many  similar 
instances,  to  treat  with  deference  opinions 
differing  from  my  own.  The  error  may 
possibly  be  with  me ;  but,  if  so,  I  can  only 
say,  that  after  the  most  mature  and  con- 
scientious examination,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  detect  it.  But  with  all  proper  de- 
ference, I  must  think  that  theirs  is  the 
error,  who  deny  what  seems  to  be  an  es- 
sential attribute  of  the  conceded  sovereign- 
ty of  the  states ;  and  who  attribute  to  the 
general  government  a  right  utterly  incom- 

{)atible  with  what  all  acknowledge  to  be  its 
imited  and  restricted  character;  an  error 
originating  principally,  as  I  must  think, 
in  not  duly  reflecting  on  the  nature  of  our 
institutions,  and  on  what  constitutes  the 
only  rational  object  of  all  political  consti- 
tutions. 

It  has  been  well  said  by  one  of  the  most 
sagacious  me»  of  antiquity,  that  the  object 
of  a  constitution  is  to  restrain  the  govern- 
ment, as  that  of  laws  is  to  restrain  indi- 
viduals. The  remark  is  correct,  nor  is  it 
less  true  where  the  government  is  vested 
in  a  majority,  than  where  it  is  in  a  single 
or  a  few  individuals;  in  a  republic,  than 
a  monarchy  or  aristocracy.  No  one  can 
have  a  higher  respect  for  the  maxim  that 
the  majority  ought  to  govern  than  I  have, 
taken  in  its  proper  sense,  subject  to  the 
restrictions  imposed  by  the  Constitution, 
and  confined  to  subjects  in  which  every 
portion  of  the  community  have  similar 
interests ;  but  it  is  a  great  error  to  suppose, 
as  many  do,  that  the  right  of  a  majority  to 
govern  is  a  natural  and  not  a  conventional 
right ;  and,  therefore,  absolute  and  unlim- 
ited. By  nature  every  individual  has  the 
right  to  govern  himself;  and  governments, 
whether  founded  on  majorities  or  minori- 
ties, must  derive  their  right  from  the  as- 
sent, expressed  or  implied,  of  the  governed, 
and  be  subject  to  such  limitations  as  they 
may  impose.  Where  the  interests  are  the 
same,  that  is,  where  the  laws  that  may 
benefit  one  will  benefit  all,  or  the  reverse, 
it  is  just  and  proper  to  place  them  under 
the  control  of  the  majority ;  but  where 
they  are  dissimilar,  so  that  the  law  that 
may  benefit  one  portion  may  be  ruinous  to 
another,  it  would  be,  on  the  contrary,  un- 
just and  absurd  to  subject  them  to  its  will : 
and  such  I  conceive  to  be  the  theory  on 
which  our  Constitution  rests. 

That  such  dissimilarity  of  interests  may 
exist  it  is  impossible  to  doubt.  They  are 
to  be  found  in  every  community,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  however  small  or 
homogeneous,  and  they  constitute,  every- 
34 


where,  the  great  difficultjr  of  forming  and 
preserving  free  institutions.  To  guard 
against  the  unequal  action  of  the  laws, 
when  applied  to  dissimilar  and  opposing 
interests,  is  in  fact  what  mainly  renders  a 
constitution  indispensable;  to  overlook 
which  in  reasoning  on  our  Constitution, 
would  be  to  omit  the  principal  element  by 
which  to  determine  its  character.  Were 
there  no  contrariety  of  interests,  nothing 
would  be  more  simple  and  easy  than  to 
form  and  preserve  free  institutions.  The 
right  of  suffrage  alone  would  be  a  sufficient 
guarantee.  It  is  the  conflict  of  oppos- 
ing interests  which  renders  it  the  most 
difficult  work  of  man. 

Where  the  diversity  of  interests  exists  in 
separate  and  distinct  classes  of  the  com- 
munity, as  is  the  case  in  England,  and  was 
formerly  the  case  in  Sparta,  Rome,  and 
most  of  the  free  states  or  antiquity,  the  ra- 
tional constitutional  provision  is,  that  each 
should  be  represented  in  the  government 
as  a  separate  estate,  with  a  distinct  voice, 
and  a  negative  on  the  acts  of  its  co-estates, 
in  order  to  check  their  encroachments.  In 
England  the  constitution  has  assumed  ex- 
pressly this  form,  w^hile  in  the  governments 
of  Sparta  and  Rome  the  same  thing  was 
effected,  under  different  but  not  much 
less  efficacious  forms.  The  perfection  of 
their  organization,  in  this  particular,  was 
that  which  gave  to  the  constitutions  of 
these  renowned  states  all  of  their  celebrity, 
which  secured  their  liberty  for  so  many 
centuries,  and  raised  them  to  so  great  a 
height  of  power  and  prosperity.  Indeed, 
a  constitutional  provision  giving  to  the 
great  and  separate  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity the  right  of  self-protection,  must  ap- 
pear to  those  who  will  duly  reflect  on  the 
subject,  not  less  essential  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  liberty  than  the  right  of^  suffrage 
itself.  They  in  fact  have  a  common  ob- 
ject, to  effect  which  the  one  is  as  necessary 
as  the  other — to  secure  responsibility ;  that 
is,  that  those  who  make  and  execute  the 
laws  should  be  accountable  to  those  on 
whom  the  laws  in  reality  operate ;  the  only 
solid  and  durable  foundation  of  liberty. 
If  without  the  right  to  suffrage  our  rulers 
would  oppress  us,  so  without  the  right  of 
self-protection,  the  major  would  equally 
oppress  the  minor  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity. The  absence  of  the  former  would 
make  the  governed  the  slaves  of  the  rulers, 
and  of  the  latter  the  feebler  interests  the 
victim  of  the  stronger. 

Happily  for  us  we  have  no  artificial  and 
separate  classes  of  society.  We  have  wisely 
exploded  all  such  distinctions ;  but  we  are 
not,  on  that  account,  exempt  from  all  con- 
trarietv  of  interests,  as  the  present  distract- 
ed and  dangerous  condition  of  our  countrv 
unfortunately  but  too  clearlv  proves.  With 
us  they  are  almost  exclusively  geographical, 
resulting  mainly  from.difference  of  climate, 


82 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  m. 


soil,  situation,  industry,  and  production, 
but  are  not,  therefore,  less  necessary  to  be 
protected  by  an  adequate  constitutional 
provision  than  where  the  distinct  interests 
exist  in  separate  classes.  The  necessity  is, 
in  truth,  greater,  as  such  separate  and  dis- 
similar geographical  interests  are  more 
liable  to  come  into  conflict,  and  more  dan- 
gerous when  in  that  state  than  those  of  any 
other  description  ;  so  much  so,  that  ours  is 
the  first  instance  on  record  where  they  have 
not  formed  in  an  extensive  territory  sepa- 
rate and  independent  communities,  or 
subjected  the  whole  to  despotic  sway. 
That  such  may  not  be  our  unhappy  fate 
also,  must  be  the  sincere  prayer  of  every 
lover  of  his  country. 

So  numerous  and  diversified  are  the  inte- 
rests of  our  country,  that  they  could  not  be 
fairly  represented  in  a  single  government, 
organized  so  as  to  give  to  each  great  and 
leading  interest  a  separate  and  distinct 
voice,  as  in  governments  to  which  I  have 
referred.  A  plan  was  adopted  better  suited 
to  our  situation,  but  perfectly  novel  in  its 
character.  The  powers  of  the  government 
were  divided,  not  as  heretofore,  m  reference 
to  classes,  but  geographically.  One  gener- 
al government  was  formed  for  the  "whole, 
to  which  was  delegated  all  of  the  powers 
supposed  to  be  necessary  to  regulate  the 
interests  common  to  all  of  the  states,  leav- 
ing others  subject  to  the  separate  control 
of  the  states,  being  from  their  local  and 

Eeculiar  character  such  that  they  could  not 
e  subject  to  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the 
whole  Union,  without  the  certain  hazard 
of  injustice  and  oppression.  It  was  thus 
that  the  interests  of  the  whole  were  sub- 
jected, as  they  ought  to  be,  to  the  will  of 
the  whole,  while  the  peculiar  and  local  in- 
terests were  left  under  the  control  of  the 
states  separately,  to  whose  custody  only 
they  could  be  safely  confided.  This  dis- 
tribution of  power,  settled  solemnly  by  a 
constitutional  compact,  to  which  all  of  the 
states  are  parties,  constitutes  the  peculiar 
character  and  excellence  of  our  political 
lystem.  It  is  truly  and  emphatically 
American,  without  example  or  parallel. 

To  realize  its  perfection,  we  must  view 
the  general  government  and  the  states  as 
ft  whole,  each  in  its  proper  sphere,  sover- 
eign and  independent;  each  perfectly 
aoapted  to  their  respective  objects;  the 
Btates  acting  separatelv,  representing  and 
protecting  the  local  and  peculiar  interests  ; 
acting  jointly,  through  one  general  govern- 
ment, with  the  weight  respectively  assigned 
to  each  by  the  Constitution,  representing 
and  protecting  the  interest  of  the  whole, 
and  thus  perfecting,  by  an  admirable  but 
simple  arrangement,  the  great  principle  of 
representation  and  responsibility,  without 
which  no  government  can  be  free  or  just. 
To  preserve  this  sacred  distribution  as 
originally  settled,  by  coercing   each   to 


move  in  its  prescribed  orb,  is  the  great  and 
difficult  problem,  on  the  solution  of  which 
the  duration  of  our  Constitution,  of  our 
Union,  and,  in  all  probability  our  liberty, 
depends.    How  is  this  to  be  efiected  ? 

The  question  is  new  when  applied  to  our 
peculiar  political  organization,  where  the 
separate  and  conflicting  interests  of  society 
are  represented  by  distinct  but  connected 
governments ;  but  is  in  reality  an  old  ques- 
tion under  a  new  form,  long  since  per- 
fectly solved.  Whenever  separate  and 
dissimilar  interests  have  been  separately 
represented  in  any  government ;  whenever 
the  sovereign  power  has  been  divided  in 
its  exercise,  the  experience  and  wisdom  of 
ages  have  devised  but  one  mode  by  which 
such  political  organization  can  be  pre- 
served ;  the  mode  adopted  in  England,  and 
by  all  governments,  ancient  or  modern, 
blessed  with  constitutions  deserving  to  be 
called  free ;  to  give  to  each  co-estate  the 
right  to  judge  of  its  powers,  with  a  nega- 
tive or  veto  on  the  acts  of  the  others,  in 
order  to  protect  against  encroachments  the 
interests  it  particularly  represents  ;  a  prin- 
ciple which  all  of  our  constitutions  recog- 
nize in  the  distribution  of  power  among 
their  respective  departments,  as  essential 
to  maintain  the  independence  of  each,  but 
which,  to  all  who  will  duly  reflect  on  the 
subject,  must  appear  far  more  essential, 
for  the  same  object,  in  that  great  and 
fundamental  distribution  of  powers  be- 
tween the  states  and  general  government. 
So  essential  is  the  principle,  that  to  with- 
hold the  right  from  either,  where  the  sov- 
ereign power  is  divided,  is,  in  fact,  to  an- 
nul the  division  itself,  and  to  consolidate 
in  the  one  left  in  the  exclusive  possession 
of  the  right,  all  of  the  powers  of  the  gov- 
ernment ;  for  it  is  not  possible  to  distin- 
guish practically  between  a  government 
having  all  power,  and  one  having  the  right 
to  take  what  powers  it  pleases.  Nor  does 
it  in  the  least  vary  the  principle,  whether 
the  distribution  of  power  between  co- 
estates,  as  in  England,  or  between  distinct- 
ly organized  but  connected  governments, 
as  with  us.  The  reason  is  the  same  in  both 
cases,  while  the  necessity  is  greater  in  ovur 
case,  as  the  danger  of  conflict  is  greater 
where  the  interests  of  a  society  are  divided 
geographically  than  in  any  other,  as  has 
already  been  shown. 

These  truths  do  seem  to  me  to  be  incon- 
trovertible ;  and  I  am  at  a  loss  to  under- 
stand how  any  one,  who  has  matxu-ely  re- 
flected on  the  nature  of  our  institutions,  or 
who  has  read  history  or  studied  the  prin- 
ciples of  free  government  to  any  purpose, 
can  call  them  in  question.  The  explana- 
tion must,  it  appears  to  me,  be  sought  in 
the  fact,  that  in  every  free  state,  there  are 
those  who  look  more  to  the  necessity  of 
maintaining  power,  than  guarding  against 
its  abuses.    1  do  not  intend  reproach,  but 


BOOKIII.J        CALHOUN    ON    THE    RIGHTS    OF    STATES, 


83 


simply  to  state  a  fact  apparently  necessary 
to  explain  the  contrariety  of  opinions, 
among  the  intelligent,  where  the  abstract 
consideration  of  the  subject  would  seem 
scarcely  to  admit  of  doubt.  If  such  be 
the  true  cause,  I  must  think  the  fear  of 
weakening  the  government  too  much  in 
this  case  to  be  in  a  great  measure  un- 
founded, or  at  least  that  the  danger  is 
much  less  from  that  than  the  opposite  side. 
I  do  not  deny  that  a  power  of  so  high  a 
nature  may  be  abused  by  a  state,  but 
when  I  reflect  that  the  states  unanimously 
called  the  general  government  into  exist- 
ence with  all  of  its  powers,  which  they 
freely  surrendered  on  their  part,  under  the 
conviction  that  their  common  peace,  safety 
and  prosperity  required  it ;  that  they  are 
bound  together  by  a  common  origin,  and 
the  recollection  of  common  suffering  and 
common  triumph  in  the  great  and  splen- 
did achievement  of  their  independence ; 
and  the  strongest  feelings  of  our  nature, 
and  among  them,  the  love  of  national 
power  and  distinction,  are  on  the  side  of 
the  Union  ;  it  does  seem  to  me,  that  the 
fear  which  would  strip  the  states  of  their 
sovereignty,  and  degrade  them,  in  fact,  to 
mere  dependent  corporations,  lest  they 
should  abuse  a  right  indispensable  to  the 
peaceable  protection  of  those  interests 
which  they  reserved  under  their  own  pecu- 
liar guardianship  when  they  created  the 
general  government,  is  unnatural  and  un- 
reasonable. If  those  who  voluntarily 
created  the  system,  cannot  be  trusted  to 
preserve  it,  what  power  can  ? 

So'  far  from  extreme  danger,  I  hold  that 
there  never  was  a  free  state,  in  which  this 
great  conservative  principle,  indispensable 
in  all,  was  ever  so  safely  lodged.  In 
others,  when  the  co-estates,  representing 
the  dissimilar  and  conflicting  interests  of 
the  community,  came  into  contact,  the 
only  alternative  was  compromise,  submis- 
sion or  force.  Not  so  in  ours.  Should 
the  general  government  and  a  state  come 
into  conflict,  we  have  a  higher  remedy ; 
the  power  which  called  the  general  gov- 
ernment into  existence,  which  gave  it  all 
its  authority,  and  can  enlarge,  contract, 
or  abolish  its  powers  at  its  pleasure,  may 
be  invoked.  The  statas  themselves  may 
be  appealed  to,  three-fourths  of  which,  in 
fact,  form  a  power,  whose  decrees  are  the 
constitution  itself,  and  whose  voice  can 
silence  all  discontent.  The  utmost  extent 
then  of  the  power  is,  that  a  state  acting  in 
it»  sovereign  capacity,  as  one  of  the  par- 
ties to  the  constitutional  compact,  may 
compel  the  government,  created  by  that 
compact,  to  submit  a  question  touching 
its  infraction  to  the  parties  who  created 
it ;  to  avoid  the  supposed  dangers  of 
which,  it  is  proposed  to  resort  to  the  novel, 
the  hazardous,  and,  I  must  add,  fatal  'pro- 
ject of  giving  to  the  general  government 


the  sole  and  final  right  of  interpreting  the 
Constitution,  thereby  reserving  the  whole 
system,  making  that  instrument  the  crea- 
ture of  its  will,  instead  of  a  rule  of  action 
impressed  on  it  at  its  creation,  and  anni- 
hilating in  fact  the  authority  which  im- 
posed it,  and  from  which  the  government 
itself  derives  its  existence. 

That  such  would  be  the  result,  were  the 
right  in  question  vested  in  the  legislative 
or  executive  branch  of  the  government,  is 
conceded  by  all.  No  one  has  been  so  hardy 
as  to  assert  that  Congress  or  the  President 
ought  to  have  the  right,  or  to  deny  that,  if 
vested  finally  and  exclusively  in  either,  the 
consequences  which  I  have  stated  would 
not  necessarily  follow;  but  its  advocates 
have  been  reconciled  to  the  doctrine,  on 
the  supposition  that  there  is  one  depart- 
ment of  the  general  government,  which, 
from  its  peculiar  organization,  affords  an 
independent  tribunal  through  which  the 
government  may  exercise  the  high  author- 
ity which  is  the  subject  of  consideration, 
with  perfect  safety  to  all. 

I  yield,  I  trust,  to  few  in  ray  attachment 
to  the  judiciary  department.  I  am  fully 
sensible  of  its  importance,  and  would  main- 
tain it  to  the  fullest  extent  in  its  constitu- 
tional powers  and  independence ;  but  it  is 
impossible  for  me  to  believe  that  it  was 
ever  intended  by  the  Constitution,  that  it 
should  exercise  the  power  in  question,or  that 
it  is  competent  to  do  so,  and,  if  it  were,  that 
it  would  be  a  safe  depository  of  the  power. 

Its  powers  are  judicial  and  not  political, 
and  are  expressly  confined  by  the  Consti- 
tution "to  all  cases  in  law  and  equity 
arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  treaties  made, 
or  which  shall  be  made,  under  its  authori- 
ty ; "  and  which  I  have  high  authority  in 
asserting,  excludes  political  questions,  and 
comprehends  those  only  where  there  are 
parties  amenable  to  the  process  of  the 
court.*  Nor  is  its  incompetency  less  clear, 
than  its  want  of  constitutional  authority. 
There  may  be  many  and  the  most  danger- 
ous infractions  on  the  part  of  Congress,  of 
which  it  is  conceded  by  all,  the  court,  as  a 
judicial  tribunal,  cannot  from  its  nature 
take  cognisance.  The  tariff  itself  is  a 
strong  case  in  point ;  and  the  reason  ap- 
plies equally  to  all  others,  where  Congress 
perverts  a  power  from  an  object  intended 
to  one  not  intended,  the  most  insidious 
and  dangerous  of  all  the  infractions  ;  and 
which  may  be  extended  to  all  of  its  powers, 
more  especially  to  the  taxing  and  appropri- 
ating. But  supposing  it  competent  to  take 
cognisance  of  a!l  infractions  of  every  de- 
scription, the  insuperable  objection  still 
remains,  that  it  would  not  be  a  safe  tribu- 
nal to  exercise  the  power  in  question. 

*I  refer  to  the  authority  of  Chief  Justice  Manhatl  fn 
the  case  of  Jonathan  RoMJiDn.  I  hnve  not  been  abl*  t« 
refer  to  tha  ipeacb,  and  speak  fkvm  memory. 


84 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


It  is  an  universal  and  fundamental  po- 
litical principle,  that  the  power  to  protect, 
can  safely  be  confided  only  to  those  inter- 
ested in  protecting,  or  their  responsible 
agents — ^  maxim  not  less  true  in  private 
than  in  public  affairs.  The  danger  in  our 
system  is,  that  the  general  government, 
which  represents  the  interests  of  the  whole, 
may  encroach  on  the  states,  which  repre- 
sent the  peculiar  and  local  interests,  or 
that  the  latter  may  encroach  on  the 
former. 

In  examining  this  point,  we  ought  not 
to  forget  that  the  government,  through  all 
of  its  departments,  judicial  as  well  as 
others,  ia  administered  by  delegated  and 
responsible  agents;  and  that  the  power 
which  really  controls  ultimately  ail  the 
movements,  is  not  in  the  agents,  but  those 
who  elect  or  appoint  them.  To  under- 
stand then  its  real  character,  and  what 
would  be  the  action  of  the  system  in  any 
supposable  case,  we  must  raise  our  view 
from  the  mere  agents,  to  this  high  con- 
trolling power  which  finally  impels  every 
movement  of  the  machine.  By  doing  so, 
we  shall  find  all  under  the  control  of  the 
will  of  a  majority,  compounded  of  the 
majority  of  the  states,  taken  as  corporate 
bodies,  and  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
the  states  estimated  in  federal  numbers. 
These  united  constitute  the  real  and  final 
power,  which  impels  and  directs  the  move- 
ments of  the  general  government.  The 
majority  of  the  states  elect  the  majority  of 
the  Senate ;  of  the  people  of  the  states,  that 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  the  two 
united,  the  President ;  and  the  President 
and  a  majority  of  the  Senate  appoint  the 
judges,  a  majority  of  whom  and  a  major- 
ity of  the  Senate  and  the  House  with  the 
President,  really  exercise  all  of  the  pow- 
ers of  the  government  with  the  exception 
of  the  cases  where  the  Constitution  re- 
quires a  greater  number  than  a  majority. 
The  judges  are,  in  fact,  as  truly  the  judi- 
cial representatives  of  this  united  majority, 
as  the  majority  of  Congress  itself,  or  the 
President,  is  its  legislative  or  executive 
representative ;  and  to  confide  the  power 
to  the  judiciary  to  determine  nnally 
and  conclusively  what  powers  are  dele- 
gated and  what  reserved,  would  be  in  real- 
ity to  confide  it  to  the  majority,  whose 
agents  they  are,  and  by  whom  they  can  be 
controlled  in  various  wavs ;  and,  of  course, 
to  subject  (against  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  our  system,  and  all  sound  political 
reasoning)  the  reserved  powers  of  the 
states,  with  all  of  the  local  and  peculiar 
interests  they  were  intended  to  protect,  to 
the  will  of  the  very  majority  against 
which  the  protection  was  intended.  Nor 
will  the  tenure  by  which  the  judges  hold 
their  office,  however  valuable  the  provi- 
sion in  many  other  respects,  materially 
▼ary  the  case.    Its  highest  possible  effect 


would  be  to  retard,  and  not  finally  to 
resist,  the  will  of  a  dominant  majority. 

But  it  is  useless  to  multiply  arguments. 
Were  it  possible  that  reason  could  settle  a 
question  where  the  passions  and  interests  of 
men  are  concerned,  this  point  would  have 
been  long  since  settled  for  ever,  by  the 
state  of  Virginia.  The  report  of  her  legis- 
lature, to  which  I  have  already  referred, 
has  really,  in  my  opinion,  placed  it  beyond 
controversy.  Speaking  in  reference  to  this 
subject,  it  says,  "  It  has  been  objected"  (to 
the  right  of  a  state  to  interpose  for  the 
protection  of  her  reserved  rights),  "  that 
the  judicial  authority  is  to  be  regarded  as 
the  sole  expositor  of^  the  Constitution ;  on 
this  subject  it  might  be  observed  first  that 
there  may  be  instances  of  usurped  powers 
which  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  could 
never  draw  within  the  control  of  the  judi- 
cial department ;  secondly,  that  if  the  de- 
cision of  the  judiciary  be  raised  above  the 
sovereign  parties  to  the  Constitution,  the 
decisions  of  the  other  departments,  not 
carried  by  the  forms  of  the  Constitution 
before  the  judiciary,  must  be  equally  au- 
thoritative and  final  with  the  decision  of 
that  department.  But  the  proper  answer 
to  the  objection  is,  that  the  resolution  of 
the  General  Assembly  relates  to  those 
great  and  extraordinary  cases,  in  which  all 
of  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  may  prove 
ineffectual  against  infraction  dangerous  to 
the  essential  rights  of  the  parties  to  it. 
The  resolution  supposes  that  dangerous 
powers  not  delegated,  may  not  only  be 
usurped  and  executed  by  the  other  de- 
partments, but  that  the  judicial  depart- 
ment may  also  exercise  or  sanction  dan- 
gerous powers  beyond  the  grant  of  the 
Constitution,  and  consequently  that  the 
ultimate  right  of  the  parties  to  the  Consti- 
tution to  judge  whether  the  compact  has 
been  dangerously  violated,  must  extend  to 
violations  by  one  delegated  authority,  as 
well  as  by  another — by  the  judiciary,  as 
well  as  by  the  executive  or  legislative." 

Against  these  conclusive  arguments,  as 
they  seem  to  me,  it  is  objected,  that  if  one 
of  the  parties  has  the  right  to  judge  of  in- 
fractions of  the  Constitution,  so  has  the 
other,  and  that  consequently  in  cases  of 
contested  powers  between  a  state  and  the 
general  government,  each  would  have  a* 
right  to  maintain  its  opinion,  as  is  the  case 
when  sovereign  powers  differ  in  the  con- 
struction of  treaties  or  compacts,  and  that 
of  course  it  would  come  to  be  a  mere  ques- 
tion of  force.  The  error  is  in  the  assump- 
tion that  the  general  government  is  a  party 
to  the  constitutional  compact.  The  states, 
as  has  been  shown,  formed  the  compact, 
acting  as  sovereign  and  independent  com- 
munities. The  general  government  is  but 
its  creature  ;  and  though  in  reality  a  gov- 
ernment with  all  the  rights  and  authority 
which  belong  to  any  other  government, 


BOOKIII.J         CALHOUN    ON    THE    RIGHTS    OF    STATES. 


86 


within  the  orb  of  its  powers,  it  is,  never- 
theless, a  goverraent  emanating  from  a 
compact  between  sovereigns,  and  partak- 
ing, in  its  nature  and  object,  of  the  charac- 
ter of  a  joint  commission,  appointed  to  super- 
intend and  administer  tne  interests  in 
which  all  are  jointly  concerned,  but  hav- 
ing, beyond  its  proper  sphere,  no  more 
power  than  if  it  did  not  exist.  To  deny 
this  would  be  to  deny  the  most  incontestable 
facts,  and  the  clearest  conclusions ;  while 
to  acknowledge  its  truth,  is  to  destroy  ut- 
terly the  objection  that  the  appeal  would 
be  to  force,  in  the  case  supposed.  For  if 
each  party  has  a  right  to  judge,  then  under 
our  system  of  government,  the  final  cogni- 
sance of  a  question  of  contested  power 
would  be  in  the  states,  and  not  in  the  gen- 
eral government.  It  would  be  the  duty  of 
the  latter,  as  in  all  similar  cases  of  a  con- 
test between  one  or  more  of  the  principals 
and  a  joint  commission  or  agency,  to  refer 
the  contest  to  the  principals  themselves. 
Such  are  the  plain  dictates  of  reason  and 
analogy  both.  On  no  sound  principle  can 
the  agents  have  a  right  to  final  cognisance, 
as  against  the  principals,  much  less  to  use 
force  against  them,  to  maintain  their  con- 
struction of  their  powers.  Such  a  right 
would  be  monstrous ;  and  has  never,  here- 
tofore, been  claimed  in  similar  cases. 

That  the  doctrine  is  applicable  to  the 
case  of  a  contested  power  between  the 
states  and  the  general  government,  we 
have  the  authority  not  only  of  reason  and 
analogy,  but  of  the  distinguished  statesman 
already  referred  to.  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  a 
late  period  of  his  life,  after  long  experience 
and  mature  reflection,  says,  "  With  respect 
to  our  state  and  federal  governments,  I  do 
not  think  their  relations  are  correctly  un- 
derstood by  foreigners.  They  suppose  the 
former  subordinate  to  the  latter.  This  is 
not  the  case.  They  are  co-ordinate  de- 
partments of  one  simple  and  integral 
whole.  But  you  may  ask  if  the  two  de- 
partments should  claim  each  the  same 
subject  of  power,  where  is  the  umpire  to 
decide  between  them?  In  cases  of  little 
urgency  or  importance,  the  prudence  of 
both  parties  will  keep  them  aloof  from  the 
questionable  ground ;  but  if  it  can  neither 
be  avoided  nor  compromised,  a  convention 
of  the  states  must  be  called  to  ascribe  the 
doubtful  power  to  that  department  which 
they  may  think  best." — It  is  thus  that  our 
Constitution,  by  authorizing  amendments, 
and  by  prescribing  the  authority  and  mode 
of  making  them,  has  by  a  simple  contriv- 
ance, with  its  characteristic  wisdom,  pro- 
vided a  power  which,  in  the  last  resort, 
supersedes  effectually  the  necessity  and 
even  the  pretext  for  force;  a  power  to 
which  none  can  fairly  object;  with  which 
the  interests  of  all  are  safe;  which  can 
definitely  close  all  controversies  in  the 
only  effectual  mode,  by  freeing  the  com- 


pact of  every  defect  and  uncertainty,  by 
an  amendment  of  the  instrument  itself.  It 
is  impossible  for  human  wisdom,  in  a  sys- 
teni  like  ours,  to  devise  another  mode 
which  shall  be  safe  and  effectual,  and  at 
the  same  time  consistent  with  what  are 
the  relations  and  acknowledged  powers  of 
the  two  great  departments  of  our  govern- 
ment. It  gives  a  beauty  and  security 
peculiar  to  our  system,  which,  if  duly 
appreciated,  will  transmit  its  blessings  to 
the  remotest  generations ;  but,  if  not,  our 
splendid  anticipations  of  the  future  will 
prove  but  an  empty  dream.  Stripped  of  all 
its  covering,  and  the  naked  question  is, 
whether  ours  is  a  federal  or  a  consolidated 
government:  a  constitutional  or  absolute 
one ;  a  government  resting  ultimately  on 
the  solid  basis  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
states,  or  on  the  unrestrained  will  of  a 
majority  ;  a  form  of  government,  as  in  all 
other  unlimited  ones,  in  which  injustice 
and  violence,  and  force,  must  finally  pre- 
vail. Let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  where 
the  majority  rules,  the  minority  is  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  that  if  we  should  absurdly  attri- 
bute to  the  former  the  exclusive  right  of 
construing  the  Constitution,  there  would 
be  in  fact  between  the  sovereign  and  sub- 
ject, under  such  a  government,  no  consti- 
tution ;  or  at  least  nothing  deserving  the 
name,  or  serving  the  legitimate  object  of  so 
sacred  an  instrument. 

How  the  states  are  to  exercise  this  high 
power  of  interposition  which  constitutes  so 
essential  a  portion  of  their  reserved  rights 
that  it  cannot  be  delegated  without  an  en- 
tire surrender  of  their  sovereignty,  and 
converting  our  system  from  a  federal  into 
a  consolidated  government,  is  a  question 
that  the  states  only  are  competent  to  de- 
termine. The  arguments  which  prove 
that  they  possess  the  power,  equally  prove 
that  they  are,  in  the  language  of  Jefferson, 
"the  rightful  judges  of  the  mode  and 
measure  of  redress."  But  the  spirit  of 
forbearance,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the 
right  itself,  forbids  a  recourse  to  it,  except 
in  cases  of  dangerous  infractions  of  the 
Constitution;  and  then  only  in  the  last 
resort,  when  all  reasonable  hope  of  relief 
from  the  ordinary  action  of  the  govern- 
ment has  failed ;  when,  if  the  right  to  in- 
terpose did  not  exist,  the  alternative  would 
be  submission  and  oppression  on  the  one 
side,  or  resistance  by  force  on  the  other. 
That  our  system  should  afford,  in  such  ex- 
treme cases,  an  intermediate  point  between 
these  dire  alternatives,  by  which  the  gov- 
ernment may  be  brought  to  a  pause,  and 
therebv  an  interval  obtained  to  compro- 
mise differences,  or,  if  impracticable,  be 
compelled  to  submit  the  question  to  a  con- 
stitutional adjustment,  through  an  appeal 
to  the  states  themselves,  is  an  evidence  of 
its  high  wisdom ;  an  element  not,  as  is 
supposed  by  some,  of  weakness,  but  of 


66 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


strength ;  not  of  anarchy  or  revolution, 
but  of  peace  and  safety. .  Its  general  re- 
cognition would  of  itself,  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, if  not  altogether,  supersede  the  neces- 
sity of  its  exercise,  by  impressing  on  the 
movementa  of  the  government  that  mod- 
eration and  justice  so  essential  to  harmony 
and  peace,  in  a  country  of  such  vast  ex- 
tent and  diversity  of  interests  as  ours ;  and 
would,  if  controversy  should  come,  turn 
the  resentment  of  the  aggrieved  from  the 
system  to  those  who  had  abused  its  powers 
(a  point  all  important),  and  cause  them  to 
seek  redress,  not  in  revolution  or  over- 
throw, but  in  reformation.  It  is,  in  fact, 
properly  understood,  a  substitute  where 
the  alternative  would  be  force,  tending  to 
prevent,  and  if  that  fails,  to  correct  peace- 
ably the  aberrations  to  which  all  political 
systems  are  liable,  and  which,  if  per- 
mitted to  accumulate,  without  correction, 
must  finally  end  in  a  general  catastrophe. 


Spceclk  of  Henry  Clajr 

In  Defence  of  the  American  System*  in  which  is  given  the 
Previ(/tta  History  of  Tariff  OoiU^istt  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  Slates,  February  'id, 
3d  and  Oth,  1832. 
[Mr  Clay,  having  retired  from  Congress  soon  after  the 
establishment  of  tlie  American  System,  by  the  passage 
of  the  Tariff  of  1824,  did   not  return  to  it  till  1831-2, 
■wlien  the  opponents  of  tliis  systtim  had  acquired  the 
ascendency,  and  were  bent  on  its  destruction.    An  act 
reducing  the  duties  on  roanj'  of  the  protected  articles, 
was  devised  and  passed.    The  bill  being  under  considera- 
tion in  the  Senate,   Mr.  Clat  addressed  that  body  as 
follows :] 

In  one  sentiment,  Mr.  President,  ex- 
pressed by  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina,  (General  Hayne.)  though 

ferhaps  not  in  the  sense  intended  by  him, 
entirely  concur.  I  agree  with  him,  that 
the  decision  on  the  system  of  policy  em- 
braced in  this  debate,  involves  the  future 
destiny  of  this  growing  country.  One  way 
I  verily  believe,  it  would  lead  to  deep  and 
general  distress,  general  bankruptcy  and 
national  ruin,  without  benefit  to  any  part 
of  the  Union:  the  other,  the  existing  pros- 
perity will  be  preserved  and  augmented, 
and  the  nation  will  continue  rapidly  to 
advance  in  wealth,  power,  and  greatness, 
without  prejudice  to  any  section  of  the 
confederacy. 

Thus  viewing  the  question,  I  stand  here 
as  the  humble  but  zealous  advocate,  not  of 
the  interests  of  one  State,  or  seven  States 
only,  but  of  the  whole  Union.  And  never 
before  have  I  felt  more  intensely,  the  over- 
powering weight  of  that  share  of  respon- 
sibility which  belongs  to  me  in  these  de- 
liberations. Never  before  have  I  had  more 
occasion  than  I  now  have  to  lament  my 
want  of  those  intellectual  powers,  the  pos- 
session of  which  might  enable  me  to  un- 
fold to  this  Senate,  and  to  illustrate  to  this 

*In  this  extended  abstracts  are  given  and  data  refer- 
ence omitted  not  applicable  to  these  times. 


people  great  tniths,  intimately  connected 
with  the  lasting  welfare  of  my  country.  I 
should,  indeed,  sink  overwhelmed  and  sub- 
dued beneath  the  appalling  magnitude  of 
the  task  which  lies  oefore  me,  if  I  did  not 
feel  myself  sustained  and  fortified  by  a 
thorough  consciousness  of  the  justneas  of 
the  cause  which  I  have  espoused,  and  by 
a  persuasion  I  hope  not  presumptuous,  that 
it  has  the  approbation  of  that  Providence 
who  has  so  often  smiled  upon  these  United 
States. 

Eight  years  ago  it  was  my  painful  duty 
to  present  to  the  other  House  of  Congress, 
an  unexaggerated  picture  of  the  general 
distress  pervading  the  whole  land.  We 
must  all  yet  remember  some  of  its  fright- 
ful features.  We  all  know  that  the  people 
were  then  oppressed  and  borne  down  by 
an  enormous  load  of  debt ;  that  the  value 
of  property  was  at  the  lowest  point  of  de- 
pression ;  that  ruinous  sales  and  sacrifices 
were  everywhere  made  of  real  estate ;  that 
stop  laws,  and  relief  laws,  and  paper  money 
were  adopted  to  save  the  people  from  im- 
pending destruction ;  that  a  deficit  in  the 
public  revenue  existed,  which  compelled 
government  to  seize  upon,  and  divert  from 
its  legitimate  object  the  appropriations  to 
the  sinking  fund,  to  redeem  the  national 
debt ;  and  that  our  commerce  and  naviga- 
tion were  threatened  with  a  complete  para- 
lysis. In  short,  sir,  if  I  were  to  select  any 
term  of  seven  years  since  the  adoption  of 
the  present  constitution  which  exhibited  a 
scene  of  the  most  wide-spread  dismay  and 
desolation,  it  would  be  exactly  that  terra 
of  seven  years  which  immediately  preceded 
the  establishment  of  the  tarifl'  of  1824. 

I  have  now  to  perform  the  more  pleasing 
task  of  exhibiting  an  imperfect  sketch  of 
the  existing  state  of  the  unparalleled  pros- 
perity of  the  country.  On  a  general  sur- 
vey, we  behold  cultivation  extended,  the 
arts  flourishing,  the  face  of  the  country 
improved,  our  people  ftilly  and  profitably 
employed,  and  the  public  countenance  ex- 
hibiting tranquillity,  contentment  and  hap- 
piness. And  if  we  descend  into  particu- 
lars, we  have  the  agreeable  contemplation 
of  a  people  out  of  debt,  land  rising  slowly 
in  value,  but  in  a  secure  and  salutary- 
degree;  a  ready  though  not  extravagant 
market  for  all  the  surplus  productions  of 
our  industry;  innumerable  flocks  and 
herds  browsing  and  gamboling  on  ten 
thousand  hills  and  plains,  covered  with 
rich  and  verdant  grasses;  our  cities  ex- 
panded, and  whole  villages  springing  up, 
as  it  were,  by  enchantment ;  our  exports 
and  imports  increased  and  increasing;  our 
tonnage,  foreign  and  coastwise,  swelling 
and  fully  occupied;  the  rivers  of  our  in- 
terior animated  by  the  perpetual  thunder 
and  lightning  of  countless  steam-boats ;  the 
currency  sound  and  abundant ;  the  public 
debt  of  two  wars  nearly  redeemed ;  and,  to 


BOOK  III.] 


CLAY    ON    THE   AMERICAN    SYSTEM. 


87 


crown  all,  the  public  treasury  overflowing, 
embarrassing  Congress,  not  to  find  subjects 
of  taxation,  but  to  select  the  objects  which 
shall  be  liberated  from  the  impost.  If  the 
term  of  seven  years  were  to  be  selected, 
of  the  greatest  prosperity  which  this 
people  have  enjoyed  since  the  establish- 
ment of  their  present  constitution,  it  would 
.^  be  exactly  that  period  of  seven  years  which 
'  immediately  followed  the  passage  of  the 
tariff  of  1824. 

This  transformation  of  the  condition  of 
the  country  from  gloom  and  distress  to 
brightness  and  prosperity,  has  been  mainly 
the  work  of  American  legislation,  fostering 
American  industry,  instead  of  allowing  it 
to  be  controlled  by  foreign  legislation, 
cherishing  foreign  industry.  The  foes  of 
the  American  System,  in  1824,  with  great 
boldness  and  confidence,  predicted,  1st. 
The  ruin  of  the  public  revenue,  and  the 
creation  of  a  necessity  to  resort  to  direct 
taxation.  The  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina,  (General  Hayne,)  I  believe, 
thought  that  the  tariiF  of  1824  would  oper- 
ate a  reduction  of  revenue  to  the  large 
amount  of  eight  millions  of  dollars.  2d. 
The  destruction  of  our  navigation.  3d. 
The  desolation  of  commercial  cities.  And 
4th.  The  augmentation  of  the  price  of  ob- 
jects of  consumption,  and  further  decline 
in  that  of  the  articles  of  our  exports. 
Every  prediction  which  they  made  has 
failed — utterly  failed.  Instead  of  the  ruin 
of  the  public  revenue,  with  which  they 
then  souglit  to  deter  us  from  the  adoption 
of  the  American  System,  we  are  now 
threatened  with  its  subversion,  by  the  vast 
amount  of  the  public  revenue  produced  by 
that  system.  Every  branch  of  our  navi- 
gation has  increased. 
*****        *♦» 

Whilst  we  thus  behold  the  entire  failure 
of  all  that  was  foretold  against  the  system, 
it  is  a  subject  of  just  felicitation  to  its 
friends,  that  all  their  anticipations  of  its 
benefits  have  been  fulfilled,  or  are  in  pro- 
gress of  fulfillment.  The  honorable  gen- 
tleman from  South  Carolina  has  made  an 
allusion  to  a  speech  made  by  me,  in  1824, 
in  the  other  House,  in  support  of  the  tariff, 
and  to  which,  otherwise,  I  should  not  have 
particularly  referred.  But  I  would  ask 
any  one,  who  can  now  command  the  cour- 
age to  peruse  that  long  production,  what 
principle  there  laid  down  is  not  true  ?  what 
prediction  then  made  has  been  falsified  by 
practical  experience? 

It  is  now  proposed  to  abolish  the  system, 
to  which  we  owe  so  much  of  the  public 
prosperity,  and  it  is  urged  that  the  arrival 
of  the  period  of  the  redemption  of  the  pub- 
lic debt  has  been  confidently  looked  to  as 
presenting  a  suitable  occasion  to  rid  the 
countrv  of  evils  with  which  the  system  is 
alleged  to  be  fraught.  Not  an  inattentive 
observer  of  passing  events,  I  have  been 


aware  that,  among  those  who-  were  most 
early  pressing  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt,  and  upon  that  ground  were  opposing 
appropriations  to  other  great  interests, 
there  were  some  who  cared  less  about  the 
debt  than  the  accomplishment  of  other  ob- 
jects. But  the  people  of  the  United  States 
have  not  coupled  the  payment  of  <Aeir 
public  debt  with  the  destruction  of  the 

{)rotection  of  their  industry,  against  foreign 
aws  and  foreign  industry.  They  have 
been  accustomed  to  regard  the  extinction 
of  the  public  debt  as  relief  from  a  burthen, 
and  not  as  the  infliction  of  a  curse.  If  it 
is  to  be  attended  or  followed  by  the  sub- 
version of  the  American  system,  and  an 
exposure  of  our  establishments  and  our 
productions  to  the  unguarded  consequences 
of  the  selfish  policy  of  foreign  powers,  the 

Eayment  of  the  public  debt  will  be  the 
itterest  of  curses.    Its  fruit  will  be  like 
the  fruit 

"  Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe, 
With  loss  of  Eden." 

If  the  system  of  protection  be  founded 
on  principles  erroneous  in  theory,  pernir 
cious  in  practice — above  all  if  it  be  uncoii- 
stitutional,  as  is  alleged,  it  ought  to  be 
forthwith  abolished,  and  not  a  vestige  of  it 
suffered  to  remain.  But,  before  we  sane- 
tion  this  sweeping  denunciation,  let  us 
look  a  little  at  this  system,  its  magnitude, 
its  ramifications,  its  duration,  and  the  high 
authorities  which  have  sustained  it.  We 
shall  see  that  its  foes  will  have  accom- 
plished comparatively  nothing,  after  hav- 
ing achieved  their  present  aim  of  breaking 
down  our  iron-foundries,  our  woolen, 
cotton,  and  hemp  manufactories,  and  our 
sugar  plantations.  The  dastruction  of 
tTiese  would,  undoubtedly,  lead  to  the  sac- 
rifice of  immense  capital,  the  ruin  of  many 
thousands  of  our  fellow  citizens,  and  in- 
calculable loss  to  the  whole  community. 
But  their  prostration  would  not  disfigure, 
nor  produce  greater  effect  upon  the  whole 
system  of  protection,  in  all  its  branches, 
than  the  destruction  of  the  beautifnl  domes 
upon  the  capitol  would  occasion  to  the 
magnificent  edifice  which  they  surmount. 
Why,  sir,  there  is  scarcely  an  interest, 
scarcely  a  vocation  in  society,  which  is  not 
embraced  by  the  beneficence  of  this  sys- 
tem. 

It  comprehends  our  coasting  tonnage 
and  trade,  from  which  all  foreign  tonnage 
is  absolutely  excluded. 

It  includes  all  our  foreign  tonnage,  with 
the  inconsiderable  exception  made  by 
treaties  of  reciprocity  with  a  few  foreign 
powers. 

It  embraces  our  fisheries,  and  all  our 
hardy  and  enterprising  fishermen. 

It  extends  to  almost  every  mechanio 

art;      *      «      *      *     « 


88 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book   III. 


It  extends  to  all  lower  Louisiana,  the 
Delta  of  which  might  as  well  be  sub- 
merged again  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from 
which  it  has  been  a  gradual  conquest,  as 
now  to  be  deprived  of  the  protecting  duty 
upon  its  great  staple. 

It  affects  the  cotton  planter  himself,  and 
the  tobacco  planter,  both  of  whom  enjoy 
protection. 

Such  are  some  of  the  items  of  this  vast 
system  of  protection,  which  it  is  now  pro- 
posed to  abandon.  We  might  well  pause 
and  contemplate,  if  human  imagination 
could  conceive  the  extent  of  mischief  and 
ruin  from  its  total  overthrow,  before  we 
proceed  to  the  work  of  destruction.  Its 
duration  is  worthy  also  of  serious  con- 
sideration. Not  to  go  behind  the  consti- 
tution, its  date  is  coeval  with  that  instru- 
ment. It  began  on  the  ever  memorable 
fourth  day  of  July — the  fourth  day  of  July, 
1789.  The  second  act  which  stands  re- 
corded in  the  statute  book,  bearing  the  il- 
lustrious signature  of  George  Washington, 
laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  whole  system. 
That  there  might  be  no  mistake  about  the 
matter,  it  was  then  solemnly  proclaimed 
to  the  American  people  and  to  the  world, 
that  it  was  necessary  for  "the  encourage- 
ment and  protection  of  manufactures,"  that 
duties  should  be  laid.  It  is  in  vain  to 
urge  the  small  amount  of  the  measure  of 
the  protection  then  extended.  The  great 
principle  was  then  established  by  the  fa- 
thers of  the  constitution,  with  the  father 
of  his  country  at  their  head.  And  it  can- 
not now  be  questioned,  that,  if  the  govern- 
ment had  not  then  been  new  and  the  sub- 
ject untried,  a  greater  measure  of  protec- 
tion would  have  been  applied,  if  it  had 
been  supposed  necessary.  Shortly  after, 
the  master  minds  of  Jefferson  and  Hamil- 
ton were  brought  to  act  on  this  interesting 
subject.  Taking  views  of  it  appertaining 
to  the  departments  of  foreign  affairs  and  of 
the  treasury,  which  they  respectively  filled, 
they  presented,  severally,  reports  which 
yet  remain  monuments  of  their  profound 
wisdom,  and  came  to  the  same  conclusion 
of  protection  to  American  industry.  Mr. 
Jefferson  argued  that  foreign  restrictions, 
foreign  prohibitions,  and  foreign  high  du- 
ties, ought  to  be  met  at  home  by  Ameri- 
can restrictions,  American  prohibitions, 
and  American  high  duties.  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton, surveying  the  entire  ground,  and  look- 
ing at  the  inherent  nature  of  the  subject, 
treated  it  with  an  ability,  which,  if  ever 
equalled,  has  not  been  surpassed,  and  ear- 
nestly recommended  protection. 

The  wars  of  the  French  revolution  com- 
menced about  this  period,  and  streams  of 
gold  poured  into  the  United  States  through 
a  thousand  channels,  opened  or  enlarged 
by  the  successful  commerce  which  our 
neutrality  enabled  us  to  prosecute.  We 
forgot  or  overlooked,  in  the  general  pros- 


perity, the  necessity  of  encouraging  our 
domestic  manufactures.  Then  came  the 
edicts  of  Napoleon,  and  the  British  orders 
in  council ;  and  our  embargo,  non-inter- 
course, non-importation,  and  war,  followed 
in  rapid  succession.  These  national  mea- 
sures, amounting  to  a  total  suspension,  for 
the  period  of  their  duration,  of  our  foreign 
commerce,  afforded  the  most  efficacious 
encouragement  to  American  manufactures ; 
and  accordingly  they  everywhere  sprung 
up.  While  these  measures  of  restriction, 
and  this  state  of  war  continued,  the  manu- 
facturers were  stimulated  in  their  enter- 
prise by  every  assurance  of  support,  by 
public  sentiment,  and  by  legislative  re- 
solves. It  was  about  that  period  (1808) 
that  South  Carolina  bore  her  high  testi- 
mony to  the  wisdom  of  the  policy,  in  an 
act  of  her  legislature,  the  preamble  of 
which,  now  before  me,  reads : 

"  Whereas,  the  establishment  and  encour- 
agement of  domestic  manufactures,  is  con- 
ducive to  the  interests  of  a  State,  by  adding 
new  incentives  to  industry,  and  as  being 
the  means  of  disposing  to  advantage  the 
surplus  productions  of  the  agriculturist : 
and  whereas,  in  the  present  unexampled 
state  of  the  world,  their  establishment  in 
our  country  is  not  only  expedient,  but 
politic  in  rendering  us  independent  of 
foreign  nations." 

The  legislature,  not  being  competent  to 
afford  the  most  efficacious  aid,  by  imposing 
duties  on  foreign  rival  articles,  proceeded 
to  incorporate  a  company. 

Peace,  under  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  re- 
turned in  1815,  but  there  did  not  return 
with  it  the  golden  days  which  preceded 
the  edicts  levelled  at  our  commerce  by 
Great  Britain  and  France.  It  found  all 
Europe  tranquilly  resuming  the  arts  and 
business  of  civil  life.  It  found  Europe  no 
longer  the  consumer  of  our  surplus,  and 
the  employer  of  our  navigation,  but  ex- 
cluding, or  heavily  burthening,  almost  all 
the  productions  of  our  agriculture,  and  our 
rivals  in  manufactures,  in  navigation,  and 
in  commerce.  It  found  our  country,  in 
short,  in  a  situation  totally  different  from 
all  the  past — new  and  untried.  It  became 
necessary  to  adapt  our  laws,  and  especially 
our  laws  of  impost,  to  the  new  circum- 
stances in  which  we  found  ourselves.  Ac- 
cordingly, that  eminent  and  lamented  citi- 
zen, then  at  the  head  of  the  treasury,  (Mr. 
Dallas,)  was  required,  by  a  resolution  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  under  dat« 
the  twenty-third  day  of  February,  1815,  to 
prepare  and  report  to  the  succeeding  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  a  system  of  revenue  con- 
formable with  the  actual  condition  of  the 
country.  He  had  the  circle  of  a  whole 
year  to  perform  the  work,  consulted  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  and  other  practical 
men,  and  opened  an  extensive  correspon- 
dence.   The  report  which  he  made  at  the 


SOOK  III.] 


CLAY    ON    THE   AMERICAN    SYSTEM. 


89 


session  of  1816,  was  the  result  of  his  in- 
quiries and  reflections,  and  embodies  the 
principles  which  he  thought  applicable  to 
the  subject.  It  has  been  said,  that  the 
tariflf  of  1816  was  a  measure  of  mere  reve- 
nue, and  that  it  only  reduced  the  war 
duties  to  a  peace  standard.  It  is  true  that 
the  question  then  was,  how  much  and  in 
what  way  should  the  double  duties  of  the 
war  be  reduced  ?  Now,  also,  the  question 
is,  on  what  articles  shall  the  duties  be  re- 
duced so  as  to  subject  the  amounts  of  the 
future  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  govern- 
ment? Then  it  was  deemed  an  inquiry  of 
the  first  importance,  as  it  should  be  now, 
how,  the  reduction  should  be  made,  so  as 
to  secure  proper  encouragement  to  our  do- 
mestic industry.  That  this  was  a  leading 
object  in  the  arrangement  of  the  tariff  of 
1816,  I  well  remember,  and  it  is  demon- 
strated by  the  language  of  Mr.  Dallas. 
He  says  in  his  report : 

"There  are  few,  if  any  governments, 
which  do  not  regard  the  establishment  of 
domestic  manufactures  as  a  chief  object 
of  public  policy.  The  United  States  have 
always  so  regarded  it.  *  *  *  *  The 
demands  of  the  country,  while  the  acqui- 
sitions of  supplies  from  foreign  nations  was 
either  prohibited  or  impracticable,  may 
have  afforded  sufficient  inducement  for 
this  investment  of  capital,  and  this  appli- 
cation of  labor ;  but  the  inducement,  in  its 
necessary  extent,  must  fail  when  the  day 
of  competition  returns.  Upon  that  change 
in  the  condition  of  the  country,  the  preser- 
vation of  the  manufactures,  which  private 
citizens  under  favorable  auspices  have  con- 
stituted the  property  of  the  nation,  be- 
comes a  consideration  of  general  policy,  to 
be  resolved  by  a  recollection  of  past  em- 
barrassments;  by  the  certainty  of  an  in- 
creased difficulty  of  reinstating,  upon  any 
emergency,  the  manufactures  which  shall 
be  allowed  to  perish  and  pass-  away,"  &c. 

The  measure  of  protection  which  he 
proposed  was  not  adopted,  in  regard  to 
Bome  leading  articles,  and  there  was  great 
difficulty  in  ascertaining  what  it  ought  to 
have  been.  But  the  principle  was  then 
distinctly  asserted  and  fully  sanctioned. 

The  subject  of  the  American  system  was 
again  brought  up  in  1820,  by  the  bill  re- 
ported by  the  chairman  of  the  committee 
of  manufactures,  now  a  member  of  the 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  principle  was  successfully 
maintained  by  tne  representatives  of  the 
people ;  but  the  bill  which  they  passed  was 
defeated  in  the  Senate.  It  was  revived  in 
1824 ;  the  whole  ground  carefully  and  de- 
liberately explored,  and  the  bill  then  in- 
troduced, receiving  all  the  sanctions  of  the 
constitution,  became  the  law  of  the  land. 
An  amendment  of  the  system  was  proposed 
in  1828,  to  the  history  of  which  I  refer 
with  no  agreeable  recollections.    The  bill 


of  that  year,  in  some  of  its  provisions,  was 
framed  on  principles  directly  adverse  to 
the  declared  wishes  of  the  friends  of  the 
policy  of  protection.  I  have  heard,  with- 
out vouching  for  the  fact,  that  it  was  so 
framed,  upon  the  advice  of  a  prominent 
citizen,  now  abroad,  with  the  view  of  ulti- 
mately defeating  the  bill,  and  with  a.ssur- " 
ances  that,  being  altogether  unacceptable 
to  the  friends  of  the  American  system,  th» 
bill  would  be  lost.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the 
most  exceptional  features  of  the  bill  were 
stamped  upon  it,  against  the  earnest  re- 
monstrances of  the  friends  of  the  system, 
by  the  votes  of  southern  members,  upon  a 
principle,  I  think,  as  unsound  in  legisla- 
tion as  it  is  reprehensible  in  ethics.  The 
bill  was  passed,  notwithstanding  all  this,  it 
having  been  deemed  better  to  take  the  bad 
along  with  the  good  which  it  contained, 
than  reject  it  altogether.  Subsequent  leg- 
islation has  corrected  the  error  then  per- 
petrated, but  still  that  measure  is  vehe- 
mently denounced  by  gentlemen  who  con- 
tributed to  make  it  what  it  was. 

Thus,  sir,  has  this  great  system  of  pro- 
tection been  gradually  built,  stone  upon 
stone,  and  step  by  step,  from  the  fourth  of 
July,  1789,  down  to  the  present  period.  In 
every  stage  of  its  progress  it  has  received 
the  deliberate  sanction  of  Congress.  A 
vast  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  has  approved  and  continue  to  ap- 
prove it.  Every  chief  magistrate  of  the 
United  States,  from  Washington  to  the 
present,  in  some  form  or  other,  has  given 
to  it  the  authority  of  his  name ;  and  how- 
ever the  opinions  of  the  existing  President 
are  interpreted  South  of  Mason's  and  Dix- 
on's line,  on  the  north  they  are  at  least 
understood  to  favor  the  establishment  of  a 
judicious  tariff". 

The  question,  therefore,  which  we  are 
now  called  upon  to  determine,  is  not 
whether  we  shall  establish  a  new  and 
doubtful  system  of  policy,  just  proposed, 
and  for  the  first  time  presented  to  our  con- 
sideration, but  whether  we  shall  break 
down  and  destroy  a  long  established  sys- 
tem, patiently  and  carefully  built  up  and 
sanctioned,  dqring  a  series  of  years,  again 
and  again,  by  the  nation  and  its  highest 
and  most  revered  authorities.  Are  we  not 
bound  deliberately  to  consider  whether  we 
can  proceed  to  this  work  of  destruction 
without  a  violation  of  the  public  faith? 
The  people  of  the  United  States  have  justly 
supposea  that  the  policy  of  protecting  their 
industry  against  foreign  legislation  and 
foreign  industry  was  fully  settled,  not  by  a 
single  act,  but  by  repeated  and  deliberate 
acts  of  government,  performed  at  distant 
and  frequent  intervals.  In  full  confidence 
that  the  policy  was  firmly  and  unchange- 
ably fixea,  thousands  upon  thousands  have 
invested  their  capital,  purchased  a  vast 
amount  of  real  ana  other  estate,  made  per* 


90 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


manent  establishmente,  and  accommodated 
their  industry.  Can  we  expose  to  utter 
and  irretrievable  ruin  this  countless  multi- 
tude, without  justly  incurring  the  reproach 
of  violating  the  national  faith  ? 

Such  are  the  origin,  duration,  extent  and 
sanctions  of  the  policy  which  we  are  now 
called  upon  to  suDvert.  Its  beneficial  ef- 
fects, although  they  may  vary  in  degree, 
have  been  felt  in  all  parts  of  the  Union. 
To  none,  I  verily  believe,  has  it  been  pre- 
judicial. In  the  North,  eveiy  where,  testi- 
monials are  borne  to  the  high  prosperity 
which  it  has  diffiosed.  There,  all  branches 
of  industry  are  animated  and  flourishing. 
Commerce,  foreign  and  domestic,  active; 
cities  and  towns  springing  up,  enlarging 
and  beautifying  ;  navigation  fully  and  pro- 
fitably employed,  and  the  whole  face  or  the 
country  smiling  with  improvement,  cheer- 
fulness and  abundance. 

******* 

When  gentlemen  have  succeeded  in  their 
design  of  an  immediate  or  gradual  destruc- 
tion of  the  American  System,  what  is  their 
substitute?  Free  trade!  Free  trade!  The 
call  for  free  trade  is  as  unavailing  as  the 
cry  of  a  spoiled  child,  in  its  nurse's  arms, 
for  the  moon,  or  the  stars  that  glitter  in 
the  firmament  of  heaven.  It  never  has 
existed,  it  never  will  exist.  Trade  implies, 
at  least  two  parties.  To  be  free,  it  should 
be  fair,  equal  and  reciprocal.  But  if  we 
throw  our  ports  wide  open  to  the  admission 
of  foreign  productions,  free  of  all  duty, 
what  ports  of  any  other  foreign  nation  shall 
we  find  open  to  the  free  admission  of  our 
surplus  produce?  We  may  break  down  all 
barriers  to  free  trade  on  our  part,  but  the 
work  will  not  be  complete  until  foreign 
powers  shall  have  removed  theirs.  There 
would  be  freedom  on  one  side,  and  restric- 
tions, prohibitions  and  exclusions  on  the 
other.  The  bolts,  and  the  bars,  and  the 
chains  of  all  other  nations  will  remain  un- 
disturbed. It  is,  indeed,  possible,  that  our 
industry  and  commerce  would  accommo- 
date themselves  to  this  unequal  and  unjust 
state  of  things  ;  for,  such  is  the  flexibility 
of  our  nature,  that  it  bends  itself  to  all 
circumstances.  The  wretched  prisoner  in- 
carcerated in  a  jail,  after  a  long  time  be- 
comes reconciled  to  his  solitude,  and  regu- 
larly notches  down  the  passing  days  of  his 
confinement. 

Gentlemen  deceive  themselves.  It  is  not 
free  trade  that  they  are  recommending  to 
our  acceptance.  It  is  in  effect,  the  British 
colonial  system  that  we  are  invited  to 
adopt;  and,  if  their  policy  prevail,  it  will 
leaa  substantially  to  the  re-colonization  of 
these  States,  under  the  commercial  domin- 
ion of  Great  Britain.  And  whom  do  we 
find  some  of  the  principal  supporters,  out 
of  Congress,  of  this  foreign  system  ?  Mr. 
President,  there  are  are  some  foreigners 
who  always  remain  exotics,  and  never  be- 


come naturalized  in  our  country ;  whilst, 
happily,  there  are  many  others  who  readily 
attach  themselves  to  our  principles  and  our 
institutions.  The  honest,  patient  and  in- 
dustrious German  readily  unites  with  our 
people,  establishes  himself  upon  some  of 
our  fat  land,  fills  his  capacious  barn,  and 
enjoys  in  tran(juillity,  the  abundant  fruits 
which  his  diligence  gathers  around  him, 
always  ready  to  fly  to  the  standard  of  his 
adopted  country,  or  of  its  laws,  when  called 
by  the  duties  of  patriotism.  The  gay,  the 
versatile,  the  philosophic  Frenchman,  ac- 
commodating himself  cheerfully  to  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  life,  incorporates  himself 
without  diflSculty  in  our  society.  But,  of 
all  foreigners,  none  amalgamate  themselves 
so  quickly  with  our  people  as  the  natives 
of  the  Emerald  Isle.  In  some  of  the  vis- 
ions which  have  passed  through  my  im- 
agination, I  have  supposed  that  Ireland 
was  originally,  part  and  parcel  of  this  con- 
tinent, and  that,  by  some  extraordinary 
convulsion  of  nature,  it  was  torn  from 
America,  and  drifting  across  the  ocean, 
was  placed  in  the  unfortunate  vicinity  of 
Great  Britain.  The  same  open-hearted- 
ness ;  the  same  generous  hospitality ;  the 
same  careless  ahd  uncalculating  indiffer- 
ence about  human  life,  characterize  the  in- 
habitants of  both  countries.  Kentucky 
has  been  sometimes  called  the  Ireland  of 
America.  And  I  have  no  doubt,  that  if 
the  current  of  emigration  were  reversed, 
and  set  from  America  upon  the  shores  of 
Europe,  instead  of  bearing  from  Europe  to 
America,  every  American  emigrant  to  Ire- 
land would  there  find,  as  every  Irish  emi- 
grant here  finds,  a  hearty  welcome  and  a 
happy  home ! 

But  I  have  said  that  the  system  nomi- 
nally called  "  free  trade,"  so  earnestly  and 
eloquently  recommended  to  our  adoption, 
is  a  mere  revival  of  the  British  colonial 
system,  forced  upon  us  by  Great  Britain 
during  the  existence  of  our  colonial  vas- 
salage. The  whole  system  is  fully  explained 
and  illustrated  in  a  work  published  as  far 
back  as  the  year  1760,  entitled  "  The  Trade 
and  Navigation  of  Great  Britain  considered, 
by  Joshua  Gee,"  with  extracts  from  which 
I  have  been  furnished  by  the  diligent  re- 
searches of  a  friend.  It  will  be  seen  from 
these,  that  the  South  Carolina  policy  now, 
is'identical  with  the  long  cherished  policy 
of  Great  Britain,  which  remains  the  same 
as  it  was  when  the  thirteen  colonies  were 
part  of  the  British  empire. 

I  regret,  Mr.  President,  that  one  topic 
has,  I  think,  unnecessarily  been  intro- 
duced into  this  debate.  I  allude  to  the 
charge  brought  against  the  manufacturing 
system,  as  favoring  the  growth  of  aristoc- 
racy. If  it  were  true,  would  gentlemen 
prefer  supporting  foreign  accumulations 
of  wealth,  by  that  description  of  industry, 
rather  than  in  their  own  country  ?    But  ii 


BOOK  HI.] 


CLAY    ON    THE    AMERICAN    SYSTEM. 


91 


it  correct?  The  joint  stock  companies  of 
the  north,  as  I  understand  them,  are  no- 
thing more  than  associations,  sometimes  of 
hundreds,  by  means  of  which  the  small 
earnings  of  many  are  brought  into  a  com- 
mon stock,  and  the  associates,  obtaining 
corporate  privileges,  are  enabled  to  prose- 
cute, under  one  superintending  head,  their 
business  to  better  advantage.  Nothing 
can  be  more  essentially  democratic  or  bet- 
ter devised  to  counterpoise  the  influence  of 
individual  wealth.  In  Kentucky,  almost 
every  manufactory  known  to  me,  is  in  the 
hands  of  enterprising  and  self-made  men, 
who  have  acquired  whatever  wealth  they 
possess  by  patient  and  diligent  labor. 
Comparisons  are  odious,  and  but  in  defence, 
would  not  be  made  by  me.  But  is  there 
more  tendency  to  aristocracy  in  a  manu- 
factory supporting  hundreds  of  freemen, 
or  in  a  cotton  plantation,  with  its  not  less 
numerous  slaves,  sustaining  perhaps  only 
two  white  families — ^that  of  the  master  and 
the  overseer? 

I  pass,  with  pleasure,  from  this  disagree- 
able topic,  to  two  general  propositions, 
which  cover  the  entire  ground  of  debate. 
The  first  is,  that  under  the  operation  of  the 
American  System,  the  objects  which  it  pro- 
tects and  fosters  are  brought  to  the  con- 
sumer at  cheaper  prices  than  they  com- 
manded prior  to  its  introduction,  or,  than 
they  would  command  if  it  did  not  exist. 
If  that  be  true,  ought  not  the  country  to  be 
contented  and  satisfied  with  the  system, 
unless  the  second  proposition,  which  I 
mean  presently  also  to  consider,  is  unfound- 
ed ?  And  that  is,  that  the  tendency  of  the 
system  is  to  sustain,  and  that  it  has  upheld 
the  prices  of  all  our  agricultural  and  other 
produce,  including  cotton. 

And  is  the  fact  not  indisputable,  that  all 
essential  objects  of  consumption  effected  by 
the  tariff,  are  cheaper  and  better  since  the 
act  of  1824,  than  they  were  for  several 
years  prior  to  that  law  ?  I  appeal  for  its 
truth  to  common  observation  and  to  all 
practical  men,  I  appeal  to  the  farmer  of 
the  country,  whether  he  does  not  purchase 
,  on  better  terms  his  iron,  salt,  brown  sugar, 
cotton  goods,  and  woolens,  for  his  laboring 
people?  And  I  ask  the  cotton  planter  if 
ne  ha."?  not  been  better  and  more  cheaply 
supplied  with  his  cotton  bagging?  In  re- 
gard to  this  latter  article,  the  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina  was  mistaken  in  sup- 
posing that  I  complained  that,  under  the 
existing  duty  the  Kentucky  manufacturer 
could  not  compete  with  the  Scotch.  The 
Kentuckian  furnishes  a  more  substantial 
and  a  cheaper  article,  and  at  a  more  uni- 
form and  regular  price.  But  it  was  the 
frauds,  the  violations  of  law  of  which  I 
did  complain ;  not  smuggling,  in  the  com- 
mon sense  of  that  practice,  which  has 
something  bold,  daring,  and  enterprising 
in  it,  but   mean,   barefaced  cheating,  by 


fraudulent  invoices  and  false  denomina- 
tion. 

I  plant  myself  upon  this  fact,  of  cheap- 
ness and  superiority,  as  upon  impregnable 
ground.  Gentlemen  may  tax  their  inge- 
nuitj^  and  produce  a  thousand  speculative 
solutions  of  the  fact,  but  the  fact  itself  will 
remain  undisturbed. 

This  brings  me  to  consider  what  I  ap- 
prehend to  have  been  the  most  efficient  of 
all  the  causes  in  the  reduction  of  the  prices 
of  manufactured  articles — and  that  is  com- 
petition. By  competition,  the  total 
amount  of  the  supply  is  increased,  and  by 
increase  of  the  supply,  a  competition  in  the 
sale  ensues,  and  this  enables  the  consumer 
to  buy  at  lower  rates.  Of  all  human 
powers  operating  on  the  affairs  of  man- 
kind, none  is  greater  than  that  of  compe- 
tition. It  is  action  and  re-action.  It 
operates  between  individuals  in  the  same 
nation,  and  between  different  nations.  It 
resembles  the  meeting  of  the  mountain 
torrent,  grooving  by  its  precipitous  motion, 
its  own  channel,  and  ocean's  tide.  Unop- 
posed, it  sweeps  everything  before  it ;  but, 
counterpoised,  the  watere  become  calm, 
safe  and  regular.  It  is  like  the  segments 
of  a  circle  or  an  arch ;  taken  separately, 
each  is  nothing ;  but  in  their  comoination 
they  produce  efficiency,  symmetry,  and 
perfection.  By  the  American  System  this 
vast  power  has  been  excited  in  America, 
and  brought  into  being  to  act  in  co-opera- 
tion or  collision  with  European  industry. 
Europe  acts  within  itself,  and  with  Ameri- 
ca ;  and  America  acts  within  itself,  and 
with  Europe.  The  consequence  is,  the  re- 
duction of  prices  in  both  hemispheres.  Nor 
is  it  fair  to  argue  from  the  reduction  of 
prices  in  Europe,  to  her  own  presumed 
skill  and  labor,  exclusively.  We  affect 
her  prices,  and  she  affects  ours.  This  must 
always  be  the  case,  at  least  in  reference  to 
any  articles  as  to  which  there  is  not  a  to- 
tal non-intercourse ;  and  if  our  industry, 
by  diminishing  the  demand  for  her  sup- 
plies, should  produce  a  diminution  in  the 
price  of  those  supplies,  it  would  be  very 
unfair  to  ascribe  that  reduction  to  her  in- 
genuity instead  of  placing  il  to  the  credit 
of  our  own  skill  ana  excited  industry. 

The  great  law  of  price  is  determined  by 
supply  and  demand.  Whatever  affects 
either,  affects  the  price.  If  the  supply  is 
increased,  the  demand  remaining  the  same, 
the  price  declines ;  if  the  demand  is  in- 
creased, the  supply  remaining  the  same, 
the  price  advances ;  if  both  supply  and  de- 
mand are  undiminished,  the  price  is  sta- 
tionary, and  the  price  is  influenced  exactly 
in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  disturbance 
to  tne  demand  or  supply.  It  is  therefore  a 
great  error  to  suppose  that  an  existing  or 
new  duty  necessarily  becomes  a  component 
element  to  its  exact  amount  of  price.  If 
the  proportion  of  demand  and  supply  ar« 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


varied  by  the  duty,  either  in  augmenting 
the  supply,  or  diminishing  the  demand,  or 
vice  versa,  price  is  affected  to  the  extent  of 
that  variation.  But  tlie  duty  never  becomes 
an  integral  part  of  the  price,  except  in  the 
instances  where  the  demand  and  the  supply 
remain  after  the  duty  is  imposed,  precisely 
what  they  were  before,  or  the  demand  is 
increased,  and  the  supply  remains  sta- 
tionary. 

Competition,  therefore,  wherever  exist- 
ing, whether  at  home  or  abroad,  is  the 
parent  cause  of  cheapness.  If  a  high  duty 
excites  production  at  home,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  the  domestic  article  exceeds  the 
amount  which  had  been  previously  im- 
ported the  price  will  fall.  This  accounts 
ibr  an  extraordinary  fact  stated  by  a  Sena- 
tor from  Missouri.  Three  cents  were  laid  as  a 
duty  upon  a  pound  of  lead,  by  the  act  of 
1828.  The  price  a£  Galena,  and  the  other 
lead  mines,  afterwards  fell  to  one  and  a 
half  cents  per  pound.  Now  it  is  obvious 
that  the  duty  did  not,  in  this  case,  enter 
into  the  price :  for  it  was  twice  the  amount 
of  the  price.  What  produced  the  fall  ?  It 
was  stimulated  production  at  home,  excited 
by  the  temptation  of  the  exclusive  posses- 
sion of  the  home  market.  This  state  of 
things  could  not  last.  Men  would  not  con- 
tinue an  unprofitable  pursuit;  some  aban- 
doned the  business,  or  the  total  quantity 
produced  was  diminished,  and  living  prices 
nave  been  the  consequence.  But,  break 
down  the  domestic  supply,  place  us  again 
in  a  state  of  dependence  on  the  foreign 
source,  and  can  it  be  doubted  that  we 
should  ultimately  have  to  supply  ourselves 
at  dearer  rates  ?  It  is  not  fair  to  credit  the 
foreign  market  with  the  depression  of  prices 
produced  there  by  the  influence  of  our 
competition.  Let  the  competition  be  with- 
drawn, and  their  prices  woidd  instantly 
rise. 

But,  it  is  argued  that  if,  by  the  skill,  ex- 
perience, and  perfection  which  we  have 
acquired  in  certain  branches  of  manufac- 
ture, they  can  be  made  as  cheap  as  similar 
articles  abroad,  and  enter  fairly  into  com- 
petition mth  them,  why  not  repeal  the 
duties  as  to  those  articles  ?  And  why  should 
we  ?  Assuming  the  truth  of  the  supposi- 
tion the  foreign  article  would  not  be  intro- 
duced in  the  regular  course  of  trade,  but 
would  remain  excluded  by  the  possession 
of  the  home  market,  which  the  domestic 
article  had  obtained.  The  repeal,  therefore, 
would  have' no  legitimate  effect.  But  might 
not  the  foreign  article  be  imported  in  vast 
quantities,  to  glut  our  markets,  break  down 
our  establishments,  and  ultimately  to  enable 
the  foreigner  to  monopolize  the  supply  of 
our  consumption?  America  is  the  greatest 
foreign  market  for  European  manufac- 
tures. It  is  that  to  which  European  at- 
tention is  constantly  directed.  If  a  great 
house  becomes  bankrupt  there,  its  store- 


houses are  emptied,  and  the  goods  are  ship- 
ped to  America,  where,  in  consequence  of 
our  auctions,  and  our  custom-house  credits, 
the  greatest  facilities  are  afforded  in  the 
sale  of  them.  Combinations  among  manu- 
facturers might  take  place,  or  even  the  op- 
erations of  foreign  governments  might  be 
directed  to  the  destruction  of  our  establish- 
ments. A  repeal,  therefore,  of  one  protect- 
ing duty,  from  some  one  or  all  of  these 
causes,  would  be  followed  by  flooding  the 
country  with  the  foreign  fabric,  surcharg- 
ing the  market,  reducing  the  price,  and  a 
complete  prostration  of  our  manufactories ; 
after  which  the  foreigner  would  leisurely 
look  about  to  indemnify  himself  in  the  in- 
creased prices  which  he  would  be  enabled 
to  command  by  his  monopoly  of  the  supply 
of  our  consumption.  What  American  cit- 
izen, after  the  government  had  displayed 
this  vacillating  policy,  would  be  again 
tempted  to  place  the  smallest  confidence  in 
the  public  faith,  and  adventure  once  more 
in  this  branch  of  industry  ? 

Gentlemen  have  allowed  to  the  manu- 
facturing portions  of  the  community  no 
peace ;  they  have  been  constantly  threat- 
ened with  the  overthrow  of  the  American 
System.  From  the  year  1820,  if  not  from 
1816,  down  to  this  time,  they  have  been 
held  in  a  condition  of  constant  alarm  and 
insecurity.  Nothing  is  more  prejudicial  to 
the  great  interests  of  a  nation  than  unset- 
tled and  varying  policy.  Although  every 
appeal  to  the  national  legislature  bas  been 
responded  to  in  conformity  with  the  wishes 
and  sentiments  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
people,  measures  of  protection  have  only 
been  carried  by  such  small  majorities  as  to 
excite  hopes  on  the  one  hand,  and  fears  on 
the  other.  Let  the  country  breathe,  let  its 
vast  resources  be  developed,  let  its  ener- 
gies be  fully  put  forth,  Jet  it  have  tran- 
quillity, and  my  word  for  it,  the  degree  of 
perfection  in  the  arts  which  it  will  exhibit, 
will  be  greater  than  that  which  has  been 

E resented,  astonishing  as  our  progress  has 
een.  Although  some  branches  of  our 
manufactures  might,  and  in  foreign  mar- 
kets now  do,  fearlessly  contend  with  simi- 
lar foreign  fabrics,  there  are  many  others 
yet  in  tneir  infancy,  struggling  with  the 
diflBculties  which  encompass  them.  We 
should  look  at  the  whole  system,  and  re- 
collect that  time,  when  we  contemplate  the 
great  movements  of  a  nation,  is  very  differ- 
ent from  the  short  period  which  is  allotted 
for  the  duration  of  individual  life.  The 
honorable  gentleman  from  South  Caro- 
lina well  and  eloquently  said,  in  1824, 
"  No  great  interest  of  any  country  ever  yet 
grew  up  in  a  day ;  no  new  branch  of  in- 
dustry can  become  firmly  and  profitably 
established  but  in  a  long  course  of  years ; 
every  thing,  indeed,  great  or  good,  is  ma- 
tured by  slow  degrees :  that  which  attains 
a  speedy  maturity  is  of  small  value,  and  i» 


BOOK  in.] 


CLAY    ON    THE    AMERICAN    SYSTEM. 


93 


destined  to  a  brief  existence.  It  is  the  or- 
der of  Providence,  that  powers  gradually 
developed,  shall  alone  attain  permanency 
and  perfection.  Thus  must  it  be  with  our 
national  institutions,  and  national  charac- 
ter itself.'' 

I  feel  most  sensibly,  Mr.  President,  how 
much  I  have  trespassed  upon  the  Senate. 
My  apology  is  a  deep  and  deliberate  con- 
viction, that  the  great  cause  under  debate 
involves  the  prosperity  and  the  destiny  of 
the  Union.  But  the  best  requital  I  can 
make,  for  the  friendly  indulgence  which 
has  been  extended  to  me  by  the  Senate, 
and  for  which  I  shall  ever  retain  senti- 
ments of  lasting  gratitude,  is  to  proceed 
with  as  little  delay  as  practicable,  to  the 
conclusion  of  a  discourse  which  has  not 
been  more  tedious  to  the  Senate  than  ex- 
hausting to  me.  I  have  now  to  consider 
the  remaining  of  the  two  propositions 
which  I  have  already  announced.  That 
is: 

Secondly.  That  under  the  operation  of 
the  American  System,  the  products  of  our 
agriculture  command  a  higher'  price  than 
they  would  do  without  it,  by  the  creation 
of  a  home  market ;  and  by  the  augmenta- 
tion of  wealth  produced  by  manufacturing 
industry,  which  enlarges  our  powers  of 
consumption  both  of  domestic  and  foreign 
articles.  The  importance  of  the  home 
market  is  among  the  established  maxims 
which  are  universally  recognized  by  all 
writers  and  all  men.  However  some  may 
differ  as  to  the  relative  advantages  of  the 
foreign  and  the  home  market,  none  deny 
to  the  latter  great  value  and  high  conside- 
ration. It  is  nearer  to  us;  beyond  the 
control  of  foreign  legislation  ;  and  undis- 
turbed by  those  vicissitudes  to  which  all 
international  intercourse  is  more  or  less 
exposed.  The  most  stupid  are  sensible  of 
the  benefit  of  a  residence  in  the  vicinity  of 
a  large  manufactory,  or  of  a  market  town, 
of  a  good  road,  or  of  a  navigable  stream, 
which  connects  their  farms  with  some 
great  capital.  If  the  pursuits  of  all  men 
were  perfectly  the  same,  although  they 
would  be  in  possession  of  the  greatest 
abundance  of  the  particular  produce  of 
their  industry,  they  might,  at  the  same 
time,  be  in  extreme  want  of  other  neces- 
sary articles  of  human  subsistence.  The 
uniformity  of  the  general  occupation  would 
preclude  all  exchanges,  all  commerce  It 
IS  only  in  the  diversity  of  the  vocations  of 
the  members  of  a  community  that  the 
means  can  be  found  for  those  salutary  ex- 
changes which  conduce  to  the  general 
prosperity.  And  the  greater  that  diversity, 
the  more  extensive  and  the  more  animat- 
ing is  the  circle  of  exchange.  Even  if 
foreign  markets  were  freely  and  widely 
open  to  the  reception  of  our  agricultural 
produce,  from  its  bulky  nature,  and  the 
distance  of  the  interior,  and  the  dangers 


of  the  ocean,  large  portions  of  it  could 
never  profitably  reach  the  foreign  market. 
But  let  us  quit  this  field  of  theory,  clear  as 
it  is,  and  look  at  the  practical  operation  of 
the  system  of  protection,  beginning  with 
the  most  valuable  staple  of  our  agricul- 
ture. 

But  if  all  this  reasoning  were  totally 
fallacious — if  the  price  of  manufactured 
articles  were  really  higher,  under  the 
American  system,  than  without  it,  I  should 
still  argue  that  high  or  low  prices  were 
themselves  relative — relative  to  the  ability 
to  pay  them.  It  is  in  vain  to  tempt,  to 
tantalize  us  with  the  lower  prices  of  Euro- 
pean fabrics  than  our  own,  if  we  have 
nothing  wherewith  to  purchase  them.  If, 
by  the  home  exchanges,  we  can  be  sup- 
plied with  necessary,  even  if  they  are 
dearer  and  worse,  articles  of  American 
production  than  the  foreign,  it  is  better 
than  not  to  be  supplied  at  all.  And  how 
would  the  large  portion  of  our  country 
which  I  have  described  be  supplied,  but 
for  the  home  exchanges?  A  poor  people, 
destitute  of  wealth  or  of  exchangeable 
commodities,  has  nothing  to  purchase  for- 
eign fabrics.  To  them  they  are  equally 
beyond  their  reach,  whether  their  cost  be 
a  dollar  or  a  guinea.  It  is  in  this  view  of 
the  matter  that  Great  Britain,  by  her  vast 
wealth — her  excited  and  protected  industry 
— is  enabled  to  bear  a  burden  of  taxation 
which,  when  compared  to  that  of  other 
nations,  appears  enormous;  but  which, 
when  her  immense  riches  are  compared  tn 
theirs,  is  light  and  trivial.  The  gentle- 
man from  South  Carolina  has  drawn  a 
lively  and  flattering  picture  of  our  coasts, 
bays,  rivers,  and  harbors ;  and  he  argues 
that  these  proclaimed  the  design  of  Provi- 
dence, that  we  should  be  a  commercial 
people. .  I  agree  with  him.  We  differ 
only  as  to  the  means.  He  would  cherish 
the  foreign,  and  neglect  the  internal  trade. 
I  would  foster  both.  What  is  navigation 
without  ships,  or  ships  without  cargoes  ? 
By  penetrating  the  bosoms  of  our  moun- 
tains, and  extracting  from  them  their  pre- 
cious treasures  ;  by  cultivating  the  earth, 
and  secwHng  a  home  market  for  its  rirb 
and  abundant  products  ;  by  employing  the 
water  power  with  which  we  are  blessed ; 
by  stimulating  and  protecting:  our  native 
industry,  in  all  its  forms ;  we  shall  but 
nourish  and  promote  the  prosperity  of 
commerce,  foreign  and  domestic. 

I  have  hitherto  considered  the  question 
in  reference  only  to  a  state  of  peace  ;  but 
a  season  of  war  ought  not  to  be  entirely 
overlooked.  We  have  enjoyed  near  twen- 
ty years  of  peace  ;  but  who  can  tell  when 
the  storm  of  war  shall  again  break  forth? 
Have  we  forgotten  so  soon,  the  privations 
to  which,  not  merely  our  brave  soldier* 
and  our  gallant  tars  were  subjected,  bu* 
the  whole  community,  during    the    last 


94 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


war,  for  the  want  of  absolute  necessaries  ? 
To  what  an  enormous  price  they  rose  I 
And  how  inadequate  the  supply  was,  at 
any  price !  The  statesman  who  justly 
elevates  his  views,  will  look  behind,  as 
well  as  forward,  and  at  the  existing  state 
of  things ;  and  he  will  graduate  the  policy 
which  he  recommends,  to  all  the  probable 
exigencies  which  may  arise  in  the  Repub- 
lic. Taking  this  comprehensive  range,  it 
would  be  easy  to  show  that  the  higher 
prices  of  peace,  if  prices  were  higher  in 

{)eace,  were  more  than  compensated  by  the 
ower  prices  of  war,  during  which  supplies 
of  all  essential  articles  are  indispensable  to 
its  vigorous,  effectual  and  glorious  prose- 
cution. I  conclude  this  part  of  the  argu- 
ment with  the  hope  that  my  humble  exer- 
tions have  not  been  altogether  unsuccess- 
ful in  showing — 

1.  That  the  policy  which  we  have  been 
considering  ought  to  continue  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  genuine  American  System. 

2.  That  the  Free  Trade  System,  which 
is  proposed  as  its  substitute,  ought  really 
to  be  considered  as  the  British  Colonial 
System. 

3.  That  the  American  System  is  bene- 
ficial to  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  much  the  larger 
portion. 

4.  That  the  price  of  the  great  staple  of 
cotton,  and  of  all  our  chief  productions  of 
agriculture,  has  been  sustained  and  up- 
«held,  and  a  decline  averted  by  the  Protec- 
tive System. 

5.  That  if  the  foreign  demand  for  cot- 
ton has  been  at  all  diminished  by  the 
operation  of  that  system,  the  diminution 
has  been  more  than  compensated  in  the 
additional  demand  created  at  home. 

6.  That  the  constant  tendency  of  the 
system,  by  creating  competition  among 
ourselves,  and  between  American  and  Eu- 
ropean industry,  reciprocally  acting  upon 
each  other,  is  to  reduce  prices  of  manufac- 
tured objects. 

7.  That  in  point  of  fact,  objects  within 
the  scope  of  the  policy  of  protection  have 
greatly  fallen  in  price. 

8.  That  if,  in  a  season  of  peace,  these 
benefits -are  experienced,  in  a  season  of 
war,  when  the  foreign  supply  might  be 
cut  off,  they  would  be  much  more  exten- 
sively felt. 

9.  And  finally,  that  the  substitution  of 
the  British  Colonial  System  for  the  Ameri- 
can System,  without  benefiting  any  sec- 
tion of  the  Union,  by  subjecting  us  to  a 
foreign  legislation,  regulated  by  foreign 
interests,  would  lead  to  the  prostration  of 
our  manufactures,  general  impoverishment, 
and  ultimate  ruin. 

The  danger  to  our  Union  does  not  lie  on 
the  side  of  persistence  in  the  American 
System,  but  on  that  of  its  abandonment. 
)f,  as  I  have  supposed  and  believe,  the 


inhabitants  of  all  north  and  east  of  James 
river,  and  all  west  of  the  mountains,  in- 
cluding Louisiana,  are  deeply  interested  in 
the  preservation  of  that  system,  would  they 
be  reconciled  to  its  overthrow  ?  Can  it  be 
expected  that  two-thirds,  if  not  three- 
fourths,  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
would  consent  to  the  destruction  of  a 
policy,  believed  to  be  indispensably  ne- 
cessary to  their  prosperity?  \7hen,  too, 
the  sacrifice  is  made  at  the  instance  of  a 
single  interest,  which  they  verily  believe 
will  not  be  promoted  by  it?  In  estima- 
ting the  degree  of  peril  which  may  be  in- 
cident to  two  opposite  courses  of  human 
policy,  the  statesman  would  be  short- 
sighted who  should  content  himself  with 
viewing  only  the  evils,  real  or  imaginary, 
which  belong  to  that  course  which  is  in 
practical  operation.  He  should  lift  himself 
up  to  the  contemplation  of  those  greater 
and  more  certain  dangers  which  might 
inevitably  attend  the  adoption  of  the  al- 
ternative course.  What  would  be  the 
condition  of  this  Union,  if  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York,  those  mammoth  members 
of  our  confederacy,  were  firmly  persuaded 
that  their  industry  was  paralyzed,  and 
their  prosperity  blighted,  by  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  British  colonial  system,  under 
the  delusive  name  of  free  trade?  They 
are  now  tranquil  and  happy,  and  con- 
tented, conscious  of  their  welfare,  and  feel- 
ing a  salutary  and  rapid  circulation  of  the 
products  of  home  manufactures  and  home 
industry  throughout  all  their  great  arteries. 
But  let  that  be  checked,  let  them  feel  that 
a  foreign  system  is  to  predominate,  and  the 
sources  of  their  subsistence  and  comfort 
dried  up ;  let  New  England  and  the  west, 
and  the  middle  States,  all  feel  that  they 
too  are  the  victims  of  a  mistaken  policy, 
and  let  these  vast  portions  of  our  country 
despair  of  any  favorable  change,  and  then 
indeed  might  we  tremble  for  the  continu- 
ance and  safety  of  this  Union  I 

And  now,  sir,  I  would  address  a  few 
words  to  the  friends  of  the  American  Sys- 
tem in  the  Senate.  The  revenue  must — 
ought  to  be  reduced.  The  country  will . 
not,  after,  by  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt,  ten  or  twelve  millions  of  dollars  be- 
come unnecessary,  bear  such  an  annual  sur- 
plus. Its  distribution  would  form  a  sub- 
ject of  perpetual  contention.  Some  of  the 
opponents  of  the  system  understand  the 
stratagem  by  which  to  attack  it,  and  are 
shaping  their  course  accordingly.  It  is  to 
crush  the  system  by  the  accumulation  of 
revenue,  and  by  the  effort  to  persuade  the 
people  that  they  are  unnecessarily  taxed, 
while  those  would  really  tax  them  who 
would  break  up  the  native  sources  of  sup- 
ply, and  render  them  dependent  upon  the 
foreign.  But  the  revenue  ought  to  be  re- 
duced, so  as  to  accommodate  it  to  the  fact 
of  the  payment  of  the  public  debt.    And 


BooKin.]   BUCHANAN  ON  AN  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY. 


95 


the  alternative  is  or  may  be,  to  preserve 
the  protecting  system,  and  repeal  the  du- 
ties on  the  unprotected  articles,  or  to  pre- 
serve the  duties  on  unprotected  articles,  and 
endanger  if  not  destroy  the  system.  Let 
us  then  adopt  the  measure  before  us,  which 
will  benefit  allclasses ;  tjie  farmer,  the  pro- 
fessional man,  the  merchant,  the  manufac- 
turer, the  mechanic  ;  and  the  cotton  plant- 
er more  than  all.  A  few  mouths  ago  there 
was  no  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  ex- 
pediency of  this  measure.  All,  then, 
seemed  to  unite  in  the  selection  of  these 
objects  for  a  repeal  of  duties  which  were 
not  produced  within  the  country.  Such  a 
repeal  did  not  touch  our  domestic  indus- 
try, violated  no  principle,  ofiended  no 
prejudice. 

Can  we  not  all,  whatever  may  be  our 
favorite  theories,  cordially  unite  on  this 
neutral  ground  ?  When  that  is  occupied, 
let  us  look  beyond  it,  and  see  if  anything 
can  be  done  in  the  field  of  protection,  to 
modify,  or  improve  it,  or  to  satisfy  those 
who  are  opposed  to  the  system.  Our 
southern  brethren  believe  that  it  is  injuri- 
ous to  them,  and  ask  its  repeal.  We  be- 
lieve that  its  abandonment  will  be  preju- 
dicial to  them,  and  ruinous  to  every  other 
section  of  the  Union.  However  strong 
their  convictions  may  be,  they  are  not 
stronger  than  ours.  Between  the  points  of 
the  preservation  of  the  system  and  its  ab- 
solute repeal,  there  is  no  principle  of 
union.  If  it  can  be  shown  to  operate  im- 
moderately on  any  quarter — if  the  measure 
of  protection  to  any  article  can  be  demon- 
strated to"  be  undue  and  inordinate,  it 
would  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to  inter- 
pose and  apply  a  remedy.  And  none  will 
co-operate  more  heartily  than  I  shall  in 
the  performance  of  that  duty.  It  is  quite 
probable  that  beneficial  modifications  of 
the  system  may  be  made  without  impairing 
its  efficacy.  But  to  make  it  fulfill  the  pur- 
poses of  its  institution,  the  measure  of  pro- 
tection ought  to  be  adequate.  If  it  be  not, 
all  interests  will  be  injuriously  affected. 
The  manufacturer,  crippled  in  his  exer- 
tions, will  produce  less  perfect  and  dearer 
fabrics,  and  the  consumer  will  feel  the 
consequence.  This  is  the  spirit,  and  these 
are  the  principles  only,  on  which,  it  seems 
to  me,  tnat  a  settlement  of  the  great  ques- 
tion can  be  made,  satisfactorily  to  all  parts 
of  our  Union. 


Mr.  Buchanan's  Speech  on  the  Independent 
Treasury, 

January  22, 1840,  tehioh  gave  rise  to  the  "ten  cent "  charge. 

"We  are  also  charged  by  the  Senator 
from  Kentucky  with  a  desire  to  reduce  the 
wages  of  the  poor  man's  labor.  We  have 
often  been  termed  agrarians  on  our  side  of 
the  House.  It  is  something  new  under 
the  sun,  to  hear  the  Senator  and  his  friends 


attribute  to  us  a  desire  to  elevate  the 
wealthy  manufacturer,  at  the  expense  of 
the  laboring  man  and  the  mechanic. 
From  my  soul,  I  respect  the  laboring  man. 
Labor  is  the  foundation  of  the  wealth  of 
every  country ;  and  the  free  laborers  of  the 
North  deserve  respect,  both  for  their  probity 
and  their  intelligence.  Heaven  forbid  that 
I  should  do  them  wrong!  Of  all  the 
countries  on  the  earth,  we  ought  to  have 
the  most  consideration  for  the  laboring 
man.  From  the  very  nature  of  our  insti- 
tutions, the  wheel  of  fortune  is  constantly 
revolving,  and  producing  such  mutations 
in  property,  that  the  wealthy  man  of  to- 
day may  become  the  poor  laborer  of  to- 
morrow. Truly,  wealth  often  takes  to  itself 
wings  and  flies  away.  A  large  fortune 
rarely  lasts  beyond  the  third  generation, 
even  if  it  endure  so  long.  We  must  all 
know  instances  of  individuals  obliged  to 
labor  for  their  daily  bread,  Vhose  grand- 
fathers were  men  of  fortune.  The  regular 
process  of  society  would  almost  seem  to 
consist  of  the  efforts  of  one  class  to  dissi- 
pate the  fortunes  which  they  have  inherit- 
ed, whilst  another  class,  by  their  industry 
and  economy,  are  regularly  rising  to 
wealth.  We  have  all,  therefore,  a  common 
interest,  as  it  is  our  common  duty,  to  pro- 
tect the  rights  of  the  la?boring  man :  and  if 
I  believed  for  a  moment  that  this  bill 
would  prove  injurious  to  him,  it  should 
meet  my  unqualified  opposition. 

"Although  this  bill  will  not  have  as 
great  an  influence  as  I  could  desire,  yet,  as 
far  as  it  goes,  it  will  benefit  the  laboring 
man  as  much,  and  probably  more  than  any 
other  class  of  society.  What  is  it  he  ought 
most  to  desire?  Constant  employment, 
regular   wages,    and    uniform    reasonable 

f>rices  for  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of 
ife  which  he  requires.  Now,  sir,  what 
has  been  his  condition  under  our  system 
of  expansions  and  contractions?  He  has 
suffered  more  by  them  than  any  other  class 
of  society.  The  rate  of  his  wages  is  fixed 
and  known ;  and  they  are  the  last  to  rise 
with  the  increasing  expansion  and  the  first 
to  fall  when  the  corresponding  revulsion 
occurs.  He  still  continues  to  receive  his 
dollar  per  day,  whilst  the  price  of  every 
article  which  he  consumes  is  rapidly  rising. 
He  is  at  length  made  to  feel  that,  although 
he  nominally  earns  as  much,  or  even  more 
than  he  did  formerly,  yet,  from  the  in- 
creased price  of  all  the  necessaries  of  life, 
he  cannot  support  his  family.  Hence  the 
strikes  for  higher  wages,  and  the  unea^  and 
excited  feelings  which  have  at  different 

Seriods,  existed  among  the  laboring  claases. 
lut  the  expansion  at  length  reaches  the 
exploding  point,  and  what  does  the  labor- 
ing man  now  suffer?  He  is  for  a  season 
thrown  out  of  employment  altogether.  Our 
manufactures  are  suspended ;  our  public 
works  are  stopped;  our  private  enterpriseB 


96 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


of  different  kinds  are  abandoned;  and, 
whilst  others  are  able  to  weather  the  storm, 
he  can  scarcely  procure  the  means  of  bare 
subsistence. 

"  A^ain,  sir ;  who,  do  you  suppose,  held 
the  gieater  part  of  the  worthless  paper  of 
the  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  broken 
banks  to  which  I  have  referred  ?  Certainly 
it  was  not  the  keen  and  wary  speculator, 
who  snuffs  danger  from  afar.  If  you  were 
to  make  the  search,  you  would  find  more 
broken  bank  notes  in  the  cottages  of  the 
laboring  poor  than  anywhere  else.  And 
these  miserable  shinplasters,  where  are 
they  ?  After  the  revulsion  of  1837,  labor- 
ers were  glad  to  obtain  employment  on  any 
terras ;  and  they  often  received  it  upon  the 
express  condition  that  they  should  accept 
this  worthless  trash  in  payment.  Sir,  an 
entire  suppression  of  all  bank  notes  of  a 
lower  denomination  than  the  value  of  one 
week's  wages  "of  the  laboring  man  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  his  protection.  He 
ought  always  to  receive  his  wages  in  gold 
and  silver.  Of  all  men  on  the  earth,  the 
laborer  is  most  interested  in  having  a  sound 
and  stable  currency. 

"All  other  circumstances  being  equal,  I 
agree  with  the  Senator  from  Kentucky 
that  that  country  is  most  prosperous  where 
labor  commands  the  highest  wages.  I  do 
not,  however,  mean  by  the  terms  '  highest 
wages,'  the  greatest  nominal  amount. 
During  the  revolutionary  war,  one  day's 
work  commanded  a  hundred  dollars  of 
continental  paper ;  but  this  would  have 
scarcely  purchased  a  breakfast.  The  more 
proper  expression  would  be,  to  say  that 
that  country  is  most  nrosperous  where 
labor  commands  the  greatest  reward ; 
where  one  day's  labor  will  procure  not  the 
greatest  nominal  amount  of  a  depreciated 
currency,  but  most  of  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life.  If,  therefore,  you  should, 
in  some  degree,  reduce  the  nominal  price 
paid  for  labor,  by  reducing  the  amount  of 

four  bank  issues  within  rea.sonable  and  safe 
imits,  and  establishing  a  metallic  basis 
for  your  paper  circulation,  would  this  in- 
jure the  laborer  ?  Certainly  not ;  because 
the  price  of  all  the  necessaries  and  com- 
forts of  life  are  reduced  in  the  same  pro- 
portion, and  he  will  be  able  to  purchase 
more  of  them  for  one  dollar  in  a  sound 
state  of  the  currency,  than  he  could  have 
done,  in  the  days  of  extravagant  expansion, 
for  a  dollar  and  a  quarter.  So  far  from  in- 
juring, it  will  greatly  benefit  the  labor- 
ing man.  It  will  insure  to  h  im  constant  em- 
ployment and  regular  prices,  paid  in  a 
sound  currency,  which,  of  all  things,  he 
ought  most  to  desire  :  and  it  will  save  him 
from  being  involved  in  ruin  by  a  recur- 
rence of  those  periodical  expansions  and 
contractions  of  the  currency,  which  have 
hitherto  convulsed  the  country. 

"  This  sound  state  of  the  currency  will 


have  another  most  happy  effect  upon  the 
laboring  man.  He  will  receive  his  wages 
in  gold  and  silver ;  and  this  will  induce 
him  to  lay  up,  for  future  use,  such  a  por- 
tion of  them  as  he  can  spare,  after  satisfy- 
ing his  immediate  wants.  This  he  will 
not  do  at  present,  because  he  knows  not 
whether  the  trash  which  he  is  now  com- 
pelled to  receive  as  money,  will  continue 
to  be  of  any  value  a  week  or  a  month 
hereafter.  A  knowledge  of  this  fact  tends 
to  banish  economy  from  his  dwelling,  and 
induces  him  to  expend  all  his  wages  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  lest  they  may  become 
worthless  on  his  hands. 

"Sir,  the  laboring  classes  understand 
this  subject  perfectly.  It  is  the  hard- 
handed  and  firm-fisted  men  of  the  country 
on  whom  we  must  rely  in  the  day  of 
danger,  who  are  the  most  friendly  to  the 
passage  of  this  bill.  It  is  they  who  are 
the  most  ardently  in  favor  of  inmsing  into 
the  currency  of  the  country  a  very  large 
amount  of  the  precious  metels." 


IJcvrls  Cass  on  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

tVom  a  fpeech  made  on  the  20th  of  February,  1854. 

Mr.  President:  I  have  not  withheld  the 
expression  of  my  regret  elsewhere,  nor 
shall  I  withhold  it  here,  that  this  question 
of  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise, 
which  opens  all  the  disputed  points  con- 
nected with  the  subject  of  Congressional 
action  upon  slavery  in  the  territories  of  the 
United  States,  has  been  brought  before  us. 
I  do  not  think  the  practical  advantages  to 
result  from  the  measure  will  outweigh  the 
injury  which  the  ill-feeling,  fated  to  ac- 
company the  discussion  of  this  subject 
through  the  country,  is  sure  to  produce. 
And  I  was  confirmed  in  this  impression 
from  what  was  said  by  the  Senator  from 
Tennessee,  (Mr.  Jones,)  by  the  Senator 
from  Kentucky,  (Mr.  Dixon,)  and  from 
North  Carolina,  (Mr.  Badger,)  and  also  by- 
the  remarks  which  fell  from  the  Senator 
from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Hunter,)  and  in  which 
I  fully  concur,  that  the  South  will  never 
receive  any  benefit  from  this  measure,  so 
far  as  respects  the  extension  of  slavery  ; 
for,  legislate  as  we  may,  no  human  power 
can  establish  it  in  the  regions  defined  by 
these  bills.  And  such  were  the  sentiments 
of  two  eminent  patriots,  to  whose  exertions 
we  are  greatly  indebted  for  the  satisfactory 
termination  of  the  difliculties  of  1860,  and 
who  since  passed  from  their  labors,  and,  I 
trust,  to  their  reward.  Thus  believing,  I 
should  have  been  better  content  had  the 
whole  subject  been  left  as  it  was  by  the  bill 
when  first  introduced  by  the  Senator  from 
Illinois,  without  any  provision  regarding 
the  Missouri  compromise.  I  am  aware 
that  it  was  reported  that  I  intended  to  pro* 


BOOKiii.J      CLEMENT    L.  VALLANDIGHAM  ON  SLAVERY. 


9T 


pose  the  repeal  of  that  measure,  but  it  was 
an  error.  My  intentions  were  wholly  mis- 
understood. I  had  no  design  whatever  to 
take  such  a  step,  and  thus  resuscitate  a 
deed  of  conciliation  which  had  done  its 
work,  and  done  it  well,  and  which  was 
hallowed  by  patriotism,  by  success,  and  by 
its  association  with  great  names,  now  trans- 
ferred to  history.  It  belonged  to  a  past 
generation ;  and  in  the  midst  of  a  political 
tempest  which  appalled  the  wisest  and 
firmest  in  the  land,  it  had  said  to  the  waves 
of  agitation,  Peace,  be  still,  and  they  be- 
came still.  It  would  have  been  better,  in 
my  opinion,  not  to  disturb  its  slumber,  as 
all  useful  and  practical  objects  could  have 
been  attained  without  it.  But  the  ques- 
tion is  here  without  my  agency. 


Clement  Ij.  Vallandlgham  on  Slavery. 

Cktoher  29,  1855. 

"Slavery,  gentlemen,  older  in  other 
countries  also,  than  the  records  of  human 
society,  existed  in  America  at  the  date  of 
its  discovery.  The  first  slaves  of  the  Euro- 
pean, were  natives  of  the  soil :  and  a 
Puritan  governor  of  Massachusetts,  founder 
of  the  family  of  Winthrop,  bequeathed 
his  soul  to  God,  and  his  Indian  slaves  to 
the  lawfiil  heirs  of  his  body.  Negro 
slavery  was  introduced  into  Hispaniola  in 
1501 :  more  than  a  century  before  the  colo- 
nization of  America  by  the  English. 
Massachusetts,  by  express  enactment  in 
1641  punishing  *  manstealing '  with  death : 
— ana  it  u  so  punished  to  this  day  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States — legalized 
yet  the  enslaving  of  captives  taken  in  war, 
and  of  such  'strangers,'  foreigners,  as 
should  be  acquired  by  purchase:  while 
confederate  Ne.v  England,  two  years  later, 
providing  for  the  equitable  division  of 
lands,  goods  and  ^persons,'  as  equally  a 
part  of  the  'spoils'  of  war,  enacted  also 
the  first  fugitive  slave  law  in  America. 
White  slaves — convicts  and  paupers  some 
of  them  ;  others  at  a  later  day,  prisoners 
taken  at  the  battles  of  Dunbar  and  Wor- 
cester, and  of  Sedgemoor — were  at  the 
first,  employed  in  Virginia  and  the  British 
West  Indies.  Bought  in  England  by 
English  dealers,  among  whom  was  the 
queen  of  James  II.,  with  many  of  his  no- 
bles and  courtiers,  some  of  them  perhaps 
of  the  house  of  Sutherland;  they  were 
imported  and  sold  at  auction  to  the  highest 
biader.  In  1620,  a  Dutch  man-of-war  first 
landed  a  cargo  of  slaves  upon  the  banks 
of  James  River.  But  the  earliest  slave 
ship  belonging  to  English  colonists,  was 
fitted  out  in  1645,  by  a  member  of  the 
Puritan  church  of  Boston.  Fostered  still 
by  English  princes  and  nobles  :  confirmed 
and  cherished  by  British  legislation  and 

35 


judicial  decisions,  even  against  the  wishes 
and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the 
Colonies,  the  traffic  increased  ;  slaves  mul- 
tiplied, and  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1776, 
every  colony  was  now  become  a  slave  state ; 
and  the  sun  went  down  that  day  upon  four 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of  those  who 
in  the  cant  of  eighty  years  later,  are  styled 
*  human  chattels,'  but  who  were  not  by  the 
act  of  that  day  emancipated. 

"  Eleven  years  aiterwards,  delegates  as- 
sembled at  Philadelphia,  from  every  state 
except  Rhode  Island,  ignoring  the  ques- 
tion of  the  sinfiilness  and  immorality  of 
slavery,  as  a  subject  with  which  they  as 
the  representatives  of  separate  and  inde- 
pendent states  had  no  concern,  ibunded  a 
union  and  framed  a  constitution,  which 
leaving  with  each  state  the  exclusive  con- 
trol and  regulation  of  its  own  domestic 
institutions,  and  providing  for  the  taxation 
and  representation  of  slaves,  gave  no  right 
to  Congress  to  debate  or  to  legislate  con- 
cerning slavery  in  the  states  or  territories, 
except  for  the  interdiction  of  the  slave 
trade  and  the  extradition  of  fugitive 
slaves.  The  Plan  of  Union  proposed  by 
Franklin  in  1754,  had  contained  no  allu- 
sion even  to  slavery;  and  the  articles  of 
Confedfration  of  1778,  but  a  simple  recog- 
nition of  its  existence — so  wholly  was  it  re- 
garded then,  a  domestic  and  local  concern. 
In  1787  every  state,  except  perhaps  Massa- 
chusetts, tolerated  slavery  either  absolutely 
or  conditionally. — But  the  number  of 
slaves  north  of  Maryland,  never  great, 
was  even  yet  comparatively  small ;  not  ex- 
ceeding forty  thousand  in  a  total  slave 
population  of  six  hundred  thousand.  In 
the  North,  chief  carrier  of  slaves  to  others 
even  as  late  as  1807,  slavery  never  took 
firm  root.  Nature  warred  against  it  in 
that  latitude  ;  otherwise  every  state  in  the 
Union  would  have  been  a  slave-holding 
jtate  to  this  daj^.  It  was  not  profitable 
there ;  and  it  died  out — lingering  indeed 
in  New  York  till  July,  f827.  It  died  out : 
but  not  so  much  by' the  manumission  of 
slaves,  as  by  their  transportation  and  sale 
in  the  South :  and  thus  New  Endand,  sir, 
turned  an  honestpenny  with  her  left  hand, 
and  with  her  right,  modestly  wrote  herself 
down  in  history,  as  both  'generous  and 
just. 

"  In  the  South,  gentlemen,  all  this  was 
precisely  reversed.  The  earliest  and  most 
resolute  enemies  to  slavery,  were  Southern 
men.  But  climate  had  fastened  the  insti- 
tution upon  them ;  and  they  found  no  way 
to  strike  it  down.  From  the  beginning 
indeed,  the  Southern  colonies  especially 
had  resisted  the  introduction  of  African 
slaves ;  and  at  the  very  outset  of  the  revo- 
lution, Virginia  and  North  Carolina  in- 
terdicted the  slave  trade.  The  Continentjil 
Congress  soon  after,  on  the  sixth  of  April, 
1776,  three  months  earlier  than  the  !>•• 


98 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


claration  of  Independence,  resolved  that 
no  more  slaves  ought  to  be  imported  into 
the  thirteen  colonies.  Jefferson,  in  his 
draught  of  the  Declaration,  had  de- 
nounced the  King  of  England  alike  for 
encouraging  the  slave  trade,  and  for  fo- 
menting servile  insurrection  in  the  prov- 
inces. Ten  years  later,  he  boldly  attacked 
slavery  in  his  "  Notes  on  Virginia ;"  and 
in  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation, 
prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
with  its  solemn  compacts  and  compromises 
upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  proposed  to  ex- 
clude it  from  the  territory  northwest  the 
river  Ohio.  Colonel  Mason  of  Virginia 
vehemently  condemned  it,  in  the  conven- 
tion of  1787.  Nevertheless  it  had  already 
become  manifest  that  slaverjr  must  soon 
die  away  in  the  North,  but  in  the  South 
continue  and  harden  into  perhaps  a  per- 
manent, uneradicable  system.  Hostile  in- 
terests and  jealousies  sprang  up,  therefore, 
in  bitterness  even  in  the  convention.  But 
the  blood  of  the  patriot  brothers  of  Caro- 
lina and  Massachusetts  smoked  yet  upon 
the  battle  fields  of  the  revolution.  The 
recollection  of  their  kindred  language, 
and  common  dangers  and  sufferings, 
burned  still  fresh  in  their  hearts.  Patriot- 
ism proved  more  powerful  than  jealousy, 
and  good  sense  stronger  than  fanaticism. 
There  wer6  no  Sewards,  no  Hales,  no 
Sumners,  no  Greeleys,  no  Parkers,  no 
Chase,  in  that  convention.  There  was  a 
Wilson;  but  he  rejoiced  not  in  the  name 
of  Henry;  and  he  was  a  Scotchman. 
There  was  a  clergyman — no,  not  in  the 
convention  of  '87,  but  in  the  Congress  of 
'76 ;  but  it  w^as  the  devout,  the  learned,  the 
pious,  the  patriotic  Witherspoon  ;  of  for- 
eign birth  also,  a  native  of  Scotland,  too. 
The  men  of  that  day  and  generation,  sir 
were  content  to  leave  the  question  of 
slavery  just  where  it  belonged.  It  did  not 
occur  to  them,  that  each  one  among  them 
was  accountable  for  '  the  sin  of  slave-hold- 
ing '  in  his  fellow ;  and  that  to  ease  his 
tender  conscience  of  the  burden,  all  the 
fruits  of  revolutionary  privation  and 
blood  and  treasure ;  all  the  recollections  of 
the  past;  all  the  hopes  of  the  future: 
nay  the  Union,  and  with  it,  domestic  tran- 
quillity and  national  independence,  ought 
to  be  offered  up  as  a  sacrince.  They  were 
content  to  deal  with  political  questions ; 
and  to  leave  cases  oi  conscience  to  the 
church  and  the  schools,  or  to  the  indi- 
vidual man.  And  accordingly  to  this 
Union  and  Constitution,  based  upon  these 
,  compromises — execrated  now  as  *  cove- 
nants with  death  and  leagues  with  hell ' — 
every  state  acceded :  and  upon  these 
foundations,  thus  broad  and  deep,  and 
stable,  a  political  superstructure  has,  as  if 
by  magic,  arisen,  which  in  symmetry  and 
proportion — and,  if  we  would  but  be 
true  to  our  trust,  in  strength  and  durabil- 


ity— finds  no  parallel  in  the  world's 
history. 

"Patriotic  sentiments,  sir,  such  as 
marked  the  era  of  '89,  continued  to  guide 
the  statesmen  and  people  of  the  country 
for  more  than  thirtv  years,  full  of  pros- 
perity ;  till  in  a  dead  political  calm,  con- 
sequent upon  temporary  extinguishment 
of  the  ancient  party  lines  and  issues,  the 
Missouri  Question  resbunded  through 
the  land  with  the  hollow  moan  of  the 
earthquake,  shook  the  pillars  of  the  re- 
public even  to  their  deep  foundations. 

"  Within  these  thirty  years,  gentlemen, 
slavery  as  a  system,  had  been  a^lished  by 
law  or  disuse,  quietly  and  without  agita- 
tion, in  every  state  north  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line — in  many  of  them,  lingering, 
indeed,  in  individual  cases,  so  late  as  tb  3 
census  of  184C.  But  except  in  half  a 
score  of  instances,  the  question  had  r  ot 
been  obtruded  upon  Congress.  The  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Act  of  1793  had  been  passed 
without  opposition  and  without  a  division, 
in  the  Senate ;  and  by  a  vote  of  forty-eight 
to  seven,  in  the  House.  The  slave  trade 
had  been  declared  piracy  punishable  with 
death.  Kespectful  petitions  from  the 
Quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  and  others, 
upon  the  slavery  question,  were  referred 
to  a  committee,  and  a  report  made  there- 
on, which  laid  the  matter  a*  rest.  Other 
petitions  afterwards  were  quietly  rejected, 
and,  in  one  instance,  returned  to  the  peti- 
tioner. Louisiana  and  Florida,  both 
slave-holding  countries,  had  without  agi- 
tation been  added  to  our  territory.  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Missi§sippi, 
and  Alabama,  slave  states  each  one  of 
them,  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union 
without  a  murmur.  No  Missouri  Restric- 
tion, no  Wilmot  Proviso  had  as  yet  reared 
its  discordant  front  to  terrify  and  confound. 
Non-intervention  was  then  both  the 
practice  and  the  doctrine  of  the  statesmen 
and  people  of  that  period :  though,  as 
yet,  no  hollow  platform  enunciated  it  as 
an  article  of  faith,  from  which,  neverthe- 
less, obedience  might  be  withheld,  and  the 
platform  *  spit  upon,'  provided  the  tender 
conscience  of  the  recusant  did  not  forbid 
him  to  support  the  candidate  and  help  to 
secure  the   spoils.' 

"  I  know,  sir,  that  it  is  easy,  very  easy, 
to  denounce  all  this  as  a  defence  of  slav- 
ery itself.  Be  it  so :  be  it  so.  But  I  have 
not  discussed  the  institution  in  any  re- 
spect ;  moral,  religious,  or  political.  Hear 
me.  I  express  no  opinion  in  regard  to  it: 
and  as  a  citizen  of  the  north,  I  have  ever 
refused,  and  will  steadily  refuse,  to  discuss 
the  system  in  any  of  these  particulars.  It 
is  precisely  this  continued  and  persistent 
discussion  and  denunciation  in  tne  North, 
which  has  brought  upon  us  this  present 
most  perilous  crisis :  since  to  teach  men  to 
hate,  is  to  prepare  them  to  destroy,  at 


BOOK  III.] 


HORACE    GRETi;LEY    ON    PROTECTION. 


99 


every  hazard,  the  object  of  their  hatred. 
Sir,  I  am  resolved  only  to  look  upon  slav- 
ery outside  of  Ohio,  just  as  the  founders 
of  the  constitution  and  Union  regarded  it. 
It  is  no  concern  of  mine ;  none,  none :  nor 
of  yours,  Abolitionist.  Neither  of  us 
will  attain  heaven,  by  denunciations  of 
slavery :  nor  shall  we,  I  trow,  be  cast  into 
hell  for  the  sifi  of  others  who  may  hold 
slaves.  I  have  not  so  learned  the  moral 
government  of  the  universe  :  nor  do  I  pre- 
sumptuously and  impiously  aspire  to  the 
attributes  of  Godhead ;  and  seek  to  bear 
upon  my  poor  body  the  iniquities  of  the 
world. 

"  I  know  well  indeed,  Mr.  President, 
that  in  the  evil  day  which  has  befallen  us, 
all  this  and  he  who  utters  it,  shall  be  de- 
nounced as  '  pro-slavery ; '  and  already 
from  ribald  throats,  there  comes  up  the 
slavering,  drivelling,  idiot  epithet  of 
'dough-face.'  Again,  be  it  so.  These, 
Abolitionist,  are  your  only  weapons  of 
W^arfare  :  and  I  hurl  them  back  defiantly 
into  your  teeth.  I  speak  thus  boldly,  be- 
cause I  speak  in  and  to  and  for  the  North. 
It  is  time  that  the  truth  should  be  known, 
and  heard,  in  this  the  age  of  trimming 
and  subterfuge.  I  speak  this  day  not  as  a 
northern  man,  nor  a  southern  man  ;  but, 
God,  be  thanked,  still  as  a  United  States 
man,  with  United  States  principles  ; — and 
though  the  worst  happen  which  can  hap- 
pen— though  all  be  lost,  if  that  shall  be 
our  fate ;  and  I  walk  through  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  political  death,  I  will  live 
by  them  and  die  by  them.  If  to  love  my 
country ;  to  cherish  the  Union  ;  to  revere 
the  Constitution  :  if  to  abhor  the  madness 
and  hate  the  treason  which  would  lift  up 
a  sacrilegious  hand  against  either ;  if  to 
read  that  in  the  past,  to  behold  it  in  the 

f)resent,  to  foresee  it  in  the  future  of  this 
and,  which  is  of  more  value  to  us  and  the 
world  for  ages  to  come,  than  all  the  multi- 
plied millions  who  have  inhabited  Africa 
from  the  creation  to  this  day : — if  this  it 
is  to  be  pro-slavery,  then,  in  every  nerve, 
fibre,  vein,  bone,  tendon,  joint  and  liga- 
ment, from  the  topmost  hair  of  the  head 
to  the  last  extremity  of  the  foot,  I  am  all 
over  and  altogether  a  pro-slavery  man." 


Speecb  of  Horace  Greeley  on  tbe  Qronnda 
of  Protection.* 

Mr.  President  and  Respected  Audi- 
tors : — It  has  devolved  on  me,  as  junior 

•  Speech  at  the  Tabernacle,  New  York,  February  10, 
184.3,  in  public  debate  on  this  resolution  : — 

Retolved,  That  a  Protective  Tariff  is  conduclye  to  our 
National  Prosperity. 
Affirmative :  Joseph  Blunt, 

Horace  Oreelet. 

Negative :  Samuel  J.  Tildek. 

PaBKE  (JODWIK. 

From  Greeley's  "  BecoUectiona  of  a  Busy  Life." 


advocate  for  the  cause  of  Protection,  to 
open  the  discussion  of  this  question.  I  do 
this  with  less  diffidence  than  I  should  feel 
in  meeting  able  opponents  and  practiced 
disputants  on  almost  any  other  topic,  be- 
cause I  am  strongly  confident  that  you, 
my  hearers,  will  regard  this  as  a  subject 
demanding  logic  rather  than  rhetoric,  the 
exhibition  and  proper  treatment  of  homely 
truths,  rather  than  the  indulgence  of  flights 
of  fancy.  As  sensible  as  you  can  be  of  my 
deficiencies  as  a  debater,  1  have  chosen  to 
put  my  views  on  paper,  in  order  that  I 
may  present  them  in  as  concise  a  manner 
as  possible,  and  not  consume  my  hour  be- 
fore  commencing  my  argument.  You  have 
nothing  of  oratory  to  lose  by  this  course ;  I 
will  hope  that  something  may  be  gained 
to  my  cause  in  clearness  and  force.  And 
here  let  me  say  that,  while  the  hours  I 
have  been  enabled  to  give  to  preparation 
for  this  debate  have  been  few  indeed,  I  feel 
the  less  regret  in  that  my  life  has  been  in 
some  measure  a  preparation.  If  there  be 
any  subject  to  which  I  have  devoted  time, 
and  thought,  and  patient  study,  in  a  spirit 
of  anxious  desire  to  learn  and  follow  the 
truth,  it  is  this  very  question  of  Protection ; 
if  I  have  totally  misapprehended  its 
character  and  bearings,  then  am  I  ignor- 
ant, hopelessly  ignorant  indeed.  And, 
while  I  may  not  hope  to  set  before  you,  in 
the  brief  space  allotted  me,  all  that  is 
essential  to  a  full  understanding  of  a  ques- 
tion which  spans  the  whole  arch  of  Politi- 
cal Economy, — on  which  able  men  have 
written  volumes  without  at  all  exhausting 
it — I  do  entertain  a  sanguine  hope  that  I 
shall  be  able  to  set  before  you  considera- 
tions conclusive  to  the  candid  and  un- 
biassed mind  of  the  policy  and  necessity  of 
Protection.  Let  us  not  waste  our  time 
on  non-essentials.  That  unwise  and  un- 
just measures  have  been  adopted  under 
the  presence  of  Protection,  I  stand  not  here 
to  deny ;  that  laws  intended  to  be  Protec- 
tive have  sometimes  been  injurious  in 
their  tendency,  I  need  not  dispute.  The 
logic  which  would  thence  infer  the  futility 
or  the  danger  of  Protective  Legislation 
would  just  as  easily  prove  all  laws  and  all 

f>olicy  mischievous  and  destructive.  Po- 
itical  Economy  is  one  of  the  latest  born  of 
the  Sciences ;  the  verjr  fact  that  we  meet 
here  this  evening  to  discuss  a  question  so 
fundamental  as  this  proves  it  to  be  yet  in 
its  comparative  infancy.  The  sole  favor  I 
shall  ask  of  my  opponents,  therefore,  is 
that  they  will  not  waste  their  efforts  and 
your  time  in  attacking  positions  that  we  do 
not  maintain,  and  hewing  down  straw 
giants  of  their  own  manufacture,  but  meet 
directly  the  arguments  which  I  shall  ad- 
vance, and  which,  for  the  sake  of  simplicity 
and  clearness,  I  will  proceed  to  put  oefore 
you  in  the  form  of  Propositions  and  their 
Illustrations,  as  follows : — 


100 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


JBOOK  ItL 


Proposition  I.  A  Nation  which  would 
he  prosperous,  must  proseaite  various 
branches  of  Industry^  and  supply  its  vital 
Wants  mainly  by  the  Labor  of  its  ownHands. 

Cast  your  eyes  where  you  will  over  the 
face  of  the  earth,  trace  back  the  History 
of  Man  and  of  Nations  to  the  earliest  re- 
corded periods,  and  I  think  you  will  find 
this  rule  uniformly  prevailing,  that  the 
nation  which  is  eminently  Agricultural 
and  Grain-exporting,  —  which  depends 
mainly  or  principally  on  other  nations 
for  its  regular  supplies  of  Manufactured 
fabrics, — has  been  comparatively  a  poor 
nation,  and  ultimately  a  dependent  nation. 
I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  instant  re- 
sult of  exchanging  the  rude  staples  of 
Agriculture  for  the  more  delicate  fabrics 
of  Art ;  but  I  maintain  that  it  is  the  in- 
evitable tendency.  The  Agricultural  na- 
tion falls  in  debt,  becomes  impoverished, 
and  ultimately  subject.  The  palaces  of 
"merchant  princes"  may  emblazon  its 
harbors  and  overshadow  its  navigable 
waters;  there  may  be  a  mighty  Alex- 
andria, but  a  miserable  Egypt  behind  it; 
a  flourishing  Odessa  or  Dantzic,  but  a 
rude,  thinly  peopled  southern  Russia  or 
Poland ;  the  exchangers  may  flourish  and 
roll  in  luxury,  but  the  producers  famibh 
and  die.  Indeed,  few  old  and  civilized 
countries  become  largely  exporters  of 
grain  until  they  have  lost,  or  by  corrup- 
tion are  prepared  to  surrender,  their  in- 
dependence ;  and  these  often  present  the 
spectacle  of  the  laborer  starving  on  the 
fields  he  has  tilled,  in  the  midst  of  their 
fertility  and  promise.  These  appearances 
rest  upon  and  indicate  a  law,  which  I 
shall  endeavor  hereafter  to  explain.  I 
pass  now  to  my 

Proposition  II.  There  is  a  natural  ten- 
dency in  a  cowparatively  new  Country  to 
become  and  continue  an  Exporter  of  Grain 
and  other  rude  Staples  ana  an  Importer  of 
Manufactures. 

I  think  I  hardly  need  waste  time  in  de- 
monstrating this  proposition,  since  it  is  il- 
lustrated and  confirmed  by  universal  ex- 
perience, and  rests  on  obvious  laws.  The 
new  country  has  abundant  and  fertile  soil, 
and  produces  Grain  with  remarkable  fa- 
cility; also.  Meats,  Timber,  Ashes,  and 
most  rude  and  bulky  articles.  Labor  is 
there  in  demand,  being  required  to  clear, 
to  build,  to  open  roa^,  &c.,  and  the  la- 
borers are  comparatively  few;  while,  in 
older  countries,  Labor  is  abundant  and 
cheap,  as  also  are  Capital,  Machinery,  and 
all  the  means  of  the  cheap  production  of 
Manufactured  fabrics.  I  surely  need  not 
waste  words  to  show  that,  in  the  absence 
of  any  counteracting  policy,  the  new  coun- 
try will  import,  and  continue  to  import, 
largely  of  the  fabrics  of  older  countries, 
ana  to  pay  for  them,  so  far  as  she  may, 
with  her  Agricultural  staples.    I  will  en- 


deavor to  show  hereafter  that  she  will  con- 
tinue to  do  this  long  after  she  has  attained 
a  condition  to  manufacture  them  as  cbeaply 
for  herself,  even  regarding  the  money  cost 
alone.  But  that  does  not  come  under  the 
present  head.  The  whole  history  of  our 
country,  and  especially  from  1782  to  '90, 
when  we  had  no  Tariff  and  scarcely  any 
Paper  Money, — proves  wthat,  whatever 
may  be  the  Currency  or  the  internal 
condition  of  the  new  countrj',  it  will  con- 
tinue to  draw  its  chief  supplies  from  the 
old, — large  or  small  according  to  its  mea- 
sure of  ability  to  pay  or  obtain  credit  for 
them ;  but  still,  putting  Duties  on  Imports 
out  of  the  question,  it  will  continue  to  buy 
its  Manufactures  abroad,  whether  in  pros- 
perity or  adversity,  inflation  or  depression. 

I  now  advance  to  my 

Proposition  III.  It  is  injurious  to  the 
New  Country  thus  to  continue  dependent  for 
its  supplies  of  Clothing  and  Manufactur- 
ed Fabrics  on  the  Old. 

As  this  is  probably  the  point  on  which 
the  doctrines  of  Protection  first  come  di- 
rectly in  collision  with  those  of  Free  Trade, 
I  will  treat  it  more  deliberately,  and  en- 
deavor to  illustrate  and  demonstrate  it. 

I  presume  I  need  not  waste  time  in 
showing  that  the  ruling  price  of  Grain  (as 
any  Manufacture)  in  a  region  whence  it  is 
considerably  exported,  will  be  its  price  at 
the  point  to  which  it  is  exported,  less  the 
cost  of  such  transportation.  For  instance : 
the  cost  of  transporting  Wheat  hither  from 
large  grain-growing  sections  of  Illinois 
was  last  fall  sixty  cents ;  and.  New  York 
being  their  most  available  market,  and  the 
price  here  ninety  cents,  the  market  there 
at  once  settled  at  thirty  cents.  As  this  ad- 
justment of  prices  rests  on  a  law  obvious, 
immutable  as  gravitation,  I  presume  I 
neeet  not  waste  words  in  establishing  it. 

I  proceed,  then,  to  my  next  point.  The 
average  price  of  Wheat  throughout  the 
world  is  something  less  than  one  dollar 
per  bushel ;  higher  where  the  consumption 
largely  exceeds  the  adjacent  production, 
lower  where  the  production  largely 
exceeds  the  immeaiate  consumption 
(I  put  out  of  view  in  this  statement  the 
inequalities  created  by  Tariffs,  as  I  choose 
at  this  point  to  argue  the  question  on  the 
basis  of  universal  Free  Trade,  which  is  of 
course  the  basis  most  favorable  to  my  op- 
ponents). I  say,  then,  if  all  Tariffs  were 
abolished  to-morrow,  the  price  of  Wheat 
in  England — that  being  the  most  consider- 
able ultimate  market  of  surpluses,  and  the 
chief  supplier  of  our  manufactures — would 
govern  the  price  in  this  country,  while  it 
would  be  itself  governed  by  the  price  at 
which  that  staple  could  be  procured  in 
sufliciency  from  other  grain-growing  re- 

fions.    Now,  Southern  Russia  and  Central 
'oland  produce  Wheat  for  exportation  at 
thirty  to  fifty  cents  per  bushel ;  but  the 


BOOK  III.] 


HORACE  GREELEY  ON  PROTECTION. 


101 


price  is  so  increased  by  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation that  at  Dantzic  it  averages  some 
ninety  and  at  Odessa  some  eighty  cents  per 
bushel.  The  cost  of  importation  to  Eng- 
land from  these  ports  being  ten  and  fifteen 
cents  respectively,  the  actual  cost  of  the 
article  in  England,  all  charges  paid,  and 
allowing  for  a  small  increase  of  price  con- 
sequent on  the  increased  demand,  would 
not  in  the  absence  of  all  Tariffs  whatever, 
exceed  one  dollar  and  ten  cents  per  bushel ; 
and  this  would  be  the  average  price  at 
which  we  must  sell  it  in  England  in  order 
to  buy  thence  the  great  bulk  of  our  Manu- 
factures. I  think  no  man  will  dispute  or  seri- 
ously vary  this  calculation.  Neither  can  any 
reflecting  man  seriously  contend  that  we 
could  purchase  forty  or  fifty  millions'  worth 
or  more  of  Foreign  Manufactures  per  an- 
num, and  pay  for  them  in  additional  pro- 
ducts of  our  Slave  Labor — in  Cotton  and 
Tobacco.  The  consumption  of  these  arti- 
cles is  now  pressed  to  its  utmost  limit, — 
that  of  Cotton  especially  is  borne  down  by 
the  immense  weight  of  the  crops  annually 
thrown  upon  it,  and  almost  constantly  on 
the  verge  of  a  glut.  If  we  are  to  buy  our 
Manufactures  principally  from  Europe,  we 
must  pay  for  the  additional  amount  mainly 
in  the  products  of  Northern  Agricultural 
industry, — ^that  is  universally  agreed  on. 
The  point  to  be  determined  is,  whether  we 
could  obtain  them  abroad  cheaper — realhj 
and  positively  chea'per,  all  Tariffs  being 
abrogated — than  under  an  efficient  system 
of  Protection. 

Let  us  closely  scan  this  question.  Illi- 
nois and  Indiana,  natural  grain-growing 
States,  need  cloths ;  and,  in  the  absence  of 
all  tariffs,  these  can  be  transported  to  them 
from  England  for  two  to  three  per  cent,  of 
their  value.  It  follows,  then,  that,  in  order 
to  undersell  any  American  competition, 
the  British  manufacturer  need  only  put  his 
cloths  at  his  iACtoxy Jice  per  cent,  below  the 
wholesale  price  of  such  cloths  in  Illinois, 
in  order  to  command  the  American  market. 
That  is,  allowing  a  fair  broadcloth  to  be 
manufactured  in  or  near  Illinois  for  three 
dollars  and  a  quarter  per  yard,  cash  price, 
in  the  face  of  British  rivalry,  and  paying 
American  prices  for  materials  and  labor, 
the  British  manufacturer  has  only  to  make 
that  same  cloth  at  three  dollars  per  yard  in 
Leeds  or  Huddersfield,  and  he  can  de- 
cidedly undersell  his  American  rival,  and 
drive  him  out  of  the  market.  Mind,  I  do 
not  say  that  he  would  supply  the  Illinois 
market  at  that  price  after  the  American 
rivalry  had  been  crushed ;  I  know  he  would 
not;  but,  so  long  as  any  serious  effort  to 
build  up  or  sustain  manufactures  in  this 
country  existed,  the  large  and  strong  Euro- 
pean establishments  would  struggle  for  the 
additional  market  which  our  growing  and 
plenteoas  country  so  invitingly  proffers. 
It  is  well  known  that  in  1815-16,  after  the 


close  of  the  last  war,  British  manufactures 
were  offered  for  sale  in  our  chief  markets 
at  the  rate  of  '^  pound  for  pound," — that  is, 
fabrics  of  which  the  first  cost  to  the  manu- 
fatturer  was  $4.44  were  offered  in  Boston 
market  at  $3.33,  duty  paid.  This  was  not 
sacrifice — it  was  dictated  by  a  profound 
forecast.  Well  did  the  foreign  fabrlcants 
know  that  their  self-interest  dictated  the 
utter  overthrow,  at  whatever  cost,  of  the 
young  rivals  which  the  war  had  built  up 
in  this  country,  and  which  our  government 
and  a  majority  of  the  people  had  blindly 
or  indolently  abandoned  to  their  fate. 
AVilliam  Cobbett,  the  celebrated  radical, 
but  with  a  sturdy  English  heart,  boasted 
upon  his  first  return  to  England  that  he 
had  been  actively  engaged  here  in  pro- 
moting the  interests  of  his  country  by 
compassing  the  destruction  of  American 
manufactories  in  various  ways  which  he 
specified — "sometimes  (says  he)  by  Fire." 
We  all  know  that  great  sacrifices  are  often 
submitted  to  by  a  rich  and  long  established 
stage  owner,  steamboat  proprietor,  or  what- 
ever, to  break  down  a  young  and  compara- 
tively penniless  rival.  So  in  a  thousand 
instances,  especially  in  a  rivalry  for  so  large 
a  prize  as  the  supplying  with  manufactures 
of  a  great  and  growing  nation.  But  I  here 
put  aside  all  calculations  of  a  temporary 
sacrifice ;  I  suppose  merely  that  the  foreign 
manufacturers  will  supply  our  grain  grow- 
ing states  with  cloths  at  a  trifling  profit  so 
long  as  they  encounter  American  rivalry ; 
and  I  say  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that,  if 
it  cost  three  dollars  and  a  quarter  a  yard 
to  make  a  fair  broadcloth  in  or  near  Illinois 
in  the  infancy  of  our  arts  and  a  like  article 
could  be  made  in  Europe  for  three  dollars, 
then  the  utter  destruction  of  the  American 
manufacture  is  inevitable.  The  foreign 
drives  it  out  of  the  market  and  its  maker 
into  bankruptcy ;  and  now  our  farmers,  in 
purchasing  their  cloths,  "  buy  where  they 
can  buy  cheapest,"  which  is  the  first  com- 
mandment of  free  trade,  and  get  their 
cloth  of  England  at  three  dollars  a  yard. 
I  maintain  that  this  would  not  last  a  year 
after  the  American  factories  had  been 
silenced — that  then  the  British  operator 
would  begin  to  think  of  profits  as  well  as 
bare  cost  for  his  cloth,  and  to  adjust  his 
prices  so  as  to  recover  what  it  had  cost  him 
to  put  down  the  dangerous  competition. 
But  let  this  pass  for  the  present,  and  say 
the  foreign  cloth  is  sold  to  Illinois  for 
three  dollars  per  yard.  We  have  yet  to 
ascertain  how  much  she  has  gained  or  lost 
by  the  operation. 

This,  says  Free  Trade,  is  very  plain  and 
easv.  The  four  simple  rules  of  arithmetic 
suffice  to  measure  it.  She  has  bought,  say 
a  million  yards  of  foreign  cloth  for  three 
dollars,  where  she  ibrmerly  paid  three  and 
a  quarter  for  American;  making  a  clear 
saviiig  of  a  quaiter  of  a  million  dollars. 


102 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


But  not  so  fast — ^we  have  omitted  one 
important  element  of  the  calculation. 
We  have  yet  to  see  what  effect  the  pur- 
chase of  her  cloth  in  Europe,  as  contrasted 
with  its  manufacture  at  home,  will  have 
on  the  price  of  her  Agricultural  staples. 
We  have  seen  already  that,  in  case  she  is 
forced  to  sell  a  portion  of  her  surplus  pro- 
duct in  Europe,  the  price  of  that  surplus 
must  be  the  price  which  can  be  procured 
for  it  in  England,  less  the  cost  of  carrying 
it  there.  In  other  words:  the  average 
price  in  England  being  one  dollar  and  ten 
cents,  and  the  average  cost  of  bringing  it 
to  New  York  being  at  least  fifty  cents  and 
then  of  transporting  it  to  England  at  least 
twenty-five  more,  the  net  proceeds  to  Il- 
linois cannot  exceed  thirtv-five  cents  per 
bushel.  I  need  not  more  than  state  so  ob- 
vious a  truth  as  that  the  price  at  which  the 
surplus  can  be  sold  governs  the  price  of 
the  whole  crop ;  nor,  indeed,  if  it  were 
possible  to  deny  this,  would  it  at  all  affect 
the  argument.  The  real  question  to  be  de- 
termined is,  not  whether  the  American  or 
the  British  manufacturers  will  furnish  the 
most  cloth  for  the  least  cash,  but  which 
will  supply  the  requisite  quantity  of  Cloth 
for  the  least  Grain  in  Illinois.  Now  we 
have  seen  already  that  the  price  of  Grain 
at  any  point  where  it  is  readily  and  largely 
produced  is  governed  by  its  nearness  to  or 
remoteness  from  the  market  to  which  its 
surplus  tends,  and  the  least  favorable  mar- 
ket in  which  any  portion  of  it  must  be 
sold.  For  instance:  If  Illinois  produces 
a  surplus  of  five  million  bushels  of  Grain, 
and  can  sell  one  million  of  bushels  in  New 
York,  and  two  millions  in  New  England, 
and  another  million  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  for  the  fifth  million  is  compelled  to 
seek  a  market  in  England,  and  that,  being 
the  remotest  point  at  which  she  sells,  and 
the  point  most  exposed  to  disadvantageous 
competition,  is  naturally  the  poorest  mar- 
ket, that  farthest  and  lowest  market  to 
which  she  sends  her  surplus  will  govern,  to 
a  great  extent  if  not  absolutely,  the  price 
she  receives  for  the  whole  surplus.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  let  her  Cloths,  her 
wares,  be  manufactured  in  her  midst,  or 
on  the  junctions  and  waterfalls  in  her  vi- 
cinity, thus  affording  an  immediate  market 
for  her  Grain,  and  now  the  average  price 
of  it  rises,  by  an  irresistible  law,  nearly  or 
quite  to  the  average  of  the  world.  Assum- 
ing that  average  to  be  one  dollar,  the  price 
in  Illinois,  making  allowance  for  the  fer- 
tility and  cheapness  of  her  soil,  could  not 
fall  below  an  average  of  seventy-five  cents. 
Indeed,  the  experience  of  the  periods 
when  her  consumption  of  Grain  has  been 
equal  to  her  production,  as  well  as  that  of 
other  sections  where  the  same  has  been  the 
case,  proves  conclusively  that  the  average 
price  of  her  Wheat  would  exceed  that 
sum. 


We  are  now  ready  to  calculate  the  profit 
and  loss.  Illinois,  under  Free  Trade,  whh 
her  "  workshops  in  Europe,"  will  buy  her 
cloth  twenty-five  cents  per  yard  cheaper, 
and  thus  make  a  nominal  s-aving  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  her 
year's  supply ;  but,  she  thereby  compels 
herself  to  pay  for  it  in  Wheat  at  thirty- 
five  instead  of  seventy-five  cents  per  bush- 
el, or  to  give  over  nine  and  one  third 
bushels  of  Wheat  for  every  yard  undtr 
Free  Trade,  instead  of  four  and  a  third 
under  a  system  of  Home  Production.  In 
other  words,  while  she  is  making  a  quarter 
of  a  million  dollars  by  buying  her  Cloth 
"  where  she  can  buy  cheapest,"  she  is  ks- 
ing  nearly  Two  Millions  of  Dollars  on  the 
net  product  of  her  Grain.  The  striking  of 
a  balance  between  her  profit  and  her  Joss 
is  certainly  not  a  difficult,  but  rather  an 
unpromising,  operation. 

Or,  let  us  state  the  result  in  another 
form  :  She  can  buy  her  cloth  a  little  cheap- 
er in  England, — Labor  being  there  lower, 
Machinery  more  perfect,  and  Capital  more 
abundant ;  but,  in  order  to  pay  for  it,  she 
must  not  merely  sell  her  own  products  at  a 
correspondingly  low  price,  but  enough 
lower  to  overcome  the  cost  of  transporting 
them  from  Illinois  to  England.  She  will 
give  the  cloth-maker  in  England  less  Grain 
for  her  Cloth  than  she  would  give  to  the 
man  who  made  it  on  her  own  soil ;  but  for 
every  bushel  she  sends  him  in  payment 
for  his  fabric,  she  must  give  two  to  the 
wagoner,  boatman,  shipper,  and  factor  who 
transport  it  thither.  On  the  whole  product 
of  her  industry,  two  thirds  is  tolled  out  by 
carriers  and  bored  out  bj  Inspectors,  until 
but  a  beggarly  remnant  is  left  to  satisfy  the 
fabricator  of  her  goods. 

And  here  I  trust  I  have  made  obvious  to 
you  the  law  which  dooms  ^n  Agricultural 
Country  to  inevitable  and  ruinous  disad- 
vantage in  exchanging  its  staples  for  Manu- 
factures, and  involves  it  in  perpetual  and 
increasing  debt  and  dependence.  The  fact, 
I  early  alluded  to ;  is  not  the  reason  now 
apparent  ?  It  is  not  that  Agricultural  com- 
munities are  more  extravagant  or  less  in- 
dustrious than  those  in  which  Manufactures 
or  Commerce  preponderate, — it  is  because 
there  is  an  inevitable  disadvantage  to  Ag- 
riculture in  the  very  nature  of  all  distant 
exchanges.  Its  products  are  far  more 
perishable  than  any  other  ;  they  cannot  so 
well  await  a  future  demand  ;  but  in  their 
excessive  bulk  and  density  is  the  great  evil. 
We  have  seen  that,  while  the  English 
Manufacturer  can  send  his  fabrics  to  Illi- 
nois for  less  than  five  per  cent,  on  their 
first  cost,  the  Illinois  farmer  must  pay  two 
hundred  per  cent,  on  his  Grain  for  its  trans- 
portation to  English  consumers.  In  oth.er 
words :  the  English  manufacturer  need 
only  produce  his  goods  five  per  cent,  below 
the  American  to  drive  the  latter  out  of  the 


BOOK  III.] 


HORACE  GREELEY  ON  PROTECTION. 


103 


Illinois  market,  the  Illinoisan  must  produce 
wheat  for  one-third  of  its  English  price  in 
order  to  compete  with  the  English  and  Po- 
lish grain-grower  in  Birmingham  and  Shef- 
field. 

And  here  is  the  answer  to  that  scintil- 
lation of  Free  Trade  wisdom  which  flashes 
out  in  wonder  that  Manufactures  are 
eternally  and  especially  in  want  of  Protec- 
tion, while  Agriculture  and  Commerce  need 
none.  The  assumption  is  false  in  any 
sense, — our  Commerce  and  Navigation 
cannot  live  without  Protection, — never  did 
live  so, — but  let  that  pass.  It  is  the  inter- 
est of  the  whole  country  which  demands 
that  that  portion  of  its  Industry  which  is 
most  exposed  to  ruinous  foreign  rivalry 
should  be  cherished  and  sustained.  The 
wheat-grower,  the  grazier,  is  protected  by 
ocean  and  land ;  by  the  fact  that  no  foreign 
article  can  be  introduced  to  rival  his  ex- 
cept at  a  cost  for  transportation  of  some 
thirty  to  one  hundred  per  cent,  on  its 
value ;  while  our  Manufactures  can  be  in- 
undated by  foreign  competition  at  a  cost 
of  some  two  to  ten  per  cent.  It  is  the 
grain-grower,  the  cattle-raiser,  who  is  pro- 
tected by  a  duty  on  Foreign  Manufactures, 
quite  as  much  as  the  spinner  or  shoema- 
ker. He  who  talks  of  Manufactures  being 
protected  and  nothing  else,  might  just  as 
sensibly  complain  that  we  fortify  Boston 
and  New  York  and  not  Pittsburg  and  Cin- 
cinnati. 

Again :  You  see  here  our  answer  to  those 
philosophers  who  modestly  tell  us  that 
their  views  are  liberal  and  enlightened, 
while  ours  are  benighted,  selfish,  and  un- 
"]!hristian.  They  tell  us  that  the  foreign 
"ictory-laborer  is  anxious  to  exchange 
■ith  us  the  fruits  of  his  labor, — that  he 
toks  us  to  give  him  of  our  surplus  of  grain 
for  the  cloth  that  he  is  ready  to  make 
cheaper  than  we  can  now  get  it,  while  we 
have  a  superabundance  ot  bread.  Now, 
putting  for  the  present  out  of  the  question 
the  fact  that,  though  our  Tariff  were 
abolished,  his  could  remain, — that  neither 
England,  nor  France,  nor  any  great  man- 
ufacturing country,  would  receive  our 
Grain  untaxed  though  we  offered  so  to 
take  their  goods, — especially  the  fact  that 
they  never  did  so  take  of  us  while  we  were 
freely  taking  of  them, — we  say  to  them, 
"  Sirs,  we  are  Avilling  to  take  Cloth  of  you 
for  Grain ;  but  why  prefer  to  trade  at  a 
ruinous  disadvantage  to  both  ?  Why  should 
there  be  half  the  diameter  of  the  earth  be- 
tween him  who  makes  coats  and  him  who 
makes  bread,  the  one  for  the  other?  We 
are  willing  to  give  you  bread  for  clothes ; 
but  we  are  not  willing  to  pay  two-thirds 
of  our  bread  as  the  cost  of  transporting 
the  other  third  to  vou,  because  we  sincere- 
ly believe  it  needless  and  greatly  to  our 
disadvantage.  We  are  willing  to  Avork  for 
and  buy  of  you,  but  not  to  support  the 


useless  and  crippling  activity  of  a  falsely 
directed  Commerce ;  not  to  contribute  by 
our  sweat  to  the  luxury  of  your  nobles, 
the  powei  of  your  kings.  But  come  to  us, 
you  who  are  honest,  peaceable,  and  indus- 
trious ;  bring  hither  your  machinery,  or,  if 
that  is  not  yours,  bring  out  your  sinews ; 
and  we  will  aid  you  to  reproduce  the  im- 
plements of  vour  skill.  We  will  give  you 
more  bread  lor  your  cloth  here  than  you 
can  possibly  earn  for  it  where  you  are,  if 
you  will  but  come  among  us  and  aid  us  to 
sustain  the  policy  that  secures  steady  em- 
ployment and  a  fair  reward  to  Home  In- 
dustry. We  will  no  longer  aid  to  prolong 
your  existence  in  a  state  of  semi-starvation 
where  you  are  ;  but  we  are  ready  to  share 
with  you  our  Plenty  and  our  Freedom 
here."  Such  istheanswer  which  the  friends 
of  Protection  make  to  the  demand  and  the 
imputation ;  judge  ye  whether  our  policy 
be  indeed  selfish,  un-Christian,  and  insane. 
I  proceed  now  to  set  forth  my 
Peoposition  IV.  That  Equilibrium 
between  Agriculture,  Manufactures  and 
Commerce,  which  we  need,  can  only  be  main- 
tained by  means  of  Protective  Duties. 

You  will  have  seen  that  the  object  we 
seek  is  not  to  make  our  country  a  Manu- 
facturer for  other  nations,  but  for  herself, 
— not  to  make  her  the  baker  and  brewer 
and  tailor  of  other  people,  but  of  her  own 
household.  If  I  understand  at  all  the 
first  rudiments  of  National  Economy,  it  is 
best  for  each  and  all  nations  that  each 
should  mainly  fabricate  for  itself,  freely 
purchasing  of  others  all  such  staples  as  its 
own  soil  or  climate  proves  ungenial  to. 
We  appreciate  quite  as  well  as  our 
opponents  the  impolicy  of  attempting  to 
grow  coffee  in  Greenland  or  glaciers  in 
Malabar, — to  extract  blood  from  a  turnip 
or  sunbeams  from  cucumbers.  A  vast 
deal  of  wit  has  been  expended  on  our 
stupidity  by  our  acuter  adversaries,  but  it 
has  been  quite  thrown  away,  except  as  it 
has  excited  the  hollow  laughter  of  the 
ignorant  as  well  as  thoughtless.  All  this, 
however  sharply  pushed,  falls  wide  of  our 
true  position.  To  all  the  fine  words  we 
hear  about  "  the  impossibility  of  counter- 
acting the  laws  of  Nature,"  "  Trade  Regu- 
lating itself,"  &c.,  «fec.,  we  bow  with  due 
deference,  and  wait  for  the  sage  to  resume 
his  argument.  What  we  do  affirm  is  this, 
that  it  is  best  for  every  nation  to  make  at 
home  all  those  articles  of  its  own  consump- 
tion that  can  just  as  tcell — that  is,  trith 
nearly  or  quite  as  little  labor— be  made  there 
as  anywhere  else.  We  say  it  is  not  wise,  it 
is  not  well,  to  send  to  France  for  boots,  to 
Germany  for  hose,  to  England  for  knives 
and  forks,  and  so  on ;  because  the  real  cost 
of  them  would  be  less, — even  though  the 
nominal  price  should  be  slightly  more, — 
if  we  made  them  in  our  own  country; 
while  the  facility  of  paying  for  them  wou|d 


104 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


be  much  greater.  We  do  not  object  to  the 
occasional  importation  of  choice  articles  to 
operate  as  specimens  and  incentives  to  our 
own  artisans  to  improve  the  quality  and 
finish  of  their  workmanship, — where  the 
home  competition  does  not  avail  to  bring 
the  process  to  its  perfection,  as  it  often 
will.  In  such  cases,  the  rich  and  luxurious 
will  usually  be  the  buyers  of  these  choice 
articles,  and  can  afford  to  pay  a  good  duty. 
There  are  gentlemen  of  extra  polish  in  our 
cities  and  villages  who  think  no  coat  good 
enough  for  them  which  is  not  woven  in  an 
English  loom, — no  boot  adequately  trans- 
parent which  has  not  been  fashioned  by  a 
Parisian  master.  I  quarrel  not  with  their 
taste:  I  only  say  that,  since  the  Govern- 
ment must  have  Revenue  and  the  American 
iurtisan  should  have  Protection,  I  am  glad 
it  is  so  fixed  that  these  gentlemen  shall 
contribute  handsomely  to  the  former,  and 
gratify  their  aspirations  with  the  least  pos- 
sible detriment  to  the  latter.  It  does  not 
invalidate  the  fact  nor  the  efficiency  of 
Protection  that  foreign  competition  with 
American  workmanship  is  not  entirely 
shut  out.  It  is  the  general  result  which  is 
important,  and  not  the  exception.  Now, 
he  who  can  seriously  contend,  as  some 
have  seemed  to  do,  that  ProtetJtive  Duties 
do  not  aid  and  extend  the  domestic  pro- 
duction of  the  articles  so  protected  might 
as  well  undertake  to  argue  the  sun  out  of 
the  heavens  at  mid-day.  All  experience, 
all  common  sense,  condemn  him.  Do  we 
not  know  that  our  Manufactures  first  shot 
op  under  the  stringent  Protection  of  the 
fjnbargo  and  War?  that  they  withered 
and  crumbled  under  the  comparative  Free 
Trade  of  the  few  succeeding  years  ?  that 
they  were  revived  and  extended  by  the 
Tariffs  of  1824  and  '28?  Do  we  not  know 
that  Germany,  crippled  by  British  policy, 
which  inundated  her  with  goods  yet  ex- 
cluded her  grain  and  timber,  was  driven, 
years  since,  to  the  establishment  of  her 
Zoll-Verein  "  or  Tariff  Union, — a  mea- 
sure of  careful  and  stringent  Protection, 
under  which  Manufactures  have  grown  up 
and  flourished  through  all  her  many 
States?  She  has  adhered  steadily,  firmly, 
to  her  Protective  Policy,  while  we  have 
faltered  and  oscillated;  and  what  is  the 
result?  She  has  created  and  established 
her  Manufactures ;  and  in  doing  so  has 
vastly  increased  her  wealth  and  augmented 
the  reward  of  her  industry.  Her  public 
sentiment,  as  expressed  through  its  thou- 
sand channels,  is  almost  unanimous  in 
favor  of  the  Protective  Policy ;  and  now, 
when  England,  finding  at  length  that  her 
cupidity  has  overreached  itself, — that  she 
cannot  supply  the  Germans  with  clothes 
ref^  to  buy  their  bread, — talks  of  relax- 
ing her  Corn-Laws  in  order  to  coax  back 
her  ancient  and  profitable  customer,  the 
answer  is,  "  No ;  it  is  now  too  late.    We 


have  built  up  Home  Manufactures  in  re- 
pelling your  rapacity, — we  cannot  destroy 
them  at  your  caprice.  What  guarantee 
have  we  that,  should  we  accede  to  your 
terms,  you  would  not  return  again  to  your 
policy  of  taking  all  and  giving  none  so 
soon  as  our  factories  had  crumbled  into 
ruin  ?  Besides,  we  have  found  that  we  can 
make  cheaper — really  cheaper — than  we 
were  able  to  buy, — can  pay  better  wages  to 
our  laborers,  and  secure  a  better  and 
steadier  market  for  our  products.  We  are 
content  to  abide  in  the  position  to  which 
you  have  driven  us.     Pass  on !  " 

But  this  is  not  the  sentiment  of  Germany 
alone.  All  Europe  acts  on  the  principle 
of  self-protection ;  because  all  Europe  sees 
its  benefits.  The  British  journals  complain 
that,  though  they  have  made  a  show  of  re- 
laxation in  their  own  Tariff,  and  their  Pre- 
mier has  made  a  Free  Trade  speech  in  Par- 
liament, the  chaff  has  caught  no  birds;  hut 
six  hostile  Tariffs — all  Protective  in  their 
character,  and  all  aimed  at  the  supremacy 
of  British  Manufactures — were  enacted 
within  the  year  1842.  And  thus,  while 
schoolmen  plausibly  talk  of  the  adoption 
and  spread  of  Free  Trade  principles,  and 
their  rapid  advances  to  speedy  ascendency, 
the  practical  man  knows  that  the  truth  is 
otherwise,  and  that  many  years  must 
elapse  before  the  great  Colossus  of  Manu- 
facturing monopoly  will  find  another  Por- 
tugal to  drain  of  her  life-blood  under  the 
delusive  pretence  of  a  commercial  recip- 
rocity. And,  while  Britain  continues  to 
pour  forth  her  specious  treatises  on  Politi- 
cal Economy,  proving  Protection  a  mistake 
and  an  impossibility  through  her  Parlia- 
mentary Reports  and  Speeches  in  Praise  of 
Free  Trade,  the  shrewd  statesmen  of  other 
nations  humor  the  joke  with  all  possible 
gravity,  and  pass  it  on  to  the  next  neigh- 
bor ;  yet  all  the  time  take  care  of  their  own 
interests,  just  as  though  Adam  Smith  had 
never  speculated  nor  Peel  soberly  expati- 
ated on  the  blessings  of  Free  Trade,  look- 
ing round  occasionally  with  a  curious  in- 
terest to  see  whether  anybody  was  really 
taken  in  by  it. 

I  have  partly  anticipated,  yet  I  will  state 
distinctly,  my 

Proposition  V.  Protection  is  necessary 
and  proper  to  sustain  as  well  as  to  create  a 
beneficent  adjustment  of  our  National  In- 
dustry. 

"Why  can't  our  Manufacturers  go  alone?" 

Eetulantly  asks  a  Free-Trader;  "  they  have 
ad  Protection  long  enough.  They  ought 
not  to  need  it  any  more."  To  this  I  answer 
that,  if  Manufactures  were  protected  as  a 
matter  of  special  bounty  or  favor  to  the 
Manufacturers,  a  single  day  were  too  long. 
I  would  not  consent  that  they  should  be 
sustained  one  day  longer  than  the  interests 
of  the  whole  Country  required.  I  think 
you  have  already  seen  that,  not  for  the 


fcooKiii.]  HORACE    GREELEY    ON    PROTECTION. 


105 


s*ke  of  Manufacturers,  but  for  the  sake  of 
all  Productive  Labor,  should  Protection  be 
afforded.  If  I  have  been  intelligible,  you 
will  have  seen  that  the  purpose  and  essence 
of  Protection  is  Labok  -  Saving,  —  the 
making  two  blades  of  grass  gi;ow  instead  of 
one.  This  it  does  by  "  planting  the  Man- 
ufacturer as  nearly  as  may  be  oy  the  side 
of  the  Farmer,"  as  Mr.  Jefferson  expressed 
it,  and  thereby  securing  to  the  latter  a 
market  for  which  he  had  looked  to  Europe 
in  vain.  Now,  the  market  of  the  latter  is 
certain  as  the  recurrence  of  appetite ;  but 
that  is  not  all.  The  Farmer  and  the  Man- 
ufacturer, being  virtually  neighbors,  will 
interchange  their  productions  directly,  or 
with  but  one  intermediate,  instead  of  send- 
ing them  reciprocally  across  half  a  conti- 
nent and  a  broad  ocean,  through  the  hands 
of  many  holders,  until  the  toll  taken  out 
by  one  after  another  has  exceeded  what  re- 
mains of  the  grist.  "  Dear-bought  and 
far-fetched"  is  an  old  maxim,  containing 
more  essential  truth  than  many  a  chapter 
by  a  modern  Professor  of  Political  Econ- 
omy. Under  the  Protective  policy,  instead 
of  having  one  thousand  men  making  Cloth 
in  one  hemisphere,  and  an  equal  number 
raising  Grain  in  the  other,  with  three 
thousand  factitiously  employed  in  trans- 
porting and  interchanging  these  products, 
we  have  over  two  thousand  producers  of 
Grain,  and  as  many  of  Cloth,  leaving  far 
too  little  employment  for  one  thousand  in 
making  the  exchanges  between  them.  This 
consequence  is  inevitable;  although  the 
production  on  either  side  is  not  confined  to 
the  very  choicest  locations,  the  total  prod- 
uct of  their  labor  is  twice  as  much  as  for- 
merly. In  other  words,  there  is  a  double 
quantity  of  food,  clothing,  and  all  the  ne- 
cessaries and  comforts  of  life,  to  be  shared 
among  the  producers  of  wealth,  simply 
from  the  diminution  of  the  number  of  non- 
producers.  If  all  the  men  now  enrolled  in 
Armies  and  Navies  were  advantageously 
employed  in  Productive  Labor,  there  would 
doubtless  be  a  larger  dividend  of  comforts 
and  necessaries  of  life  for  all,  because  more 
to  be  divided  than  now  and  no  greater 
number  to  receive  it;  just  so  in  the  case 
before  us.  Every  thousand  persons  em- 
ployed in  needless  Transportation  and  in 
factitious  Commerce  are  so  many  subtract- 
ed from  the  great  body  of  Producers,  from 
the  proceeds  of  whose  labor  all  must  be 
subsisted.  The  dividend  for  each  must,  of 
course,  be  governed  by  the  magn;*"de  of 
the  quotient. 

But,  if  this  be  so  advantageous,  it  is 
queried,  why  is  any  legislation  necessary? 
Why  would  not  all  voluntarily  see  and 
embrace  it?  I  answer,  because  the  ap- 
parent individual  advantage  is  often  to  be 
pursued  by  a  course  directly  adverse  to  the 
general  welfare.  We  know  that  Free  Trade 
asserts    the    contrary  of  this;    maintain- 


ing that,  if  every  man  jjursucs  that  course 
most  conducive  to  his  individual  interest, 
the  general  good  will  thereby  be  most  cer- 
tainlj^  and  signally  promoted.  But,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  glarmg  exceptions  to  this 
law  which  crowd  our  statute-books  with 
injunctions  and  penalties,  we  are  every- 
where met  with  pointed  contradictions  of 
its  assumption,  which  hallows  and  blesses 
the  pursuits  of  the  gambler,  the  distiller, 
and  the  libertine,  making  the  usurer  a 
saint  and  the  swindler  a  hero.  Adam 
Smith  himself  admits  that  there  are  avo- 
cations which  enrich  the  individual  but 
impoverish  the  community.  So  in  the 
case  before  us.  A  B  is  a  fanner  in  Illi- 
nois, and  has  much  grain  to  sell  or  ex- 
change for  goods.  But,  while  it  is  demon- 
strable that,  if  all  the  manufactures  con- 
sumed in  Illinois  were  produced  there,  the 
price  of  grain  must  rise  nearly  to  the 
average  of  the  world,  it  is  equally  certain 
that  A  Ws  single  act,  in  buying  and  consum- 
ing American  cloth,  will  not  raise  the 
price  of  grain  generally,  nor  df  his  grain. 
It  will  not  perceptibly  affect  the  price  of 
grain  at  all.  A  solemn  compact  of  the 
whole  community  to  use  only  American 
fabrics  would  have  some  effect ;  but  this 
could  never  be  established,  or  never  en- 
forced. A  few  Free-Traders  standing  out, 
selling  their  grain  at  any  advance  which 
might  accrue,  and  buying  "where  they 
could  buy  cheapest,"  would  induce  one 
after  another  to  look  out  for  No.  1,  and  let 
the  public  interests  take  care  of  them- 
selves: so  the  whole  compact  would  fall  to 
pieces  like  a  rope  of  sand.  Many  a  one 
would  say,  "  Why  should  I  aid  to  keep  up 
the  price  of  Produce  ?  I  am  only  a  con- 
sumer oi\t" — not  realizing  or  caring  for 
the  interest  of  the  community,  even  though 
it  less  palpably  involved  his  own ;  and 
that  would  be  an  end.  Granted  that  it  is  de- 
sirable to  encourage  and  prefer  Home  Pro- 
duction and  Manufacture,  a  Tariff  is  the  ob- 
vious way,  and  the  only  way,  in  which  it  can 
be  effectively  and  certainly  accomplished. 

But  why  is  a  Tariff  necessary  after  Manu- 
factures are  once  established  ?  "  You  say," 
says  a  Free-Trader,  "  that  you  can  Manu- 
facture cheaper  if  Protected  than  we  can 
buy  abroad :  then  why  not  do  it  without 
Protection,  and  save  all  trouble?"  Let 
me  answer  this  cavil : — 

I  will  suppose  that  the  Manufactures  of 
this  Country  amount  in  value  to  One 
Hundred  Millions  of  Dollars  per  annum, 
and  those  of  Great  Britain  to  Three  Hun- 
dred Millions.  Let  us  suppose  also  that, 
under  an  efficient  Protective  Tariff,  ours  are 
produced  five  percent,  cheaper  than  those 
of  England,  and  that  our  own  markets  are 
supplied  entirely  from  the  Home  Product. 
But  at  the  end  of  this  year,  1843,  we,— 
concluding  that  our  Manufactures  have 
been  protected  long   enough  and  ought 


106 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


now  to  go  alone, — ^repeal  absolutely  our 
Tariff,  and  commit  our  great  interests 
thoroughly  to  the  guidance  of  "  Free 
Trade."  Well:  at  this  very  time  the 
British  Manufacturers,  on  making  up  the 
account  and  review  of  their  year's  business, 
find  that  they  have  manufactured  goods 
costing  them  Three  Hundred  Millions,  as 
aforesaid,  and  have  sold  to  just  about  that 
amount,  leaving  a  residue  or  surplus  on 
hand  of  Fifteen  or  Twenty  Millions'  worth. 
These  are  to  be  sold  ;  and  their  net  pro- 
ceeds will  constitute  the  interest  on  their 
capital  and  the  profit  on  their  year's  busi- 
ness. But  where  shall*  they  be  sold  ?  If 
crowded  on  the  Home  or  their  established 
Foreign  Markets,  they  will  glut  and  de- 
press those  markets,  causing  a  general  de- 
cline of  prices  and  a  heavy  loss,  not  mere- 
ly on  this  quantity  of  goods,  but  on  the 
whole  of  their  next  year's  business.  They 
know  better  than  to  do  any  such  thing. 
Instead  of  it,  they  say,  "Here  is  the 
American  Market  just  thrown  open  tons 
by  a  repeal  of  their  Tariff":  let  us  send 
thither  our  surplus,  and  sell  it  for  what  it 
will  fetch."  They  ship  it  over  according- 
ly, and  in  two  or  three  weeks  it  is  rattling 
off  through  our  auction  stores,  at  prices 
first  five,  then  ten,  fifteen,  twenty,  and 
down  to  thirty  per  cent,  below  our  pre- 
vious rates.  Every  jobber  and  dealer  is 
tickled  with  the  idea  of  buying  goods  of 
novel  patterns  so  wonderfully  cheap  ;  and 
the  sale  proceeds  briskly,  though,  at  con- 
stantly declining  prices,  till  the  whole 
stock  is  disposed  of  and  our  market  is 
gorged  to  repletion. 

Now,  the  British  manufacturers  may  not 
have  received  for  the  whole  Twenty  Mil- 
lions' worth  of  Goods  over  Fourteen  or 
Fifteen  Millions ;  but  what  of  it?  What- 
ever it  may  be  is  clear  profit  on  their  year's 
business  in  cash  or  its  full  equivalent.  All 
their  established  markets  are  kept  clear 
and  eager ;  and  they  can  now  go  on  vigor- 
ously and  profitably  with  the  business  of 
the  new  year.    But  more :  they  have  crip- 

Eled  an  active  and  growing  rival ;  they 
ave  opened  a  new  market,  which  shall 
erelong  be  theirs  also. 

Let  us  now  look  at  our  side  of  the  ques- 
tion : — 

The  American  Manufacturers  have  also 
a  stock  of  goods  on  hand,  and  they  come 
into  our  market  to  dispose  of  them.  But 
they  suddenly  find  that  market  forestalled 
and  depressed  by  rival  fabrics  of  attractive 
novelty,  and  selling  in  profusion  at  prices 
which  rapidly  run  down  to  twenty-five 
per  cent,  below  cost.  What  are  they  to  do? 
They  cannot  force  sales  at  any  price  not 
utterly  ruinous ;  there  is  no  demand  at  any 
rate.  They  cannot  retaliate  upon  England 
the  mischief  they  must  suffer, — her  Tariff 
forbids;  and  the  other  markets  of  the 
world  are  fully  supplied,  and  will  bear  but 


a  limited  pressure.  The  foreign  influx  has 
created  a  scarcity  of  money  as  well  as  a 
plethora  of  goods.  Specie  has  largely  been 
exported  in  payment,  which  has  compelled 
the  Banks  to  contract  and  deny  loans. 
Still,  their  obligations  must  be  met ;  if  they 
cannot  make  sales,  the  Sheriff  will,  and 
must.  It  is  not  merely  their  surplus,  but 
their  whole  product,  which  has  been  de- 
preciated and  made  unavailable  at  a  blow. 
The  end  is  easily  foreseen :  our  Manufac- 
turers become  bankrupt  and  are  broken 
up;  their  works  are  Drought  to  a  dead 
stand ;  the  Laborers  therein,  after  spend- 
ing months  in  constrained  idleness,  are 
driven  by  famine  into  the  Western  wilder- 
ness, or  into  less  productive  and  less  con- 
genial vocations ;  their  acquired  skill  and 
dexterity,  as  well  as  a  portion  of  their  time, 
are  a  dead  loss  to  themselves  and  the  com- 
munity ;  and  we  commence  the  slow  and 
toilsome  process  of  rebuilding  and  rear- 
ranging our  industry  on  the  one-sided  or 
Agricultural  basis.  Such  is  the  process 
which  we  have  undergone  twice  already. 
How  manv  repetitions  shall  satisfy  us  ? 

Now,  will  any  man  gravely  argue  that 
we  have  made  Five  or  Six  Millions  by  this 
cheap  purchase  of  British  goods, — ^by  "buy- 
ing where  we  could  buy  cheapest?  "  Will 
he  not  see  that,  though  the  price  was  low, 
the  cost  is  very  great  ?  But  the  apparent 
saving  is  doubly  deceptive ;  for  the  British 
manufacturers,  having  utterly  crushed 
their  American  rivals  by  one  or  two  oper 
ations  of  this  kind,  soon  find  here  a  mar* 
ket,  not  for  a  beggarly  surplus  of  Fifteen 
or  Twenty  Millions,  but  they  have  now  a 
demand  for  the  amount  of  our  whole  con 
sumption,  which,  making  allowance  f< 
our  diminished  ability  to  pay,  would  proL 
&\Aj  still  reach  Fifty  Millions  per  annum. 
This  increased  demand  would  soon  pro- 
duce activity  and  buoyancy  in  the  general 
market ;  and  now  the  foreign  Manufac- 
turers would  say  in  their  consultations, 
"  We  have  sold  some  millions'  worth  of 
goods  to  America  for  less  than  cost,  in 
order  to  obtain  control  of  that  market; 
now  we  have  it,  and  must  retrieve  our 
losses," — and  they  xcould  retrieve  them, 
with  interest.  They  would  have  a  perfect 
right  to  do  so.  I  hope  no  man  has  under- 
stood me  as  implying  any  infringement  of 
the  dictates  of  honesty  on  their  part,  still 
less  of  the  laws  of  trade.  They  have  a  per- 
fect right  to  sell  goods  in  our  markets  on 
such  terms  as  we  prescribe  and  they  can 
afford ;  it  is  we,  who  set  up  our  own  vital 
interests  to  be  bowled  down  by  their  rival- 
ry, who  are  alone  to  be  blamed. 

Who  does  not  see  that  this  sending  out 
our  great  Industrial  Interests  unarmed 
and  unshielded  to  battle  against  the  mail- 
clad  legions  opposed  to  them  in  the  arena 
of  Trade  is  to  insure  their  destruction  ?  Il 
were  just  as  wise  to  say  that,  because  oui 


BOOK  III.J 


HORACE  GREELEY  ON  PROTECTIO J«-. 


107 


people  are  brave,  therefore  they  shall  repel 
any  invader  without  fire-arras,  as  to  say 
that  the  restrictions  of  other  nations  ought 
not  to  be  opposed  by  us  because  our  arti- 
sans are  skilful  and  our  manufactures  have 
made  great  advances.  The  very  fact  that 
our  manufactures  are  greatly  extended  and 
improved  is  the  strong  reason  why  they 
should  not  be  exposed  to  destruction.  If 
they  were  of  no  amount  or  value,  their 
loss  would  be  less  disastrous  ;  but  now  the 
Five  or  Six  Millions  we  should  make  on 
the  cheaper  importation  of  goods  would 
cost  us  One  Hundred  Millions  in  the  de- 
struction of  Manufacturing  Property  alone. 
Yet  this  is  but  an  item  of  our  damage. 
The  manufacturing  classes  feel  the  first 
effect  of  the  blow,  but  it  would  paralyze 
every  muscle  of  society.  One  hundred 
thousand  artisans  and  laborers,  discharged 
from  our  ruined  factories,  after  being  some 
time  out  of  employment,  at  a  waste  of  mil- 
lions of  the  National  wealth,  are  at  last 
driven  by  famine  to  engage  in  other 
avocations, — of  course  with  inferior  skill 
and  at  an  inferior  price.  The  farmer, 
gardener,  grocer,  lose  them  as  customers  to 
meet  them  as  rivals.  They  crowd  the  la- 
bor-markets of  those  branches  of  industry 
which  we  are  still  permitted  to  pursue,  just 
at  the  time  when  the  demand  for  their  pro- 
ducts has  fallen  off,  and  the  price  is  rapidly 
declining.  The  result  is  just  what  we  have 
seen  in  a  former  instance:  all  that  any 
man  may  make  by  buying  Foreign  goods 
cheap,  he  loses  ten  times  over  by  the  de- 
cline of  his  own  property,  product,  or  la- 
bor ;  while  to  nine-tenths  of  the  whole 
¥eople  the  result  is  unmixed  calamity, 
he  disastrous  consequences  to  a  nation  of 
the  mere  derangement  and  paralysis  of  its 
Industry  which  must  follow  the  breaking 
down  of  any  of  its  great  Producing  Inter- 
ests have  never  yet  been  sufficiently  esti- 
mated. Free  Trade,  indeed,  assures  us 
that  every  person  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment in  one  place  or  capacity  has  only  to 
choose  another ;  but  almost  every  working- 
man  knows  from  experience  that  such  is 
not  the  fact, — ^that  the  loss  of  situation 
through  the  failure  of  his  business  is  often- 
er  a  sore  calamity.  I  know  a  worthy  cit- 
izen who  spent  six  years  in  learning  the 
trade  of  a  hatter,  which  he  had  Just  perfect- 
ed in  1798,  when  an  immense  importation 
of  foreign  hats  utterly  paralyzed  the  man- 
ufacture in  this  country.  He  traveled  and 
sought  for  months,  but  could  find  no  em- 
ployment at  any  price,  and  at  last  gave  up 
the  pursuit,  found  work  in  some  other  ca- 
pacity, and  has  never  made  a  hat  since. 
He  lives  yet,  and  now  comfortably,  for  he 
is  industrious  and  frugal ;  but  the  six  years 
he  gave  to  learn  his  trade  were  utterly  lost 
to  him, — lost  for  the  want  of  adequate  and 
steady  Protection  to  Home  Industry.  I 
insist  that  the  Government  has  failed  of 


discharging  its  proper  and  rightful  duty  to 
that  citizen  ana  to  thousands,  and  ten's  of 
thousands  who  have  suffered  from  like 
causes.  I  insist  that,  if  the  Government 
had  permitted  without  complaint  a  foreign 
force  to  land  on  our  shores  and  plunder 
that  man's  house  of  the  savings  of  six 
years  of  faithful  industry,  the  neglect  of 
duty  would  not  have  been  more  flagrant. 
And  I  firmly  believe  that  the  people  of 
this  country  are  One  Thousand  Millions  of 
Dollars  poorer  at  this  moment  than  they 
would  have  been  had  their  entire  Produc- 
tive Industry  been  constantly  protected,  on 
the  principles  I  have  laid  down,  from  the 
formation  of  the  Government  till  now.  The 
steadiness  of  employment  and  of  recom- 
pense thus  secured,  the  comparative  ab- 
sence of  constrained  idleness,  and  the  more 
efficient  application  of  the  labor  actually 
performed,  would  have  vastly  increased 
the  product, — would  have  improved  and 
beautified  the  whole  face  of  the  country ; 
and  the  Moral  and  Intellectual  advantages 
thence  accruing  would  alone  have  been 
inestimable.  A  season  of  suspension  of 
labor  in  a  community  is  usually  one  of  ag- 
gravated dissipation,  drunkenness,  and 
crime. 

But  let  me  more  clearly  illustrate  the 
effect  of  foreign  competition  in  raising 
prices  to  the  consumer.  To  do  this,  I  will 
take  my  own  calling  for  an  example,  be- 
cause I  understand  that  best ;  though  any 
of  you  can  apply  the  principle  to  that  with 
which  he  may  be  better  acquainted.  I  am 
a  publisher  of  newspapers,  and  suppose  I 
afford  them  at  a  cheap  rate.  But  the  abil- 
ity to  maintain  that  cheapness  is  based  on 
the  fact  that  I  can  certainly  sell  a  large 
edition  daily,  so  that  no  part  of  that  edition 
shall  remain  a  dead  loss  on  my  hands. 
Now,  if  there  were  an  active  and  formid- 
able Foreign  competition  in  newspapers, — 
if  the  edition  which  I  printed  during  the 
night  were  frequently  rendered  unsalable  by 
the  arrival  of  a  foreign  ship  freighted  with 
newspapers  early  in  the  morning, — the  pre- 
sent rates  could  not  be  continued :  the  price 
must  be  increased  or  the  quality  would  de- 
cline. I  presume  this  holds  equally  good 
of  the  production  of  calicoes,  glass,  and 
penknives  as  of  newspapers,  though  it  may 
be  somewhat  modified  by  the  nature  of  the 
article  to  which  it  is  applied.  That  it  does 
hold  true  of  sheetings,  nails,  and  thou- 
sands of  articles,  is  abundantly  notorious. 

I  have  not  burdened  you  with  statistics, 
—you  know  they  are  the  reliance,  the  strong- 
hold, of  the  cause  of  Protection,  and  that 
we  can  produce  them  by  acres.  My  aim 
has  been  to  exhibit  not  mere  collections  of 
facts,  however  pertinent  and  forcible,  but 
the  laws  on  which  those  facts  are  based, — 
not  the  immediate  manifestation,  but  the 
ever-living  necessity  from  which  it  springs. 
The  contemplation  of  these  laws  assures 


108 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  ui. 


me  that  those  articles  which  are  supplied 
to  us  by  Home  Production  alone  are  rela- 
tively cheaper  than  those.which  are  rivalled 
and  competed  with  from  abroad.  And  I 
am  equally  confident  that  the  shutting  out 
of  Foreign  competition  from  our  markets 
for  other  articles  of  general  necessity  and 
liberal  consumption  which  can  be  made 
here  with  as  little  labor  as  anywhere  would 
be  followed  by  a  corresponding  result, — a 
reduction  of  the  price  to  the  consumer  at 
the  same  time  with  increased  employment 
and  reward  to  our  Producing  Classes. 

But,  Mr.  President,  were  this  only  on  one 
side  true, — were  it  certain  that  the  price  of 
the  Home  product  would  be  permanently 
higher  than  that  of  the  Foreign,  I  should 
still  insist  on  efficient  Protection,  and  for 
reasons  I  have  suflBciently  shown.  Grant 
that  a  British  cloth  costs  but  $3  per  yard, 
and  a  corresponding  American  fabric  $4,  I 
still  hold  that  the  latter  would  be  decided- 
ly the  cheaper  for  us.  The  Fuel,  Timber, 
Fruits,  Vegetables,  &c.,  which  make  up  so 
large  a  share  of  the  cost  of  the  Home  pro- 
duct, would  be  rendered  comparatively 
valueless  by  having  our  workshops  in  Eu- 
rope. I  look  not  so  much  to  the  nominal 
price  as  to  the  comparative  facility  of  pay- 
ment. And,  where  cheapness  is  only  to  be 
attained  by  a  depression  of  the  wages  of 
Labor  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Euro- 
pean standard,  I  prefer  that  it  should  be 
dispensed  with.  One  thing  must  answer 
to  another ;  and  I  hold  that  the  farmers  of 
this  country  can  better  aiford,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  pecuniary  advantage,  to  pay  a  good 
price  for  manufactured  articles  than  to  ob- 
tain them  lower  through  the  depression  and 
inadequacy  of  the  wages  of  the  artisan  and 
laborer. 

You  will  understand  me,  then,  to  be  ut- 
terly hostile  to  that  idol  of  Free  Trade 
worship,  known  as  Free  or  unlimited  Com- 
petition. The  sands  of  my  hour  are  run- 
ning low,  and  I  cannot  ask  time  to  ex- 
amine this  topic  more  closely;  yet  I  am 
confident  I  could  show  that  this  Free 
Competition  is  a  most  delusive  and  dan- 
gerous element  of  Political  Economy.  Bear 
with  a  brief  illustration :  At  this  moment, 
common  shirts  are  made  in  London  at  the 
incredibly  low  price  of  three  cents  per  pair. 
Should  we  admit  these  articles  free  of  duty 
and  buy  them  because  they  are  so  cheap  ? 
Free  trade  says  Yes ;  but  I  say  No !  Sound 
Policy  as  well  as  Humanity  forbids  it.  By 
admitting  them,  we  simply  reduce  a  large 
and  worthy  and  suffering  class  of  our  pop- 
ulation from  the  ability  they  now  possess 
of  procuring  a  bare  subsistence  by  their 
labor  to  unavoidable  destitution  and  pau- 
perism. They  must  now  subsist  upon  the 
charity  of  relatives  or  of  the  community, 
— unless  we  are  ready  to  adopt  the  de- 
moniac doctrine  of  the  Free  Trade  philos- 
opher Malthus,  that  the  dependent  Poor 


ought  to  be  rigorously  starved  to  death. 
Then  what  have  we  gained  by  getting  these 
articles  so  exorbitantly  cheap  ?  or,  rather, 
what  have  we  not  lost?  The  labor  which 
formerly  produced  them  is  mainly  struck 
out  of  existence;  the  poor  widows  and 
seamstresses  among  us  must  still  have  a 
subsistence ;  and  the  imported  garments 
must  be  paid  for :  where  are  the  profits  of 
our  speculation? 

But  even  this  is  not  the  worst  feature  of 
the  case.  The  labor  which  we  have  here 
thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  cheap 
importation  of  this  article  is  now  ready  to 
be  employed  again  at  any  price, — if  not 
one  that  will  afibrd  bread  and  straw,  then 
it  must  accept  one  that  will  produce  pota- 
toes and  rubbish ;  and  with  the  product 
some  Free-Trader  proceeds  to  breaK  down 
the  price  and  destroy  the  reward  of  similar 
labor  in  some  other  portion  of  the  earth. 
And  thus  each  depression  of  wages  i^rS- 
duces  another,  and  that  a  third,  and  so  on, 
making  the  circuit  of  the  globe, — the  ag- 
gravated necessities  of  the  Poor  acting  and 
reacting  upon  each  other,  increasing  the 
omnipotence  of  CapitBl  and  deepening  the 
dependence  of  Labor,  swelling  and  pam- 
pering a  bloated  and  factitious  Commerce, 
grinding  down  and  grinding  down  the  des- 
titute, until  Malthus's  remedy  for  Poverty 
shall  become  a  grateful  specific,  and,  amid 
the  splendors  and  luxuries  of  an  all-de- 
vouring Commercial  Feudalism,  the  squalid 
and  famished  Millions,  its  dependants  and 
victims,  shall  welcome  death  as  a  deliverer 
from  their  sufferings  and  despair. 

I  wish  time  permitted  me  to  give  a  hasty 
glance  over  the  doctrines  and  teachings  of 
the  Free  Trade  sophists,  who  esteem  them- 
selves the  Political  Economists,  christen 
their  own  views  liberal  and  enlightened, 
and  complacently  put  ours  aside  as  be- 
nighted and  barbarous.  I  should  delight 
to  show  you  how  they  mingle  subtle  fallacy 
with  obvious  truth,  how  they  reason 
acutely  from  assumed  premises,  which,  be- 
ing mistaken  or  incomplete,  lead  to  false 
and  often  absurd  conclusions, — how  they 
contradict  and  confound  each  other,  and 
often,  from  Adam  Smith,  their  patriarch, 
down  to  McCulloch  and  Ricardo,  either 
make  admissions  which  undermine  their 
whole  fabric,  or  confess  themselves  igno- 
rant or  in  the  dark  on  points  the  most  vital 
to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  great 
subject  they  profess  to  have  reduced  to  a 
Science.  Yet  even  Adam  Smith  himself 
expressly  approves  and  justifies  the  British 
Navigation  Act,  the  most  aggressively  Pro- 
tective measure  ever  enacted, — a  measure 
which,  not  being  understood  and  season- 
ably counteracted  by  other  nations,  changed 
for  centuries  the  destinies  of  the  World, — 
which  silently  sapped  and  overthrew  the 
Commercial  and  Political  greatness  of  Hol- 
land,— which  silenced  the  thunder  of  "Van 


BOOK  III.]  HENPY  A.  WISE  AGAINST  KNOW-NOTHINGISM. 


109 


Tromp,  and  swept  the  broom  from  his 
mast-head.  But  I  must  not  detain  you 
longer.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  judge  of  this 
matter  by  authority,  but  from  facts  which 
come  home  to  your  reason  and  your  daily 
experience.  There  is  not  an  observing 
and  strong-minded  mechanic  in  our  city 
who  could  not  set  any  one  of  these  Doctors 
of  the  Law  ri^ht  on  essential  points.  I  beg 
you  to  consider  how  few  great  practical 
Statesmen  they  have  ever  been  able  to  win 
to  their  standard, — I  might  almost  say 
none;  for  Huskisson  was  but  a  nominal 
disciple,  and  expressly  contravened  their 
whole  system  upon  an  attempt  to  apply  it 
to  the  Corn  Laws ;  and  Calhoun  is  but  a 
Free-Trader  by  location,  and  has  never 
vet  answered  his  own  powerful  arguments 
In  behalf  of  Protection.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  point  you  to  the  long  array  of  mighty 
names  which  have  illustrated  the  annals  of 
Statesmanship  of  modern  times, — to 
Chatham,  William  Pitt,  and  the  Great 
Frederick  of  Prussia;  to  the  whole  array 
of  memorable  French  Statesmen,  including 
Napoleon  the  first  of  them  all ;  to  our  own 
Washingtojt,  Hamilton,  Jefferson, 
and  Madison;  to  our  two  Clintons, 
Tompkins,  to  say  nothing  of  the  eagle- 
eyed  and  genial-hearted  living  master- 
spirit [Henry  Clay]  of  our  time.  The  opin- 
ions and  the  arguments  of  all  these  are  on 
record ;  it  is  by  nearkening  to  and  heeding 
their  counsels  that  we  shall  be  prepared 
to  walk  in  the  light  of  experience  and  look 
forward  to  a  glorious  National  destiny. 
My  friends !  I  dare  not  detain  you  longer. 
I  commit  to  you  the  cause  of  tlxe  Nation's 
Independence,  of  her  Stability  and  her 
Prosperity.  Guard  it  wisely  and  shield  it 
well ;  for  it  involves  your  own  happiness 
and  the  enduring  welfare  of  your  country- 
men! 


Henry  A.  Wlcte 

Agairut  Knour-Nothingum,  Sept.  18, 1852. 

The  laws  of  the  United  States — federal 
and  state  laws — declare  and  defend  the 
liberties  of  our  people.  They  are-  free  in 
every  sense — free  in  the  sense  of  Magna 
Charta  and  bejrond  Magna  Charta;  free 
by  the  surpassing  franchise  of  American 
charters,  wnich  makes  them  sovereign  and 
their  wills  the  sources  of  constitutions  and 
laws. 

In  this  country,  at  this  time,  does  anv 
man  think  anything?  Would  he  think 
aloud?  Would  he  speak  anything?  Would 
he  write  anything?  His  mind  is  free;  his 

Eerson  is  safe ;  his  property  is  secure ;  his 
ouse  is  his  castle ;  the  spirit  of  the  laws 
is  his  body-guard  and  his  house-guard; 
the  fate  of  one  is  the  fate  of  all  measured 
by  the  same  common  rule  of  right ;  his 
voice  is  heard  and  felt  in  the  general  suf- 
frage of  freemen ;  his  trial  is  in  open  court, 


confronled  by  witnesses  and  accusers  ;  his 
prison  house  has  no  secrets,  and  he  has  the 
judginent  of  his  peers ;  and  there  is  nought 
to  make  him  afraid,  so  long  as  he  respects 
the  rights  of  his  equals  in  the  eye  of  the 
law.  Would  he  propagate  truth?  Truth 
is  free  to  combat  error.  Would  he  propa- 
gate error?  Error  itself  may  stalk  abroad 
and  do  her  mischief,  and  make  night  itself 
grow  darker,  provided  truth  is  left  free  to 
follow,  however  slowly,  with  her  torches 
to  light  up  the  wreck  !  Why,  then,  should 
any  portion  of  the  people  desire  to  retire 
in  secret,  and  by  secret  means  to  propagate 
a  political  thought,  or  word,  or  deed,  by 
stealth  ?  Why  band  together,  exclusive  of 
others,  to  do  something  which  all  may  not 
know  of,  towards  some  political  end  ?  If  it 
be  good,  why  not  make  the  good  known  ? 
Why  not  think  it,  sneak  it,  write  it,  act  it 
out  openly  and  aloua  ?  Or,  is  it  evil,  which 
loveth  darkness  rather  than  light?  When 
there  is  no  necessity  to  iustify  a  secret 
association  for  political  ends,  what  else  can 
justify  it?  A  caucus  may  sit  in  secret  to 
consult  on  the  general  policy  of  a  great 
public  party.  That  may  be  necessarj'  or 
convenient ;  but  that  even  is  reprehensible, 
if  carried  too  far.  But  here  is  proposed  a 
great  primary,  national  organization,  in 
its  inception — What?  Nobody  knows.  To 
do  what?  Nobody  knows.  How  organized? 
Nobody  knows.  Governed  by  whom  ?  No- 
body knows.  How  bound  ?  By  what  rites  ? 
By  what  test  oaths  ?  With  what  limitations 
and  restraints?  Nobody,  nobody  knows! 
All  we  know  is  that  persons  of  foreign 
birth  and  of  Catholic  faith  are  proscribed ; 
and  so  are  all  others  who  don't  proscribe 
them  at  the  polls.     This  is  certainly  against 

the  spirit  of  Magna  Charta. 

******* 

A  Prussian  bom  subject  came  to  this 
country.  He  complied  with  our  natural- 
ization laws  in  all  respects  of  notice  of  in- 
tention, residence,  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
proof  of  good  moral  character.  He  re- 
mained continuously  in  the  United  States 
the  full  period  of  five  years.  When  he  had 
fully  filled  the  measure  of  his  probation 
and  was  consummately  a  naturalized  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States,  he  then,  and  not 
until  then,  returned  to  Prussia  to  visit  an 
aged  father.  He  was  immediately,  on  his 
return,  seized  and  forced  into  the  Land- 
wehr,  or  militia  system  of  Prussia,  under 
the  maxim:  "Once  a  citizen,  always  a  cit- 
izen!" There  he  is  forced  to  do  service 
to  the  king  of  Prussia  at  this  very  hour. 
He  applies  for  protection  to  the  United 
States,  Would  tne  Know-Nothings  inter- 
pose in  his  behalf  or  not?  Loolc  at  the 
principles  involved.  We,  by  our  laws,  en- 
couraged him  to  come  to  our  country,  and 
here  he  was  allowed  to  become  naturalized, 
and  to  that  end  reriuired  to  renounce  and 
abjure  all  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  th« 


no 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


king  of  Prussia,  and  to  swear  allegiance 
and  fidelity  to  the  United  States.  The  king 
of  Prussia  now  claims  no  legal  forfeiture 
from  him — he  punishes  him  for  no  crime 
—  he  claims  of  him  no  legal  debt — he 
claims  alone  that  very  allegiance  and  fidel- 
ity which  we  required  the  man  to  abjure 
and  renounce.  Not  only  so,  but  he  hin- 
ders the  man  fi-om  returning  to  the  United 
States,  and  from  discharging  the  allegiance 
and  fidelity  we  required  him  to  swear  to 
the  United  States.  The  king  of  Prussia 
says  he  should  do  him  service  for  seven 
years,  for  this  was  what  he  was  born  to 
perform ;  his  obligations  were  due  to  him 
nrst,  and  his  laws  were  first  binding  him. 
The  United  States  say — ^true,  he  was  born 
under  your  laws,  but  he  had  a  right  to  ex- 
patriate himself;  he  owed  allegiance  first 
to  you,  but  he  had  a  right  to  forswear  it 
and  to  swear  allegiance  to  us ;  your  laws 
first  applied,  but  this  is  a  case  of  po- 
litical obligation,  not  of  legal  obligation ; 
it  is  not  for  any  crime  or  debt  you  claim  to 
bind  him,  but  it  is  for  allegiance ;  and  the 
claim  you  set  up  to  his  services  on  the 
ground  of  his  political  obligation,  his  alle- 
giance to  you,  which  we  allow  him  to  ab- 
jure and  renounce,  is  inconsistent  with  his 
political  obligation,  his  allegiance,  which 
we  required  him  to  swear  to  the  United 
States ;  he  has  sworn  fidelity  to  us,  and  we 
have,  by  our  laws,  pledged  protection  to 
him.  . 

Such  is  the  issue.  Now,  with  which  will 
the  Know-Nothings  take  sides?  With  the 
king  of  Prussia  against  our  naturalized  cit- 
izen and  against  America,  or  with  America 
and  our  naturalized  citizen  ?  Mark,  now, 
Know-Nothingism  is  opposed  to  all  foreign 
influence — against  American  institutions. 
The  king  of  Prussia  is  a  pretty  potent  for- 
eign influence — he  was  one  of  the  holy  al- 
liance of  crowned  heads.  Will  they  take 
part  with  him,  and  not  protect  the  citizen? 
Then  they  will  aid  a  foreign  influence 
against  our  laws!  Will  they  take  sides 
with  our  naturalized  citizen?  If  so,  then 
upon  what  grounds  ?  Now,  they  must  have 
a  good  cause  of  interposition  to  justify  us 
against  all  the  received  dogmas  of  Eu- 
ropean despotism. 

Don't  they  see,  can't  they  perceive,  that 
they  have  no  other  grounds  than  those  I 
have  urged  ?  He  is  our  citizen,  national- 
ized, owing  us  allegiance  and  we  owing  him 
protection.  And  if  we  owe  him  protection 
abroad,  because  of  his  sworn  allegiance  to 
us  as  a  naturalized  citizen,  what  then  can 
deprive  him  of  his  privileges  at  home 
among  us  when  he  returns  ?  If  he  be  a 
citizen  at  all,  he  must  be  allowed  the  privi- 
leges of  citizenship,  or  he  will  not  be  the 
equal  of  his  fellow-citizens.  And  must 
not  Know-Nothingisrn  strike  at  the  very 
equality  of  citizenship,  or  allow  him  to  en- 
joy all  its  lawful  privileges  ?    If  Catholics 


and  naturalized  citizens  are  to  be  citizens 
and  yet  to  be  proscribed  from  office,  thef 
must  be  rated  as  an  inferior  class — an  ex- 
cluded class  of  citizens.  Will  it  be  said 
that  the  law  will  not  make  this  distinction? 
Then  are  we  to  understand  that  Know- 
Nothings  would  not  make  them  equal  by 
law  ?  If  not  by  law,  how  can  they  pretend 
to  make  them  unequal,  by  their  secret  or- 
der, without  law  and  against  law  ?  For 
them,  by  secret  combination,  to  make  them 
unequal,  to  impose  a  burthen  or  restriction 
upon  their  privileges  which  the  law  does 
not,  is  to  set  themselves  up  above  the  law, 
and  to  supersede  by  private  and  secret  au- 
thority, intangible  and  irresponsible,  the 
rule  of  public,  political  right.  Indeed,  is 
this  not  the  very  essence  of  the  "  Higher 
Law  "  doctrine  ?  It  cannot  be  said  to  be 
legitimate  public  sentiment  and  the  action 
of  its  authority.  Public  sentiment,  proper, 
is  a  concurrence  of  the  common  mind  in 
some  conclusion,  conviction,  opinion,  taste, 
or  action  in  respect  to  persons  or  things 
subject  to  its  public  notice.  It  will,  and  it 
must  control  tne  minds  and  actions  of  men, 
by  public  and  conventional  opinion. 
Count  M0I6  said  that  in  France  it  was 
stronger  than  statutes.  It  is  so  here.  That 
it  is  which  should  decide  at  the  polls  of  a 
republic.  But,  here  is  a  secret  sentiment, 
which  may  be  so  organized  as  to  contradict 
the  public  sentiment.  Candidate  A.  may 
be  a  native  and  a  Protestant,  and  may  con- 
cur with  the  community,  if  it  be  a  Know- 
Nothing  community,  on  every  other  subject 
except  that  of  proscribing  Catholics  and 
naturalized  citizens :  and  candidate  B.  may 
concur  with  the  community  on  the  subject 
of  this  proscription  alone,  and  upon  no 
other  subject ;  and  yet  the  Know-Nothings 
might  elect  B.  by  their  secret  sentiment 
against  the  public  sentiment.  Thus  it  at- 
tacks not  only  American  doctrines  of  ex- 
patriation, allegiance,  and  protection,  but 
the  equality  of  citizenship,  and  the  au- 
thority of  public  sentiment.  In  the  afl^air 
of  Koszta,  now  did  our  blood  rush  to  his 
rescue  ?  Did  the  Know-Nothing  side  with 
him  and  Mr.  Marcv,or  with  Hulseman  and 
Austria  ?  If  with  Koszta,  why  ?  Let  them 
ask  themselves  for  the  rationale,  and  see  if 
it  can  in  reason  abide  with  their  orders. 
There  is  no  middle  ground  in  respect  tc 
naturalization.  We  must  either  have  natu 
ralization  laws  and  let  foreigners  become 
citizens,  on  equal  terms  of  capacities  and 
privileges,  or  we  must  exclude  them  alto- 
gether. If  we  abolish  naturalization  laws, 
we  return  to  the  European  dogma :  "Once 
a  citizen,  always  a  citizen."  If  we  let  for- 
eigners be  naturalized  and  don't  extend  to 
them  equality  of  privileges,  we  set  up 
classes  and  distinctions  of  persons  wholly 
opposed  to  republicanism.  We  will,  as 
Rome  did,  have  citizens  who  may  be 
scourged.    The  three  alternatives  arc  pre- 


BOOK  III.J    HENRY  A    WISE  AGAINST  KNO W-NOTHINGISM.        HI 


Bented — Our  present  policy,  liberal,  and 
just,  and  tolerant,  and  equal :  or  the  Euro- 

Eean  policy  of  holding  the  noses  of  native 
om  slaves  to  the  grind-stone  of  tvrannv 
all  their  lives ;  or,  odious  distinctions  of 
citizenship  tending  to  social  and  political 
aristocracy.  I  am  for  the  present  laws  of 
naturalization. 

As  to  religion,  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  art.  6,  sec.  3,  especially  pro- 
vides that  no  religious  test  snail  ever  be 
required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or 
public  trust  under  the  United  States.  The 
state  of  Virginia  has,  from  her  earliest  his- 
tory, passed  the  most  liberal  laws,  not  only 
towards  naturalization,  but  towards  for- 
eigners. But  I  have  said  enough  to  show 
the  spirit  of  American  laws  and  the  true 
sense  of  American  maxims. 

3d.  Know-Nothingism  is  against  the 
spirit  of  Heformation  and  of  Protestantism. 

What  was  there  to  reform  ? 

Let  the  most  bigoted  Protestant  enumer- 
ate what  he  defines  to  have  been  the 
abominations  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
"What  would  he  say  were  the  worst  ?  The 
secrets  of  Jesuitism,  of  the  Auto  da  fe,  of 
the  Monasteries  and  of  the  Nunneries.  The 
private  penalties  of  the  Inquisition's  Scav- 
enger's Daughter.  Pror.cription,  persecu- 
tion, bigotry,  intolerance,  shutting  up  of 
the  book  of  the  word.  And  do  Protestants 
now  mean  to  out- Jesuit  the  Jesuits  ?  Do 
they  mean  to  strike  and  not  be  seen  ?  To 
be  felt  and  not  to  be  heard  ?  To  put  a 
shudder  upon  humanity  by  the  masks  of 
mutes  ?  Will  they  wear  the  monkish  cowls? 
Will  they  inflict  penalties  at  the  polls  with- 
out reasoning  together  with  their  fellows 
at  the  hustings?  Will  they  proscribe? 
Persecute  ?  Will  they  bloat  up  tnemselves 
into  that  bigotry  which  would  burn  non- 
conformists ?  Will  they  not  tolerate  free- 
dom of  conscience,  but  doom  dissenters,  in 
secret  conclave,  to  a  forfeiture  of  civil 
privileges  for  a  religious  difference  ?  Will 
they  not  translate  the  scripture  of  their 
faith  ?  Will  they  visit  us  with  dark  lanterns 
and  execute  us  by  signs,  and  test  oaths, 
and  in  secrecy?    Protestantism!  forbid  it ! 

If  anything  was  ever  open,  fair,  and  free 
— if  anything  was  ever  olatant  even — it 
was  the  Reformation.  To  quote  from  a 
mighty  British  pen :  "  It  ^ave  a  mighty 
impulse  and  increased  activity  to  thought 
and  inquiry,  agitated  the  inert  mass  of  ac- 
cumulated prejudices  throughout  Europe. 
The  effect  of  the  concussion  was  general, 
but  the  shock  was  greatest  in  this  country  " 
(England).  It  toppled  down  the  full  grovm 
intolerable  abuses  of  centuries  at  a  blow  ; 
heaved  the  ground  from  under  the  feet  of 
bigoted  faith  and  slavish  obedience ;  and 
the  roar  and  dashing  of  opinions,  loosened 
from  their  accustomed  hola,  might  be  heard 
like  the  noise  of  an  angry  sea,  and  has 
never  yet  subsided.    Germany  first  broke 


the  spell  of  misbegotten  fear,  and  gave  the 
watchword  ;  but  England  joined  the  shout, 
and  echoed  it  back,  with  her  island  voice, 
from  her  thousand  cliffs  and  craggy  shores, 
in  a  longer  and  louder  strain.  With  that 
cry  the  genius  of  Great  Britain  rose,  and 
tlirew  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  nations. 
There  was  a  mighty  fermentation :  the 
waters  were  out ;  public  opinion  was  in  a 
state  of  projection  ;  liberty  was  held  out  to 
all  to  think  and  speak  the  truth ;  men's 
brains  were  busy ;  their  spirits  stirring ; 
their  hearts  full ;  and  their  nands  not  idle. 
Their  eyes  were  opened  to  expect  the  great- 
est things,  and  their  ears  burned  with  cu- 
riosity and  zeal  to  know  the  truth,  that  the 
truth  might  make  them  free.  The  death 
blow  which  had  been  struck  at  scarlet  vice 
and  bloated  hypocrisy,  loosened  tongues, 
and  made  the  talismans  and  love  tokens  of 
popish  superstitions  with  which  she  had 
beguiled  ner  followers  and  committed 
abominations  with  the  people,  fall  harmless 
from  their  necks." 

•  The  translation  of  the  Bible  was  the  chief 
engine  in  the  great  work.  It  threw  open, 
by  a  secret  spring,  the  rich  treasures  of  re- 
ligion and  morality,  which  had  then  been 
locked  up  as  in  a  shrine.  It  revealed  the 
visions  of  the  Prophets,  and  conveyed  the 
lessons  of  inspired  teachers  to  the  meanest 
of  the  people.  It  gave  them  a  common 
interest  in  a  common  cause.  Their  hearts 
burnt  within  them  as  they  read.  It  gave  a 
mind  to  the  people,  by  giving  them  com- 
mon subjects  01  thought  and  feeling.  It 
cemented  their  Union  of  character  and 
sentiment ;  it  created  endless  diversity  and 
collision  of  opinion.  They  found  objects 
to  employ  their  faculties,  and  a  motive  in 
the  magnitude  of  the  consequences  attached 
to  them,  to  exert  the  utmost  eagerness  in 
the  pursuit  of  truth,  and  the  most  daring 
intrepidity  in  maintaining  it.  Religious 
controversy  sharpens  the  understanding  by 
the  subtlety  and  remoteness  of  the  topics 
it  discusses,  and  braces  the  will  by  tlieir 
infinite  importance.  We  perceive  in  the 
history  of  this  period  a  nervous,  masculine 
intellect.  No  levity,  no  feebleness,  no  in- 
difference ;  or,  if  there  were,  it  is  a  relaxa- 
tion from  the  intense  activity  which  gives 
a  tone  to  its  general  character.  But  there 
is  a  gravity  approaching  to  piety,  a  serious- 
ness of  impression,  a  conscientious  severity 
of  argument,  an  habitual  fervor  of  enthu- 
siasm in  their  method  of  handling  almost 
every  subject.  The  debates  of  the  school- 
men were  sharp  and  subtle  enough :  but 
they  wanted  interest  and  grandeur,  and 
were  besides  confined  to  a  few.  They  did 
not  affect  the  general  mass  of  the  commu- 
nity. But  the  Bible  was  thrown  open  to 
all  ranks  and  conditions  "  to  own  and  read," 
with  its  wonderftil  table  of  contents,  from 
Genesis  to  the  Revelation.  Every  village 
in  England  would  present  the  rcene  so  wdJ 


112 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  i:j. 


described  in  Buras's  "Cotter's  Saturday 
Night.''  How  un)ike  this  agitation,  this 
shock,  this  angry  sea,  this  fermentation, 
this  shout  and  its  echoes,  this  impulse  and 
activity,  this  concussion,  this  general  effect, 
this  blow,  this  earthquake,  this  roar  and 
dashing,  this  longer  and  louder  strain,  this 
public  opinion,  this  liberty  to  all  to  think 
and  speak  the  truth,  this  stirring  of  spirits, 
this  opening  of  eyes,  this  zeal  to  know  — 
not  nothing — but  the  truth,  that  the  truth 
might  make  them  free.  How  unlike  to 
this  is  Know-Nothingism,  sitting  and 
brooding  in  secret  to  proscribe  Catholics 
and  naturalized  citizens !  Protestantism 
protested  against  secrecy,  it  protested 
against  shutting  out  the  light  of  truth,  it 
protested  against  proscription,  bigotry,  and 
intolerance.  It  loosened  all  tongues,  and 
fought  the  owls  and  bats  of  night  with  the 
light  of  meridian  day.  The  argument  of 
Know-Nothings  is  the  argument  of  silence. 
The  order  ignores  all  knowledge.     And  its 

f»roscription  can't  arrest  itself  within  the 
imit  of  excluding  Catholics  and  natural^ 
ized  citizens.  It  must  proscribe  natives 
and  Protestants  both,  who  will  not  consent 
to  unite  in  proscribing  Catholics  and  natu- 
ralized citizens.  Nor  is  that  all ;  it  must 
not  only  apply  to  birth  and  religion,  it  must 
necessarily  extend  itself  to  the  business  of 
life  as  well  as  to  political  preferments. 


Kennetb  Raynor,  of   North  Carolina,  on 

Fnslou    of  Fremont  and   Fillmore 

Forces. 

Exiractt/rom  hU  Speech  at  Philadelphia,  November  1, 1856. 

My  brother  Americans,  do  you  intend  to 
let  these  mischief-makers  put  you  and  me 
♦lOgether  by  the  ears  ?  [Many  voices ;  "  no, 
no."l  Then  let  us  beat  James  Buchanan 
for  the  Presidency.  ["  We  will — we  will,'' 
and  great  applause.]  He  is  the  representa- 
tive of  slavery  agitation  ;  he  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  discord  between  sections ;  he 
id  the  man  whom  Northern  and  Southern 
agitators  have  agreed  to  present  as  their 
candidate.  If  he  be  elected  now,  and  the 
difficulties  in  Kansas  be  healed,  at  the  erd 
of  four  years  they  will  spring  upon  you  an- 
other question  of  slavery  agitation.  It  will 
be  the  taking  of  Cuba  from  Spain,  or  cut- 
ting off  another  slice  from  Mexico  for  the 
purpose  of  embroiling  the  North  against 
the  South ;  and  then,  if  I  shall  resist  that 
agitation,  I  shall  be  called  an  Abolitionist, 
again. 

*  *  *  *  * 

My  countrvmen,  Qod  forbid  that  I  should 
attempt  to  dictate  to  you  or  even  advise 
vou.  I  am  not  competent  to  do  so.  I 
know  that  divisions  exist  among  you, 
while  I  feel  also  confident  that  the  same 
purpose  animates  all  your  hearts.    Do  not 


suppose  for  one  moment  that  I  am  the  rep- 
resentative of  any  clique  or  faction. 

Unfortunately,  I  find  that  our  friends 
here  are  in  the  same  condition  in  which 
the  Jews  were,  when  besieged  by  the  Ro- 
man general,  Titus.  Whilst  the  battering- 
rams  of  the  Romans  were  beating  down 
their  walls,  and  the  firebrand  of  the 
heatUen  was  consuming  their  temple,  the 
historian  tells  us  that  that  great  people 
were  engaged  in  intestine  commotions, 
some  advocating  the  claims  of  one,  and 
some  of  another,  to  the  high  priesthoo(? 
of  that  nation ;  and  instead  of  the  Ro- 
mans devouring  them,  they  devoured  each 
other.  Grod  forbid  that  my  brother  Amer- 
icans should  devour  each  other,  at  a  time 
when  every  heart  and  every  hand  should 
be  enlisted  in  the  same  cause,  of  overthrow- 
ing the  common  enemy  of  us  all. 

Who  is  that  common  enemy  ?  [Voices, 
•'  The  Democratic  party."]  Yes,  that 
party  have  reviled  us,  abused  us,  perse- 
cuted us,  and  all  only  because  we  are  de- 
termined to  adhere  to  the  Constitution  of 
our  country.  Give  Buchanan  a  lease  of 
power  for  four  years,  and  we  must  toil 
through  persecution,  submit  to  degrada- 
tion, or  cause  the  streets  of  our  cities  to  run 
blood.  But  we  will  submit  to  degradation 
provided  we  can  see  the  end  of  our  troubles. 
We  are  willing  to  go  through  a  pilgrimage, 
not  only  of  four  years,  but  of  ten,  or  twen- 
ty, or  forty  years,  provided  we  can  have  an 
assurance  that  at  last  we  shall  reach  the 
top  of  Pisgah,  and  see  the  j)romised  land 
which  our  children  are  to  inherit.  God 
has  not  given  to  us  poor  frail  mortals  the 
power,  at  all  times,  of  controlling  events. 
When  we  cannot  control  events,  should 
we  not,  where  no  sacrifice  of  honor  is  in- 
volved, pursue  the  policy  of  Lysander,  and 
where  the  lion's  skin  is  too  short,  eke  it 
out  with  the  fox's  [applause] — not  where 
principle  is  involved — not  where  a  sur- 
render of  our  devotion  to  our  country  is 
at  stake.    No ;  never,  never  I 

I  know  nothing  of  your  straight-out 
ticket;  I  know  nothing  of  your  Union 
ticket ;  I  know  nothing  of  Fremont.  I  do 
know  something  of  Fillmore ;  but  I  would 
not  give  my  Americanism,  and  the  hopes 
which  I  cherish  of  seeing  Americanism  in- 
stalled as  the  policy  of  this  nation,  for  all 
the  Fillmores,  or  Fremonts,  or  Buchanans, 
that  ever  lived  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

St.  Paul  says,  "  if  it  offends  my  brother, 
I  will  eat  no  meat ;"  and  if  it  offends  my 
brother  here,  I  will  not  open  my  mouth. 
Nobody  can  suspect  me.  [Voices :  "  cer- 
tainly not."]  Then  I  say,  can't  you  com- 
bine the  vote  of  this  state,  and  beat  Bu- 
chanan ?  [This  question  was  responded  to 
in  the  affirmative,  with  the  greatest  en- 
thusiasm. Repeated  cheers  were  proposed 
for  the  straight  ticket,  but  the  responding 
voices  were  by  no  means  numerous,  and 


BOOK  III.]         RAYNOR    ON    THE    FUSION    OF    FORCES. 


113 


were  mingled  with  hisses.  Such  was  the 
universal  excitement,  that  for  some  min- 
utes the  speaker  was  obliged  to  pause.  He 
finally  raised  his  voice  above  the  subsiding 
storm,  and  said  : — 

Come,  my  friends,  we  are  all  brothers ;  we 
are  all  seeking  the  same  end.  Our  object 
is  the  same.  We  are  all  struggling  to  reach 
the  same  haven  of  safety.  The  only  difF- 
ference  of  opinion  is  as  to  the  proper 
means  by  which  to  accomplish  our  com- 
mon encl.  Will  not  Americans  learn  pru- 
dence from  the  past  ?  Misfortune  should 
have  taught  us  charity  for  each  other.  We 
have  passed  through  the  ordeal  of  perse- 
cution together ;  we  have  been  subjected  to 
the  same  difficulties,  and  the  same  oppress- 
ion ;  we  have  been  baptized  (I  may  say)  in 
the  same  stream  of  calumny.  Then,  in  the 
name  of  God — in  the  name  of  our  common 
country — in  the  name  of  Americanism — in 
the  name  of  American  nationality — in  the 
name  of  religious  freedom — in  the  name  of 
the  Union,  I  beseech  you  to  learn  charity 
for  the  difference  of  opinion  which  pre- 
vails among  you.  Let  brethren  forbear 
with  brethren.  Let  us  recollect  that  it  is 
not  by  vituperation,  by  the  censure  of  our 
brethren,  that  we  can  ever  accomplish  this 
great  end  of  conquering  a  common  enemy. 
My  friends,  how  long  are  we  to  suffer? 
How  long  will  it  be  before  we  shall  learn 
that  it  is  only  by  a  union  of  counsels,  a 
concentration  'of  energy,  a  combination 
of  purpose,  that  we  can  destroy  the  com- 
mon enemy  of  every  conservative  man. 
[Great  applause.] 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  advise  you,  for  I 
am  not  competent  to  do  it.  You  have  in- 
formation which  I  do  not  possess.  You 
know  all  the  undercurrents  of  opinion 
which  prevail  here  in  your  community, 
with  which  I  am  unacquainted;  but  will 
you  allow  an  humble  man  to  express  his 
opinion  to  brethren  whom  he  loves?  May 
I  do  it?  I  am  a  Fillmore  man — nothing 
but  a  Fillmore  man,  and  if  I  resided  here, 
I  would  vote  no  ticket  which  had  not  the 
name  of  Millard  Fillmore  at  its  head,  and 
I  would  advise  no  Fillmore  man  to  vote  a 
ticket  with  Fremont's  name  on  it ;  but  I 
would  vote  for  that  ticket  which  would 
make  my  voice  tell  at  the  polls. 

Now  let  us  look  at  this  thing  practically. 
In  reading  history  I  have  always  admired 
the  character  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  What 
was  the  great  motive  by  which  he  was 
actuated  in  overthrowing  the  house  of 
Stuart?  It  was  unfailing  devotion  to 
principle.  His  motto  was,  "Put  your 
trust  in  God,  and  keep  your  powder  dry." 
I  admire  the  devotion  to  principle  in  every 
man  who  says  that  he  does  not  intend  to 
vote  any  but  the  straight  ticket,  for  it 
shows  that  Americanism  has  such  a  lodg- 
ment in  his  heart,  that  he  cannot  bear 
even  seemingly  to  compromise  it.  That  is 
86 


"putting  your  trust  in  God;"  but.  my 
friends,  is  it  "keeping  your  powder  ory?" 
The  enemy  may  steal  into  the  camp  while 
you  are  asleep,  and  may  pour  water  upon 
vour  cartridges,  so  that  when  the  day  of 
battle  shall  come,  you  may  shoot,  but  you 
will  kill  nobody.  I  want  the  vote  of  ever} 
American,  on  Tuesday  next,  to  tell.  Would 
to  God  that  you  could  give  the  twenty- 
seven  electoral  votes  of  Pennsylvania  to 
Fillmore.  Then  vote  the  straight  ticket, 
if  that  will  give  him  the  twenty-seven 
votes.  But  suppose  it  will  not  (and  *I  am 
afraid  it  will  not),  then  the  question  is, 
had  you  better  give  Buchanan  the  twenty- 
seven  votes,  or  give  Fillmore  eight,  ten, 
twelve,  or  twenty,  as  the  case  may  be.  I 
go  for  beating  Buchanan. 

Gentlemen,  you  do  not  knew  what  we 
Americans  suffer  at  the  South.  I  am 
abused  and  reviled  for  standing  up  in  de- 
fence of  you.  When  I  hear  the  whole 
North  denounced  as  a  set  of  Abolitionists, 
whose  purpose  it  is  to  interfere  with  the 
peculiar  institutions  of  the  South,  I  brand 
such  charges  as  slanders  on  the  Northern 
people.  I  tell  them  that  the  great  mass  of 
the  Northern  people  are  sound  on  this 
question ;  that  tney  are  opposed  to  slavery, 
as  I  should  be  if  I  were  a  Northern  man ; 
but  that  I  do  not  believe  that  the  great 
mass  of  the  Northern  people  have  any  idea 
of  interfering  with  the  constitutional  rights 
of  the  people  of  the  South.  I  know  that 
such  men  as  Garrison  and  Forney  have. 
I  know  that  Garrison  believes  the  Con- 
stitution to  be  a  "  league  with  hell,"  and 
would  therefore  destroy  it  if  he  could; 
and  I  know  that  Forney  loves  office  so 
well,  that  even  at  the  risk  of  snapping 
the  Union,  he  will  keep  alive  slavery  agi- 
tation. But  Garrison  does  not  represent 
New  England,  and  Forney  does  not  repre- 
sent you. 

As  much  as  I  have  been  reviled  for 
standing  by  you,  I  am  so  anxious  to  have 
Buchanan  beaten,  that  were  I  residing 
here,  if  I  could  not  give  Fillmore  the  whole 
twenty-seven  votes,  I  would  give  him  all  I 
could,  by  giving  him  the  number  to  which 
he  might  be  entitled  by  the  numerical  pro- 
portion of  the  votes  at  the  ballot-box.  Vet, 
if  there  is  a  brother  American  here  who 
feels  in  his  "  heart  of  hearts,"  that  by  vot- 
ing that  Union  ticket,  he  would  compro- 
mise his  Americanism,  I  say  to  such  an 
one,  "do  not  vote  that  ticket."  At  the 
same  time,  candor  compels  me  to  say,  that 
I  differ  in  opinion  with  him.  If  I  believed 
that  that  ticket  was  a  fusion,  or  that  it 
called  upon  any  Fillmore  man  to  vote  for 
Fremont,  I  would  advise  no  one  to  vote  it. 
I  would  not  vote  a  ticket  that  had  on  it 
the  name  of  Fremont ;  but  I  would  vote  a 
ticket  with  Fillmore's  name  upon  it,  and 
which  would  give  him  (if  not  the  twenty- 
I  seven  electoral  votes)  seven,  or  ten,  oft 


fl4 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


twenty,  just  as  the  numerical  proportion 
of  the  votes  might  decide. 

I  appeal  to  every  conservative,  Union- 
loving  man  in  this  nation,  who  is  disposed 
to  give  to  the  South  all  the  constitutional 
privileges  to  which  she  is  entitled,  and  who 
wishes  to  rebuke  the  Democratic  party  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  and 
for  keeping  up  the  eternal  agitation  of 
slavery.  I  appeal  to  you  as  a  southern 
man — as  a  slaveholder.  I  do  not  ask  you 
to  be  pro-slavery  men,  to  be  the  advocates 
of  slavery,  when  I  say  to  you  that  we,  your 
brethren  of  the  South,  expect  you  to  pre- 
serve our  constitutional  rights — and,  God 
knows,  we  ask  nothing  more — against 
fanatics,  either  north  or  south.  Will  you 
doit? 

My  friends,  the  election  is  fast  approach- 
ing. There  is  but  little  time  for  delibera- 
tion left.  Is  there  no  way  by  which  the 
votes  of  the  anti-Buchanan  party  can  be 
concentrated  on  the  same  ticket?  I  would 
shed  tears  of  blood — God  knows  I  would — 
if  I  could  be  instrumental  in  prevailing  on 
all  true  Americans  to  combine.  I  cannot 
tell  you  how  to  combine ;  but  is  it  yet  too 
late?  If  it  is  too  late  to  do  it  throughout 
the  state,  cannot  you  in  Philadelphia  do 
it?  The  Presidential  election  may  depend 
upon  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania  may  depend  upon  the 
city  of  Philadelphia.  On  the  vote  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  may  depend  not  only 
our  own  rights,  but  the  rights  of  our  chil- 
dren and  our  children's  children.  I  ap- 
peal to  my  brother  Americans,  for  I  have 
no  right  to  appeal  to  anybody  else ;  I  can- 
not address  the  Fremont  party,  for  I  have 
no  affiliation  with  them ;  I  cannot  address 
the  Buchanan  party,  for  my  object  is  to 
destroy  them  if  possible.  To  my  Ameri- 
can brethren,  then,  I  appeal,  for  God's 
sake,  do  not  let  the  sun  rise  upon  that 
wrath,  which  I  see  divides  you.  Your 
object  is  the  same — to  rescue  your  common 
country. 

Let  me  advise  you  who  know  nothing  of 
your  divisions — who  belong  neither  to  one 
clique  or  the  other.  I  say  with  the  deep- 
est sincerity  that  I  think  all  parties  ought 
to  have  concentrated  upon  the  Fillmore 
ticket  Mr.  Fillmore  is  a  northern  man. 
Your  southern  brethren  were  willing  to  sup- 
port him.  He  had  guided  the  ship  of 
state  safely  through  the  storm,  and  it  was 
but  reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  time  of 
difficulty  he  would  again  be  found  the 
same  good  pilot.  But  if  we  cannot  get  all 
others  to  unite  on  Mr.  Fillmore,  each  of  us 
must  inquire,  "  What  is  my  duty?  If  the 
mountain  will  not  come  to  Mahomet,  shall 
not  Mahomet  go  to  the  mountain ;  and  if 
he  will  not  go  to  the  mountain,  in  heaven's 
name,  shall  he  not  go  halfway?" 

I  am  fighting  for  the  victory  which  we 
may  obtain  in  this  contest.    And  what  an 


issue  is  now  pending!  We  read  in  the 
Iliad  how,  for  ten  long  years,  a  great  peo- 
ple of  antiquity  were  engaged  in  the  siege 
of  Troy.  What  was  the  stake  for  which 
they  contended?  It  was  nothing  more 
than  a  beautiful  woman,  who  had  been 
ravished  by  a  sprig  of  the  royal  line  of 
Troy.  What  is  the  stake  for  which  we  con- 
tend? It  is  constitutional  liberty — the 
right  of  the  American  people  to  govern 
their  own  country — the  right  of  every  cit- 
izen to  worship  God  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  his  conscience.  The  great  issue 
is,  whether  the  American  flag  shall  still 
wave  in  glory  when  we  shall  have  gone  to 
our  graves,  or  whether  it  shall  be  trailed 
in  dishonor — whether  the  "blackness  of 
darkness  "  which  would  follow  the  disso- 
lution of  this  Union,  shall  cover  the  land. 

I  do  not  tell  you  how  to  combine :  but  I 
urge  you  to  resort  to  that  mode  (if  there 
is  such  a  mode  possible),  by  which  you  can 
get  together — by  which  your  votes  can  be 
made  effectual  at  the  polls — ^by  which  Mil- 
lard Fillmore  can  go  before  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives  with  the  strong  moral 
power  which  a  large  electoral  vote  will 
give  him. 

That  is  the  way  in  which  we  must  view 
the  question  as  practical  men.  Yet  so  dif- 
ferent are  the  conditions  of  our  nature,  so 
different  the  sentiments  which  actuate  us, 
that  I  will  not  be  guilty  of  such  presump- 
tion, as  to  tell  any  man  what  jparticular 
course  he  should  take.  You  know  my 
opinions ;  if  they  are  worth  anything,  re- 
ceive them  into  your  hearts,  simply  as  the 
sentiments  of  a  brother  American ;  if  they 
are  worth  nothing,  let  them  pass  as  the  idle 
wind. 

In  conclusion  I  will  only  say  that  wheth- 
er we  be  defeated  or  whether  we  be  vic- 
torious, the  only  reward  I  ask  for  in  the 
labor  in  which  I  am  engaged  is,  that  you 
may  recollect  me  as  one  who  had  at  lieart 
only  the  welfare  of  his  countrj',  and  who 
endeavored  to  promote  it  by  appealing  to 
the  associations  of  the  past,  and  all  the 
hopes  of  the  future. 


Religion*  Test. 

Debate  in  the  Convention  on  that  article  in  the  CoMtiiuUm 
in  regard  to  it. 

Mr.  Pinkney  moved  that  no  religious 
test  shall  ever  be-  required  as  a  qualifica- 
tion to  any  office  or  public  trust  under  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Sherman  thought  it  unnecessary, 
the  prevailing  liberality  being  a  sufficient 
security  against  all  sucn  tests. 

Rev.  Mr.  Backus  of  Mass.  I  beg  leave 
to  offer  a  few  thoughts  upon  the  Constitu- 
tion proposed  to  us;  and  I  shall  begin 
with  the  exclusion  of  any  religious  test. 
Many  appear  to  be  much  concerned  about 


BOOK  III.]   HENRY  W.  DAVIS  ON  THE  AMERICAN  PARTY. 


115 


it ;  but  nothing  is  more  evident,  both  in 
reason  and  the  Holy  Scriptures,  than  that 
religion  is  ever  a  matter  between  God  and 
individuals ;  and  that,  therefore,  no  man 
or  set  of  men  can  impose  any  religious 
test  without  invading  the  essential  pre- 
rogatives of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Min- 
isters first  assumed  this  power  under  the 
Christian  name,  and  then  Constantine  ap- 
proved of  the  practice  when  he  adopted 
the  profession  of  Christianity  as  an  engine 
of  state  policy.  And  let  the  history  of  all 
nations  be  searched,  from  that  day  to  this, 
and  it  will  appear  that  the  imposing  of 
religious  tests  hath  been  the  greatest  en- 
gine of  tyranny  in  the  world. 

Oliver  Wolcott  of  Conn.  For  my- 
self I  should  be  content  either  with  or 
without  that  clause  in  the  Constitution 
which  excludes  test  laws.  Knowledge 
and  liberty  are  so  prevalent  in  this  coun- 
try, that  I  do  not  believe  that  the  United 
States  would  ever  be  disposed  to  establish 
one  religious  sect  and  lay  all  others  under 
legal  disabilities.  But  as  we  know  not 
what  may  take  place  hereafter,  and  any 
such  test  woula  be  destructive  of  the 
rights  of  free  citizens,  I  cannot  think  it 
superfluous  to  have  added  a  clause  which 
secures  us  from  the  possibility  of  such  op- 
pression. 

Mr.  Madison  of  Va.  I  confess  to  you, 
sir,  that  were  uniformity  of  religion  to  be 
introduced  by  this  system,  it  would,  in  my 
opinion,  be  ineligible ;  but  I  have  no 
reason  to  conclude  that  uniformity  of  gov- 
ernment will  produce  that  of  religion. 
This  subject  is,  for  the  honor  of  America, 
left  perfectly  free  and  unshackled.  The 
government  has  no  jurisdiction  over  it — 
the  least  reflection  will  convince  us  there 
is  no  danger  on  this  ground.  Happily  for 
the  states,  they  enjoy  the  utmost  freedom 
of  religion.  This  freedom  arises  from  that 
multiplicity  of  sects  which  pervades  Amer- 
ica, and  which  is  the  best  and  only  security 
for  religious  liberty  in  any  society.  For, 
where  there  is  such  a  variety  of  sects, 
there  cannot  be  a  majority  of  any  one  sect 
to  oppress  and  persecute  the  rest. 

Mr.  Iredell  of  N.  C.  used  this  lan- 
guage :  "  Every  person  in  the  least  con- 
versant with  the  history  of  mankind,  knows 
what  dreadful  mischiefs  have  been  com- 
mitted by  religious  persecution.  Under 
the  color  of  religious  tests,  the  utmost 
cruelties  have  been  ex'ercised.    Those  in 

Sower  have  generally  considered  all  wis- 
om  centred  in  themselves,  that  they 
alone  had  the  right  to  dictate  to  the  rest  of 
mankind,  and  that  all  opposition  to  their 
tenets  was  profane  ana  impious.  _  The 
consequence  of  this  intolerant  spirit  has 
been  that  each  church  has  in  turn  set  it- 
self up  against  every  other,  and  persecu- 
tions and  wars  of  the  most  implacable  and 
bloody  nature  have  taken  place  in  every 


part  of  the  world.  America  has  set  an  ex- 
ample to  mankind  to  think  more  ration- 
ally— that  a  man  may  be  of  religious  sen- 
timents differing  from  our  own,  without  be- 
ing a  bad  member  of  society.  The  prin- 
ciples of  toleration,  to  the  honor  of  this 
age,  are  doing  away  those  errors  and  pre- 
judices which  have  so  long  ])revailed  even 
in  the  most  intolerant  countries.  In  Ro- 
man Catholic  lands,  principles  of  modera- 
tion are  adopted,  which  would  have  been 
spurned  a  centurv  or  two  ago.  It  will  be 
fatal,  indeed,  to  find,  at  the  time  when  ex- 
amples of  toleration  are  set  even  by  arbi- 
trary governments,  that  this  country,  so 
impressed  with  the  highest  sense  of  lib- 
erty, should  adopt  principles  on  this  sub- 
ject that  were  narrow,  despotic,  and 
illiberal." 


Speech  ot  Henry-  W.  Davis,  of  Maryland* 

On  the  Mission  of  the  American  Party. 

Extract  from  Mr.  Davis's  speech  in  tho  House  of 
Kepresentatives,  on  tlie  6th  of  Jan.,  1857,  on  the  reealti 
of  the  recent  Presidential  election: — 

******* 

"The  great  lesson  is  taught  by  this 
election  that  both  the  parties  which  rested 
their  hopes  on  sectional  hostility,  stand  at 
this  day  condemned  by  the  great  majority 
of  the  country,  as  common  disturbers  of 
the  public  peace  of  the  country. 

"The  Republican  party  was  a  hasty 
levy,  en  masse,  of  the  Northern  people  to 
repel  or  revenge  an  intrusion  by  Northern 
votes  alone.  With  its  occasion  it  must 
pass  away.  The  gentlemen  of  the  Repub- 
lican side  of  the  House  can  now  do  noth- 
ing. They  can  pass  no  law  excluding 
slavery  from  Kansas  in  the  next  Congress 
— for  they  are  in  a  minority.  Within  two 
years  Kansas  must  be  a  state  of  the  Union. 
She  will  be  admitted  with  or  without 
slavery,  as  her  people  prefer.  Beyond 
Kansas  there  is  no  question  that  is  practi- 
cally open.  I  speak  to  practical  men. 
Slavery  does  not  exist  in  any  other  terri- 
tory,— it  is  excluded  by  law  from  several, 
ana  not  likely  to  exist  anywhere ;  and  the 
Republican  party  has  nothing  to  do  and 
can  do  nothing.  It  has  no  future.  Why 
cumbers  it  the  ground  ? 

"  Between  these  two  stand  the  firm  ranks 
of  the  American  party,  thinned  by  deser- 
tions, but  still  unshaken.  To  them  the 
eye  of  the  country  turns  in  hope.  The 
gentleman  from  Georgia  saluted  the 
Northern  Democrats  with  the  title  of  he- 
roes— who  swam  vigorously  down  the  cur- 
rent. The  men  of  the  American  partv 
faced,  in  each  section,  the  sectional  mad- 
ness. They  would  cry  neither  free  nor 
slave  Kansas ;  but  proposed  a  safe  admin- 
istration of  the  laws,  before  which  every 
right  would  find  protection.  Their  voice 
was  drowned  amid  the  din  of  factions.  Th« 


116 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


men  of  the  North  would  have  no  modera- 
tion, and  they  have  paid  the  penalty.  The 
American  party  elected  a  majoritv  of  this 
House :  had  they  of  the  North  held  fast  to 
the  great  American  principle  of  silence  on 
the  negro  question,  and,  firmly  refusing  to 
join  either  agitation,  stood  by  the  Ameri- 
can candidate,  they  would  not  now  be 
writhing,  crushed  beneath  an  utter  over- 
throw. If  they  would  now  destroy  the 
Democrats,  they  can  do  it  only  by  return- 
ing to  the  American  party.  By  it  alone 
can  a  party  be  created  strong  at  the  South 
as  well  as  at  the  North.  To  it  alone  be- 
longs a  principle  accepted  wherever  the 
American  name  is  heard — the  same  at  the 
North  as  at  the  South,  on  the  Atlantic  or 
the  Pacific  shore.  It  alone  is  free  from 
sectional  affiliations  at  either  end  of  the 
Union  which  would  cripple  it  at  the  other. 
Its  principle  is  silence,  peace,  and  compro- 
mise. It  abides  by  the  existing  law.  It 
allows  no  agitation.  It  maintains  the  pre- 
sent condition  of  affairs.  It  asks  no  change 
in  any  territory,  and  it  will  countenance 
no  agitation  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
either  section.  Though  thousands  fell  off" 
in  the  day  of  trial — allured  by  ambition, 
or  terrified  by  fear — at  the  North  and  at 
the  South,  carried  away  by  the  torrent  of 
fanaticism  in  one  part  of  the  Union,  or 
driven  by  the  fierce  onset  of  the  Democrats 
in  another,  who  shook  Southern  institu- 
tions by  the  violence  of  their  attack,  and 
half  waked  the  sleeping  negro  by  painting 
the  Eepublican  as  his  liberator,  still  a 
million  of  men,  on  the  great  day,  in  the 
face  of  both  factions,  heroically  refused  to 
bow  the  knee  to  either  Baal.  They  knew 
the  necessities  of  the  times,  and  they  set 
the  example  of  sacrifice,  that  others  might 
profit  by  it.  They  now  stand  the  hope  of 
the  nation,  around  whose  firm  ranks  the 
shattered  elements  of  the  great  majority 
may  rally  and  vindicate  the  ri^ht  of  the 
majority  to  rule,  and  of  the  native  of  the 
land  to  make  the  law  of  the  land. 

The  recent  election  has  developed,  in  an 
aggravated  form,  every  evil  against  which 
the  American  party  protested.  Again  in  the 
war  of  domestic  parties.  Republican  and 
Democrat  have  rivalled  each  other  in  bid- 
ding for  the  foreign  vote  to  turn  the  bal- 
ance of  a  domestic  election.  Foreign 
allies  have  decided  the  government  of  the 
country — men  naturalized  in  thousands  on 
the  eve  of  the  election — eagerlv  struggled 
for  by  competing  parties,  mad  with  sec- 
tional fury,  and  grasping  any  instrument 
which  would  prostrate  their  opponents. 
Again,  in  the  fierce  struggle  for  suprema- 
cy, men  have  forgotten  the  ban  which  the 
Republic  puts  on  the  intrusion  of  religious 
influence  on  the  political  arena.  These 
influences  have  brought  vast  multitudes  of 
foreign-bom  citizens  to  the  polls,  ignorant 
of  American  interests,  without  American 


feelings,  influenced  by  foreign  sympathies, 
to  vote  on  American  affairs;  and  those 
votes  have,  in  point  of  fact,  accomplished 
the  present  result. 

The  high  mission  of  the  American  is  to 
restore  the  influence  of  the  interests  of  the 
people  in  the  conduct  of  affairs ;  to  ex- 
clude appeals  to  foreign  birth  or  religious 
feeling  as  elements  of  power  in  politics ;  to 
silence  the  voice  of  sectional  strife — not  by 
joining  either  section,  but  by  recalling  the 
people  from  a  profitless  and  maddening 
controversy  which  aids  no  interest,  and 
shakes  the  foundatioii  not  only  of  the  com- 
mon industry  of  the  people,  but  of  the  Re- 
public itself;  to  lay  a  storm  amid  whose 
ftiry  no  voice  can  be  heard  in  behalf  of  the 
industrial  interests  of  the  country,  no  eye 
can  watch  and  guard  the  foreign  policy  of 
the  government,  till  our  ears  may  be 
opened  by  the  crash  of  foreign  war  waged 
for  purposes  of  political  and  party  ambi- 
tion, in  the  name,  but  not  by  the  authori- 
ty nor  for  the  interests,  of  the  American 
people. 

Return,  then,  Americans  of  the  North, 
from  the  paths  of  error  to  which  in  an  evil 
hour  fierce  passions  and  indignation  have 
seduced  you,  to  the  sound  position  of  the 
American  party — silence  on  the  slavery 
agitation.  Leave  the  territories  as  they 
are — to  the  operation  of  natural  causes. 
Prevent  aggression  by  excluding  from 
power  the  aggressors,  and  there  will  be  no 
more  wrong  to  redress.  Awake  the  na- 
tional spirit  to  the  danger  and  degrada- 
tion of  having  the  balance  of  power  held 
by  foreigners.  Recall  the  warnings  of 
Washington  against  foreign  influence — 
here  in  our  midst — ^wielding  part  of  our 
sovereignty ;  and  with  these  sound  words 
of  wisdom  let  us  recall  the  people  from 
paths  of  strife  and  error  to  guard  their 
peace  and  power ;  and  when  once  the  mind 
of  the  pepple  is  turned  from  the  slavery 
agitation,  that  party  which  waked  the 
agitation  will  cease  to  have  power  to  dis- 
turb the  peace  of  the  land. 

This  is  the  great  mission  of  the  Ameri- 
can party.  The  first  condition  of  success  is 
to  prevent  the  administration  from  having 
a  majority  in  the  next  Congress ;  for,  with 
that,  the  agitation  will  be  resumed  for  very 
different  objects.  The  Ostend  manifesto  is 
full  of  warning;  and  they  who  struggle 
over  Kansas  may  awake  and  find  them- 
selves in  the  midst  of  an  agitation  com- 
pared to  which  that  of  Kansas  was  a  sum- 
mer's sea ;  whose  instruments  will  be,  not 
words,  but  the  sword. 


JmOmm  R.  Glddlnffs  AKalnst  the  Fvi^tl-re 
Slave  LttLW. 

In  the  Hotue  of  BepreteiUative;  April  25, 1848. 

"  Why,  sir,  I  never  saw  a  panting  fugi- 
tive speeding  his  way  to  a  land  of  free- 


BOOK  III.] 


EGBERT  TOOMBS  ON  SLAVERY. 


117 


dom,  that  an  involuntary  invocation  did 
not  burst  from  my  lips,  that  God  would 
aid  him  in  his  flight !  Such  are  the  feel- 
ings of  every  man  in  our  free  states,  whose 
heart  has  not  become  hardened  in  iniquity. 
I  do  not  confine  this  virtue  to  Republi- 
cans, nor  to  Anti-Slavery  men  ;  I  speak 
of  all  men,  of  all  parties,  in  all  Christian 
communities.  Northern  Democrats  feel 
it ;  they  ordinarily  bow  to  this  higher  law 
of  their  natures,  and  they  only  prove  re- 
creant to  the  law  of  the  *  Most  High,'  when 
they  regard  the  interests  of  the  Democratic 
party  as  superior  to  God's  law  and  the 
rights  of  mankind. 

"  Gentlemen  will  bear  with  me  when  I 
assure  them  and  the  President  that  I  have 
seen  as  many  as  nine  fugitives  dining  at  one 
time  in  my  own  house — fathers,  mothers, 
husbands,  wives,  parents,  and  children. 
When  they  came  to  my  door,  hungry  and 
faint,  cold  and  but  partially  clad,  I  did  not 
turn  round  to  consult  the  Fugitive  Law, 
nor  to  ask  the  President  what  I  should  do. 
I  knew  the  constitution  of  my  country,  and 
would  not  violate  it.  I  obeyed  the  divine 
mandate,  to  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the 
naked.  I  fed  them.  I  clothed  them,  gave 
them  money  for  their  journey,  and  sent 
them  on  their  way  rejoicing.  I  obeyed 
God  rather  than  the  President.  I  obeyed 
my  conscience,  the  dictates  of  my  heart, 
the  law  of  my  moral  being,  the  commands 
of  Heaven,  and,  I  will  add,  the  constitu- 
tion of  my  country;  for  no  man  of  in- 
telligence ever  believed  that  the  framers 
of  ihat  instrument  intended  to  involve 
their  descendants  of  the  free  states  in 
any  act  that  should  violate  the  teachings 
of  the  Most  High,  by  seizing  a  fellow- 
being,  and  returning  him  to  the  hell  of 
slavery.  If  that  be  treason,  make  the 
most  of  it. 

"  Mr.  Benkett,  of  Mississippi.  I  want 
to  know  if  the  gentleman  would  not  have 
gone  one  step  farther? 

"Mb.  Giddings.  Yes,  sir;  I  would 
have  gone  one  step  farther.  I  would  have 
driven  the  slave-catcher  who  dared  pursue 
Ihem  from  my  premises.  I  would  have 
kicked  him  from  my  door-yard,  if  he  had 
made  his  appearance  there ;  or,  had  he  at- 
tempted to  enter  my  dwelling,  I  would 
have  stricken  him  down  upon  the  threshold 
of  my  door. 


Ra1>ert  ToomlM  on  Slavety, 

At  Tremont  Temple,  Bo$ton,  Janwiry  lUh,  1856. 

In  1790  there  were  less  than  seven  hun- 
dred thousand  slaves  in  the  United  States ; 
in  1850  the  number  exceeded  three  and 
one  quarter  millions.  The  same  authority 
shows  their  increase,  for  the  ten  years  pre- 
ceding the  last  census,  to  have  been  above 
twenty-eight  per  cent.,  or  nearly  three  per 


cent,  per  annum,  an  increase  equal,  allow- 
ing for  the  element  of  foreign  immigration, 
to  the  white  race,  and  nearly  three  times 
that  of  the  free  blacks  of  the  North.  But 
these  legal  rights  of  the  slave  embrace  but 
a  small  portion  of  the  privileges  actually 
enjoyed  by  him.  He  has,  by  universa'l 
custom,  the  control  of  much  of  his  own 
time,  which  is  applied,  at  his  own  choice 
and  convenience,  to  the  mechanic  arts,  to 
agriculture,  or  to  some  other  profitable 
pursuit,  which  not  only  gives  him  the 
power  of  purchase  over  many  additional 
necessaries  of  life,  but  over  many  of  its 
"luxuries,  and  in  numerous  cases,  enables 
him  to  purchase  his  freedom  when  he  de- 
sires it.  Besides,  the  nature  of  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave  begets  kindnesses,  im- 
poses duties  (and  secures  their  perform- 
ance), which  exist  in  no  other  relation  of 
capital  and  labor.  Interest  and  humanity 
co-operate  in  harmony  for  the  well-being 
of  slave  labor.  Thus  the  monster  objection 
to  our  institution  of  slavery,  that  it  deprives 
labor  of  its  wages,  cannot  stand  the  test  of 
a  truthful  investigation.  A  slight  examina- 
tion of  the  true  theory  of  wages,  will  fur- 
ther expose  its  fallacy.  Under  a  system 
of  free  labor,  wages  are  usually  paid  in 
money,  the  representative  of  products — 
under  ours,  in  products  themselves.  One 
of  your  most  distinguished  statesmen  and 
patriots,  President  John  Adams,  said  that 
the  difference  to  the  state  was  "imaginary." 
"What  matters  it  (said  he)  whether  a 
landlord,  employing  ten  laborers  on  his 
farm,  gives  them  annually  as  much  money 
as  will  buy  them  the  necessaries  of  life,  or 
gives  them  those  necessaries  atshort  hand  ?" 
All  experience  has  shown  that  if  that  be 
the  measure  of  the  wages  of  labor,  it  is 
safer  for  the  laborer  to  take  his  wages  in 
products  than  in  their  fluctuating  pecuni- 
ary value.  Therefore,  if  we  pay  in  the 
necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  more  than 
any  given  amount  of  pecuniary  wages  will 
buy,  then  our  laborer  is  paid  higher  than 
the  laborer  who  receives  that  amount  of 
wages.  The  most  authentic  agricultural 
statistics  of  England  show  that  the  wages 
of  agricultural  and  unskilled  labor  in  that 
kingdom,  not  only  fail  to  furnish  the  la- 
borer with  the  comforts  of  our  slave,  but 
even  with  the  necessaries  of  life;  and  no 
slaveholder  could  escape  a  conviction  for 
cruelty  to  his  slaves  who  gave  his  slave  no 
more  of  the  necessaries  of  life  for  his  labor 
than  the  wages  paid  to  their  agricultural 
laborers  by  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
of  England  would  buv.  Under  their  sys- 
tem man  has  become  less  valuable  and  less 
cared  for  than  domestic  animals ;  and  no- 
ble dukes  will  depopulate  whole  districts 
of  men  to  supply  their  places  with  sheep, 
and  then  with  intrepid  audacity  lecture 
and  denounce  American  slaveholders. 
The  great  conflict  between  labor  ar4 


118 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


capital,  under  free  competition,  has  ever 
been  how  the  earnings  of  labor  shall  be  di- 
vided between  them.  In  new  and  sparsely 
settled  countries,  where  land  is  cheap,  and 
food  is  easily  produced,  and  education  and 
intelligence  approximate  equality,  labor 
ran  successfully  struggle  m  this  warfare 
with  capital.  But  this  is  an  exceptional 
and  temporary  condition  of  society.  In 
the  Old  World  this  state  of  things  has  long 
since  passed  awa.v,  and  the  conflict  with 
the  lower  grades  of  labor  has  long  since 
ceased.  There  the  compensation  of  un- 
skilled labor,  which  first  succumbs  to  cap- 
ital, is  reduced  to  a  point  scarcely  adequate 
to  the  continuance  of  the  race.  The  rate 
of  increase  is  scarcely  one  per  cent,  per 
annum,  and  even  at  that  rate,  population, 
until  recently,  was  considered  a  curse ;  in 
short,  capital  has  become  the  master  of  la- 
bor, with  all  the  benefits,  without  the  nat- 
ural burdens  of  the  relation. 

In  this  division  of  the  earnings  of  labor 
between  it  and  capital,  the  southern  slave 
has  a  marked  advantage  over  the  English 
laborer,  and  is  often  equal  to  the  free  la- 
borer of  the  North.  Here  again  we  are 
furnished  with  authentic  data  from  which 
to  reason.  The  census  of  1850  shows  that, 
on  the  cotton  estates  of  the  South,  which 
is  the  chief  branch  of  our  agricultural  in- 
dustry, one-half  of  the  arable  lands  are 
annually  put  under  food  crops.  This  half 
is  usually  wholly  consumed  on  the  farm  by 
the  laborers  and.  necessary  animals ;  out  of 
the  other  half  must  be  paid  all  the  neces- 
sary expenses  of  production,  often  inclu- 
ding additional  supplies  of  food  beyond  the 
produce  of  the  lana,  which  usually  equals 
one-third  of  the  residue,  leaving  but  one- 
third  for  net  rent.  The  average  rent  of 
land  in  the  older  non-slaveholding  states 
is  equal  to  one-third  of  the  gross  product, 
and  it  not  unfreguently  amounts  to  one- 
half  of  it  (in  England  it  is  sometimes  even 
greater),  the  tenant,  from  his  portion,  pay- 
ing all  expenses  of  production  and  the 
expenses  of  himself  and  family.  From  this 
statement  it  is  apparent  that  the  fanA  la- 
borers of  the  South  receive  always  as  much, 
and  frequently  a  greater  portion  of  the  pro- 
duce of  the  land,  than  the  laborer  in  the 
New  or  Old  England.  Besides,  here  the 
portion  due  the  slave  is  a  charge  upon  the 
whole  product  of  capital  and  the  capital 
itself;  it  is  neither  dependent  upon  seasons 
nor  subject  to  accidents,  and  survives  his 
own  capacity  for  labor,  and  even  the  ruin 
of  his  master. 

But  it  is  objected  that  religious  instruc- 
tion is  denied  the  slave — while  it  is  true 
that  religious  instruction  and  privileges  are 
not  enjoine<l  by  law  in  all  of  the  states, 
the  number  of  slaves  who  are  in  connec- 
tion with  the  different  churches  abundantly 
proves  the  universality  of  their  enjoyment 
of  those  privileges.    And  a  much  larger 


number  of  the  race  in  slavery  enjoy  the 
consolations  of  religion  than  the  efforts  of 
the  combined  Christian  world  have  been 
able  to  convert  to  Christianity  out  of  all 
the  millions  of  their  countrymen  who  re- 
mained in  their  native  land. 

The  immoralities  of  the  slaves,  and  of 
those  connected  with  slavery,  are  constant 
themes  of  abolition  denunciation.  They 
are  lamentably  great ;  but  it  remains  to  be 
shown  that  they  are  greater  than  with  the 
laboring  poor  of  England,  or  any  other 
country.  And  it  is  shown  that  our  slaves 
are  without  the  additional  stimulant  of 
want  to  drive  them  to  crime — we  have  at 
least  removed  from  them  the  tem})tation 
and  excuse  of  hunger.  Poor  human  nature 
is  here  at  least  spared  the  wretched  fate  of 
the  utter  prostration  of  its  moral  nature  at 
the  feet  or  its  physical  wants.  Lord  Ash- 
ley's report  to  the  British  Parliment  shows 
that  in  the  capital  of  that  empire,  perhaps 
within  the  hearing  of  Stafford  House  and 
Exeter  Hall,  hunger  alone  daily  drives  its 
thousands  of  men  and  women  into  the 
abyss  of  crime. 

It  is  also  objected  that  our  slaves  are  de- 
barred the  benefits  of  education.  This  ob- 
jection is  also  well  taken,  and  is  not  without 
force.  And  for  this  evil  the  slaves  are 
greatly  indebted  to  the  abolitionists.  For- 
merly in  none  of  the  slaveholding  states 
was  it  forbidden  to  teach  slaves  to  read  and 
write ;  but  the  character  of  the  literature 
sought  to  be  furnished  them  by  the  aboli- 
tionists caused  these  states  to  take  counsel 
rather  of  their  passions  than  their  reason, 
and  to  lay  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the  evil ; 
better  counsels  will  in  time  prevail,  and 
this  will  be  remedied.  It  is  true  that  the 
slave,  from  his  protected  position,  has  less 
need  of  education  than  the  free  laborer, 
who  has  to  struggle  for  himself  in  the  war» 
fare  of  society ;  yet  it  is  both  useful  to  him, 
his  master,  and  society. 

The  want  of  legal  protection  to  the  mar- 
riage relation  is  also  a  fruitful  source  of 
agitation  among  the  opponents  cf  slavery. 
The  complaint  is  not  without  foundation. 
This  is  an  evil  not  yet  removed  by  law ; 
but  marriage  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  as  it  exists  among 
us,  and  the  objection,  therefore,  lies  rather 
to  an  incident  than  to  the  essence  of  the 
system.  But  in  the  truth  and  fact  mar- 
riage does  exist  to  a  very  great  extent 
among  slaves,  and  is  encouraged  and  pro- 
tected by  their  owners ;  and  it  will  be 
found,  upon  careful  investigation,  that 
fewer  children  are  born  out  of  wedlock 
among  slaves  than  in  the  capitals  of  two 
of  the  most  civilized  countries  of  Europe 
— Austria  and  France;  in  the  former,  one- 
half  of  the  children  are  thus  born  ;  in  the 
latter,  more  than  one-fourth.  But  even 
in  this  we  have  deprived  the  slave  of  no 
pre-existing  right.    We   found  the  race 


BOOKiii.J    JUDAH  P.  BENJAMIN  ON  SLAVE  PEOPERTY. 


119 


without  any  knowledge  of  or  regard  for 
the  institution  of  marriage,  and  we  are  re- 
proached with  not  having  as  yet  secured  to 
it  that,  with  all  other  blessings  of  civiliza- 
tion. To  protect  that  and  other  domestic 
ties  by  laws  forbidding,  under  proper  regu- 
lations, the  separation  of  families,  would 
be  wise,  proper,  and  humane ;  and  some  of 
the  slave-holding  states  have  already 
adopted  partial  legislation  for  the  removal 
of  these  evils.  But  the  objection  is  far 
more  formidable  in  theory  than  in  prac- 
tice. The  accidents  and  necessities  of 
life,  the  desire  to  better  one's  condition, 
produce  infinitely  a  greater  amount  of 
separation  in  families  of  the  white  than 
ever  happens  to  the  colored  race.  This  is 
true  even  in  the  United  States,  where  the 
general  condition  of  the  people  is  prosper- 
ous. But  it  is  still  more  marked  in  Europe. 
The  injustice  and  despotism  of  England 
towards  Ireland  has  produced  more  sepa- 
ration of  Irish  families,  and  sundered 
more  domestic  ties  within  the  last  ten 
years,  than  African  slavery  has  effected 
since  its  introduction  into  the  United 
States.  The  twenty  millions  of  freemen 
in  the  United  States  are  witnesses  of  the 
dispersive  injustice  of  the  Old  World, 
The  general  happiness,  cheerfulness,  and 
contentment  of  slaves  attest  both  the 
mildness  and  humanity  of  the  system  and 
their  natural  adaptation  to  their  condition. 
They  require  no  standing  armies  to  enforce 
their  obedience;  while  the  evidence  of 
discontent,  and  the  appliances  of  force  to 
repress  it,  are  everywhere  visible  among 
the  toiling  millions  of  the  earth ;  even  in 
the  northern  states  of  this  Union,  strikes 
and  mobs,  unions  and  combinations  against 
employers,  attest  at  once  the  misery  and 
discontent  of  labor  among  them.  Eng- 
land keeps  one  hundred  thousand  soldiers 
in  time  of  peace,  a  large  navy,  and  an  in- 
numerable police,  to  secure  obedience  to 
her  social  institutions ;  and  physical  force 
is  the  sole  guarantee  of  her  social  order, 
the  only  cement  of  her  gigantic  empire. 

I  have  briefly  traced  the  condition  of 
the  African  race  through  all  ages  and  all 
countries,  and  described  it  fairly  and  truly 
under  American  slavery,  and  I  submit  that 
the  proposition  is  fully  proven,  that  his 
position  in  slavery  among  us  is  supe- 
rior to  any  which  he  has  ever  at- 
tained in  any  a^e  or  country.  The 
picture  is  not  without  shade  as  well 
as  light;  evils  and  imperfections  cling 
to  man  and  all  of  his  works,  and  this 
is  not  exempt  from  them. 


Jndali  P.  Benjamin,  of  lionlslana^ 

On  Slav*  Property,  in  U.  8.  Senate,  March  11, 1868. 

Examine  your  Constitution  ;  are  slaves 
the  only  species  of  property  there  recog- 


nized as  requiring  peculiar  protection  ?  Sii-, 
the  inventive  genius  of  our  brethren  of  the 
north  is  a  source  of  vast  wealth  to  them 
and  vast  benefit  to  the  nation.  I  saw  a 
short  time  ago  in  one  of  the  New  York 
journals,  that  the  estimated  value  of  a 
few  of  the  patents  now  before  us  in  this 
Capitol  for  renewal  was  $40,000,000.  I 
cannot  believe  that  the  entire  capital  in- 
vested in  inventions  of  this  character  in 
the  United  States  can  fall  short  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  million 
dollars.  On  what  protection  does  this  vast 
property  rest?  Just  upon  that  same  con- 
stitutional protection  which  gives  a  remedy 
to  the  slave  owner  when  his  property  is 
also  found  outside  of  the  limits  of  tne  state 
in  which  he  lives. 

Without  this  protection  what  would  be 
the  condition  of  the  northern  inventor? 
Why,  sir,  the  Vermont  inventor  protected 
by  his  own  law  would  come  to  Massachu- 
setts, and  there  say  to  the  pirate  who  had 
stolen  his  property,  "render  me  up  my 
property,  or  pay  me  value  for  its  use." 
The  Senator  from  Vermont  would  receive 
for  answer,  if  he  were  the  counsel  of  this 
Vermont  inventor,  "  Sir,  if  you  want  pro- 
tection for  your  property  go  to  your  own 
state ;  property  is  governed  by  the  laws  of 
the  state  within  whose  jurisdiction  it  ia 
found  ;  you  have  no  property  in  your  in- 
vention outside  of  the  limits  of  your  state ; 
you  cannot  go  an  inch  beyond  it."  Would 
not  this  be  so  ?  Does  not  every  man  see  at 
once  that  the  right  of  the  inventor  to  his 
discovery,  that  the  right  of  the  poet  to  his 
inspiration,  depend:?  upon  those  principles 
of  eternal  justice  which  God  has  implanted 
in  the  heart  of  man,  and  that  wherever  he 
cannot  exercise  them,  it  is  because  man, 
faithless  to  the  trust  that  he  has  received 
from  God,  denies  them  the  protection  to 
which  they  are  entitled  ? 

Sir,  follow  out  the  illu'^tration  which  the 
Senator  from  Vermont  himself  has  given ; 
take  his  very  case  of  the  Delaware  owner 
of  a  horse  riding  him  across  the  line  into 
Pennsylvania.  The  Senator  says :  "  Now, 
you  see  that  slaves  are  not  property  like 
other  property;  if  slaves  were  property 
like  other  property,  why  have  you  this 
special  clause  in  your  constitution  to  pro- 
tect a  slave  ?  You"  have  no  clause  to  pro- 
tect the  horse,  because  horses  are  recog- 
nized as  property  everywhere,"  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, the  same  fallacy  lurks  at  the  bottom 
of  this  argument,  as  of  all  the  rest.  _  Let 
Pennsylvania  exercise  her  undoubted  juris- 
diction over  persons  and  things  within  her 
own  boundary;  let  her  do  as  she  has  a 
perfect  right  to  do— declare  that  hereafter, 
within  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  there 
shall  be  no  property  in  horses,  and  that  no 
man  shall  maintain  a  suit  in  her  courts  for 
the  recovery  of  property  in  a  horse;  and 
where  will  your  horse  owner  be  then  ?  Ju.st 


X20 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book   III. 


where  the  English  poet  is  now ;  just  where 
the  slaveholder  and  the  inventor  would  be 
if  the  Constitution,  foreseeing  a  difference 
of  opinion  in  relation  to  rights  in  these 
subject-matters,  had  not  provided  the 
remedy  in  relation  to  such  property  as 
might  easily  be  plundered.  Slaves,  if  you 
please,  are  not  property  like  other  property 
in  this :  that  you  can  easily  rob  us  of  them ; 
but  as  to  the  right  in  them,  that  man  has 
to  overthrow  the  whole  history  of  the 
world,  he  has  to  overthrow  every  treatise 
on  jurisprudence,  he  has  to  ignore  the 
common  sentiment  of  mankind,  he  has  to 
repudiate  the  authority  of  all  that  is  con- 
sidered sacred  with  man,  ere  he  can  reach 
the  conclusion  that  the  person  who  owns  a 
slave,  in  a  country  where  slavery  has  been 
established  for  ages,  has  no  other  property 
in  that  slave  than  the  mere  title  which  is 
^ven  by  the  statute  law  of  the  land  where 
it  is  found. 


'WlUlam  Iiloyd  Garrison  Upon  Che  Slaverjr 
Question. 

"  Tyrants  1  confident  of  its  overthrow, 
proclaim  not  to  your  vassals,  that  the 
American  Union  is  an  experiment  of  free- 
dom, which,  if  it  fails,  will  forever  demon- 
strate the  necessity  of  whips  for  the  backs, 
and  chains  for  limbs  of  people.  Know 
that  its  subversion  is  essential  to  the 
triumph  of  justice,  the  deliverance  of  the 
oppressed,  the  vindication  of  the  brother- 
hood of  the  race.  It  was  conceived  in  sin, 
and  brought  forth  in  iniquity ;  and  its 
career .  has  been  marked  by  unparalleled 
hypocrisy,  by  high-handed  tyranny,  by  a 
bold  defiance  of  the  omniscience  and 
omnipotence  of  God.  Freedom  indignantly 
disowns  it,  and  calls  for  its  extinction ;  for 
within  its  borders  are  three  millions  of 
slaves,  whose  blood  constitutes  its  cement, 
whose  flesh  forms  a  large  and  flourishing 
branch  of  its  commerce,  and  who  are 
ranked  with  four-footed  beasts  and  creep- 
ing things.  To  secure  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  first,  that 
the  Afi-ican  slave  trade — ^till  that  time  a 
feeble,  isolated,  colonial  traffic  —  should, 
for  at  least  twenty  years,  be  prosecuted  as 
a  national  interest,  under  tne  American 
flag,  and  protected  by  the  national  arm ; 
secondly,  that  slavery  holding  oligarchy, 
created  by  allowing  three-fifths  of  the 
slave-holding  population  to  be  represented 
by  their  taskmasters,  should  be  allowed  a 
permanent  seat  in  congress ;  thirdly,  that 
the  slave  system  should  be  secured  against 
internal  revolt  and  external  invasion,  by 
the  united  physical  force  of  the  country ; 
fourthly,  that  not  a  foot  of  national  terri- 
tory should  be  granted,  on  which  the  pant- 
ing fugitive  from  slavery  might  stand,  and 
be  safe  from  his  pursuers,  thus  making 


every  citizen  a  slave-hunter  and  slave 
catoher.  To  say  that  this  '  covenant  with 
death '  shall  not  be  annulled — that  this 
'agreement  with  hell'  shall  continue  to 
stand — ^that  this  refuge  of  lies  shall  not  be 
swept  away — is  to  hurl  defiance  at  the 
eternal  throne,  and  to  give  the  lie  to  Him 
that  sits  thereon.  It  is  an  attempt,  alike 
monstrous  and  impracticable,  to  blend  the 
light  of  heaven  with  the  darkness  of  the  bot- 
tomless pit,  to  unite  the  living  with  the 
dead,  to  associate  the  Son  of  God  with  the 
Prince  of  Evil.  Accursed  be  the  American 
Union,  as  a  stupendous,  republican  impos- 
ture 1 " 

I  am  accused  of  using  hard  language.  I 
admit  the  charge.  I  have  been  unable  to 
find  a  soft  word  to  describe  villainy,  or  to 
identify  the  perpetrator  of  it.  The  man 
who  makes  a  chattel  of  his  brother — ^what 
is  he?  The  man  who  keeps  back  the  hire 
of  his  laborers  by  fraud — what  is  he  ?  They 
who  prohibit  the  circulation  of  the  Bible — 
what  are  they?  They  who  compel  three 
millions  of  men  and  women  to  herd  to- 
gether like  brute  beasts — ^what  are  they  ? 
They  who  sell  mothers  by  the  pound,  and 
children  in  lots  to  suit  purchasers — what 
are  they  ?  I  care  not  what  terms  are  ap- 
plied to  them,  provided  they  do  apply.  If 
they  are  not  thieves,  if  they  are  not 
tyrants,  if  they  are  not  men  stealers,  I 
should  like  to  know  what  is  their  true 
character,  and  by  what  names  they  may 
be  called.  It  is  as  mild  an  epithet  to  say 
that  a  thief  is  a  thief,  as  to  say  that  a  spade 
is  a  spade.  Words  are  but  the  signs  of 
ideas.  '  A  rose  by  any  other  name  would 
smell  as  sweet.'  Language  may  be  misap- 
plied, and  so  be  absurd  or  unjust ;  as  for 
example,  to  say  that  an  abolitionist  is  a 
fanatic,  or  that  a  slave-holder  is  an  honest 
man.  But  to  call  things  by  their  right 
names  is  to  use  neither  hard  nor  improper 
language.  Epithets  may  be  rightly  ap- 
plied, it  is  true,  and  yet  be  uttered  in  a 
hard  spirit,  or  with  a  malicious  design. 
What  then?  Shall  we  discard  all  terms 
which  are  descriptive  of  crime,  because 
they  are  not  always  used  with  fairness  and 
propriety  ?  He  who,  when  he  sees  oppres- 
sion, cnes  out  against  it — who,  when  he 
beholds  his  equal  brother  trodden  under 
foot  by  the  iron  hoof  of  despotism,  rushes 
to  his  rescue — who,  when  he  sees  the  weak 
overborne  by  the  strong,  takes  his  side 
with  the  former,  at  the  imminent  peril  of 
his  own  safety — such  a  man  needs  no 
certificate  to  the  excellence  of  his  temper, 
or  the  sincerity  of  his  heart,  or  the  disin- 
terestedness of  his  conduct.  Or  is  tne 
apologist  of  slavery,  he  who  can  see  the 
victim  of  thieves  lying  bleeding  and  help- 
less on  the  cold  earth,  and  yet  turn  aside, 
like  the  callous-hearted  priest  or  Levite, 
who  needs  absolution.    Let  us  call  tyrants, 


looKiii.]   PARKER  AGAINST  THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW.  121 


tyrants ;  not  to  do  so  is  to  misuse  language, 
to  deal  treacherously  with  freedom,  to  con- 
sent to  the  enslavement  of  mankind.  It  is 
neither  amiable  nor  virtuous,  but  a  fool- 
ish and  pernicious  thing,  not  to  call  things 
by  their  right  names.  Woe  unto  them,' 
eays  one  of  the  world's  great  prophets, 
'  that  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil ;'  that 
put  darkness  for  light,  and  light  for  dark- 
ness ;  that  put  bitter  for  sweet,  and  sweet 
for  bitter." 


Tbeodore  Parker  Against  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Itavr. 

Bit  Protett  Againit  the  Return  of  Simmt  by  the  U.  8.  Com- 
missiotier  at  Boston. 

"  Come  with  me,  my  friends,  a  moment 
more,  pass  over  this  golgotha  of  human 
history,  treading  reverent  as  you  go,  for 
our  feet  are  on  our  mother's  graves,  and 
our  shoes  defile  our  father's  hallowed 
bones.  Let  us  not  talk  of  them ;  go  farther 
on,  look  and  pass  by.  Come  with  me 
into  the  inferno  of  the  nations,  with  such 
poor  guidance  as  my  lamp  can  lend.  Let 
us  disquiet  and  bring  up  the  awful  shad- 
ows of  empires  buried  long  ago,  and  learn  a 
lesson  from  the  tomb.  "  Come,  old  Assyria, 
with  the  Ninevitish  dove  upon  thy  emerald 
crown !  what  laid  thee  low?  '  I  tell  by  my 
own  injustice.  Thereby  Nineveh  and 
Babylon  came  with  me  also  to  the  ground." 
"  Oh,  queenly  Persia,  flame  of  the  nations, 
wherefore  art  thou  so  fallen,  who  troddest 
the  people  under  thee,  bridgest  the  Helles- 
pont with  ships,  and  pouredst  thy  temple- 
wasting  millions  on  the  world?  Because  I 
trod  the  people  under  me,  and  bridged  the 
Hellespont  with  ships,  and  poured  my  tem- 

fle-wasting  millions  on  the  western  world, 
fell  by  my  own  misdeeds."  "  Thou  muse- 
like Grecian  queen,  fairest  of  all  thy  classic 
sisterhood  of  states,  enchanting  yet  the 
world  with  thy  sweet  witchery,  speaking 
in  art  and  most  seductive  song,  why  liest 
thou  there,  with  beauteous  yet  dishonored 
brow,  reposing  on  thy  broken  harp?  *I 
scorned  the  law  of  God;    banishea  and 

{>oisoned  wisest,  justest  men ;  I  loved  the 
oveliness  of  thought,  and  treasured  that 
in  more  than  Parian  speech.  But  the 
beauty  of  justice,  the  loveliness  of  love,  I 
trod  them  down  to  earth!  Lo,  therefore 
have  I  become  as  those  barbarian  states — 
as  one  of  them  I ' "  "  Oh,  manly  and  majes- 
tic Rome,  thy  seven-fold  mural  crown  all 
broken  at  thy  feet,  why  art  thou  here?  It 
was  not  injustice  brought  thee  low;  for 
thy  great  book  of  law  is  prefaced  with 
these  words — justice  is  the  unchanged, 
everlasting  will  to  give  each  man  his  right! 
'  It  was  not  the  saint's  ideal ;  it  was  the 
hypocrite's  pretense.'  I  made  iniquity  my 
,  law.  I  trod  the  nations  under  me.  Their 
wealth  gilded  my  palaces — where  thou 
mayest  see  the  fox  and  hear  the  owl — it 


fed  mycourtiers  and  my  courtesans.  Wicked 
men  were  my  cabinet  counselors,  the  flat- 
terer breathed  his  poison  in  my  ear.  Mil- 
lions of  bondsmen  wet  the  soil  with  tears 
and  blood.  Do  you  not  hear  it  crying  yet 
to  God?  Lo,  here  have  I  my  recompense, 
tormented  with  such  downfall  as  you  see  I 
Go  back  and  tell  the  new-born  child  who 
sitteth  on  the  AUeghanies,  laying  his  either 
hand  upon  a  tributary  sea,  a  crown  of 
thirty  stars  upon  his  youthful  brow — tell 
him  that  there  are  rights  which  states  must 
keep,  or  they  shall  suffer  wrongs!  Tell 
him  there  is  a  God  who  keeps  the  black 
man  and  the  white,  and  hurls  to  earth  the 
loftiest  realm  that  breaks  his  just,  eternal 
law!  Warn  the  young  empire,  that  he 
come  not  down  dim  and  dishonored  to  my 
shameful  tomb  1  Tell  him  that  justice  is 
the  unchanging,  everlasting  will  to  give 
each  man  his  right.  I  knew  it,  broke  it, 
and  am  lost.  Bid  him  know  it,  keep  it, 
and  be  safe." 


The  tame  weaker  proteaU  agaiiist  the  relitm  of  Simmt, 

"  Where  shall  I  find  a  parallel  with  men 
who  will  do  such  a  deed— do  it  in  Boston? 
I  will  open  the  tombs  and  bring  up  most 
hideous  tyrants  from  the  dead.  Come,  brood 
of  monsters,  let  me  bring  up  from  the  deep 
damnation  of  the  graves  wherein  your 
hated  memories  continue  for  all  time  their 
never-ending  rot.  Come,  birds  of  evil 
omenl  come,  ravens,  vultures,  carrion 
crows,  and  see  the  spectacle  I  come,  see  the 
meeting  of  congenial  souls!  I  will  disturb, 
disquiet,  and  bring  up  the  greatest  mon- 
sters of  the  human  race!  Tremble  not, 
women!  They  cannot  harm  you  now  I 
Fear  the  living,  not  the  dead !" 

Come  hither,  Herod,  the  wicked.  Thou 
that  didst  seek  after  that  young  child's 
life,  and  destroyed  the  innocents  1  Let  me 
look  on  thy  face  !  No,  go !  Thou  wert  a 
heathen  !  Go,  lie  with  tne  innocents  thou 
hast  massacred.  Thou  art  too  good  for 
this  company !  "  Come,  Nero ;  thou  awful 
Roman  emperor,  come  un!  No^  thou 
wast  drunk  with  power !  scnooled  in  Ro- 
man depravity.  Thou  hadst,  besides,  the 
example  of  thy  fancied  gods.  Go,  wait 
another  day.     t  will  seek  a  worse  man. 

"  Come  hither,  St.  Dominic !  come,  Tor- 
quemada ;  fathers  of  the  Inquisition  t 
merciless  monsters,  seek  your  equal  here. 
No ;  pass  by.  You  are  no  companion  for 
such  men  as  these.  You  were  the  servants 
of  the  atheistic  popes,  of  cruel  kings.  Go 
to,  and  get  you  gone.  Another  time  I 
may  have  work  for  you — now,  lie  there, 
and  persevere  to  rot.  You  are  not  vet 
quite  wicked  and  corrupt  enough  for  tliis 
comparison.  Go,  pet  you  gone,  lest  the 
sun  goes  back  at  sight  of  ye  I 

"Come  up,  thou  heap  of  wickednessj, 
George  Jeffries !  thy  hands  deep  purple 
with  the  blood  of  thy  fellow-men.    Ah  I  I 


122 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  m. 


know  thee,  awful  and  accursed  shade  I 
Two  hundred  years  after  thy  death  men 
hate  thee  still,  not  without  cause.  Look 
me  upon  thee  1  I  know  thy  history. 
Pause,  and  be  still,  while  I  t^U  to  these 
men.  *  *  *  Come,  shade  of  judicial 
butcher.  Two  hundred  years,  thy  name 
has  been  pillowed  in  face  of  the  world, 
and  thy  memory  gibbeted  before  mankind. 
Let  us  see  how  thou  wilt  compare  with 
those  who  kidnap  men  in  Boston.  Go, 
seek  companionship  with  them.  Go,  claim 
thy  kindred  if  such  they  be.  Go,  tell 
them  that  the  memory  of  the  wicked  shall 
rot ;  that  there  is  a  God ;  an  eternity  ;  ay, 
and  a  judgment,  too,  where  the  slave  may 
appeal  against  him  that  made  him  a  slave, 
to  Him  that  made  him  a  man. 

"What!  Dost  thou  shudder?  Thou 
turn  back !  These  not  thy  kindred !  Why 
dost  thou  turn  pale,  as  when  the  crowd 
clutched  at  thy  life  in  London  street? 
Forgive  me,  that  I  should  send  thee  on 
such  an  errand,  or  bid  thee  seek  compan- 
ionship with  such — with  Boston  hunters  of 
the  slave !  Thou  wert  not  base  enough !  It 
was  a  great  bribe  that  tempted  thee ! 
Again,  I  say,  pardon  me  for  sending  thee 
to  keep  company  with  such  men !  Thou 
only  struckest  at  men  accused  of  crime ; 
not  at  men  accused  only  of  their  birth ! 
Thou  wouldst  not  send  a  man  into  bond- 
age for  two  pounds !  I  will  not  rank  thee 
with  men  who,  in  Boston,  for  ten  dollars, 
would  enslave  a  negro  now!  Rest  still, 
Herod !  Be  quiet,  Nero  I  Sleep,  St.  Dom- 
inic, and  sleep,  O  Torquemada,  in  your 
fiery  jail !  Sleep,  Jeffries,  underneath  '  the 
altar  of  the  church'  which  seeks,  with 
Christian  charity  to  hide  your  hated  bones  1" 


WllUam  II.  Sevrard's  Speech  on  tbe  Hlgber 

In  tke  V.  S.  SenaU.  March  11,  1850. 

"  But  it  is  insisted  that  the  admission  of 
California  shall  be  attended  by  a  compro- 
mise of  questions  which  have  arisen  out 

of  slavery!  I  AM  OPPOSED  TO  ANY 
BUCH  COMPROMISE  IN  ANY  AND  ALL  THE 
FORMS  IN  WHICH  IT  HAS  BEEN  PROPOSED. 

Because,  while  admitting  the  purity  and 
the  patriotism  of  all  from  whom  it  is  my 
misfortune  to  differ,  I  think  all  legisla- 
tive compromises  radically  wrong,  and 
essentially  vicious.  They  involve  the  sur- 
render of  the  exercise  of  judgment  and 
the  conscience  on  distinct  and  separate 
questions,  at  distinct  and  separate  times, 
with  the  indispensable  aavantages  it 
affords  for  ascertaining  the  truth.  They 
involve  a  relinquishment  of  the  right  to 
reconsider  in  future  the  decision  of  the 
present,  on  questions  prematurely  antici- 

Rated.    And  they  are  a  usurnation  as  to 
iture  questions  of  the  providence  of  fu- 
ture legialators. 


"Sir,  it  seems  to  me  as  if  slavery  had 
laid  its  paralyzing  hand  upon  myself,  and 
the  blood  were  coursing  less  freely  than  its 
wont  through  my  veins,  when  I  endeavor 
to  suppose  that  such  a  compromise  has 
been  effected,  and  my  utterance  forever  is 
arrested  upon  all  the  great  questions,  social, 
moral,  and  political,  arising  out  of  a  sub- 
ject so  important,  and  yet  so  incomprehea- 
sible.  What  am  I  to  receive  in  this  com- 
promise? Freedom  in  California.  It  is 
well ;  it  is  a  noble  acquisition  ;  it  is  worth 
a  sacrifice.  But  what  am  I  to  give  as  an 
equivalent?  A  recognition  of  a  claim  to 
perpetuate  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia ;  forbearance  towards  more  strin- 
gent laws  concerning  the  arrest  of  persons 
suspected  of  being  slaves  found  in  the  free 
States  ;  forbearance  from  the  proviso  of 
freedom  in  the  charter  of  new  territories. 
None  of  the  plans  of  compromise  offered 
demand  less  than  two,  and  most  of  them 
insist  on  all  these  conditions.  The  equiva- 
lent then  is,  some  portion  of  liberty,  some 
f)ortion  of  human  rights  in  one  region  for 
iberty  in  another." 

"  It  is  true  indeed  that  the  national  do- 
main is  ours.  It  is  true  it  was  acquired  by 
the  valor  and  the  wealth  of  the  whole  na- 
tion. But  we  hold,  nevertheless,  no  arbi- 
trary power  over  it.  We  hold  no  arbitrary 
f)ower  over  anything,  whether  acquired  by 
aw  or  seized  by  usurpation.  The  consti- 
tution regulates  our  stewardship ;  the  con- 
stitution devotes  the  domain  to  union,  to 
justice,  to  welfare  and  to  liberty.  But  there 
is  a  higher  law  than  the  constitution,  which 
regulates  our  authority  over  the  domain,  and 
devotes  it  to  the  same  noble  purpose.  The 
territory  is  a  part,  no  inconsiderable  part 
of  the  common  heritage  of  mankind,  be- 
stowed upon  them  by  the  Creator  of  the 
universe.  We  are  his  stewards,  and  must 
so  discharge  our  trust,  as  to  secure  in  the 
highest  attainable  degree  their  happiness. 
This  is  a  State,  and  we  are  deliberating  for 
it,  just  as  our  fathers  deliberated  in  estab- 
lishing the  institutions  we  enjoy.  What- 
ever superiority  there  is  in  our  condition 
and  hopes  over  those  of  any  other  '  king- 
dom '  or  '  estate,'  is  due  to  the  fortunate 
circumstance  that  our  ancestors  did  not 
leave  things  to  *  take  their  chances '  but 
that  they  added  amplitude  and  greatness ' 
to  our  commonwealth  'by  introducing 
such  ordinances,  constitutions,  and  cus- 
toms as  were  wise.'  We  in  our  turn  have 
succeeded  to  the  same  responsibilities,  and 
we  cannot  approach  the  duty  before  us 
wisely  or  justly,  except  we  raise  ourselves 
to  the  great  consideration  of  how  we  can 
most  certainly  *  sow  greatness  to  our  pos- 
terity and  successors.' 

"  And  now  the  simple,  bold,  and  awful 
question  which  presents  itself  to  us  is  this :  ^ 
shall  we,  who  are  founding  institutions, 
social  and  political,  for  countless  million*^ 


BOOKiii.J     GALUSHA  A.  GROW  ON  THE  HOMESTEAD  BILL, 


123 


shall  we,  who  know  by  experience  the 
wise  and  just,  and  are  free  to  choose  them, 
and  to  reject  the  erroneous  and  unjust ; 
shall  we  establish  human  bondage,  or  per- 
mit it  by  our  sufferance  to  be  established  ? 
Sir,  our  forefathers  would  not  have  hesi- 
tated an  hour.  They  found  slavery  exist- 
ing here,  and  they  left  it  only  because  they 
could  not  remove  it.  There  is  not  only  no 
free  State  which  would  now  establish  it, 
but  there  is  no  slave  State  which,  if  it  had 
had  the  free  alternative,  as  we  now  have, 
would  have  founded  slavery.  Indeed,  our 
revolutionary  predecessors  had  precisely 
the  same  question  before  them  in  estab- 
lishing an  organic  law,  under  which  the 
States  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Wis- 
consin, and  Iowa  have  since  come  into  the 
Union,  and  they  solemnly  repudiated  and 
excluded  slavery  from  those  States  forever." 


Charles  Sumner  on  the  Fallibility  ot  Judi- 
cial Tribunals. 

Let  me  here  say  that  I  hold  judges,  and 
especially  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  coun- 
try, in  much  respect ;  but  I  am  too  familiar 
with  the  history  of  Judicial  proceedings  to 
regard  them  with  any  superstitious  rever- 
ence. Judges  are  but  men  and  in  all  ages 
have  shown  a  full  share  of  frailty.  Alas ! 
alas !  the  worst  crimes  of  history  have  been 
perpetrated  under  their  sanction.  The 
blood  of  martyrs  and  of  patriots,  crying 
from  the  ground,  summons  them  to  judg- 
ment. 

It  was  a  judicial  tribunal  which  con- 
demned Socrates  to  drink  the  fatal  hemlock, 
and  which  pushed  the  Saviour  barefoot 
over  the  pavements  of  Jerusalem,  bending 
beneath  his  cross.  It  was  a  judicial  tribu- 
nal which,  against  the  testimony  and  en- 
treaties of  her  father,  surrendered  the  fair 
Virginia  as  a  slave ;  which  arrested  the 
teachings  of  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  sent  him  in  bonds  from  Judea  to 
Rome ;  Avhich,  in  the  name  of  the  old  reli- 
gion, adjured  the  saints  and  fathers  of  the 
Christian  Church  to  death,  in  all  its  most 
dreadftil  forms ;  and  which  afterwards  in 
the  name  of  the  new  religion,  enforced  the 
tortures  of  the  Inquisition,  amidst  the 
shrieks  and  aranies  of  its  victims,  while  it 
compelled  Galileo  to  declare,  in  solemn  de- 
nial of  the  great  truth  he  had  disclosed, 
that  the  earth  did  not  move  round  the  sun. 

It  was  a  judicial  tribunal  which,  in 
France,  during  the  long  reign  of  her  mon- 
archs,  lent  itself  to  be  the  instrument  of 
every  tyranny,  as«during  the  brief  reign  of 
terror  it  did  not  hesitate  to  stand  forth  the 
unpitying  accessory  of  the  unpitying  guil- 
lotine. Ay,  sir,  it  was  a  judicial  tribunal 
in  England,  surrounded  by  all  the  forms  of 
law,  which  sanctioned  every  despotic  ca- 
price of  Henry  the  eighth,  from  the  unjust 


divorce  of  his  queen  to  the  beheading  of 
Sir  Thomas  Moore ;  which  lighted  the  fires 
of  persecution,  that  glowed  at  Oxford  and 
Smithfield,  over  the  cinders  of  Latimer, 
Ridley,  and  John  Rodgers ;  which,  after 
elaborate  argument,  upheld  the  fatal  tyran- 
ny of  ship  money  against  the  patriotic  re- 
sistance of  Hampden  ;  which,  in  defiance  of 
justice  and  humanity,  sent  Sydney  and 
Russell  to  the  block;  which  persistently 
enforced  the  laws  of  conformity  that  our 
Puritan  Fathers  persistently  refused  to 
obey ;  and  which  afterwards,' with  Jeffries 
on  the  bench,  crimsoned  the  pages  of  Eng- 
lish history  with  massacre  and  murder,  even 
with  the  blood  of  innocent  women.  Ay,  sir, 
and  it  was  a  judicial  tribunal  in  our  coun- 
try, surrounded  by  all  the  forms  of  law, 
which  hung  witches  at  Salem,  which  af- 
firmed the  constitutionality  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  while  it  admonished  "jurors  and  the 
people"  to  obey;  and  which  now,  in  our 
day,  has  lent  its  sanction  to  the  urutterablo 
atrocity  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Jjaw." 


Galnsba  A.  Gro^v'«  Speech  on  the  Home* 
stead  BiU. 

In  the  Route  of  Sepretentalieet,  March  30, 1862.    "Han't 

Bight  to  the  SoU." 

******* 

But  even  if  the  Government  could  de- 
rive any  revenue  from  the  actual  sale  of 
public  lands,  it  is  neither  just  nor  sound 
policy  to  hold  them  for  that  purpose. 
Aware,  however,  that  it  is  a  poor  place, 
under  a  one  hour  rule,  to  attempt  to  dis- 
cuss any  of  the  natural  rights  of  men,  for, 
surrounded  by  the  authority  of  ages,  it  be- 
comes necessary,  without  the  time  to  do  it, 
first  to  brush  away  the  dust  that  has 
gathered  upon  their  errors.  Yet  it  is  well 
sometimes  to  go  back  of  the  authority  of 
books  and  treatises,  composed  by  authors 
reared  and  educated  under  monarchical 
institutions,  and  whose  opinions  and  habits 
of  thought  consequently  were  more  or  less 
shaped  and  moulded  by  such  influences, 
and  examine,  by  the  light  of  reason  and 
nature,  the  true  foundation  of  government 
and  the  inherent  rights  of  men. 

The  fundamental  rights  of  man  may  be 
summed  un  in  two  words — Life  and  Hap- 
piness. Tne  first  is  the  gift  of  the  Creator, 
and  may  be  bestowed  at  his  pleasure  ;  but 
it  is  not  consistent  with  his  character  for 
benevolence,  that  it  should  be  bestowed 
for  any  other  purpose  than  to  be  enjoyed, 
and  that  we  call  happiness.  Therefore, 
whatever  nature  has  provided  for  preserv- 
ing the  one,  or  promoting  the  otner,  be- 
longs alike  to  the  whole  race.  And  aA  the 
means  for  sustaining  life  are  derived  al- 
most entirely  from  the  soil,  every  person 
has  a  right  to  so  much  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face as  is  necessary  for  his  support.  To 
whatever  unoccupied  portion  of  it,  there- 


124 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


fore,  he  shall  apply  his  labor  for  that  pur- 
pose, from  that  time  forth  it  becomes  ap- 
propriated to  his  own  exclusive  use ;  and 
whatever  improvements  he  may  make  by 
his  industry  become  his  property,  and 
subject  to  his  disposal. 

The  only  true  loundation  of  any  right  to 
property  is  man's  labor.  That  is  property, 
ana  that  alone  which  the  labor  of  man  has 
made  such.  What  right,  then,  can  the 
Government  have  in  the  soil  of  a  wild  and 
uncultivated  wilderness  as  a  source  of  re- 
venue, to  which  not  a  day  nor  hour's  labor 
has  been  applied,  to  make  it  more  produc- 
tive, and  answer  the  end  for  which  it  was 
created,  the  support  and  happiness  of  the 
race? 

It  is  said  by  the  ^eat  expounder  of  the 
common  law  in  his  commentaries,  that 
"  there  is  no  foundation  in  nature  or 
natural   law,  why  a   set   of  words  upon 

{)archraeut  should  convey  the  dominion  of 
and."  The  use  and  occupancy  alone 
gives  to  man,  in  the  language  of  the  com- 
mentaries,*" an  exclusive  right  to  retain, 
in  a  permanent  manner,  that  specific  land 
whicn  before  belonged  generally  to  every- 
body, but  particularly  to  nobody."  *  *  * 
It  may  oe  said,  true,  such  would  be 
man's  right  to  the  soil  in  a  state  of  nature ; 
but  when  he  entered  into  society,  he  gave 
up  part  of  his  natural  rights,  in  order  to 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  an  organized  com- 
munity. This  is  a  doctrine,  I  am  aware, 
of  the  books  and  treatises  on  society  and 
government ;  but  it  is  a  doctrine  of  despot- 
ism, and  belongs  not  to  enlightened  states- 
men in  a  liberal  age.  It  is  the  excuse  of 
the  despot  in  encroaching  upon  the  rights 
of  the  subject.  He  admits  the  encroach- 
ment, but  claims  that  the  citizen  gave  up 
part  of  his  natural  rights  when  he  entered 
into  society ;  and  wlio  is  to  judge  what 
ones  he  relinquished  but  the  ruling  power? 
It  was  not  necessary  that  any  of  man's  na- 
tural rights  should  be  yielded  to  the  state 
in  the  formation  of  society.  He  yielded 
no  right,  but  the  right  to  do  wrong,  and 
that  he  never  had  by  nature.  All  that  he 
yielded  in  entering  into  organised  society, 
was  a  portion  of  his  unrestrained  liberty, 
which  was,  that  he  would  submit  his  con- 
duct, that  before  was  subject  to  the  control 
of  no  living  being,  to  the  tribunals  to  be 
established  by  the  state,  and  with  a  tacit 
consent  that  society,  or  the  Government, 
might  regulate  the  mode  and  manner  of 
the  exercise  of  his  rights.  Why  should  he 
consent  to  be  deprived  of  them?  It  is 
upon  this  ground  that  we  justify  resistance 
to  tyrants.  Whenever  the  ruling  power  so 
far  encroaches  upon  the  natural  rights  of 
men  that  an  appeal  to  arms  becomes  pre- 
ferable to  submission,  they  appeal  from 
human  to  divine  laws,  and  plead  the  na- 
tural rights  of  man  in  their  justification. 
That  government,  and  that  alone,  is  just, 


which  enforces  and  defends  all  of  man's 
natural  rights,  and  protects  him  against 
the  wrongs  of  his  fellow-men.  But  it  may 
be  said,  although  such  might  be  the  natu- 
ral rights  of  men,  yet  the  Government  has 
a  right  to  these  lands,  and  may  use  them 
as  a  source  of  revenue,  under  the  doctrine 
of  eminent  domain.        *        *        *        * 

What  is  there  in  the  constitution  of 
things  giving  to  one  individual  the  sole 
and  exclusive  right  to  any  of  the  bounties 
provided  by  nature  for  the  benefit  and 
support  of  the  whole  race,  because,  per- 
chance, he  was  the  first  to  look  upon  a 
mere  fragment  of  creation  ?  By  the  same 
process  of  reasoning,  he  who  should  first 
discover  the  source  or  mouth  of  a  river, 
would  be  entitled  to  a  monopoly  of  the 
waters  that  flow  in  the  channel,  or  he  who 
should  first  look  upon  one  of  the  rills  or 
fountains  of  the  earth  might  prevent  fainting 
niau  from  quenching  there  his  thirst,  unless 
his  right  was  first  secured  by  parchment. 

Why  has  the  claim  to  monopolize  any  of 
the  gifts  of  God  to  man  been  confined,  by 
legal  codes,  to  the  soil  alone?  Is  there 
any  other  reason  than  that  it  is  a  right 
which,  having  its  origin  in  feudal  times — 
under  a  system  that  regarded  man  but  as 
an  appendage  of  the  soil  that  he  tilled, 
and  whose  life,  liberty  and  happiness,  were 
but  means  of  increasing  the  pleasures, 
pampering  the  passions  and  appetites  of 
his  liege  lord — and,  having  once  found  a 
place  in  the  books,  it  has  been  retained  by 
the  reverence  which  man  is  wont  to  pay  to 
the  past,  and  to  time-honored  precedents  ? 
The  human  mind  is  so  constituted  that  it 
is  prone  to  regard  as  right  what  has  come 
down  to  us  approved  by  long  usage,  and 
hallowed  by  gray  age.  It  is  a  claim  that 
had  its  origin  with  the  kindred  idea  that 
royal  blood  flows  only  in  the  veins  of  an 
exclusive  few,  whose  souls  are  more  ethe- 
real, because  born  amid  the  glitter  of 
courts,  and  cradled  amid  the  pomp  of  lords 
and  courtiers,  and,  therefore,  they  are  to 
be  installed  as  rulers  and  law-givers  of  the 
race.  Most  of  the  evils  that  aJSilict  society 
have  had  their  origin  in  violence  and 
wrong  enacted  into  law  by  the  experience 
of  the  past,  and  retained  by  the  prejudices 
of  the  present. 

Is  it  not  time  to  sweep  from  the  statute 
book  its  still  lingering  relics  of  feudalism  ; 
and  to  blot  out  the  principles  engrafted 
upon  it  by  the  narrow-minded  policy  of 
other  times,  and  adapt  the  legislation  of 
the  country  to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  to 
the  true  ideas  of  man's  rights  and  relations 
to  his  Government?  If  a»man  has  a  right 
on  earth,  he  has  a  right  to  land  enough  to 
rear  a  habitation  on.  If  he  has  a  right  to 
live,  he  has  a  right  to  the  free  use  of  what- 
ever nature  has  provided  for  his  sustenance 
— air  to  breathe,  water  to  drink,  and  land 
enough  to  cultivate  for  his  subsistence ;  for 


BOOK  III.]   GALUSHA  A.  GROW  ON  THE  HOMESTEAD  BILL.  125 


these  are  the  necessary  and  indispensable 
means  for  the  enjoyment  of  his  inalienable 
rights  of  "  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness."  And  is  it  for  a  Government 
that  claims  to  dispense  equal  and  exact 
justice  to  all  classes  of  men,  and  that  has 
laid  down  correct  principles  in  its  great 
chart  of  human  rights,  to  violate  mose 
principles  and  its  solemn  declarations  in 
its  legislative  enactments? 

The  struggle  between  capital  and  labor 
is  an  uneaual  one  at  best.  It  is  a  struggle 
between  tne  bones  and  sinews  of  men,  and 
dollars  and  cents.  And  in  that  struggle, 
is  it  for  the  government  to  stretch  forth  its 
arm  to  aid  the  strong  against  the  weak? 
Shall  it  continue,  by  its  legislation,  to  ele- 
vate and  enrich  idleness  on  the  wail  and 
woe  of  industry  ? 

If  the  rule  be  correct  as  applied  to 
governments  as  well  as  individuals,  that 
whatever  a  person  permits  another  to  do, 
having  the  right  and  means  to  prevent  it, 
he  does  himself,  then  indeed  is  the  govern- 
ment responsible  for  all  the  evils  that  may 
result  from  speculation  and  land  monopoly 
in  the  public  domain.  For  it  is  not  denied 
that  Congress  has  the  power  to  make  any 
regulations  for  the  disposal  of  these  lands, 
not  injurious  to  the  general  welfare.  Now, 
when  a  new  tract  is  surveyed,  and  you  open 
the  land  office  and  expose  it  to  sale,  the 
man  with  the  most  money  is  the  largest 
purchaser.  The  most  desirable  and  avail- 
able locations  are  seized  upon  by  the  capi- 
talists of  the  country,  who  seek  that  kind 
•of  investment.  The  settler  who  chances 
not  to  have  a  pre-emption  right,  or  to  be 
there  at  the  time  of  sale,  when  he  comes  to 
seek  a  home  for  himself  and  his  family, 
must  pay  the  speculator  three  or  four  hun- 
dred per  cent,  on  his  investment,  or  en- 
counter the  trials  and  hardships  of  a  still 
more  remote  border  life.  And  thus,  under 
the  operation  of  laws  that  are  called  equal 
and  just,  you  take  from  the  settler  three  or 
four  dollars  per  acre,  and  put  it  in  the 
pocket  of  the  speculator — ^thus,  by  the 
operation  of  law,  abstracting  so  much  of 
his  hard  earnings  for  the  benefit  of  capital  ; 
for  not  an  hour's  labor  has  been  applied  to 
the  land  since  it  was  sold  by  the  govern- 
ment, nor  is  it  more  valuable  to  the  settler. 
Has  not  the  laborer  a  right  to  complain  of 
legislation  that  compels  him  to  endure 
greater  toils  and  hardships,  or  contribute 
a  portion  of  his  earnings  for  the  benefit  of 
the  capitalist?  But  not  upon  the  capitalist 
or  the  speculator  is  it  proper  that  the  blame 
should  fall.  Man  must  seek  a  livelihood 
and  do  business  under  the  laws  of  the 
country ;  and  whatever  rights  he  may  ac- 
quire under  the  laws,  though  they  may  be 
wrong,  yet  the  well-being  of  society  re- 
quires that  they  be  respected  and  faithfully 
observed.  If  a  person  engage  in  a  business 
legalized  and  regulated  by  the  law,  and 


uses  no  fraud  or  deception  in  its  pursuit, 
and  evils  result  to  the  community,  let  them 
apply  the  remedy  to  the  proper  source— 
that  is  to  the  law-making  power.  The 
laws  and  the  law-makers  are  responsible 
for  whatever  evils  necessarily  grow  out  of 
their  enactments. 

While  the  public  lands  are  exposed  to 
indiscriminate  sale,  as  they  have  been  since 
the  organization  of  the'  government,  it 
opens  the  door  to  the  wildest  system  of 
land  monopoly.  It  requires  no  lengthy 
dissertation  to  portray  its  evils.  In  the 
Old  World  its  history  is  written  in  sighs 
and  tears.  Under  its  influence,  you  behold 
in  England,  the  proudest  and  most  splen- 
did aristocracy,  side  by  side  with  the  most 
abject  and  destitute  people;  vast  manors 
hemmed  in  b^  hedges  as  a  sporting-ground 
for  her  nobility,  while  men  are  dying  be- 
side the  enclosure  for  the  want  of  land  to 
till.  Thirty  thousand  proprietors  hold  the 
title  deeds  to  the  soil  of  Great  Britain, 
while  in  Ireland  alone  there  are  two  ana 
a-half  millions  of  tenants  who  own  no  part 
of  the  land  they  cultivate,  nor  can  they 
ever  acquire  a  title  to  a]foot  of  it,  yet  they 
pay  annually  from  their  hard  earnings 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  to  absentee  land- 
lords for  the  privilege  of  dying  on  their 
soil.  Under  its  blighting  influence  you 
behold  industry  in  rags  and  patience  in 
despair.  Such  are  some  of  the  fruits  of 
land  monopoly  in  the  Old  World;  and, 
shall  we  plant  its  seeds  in  the  virgin  soil  of 
the  New?         *     .  *        *        *        * 

If  you  would  raise  fallen  man  from  his 
degradation,  elevate  the  servile  from  their 
grovelling  pursuits  to  the  rights  and  dig- 
nity of  men,  you  must  first  place  within 
their  reach  the  means  for  satisfying  their 
pressing  physical  wants,  so  that  religion 
can  exert  its  influence  on  the  soul,  and 
soothe  the  weary  pilgrim  in  his  pathway  to 
the  tomb.  It  is  in  vain  you  talk  of  the 
goodness  and  benevolence  of  an  Omniscient 
Ruler  to  him,  whose  life  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave  ia  one  continued  scene  of  pain, 
misery  and  want.  Talk  not  of  free  agency 
to  him  whose  only  freedom  is  to  choose  his 
own  method  to  die.  In  such  cases,  there 
might,  perhaps,  be  some  feeble  conceptions 
of  religion  and  its  duties — of  the  infinite, 
everlasting,  and  pure ;  but  unless  there  be 
a  more  than  common  intellect,  they  would 
be  like  the  dim  shadows  that  float  in  the 
twilight.        ***** 

Riches,  it  is  true,  are  not  necessary  to 
man's  real  enjoyment;  but  the  means  to 
prevent  starvation  are.  Nor  is  a  splendid 
palace  necessary  to  his  real  happiness  ;  but 
a  shelter  against  the  storip  and  winter's 
blast  is. 

If  you  would  lead  the  erring  back  from 
the  paths  of  vice  and  crime  to  virtue  and 
honor,  give  him  a  home — give  him  a  hearth- 
stone, and  he  will  surround  it  with  house- 


126 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


hold  gods.  If  you  would  make  men  wiser 
and  better,  relieve  the  almshouse,  close  the 
doors  of  the  penitentiary,  and  break  in 
pieces  the  gallows,  purify  the  influences  of 
the  domestic  fireside.  For  that  is  the 
school  in  which  human  character  is  formed, 
and  there  its  destiny  is  shaped.  There  the 
soul  receives  its  first  impress,  and  man  his 
first  lesson,  and  they  go  with  him  for  weal 
or  woe  through  life.  For  purifying  the 
sentiments,  elevating  the  thoughts,  and 
developing  the  noblest  impulses  of  man's 
nature,  the  influences  of  a  moral  fireside 
and  agricultural  life  are  the  noblest  and 
the  best.         ***** 

It  was  said  by  Lord  Chatham,  in  his 
appeal  to  the  House  of  Commons,  in  1775, 
to  withdraw  the  British  troops  from  Boston, 
that  "trade,  indeed,  increases  the  glory 
and  wealth  of  a  country;  but  its  true 
strength  and  stamina  are  to  be  looked  for 
in  the  cultivators  of  the  land.  In  the 
simplicity  of  their  lives  is  found  the  simple- 
ness  of  virtue,  the  integrity  and  courage 
of  freedom.  These  true,  genuine  sons  of 
the  soil  are  invincible." 

The  history  of  American  prowess  has 
recorded  these  words  as  prophetic:  man, 
in  defence  of  his  hearth-stone  and  fireside, 
is  invincible  against  a  world  of  mercena- 
ries. In  battling  for  his  home  and  all  that 
is  dear  to  him  on  earth,  he  is  never  con- 
quered save  with  his  life.  In  such  a  strug- 
gle every  pass  becomes  a  Thermopylae, 
every  plain  a  Marathon.  With  an  inde- 
pendent yeomanry  scattered  over  our  vast 
domain,  the  "  young  eagle  "  may  bid  defi- 
ance to  the  world  in  arms.  Even  though 
a  foe  should  devastate  our  seaboard,  lay  in 
ashes  its  cities,  they  have  made  not  one 
single  advance  towards  conquering  the 
country;  for  from  the  interior  comes  its 
hardy  yeomanry,  with  their  hearts  of  oak 
and  nerves  of  steel,  to  expel  the  invader. 
Their  hearts  are  the  citadel  of  a  nation's 
power — their  arms  the  bulwarks  of  liberty. 
******* 

Every  consideration  of  policy,  then, 
both  as  to  revenue  for  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  increased  taxation  for  the  new 
States,  as  well  as  a  means  for  removing  the 
causes  of  pauperism  and  crime  in  the  old, 
demands  that  the  public  lands  be  granted 
in  limited  quantities  to  the  actual  settler. 
Every  consideration  of  justice  and  human- 
ity calls  upon  us  to  restore  man  to  his  natu- 
ral rights  in  the  soil.         *        *        *  ^ 

In  a  new  country  the  first  and  most  im- 

fortant  labor,  as  it  is  the  most  difficult  to 
e  performed,  is  to  subdue  the  forest,  and 
to  convert  the  lair  of  the  wild  beast  into  a 
home  for  civilized  man.  This  is  the  labor 
of  the  pioneer  settler.  His  achievements, 
if  not  equallv  brilliant  with  those  of  the 

{dumed  warrior,  are  equally,  if  not  more, 
asting;  his  life,  if  not  at  times  exposed  to 
•o  great  a  hazard,  is  still  one  of  equal  dan- 


ger and  death.  It  is  a  life  of  toil  and  ad- 
venture, spent  upon  one  continued  battle- 
field, unlike  that,  however,  on  which  mar- 
tial hosts  contend,  for  there  the  struggle  is 
short  and  expected,  and  the  victim  strikes 
not  alone,  while  the  highest  meed  of  ambi 
tion  crowns  the  victor.  Not  so  with  the 
hardy  pioneer.  He  is  oft  called  upon  to 
meet  death  in  a  struggle  with  fearful  odds, 
while  no  herald  will  tell  to  the  world  of 
the  unequal  combat.  Startled  at  the  mid- 
night hour  by  the  war-whoop,  he  wakes 
from  his  dreams  to  behold  his  cottage  in 
flames  ;  the  sharer  of  his  joys  and  sorrows, 
with  perhaps  a  tender  intiant,  hurled,  with 
rude  hands,  to  the  distant  council-fire. 
Still  he  presses  on  into  the  wilderness, 
snatching  new  areas  from  the  wild  beast, 
and  bequeathing  them  a  legacy  to  civilized 
man.  And  all  he  asks  of  his  country  and 
his  Government  is,  to  protect  him  against 
the  cupidity  of  soulless  capital  and  the  iron 
grasp  of  the  speculator.  Upon  his  wild 
battle-field  these  are  the  only  foes  that  his 
own  stern  heart  and  right  arm  cannot  van- 
quish. 


Ijlncoln  and  Douglas. 

The  LaU  Joint  Debate,  at  AUon,  October  15, 1858.* 
SENATOR  DOUGLAS'S  SPEECH. 

Ladies  axd  Gentlemex  :  It  is  now 
nearly  four  months  since  the  canvass  be- 
tween Mr.  Lincoln  and  myself  commenced. 
On  the  16th  of  June  the  Republican  Con- 
vention assembled  at  Springfield  and  norai-, 
nated  Mr.  Lincoln  as  their  candidate  for 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  he,  on  that 
occasion,  delivered  a  speech  in  which  he 
laid  down  what  he  understood  to  be  the 
Republican  creed  and  the  platform  on 
which  he  proposed  to  stand  during  the 
contest.  The  principal  points  in  that 
speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  were:  First,  that 
this  Government  could  not  endure  perma- 
nently divided  into  free  and  slave  States, 
as  our  fathers  made  it ;  that  they  must  all 
become  free  or, all  become  slave;  all  be- 
come one  thing  or  all  become  the  other, 
otherwise  this  Union  could  not  continue 
to  exist.  I  give  you  his  opinions  almost 
in  the  identical  language  he  used.  His 
second  proposition  was  a  crusade  against 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
because  of  the  Dred  Scot  decision ;  urging 
as  an  especial  reason  for  his  opposition  to 
that  decision  that  it  deprived  tne  negroes 
of  the  rights  and  benefits  of  that  clause  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
which  guaranties  to  the  citizens  of  each 
State  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  immu- 
nities of  the  citizens  of  the  several  States. 
On  the  10th  of  July  I  returned  home,  and 
delivered  a  speech  to  the  people  of  Chicago, 

*An  the  seriefl  were  pnblisbed   in  1860  by  FoUet^ 
Foster  k  Co.,  Columbus,  Ohio. 


soot  III.]         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


127 


In  which  I  annouhced  it  to  be  my  purpose 
to  appeal  to  the  people  of  Illinois  to  sus- 
tain the  course  I  had  pursued  in  Congress. 
In  that  speech  I  joined  issue  with  Mr. 
Lincoln  on  the  points  which  he  had  pre- 
sented. Thus  there  was  an  issue  clear  and 
distinct  made  up  between  us  on  these  two 
propositions  laid  down  in  the  speech  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  at  Springfield,  and  contro- 
verted by  me  in  my  reply  to  him  at  Chi- 
cago. On  the  next  day,  the  11th  of  July,  Mr. 
Lincoln  replied  to  me  at  Chicago,  explain- 
ing at  some  length,  and  reaffirming  the 
positions  which  he  had  taken  in  his 
Springfield  speech.  In  that  Chicago 
speech  he  even  went  further  than  he  had 
before,  and  uttered  sentiments  in  regard  to 
the  negro  being  on  an  equality  with  the 
white  man.  He  adopted  in  support  of  this 
position  the  argument  which  Lovejoy  and 
Godding,  and  other  Abolition  lecturers  had 
made  familiar  in  the  northern  and  central 
portions  of  the  State,  to  wit :  that  the  De- 
claration of  Independence  having  declared 
all  men  free  and  equal,  by  Divine  law,  also 
that  negro  equality  was  an  inalienable 
right,  of  which  they  could  not  be  deprived. 
He  insisted,  in  that  speech,  that  the  De- 
claration of  Independence  included  the 
negro  in  the  clause,  asserting  that  all  men 
were  created  equal,  and  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  if  one  man  was  allowed  to  take 
the  position,  that  it  did  not  include  the 
negro,  others  might  take  the  position  that 
it  did  not  include  other  men.  He  said  that 
all  these  distinctions  between  this  man  and 
that  man,  this  race  and  the  other  race, 
muiit  be  discarded,  and  we  must  all  stand 
by  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  de- 
claring that  all  men  were  created  equal. 

The  issue  thus  bein^  made  up  between 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  myself  on  three  points,  we 
went  before  the  people  of  the  State.  Dur- 
ing the  following  seven  weeks,  between  the 
Chicago  speeches  and  our  first  meeting  at 
Ottawa,  he  and  I  addressed  large  assem- 
blages of  the  people  in  many  of  the  central 
counties.  In  my  speeches  I  confined  my- 
self closely  to  those  three  positions  which 
he  had  taken,  controverting  his  proposition 
that  this  Union  could  not  exist  as  our  fa- 
thers made  it,  divided  into  free  and  Slave 
States,  controverting  his  proposition  of  a 
crusade  against  the  teupreme  Court  because 
of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  controvert- 
ing his  proposition  that  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  included  and  meant  the  ne- 

Sroes  as  well  as  the  white  men  when  it 
eclared  all  men  to  be  created  equal.  I 
supposed  at  that  time  that  these  proposi- 
tions constituted  a  distinct  issue  between 
us,  and  that  the  opposite  positions  we  had 
taken  upon  them  we  would  be  willing  to 
be  held  to  in  every  part  of  the  State.  I 
never  intended  to  waver  one  hair's  breadth 
from  that  issue  either  in  the  north  or  the 
south,  or  wherever  I. should  address  the 


people  of  Illinois.  I  hold  that  when  the 
time  arrives  that  I  cannot  proclaim  my 
political  creed  in  the  same  terms  not  only 
in  the  northern  but  the  southern  part  of 
Illinois,  not  only  in  the  Northern  but  the 
Southern  States,  and  wherever  the  Ameri- 
can flag  waves  over  American  soil,  that 
then  there  must  be  something  wrong  in 
that  creed.  So  long  as  we  live  under  a 
common  Constitution,  so  long  as  we  live  in 
a  confederacy  of  sovereign  and  equal 
States,  joined  together  as  one  for  certain 
purposes,  that  any  political  creed  is  radi- 
cally wrong  which  cannot  b*i  proclaimed 
in  every  State,  and  every  section  of  that 
Union,  alike.  I  took  up  Mr.  Lincoln's 
three  propositions  in  my  several  speeches, 
analyzed  them,  and  pointed  out  what  I 
believed  to  be  the  radical  errors  contained 
in  them.  First,  in  regard  to  his  doctrine 
that  this  Government  was  in  violation  of 
the  law  of  God,  which  says  that  a  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand,  I  re- 
pudiated it  as  a  slander  upon  the  immor- 
tal framers  of  our  Constitution.  I  then 
said,  I  have  often  repeated,  and  now  again 
assert,  that  in  my  opinion  our  Government 
can  endure  forever,  divided  into  free  and 
slave  States  as  our  fathers  made  it, — each 
State  having  the  right  to  prohibit,  abolish 
or  sustain  slavery,  just  as  it  pleases.  This 
Grovernment  was  made  upon  the  great 
basis  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  the 
right  of  each  State  to  regulate  its  own  do- 
mestic institutions  to  suit  itself,  and  that 
right  was  conferred  with  the  understand- 
ing and  expectation  that  inasmuch  as  each 
locality  had  separate  interests  each  lo- 
cality must  have  diflferent  and  distinct  lo- 
cal and  domestic  institutions,  correspond- 
ing to  its  wants  and  interests.  Our  fathers 
knew  when  they  made  the  Government, 
that  the  laws  and  institutions  which  were 
well  adapted  to  the  green  mountains  of 
Vermont,  were  unsuited  to  the  rice  planta- 
tions of  South  Carolina.  They  knew  then, 
as  well  as  we  know  now,  that  the  laws  ana 
institutions  which  would  be  well  adapted  to 
the  beautiful  prairies  of  Illinois  would  not 
be  suited  to  the  mining  regions  of  Cali- 
fornia. They  knew  that  in  a  Republic  as 
broad  as  this,  having  such  a  variety  of 
soil,  climate  and  interest,  there  must  ne- 
cessarily be  a  corresponding  variety  of  lo- 
cal laws — ^the  policy  and  institutions  of 
each  State  adapted  to  its  condition  and 
wants.  For  this  reason  this  Union  was 
established  on  the  right  of  each  State  to  do 
as  it  pleased  on  the  question  of  slavery,  and 
every  other  question;  and  the  various 
States  were  not  allowed  to  complain  of, 
much  less  interfere  with  the  policy,  of 
their  neighbors. 

Suppose  the  doctrine  advocated  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  the  Abolitionists  of  this  day 
had  prevailed  when  the  Constitution  was 
made,  what  would  have  been  the  result? 


128 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


Imagine  for  a  moment  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Convention  that 
framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  when  its  members  were 
about  to  sign  that  wonderful  document,  he 
had  arisen  in  that  Convention  as  he  did  at 
Springfield  this  summer,  and  addressing 
himself  to  the  President,  had  said,  "A 
liouse  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand ; 
this  Government,  divided  into  free  and 
klave  States,  cannot  endure,  they  must  all 
be  free  or  all  be  slave,  they  must  all  be  one 
thing  or  all  be  the  other,  otherwise,  it  is  a 
violation  of  the  law  of  God,  and  cannot 
continue  to  exist;" — suppose  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  convinced  that  body  of  sages  that  that 
doctrine  was  sound,  what  would  have  been 
the  result?  Remember  that  the  Union 
was  then  composed  of  thirteen  States, 
twelve  of  which  were  slaveholding  and  one 
free.  Do  you  think  that  the  one  free  State 
would  have  outvoted  the  twelve  slave- 
holding  States,  and  thus  have  secured  the 
abolition  of  slavery  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
would  not  the  twelve  slave-holding  States 
have  outvoted  the  one  free  State,  and  thus 
have  fastened  slavery,  by  a  Constitutional 
provision,  on  every  foot  of  the  American 
Kepublic  forever?  You  see  that  if  this 
Abolition  doctrine  of  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
prevailed  when  the  Government  was  made. 
It  would  have  established  slavery  as  a  per- 
manent institution,  in  all  the  States, 
whether  they  wanted  it  or  not,  and  the 
question  for  us  to  determine  in  Illinois 
now  as  one  of  the  free  States  is,  whether 
or  not  we  are  willing,  having  become  the 
majority  section,  to  enforce  a  doctrine  on 
the  minority,  which  we  would  have  re- 
gisted  with  our  hearts'  blood  had  it  been 
attempted  on  us  when  we  were  in  a  mi- 
nority. How  has  the  South  lost  her  power 
as  the  majority  section  in  this  Union,  and 
how  have  the  free  States  gained  it,  except 
under  the  operation  of  that  principle  which 
declares  the  right  of  the  people  of  each 
State  and  each  Territory  to  form  and 
regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their 
own  way.  It  was  under  that  principle 
that  slavery  was  abolished  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania ;  it 
was  under  that  principle  that  one  half  of 
the  slaveholding  States  became  free;  it 
was  under  that  principle  that  the  number 
of  free  States  increased  until  from  being 
one  out  of  twelve  States,  we  have  grown  to 
be  the  majority  of  States  of  the  whole 
Union,  with  the  power  to  control  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  Senate,  and 
the  power,  consequently,  to  elect  a  Presi- 
dent by  Northern  votes  without  the  aid  of 
a  Southern  State.  Having  obtained  this 
power  under  the  operation  of  that  great 
principle,  are  you  now  prepared  to  aban- 
don the  principle  and  declare  that  merely 
because  we  have  the  power  you  will  wage 


a  war  against  the  Southern  States  and 
their  institutions  until  you  force  them  to 
abolish  slavery  everywhere. 

After  having  pressed  these  arguments 
home  on  Mr.  Lincoln  for  seven  weeks,  pub- 
lishing a  number  of  my  speeches,  we  met 
at  Ottawa  in  joint  discussion,  and  he  then 
began  to  crawfish  a  little,  and  let  himself 
down.  I  there  propounded  certain  ques- 
tions to  him.  Amongst  others,  I  asked 
him  whether  he  would  vote  for  the  admis- 
sion of  any  more  slave  States  in  the  event 
the  people  wanted  them.  He  would  not 
answer.  I  then  told  him  that  if  he  did  not 
answer  the  question  there  I  would  renew  it 
atFreeport,and  would  then  trot  him  down 
into  Egypt  and  again  put  it  to  him.  Well, 
at  Freeport,  knowing  that  the  next  joint 
discussion  took  place  in  Egypt,  and  being 
in  dread  of  it,  he  did  answer  my  question 
in  regard  to  no  more  slave  States  in  a  mode 
which  he  hoped  would  be  satisfactory  to 
me,  and  accomplish  the  object  he  had  in 
view.  I  will  show  you  what  his  answer 
was.  After  saying  that  he  was  not  pledged 
to  the  Republican  doctrine  of  ''  no  more 
slave  States,"  he  declared: 

"  I  state  to  you  freely,  frankly,  that  I 
should  be  exceedingly  sorry  to  ever  be  put 
in  the  position  of  having  to  pass  upon  tnat 
question.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad 
to  know  that  there  nC"~?r  would  be  another 
slave  State  admitted  into  this  Union." 

Here  permit  me  to  remark,  that  I  do  not 
think  the  people  will  ever  force  him  into 
a  position  against  his  will.  He  went  on  to 
say: 

"But  I  must  add  in  regard  to  this,  that  if 
slavery  shall  be  kept  out  of  the  Territory 
during  the  territorial  existence  of  any  one 
given  Territory,  and  then  the  people  should, 
having  a  fair  chance  and  a  clear  field  when 
they  come  to  adopt  a  Constitution,  if  they 
should  do.the  extraordinary  thing  of  adopt- 
ing a  slave  Constitution,  uninfluenced  Dy 
the  actual  presence  of  the  institution 
among  them,  I  see  no  alternative,  if  we 
own  the  country,  but  we  must  admit  it  into 
the  Union." 

That  answer  Mr.  Lincoln  supposed  would 
satisfy  the  '^Id  line  Whigs,  composed  of 
Kentuckians  and  Virginians  down  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  State.  Now  what  does 
it  amount  to  ?  I  desired  to  know  whether 
he  would  vote  to  allow  Kansas  to  come 
into  the  Union  with  slavery  or  not,  as  her 

Eeople  desired.  He  would  not  answer; 
ut  in  a  roundabout  way  said  that  if  sla- 
very should  be  kept  out  of  a  Territory 
during  the  whole  of  its  territorial  existence, 
and  then  the  people,  when  they  adopted  a 
State  Constitution,  asked  admission  as  a 
slave  State,  he  supposed  he  would  have  to 
let  the  State  come  in.  The  case  I  put  to 
him  was  an  entirely  different  one.  I  de- 
sired to  know  whether  he  would  vote  to 
admit  a  State  if  Congress  had  not  prohib- 


BOOKKi.]         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


129 


ited  slavery  in  it  during  its  territorial 
existence,  as  Congress  never  pretend- 
ed to  do  under  Clay's  Compromise  mea- 
sures of  1850.  He  would  not  answer, 
and  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  get  an  an- 
swer from  him.  I  have  asked  him  whe- 
ther he  would  vote  to  admit  Nebraska 
if  her  people  asked  to  come  in  as  a  State 
with  a  Constitution  recognizing  slavery, 
and  he  refused  to  answer.  I  have  put  the 
question  to  him  with  reference  to  New 
Mexico,  and  he  has  not  uttered  a  word  in 
answer.  I  have  enumerated  the  Territories, 
one  after  another,  putting  the  same  ques- 
tion to  him  with  reference  to  each,  and  he 
has  not  said,  ard  will  not  say,  whether,  if 
elected  to  Congress,  he  will  vote  to  admit 
any  Territory  now  in  existence  with  such 
a  Constitution  as  her  people  may  adopt. 
He  invents  a  case  which  does  not  exist, 
and  cannot  exist  under  this  Grovernment, 
and  answers  it ;  but  he  will  not  answer  the 
question  I  put  to  him  in  connection  with 
any  of  the  Territories  now  in  existence. 
The  contract  we  entered  into  with  Texas 
when  she  entered  the  Union  obliges  us  to 
allow  four  States  to  be  formed  out  of  the 
old  State,  and  admitted  with  or  without 
slavery  as  the  respective  inhabitants  of 
each  may  determine.  I  have  asked  Mr. 
Lincoln  three  times  in  our  joint  discussions 
whether  he  would  vote  to  redeem  that 
pledge,  and  he  has  never  yet  answered. 
He  is  as  silent  as  the  grave  on  the  subject. 
He  would  rather  answer  as  to  a  state  of 
the  case  which  will  never  arise  than  com- 
mit himself  by  telling  what  be  would  do 
in  a  case  which  would  come  up  for  his  ac- 
tion soon  after  his  election  to  Congress. 
Why  can  he  not  say  whether  he  is  willing 
to  allow  the  people  of  each  State  to  have 
slavery  or  not  as  they  please,  and  to  come 
into  the  Union  when  they  have  the  requi- 
site population  as  a  slave  or  a  free  State  as 
they  decide  ?  I  have  no  trouble  in  answer- 
ing the  questions.  I  have  said  every  where, 
and  now  repeat  it  to  you,  that  if  the  peo- 
ple of  Kansas  want  a  slave  State  they  have 
a  right,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  to  form  such  a  State,  and  I 
will  let  them  come  into  the  Union  with 
slavery  or  without,  as  they  determine.  If 
the  people  of  any  other  Territory  desire 
slavery,  let  them  have  it.  If  they  do  not 
want  it,  let  them  prohibit  it.  It  is  their 
business,  not  mine.  It  is  none  of  our  busi- 
ness in  Illinois  whether  Kansas  is  a  free 
State  or  a  slave  State.  It  is  none  of  your 
business  in  Missouri  whether  Kansas  shall 
adopt  slavery  or  reject  it.  It  is  the  busi- 
ness of  her  people  and  none  of  yours.  The 
Seople  of  Kansas  have  as  much  right  to 
ecide  that  question  for  themselves  as  you 
have  in  Missouri  to  decide  it  for  your- 
selves, or  we  in  Illinois  to  decide  it  for  our- 
selves. 
And  here  I  may  repeat  what  I  have  said 

37 


in  eveiT  speech  I  have  made  in  Illinoia, 
that  I  fought  the  Lecomptpn  Constitution 
to  its  death,  not  because  of  the  slavery 
clause  in  it,  but  because  it  was  not  the  act 
and  deed  of  the  people  of  Kansas.  I  said 
then  in  Congress,  and  I  say  now,  that  if 
the  people  of  Kansas  want  a  slave*  State, 
they  have  a  right  to  have  it.  If  they 
wanted  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  they 
had  a  right  to  have  it.  I  was  opposed  to 
that  Constitution  because  I  did  not  believe 
that  it  was  the  act  and  deed  of  the  people, 
but  on  the  contrary,  the  act  of  a  small, 
pitifiil  minority  acting  in  the  name  of  the 
majority.  When  at  last  it  was  determined 
to  send  that  Constitution  back  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  accordingly,  in  August  last,  the 
question  of  admission  under  it  was  submit- 
ted to  a  popular  vote,  the  citizens  rejected 
it  by  nearly  ten  to  one,  thus  show- 
ing conclusively,  that  I  was  right  when 
I  said  that  the  Lecompton  Constitution 
was  not  the  act  and  the  deed  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Kansas,  and  did  not  embody  tneir 
will. 

I  hold  that  there  is  no  power  on  earth, 
under  our  system  of  Government,  which 
has  the  right  to  force  a  Constitution  upon 
an  unwilling  people.  Suppose  that  there 
had  been  a  majority  of  ten  to  one  in  favor 
of  slavery  in  Kansas,  and  suppose  there 
had  been  an  Abolition  President,  and  an 
Abolition  Administration,  and  by  some 
means  the  Abolitionists  succeeded  in  for- 
cing an  Abolition  Constitution  on  those 
slave-holding  people,  would  the  people  of 
the  South  have  submitted  to  that  act  for 
one  instant?  Well,  if  you  of  the  South 
would  not  have  submitted  to  it  a  day,  how 
can  you,  as  fair,  honorable  and  honest 
men,  insist  on  putting  a  slave  Constitution 
on  a  people  who  desire  a  free  State  ?  Your 
safety  and  ours  depend  upon  both  of  us 
acting  in  good  faith,  and  living  up  to  that 
great  principle  which  asserts  the  right  of 
every  people  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  to  suit  themselves, 
subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

Most  of  the  men  who  denounced  my 
course  on  the  Lecompton  question,  objected 
to  it  not  because  I  was  not  right,  but  be- 
cause they  thought  it  expedient  at  that 
time,  for  the  sake  of  keeping  the  party  to- 

f ether,  to  do  wrong.  I  never  knew  the 
)emocratic  party  to  violate  any  one  of  its 
principles  out  of  policy  or  expediency,  that 
it  did  not  pay  the  debt  with  sorrow.  There 
is  no  safety  or  success  for  our  party  unless 
we  always  do  right,  and  trust  the  conse- 
quences to  God  and  the  people.  I  chose 
not  to  depart  from  principle  for  the  sake 
of  expediency  in  the  Lecompton  question, 
and  I  never  intend  to  do  it  on  that  or  any 
other  question. 

But  I  am  told  that  I  would  have  been 
all  right  if  I  had  only  voted  for  the  Eng* 


130 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


lish  bill  after  Lecompton  was  killed.  You 
know  a  general  pardon  was  granted  to  all 
political  offenders  on  the  Lecompton  ques- 
tion, provided  they  would  only  vote  for 
the  English  bill.  I  did  not  accept  the 
benefite  of  that  pardon,  for  the  reason  that 
I  had  been  right  in  the  course  I  had 
pursued,  and  hence  did  not  require  any 
lorgiveness.  Let  us  see  how  the  result  has 
been  worked  out.  English  brought  in  his 
bill  referring  the  Lecompton  Constitution 
back  to  the  people,  with  the  provision  that 
if  it  was  rejected  Kansas  should  be  kept 
out  of  the  Union  until  she  had  the  fiill 
ratio  of  population  required  for  a  member 
of  Congress,  thus  in  effect  declaring  that 
if  the  people  of  Kansas  would  only  consent 
to  come  into  the  Union  under  the  Lecomp- 
ton Constitution,  and  have  a  slave  State 
when  they  did  not  want  it,  they  should  be 
admitted  with  a  population  of  35,000,  but 
that  if  they  were  so  obstinate  as  to  insist 
upon  having  just  such  a  Constitution  as 
they  thought  best,  and  to  desire  admission 
as  a  free  State,  then  they  should  be  kept 
out  until  they  had  93,420  inhabitants.  I 
then  said,  and  I  now  repeat  to  you,  that 
whenever  Kansas  has  people  enough  for  a 
slave  dtate  she  has  people  enough  for  a  free 
State.  I  was  and  am  willing  to  adopt  the 
rule  that  no  State  shall  ever  come  into  the 
Union  until  she  has  the  full  ratio  of  popu- 
lation for  a  member  of  Congress,  provided 
that  rule  is  made  uniform.  I  made  that 
proposition  in  the  Senate  last  winter,  but  a 
majority  of  the  Senators  would  not  agree 
to  it ;  and  I  then  said  to  them  if  you  will 
not  adopt  the  general  rule  I  will  not  '■  in- 
seJit  to  make  an  exception  of  Kansas. 

I  hold  that  it  is  a  violation  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  this  Government  to 
throw  the  weight  of  federal  power  into  the 
scale,  either  in  favor  of  the  free  or  the 
slave  States.  Equality  among  all  the 
States  of  this  Union  is  a  fundamental  prin- 
ciple in  our  political  system.  We  have  no 
more  right  to  throw  the  weight  of  the 
Federal  Government  into  the  scale  in  favor 
of  the  slaveholding  than  the  free  States, 
and  last  of.  all  should  our  friends  in  the 
South  consent  for  a  moment  that  Congress 
should  withhold  its  powers  either  way 
when  they  know  that  there  is  a  majority 
against  them  in  both  Houses  of  Congress. 

Fellow-citizens,  how  have  the  supporters 
of  the  English  bill  stood  up  to  their 
pledges  not  to  admit  Kansas  until  she  ob- 
tained a  population  of  93,420  in  the  event 
she  rqectea  the  Lecompton  Constitution  ? 
How?  The  newspapers  inform  us  that 
English  himself,  whilst  conducting  his 
canvass  for  re-election,  and  in  order  to 
secure  it,  pledged  himself  to  his  constitu- 
ents that  if  returned  he  would  disregard 
his  own  bill  and  vote  to  admit  Kansas  into 
the  Union  with  such  population  as  she 
might  have  when  she  made  application. 


We  are  informed  that  every  Democratic 
candidate  for  Congress  in  all  the  States 
where  elections  have  recently  been  held, 
was  pledged  against  the  English  bill,  with 
perhaps  one  or  two  exceptions.  Now,  if  I 
nad  only  done  as  these  anti-Lecompton 
men  who  voted  for  the  English  bill  in  Con- 
gress, pledging  themselves  to  refuse  to  ad- 
mit Kansas  if  she  refused  to  become  a  slave 
State  until  she  had  a  population  of  93,420, 
and  then  return  to  their  people,  forfeited 
their  pledge,  and  made  a  new  pledge  to 
admit  Kansas  at  any  time  she  ap- 
plied, without  regard  to  population,  I 
would  have  had  no  trouble.  You  saw  the 
whole  power  and  patronage  of  the  Federal 
Government  wielded  in  Indiana,  Ohio  and 
Pennsylvania  to  re-elect  anti-Lecompton 
men  to  Congress  who  voted  against  Lecomp- 
ton, then  voted  for  the  English  bill,  and 
then  denounced  the  English  bill,  and 
pledged  themselves  to  their  people  to  dis- 
regard it.  My  sin  consists  in  not  having 
given  a  pledge,  and  then  in  not  having  af- 
terward forfeited  it.  For  that  reason,  in 
this  State,  every  postmaster,  every  route 
agent,  every  collector  of  the  ports,  and 
every  federal  office-holder,  forfeits  his  head 
the  moment  he  expresses  a  preference  for 
the  Democratic  candidates  against  Lincoln 
and  his  Abolition  associates.  A  Demo- 
cratic Administration  which  we  helped  to 
bring  into  power,  deems  it  consistent  with 
its  fidelity  to  principle  and  its  regard  to 
duty,  to  wield  its  power  in  this  State  in  be- 
half of  the  Republican  Abolition  candi- 
dates in  every  county  and  every  Congres- 
sional District  against  the  Democratic 
party.  All  I  have  to  say  in  reference  to 
the  matter  is,  that  if  that  Administration 
have  not  regard  enough  for  principle,  if 
they  are  not  sufficiently  attached  to  the 
creed  of  the  Democratic  party  to  bury  for- 
ever their  personal  hostilities  in  order  to 
succeed  in  carrying  out  our  glorious  prin' 
ciples,  I  have.  I  have  no  personal  diffi« 
culty  with  Mr.  Buchanan  or  his  cabinet 
He  chose  to  make  certain  recommendation* 
to  Congress,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  on  the 
Lecompton  question.  I  could  not  vote  in 
favor  of  them.  I  had  as  much  right  to 
judge  for  myself  how  I  should  vote  as  he 
had  how  he  should  recommend.  He  un- 
dertook to  say  to  me,  if  you  do  not  vote  as 
I  tell  you,  I  will  take  off  the  heads  of  yout 
friends.  I  replied  to  him,  '•  You  did  not 
elect  me,  I  represent  Illinois  and  I  am  ac- 
countable to  Illinois,  as  my  constituency, 
and  to  God,  but  not  to  the  President  or  to 
any  other  power  on  earth." 

And  now  this  warfare  is  made  on  me  be- 
cause I  would  not  surrender  my  convic- 
tions of  duty,  because  I  would  not  aban- 
don my  constituency,  and  receive  the  or- 
ders of  the  executive  authorities  how  I 
should  vote  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.    I  hold  that  an  attempt  to  control 


BooKin.]         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


131 


the  Senate  on  the  part  of  the  Executive  is 
subversive  of  the  principles  of  our  Con- 
stitution. The  Executive  department  is 
independent  of  the  Senate,  and  the  Senate 
is  independent  of  the  President.  In  mat- 
ters of  legislation  the  President  has  a  veto 
on  the  action  of  the  Senate,  and  in  ap- 
pointments and  treaties  the  Senate  has  a 
veto  on  the  President.  He  has  no  more 
right  to  tell  me  how  I  shall  vote  on  his  ap- 
pointments than  I  have  to  tell  him  wheth- 
er he  shall  veto  or  approve  a  bill  that  the 
Senate  has  passed.  Whenever  you  recog- 
nize the  right  of  the  Executive  to  say  to  a 
Senator,  "  Do  this,  or  I  will  take  off  the 
heads  of  your  friends,"  you  convert  this 
Government  from  a  republic  into  a  despot- 
ism. Whenever  you  recognize  the  right  of 
a  President  to  say  to  a  member  of  Congress, 
"  Vote  as  I  tell  you,  or  I  will  bring  a  pow- 
er to  bear  against  you  at  home  which  will 
crush  you,''  you  destroy  the  independence 
of  the  representative,  and  convert  him  in- 
to a  tool  of  Executive  power.  I  resisted 
this  invasion  of  the  constitutional  rights  of 
a  Senator,  and  I  intend  to  resist  it  as  long 
as  I  have  a  voice  to  speak,  or  a  vote  to  give. 
Yet,  Mr.  Buchanan  cannot  provoke  me  to 
abandon  one  iota  of  Democratic  principles 
out  of  revenge  or  hostility  to  his  course. 
I  stand  by  the  platform  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  by  its  organization,  and  sup- 
port its  nominees.  If  there  are  any  who 
choose  to  bolt,  the  fact  only  shows  that  they 
are  not  as  good  Democrats  as  I  am. 

My  friends,  there  never  was  a  time  when 
it  was  as  important  for  tne  Democratic 
party,  for  all  national  men,  to  rally  and 
stand  together  as  it  is  to-day.  We  find  all 
sectional  men  giving  up  past  differences 
and  continuing  the  one  question  of  slavery, 
and  when  we  find  sectional  men  thus  unit- 
ing, we  should  unite  to  resist  them  and 
their  treasonable  designs.  Such  was  the 
case  in  1850,  when  Clay  left  the  quiet  and 
peace  of  his  home,  and  again  entered  up- 
on public  life  to  quell  agitation  and  restore 
Eeace  to  a  distracted  Union.  Then  we 
democrats,  with  Cass  at  our  head,  wel- 
comed Henry  Clay,  whom  the  whole  na- 
tion regarded  as  having  been  preserved  by 
God  for  the  tiines.  He  became  our  leader 
in  that  great  fight,  and  we  rallied  around 
him  the  same  as  the  Whigs  rallied  around 
old  Hickory  in  1832,  to  put  down  nullifi- 
cation. Thus  you  see  that  whilst  Whigs 
and  Democrats  fought  fearlessly  in  old 
times  about  banks,  the  tariff,  distribution, 
ihe  specie  circular,  and  the  sub-treasury, 
all  united  as  a  band  of  brothers  when  the 
peace,  harmony,  or  integrity  of  the  Union 
was  imperilled.  It  was  so  in  1850,  when 
Abolitionism  had  even  so  far  divided  this 
country.  North  and  South,  as  to  endanger 
the  peace  of  the  Union  ;  Whigs  and  Dem- 
ocrats united  in  establishing  the  Com- 
promise measures  of- that  year,  and  restor- 


ing tranquillity  and  good  feeling.  These 
measures  passed  on  the  joint  action  of  the 
two  parties.  They  rested  on  the  great 
principle  that  the  people  of  each  State  and 
each  Territory  should  be  left  perfectly  free 
to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  insti- 
tutions to  suit  tJtteraselves.  You  Whigs,  and 
we  Democrats  justified  them  in  that  prin- 
ciple. In  1854,  when  it  became  necessary 
to  organize  the  Territories  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  I  brought  forward  the  bill  on 
the  same  principle.  In  the  Kansas- Ne- 
braska bill  you  find  it  declared  to  be  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  act  not  to 
legislate  .slavery  into  any  State  or  Terri- 
tory, nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to 
leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to 
form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institu- 
tions in  their  own  way.  I  stand  on  that 
same  platform  in  1858  that  I  did  in  1850, 
1854,  and  1856.  The  Washington  Union, 
pretending  to  be  the  organ  of  the  Admin- 
istration, in  the  number  of  the  5th  of  this 
month,  devotes  three  columns  and  a  half 
to  establish  thesepropositions :  First,  that 
Douglas,  in  his  Freeport  speech,  held  the 
same  doctrine  that  he  did  in  his  Nebraska 
bill  in  1854 ;  second,  that  in  1854  Douglas 
justified  the  Nebraska  bill  upon  the  ground 
that  it  was  based  upon  the  same  principle 
as  Clay's  Compromise  measures  of  1850. 
The  Union  thus  proved  that  Douglas  was 
the  same  in  1858  that  he  was  in  1856, 1854, 
and  1850,  and  consequently  argued  that  he 
was  never  a  Democrat.  Is  it  not  funny 
that  I  was  never  a  Democrat  ?  There  is 
no  pretense  that  I  have  changed  a  hair's 
breadth.  The  Un  ion  proves  by  my  speeches 
that  I  explained  the  Compromise  measures 
of  1850  just  as  I  do  now,  and  that  I  ex- 
plained the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill  in 
1854  just  as  I  did  in  my  Freeport  speech, 
and  yet  says  that  I  am  not  a  Democrat, 
and  cannot  be  trusted,  because  I  have  not 
changed  during  the  whole  of  that  time. 
It  has  occurred  to  me  that  in  1854  the  au- 
thor of  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill  was 
considered  a  pretty  good  Democrat.  It  has 
occurred  to  me  that  in  1856,  when  I  was  ex- 
erting every  nerve  and  every  energy  for 
Jamea  Buchanan,  standing  on  the  same  plat- 
form then  that  I  do  now,  that  I  was  a  pretty 
good  Democrat.  They  now  tell  me  that  I  am 
not  a  Democrat,  because  I  assert  that  the 

geople  of  a  Territorv,  as  well  as  those  of  a 
tate,  have  the  right  to  decide  for  them- 
selves whether  slavery  can  or  cannot  exist 
in  such  Territory.  Let  me  read  what  James 
Buchanan  said  on  that  point  when  he  ac- 
cepted the  Democratic  nomination  for  the 
Presidency  in  1856.  In  his  letter  of  ac- 
ceptance, he  used  the  following  language : 
^'  The  recent  legislation  of  Congress  re- 
specting domestic  slavery,  derived  as  it  has 
been  from  the  original  and  pure  fountain  of 
legitimate  political  power,  the  will  of  the 
majority,  promises  ere  long  to  allay  the  dan- 


132 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


gerous  excitement.  This  legislation  is 
founded  upon  principles  as  ancient  as  free 
government  itself,  and  in  accordance  with 
them  has  simplv  declared  that  the  people 
of  a  Territory,  like  those  of  a  State,  shall 
decide  for  themselves  whether  slavery  shall 
or  shall  not  exist  within  their  limits." 

Dr.  Hope  will  there  find  my  answer  to 
the  question  he  propounded  to  me  before  I 
commenced  speaking.  Of  course  no  man 
will  consider  it  an  answer,  who  is  outside 
of  the  Democratic  organization,  bolts  Dem- 
ocratic nominations,  and  indirectly  aids  to 
put  Abolitionists  into  power  over  Demo- 
crats. But  whether  Dr.  Hope  considers  it 
an  answer  or  not,  every  fair-minded  man 
will  see  that  James  Buchanan  has  answered 
the  question,  and  has  asserted  that  the  peo- 
ple of  a  Territory  like  those  of  a  State, 
shall  decide  for  themselves  whether  slavery 
shall  or  shall  not  exist  within  their  limits. 
I  answer  specifically  if  you  want  a  further 
answer,  and  say  that  while  under  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court,  as  recorded  in 
the  opinion  of  Chief  Justice  Taney,  slaves 
are  property  like  all  other  property,  and 
can  De  carried  into  any  Territory  of  the 
United  States  the  same  as  any  other  de- 
scription of  property,  yet  when  you  get 
them  there  they  are  subject  to  the  local  law 
of  the  Territory  just  like  all  other  prop- 
erty. You  will  find  in  a  recent  speech  de- 
livered by  that  able  and  eloquent  statesman, 
Hon.  Jefferson  Davis,  at  Bangor,  Maine, 
that  he  took  the  same  view  of  this  subject 
that  I  did  in  my  Freeport  speech.  He  there 
said: 

"If  the  inhabitants  of  any  Territory 
should  refuse  to  enact  such  laws  and  police 
regulations  as  would  give  security  to  their 
property  or  to  his,  it  would  be  rendered 
more  or  less  valueless  in  proportion  to  the 
difficulties  of  holding  it  without  such  pro- 
tection. In  the  case  of  property  in  the 
labor  of  man,  or  what  is  usually  called  slave 
property,  the  insecurity  would  be  so  great 
that  the  owner  could  not  ordinarily  retain 
it.  Therefore,  though  the  right  would  re- 
main, the  remedy  being  withheld,  it  would 
follow  that  the  owner  would  be  practically 
debarred,  by  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  from  taking  slave  property  into  a 
Territory  where  the  sense  of  the  inhabitants 
was  opposed  to  its  introduction.  So  much 
for  the  oft-repeated  fallacy  of  forcing  slavery 
upon  any  community." 

You  will  also  find  that  the  distinguished 
Speaker  of  the  present  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, Hon.  Jas.  L.  Orr,  construed 
the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill  in  this  same 
■way  in  1856,  and  also  that  great  intellect 
of  the  South,  Alex.  H.  Stephens,  put  the 
same  construction  upon  it  in  Congress  that 
I  did  in  my  FVeeport  speech.  The  whole 
South  are  rallying  to  the  support  of  the 
doctrine  that  if  the  people  oi  a  Territory 
want  slavery  they  have  a  right  to  have  it, 


and  if  they  do  not  want  it  that  no  power 
on  earth  can  force  it  upon  them.  I  hold 
that  there  is  no  principle  on  earth  more 
sacred  to  all  the  friends  of  freedom  than 
that  which  says  that  no  institution,  no  law, 
no  constitution,  should  be  forced  on  an  un- 
willing people  contrary  to  their  wishes  ;  and 
I  assert  that  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill 
contains  that  principle.  It  is  the  great 
principle  contained  in  that  bill.  It  is  the 
principle  on  which  James  Buchanan  was 
made  President.  Without  that  principle 
he  never  would  have  been  made  President 
of  the  United  States.  I  will  never  violate 
or  abandon  that  doctrine  if  I  have  to  stand 
alone.  I  have  resisted  the  blandishments 
and  threats  of  power  on  the  one  side,  and 
seduction  on  the  other,  and  have  stood  im- 
movably for  that  principle,  fighting  for  it 
when  assailed  by  Northern  mobs,  or  threat- 
ened by  Southern  hostility.  I  have  de- 
fended it  against  the  North  and  South, 
and  I  will  defend  it  against  whoever 
assails  it,  and  I  will  follow  it  wherever  its 
logical  conclusions  lead  me.  I  say  to  you 
that  there  is  but  one  hope,  one  safety  for 
this  country,  and  that  is  to  stand  immovably 
by  that  principle  which  declares  the  right 
of  each  State  and  each  Territory  to  decide 
these  questions  for  themselves.  This  Grov- 
ernment  was  founded  on  that  principle,  and 
must  be  administered  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  it  was  founded. 

But  the  Abolition  party  really  think  that 
under  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
the  negro  is  equal  to  the  white  man,  and 
that  negro  equality  is  an  inalienable  right 
conferred  by  the  Almighty,  and  hence  that 
all  human  laws  in  violation  of  it  are  null 
and  void.  With  such  men  it  is  no  use  for 
me  to  argue.  I  hold  that- the  signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  no 
reference  to  negroes  at  all  when  they  de- 
clared all  men  to  be  created  equal.  They 
did  not  mean  negroes,  nor  savage  Indians, 
nor  the  Fejee  Islanders,  nor  any  other  bar- 
barous race.  They  were  speaking  of  white 
men.  They  alluded  to  men  of  European 
birth  and  E«ropean  descent — to  white 
men,  and  to  none  others,  when  they  de- 
clared that  doctrine.  I  hold  that  this  Gov- 
ernment was  established  on  the  white  basis. 
It  was  established  by  white  men  for  the 
benefit  of  white  men  and  their  posterity  for- 
ever, and  should  be  administered  by  white 
men,  and  none  others.  But  it  does  not  fol- 
low, by  any  means,  that  merely  because 
the  negro  is  not  a  citizen,  and  merely  be- 
cause he  is  not  our  equal,  that,  therefore,  h^ 
should  be  a  slave.  On  the  contrarv,  it  does 
follow  that  we  ought  to  extend  to  the 
negro  race,  and  to  all  other  dependent  races 
all  the  rights,  all  the  privileges,  and  all 
the  immunities  which  they  can  exercise 
consistently  with  the  safety  of  society.  Hu- 
manity requires  that  we  should  give  them 
all  these  privileges ;  Christianity  commands 


BOOK  III.]         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


133 


that  we  should  extend  those  privileges  to 
them.  The  question  then  arises  what  are 
these  privileges,  and  what  is  the  nature 
and  extent  of  them.  My  answer  is  that  that 
is  a  question  which  each  State  must  an- 
swer for  itself.  We  in  Illinois  have  decided 
it  for  ourselves.  We  tried  slavery,  kept  it 
up  for  twelve  years,  and  finding  that  it 
was  not  profitable,  we  abolished  it  for  that 
reason,  and  became  a  free  State.  We 
adopted  in  its  stead  the  policy  that  a  negro 
in  this  State  shall  not  be  a  slave  and  shall 
not  be  a  citizen.  We  have  a  right  to  adopt 
that  policy.  For  my  part  I  think  it  is  a 
wise  and  sound  policy  for  us.  You  in 
Missouri  must  judge  for  yourselves  whether 
it  is  a  wise  policy  for  you.  If  you  choose 
to  follow  our  example,  very  good ;  if  you 
reject  it,  still  well,  it  is  your  business,  not 
ours.  So  with  Kentucky.  Let  Kentucky 
adopt  a  policy  to  suit  herself.  If  we  do  not 
like  it  we  will  keep  away  from  it,  and  if 
she  does  not  like  ours  let  her  stay  at  home, 
mind  her  own  business  and  let  us  alone. 
If  the  people  of  all  the  States  will  act  on 
that  great  principle,  and  each  State  mind 
its  own  business,  attend  to  its  own  affairs, 
take  care  of  its  own  negroes  and  not  meddle 
with  its  neighbors,  then  there  will  be  peace 
between  the  North  and  the  South,  the 
East  and  the  West,  throughout  the  whole 
Union.  Why  can  we  not  thus  have  peace  ? 
Why  should  we  thus  allow  a  sectional 
party  to  agitate  this  country,  to  array  the 
North  against  the  South,  and  convert  us 
into  enemies  instead  of  friends,  merely  that 
a  few  ambitious  men  may  ride  into  power 
on  a  sectional  hobby?  How  long  is  it 
since  these  ambitious  Northern  men  wished 
for  a  sectional  organization?  Did  any 
one  of  them  dream  of  a  sectional  party  as 
long  as  the  North  was  the  weaker  section 
and  the  South  the  stronger?  Then  all 
were  opposed  to  sectional  parties ;  but  the 
moment  the  North  obtained  the  majority 
in  the  House  and  Senate  by  the  admission 
of  California,  and  could  elect  a  President 
without  the  aid  of  Southern  votes,  that 
moment  ambitious  Northern  men  formed  a 
scheme  to  excite  the  North  against  the 
South,  and  make  the  people  be  governed  in 
their  votes  by  geographical  lines,  thinking 
that  the  North,  being  the  stronger  section, 
T7ould  out- vote  the  South,  and  consequently 
they,  the  leaders,  ,would  ride  into  office  on 
a  sectional  hobby.  I  am  told  that  my 
hour  is  out.    It  was  very  short. 


Mr.    liincoln's    Reply. 

Ladies  axd  Gentlemen  : — I  have  been 
somewhat,  in  my  own  mind,  con.pl  imented 
by  a  large  portion  of  Judge  x)ouglaa'8 
speech — I  mean  that  portion  which  he  de- 
votes to  the  controversy  between  himself 
and  the  present  Administration.  This  is 
the  seventh  time  Judge  Douglas  and  my- 


self have  met  in  these  joint  discussions, 
and  he  has  been  gradually  improving  in 
regard  to  his  war  with  the  administration. 
At  Quincy,  day  before  yesterday,  he  was  a 
little  more  severe  upon  the  Administration 
than  I  had  heard  him  upon  any  occasion, 
and  I  took  pains  to  compliment  him  for  it.  I 
then  told  him  to  "  Give  it  to  them  with  all  the 
power  he  had ;  "  and  as  some  of  them  were 
present,  I  told  them  I  would  be  very  much 
obliged  if  they  would  give  it  to  him  in 
about  the  same  way.  I  take  it  he  has  novr 
vastly  improved  upon  the  attack  he  made 
then  upon  the  Administration.  I  flatter 
myself  he  has  really  taken  my  advice  on 
this  subject.  All  I  can  say  now  is  to  re- 
commend to  him  and  to  them  what  I  then 
commended — to  prosecute  the  war  against 
one  another  in  the  most  vigorous  manner. 
I  say  to  them  again — "  Gro  it,  husband ! — 
Go  it,  bear  I" 

There  is  one  other  thing  I  will  mention  be- 
fore I  leave  this  branch  of  the  discussion — 
although  I  do  not  consider  it  much  of  my 
business,  any  way.  I  refer  to  that  part  of 
the  Judge's  remarks  where  he  undertakes 
to  involve  Mr.  Buchanan  in  an  inconsis- 
tency. He  reads  something  from  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan, from  which  he  undertakes  to  in- 
volve him  in  an  inconsistency  ;  and  he  gets 
something  of  a  cheer  for  having  done  so. 
I  would  only  remind  the  Judge  that  while 
he  is  very  valiantly  fighting  for  the  Ne- 
braska bill  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  it  has  been  but  a  little  while 
since  he  was  the  valiant  advocate  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise.  I  want  to  know  if 
Buchanan  has  not  as  much  right  to  be  in- 
consistent as  Douglas  has  ?  Has  Douglas 
the  exclusive  right,  in  this  country,  of  be- 
ing on  all  sides  of  all  questions  f  Is  no- 
body allowed  that  high  privilege  but  him- 
self? Is  he  to  ha^'e  an  entire  monopoly  on 
that  subject  ? 

So  far  as  Judge  Douglas  address-^d  his 
speech  to  me,  or  so  far  as  it  was  about  me, 
it  is  my  business  to  pay  soma  attention  to 
it.  I  have  heard  the  Judge  state  two  or 
three  times  what  he  has  stated  to-day — th.at 
in  a  speech  which  I  made  at  Springfield, 
Illinois,  I  had  in  a  very  especial  manner 
complained  that  the  Supreme  Court  in  thq 
Dred  Scott  case  had  decided  that  a  negro 
could  never  be  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  I  have  omitted  by  some  accident 
heretofore  to  analyze  this  statement,  and  it 
is  required  of  me  to  notice  it  now.  In 
point  of  fact  it  is  untrue.    I  never  have  com- 

Elained  especially  of  the  Dred  Scot  decision 
ecause  it  held  that  a  negro  could  not  be  a 
citizen,  and  the  Judge  is  always  wrong 
when  he  says  I  ever  did  so  complain  of  it.  I 
have  the  speech  here,  and  I  will  thank  him 
or  any  of  his  friends  to  show  where  I  said 
that  a  negro  should  be  a  citizen,  and  com- 
plained especially  of  the  Dred  Scott  de- 
cision because  it  declared  he  could   not 


134 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


be  one.  I  have  done  no  such  thing,  and 
Judge  Douglas  so  persistently  insisting 
that  I  have  done  so,  has  strongly  im])ressed 
me  with  the  belief  of  a  predetermination 
on  his  part  to  misrepresent  me.  He  could 
not  get  his  foundation  for  insisting  that  I 
was  in  favor  of  this  negro  equality  any 
where  else  as  well  as  he  could  by  assuming 
that  untrue  proposition.  Let  me  tell  this 
audience  what  is  true  in  regard  to  that 
matter ;  and  the  means  by  which  they  may 
correct  me  if  I  do  not  tell  them  truly  is  by 
a  recurrence  to  the  speech  itself,  1  spoke 
of  the  Pred  Scott  decision  in  my  Spring- 
field speech,  and  I  was  then  endeavoring  to 
prove  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  was  a 
portion  of  a  system  or  scheme  to  make 
slavery  national  in  this  country.  I  pointed 
out  what  things  had  been  decidecl  by  tlie 
court.  I  mentioned  as  a  fact  that  they  had 
decided  that  a  ne^ro  could  not  be  a  citi- 
zen— that  they  had  done  so,  as  I  supposed, 
to  deprive  the  negro,  under  all  circum- 
stances, of  the  remotest  possibility  of  ever 
becoming  a  citizen  and  claiming  the  rights 
of  a  citizen  of  the  L'nited  States  under  a 
certain  clause  of  the  Constitution.  I  stated 
that,  without  making  any  complaint  of  it 
at  all.  I  then  went  on  and  stated  the  other 
points  decided  in  the  case,  viz :  that  the 
bringing  of  a  negro  into  the.  State  of  Il- 
linois and  holding  him  in  slavery  for  two 
years  here  was  a  matter  In  regard  to  which 
they  would  not  decide  whether  it  would 
mate  him  free  or  not;  that  they  decided 
the  fiirther  point  that  taking  him  into  a 
United  States  Territory  where  slavery  was 
prohibited  by  act  of  Congress,  did  not 
make  him  free,  because  that  act  of  Con- 

fress,  as  they  held,  was  unconstitutional, 
mentioned  these  three  things  as  making 
up  the  points  decided  in  that  case.  I 
mentioned  them  in  a  lump  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  introduction  of  the  Ne- 
braska bill,  and  the  amendment  of  Chase, 
offered  at  the  time,  declaratory  of  the  right 
of  the  people  of  the  Territories  to  exclude 
slavery,  which  was  voted  down  by  the 
friends  of  the  bill.  I  mentioned  all  these 
things  together,  as  evidence  tending  to  prove 
a  combination  and  conspiracy  to  make  the 
institution  of  slavery  national.  In  that  con- 
nection and  in  that  way  I  mentioned  the 
decision  on  the  point  tliat  a  negro  could 
not  be  a  citizen,  and  in  no  other  connection. 

Out  of  this,  Judge  Douglas  builds  up 
his  beautiful  fabrication — of  mv  purpose 
to  introduce  a  perfect,  social,  and  political 
equality  between  the  white  and  black  races. 
His  assertion  that  I  made  an  "  especial  ob- 
jection "  (that  is  his  exact  language)  to  the 
decision  on  this  account,  is  untrue  in  point 
of  fact. 

Now,  while  I  am  upon  this  subject,  and 
as  Henry  Clay  has  been  alluded  to,  I  de- 
sire to  place  myself,  in  connection  with 
Mr.  Clay,  as  nearly  right  before  this  peo- 


ple as  may  be.  I  am  quite  aware  what  the 
Judge's  object  is  here  by  all  these  allusions. 
He  knows  that  we  are  before  an  audience, 
haying  strong  sympathies  southward  by  re- 
lationship, place  of  birth,  and  so  on.  He 
desires  to  place  me  in  an  extremely  Abo- 
lition attitude.  He  read  upon  a  former 
occasion,  and  alludes  without  reading  to- 
day, to  a  portion  of  a  speech  which  f  de- 
livered in  Chicago.  In  his  quotations 
from  that  speech,  as  he  has  made  them  up- 
on former  occasions,  the  extracts  were  ta- 
ken in  such  a  way  as,  I  suppose,  brings 
them  within  the  definition  of  what  is 
called  garbling— taking  portions  of  a  speech 
which,  when  taken  by  themselves,  do  not 
present  the  entire  sense  of  the  speaker  as 
expressed  at  the  time.  I  propose,  there- 
fore, out  of  that  same  speech,  to  show  how 
one  portion  of  it  which  he  skipped  over 
(taking  an  extract  before  and  an  extract 
after)^  will  give  a  different  idea,  and  the 
true  idea  I  intended  to  convey.  It  will 
take  me  some  little  time  to  read  it,  but  I 
believe  I  will  occupy  the  time  that  way. 

You  have  heard  him  frequently  allude 
to  my  controversy  with  him  in  regard  to 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  I  con- 
fess that  I  have  had  a  struggle  with  Judge 
Douglas  on  that  matter,  and  I  will  try 
briefljr  to  place  myself  right  in  regard  to  it 
on  this  occasion.  I  said — and  it  is  between 
the  extracts  Judge  Douglas  has  taken 
from  this  speech  and  put  in  his  published 
speeches : 

"It  may  be  argued  that  there  are  certain 
conditions  that  make  necessities  and  im- 
pose them  upon  us,  and  to  the  extent  that 
a  necessity  is  imposed  upon  a  man  he  must 
submit  to  it.  I  think  tnat  was  the  condi- 
tion in  which  we  found  ourselves  when  we 
established  this  Government.  We  had 
slaves  among  us,  we  could  not  get  our  Con- 
stitution unless  we  permitted  them  to  re- 
main in  slavery,  we  could  not  secure  the 
good  we  did  secure  if  we  grasped  for 
more ;  and  having  by  necessity  submitted 
to  that  much,  it  does  not  destroy  the  prin- 
ciple that  is  the  charter  of  our  liberties. 
Let  the  charter  remain  as  our  standard." 
Now  I  have  upon  all  occasions  declared 
as  strongly  as  Judge  Douglas  against  the 
disposition  to  interfere  with  the  existing 
institution  of  slavery.  You  hear  me  read 
it  from  the  same  speech  from  which  he 
takes  garbled  extracts  for  the  purpose  of 
proving  upon  me  a  disposition  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  estab- 
lish a  perfect  social  and  political  equality 
between  negroes  and  white  people. 

Allow  me  while  upon  this  subject  briefly 
to  present  one  other  extract  from  a  speech 
of  mine,  more  than  a  year  ago,  at  Spring- 
field, in  discussing  this  very  same  ques- 
tion, soon  after  Judge  Douglas  took  his 
ground  that  negroes  were  not  included  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence: 


BOOKIII.J         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


135 


"  I  think  the  authors  of  that  notable  in- 
strument intended  to  include  all  men,  but 
they  did  not  mean  to  declare  all  men 
equal  in  all  respects.  They  did  not  mean 
to  say  all  men  were  equal  in  color,  size,  in- 
tellect, moral  development  or  social  capa- 
city. They  defined  with  tolerable  distinct- 
ness in  what  they  did  consider  all  men 
created  equal — equal  in  certain  inalienable 
rights,  among  which  are  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness.  This  they  said, 
and  this  they  meant.  They  did  not  mean 
to  assert  the  obvious  untruth,  that  all  were 
then  actually  enjoying  that  equality,  or 
yet,  that  they  were  about  to  confer  it  im- 
mediately upon  them.  In  fact  they  had 
no  power  to  confer  such  a  boon.  Taey 
meant  simply  to  declare  the  right,  so  that 
the  enforcement  of  it  might  follow  as  fast 
as  circumstances  should  permit. 

"  They  meant  to  set  up  a  standard  maxim 
for  free  society  which  should  be  familiar 
to  all:  constantly  looked  to,  constantly 
labored  for,  and  even,  though  never  per- 
fectly attained,  constantly  approximated, 
and  thereby  constantly  spreading  and 
deepening  its  influence  and  augmenting 
the  happiness  and  value  of  life  to  all  peo- 
ple, of  all  colors,  every  where." 

There  again  are  the  sentiments  I  have 
expressed  in  regard  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  upon  a  former  occasion — 
sentiments  which  have  been  put  in  print 
and  read  wherever  any  body  cared  to  know 
what  so  humble  an  individual  as  myself 
chose  to  say  in  regard  to  it. 

At  Galesburg  the  other  day,  I  said  in 
answer  to  Judge  Douglas,  that  three  years 
ago  there  never  had  been  a  man,  so  far  as  I 
knew  or  believed,  in  the  whole  world,  who 
had  said  that  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence did  not  include  negroes  in  the  term 
"  all  men."  I  reassert  it  to-day.  I  assert 
that  Judge  Douglas  and  all  his  friends 
may  search  the  whole  records  of  the  coun- 
try, and  it  will  be  a  matter  of  great  aston- 
ishment to  me  if  they  shall  be  able  to  find 
that  one  human  being  three  years  ago  had 
ever  uttered  the  astounding  sentiment  that 
the  term  "  all  men  "  in  the  Declaration  did 
not  include  the  negro.  Do  not  let  me  be 
misunderstood.  I  know  that  more  than 
three  years  ago  there  were  men  who,  find- 
ing this  assertion  constantly  in  the  way  of 
their  schemes  to  bring  about  the  ascend- 
ancy and  perpetuation  of  slavery,  denied 
the  truth  of  it.  I  know  that  Mr,  Calhoun 
and  all  the  politicians  of  his  school  denied 
the  truth  of  the  Declaration.  I  know  that 
it  ran  along  in  the  mouth  of  some  Southern 
men  for  a  period  of  years,  ending  at  last 
in  that  shameful  though  rather  forcible 
declaration  of  Pettit  of  Indiana,  upon  the 
floor  of  the  United  States  Senate,  that  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  in  that 
respect  "a  self-evident  lie,"  rather  than  a 
sell-evident  truth.    But  I  say,  with  a  per- 


fect knowledge  of  all  this  hawking  at  the 
Declaration  without  directly  attacking  it, 
that  three  years  ago  there  never  had  lived 
a  man  who  had  ventured  to  assail  it  in  the 
sneaking  way  of  pretending  to  believe  it 
and  then  asserting  it  did  not  include  the 
negro.  I  believe  the  first  man  who  ever 
said  it  was  Chief  Jastice  Taney  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case,  and  the  next  to  him  was 
our  friend,  Stephen  A,  Douglas,  And  now 
it  has  become  the  catch-word  of  the  entire 
party,  I  would  like  to  call  upon  his  friends 
every  where  to  consider  how  they  have 
come  in  so  short  a  time  to  view  this  matter 
in  a  way  so  entirely  different  from  their 
former  belief?  to  ask  whether  they  are  not 
being  borne  along  by  an  irresistible  cur- 
rent— ^whither,  they  know  not? 

In  answer  to  my  proposition  at  Gales- 
burg last  week,  I  see  that  some  man  in 
Chicago  has  got  up  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  Chicago  Times,  to  show,  as  he  professes, 
that  somebody  had  said  so  before ;  and  he 
signs  himself  "  An  Old  Line  Whig,"  if  I 
remember  correctly.  In  the  first  place  I 
would  say  he  was  not  an  old  line  Whig.  I 
am  somewhat  acc|uainted  with  old  line 
Whigs.  I  was  with  the  old  line  Whigs 
from  the  origin  to  the  end  of  that  party ; 
I  became  pretty  well  acquainted  with  them, 
and  I  know  they  always  had  some  sense, 
whatever  else  you  could  ascribe  to  them, 
I  know  there  never  was  one  who  had  not 
more  sense  than  to  try  to  show  by  the  evi- 
dence he  produces  that  some  man  had, 
prior  to  the  time  I  named,  said  that  negroes 
were  not  included  in  the  term  "  all  men  " 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  What 
is  the  evidence  he  produces  ?  I  will  bring 
forward  his  evidence  and  let  you  see  what 
he  offers  by  way  of  showing  that  somebody 
more  than  three  years  ago  had  said  negroes 
were  not  included  in  the  Declaration,  He 
brings  forward  part  of  a  speech  from  Henry 
Clay — the  part  of  the  speech  of  Henry  Clay 
which  I  used  to  bring  forward  to  provn 
precisely  the  contrary.  I  guess  we  are 
surrounded  to  some  extent  to-day  by  the 
old  friends  of  Mr.  Clay,  and  they  will  be 
glad  to  hear  any  thing  from  that  authority. 
While  he  was  in  Indiana  a  man  presented 
a  petition  to  liberate  his  negroes,  and  he 
(Mr.  Clay)  made  a  speech  in  answer  to  it, 
which  I  suppose  he  carefully  wrote  out 
himself  and  caused  to  be  published.  I 
have  before  me  an  extract  from  that  speech 
which  constitutes  the  evidence  this  pre- 
tended "Old  Line  Whig"  at  Chicago 
brought  forward  to  show  that  Mr.  Clay 
didn't  suppose  the  negro  wa.s  included  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Hear 
what  Mr.  Clay  said : 

''  And  what  is  the  foundation  of  this  ap- 
peal to  me  in  Indiana,  to  liberate  the  slaves 
under  my  care  in  Kentucky  ?  It  is  a  gen- 
eral declaration  in  the  act  announcing  to 
the  world  the  independence  of  the  thirteea 


136 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


American  colonies,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal.  Now,  as  an  abstract  prin- 
ciple, there  is  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  that 
declaration ;  and  it  ia  desirable,  in  the  origi- 
nal construction  of  society,  and  in  organized 
societies,  to  keep  it  in  view  was  a  great 
fundamental  principle.  But,  then,  1  ap- 
prehend that  in  no  society  that  ever  did 
exist,  or  ever  shall  be  formed,  was  or  can 
the  equality  asserted  among  the  members 
of  the  human  race,  be  practically  enforced 
and  carried  out.  There  are  portions,  large 
portions,  women,  minors,  insane,  culprits, 
transient  sojourners,  that  will  always  prob- 
ably remain  subject  to  the  government  of 
another  portion  of  the  community. 

"  That  declaration,  whatever  may  be  the 
extent  of  its  import,  was  made  by  the  del- 
egations of  the  thirteen  States.  In  most  of 
them  slavery  existed,  and  had  long  existed, 
and  was  established  by  law.  It  was  intro- 
duced and  forced  upon  the  colonies  by  the 
f>aramount  law  of  England.  Do  ^ou  be- 
ieve,  that  in  making  that  declaration  the 
Stat€a  that  concurred  in  it  intended  that  it 
should  be  tortured  into  a  virtual  emanci- 
pation of  all  the  slaves  within  their  respec- 
tive limits?  Would  Virginia  and  other 
Southern  States  have  ever  united  in  a  de- 
claration which  was  to  be  interpreted  into 
an  abolition  of  slavery  among  them  ?  Did 
any  one  of  the  thirteen  colonies  entertain 
such  a  design  or  expectation  ?  To  impute 
such  a  secret  and  unavowed  purpose,  would 
be  to  charge  a  political  fraud  upon  the  no- 
blest band  of  patriots  that  ever  assembled  in 
council — a  fraud  upon  the  Confederacy  of 
the  Revolution — a  fraud  upon  the  union 
of  those  States  whose  Constitution  not 
only  recognized  the  lawfulness  of  slavery, 
but  permitted  the  importation  of  slaves 
from  Africa  until  the  year  1808." 

This  is  the  entire  quotation  brought  for- 
ward to  prove  that  somebody  previous  to 
three  years  ago  had  said  the  negro  was 
not  included  in  the  term  "  all  men  "  in  the 
Declaration.  How  does  it  do  so?  In  what 
way  has  it  a  tendency  to  prove  that?  Mr. 
Clay  says  it  is  true  as  an  abstract  principle 
that  all  men  are  created  equal,  but  that  we 
cannot  practically  apply  it  in  all  cases.  He 
illustrates  this  by  bringing  forward  the 
cases  of  females,  minors,  and  insane  per- 
Bons,  with  whom  it  cannot  be  enforced; 
but  he  says  it  is  true  as  an  abstract  prin- 
ciple in  the  organization  of  society  aa  well 
as  in  organized  society,  and  it  should  be 
kept  in  view  as  a  fundamental  principle. 
Let  me  read  a  few  words  more  before  I  add 
some  comments  of  my  own.  Mr.  Clay  says 
a  little  further  on : 

"  I  desire  no  concealmept,  of  my  opinions 
in  regard  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  I 
look  upon  it  as  a  great  evil,  and  deeply 
lament  that  we  have  derived  it  from  the 
parental  Government,  and  from  our  ances- 
tors.   But  here  they  are,  and  the  question 


is,  how  can  they  be  best  dealt  with  ?  If  a 
state  of  nature  existed,  and  we  were  about 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  society,  no  man 
would  be  more  strongly  opposed  than  I 
should  be,  to  incorporating  the  institution 
of  slavery  among  its  elements." 

Now,  here  in  this  same  book — in  this 
same  speech — in  this  same  extract  brought 
forward  to  prove  that  Mr.  Clay  held  that 
the  negro  was  not  included  in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence — no  such  statement 
on  his  part,  but  the  declaration  that  it  is  a 
great  fundamental  truth,  which  should  be 
constantly  kept  in  view  in  the  organization 
of  society  and  in  societies  already  organ- 
ized. But  if  I  say  a  word  about  it — if  I  at- 
tempt, as  Mr.  Clay  said  all  good  men  ought 
to  do,  to  keep  it  in  view — if,  in  this  "or- 
ganized society,"  I  ask  to  have  the  public 
eye  turned  upon  it — if  I  ask  in  relation  to 
the  organization  of  new  Territories,  that 
the  public  eye  should  be  turned  upon  it — 
forthwith  I  am  villified  as  you  hear  me  to- 
day. What  have  I  done,  that  I  have  not 
the  license  of  Henry  Clay's  illustri»us  ex- 
ample here  in  doing?  Have  I  done  aught 
that  I  have  not  his  authority  for,  while 
maintaining  that  in  organizing  new  Ter- 
ritories and  societies,  this  lundamental 
principle  should  be  regarded,  and  in  or- 
ganized society  holding  it  up  to  the  public 
view  and  recognizing  what  he  recognized 
as  the  great  principle  of  free  government  ? 

And  when  this  new  principle — this  new 
proposition  that  no  human  being  ever 
thought  of  three  years  ago — is  brought  for- 
ward, /  combat  it  as  having  an  evil  ten- 
dency, if  not  an  evil  design.  I  combat  it 
as  having  a  tendency  to  dehumanize  the 
negro — to  take  away  from  him  the  right  of 
ever  striving  to  be  a  man.  I  combat  it  as 
being  one  of  the  thousand  things  constant- 
ly done  in  these  days  to  prepare  the  public 
mind  to  make  property,  and  nothing  but 
property,  of  the  negro  in  all  the  States  of 
this  Union. 

But  there  is  a  point  that  I  wish,  before 
leaving  this  part  of  the  discussion,  to  ask 
attention  to.  I  have  read  and  I  repeat  the 
words  of  Henry  Clay : 

"  I  desire  no  concealment  of  my  opinions 
in  regard  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  I 
look  upon  it  as  a  great  evil,  and  deeply 
lament  that  we  have  derived  it  from  the 
parental  Government,  and  from  our  an- 
cestors. I  wish  every  slave  in  the  United 
States  was  in  the  country  of  his  ancestors. 
But  here  they  are ;  the  question  is  how 
they  can  best  be  dealt  with  ?  If  a  state  of 
nature  existed,  and  we  were  about  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  society,  no  man  would 
be  more  strongly  opposed  than  I  should 
be,  to  incorporate  the  institution  of  slavery 
among  its  elements." 

The  principle  upon  which  I  have  insist- 
ed in  this  canvass,  is  in  relation  to  laving 
the  foundations  of  new  societies.    I  have 


BOOK  III.]         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


137 


ever  sought  to  apply  these  principles  to 
the  old  States  for  the  purpose  of  abolishing 
slavery  in  those  States.  It  is  nothing  but 
a  miserable  perversion  oWivhat  I  have  said, 
to  assume  that  I  have  declared  Missouri, 
or  any  other  slave  State,  shall  emancipate 
her  slaves.  I  have  proposed  no  such  thing. 
But  when  Mr.  Clay  says  that  in  laying  the 
foundations  of  societies  in  our  Territories 
where  it  does  not  exist,  he  would  be  opposed 
to  the  Introduction  of  slavery  as  an  ele- 
ment, I  insist  that  we  have  his  warrant — 
his  license  for  insisting  upon  the  exclusion 
of  that  element  which  he  declared  in  such 
strong  and  emphatic  language  was  most 
hateful  to  him. 

Judge  Douglas  has  again  reierred  to  a 
Springfield  speech  in  which  I  said  "a 
house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand." 
The  Judge  has  so  often  made  the  entire  quo- 
tation from  that  speech  that  I  can  make  it 
from  memory.     I  used  this  language : 

"  We  are  now  far  into  the  fifth  year 
since  a  policy  was  initiated  with  the 
avowed  object  and  confident  promise  of 
putting  an  end  to  the  slavery  agitation. 
Under  the  operation  of  this  policy,  that 
agitation  has  not  only  not  ceased,  but  has 
constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion  it 
will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been 
reached  and  passed.  '  A  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  believe  this 
Government  cannot  endure  permanently 
half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect 
the  house  to  fall — ^but  I  do  expect  it  will 
cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all 
one  thing  or  all  the  other.  Either  the  op- 
ponents of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further 
spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public 
mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in 
the  course  of  ultimate  extinction,  or  its  ad- 
vocates will  push  it  forward  till  it  shall  be- 
come alike  lawful  in  all  the  States — old  as 
well  as  new,  North  as  well  as  South." 

That  extract  and  the  sentiments  ex- 
pressed in  it,  have  been  extremely  ofiensive 
to  Judge  Douglas.  He  has  warred  upon 
them  as  Satan  wars  upon  the  Bible.  His 
perversions  upon  it  are  endless.  Here  now 
are  my  views  upon  it  in  brief. 

I  said  we  were  now  far  into  the  fifth 
year,  since  a  policy  was  initiated  with  the 
avowed  object  and  confident  promise  of 
putting  an  end  to  the  slavery  agitation.  Is 
it  not  so?  When  that  Nebraska  bill  was 
brought  forward  four  years  ago  last  Janu- 
ary, was  it  not  for  the  "  avowed  object "  of 
putting  an  end  to  the  slavery  agitation  ? 
We  were  to  have  no  more  agitation  in Con- 

fress,  it  was  all  to  be  banished  to  the 
'erritories.  By  the  way,  I  will  remark 
here  that,  as  Judge  Douglas  is  very  fond 
of  complimenting  Mr.  Crittenden  in  these 
days,  Mr.  Crittenden  has  said  there  was  a 
falsehood  in  that  whole  business,  for  there 
was  no  slavery  agitation  at  that  time  to 
allay.    We  were  for  a  little  while  quiet  on 


the  troublesome  thing,  and  that  very  allay- 
ing plaster  of  Judge  Douglas's  stirred  it 
up  again.  But  was  it  not  understood  or 
intimated  with  the  "confident  promise" 
of  putting  an  end  to  the  slaverv  agitation  ? 
Surely  it  was.  In  every  speech  you  heard 
Judge  Douglas  make,  until  he  got  into 
this  "  imbroglio,"  as  they  call  it,  with  the 
Administration  about  the  Lecompton  Con- 
stitution, every  speech  on  that  Nebraska 
bill  was  full  of  his  felicitations  that  we 
were  just  at  the  end  of  the  slavery  agitar 
tion.  The  last  tip  of  the  last  joint  ot  the 
old  serpent's  tail  was  just  drawing  out  of 
view.  But  has  it  proved  so  ?  I  have  as- 
serted that  under  that  policy  that  agitation 
"  has  not  only  not  ceased,  but  has  con- 
stantly augmented."  When  was  there  ever 
a  greater  agitation  in  Congress  than  last 
winter?  When  was  it  as  great  in  the 
country  as  to-day  ? 

There  was  a  collateral  object  in  the  in- 
troduction of  that  Nebraska  policy  which 
was  to  clothe  the  people  of  the  Territories 
with  the  superior  degree  of  self-govern- 
ment, beyond  what  they  had  ever  had  be- 
fore. The  first  object  and  the  main  one  of 
conferring  upon  the  people  a  higher  de- 
gree of  "  self-government,"  is  a  question  of 
fact  to  be  determined  by  you  in  answer  to 
a  single  question.  Have  you  ever  heard 
or  known  of  a  people  any  where  on  earth 
who  had  as  little  to  do,  as,  in  the  first  in- 
stance of  its  use,  the  people  of  Kansas  had 
with  this  same  right  of"  self-government?  " 
In  its  main  policy  and  in  its  collateral  object, 
it  has  been  nothing  but  a  living,  creeping  lie 
from  the  time  of  its  introduction  till  to-day. 

I  have  intimated  that  I  thought  the  agi- 
tation would  not  cease  until  a  crisis  should 
have  been  reached  and  passed.  I  have 
stated  in  what  way  I  thought  it  would 
be  reached  and  passed.  I  have  said 
that  it  might  go  one  way  or  the  other. 
We  might,  by  arresting  the  further  spread 
of  it,  and  placing  it  where  the  fathers 
originally  placed  it,  put  it  where  the  pub- 
lic mind  should  rest  in  the  belief  that  it 
was  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 
Thus  the  agitation  may  cease.  It  may  be 
pushed  forward  until  it  shall  become  alike 
lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new. 
North  as  well  as  South.  I  have,^aid,  ana 
I  repeat,  my  wish  is  that  the  further  spread 
of  it  may  be  arrested,  and  that  it  may  be 
placed  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in 
the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ulti- 
mate extinction.  I  have  expressed  that  as 
my  wish.  I  entertain  the  opinion  upon 
evidence  sufficient  to  my  mind,  that  the 
fathers  of  this  Government  placed  that  in- 
stitution where  the  public  mind  didreat  in 
the  belief  that  it  was  in  the  course  of  ulti- 
mate extinction.  Let  me  ask  why  they 
made  provision  that  the  source  of  8lavci7 
— the  African  slave-trade — should  be  cut 
off  at  the  end  of  twenty  years  ?    Why  did 


138 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


they  make  provision  that  in  all  the  new  I 
territory  we  owned  at  that  time,  slavery 
should  be  forever  inhibited  ?    Why  stop  its  j 
spread  in  one  direction  and  cut  oflf  its  source 
in  another,  if  they  did  not  look  to  its  being 
placed  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction  ? 

Again ;  the  institution  of  slavery  is  only 
mentioned  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  two  or  three  times,  and  in 
neither  of  these  cases  does  the  word 
"slavery"  or  "negro  race"  occur;  but 
covert  language  is  used  each  time,  and  for 
a  purpose  tuU  of  significance.  What  is  the 
language  in  regard  to  the  prohibition  of 
the  African  slave-trade  ?  It  runs  in  about 
this  way :  "  The  migration  or  importation 
of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  ex- 
isting shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not 
be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the 
year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  i.nd 
eight." 

The  next  allusion  in  the  Constitution  to 
the  question  of  slavery  and  the  black  race, 
is  on  the  subject  of  the  basis  of  represen- 
tation, and  there  the  language  used  is, 
"Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be 
apportioned  among  the  several  states 
which  may  be  included  within  this  Union, 
according  to  their  respective  numbers, 
which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to 
the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  includ- 
ing those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of 
years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed — 
three-fifths  of  all  other  persons." 

It  says  "persons,"  not  slaves,  not  ne- 
groes ;  but  this  "  three-fifths "  can  be  ap- 
plied to  no  other  class  among  us  than  the 
negroes. 

Lastly,  in  the  provision  for  the  reclama- 
tion of  fugitive  slaves,  it  is  said  :  "  No 
Serson  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one 
tate,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping 
into  another  shall  in  consequence  of  any 
law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be 
delivered  up,  on  claim  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  may  oe  due." 
There  again  there  is  no  mention  of  the 
word  "  negro  "  or  of  slavery.  In  all  three 
of  these  places,  being  the  only  allusion  to 
slavery  in  the  instrument  covert  language 
is  used.  Language  is  used  not  suggesting 
that  sla^^ry  existed  or  that  the  black  race 
were  among  us.  And  I  understand  the 
cotemporaneous  history  of  those  times  to 
be  that  covert  language  was  used  with  a 
purpose,  and  that  purpose  was  that  in  our 
Constitution,  which  it  was  hoped  and  is 
Btill  hoped  will  endure  forever — when  it 
should  l)e  read  by  intelligent  and  patri- 
otic men,  after  the  institution  of  slavery 
had  passed  from  among  us — there  should 
be  nothing  on  the  face  of  the  great  charter 
of  liberty  suggesting  that  such  a  thing  as 
negro  slavery  had  ever  existed  among  us. 
This  is  part  of  the  evidence  that  the  fathers 
of  the  Government  expected  and  intended 


the  institution  of  slavery  to  come  to  an 
end.  They  expected  and  intended  that  it 
should  be  in  the  course  of  ultimate  ex- 
tinction. And  0ien  I  say  that  I  desire  to 
see  the  further  spread  of  it  arrested,  I  only 
say  I  desire  to  see  that  done  which  the 
fathers  have  first  done.  When  I  say  I  de- 
sire to  see  it  placed  where  the  public 
mind  will  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in 
the  course  of  ultimate  extinction,  I  only 
say  I  desire  to  see  it  placed  where  they 

5 laced  it.  It  is  not  true  that  our  fathers,  as 
udge  Douglas  assumes,  made  this  Gov- 
ernment part  slave  and  part  free.  Under- 
stand the  sense  in  which  he  puts  it.  He 
assumes  that  slavery  is  a  rightful  thing 
within  itself— was  introduced  by  the 
framers  of  the  constitution.  The  exact 
truth  is,  that  they  found  the  institution 
existing  among  us,  and  they  left  it  as  they 
found  it.  But  in  making  the  Government 
they  left  this  institution  with  many  clear 
marks  of  disapprobation  upon  it.  They 
found  slavery  among  them,  and  they  len 
it  among  them  because  of  the  difficulty — 
the  absolute  impossibility  of  its  immediate 
removal.  And  when  Judge  Douglas  asks 
me  why  we  cannot  let  it  remain  part  slave 
and  part  free,  as  the  fathers  of  the  Gov- 
ernment made  it,  he  asks  a  question  based 
upon  an  assumption  which  is  itself  a  false- 
hood ;  and  I  turn  upon  him  and  ask  him 
the  question,  when  the  policy  that  the 
fathers  of  the  Government  had  adopted  in 
relation  to  this  element  among  us  was  the 
best  policy  in  the  world — the  only  wise 
policy — the  only  policy  that  we  can  ever 
safely  continue  upon — that  will  ever  give 
us  peace,  unless  this  dangerous  element 
masters  us  all  and  becomes  a  national  in- 
stitution— /  turn  vpdn  him  and  ask  him 
why  he  could  not  leave  it  alone.  I  turn  and 
ask  him  why  he  was  driven  to  the  neces- 
sity of  introducing  a  new  polin/  in  regard 
to  it.  He  has  himself  said  he  introduced 
a  new  policy.  He  said  so  in  his  speech  on 
the  22d  of  March  of  the  present  year, 
1858.  I  ask  him  why  he  could  not  let  it 
remain  where  our  fathers  placed  it.  I  ask, 
too,  of  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends 
why  we  shall  not  again  place  this  institu- 
tion upon  the  basis  on  which  the  fathers 
left  it.  I  ask  you,  when  he  infers  that  I 
am  in  favor  of  setting  the  free  and  slave 
States  at  war,  when  the  institution  was 
placed  in  that  attitude  by  those  who  made 
the  Constitution,  did  they  make  any  war  f 
If  we  had  no  war  out  of  it,  when  thus 
placed,  wherein  is  the  ground  of  belief 
that  we  shall  have  war  out  of  it,  if  we  re- 
turn to  that  policy  ?  Have  we  had  any 
peace  upon  this  matter  springing  from  any 
other  basis?  I  maintain  that  we  have  not. 
I  have  proposed  nothing  more  than  a  re- 
turn to  the  policy  of  the  fathers. 

I  confess,  when  I  propose  a  certain  mea- 
sure of  policy,  it  ia  not  enough  for  me 


BOOK  III.]         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


139 


that  I  do  not  intend  any  thing  evil  in  the 
result,  but  it  is  incumbent  on  me  to  show 
that  it  has  not  a  tendency  to  that  result.  I 
have  met  Judge  Douglas  in  that  point  of 
view.  I  have  not  only  made  the  declara- 
tion that  I  do  not  meaii  to  produce  a  con- 
flict between  the  States,  but  I  have  tried 
to  show  by  fair  reasoning,  and  I  think  I 
have  shown  to  the  minds  of  fair  men,  that 
I  propose  nothing  but  what  has  a  most 

Eeaceful  tendency.  The  quotation  that  I 
appened  to  make  in  that  Springfield 
speech,  that  "  a  house  divided  against  it- 
self cannot  stand,"  and  which  has  proved 
so  offensive  to  the  Judge,  was  part  and 
parcel  of  the  same  thing.  He  tries  to 
show  that  variety  in  the  domestic  institu- 
tions of  the  different  States  is  necessary 
and  indispensable.  I  do  not  dispute  it.  I 
have  no  controversy  with  Judge  Douglas 
about  that.  I  shall  very  readily  agree 
with  him  that  it  would  be  foolish  for  us  to 
insist  upon  having  a  cranberry  law  here, 
in  Illinois,  where  we  have  no  cran- 
berries, because  they  have  a  cranberry  law 
in  Indiana,  where  they  have  cranberries.  I 
should  insist  that  it  would  be  exceedingly 
wrong  in  us  to  deny  to  Virginia  the  right 
to  enact  oyster  laws,  where  they  have  oys- 
ters, because  we  want  no  such  laws  here.  I 
understand,  I  hope,  quite  as  well  as  Judge 
Douglas  or  any  body  else,  that  the  variety 
in  the  soil  and  climate  and  face  of  the 
country,  and  consequent  variety  in  the  in- 
dustrial pursuits  and  productions  of  a 
country,  require  systems  of  law  conform- 
ing to  this  variety  in  the  natural  features 
of  the  country.  I  understand  quite  as 
well  as  Judge  Douglas,  that  if  we  here 
raise  a  barrel  of  flour  more  than  we  want, 
and  the  Louisianians  raise  a  barrel  of 
sugar  more  than  they  want,  it  is  of 
mutual  advantage  to  exchange.  That 
produces  commerce,  brings  us  together, 
and  makes  us  better  friends.  We  like  one 
another  the  more  for  it.  And  I  under- 
stand as  well  as  Judge  Douglas,  or  any 
body  else,  that  these  mutual  accommoda- 
tions are  the  cements  which  bind  together 
the  different  parts  of  this  Union — that  in- 
stead of  being  a  thing  to  "divide  the 
house  " — figuratively  expressing  the  Union 
'—they  tend  to  sustain  it ;  they  are  the  pi-ops 
of  the  house  tending  always  to  hold  it  up. 
But  when  I  have  admitted  all  this,  I  ask 
if  there  is  any  parallel  between  these 
things  and  this  institution  of  slavery?  I 
do  not  see  that  there  is  any  parallel  at  all 
between  them.  Consider  it.  When  have 
we  had  any  difllculty  or  quarrel  amongst 
ourselves  about  the  cranberry  laws  of  In- 
diana, or  the  oyster  laws  or  Virginia,  or 
the  pine  lumber  laws  of  Main^,  or  the  fact 
that  Louisiana  produces  sugar,  and  Illinois 
flour  ?  When  have  we  had  any  quarrels 
over  these  things?  When  have  we  had 
perfect  peace  in  regard  to  this  thing  which 


I  say  is  an  element  of  discord  in  this 
Union  ?  We  have  sometimes  had  peace, 
but  when  was  it?  It  was  when  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  remained  quiet  where  it 
was.  We  have  had  difficulty  and  turmoil 
whenever  it  has  made  a  struggle  to  spread 
itself  where  it  was  not.  I  ask,  then,  if  ex- 
perience does  not  speak  in  thunder-tones, 
telling  us  that  the  policy  which  has  given 
peace  to  the  country  heretofore,  being  re- 
turned to,  gives  the  greatest  promise  of 
peace  again.  You  may  say,  and  Judge 
Douglas  has  intimated  the  same  thing,  that 
all  this  difficulty  in  regard  to  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  is  the  mere  agitation  of 
office-seekers  and  ambitious  northern  poli- 
ticians. He  thinks  we  want  to  get  "  his 
place,"  I  suppose.  I  agree  that  there  are 
office-seekers  amongst  us.  The  Bible  says 
somewhere  that  we  are  desperately  selfish. 
I  think  we  would  have  discovered  that 
fact  without  the  Bible.  I  do  not  claim 
that  I  am  any  less  so  than  the  average  of 
men,  but  I  do  claim  that  I  am  not  more 
selfish  than  Judge  Douglas. 

But  is  it  true  that  all  the  difficulty  and 
agitation  we  have  in  regard  to  this  institu- 
tion of  slavery  springs  from  office-seeking 
— from  the  mere  ambition  of  politicians? 
Is  that  the  truth  ?  How  many  times  have 
we  had  danger  from  this  question?  Go 
back  to  the  day  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise. Go  back  to  the  Nullification  question, 
atthebottom  of  which  lay  this  same  slavery 
question.  Go  back  to  the  time  of  the 
Annexation  of  Texas.  Go  back  to  the 
troubles  that  led  to  the  Compromise  of 
1850.  You  will  find  that  every  time,  with 
the  single  exception  of  the  Nullification 
question,  they  sprang  from  an  endeavor  to 
spread  this  institution.  There  never  was 
a  party  in  the  history  of  this  country,  and 
there  probably  never  will  be,  of  sufficient 
strength  to  disturb  the  general  peace  of  the 
country.  Parties  themselves  may  be  di- 
vided and  quarrel  on  minor  questions,  yet 
it  extends  not  beyond  the  parties  them- 
selves. But  does  not  this  question  make  a 
disturbance  outside  of  political  circles? 
Does  it  not  enter  into  the  churches  and 
rend  them  asunder?    What  divided  the 

freat  Methodist  Church  into  two  parts, 
[orth  and  South  ?  What  has  raisea  this 
constant  disturbance  in  every  Presbyterian 
General  Assembly  that  meets?  What 
disturbed  the  Unitarian  Church  in  this 
very  city  two  years  ago  ?  What  has  jarred 
and  shaken  the  great  American  Tract 
Society  recently,  not  yet  splitting  it,  but 
sure  to  divide  it  in  the  end  ?  Is  it  not  this 
same  mighty,  deep-seated  poorer  that  some- 
how operates  on  the  minus  of  men,  excit- 
ing and  stirring  them  up  in  every  avenue 
of  society — in  politics,  in  religion,  in  lit- 
erature, m  morals,  in  all  the  manifold  re- 
lations of  life  ?  Is  this  the  work  of  poli- 
ticians ?    Is  that  irresistible  power  wnicb 


140 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book   III. 


for  fifty  years  has  shaken  the  Government 
and  agitated  the  people  to  be  stilled  and 
subdued  by  pretending  that  it  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly simple  thin^,  and  we  ought  not 
to  talk  about  it  ?  If  you  will  get  every- 
body else  to  stop  talking  about  it,  I  assure 
you  I  will  quit  before  they  have  half  done 
so.  But  where  is  the  philosophy  or  states- 
manship which  assumes  that  you  can 
quiet  that  disturbing  element  in  our  soci- 
ety which  has  disturbed  us  for  more  than 
half  a  century,  which  has  been  the  only 
serious  danger  that  has  threatened  our  in- 
stitutions—I say,  where  is  the  philosophy 
or  the  statesmanship  based  on  the  assump- 
tion that  we  are  to  quit  talking  about  it,  and 
that  the  public  mind  is  all  at  once  to  cease 
being  agitated  by  it?  Yet  this  is  the 
policy  here  in  the  north  that  Douglas  is 
advocating — that  we  are  to  care  nothing 
about  it!  I  ask  you  if  it  is  not  a  false 
philosophy  ?  Is  it  not  a  false  statesman- 
ship that  undertakes  to  build  up  a  system 
of  policy  upon  the  basis  of  caring  nothing 
about  the  very  thing  that  every  body  does 
care  the  most  about  f — a  thing  which  all 
experience  has  shown  we  care  a  very  great 
deal  about  ? 

The  Judge  alludes  very  often  in  the 
course  of  his  remarks  to  the  exclusive  right 
which  the  States  have  to  decide  the  whole 
thing  for  themselves.  I  agree  with  him 
very  readily  that  the  different  States  have 
that  right.  He  is  but  fighting  a  man  of 
straw  when  he  assumes  that  I  am  contend- 
ing against  the  right  of  the  States  to  do  as 
they  please  about  it.  Our  controversy  with 
him  IS  in  regard  to  the  new  Territories. 
We  agree  that  when  States  come  in  as 
States  they  have  the  right  and  the  power 
to  do  as  they  please.  We  have  no  power 
as  citizens  of  the  free  States  or  in  our  fed- 
eral capacity  as  members  of  the  Federal 
Union  through  the  General  Government, 
to  disturb  slavery  in  the  States  where  it 
exists.  We  profess  constantly  that  we  have 
no  more  inclination  than  belief  in  the 
power  of  the  Government  to  disturb  it;  yet 
we  are  driven  constantly  to  defend  our- 
selves from  the  assumption  that  we  are 
warring  upon  the  rights  of  the  States. 
W^hat  I  insist  upon  is,  that  the  new  Terri- 
tories shall  be  kept  free  from  it  while  in 
the  Territorial  condition.  Judge  Douglas 
assumes  that  we  have  no  interest  in  them 
— that  we  have  no  right  whatever  to  inter- 
fere. I  think  we  have  some  interest,  I  think 
that  as  white  men  we  have.  Do  we  not 
wish  for  an  outlet  for  our  surplus  popula- 
tion, if  I  may  so  express  myself?  Do  we 
not  feel  an  interest  in  getting  at  that  out- 
let with  such  institutions  as  we  would  like 
to  have  prevail  there?  If  you  go  to  the 
Territory  opposed  to  slavery  and  another 
man  comes  upon  the  same  ground  with  his 
slave,  upon  the  assumption  that  the  things 
are  equal,  it  tiirus  out  that  he  has  the  equal 


right  all  his  way  and  you  have  no  part 
of  it  your  way.  If  he  goes  in  and  makes 
it  a  slave  Territory,  and  by  consequence  a 
slave  State,  is  it  not  time  that  those  who  de- 
sire to  have  it  a  free  State  were  on  equal 
ground?  Let  me  suggest  it  in  a  different 
way.  How  many  Democrats  are  there 
about  here  ["A  thousand  "]  who  left  slave 
States  and  came  into  the  free  State  of  Illi- 
nois to  get  rid  of  the  institution  of  slavery? 
[Another  voice — "A  thousand  and  one."] 
I  reckon  there  are  a  thousand  and  one.  I 
will  ask  you,  if  the  policy  you  are  now  ad- 
vocating had  prevailed  when  this  country 
was  in  a  Territorial  condition,  where  would 
you  have  gone  to  get  rid  of  it?  Where 
would  you  have  found  your  free  State  or 
Territory  to  go  to  ?  And  when  hereafter, 
for  any  cause,  the  people  in  this  place  shall 
desire  to  find  new  homes,  if  they  wish  to 
be  rid  of  the  institution,  where  will  they 
find  the  place  to  go  to? 

Now  irrespective  of  the  moral  aspect  of 
this  question  as  to  whether  there  is  a  right 
or  wrong  in  enslaving  a  negro,  I  am  still 
in  favor  of  our  new  Territories  being  in 
such  a  condition  that  white  men  may  find 
a  home — may  find  some  spot  where  they 
can  better  their  condition — where  they  can 
settle  upon  new  soil  and  better  their  con- 
dition in  life.  I  am  in  favor  of  this  not 
merely  (I  must  say  it  here  as  I  have  else- 
where) for  our  own  people  who  are  born 
amongst  us,  but  as  an  outlet  for  free  vhit^e 
people  every  where,  the  world  over  —  in 
which  Hans  and  Baptiste  and  Patrick,  and 
all  other  men  from  all  the  world,  may  find 
new  homes  and  better  their  conditions  in 
life. 

I  have  stated  upon  former  occasions,  and 
I  may  as  well  state  again,  what  I  under- 
stand to  be  the  real  issue  in  this  contro- 
versy between  Judge  Douglas  and  myself 
On  the  point  of  my  wanting  to  make  war 
between  the  free  and  the  slave  States,  there 
has  been  no  issue  between  us.  So,  too, 
when  he  assumes  that  I  am  in  favor  of  in- 
troducing a  perfect  social  and  political 
equality  between  the  white  ana  black 
races.  These  are  false  issues,  upon  which 
Judge  Douglas  has  tried  to  force  the  con- 
versy.  There  is  no  foundation  in  truth  for 
the  charge  that  I  maintain  either  of  these 
propositions.  The  real  issue  in  this  con- 
troversy—  the  one  pressing  upon  every 
mind — is  the  sentiment  on  the  part  of  one 
class  that  looks  upon  the  institution  of 
slavery  as  a  wrong,  and  of  another  class 
that  does  not  look  upon  it  ac  a  wrong.  The 
sentiment  that  contemplates  che  institution 
of  slavery  in  this  country  as  a  wrong  is  the 
sentiment  of  the  Republican  party.  It  is 
the  sentiment  around  which  all  their  ac- 
tions—  all  their  arguments  circle  —  from 
which  all  their  propositions  radiate.  They 
look  upon  it  as  being  a  moral,  social  and 
political  wrong;  and  while  they  contem- 


BOOKIII.J         THE    LINCOLN   AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


141 


plate  it  as  such,  they  nevertheless  have  due 
regard  for  its  actual  existence  among  us, 
and  ihe  difficulties  of  getting  rid  of  it  in 
any  satisfactory  way  and  to  all  the  consti- 
tutional obligations  thrown  about  it.  Yet 
having  a  due  regard  for  these,  they  desire 
a  policy  in  regard  to  it  that  looks  to  its  not 
creating  any  more  danger.  They  insist 
that  it  should  as  far  as  may  be,  be  treated 
a^  a  wrong,  and  one  of  the  methods  of  treat- 
ing it  as  a  wrong  is  to  make  provision  that 
it  shall  grow  no  larger.  They  also  desire  a 
policy  that  looks  to  a  peaceful  end  of  slav- 
ery at  some  time,  as  being  wrong.  These 
are  the  views  they  entertain  in  regard  to  it 
as  I  understand  them ;  and  all  their  senti- 
ments— all  their  arguments  and  proposi- 
tions are  brought  within  this  range.  I 
have  said,  and  I  repeat  it  here,  that  if  there 
be  a  man  amongst  us  who  does  not  think 
that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  wrong,  in 
any  one  of  the  aspects  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  he  is  misplaced  and  ought  not  to 
be  with  us.  And  if  there  be  a  man 
amongst  us  who  is  so  impatient  of  it  as  a 
wrong  as  to  disregard  its  actual  presence 
among  us  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  rid 
of  it  suddenly  in  a  satisfactory  way,  and  to 
disregard  the  constitutional  obligations 
thrown  about  it,  that  man  is  misplaced  if 
he  is  on  our  platform.  We  disclaim  sym- 
pathy with  him  in  practical  action.  He  is 
not  placed  properly  with  us. 

On  this  subject  of  treating  it  as  a  wrong, 
and  limiting  its  spread,  let  me  say  a  word. 
Has  any  thing  ever  threatened  the  exis- 
tence of  this  Union  save  and  except  this 
very  institution  of  slavery?  What  is  it 
that  we  hold  most  dear  amongst  us?  Our 
own  liberty  and  prosperity.  What  has  ever 
threatened  our  liberty  and  prosperity  save 
and  except  this  institution  of  slavery?  If 
this  is  true,  how  do  you  propose  to  improve 
the  condition  of  things  by  enlarging  slavery 
— by  spreading  it  out  and  making  it  big- 
ger? You  may  have  a  wen  or  cancer  upon 
your  person  and  not  be  able  to  cut  it  out 
lest  you  bleed  to  death ;  but  surely  it  is  no 
way  to  cure  it,  to  engraft  it  and  spread  it 
over  your  whole  body.  That  is  no  proper 
way  of  treating  what  you  regard  a  wrong. 
You  see  this  peaceful  way  of  dealing  with 
it  as  a  wrong — restricting  the  spread  of  it, 
and  not  allowing  it  to  go  into  new  coun- 
tries where  it  has  not  already  existed. 
That  is  the  peaceful  way,  the  old-fashioned 
way,  the  way  in  which  the  fathers  them- 
selves set  us  the  example. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  said  there  is 
a  sentiment  which  treats  it  as  not  being 
wron^.  That  is  the  Democratic  sentiment 
of  this  day.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
every  man  who  stands  within  that  range 
positivelv  asserts  that  it  is  ri|?ht.  That 
class  will  include  all  who  positively  assert 
that  it  is  right,  and  all  who  like  Judge 
Douglas  treat  it  as  indifferent  and  do  not 


say  it  is  either  right  or  wrong.  These  two 
classes  of  men  fall  within  thegeneial  class 
of  those  who  do  not  look  upon  it  as  a 
wrong.  And  if  there  be  among  you  any 
body  who  supposes  that  he,  as  a  Democrat, 
can  consider  himself  "  as  much  opposed  to 
slavery  as  anybodv,"  I  would  like  to 
reason  with  him.  Vou  never  treat  it  as  a 
wrong.  What  other  thing  that  vou  con- 
sider as  a  wrong,  do  you  deal  with  as  you 
deal  with  that?  Perhaps  you  say  it  is 
wrong,  but  your  leader  never  does,  and  you 
quarrel  with  any  body  who  says  it  is  wrong. 
Although  you  pretend  to  say  so  yourself 
you  can  find  no  fit  pJace  to  deal  with  it  as 
a  wrong.  You  must  not  say  any  thing 
about  it  in  the  free  States,  because  it  is  not 
here.  You  must  not  say  any  thing  about 
it  in  the  slave  States,  because  it  is  there. 
You  must  not  say  anything  about  it  in  the 
pulpit,  because  that  is  religion  and  has 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  You  must  not  say 
any  thing  about  in  politics,  because  that 
will  disturb  the  security  of  "my place." 
There  is  no  place  to  talk  about  it  as 
being  a  wrong,  although  you  say  yourself 
it  is  a  wrong.  But  finally  you  will  screw 
yourself  up  to  the  belief  that  if  the  people 
of  the  slave  States  should  adopt  a  system 
of  gradual  emancipation  on  the  slavery 
question,  you  would  be  in  favor  of  it.  You 
would  be  in  favor  of  it.  You  say  that  is 
getting  it  in  the  right  place,  and  you  would 
be  glad  to  see  it  succeed.  But  you  are  de- 
ceiving yourself.  You  all  know  that 
Frank  Blair  and  Gratz  Brown,  down  there 
in  St.  Louis,  undertook  to  introduce  that 
system  in  Missouri.  They  fought  as 
valiantly  as  they  could  for  the  system  of 
gradual  emancipation  which  you  pretend 
you  would  be  glad  to  see  succeed.  Now  I 
will  bring  you  to  the  test.  After  a  hard 
fight  they  were  beaten,  and  when  the  news 
came  over  here  you  threw  up  your  hats 
and  hurrahed  for  Democracy.  More  than 
that,  take  all  the  argument  made  in  favor 
of  the  system  you  have  proposed,  and  it 
carefully  excludes  the  idea  that  there  is 
any  thing  wrong  in  the  institution  of 
slavery.  The  arguments  to  sustain  that 
policy  carefully  excluded  it.  Even  here  to- 
day you  heard  Judge  Douglas  quarrel  with 
me  because  I  uttered  a  wish  that  it  might 
some  time  come  to  an  end.  Although 
Henry  Clay  could  say  he  wisned  every 
slave  in  the  United  States  was  in  the  coun* 
try  of  his  ancestors,  I  am  denounced  by 
those  pretending  to  respect  Henry  Clay 
for  uttering  a  wish  that  it  might  some  time, 
in  some  peaceful  way,  come  to  an  end. 
The  Democratic  policy  in  regard  to  that 
institution  will  not  tolerate  the  merest 
breath,  the  slightest  hint  of  the  least  de- 

free  of  wrong  about  it.  Try  it  by  some  of 
udge  Douglas's  arguments.  He  says  he 
"  don't  care  whether  it  is  voted  up  or  voted 
down  "  in  the  Territories.    I  do  not  care 


142 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


myself  in  dealing  with  that  expression, 
whether  it  is  intended  to  be  expressive  of 
his  individual  sentiments  on  the  subject, 
or  only  of  the  national  policy  he  desires 
to  have  established.  It  is  alike  valuable 
for  my  purpose.  Any  man  can  say  that 
he  does  not  see  any  thing  wrong  in 
slavery,  but  no  man  can  logically  say  it 
who  does  see  a  wrong  in  it ;  because  no 
man  can  logically  say  he  don't  care 
whether  a  wrong  is  voted  up  or  voted 
down.  He  may  say  he  don't  care  whether 
an  indifferent  thing  is  voted  up  or  down, 
but  he  must  logically  have  a  choice  be- 
tween a  right  thing  and  a  wrong  thing. 
He  contends  that  whatever  community 
wants  slaves  has  a  right  to  have  them.  So 
they  have  if  it  is  not  a  wrong.  But  if  it  is 
a  wrong,  he  cannot  say  people  have  a  right 
to  do  wrong.  He  says  that  upon  the  score 
of  equality,  slaves  should  be  allowed  to  go 
in  a  new  Territory,  like  other  property. 
This  is  strictly  logical  if  there  is  no  dif- 
ference between  it  and  other  property.  If 
it  and  other  property  are  equal,  his  argu- 
ment is  entirely  logical.  But  if  you  insist 
that  one  is  wrong  and  the  other  right,  there 
is  no  use  to  institute  a  comparison  between 
right  and  wrong.  You  may  turn  over 
every  thing  in  the  Democratic  policy  from 
beginning  to  end,  whether  in  the  shape  it 
takes  on  the  statute  books,  in  the  shape  it 
takes  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in  the 
shape  it  takes  in  conversation,  or  the  shape 
it  takes  in  short  maxim-like  arguments — 
it  everywhere  carefully  excludes  the  idea 
that  there  is  any  thing  wrong  in  it. 

That  is  the  real  issue.  That  is  the  issue 
that  will  continue  in  this  country  when 
these  poor  tongues  of  Judge  Douglas  and 
myself  shall  be  silent.  It  is  the  eternal 
struggle  between  these  two  principles — 
right  and  wrong — throughout  the  world. 
They  are  the  two  principles  that  have  stood 
face  to  face  from  the  beginning  of  time  ; 
and  will  ever  continue  to  struggle.  The 
one  is  the  common  right  of  humanity  and 
the  other  the  divine  right  of  kings.  It  is 
the  same  principle  in  whatever  shape  it 
develops  itself.  It  is  the  same  spirit  that 
says,  You  work  and  toil  and  earn  bread, 
and  I'll  eat  it."  No  matter  in  what  shape 
it  comes,  whether  from  the  mouth  of  a 
king  who  seeks  to  bestride  the  people  of 
his  own  nation  and  live  by  the  fruit  of 
their  labor,  or  from  one  race  of  men  as  an 
apology  for  enslaving  another  race,  it  is 
the  same  tyrannical  principle.  I  was  glad 
to  express  mv  gratitude  at  Quincy,  and  I 
re-express  it  nere  to  Judge  Douglas — that 
he  looks  to  no  end  of  the  institution  of 
slavery.  That  will  help  the  ppople  to  see 
where  the  struggle  really  is.  It  will  here- 
after place  with  us  all  men  who  really  do 
wish  the  wrong  may  have  an  end.  And 
whenever  we  can  get  rid  of  the  fog  which 
obscures  the  real  question — when  we  can 


get  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends  to  avow 
a  policy  looking  to  its  perpetuation — we 
can  get  out  from  among  that  class  of  men 
and  bring  them  to  the  side  of  those  who 
treat  it  as  a  wrong.  Then  there  will  soon 
be  an  end  of  it,  and  that  end  will  be  its 
"  ultimate  extinction."  Whenever  the 
issue  can  be  distinctly  made,  and  all  ex- 
traneous matter  thrown  out  so  that  men 
can  fairly  see  the  real  difference  between 
the  parties,  this  controversy  will  soon  be 
settled,  and  it  will  be  done  peaceably  too. 
There  will  be  no  war,  no  violence.  It  will 
be  placed  again  where  the  wisest  and  best 
men  of  the  world  placed  it.  Brooks  of 
South  Carolina  once  declared  that  when 
this  Constitution  was  framed,  its  framers 
did  not  look  to  the  institution  existing 
until  this  day.  When  he  said  this,  I  think 
he  stated  a  fact  that  is  fully  borne  out  by  the 
history  of  the  times.  But  he  also  said  they 
were  better  and  wiser  men  than  the  men 
of  these  days ;  yet  the  men  of  these  days 
had  experience  which  they  had  not,  and 
by  the  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  it  be- 
came a  necessity  in  this  country  that 
slavery  should  be  perpetual.  I  now  say 
that,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  purposely  or 
without  purpose,  Judge  Douglas  has  been 
the  most  prominent  instrument  in  chang- 
ing the  position  of  the  institution  of  slavery 
which  the  fathers  of  the  Grovernment  ex- 
pected to  come  to  an  end  ere  this — and 
putting  it  upon  Brooks's  cotton-gin  basis 
— placing  it  where  he  openly  confesses  he 
has  no  desire  there  shall  ever  be  an  end 
of  it. 

I  understand  I  have  ton  minutes  yet.  I 
will  employ  it  in  saying  something  about 
this  argument  Judge  Douglas  uses,  while 
he  sustains  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  that 
the  people  of  the  Territories  can  still  some- 
how exclude  slavery.  The  first  thing  I 
ask  attention  to  is  the  fact  that  Judge 
Douglas  constantly  said,  before  the  deci- 
sion, that  whether  they  could  or  not,  was 
a  question  for  the  Supreme  Court.  But 
after  the  court  has  made  the  decision  he 
virtually  says  it  is  not  a  question  for  the 
Supreme  Court,  but  for  the  people.  And 
how  is  it  he  tells  us  they  can  exclude  it? 
He  says  it  needs  "  police  regulations,"  and 
that  admits  of  "  unfriendnr  legislation." 
Although  it  is  a  right  established  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  take  a 
slave  into  a  Territory  of  the  United  States 
and  hold  him  as  property,  yet  unless  the 
Territorial  Legislature  will  give  friendly 
legislation,  and,  more  especially,  if  they 
adopt  unfriendly  legislation,  they  can 
practically  exclude  him.  Now,  without 
meeting  this  proposition  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  I  pass  to  consider  the  real  Constitu- 
tional obligation.  Let  me  take  the  gentle- 
man who'looks  me  in  the  face  before  me, 
and  let  us  suppose  that  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Territorial  Legislature.  The  first  thing 


BOOK  iii.J         THE   LINCOLN   AND    DOUGLAS   DEBATE. 


143 


he  will  do  will  be  to  swear  that  he  will 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  His  neighbor  by  his  side  in  the 
Territory  has  slaves  and  needs  Territorial 
legislation  to  enable  him  to  enjoy  that 
Constitutional  right.  Can  he  withhold 
the  legislation  which  his  neighbor  needs 
for  the  enjoyment  of  a  right  which  is  fixed 
in  his  favor  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  which  he  has  sworn  to  sup- 
port? Can  he  withhold  it  without  violat- 
ing his  oath  ?  And  more  especially,  can 
he  pass  unfriendly  legislation  to  violate 
his  oath  ?  Why,  this  is  a  monstrous  sort 
of  talk  about  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States !  There  has  never  been  as  outland- 
ish or  lawless  a  doctrine  from  the  mouth  of 
any  respectable  man  on  earth.  I  do  not 
believe  it  is  a  Constitutional  right  to  hold 
slaves  in  a  Territory  of  the  United  States. 
I  believe  the  decision  was  improperly  made 
and  I  go  for  reversing  it.  Judge  Douglas 
is  furious  against  those  who  go  for  revers- 
ing a  decision.  But  he  is  for  legislating  it 
out  of  all  force  while  the  law  itself  stands. 
I  repeat  that  there  has  never  been  so  mon- 
strous a  doctrine  uttered  from  the  mouth  of 
a  respectable  man. 

I  suppose  most  of  us  (I  know  it  of  mv- 
self )  believe  that  the  people  of  the  South- 
ern States  are  entitled  to  a  Congressional 
Fugitive  Slave  law — that  is  a  right  fixed  in 
the  Constitution.  But  it  cannot  be  made 
available  to  them  without  Congressional 
legislation.  In  the  Judge's  language,  it  is 
a  "  barren  right "  which  needs  legislation 
before  it  can  become  efficient  and  valuable 
to  the  persons  to  whom  it  is  guarantied. 
And  as  the  right  is  Constitutional  I  agree 
that  the  legislation  shall  be  granted  to  it 
— and  that  not  that  we  like  the  institution 
of  slavery.  We  profess  to  have  no  taste 
for  running  and  catching  niggers — at  least 
I  profess  no  taste  for  that  job  at  all.  Why 
then  do  I  yield  support  to  a  Fugitive  Slave 
law  ?  Because  I  do  not  understand  that 
the  Constitution,  which  guaranties  that 
right,  can  be  supported  without  it.  And 
if  I  believed  that  the  right  to  hold  a  slave 
in  a  Territory  was  equally  fixed  in  the  Con- 
stitution with  the  right  to  reclaim  fugitives, 
I  should  be  bound  to  give  it  the  legislation 
necessary  to  support  it.  I  say  that  no  man 
can  deny  his  obligation  to  give  the  neces- 
sary legislation  to  support  slavery  in  a  Ter- 
ritory, who  believes  it  is  a  Constitutional 
right  to  have  it  there.  No  man  can,  who 
does  not  give  the  Abolitionists  an  argu- 
ment to  deny  the  obligation  enjoined  by 
the  Constitution  to  enact  a  Fugitive  Slave 
law.  Try  it  now.  It  is  the  strongest  Abo- 
lition argument  ever  made.  I  say  if  that 
Dred  Scott  decision  is  correct,  then  the 
right  to  hold  slaves  in  a  Territory  is  equal- 
ly a  Constitutional  right  with  the  right  of 
a  slaveholder  to  have  his  runaway  returned. 
No  one  can  show  the  distinction  between 


them.  The  one  is  express,  so  that  we  can- 
not deny  it.  The  other  is  construed  to  be 
in  the  Constitution,  so  that  he  who  believes 
the  decision  to  be  correct  believes  in  the 
right.  And  the  man  who  argues  that  by 
unfriendly  legislation,  in  spite  of  that  Con- 
stitutional right,  slavery  may  be  driven 
from  the  Territories,  cannot  avoid  furnish- 
ing an  argument  by  which  Abolitionists 
may  deny  the  obligation  to  return  fugitives, 
and  claim  the  power  to  pass  laws  unfriend- 
ly to  the  right  of  the  slaveholder  to  reclaim 
his  fugitive.  I  do  not  know  how  such  an 
argument  may  strike  a  popular  assembly 
like  this,  but  I  defy  any  body  to  go  before/ 
a  body  of  men  whose  minds  are  educated 
to  estimating  evidence  and  reasoning,  and 
show  that  there  is  an  iota  of  difference  be- 
tween the  Constitutional  right  to  reclaim  a 
fugitive,  and  the  Constitutional  right  to 
hold  a  slave,  in  a  Territory,  provided  this 
Dred  Scott  decision  is  correct.  I  defy  any 
man  to  make  an  argument  that  will  justify 
unfriendly  legislation  to  deprive  a  slave- 
holder of  his  right  to  hold  his  slave  in  a 
Territory,  that  will  not  equally,  in  all  its 
length,  breadth  and  thickness,  furnish  an 
argument  for  nullifying  the  Fugitive  Slave 
law.  Why,  there  is  not  such  an  Aboli- 
tionist in  the  nation  as  Douglas,  after  all. 


MR.  DOUGLAS'8  REPLY. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  concluded  his  remarks 
by  saying  that  there  is  not  such  an  Aboli- 
tionist as  I  am  in  all  America.  If  he  could 
make  the  Abolitionists  of  Illinois  believe 
that,  he  would  not  have  much  show  for 
the  Senate.  Let  him  make  the  Abolition- 
ists believe  the  truth  of  that  statement  and 
his  political  back  is  broken. 

Iiis  first  criticism  upon  me  is  the  expres- 
sion of  his  hope  that  the  war  of  the  Ad- 
ministration will  be  prosecuted  against  me 
and  the  Democratic  party  of  this  State  with 
vigor.  He  wants  that  war  prosecuted  with 
vigor ;  I  have  no  doubt  of  it.  His  hopes 
of  success,  and  the  hopes  of  his  party  de- 
pend solely  upon  it.  They  have  no  chance 
of  destroying  the  Democracy  of  this  State 
except  by  the  aid  of  federal  patronage.  He 
has  all  the  federal  office-holders  here  as  his 
allies,  running  separate  tickets  against  the 
Democracy  to  divide  the  party,  although 
the  leaders  all  intend  to  vote  directly  the 
Abolition  ticket,  and  only  leave  the  green- 
horns to  vote  this  separate  ticket  wno  re- 
fuse to  go  into  the  Abolition  camp.  There 
is  something  really  refreshing  in  the 
thought  that  Mr.  Lincoln  is  in  favor  of 
prosecuting  one  war  vigorously.  It  is  the 
first  war  I  ever  knew  him  to  be  in  favor  of 

Erosecuting.  It  is  the  first  war  I  ever 
new  him  to  believe  to  be  just  or  Consti- 
tutional. When  the  Mexican  war  was 
being  waged,  and  the  American  army  was 


144 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


surrounded  "by  the  enemy  in  Mexico,  he 
thought  that  war  was  unconstitutional,  un- 
necessary, and  unjust.  He  thought  it  was 
not  commenced  on  the  right  spot.     , 

When  I  made  an  incidental  allusion  of 
that  kind  in  the  joint  discussion  over  at 
Charleston  some  weeks  ago,  Lincoln,  in  re- 

E lying,  said  that  I,  Douglas,  had  charged 
im  with  voting  against  supplies  for  the 
Mexican  war,  and  then  he  reared  up,  full 
len^h,  and  swore  that  he  never  voted 
against  the  supplies  —  that  it  was  a  slander 
— and  caught  hold  of  Ficklin,  who  sat  on 
the  stand,  and  said,  "  Here,  Ficklin,  tell 
the  people  that  it  is  a  lie."  Well,  Ficklin, 
who  had  served  in  Congress  with  him,  stood 
up  and  told  them  all  that  he  recollected 
about  it.  It  was  that  when  George  Ash- 
mun,  of  Massachusetts,  brought  forward  a 
resolution  declaring  the  war  unconstitu- 
tional, unnecessary,  and  unjust,  that  Lin- 
coln had  voted  for  it.  "  Yes,"  said  Lin- 
coln,." I  did."  Thus  he  confessed  that  he 
voted  that  the  war  was  wrong,  that  our 
country  was  in  the  wrong,  and  consequent- 
ly that  the  Mexicans  were  in  the  right ; 
but  charged  that  I  had  slandered  him  by 
saying  that  he  voted  against  the  supplies. 
I  never  charged  him  with  voting  against 
the  supplies  in  my  life,  because  I  knew 
that  he  was  not  in  Congress  when  they  were 
voted.  The  war  was  commenced  on  the 
13th  day  of  May,  1846,  and  on  that  day  we 
appropriated  in  Congress  ten  millions  of 
dollars  and  fifty  thousand  men  to  prosecute 
it.  During  the  same  session  we  voted  more 
men  and  more  money,  and  at  the  next  ses- 
sion we  voted  more  men  and  more  money, 
so  that  by  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln  entered 
Congress  we  had  enough  men  and  enough 
money  to  carry  on  the  war,  and  had  no  oc- 
casion to  vote  for  any  more.  When  he  got 
into  the  House,  being  opposed  to  the  war, 
and  not  being  able  to  stop  the  supplies,  be- 
cause they  had  all  gone  forward,  all  he 
could  do  was  to  follow  the  lead  of  Corwin, 
and  prove  that  the  war  was  not  begun  on 
the  right  spot,  and  that  it  was  unconstitu- 
tional, unnecessary,  and  wrong.  Remem- 
ber, too,  that  this  he  did  after  the  war  had 
been  begun.  It  is  one  thing  to  be  opposed 
to  the  declaration  of  a  war,  another  and 
very  different  thing  to  take  sides  with  the 
enemy  against  your  own  country  after  the 
war  has  been  commenced.  Our  army  was 
in  Mexico  at  the  time,  many  battles  had 
been  fought;  our  citizens,  who  were  de- 
fending the  honor  of  their  countrv's  flag, 
were  surrounded  by  the  daggers,  the  guns 
and  the  poison  of  the  enemy.  Then  it  was 
that  Corwin  made  his  speech  in  which  he 
declared  that  the  American  soldiers  ought 
to  be  welcomed  by  the  Mexicans  with 
bloody  hands  and  hospitable  graves  ;  then 
it  was  that  Ashmun  and  Lincoln  voted  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  that  the  war 
was  unconstitutional  and  unjust ;  and  Ash- 


mun's  resolution,  Corwin's  speech,  and 
Lincoln's  vote,  were  sent  to  Mexico  and 
read  at  the  head  of  the  Mexican  army,  to 
prove  to  them  that  there  was  a  Mexican 
party  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
who  were  doing  all  in  their  power  to  aid 
them.  That  a  man  who  takes  sides  with 
the  common  enemy  against  his  own  coun- 
try in  time  of  war  should  rejoice  in  a  war 
being  made  on  me  now,  is  very  natural. 
And  in  my  opinion,  no  other  kind  of  a  man 
would  rejoice  in  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  told  you  a  great  deal  to- 
day about  his  being  an  old  line  Clay  Whig. 
Bear  in  mind  that  there  are  a  great  many 
old  Clay  Whigs  down  in  this  region.  It  is 
more  agreeable,  therefore,  for  him  to  talk 
about  the  old  Clay  Whig  party  than  it  is 
for  him  to  talk  Abolitionism.  We  did  not 
hear  much  about  the  old  Clay  Whig  party 
up  in  the  Abolition  districts.  How  much 
of  an  old  line  Henry  Clay  Whig  was  he? 
Have  you  read  General  Singleton's  speech 
at  Jacksonville?  You  know  that  Gen. 
Singleton  was,  for  twenty-five  years,  the 
confidential  friend  of  Henry  Clay  in  Illi- 
nois, and  he  testified  that  in  1847,  when 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  this  State 
was  in  session,  the  Whig  members  were 
invited  to  a  Whig  caucus  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  brother-in-law,  where  Mr. 
Lincoln  proposed  to  throw  Henry  Clay 
overboard  and  take  up  Gen.  Taylor  in  his 
place,  giving,  as  his  reason,  that  if  the 
Whigs  did  not  take  up  Gen.  Taylor  the 
Democrats  would.  Singleton  testifies  that 
Lincoln,  in  that  speech,  urged,  as  another 
reason  for  throwing  Henry  Clay  overboard, 
that  the  Whigs  had  fought  long  enough 
for  principle  and  ought  to  begin  to  fight 
for  success.  Singleton  also  testifies  that 
Lincoln's  speech  did  have  the  effect  of 
cutting  Clay's  throat,  and  that  he  (Single- 
ton) and  others  withdrew  from  the  caucus 
in  indignation.  He  further  states  that 
when  they  got  to  Philadelphia  to  attend 
the  National  Convention  of  the  Whig  party, 
that  Lincoln  was  there,  the  bitter  and  dead- 
ly enemy  of  Clay,  and  that  he  tried  to  keep 
him  (Singleton)  out  of  the  Convention  be- 
cause he  insisted  on  voting  for  Clay,  anci 
Lincoln  was  determined  to  have  Taylor. 
Singleton  says  that  Lincoln  rejoiced  with 
very  great  joy  when  he  found  the  mangled 
remains  of  the  murdered  Whig  statesman 
lying  cold  before  him.  Now,  Mr.  Lincoln 
tells  you  that  he  is  an  old  line  Clay  Whig  I 
Gen.  Singleton  testifies  to  the  facts  I  have 
narrated,  in  a  public  speech  which  has  been 
printed  and  circulated  broadcast  over  the 
State  for  weeks,  yet  not  a  lisp  have  we  heard 
from  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  subject,  except 
that  he  is  an  old  Clay  Whig. 

What  part  of  Henry  Clay's  policy  did 
Lincoln  ever  advocate?  He  was  in  Con- 
gress in  1848-9,  when  the  Wilmot  proviso 
warfare  disturbed  the  peace  and  harmony 


BOOK  in.]         THE    LINCOLN    AND    DOUGLAS    DEBATE. 


145 


of  the  country,  until  it  shook  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Republic  from  its  centre  to  its 
circumference.  It  was  that  agitation  that 
brought  Clay  forth  from  his  retirement  at 
Ashland  again  to  occupy  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  to  see  if  he 
could  not,  by  his  great  wisdom  and  expe- 
rience, and  the  renown  of  his  name,  do 
something  to  restore  peace  and  quiet  to  a 
disturbed  country.  Who  got  up  that  sec- 
tional strife  that  Clay  had  to  be  called  upon 
to  quell?  I  have  heard  Lincoln  boast  tnat 
he  voted  forty-two  times  for  the  Wilmot 
proviso,  and  that  he  would  have  voted  as 
many  times  more  if  he  could.  Lincoln  is 
the  man,  in  connection  with  Seward,  Chase, 
Giddings,  and  other  Abolitionists,  who  got 
up  that  strife  that  I  helped  Clay  to  put  down. 
Henry  Clay  came  back  to  the  Senate  in 
18-19,  and  saw  that  he  must  do  something 
to  restore  peace  to  the  country.  The  T Jnion 
Whigs  and  the  Union  Democrats  welcomed 
him  the  moment  he  arrived,  as  the  man  for 
the  occasion.  We  believed  that  he,  of  all 
men  on  earth,  had  been  preserved  by  Di- 
vine Providence  to  guide  us  out  of  our 
difficulties,  and  we  Democrats  rallied  under 
Clay  then,  as  you  Whigs  in  nullification 
time  rallied  under  the  banner  of  old  Jack- 
son, forgetting  party  when  the  country  was 
in  danger,  in  order  that  we  might  have  a 
country  first,  and  parties  afterward. 

And  this  reminds  me  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
told  you  that  the  slavery  question  was  the 
only  thing  that  ever  disturbed  the  peace 
and  harmony  of  the  Union.  Did  not  nulli- 
fication once  raise  its  head  and  disturb 
the  peace  of  this  Union  in  1832?  Was 
that  the  slavery  question,  Mr.  Lincoln? 
Did  not  disunion  raise  its  monster  head 
during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain? 
Was  that  the  slavery  question,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln ?  The  peace  of  this  country  has  been 
disturbed  three  times,  once  during  the  war 
with  Great  Britain,  once  on  the  tariff  ques- 
tion, and  once  on  the  slavery  question. 
His  argument,  therefore,  that  slavery  is  the 
only  question  that  has  ever  created  dis- 
sension in  the  Union  falls  to  the  ground. 
It  is  true  that  agitators  are  enabled  now  to 
use  this  slavery  question  for  the  purpose 
of  sectional  strife.  He  admits  that  in  re- 
gard to  all  things  else,  the  principle  that  I 
advocate,  making  each  State  and  Territory 
free  to  decide  for  itself,  ought  to  prevail. 
He  instances  the  cranberry  laws,  and  the 
oyster  laws,  and  he  might  have  gone 
through  the  whole  list  with  the  same  effect. 
I  say  that  all  these  laws  are  local  and  do- 
mestic, and  that  local  and  domestic  con- 
cerns should  be  left  to  each  State  and  each 
Territory  to  manage  for  itself.  If  agitators 
would  acquiesce  in  that  principle,  there 
never  wcVild  be  any  danger  to  the  peace 
and  harmony  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Lincoln  tries  to  avoid  the  main  issue 
by  attacking  the  truth  of  my  proposition, 
38 


that  our  fathers  made  this  Government  divi- 
ded into  free  and  slave  States,  recognizing 
the  right  of  each  to  decide  all  its  local  ques- 
tions for  itself.  Did  thev  not  thus  make 
it  ?  It  is  true  that  they  did  not  establish 
slavery  in  any  of  the  States,  or  abolish  it 
in  any  of  them;  but  finding  thirteen  States, 
twelve  of  which  were  slave  and  one  free, 
they  agreed  to  form  a  government  uniting 
them  together,  as  they  stood  divided  into 
free  and  slave  States,  and  to  guaranty  for- 
ever to  each  State  the  right  to  do  as  it 
pleased  on  the  slavery  question.  Having 
thus  made  the  government,  and  conferred 
this  right  upon  each  State  forever,  I  assert 
that  this  Government  can  exist  as  they 
made  it,  divided  into  free  and  slave  States, 
if  any  one  State  chooses  to  retain  slavery. 
He  says  that  he  looks  forward  to  a  time 
when  slavery  shall  be  abolished  every- 
where. I  look  forward  to  a  time  when  each 
State  shall  be  allowed  to  do  as  it  pleases. 
If  it  chooses  to  keep  slavery  forever,  it  is 
not  my  business,  but  its  own ;  if  it  chooses 
to  abolish  slavery,  it  is  its  own  business — 
not  mine.  I  care  more  for  the  great  prin- 
ciple of  self-government,  the  right  of  the 
people  to  rule,  than  I  do  for  all  the  negroes 
in  Christendom.  I  would  not  endanger  the 
perpetuity  of  this  Union,  I  would  not  blot 
out  the  great  inalienable  rights  of  the  white 
men  for  all  the  negroes  that  ever  existed. 
Hence,  I  say,  let  us  maintain  this  Govern- 
ment on  the  principles  that  our  father  j 
made  it,  recognizing  tne  right  of  each  Statj 
to  keep  slavery  as  long  as  its  people  deter- 
mine, or  to  abolish  it  when  they  please. 
But  Mr.  Lincoln  says  that  when  our  fath- 
ers made  this  Government  they  did  not 
look  forward  to  the  state  of  things  now  ex- 
isting; and  therefore  he  thinks  the  doctrine 
was  wrong ;  and  he  quotes  Brooks,  of  South 
Carolina,  to  prove  that  our  fathers  then 
thought  that  probably  slavery  would  be 
abolished  by  each  State  acting  for  itself 
before  this  time.  Suppose  they  did ;  sup- 
pose they  did  not  foresee  what  has  oc- 
curred,—ndoes  that  change  the  principles 
of  our  Government?  Tney  did  not  pro- 
bably foresee  the  telegraph  that  transmits 
intelligence  by  lightning,  nor  did  they  fore- 
see the  railroads  that  now  form  the  bonds 
of  union  between  the  different  States,  or 
the  thousand  mechanical  inventions  that 
have  elevated  mankind.  But  do  these 
things  change  the  principles  of  the  Gov- 
ernment? Our  fathers,  I  say,  made  this 
Government  on  the  principle  of  the  right 
of  each  State  to  do  as  it  pleases  in  its  own 
domestic  affairs,  subject  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  allowed  the  people  of  each  to 
apply  to  every  new  change  of  circum- 
stances such  remedy  as  thev  may  see  fit  to 
improve  their  condition.  This  right  they 
have  for  all  time  to  come. 

Mr.  Lincoln  went  on  to  tell  you  that  ha 
did  not  at  (dl  desire  to  interfere  with  sla- 


146 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


very  in  the  States  where  it  exists,  nor  does 
his  party.  I  expected  him  to  say  that  down 
here.  iJet  me  ask  him  then  how  he  expects 
to  put  slavery  in  the  course  of  ultimate  ex- 
tinction every  where,  if  he  does  not  intend 
to  interfere  with  il  in  the  States  where  it 
exists?  He  says  that  he  will  prohibit  it  in  all 
the  Territories,  and  the  inference  is,  then, 
that  unless  they  make  free  States  out  of 
them  he  will  keep  them  out  of  the  Union ; 
for,  mark  you,  he  did  not  say  whether  or 
not  he  would  vote  to  admit  Kansas  with 
slavery  or  not,  as  her  people  might  apply 
(he  forgot  that  as  usual,  etc.) ;  he  did  not 
say  whether  or  not  he  was  in  favor  of 
bringing  the  Territories  now  in  existence 
into  the  Union  on  the  principle  of  Clay's 
Compromise  measures  on  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. I  told  you  that  he  would  not.  His 
idea  is  that  he  will  prohibit  slavery  in  all 
the  Territories  and  thus  force  them  all  to 
become  free  States,  surrounding  the  slave 
States  with  a  cordon  of  free  States  and 
hemming  them  in,  keeping  the  slaves  •con- 
fined to  their  present  limits  whilst  they  go 
on  multiplying  until  the  soil  on  which  they 
live  will  no  longer  feed  them,  and  he  will 
thus  be  able  to  put  slavery  in  a  course  of 
ultimate  extinction  by  starvation.  He  will 
extinguish  slavery  in  the  Southern  States  as 
the  French  general  did  the  Algerines  when 
he  smoked  them  out.  He  is  going  to  ex- 
tinguish slavery  by  surrounding  the  slave 
States,  hemming  in  the  slaves,  and  starving 
them  out  of  existence,  as  you  smoke  a  fox 
out  of  his  hole.  He  intends  to  do  that  in 
the  name  of  humanity  and  Christianity,  in 
order  that  we  may  get  rid  of  the  terrible 
crime  and  sin  entailed  upon  our  fathers  of 
holding  slaves.  Mr.  Lincoln  makes  out 
that  line  of  policy,  and  appeals  to  the 
moral  sense  of  justice  and  to  the  Christian 
feeling  of  the  community  to  sustain  him.  He 
says  that  any  man  who  holds  to  the  con- 
trary doctrine  is  in  the  position  of  the  king 
who  claimed  to  govern  by  divine  right. 
Let  us  examine  for  a  moment  and  see  what 
principle  it  was  that  overthrew  the  Divine 
right  of  George  the  Third  to  govern  us. 
Did  not  these  colonies  rebel  because  the 
British  parliament  had  no  right  to  pass  laws 
concerning  our  property  and  domestic  and 
private  institutions  without  our  consent? 
We  demanded  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment should  not  pass  such  laws  unless  they 
gave  us  representetion  in  the  body  passing 
them, — and  this  the  British  government 
insisting  on  doing, — we  went  to  war,  on 
the  principle  that  the  Home  Government 
should  not  control  and  govern  distant  col- 
onies without  giving  them  representation. 
Now.  Mr.  Lincoln  proposes  to  govern  the 
Territories  without  giving  them  a  represen- 
tation, and  calls  on  Congress  to  pass  laws 
controlling  their  property  and  domestic 
concerns  without  their  consent  and  against 
their  will.    Thus,  he  asserts  for  his  party 


the  identical  principle  asserted  by  George 
III.  and  the  Tories  of  the  Revolution. 

I  ask  you  to  look  into  these  things,  and 
then  tell  me  whether  the  Democracy  or 
the  Abolitionists  are  right.  I  hold  that 
the  people  of  a  Territory,  like  those  of  a 
State  (I  use  the  language  of  Mr.  Buchanan 
in  his  letter  of  acceptance),  have  the 
right  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  slav- 
ery shall  or  shall  not  exist  within  their 
limits.  The  point  upon  which  Chief  Jus- 
tice Taney  expresses  his  opinion  is  simply 
this,  that  slaves  being  property,  stand  on 
an  equal  footing  with  other  property,  and 
consequently  that  the  owner  has  the  same 
right  to  carry  that  property  into  a  Territory 
that  he  has  any  other,  subject  to  the  same 
conditions.  Suppose  that  one  of  your 
merchants  was  to  take  fifty  or  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  liquors  to  Kan- 
sas. He  has  a  right  to  go  there  under  that 
decision,  but  when  he  gets  there  he  finds 
the  Maine  liquor  law  in  force,  and  what  can 
he  do  with  nis  property  after  he  gets  it 
there  ?  He  cannot  sell  it,  he  cannot  use  it, 
it  is  subject  to  the  local  law,  and  that  law 
is  against  him,  and  the  best  thing  he  can 
do  with  it  is  to  bring  it  back  into  Missouri 
or  Illinois  and  sell  it.  If  you  take  negroes 
to  Kansas,  as  Col.  JeflF.  Davis  said  in  his 
Bangor  speech,  from  which  I  have  quoted 
to-day,  you  must  take  them  there  subject 
to  the  local  law.  If  the  people  want  the 
institution  of  slavery  they  will  protect  and 
encourage  it ;  but  if  they  do  not  want  it 
they  will  withhold  that  protection,  and  the 
absence  of  local  legislation  protecting  slav- 
ery excludes  it  as  completely  as  a  positive 
prohibition.  You  slaveholders  of  Missouri 
might  as  well  undeistand  what  you  know 
practically,  that  you  cannot  carry  slavery 
where  the  people  do  not  want  it.  All  you 
have  a  right  to  ask  is  that  the  people  shall 
do  as  they  please;  if  they  want  slavery 
let  them  have  it ;  if  they  do  not  want  it, 
allow  them  to  refuse  to  encourage  it. 

My  friends,  if,  as  I  have  said  before,  we 
will  only  live  up  to  this  great  fundamental 
principle,  there  will  be  peace  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  Mr.  Lincoln  admits 
that  under  the  Constitution  on  all  domes- 
tic questions,  except  slavery,  we  ought  not 
to  interfere  with  the  people  of  each  State. 
What  right  have  we  to  interfere  with 
slavery  any  more  than  we  have  to  interfere 
with  any  other  question?  He  says  that 
this  slavery  question  is  now  the  bone  of 
contention.  Why  ?  Simply  because  agita- 
tors have  combined  in  all  the  free  States  to 
make  war  upon  it.  Suppose  the  agitators 
in  the  States  should  combine  in  one-half  of 
the  Union  to  make  war  upon  the  railroad 
system  of  the  other  half?  They  would  thus 
be  driven  to  the  same  sectional  strife.  Sup- 
pose one  section  makes  war  upon  any  other 
peculiar  institution  of  the  opposite  section 
and  the  same  strife  is  produced.    The  only 


BOOK  HI.] 


JEFFERSON    DAVIS    ON    RETIRING. 


147 


remedy  and  safety  is  that  we  shall  stand  by 
the  Constitution  as  our  fathers  made  it, 
obey  the  laws  as  they  are  passed,  while 
they  stand  the  proper  test  and  sustain  the 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the 
constituted  authorities. 


Speecb  ot  Hon.  JeflTerson    Davl8«   Senator 
ft-om  Mississippi, 

On  retiring  from  the   United  Statfi   Senate.     Delivered  m 
tie  Senate  Chamber  January  21,  1861. 

I  rise,  Mr.  President,  for  the  purpose  of 
announcing  to  the  Senate  that  I  have  satis- 
factory evidence  that  the  State  of  Missis- 
sippi, by  a  solemn  ordinance  of  her  people 
in  convention  assembled,  has  declared  her 
separation  from  the  United  States,  Under 
these  circumstances,  of  course  my  func- 
tions are  terminated  here.  It  has  seemed 
to  me  proper,  however,  that  I  should  appear 
in  the  Senate  to  announce  that  fact  to  my 
associates,  and  I  will  say  but  very  little 
more.  The  occasion  does  not  invite  me  to 
CO  into  argument;  and  my  physical  con- 
dition would  not  permit  me  to  do  so  if  it 
were  otherwise,  and  yet  it  seems  to  become 
me  to  say  something  on  the  part  of  the 
State  I  here  represent,  on  an  occasion  so 
solemn  as  this.  It  is  known  to  Senators 
who  have  served  with  me  here,  that  I  have 
for  many  years  advocated  as  an  essential 
attribute  of  State  sovereignty,  the  right  of 
a  State  to  secede  from  the  Union.  There- 
fore, if  I  had  not  believed  there  was  justi- 
fiable cause ;  if  I  had  thought  that  Missis- 
sippi was  acting  without  sufficient  provoca- 
tion, or  without  an  existing  necessity,  I 
should  still,  under  my  theory  of  the 
government,  because  of  my  allegiance  to 
the  State  of  which  I  am  a  citizen,  have 
been  bound  by  her  action.  I,  however, 
may  be  permitted  to  say  that  I  do  think 
she  has  justifiable  cause  and  I  approve  of 
her  act.  I  conferred  with  her  people  be- 
fore that  act  was  taken,  counseled  them 
then  that  if  the  state  of  things  which  they 
apprehended  should  exist  when  the  con- 
vention met,  they  should  take  the  action 
which  they  have  now  adopted, 

I  hope  none  who  hear  me  will  confound 
this  expression  of  mine  with  the  advocacy 
of  the  right  of  a  State  to  remain  in  the 
Unioh  and  to  disregard  its  constitutional- 
obligations  by  the  nullification  of  the  law. 
Such  is  not  my  theory.  Nullification  and 
secession  so  often  confounded  are  indeed 
antagonistic  principles.  Nullification  is  a 
remedy  which  it  is  sought  to  apply  within 
the  Union  and  against  the  agents  of  the 
States,  It  is  only  to  be  justified  when  the 
agent  has  violated  his  constitutional  obli- 
gation, and  a  State,  assuming  to  judge  for 
Itself  denies  the  right  of  the  agent  thus  to 
act  and  appeals  to  the  other  States  of  the 
Union  for  a  decision ;  but  when  the  States 


themselves  and  when  the  people  of  the 
States  have  so  acted  as  to  convince  us  that 
they  will  not  regard  our  constitutional 
rights,  then,  and  then  for  the  first  time, 
arises  the  doctrine  of  secession  in  its  prac- 
tical application, 

A  great  man  who  now  reposes  with  hia 
fathers  and  who  has  been  often  arraigned 
for  a  want  of  fealty  to  the  Union  advocated 
the  doctrine  of  Nullification  because  it  pre- 
served the  Union,  It  was  because  of^his 
deep-seated  attachment  to  the  Union,  his 
determination  to  find  some  remedy  for  exist- 
ing ills  short  of  the  severance  of  the  ties 
which  bound  South  Carolina  to  the  other 
States,  that  Mr,  Calhoun  advocated  the 
doctrine  of  nullification,  which  he  pro- 
claimed to  be  peaceful,  to  be  within. the 
limits  of  State  power,  not  to  disturb  the 
Union,  but  only  to  be  a  means  of  bringing 
the  agent  before  the  tribunal  of  the  States 
for  their  judgment. 

Secession  belongs  to  a  different  class  of 
remedies.  It  is  to  be  justified  upo;i  the 
basis  that  the  States  are  sovereign.  There 
was  a  time  when  none  denied  it.  I  hope 
the  time  may  come  again  when  a  better 
comprehension  of  the  theory  of  our  govern- 
ment and  the  inalienable  rights  of  the 
people  of  the  States  will  prevent  any  one 
from  denying  that  each  State  is  a  sovereign, 
and  thus  may  reclaim  the  grants  which  it 
has  made  to  any  agent  whomsoever. 

I  therefore  say  1  concur  in  the  action  of 
the  people  of  Mississippi,  believing  it  to 
be  necessary  and  proper,  and  should  have 
been  bound  by  tneir  action  if  my  belief 
had  been  otherwise ;  and  this  brings  me 
at  the  important  point  which  I  wish,  on 
this  last  occasion,  to  present  to  the  Senate, 
It  is  by  this  confounding  of  nullification 
and  secession  that  the  name  of  a  great 
man  whose  ashes  now  mingle  with  his 
mother  earth,  has  been  invoked  to  justify 
coercion  against  a  seceding  state.  The 
phrase  "  to  execute  the  laws  was  an  ex- 
pression which  General  Jackson  applied  to 
the  case  of  a  State  refusing  to  obev  the 
laws  while  yet  a  member  of  the  l/nion. 
That  is  not  the  case  which  is  now  presented. 
The  laws  are  to  be  executed  over  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  upon  the  people  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  They  have  no  relation  with 
any  foreign  country.  It  is  a  perversion  of 
terms,  at  least  it  is  a  great  misapprehension 
of  the  case,  which  cites  that  expression  for 
application  to  a  State  which  has  withdrawn 
from  the  Union,  You  may  make  war  on 
a  foreign  State,    If  it  be  the  purpose  of 

gentlemen  they  may  make  war  against  a 
tate  which  has  withdrawn  from  the 
Union  ;  but  there  are  no  laws  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  to  be  executed  within  the  limits 
of  a  Seceded  State.  A  State  findinj?  her- 
self in  the  condition  in  which  Mississippi 
has  judged  she  is ;  in  which  her  safety  re- 
quires that  she  should  provide  for  the 


148 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


maintenance  of  her  rights  out  of  the  Union, 
surrenders  all  tlie  benefits,  (and  they  are 
known  to  be  many)  deprives  herself  of  the 
advantages,  (they  are  known  to  be  great) 
severs  all  the  ties  of  affection  (and  they  are 
close  and  enduring)  which  have  bound  her 
to  the  Union  ;  ana  thus  divesting  herself 
of  every  benefit,  taking  upon  herself  every 
burden,  she  claims  to  be  exempt  from  any 

gower  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  United 
tates  within  her  limits. 
I  well  remember  an  occasion  when 
Massachusetts  was  arraigned  before  the  Bar 
of  the  Senate,  and  when  then  the  doctrine 
of  coercion  was  rife,  and  to  be  applied 
against  her  because  of  the  rescue  of  a  fu- 
gitive slave  in  Boston.  My  opinion  then 
was  the  same  as  it  is  now.  Not  in  the 
spirit  of  egotism,  but  to  show  that  I  am 
not  influenced  in  my  opinion  because  the 
case  is  my  own,  I  refer  to  that  time  and 
that  occasion  as  containing  the  opinion 
which  I  then  entertained  and  on  which  my 
present  conduct  is  based.  I  then  said,  if 
Massachusetts,  following  her  through  a 
stated  line  of  conduct,  chooses  to  take  the 
last  step  which  separates  her  from  the 
Union,  it  is  her  right  to  go,  and  I  will 
neither  vote  one  dollar  nor  one  man  to  co- 
erce her  back  ;  but  will  say  to  her,  "  G.od 
speed,"  in  memory  of  the  kind  associations 
which  once  existed  between  her  and  the 
other  States.  It  has  been  a  conviction  of 
pressing  necessity,  it  hsis  been  a  belief  that 
we  are  to  be  deprived  in  the  Union,  of  the 
rights  which  our  fathers  bequeathed  to  us, 
which  has  brought  Mississippi  into  her 
present  decision.  She  has  heard  pro- 
claimed the  theory  that  all  men  are  created 
free  and  equal,  and  this  made  the  basis  of 
an  attack  on  her  social  institutions ;  and 
the  sacred  Declaration  of  Independence  has 
been  invoked  to  maintain  the  position  of 
the  equality  of  the  races.  That  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  is  to  be  construed  by 
the  circumstances  and  purposes  for  which 
it  was  made.  The  communities  were  de- 
claring their  independence  ;  the  people  of 
those  communities  were  asserting  that  no 
man  was  born — to  use  the  language  of  Mr. 
Jefferson — ^booted  and  spurred  to  ride  over 
the  rest  of  mankind  ;  that  men  were  crea- 
ted equal — meaning  the  men  of  the  po- 
litical community;  that  there  was  no  divine 
right  to  rule ;  that  no  man  inherited  the 
right  to  govern ;  that  there  were  no  classes 
by  which  power  and  place  descended  to 
families,  but  that  all  stations  were  equally 
within  the  grasp  of  each  member  of  the 
body  politic.  Tnese  were  the  great  prin- 
ciples they  announced ;  these  were  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  made  their  declara- 
tion ;  these  were  the  ends  to  which  their 
enunciation  was  directed.  They  have  no 
reference  to  the  slave ;  else,  how  happened 
it  that  among  the  items  of  arraignment 
made  against  George  III.  was  that  he  en- 


deavored to  do  just  what  the  North  has 
been  endeavoring  of  late  to  do — to  stir  up 
insurrection  among  our  slaves  ?  Had  the 
Declaration  announced  that  the  negroes 
were  free  and  equal  how  was  it  the  Prince 
was  to  be  arraigned  for  stirring  up  insur- 
rection among  them  ?  And  how  was  this 
to  be  enumerated  among  the  high  crimes 
which  caused  the  colonies  to  sever  their 
connection  with  the  mother  coimtry? 
When  our  constitution  was  formed,  the 
same  idea  was  rendered  more  palpable,  for 
there  we  find  provision  made  for  that  very 
class  of  persons  as  property  ;  they  were  not 
put  upon  the  footing  of  equality  with  white 
men — not  even  upon  that  of  paupers  and 
convicts,  but  so  far  as  representation  was 
concerned,  were  discriminated  against  as 
a  lower  caste  only  to  be  represented  in  a 
numerical  proportion  of  three-filths. 

Then,  Senators,  we  recur  to  the  compact 
which  binds  us  together ;  we  recur  to  the 
principles  upon  which  our  government 
was  founded ;  and  when  you  deny  them, 
and  when  you  deny  to  us,  the  right  to 
withdraw  from  a  government  which  thus 
prevented,  threatens  to  be  destructive  of 
our  rights,  we  but  tread  in  the  path  of  our 
fathers  when  we  proclaim  our  indepen- 
dence, and  take  the  hazard.  This  is  done 
not  in  hostility  to  others,  not  to  injure  any 
section  of  the  country,  not  even  for  our 
own  pecuniary  benefit,  but  from  the  high 
and  solemn  motive  of  defending  and  pro- 
tecting the  rights  we  inherited,  and  which 
it  is  our  sacred  duty  to  transmit  unshorn 
to  our  children. 

I  find  in  myself,  perhaps,  a  type  of  the 
general  feeling  of  my  constituents  towards 
yours.  I  am  sure  I  feel  no  hostility  to  you, 
Senators  from  the  North.  I  am  sure  there 
is  not  one  of  you,  whatever  sharp  discus- 
sion there  may  have  been  between  us,  to 
whom  I  cannot  now  say,  in  the  presence  of 
my  God,  "  I  wish  you  well,'*  and  such,  I  am 
sure,  is  the  feeling  of  the  people  whom  I 
represent  towards  those  whom  you  repre- 
sent. I  therefore  feel  that  I  but  express 
their  desire  when  I  say  I  hope,  and  they 
hope  for  peaceful  relations  with  you, 
though  we  must  part.  They  may  be  mu- 
tually beneficial  to  us  in  the  future  as  they 
have  been  in  the  past,  if  you  so  will  it. 
The  reverse  may  bring  disaster  on  every 

Eortion  of  the  country;  and  if  you  will 
ave  it  thus,  we  will  invoke  the  Gx>d  of 
our  fathers,  who  delivered  them  from  the 
power  of  the  lion,  to  protect  us  from  the 
ravages  of  the  bear,  and  thus,  putting  our 
trust  in  God,  and  to  our  firm  hearts  and 
strong  arms  we  will  vindicate  the  right  as 
best  we  may. 

In  the  course  of  my  service  here,  asso- 
ciated at  different  times  with  a  great  variety 
of  Senators,  I  see  now  around  me  some 
with  whom  I  have  served  long ;  there  have 
been  points  of  collision,  but  whatever  of 


Booim.]     HENRY  WILSON  IN  THE  GREELEY  CANVASS. 


149 


oflfense  there  has  been  to  me  I  leave  here ; 
I  carry  with  me  no  hostile  remembrance. 
Whatever  offense  I  have  ^iven  which  has 
not  been  redressed,  or  for  which  satisfaction 
has  not  been  demanded,  I  have.  Senators, 
in  this  hour  of  our  parting,  to  offer  you  an 
apology  for  any  harm  which,  in  the  heat 
oi  discussion,  I  have  inflicted.  I  go  hence 
unencumbered  of  any  injury  received,  and 
having  discharged  the  duty  of  making  the 
only  reparation  in  my  power  for  any  injury 
offered. 

Mr.  President  and  Senators,  having 
made  the  announcement  which  the  occa- 
sion seemed  to  me  to  require,  it  only  re- 
mains for  me  to  bid  you  a  final  adieu. 


Speecb  of  the  Hon.  Henry  "Wilson  of  Massa- 
chusetts 

In  the  canvat*  against  Horace  Greeley  at  Biehmond,  Ind., 
August  3,  1872. 

AN  ABSTRACT. 

Gentlemen,  standing  here  to-day,  in  this 
presence,  among  these  liberty-loving,  pa- 
triotic men  and  women  of  Wayne  county, 
I  want  to  call  your  attention  for  a  few  mo- 
ments to  what  we  have  struggled  for  in  the 
past. 

Nearly  forty  years  ago,  when  the  slave 
power  dominated  the  country — when  the 
dark  shadow  of  human  slavery  fell  upon 
us  all  Jiere  in  the  North — there  arose  a 
body  of  conscientious  men  and  women 
who  proclaimed  the  doctrine  that  emanci- 
pation was  the  duty  of  the  master  and  the 
right  of  the  slave ;  they  proclaimed  it  to 
be  a  duty  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free.  Re- 
wards were  offered — they  were  denounced, 
mobbed — violence  pervaded  the  land.  Yet 
these  faithful  ones  maintained  with  fidel- 
ity, against  all  odds,  the  sublime  creed  of 
human  liberty.  The  struggle,  commencing 
forty  years  ago  against  the  assumptions 
and  dominations  of  the  slave-power,  went 
on  from  one  step  to  another — the  slave 
power  went  right  on  to  the  conquest  of  the 
country — promises  were  broken,  without 
regard  to  constitutions  or  laws  of  the  hu- 
man race.  The  work  went  on  till  the 
people,  in  their  majesty,  in  1860,  went  to 
the  ballot-box  and  made  Abraham  Lincoln 
President  of  the  United  States.  [Cheers.] 
Then  came  a  great  trial ;  that  trial  was 
whether  we  should  do  battle  for  the  prin- 
ciples of  eternal  right,  and  maintain  the 
cause  of  liberty,  or  surrender ;  whether 
we  would  be  true  to  our  principles  or 
false.  We  stood  firm — stood  oy  the  sacred 
cause — and  then  the  slave  power  plunged 
the  country  into  a  godless  rebellion. 

Then  came  another  trial,  testing  the 
manhood,  the  courage,  the  sublime  fidelity 
of  the  lovers  of  liberty  in  the  country. 
We  met  that  test  as  we  had  met  every 


I  other  test— trusting  in  God,  trusting  in  the 
!  people — willing  to  stand  or  fall  by  our 
I  principles.  Through  four  years  of  blood 
I  we  maintained  those  principles  ;  we  broke 
I  down  the  rebellion,  restored  a  broken 
j  Union,  and  vindicated  the  authority  and 
;  power  of  the  nation.  In  that  struggle  In- 
j  diana  played  a  glorious  part  in  the  field, 
i  and  her  voice  in  the  councils  of  the  nation 
I  had  great  and  deserved  influence.  [Cheers.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  measured  by  the  high 
standard  of  fidelity  to  country,  of  patriot- 
!  ism,  the  great  political  party  to  which  we 
belong  to-day  was  as  true  to  the  country 
in  war  as  it  had  been  in  peace — true 
to  the  country  every  time,  and  on  all  occa- 
sions. 

Not  only  true  to  the  country,  but  the  Re- 
publican party  was  true  to  liberty.  It  struck 
the  fetters  from  the  bondman,  and  ele- 
vated four  and  a  half  millions  of  men 
from  chattelhood  to  manhood ;  gave  them 
civil  rights,  gave  them  political  rights,  and 
gave  them  part  and  parcel  of  the  power  of 
the  countrj'.     [Applause.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  here  to-day,  I  point  to 
this  record — ^this  great  record — and  say  to 
you,  that,  measured  by  the  standard  of  pa- 
triotism— one  of  the  greatest  and  grandest 
standards  by  which  to  measure  public  men, 
political  organizations  or  nations — mea- 
sured by  that  standard  which  the  whole 
world  recognizes,  the  Republican  party  of 
the  United  States  stands  before  the  world 
with  none  to  accuse  it  of  want  of  fidelity  to 
country.  [Cheers.]  Measured  by  the 
standard  of  liberty,  equal,  universal,  im- 
partial liberty — liberty  to  all  races,  all 
colors  and  all  nationalities — the  Republi- 
can party  stands  to-day  before  the  country 
pre-eminentlv  the  party  of  universal  liber- 
ty. [Loud  cteers.J  Measured  by  the  stan- 
dard of  humanity — that  humanity  that 
stoops  down  and  lifts  up  the  poor  and  low- 
ly, the  oppressed  and  the  castaways,  the 
poor,  struggling  sons  and  daughters'  of  toil 
and  misfortune — measured  by  that  stan- 
dard, the  Republican  party  stands  before 
this  country  to-day  without  a  peer  in  our 
history,  or  in  the  history  of  any  other  peo- 
ple. [Renewed  and  general  applause.] 
We  have  gone  further,  embraced  more, 
lifted  up  lowlier  men,  carried  them  to  a 
higher  elevation,  labored  amid  obloquy 
and  reproach  to  lift  up  the  despised  anil 
lowly  nations  of  the  earth  than  any  politi- 
cal organization  that  the  sun  ever  shone 
upon. 

And  then,  gentlemen,  tested  by  the  sup- 
port of  all  the  great  ideas  that  tend  to  lift 
up  humanity,  to  pull  none  down,  to  lifl  all 
up,  to  carry  the  country  upward  and  for- 
ward, ever  toward  God,  the  Republican 
party  of  the  country  has  been,  and  now  is, 
to-day,  in  advance  of  any  political  organ- 
ization the  world  knows. 

Gentlemen,  I  am  not  here  to  maintain 


150 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


that  this  great  party,  with  its  three  and  a 
half  millions  of  voters,  tested  and  tried  as 
it  ha«  been  during  twelve  years — I  am  not 
here  to  say  that  it  has  made  no  mistakes. 
We  have  committed  errors ;  we  could 
not  always  see  what  the  right  was;  we 
failed  sometimes ;  but,  gentlemen,  take  our 
record — take  it  as  it  stands — it  is  a  bright 
and  glorious  record,  that  any  man,  or  set 
of  men,  may  be  proud  of.  We  have  stood, 
and  we  stand  to-day,  on  the  side  of  man, 
and  on  the  side  of  the  ideas  God  has  given 
us  in  His  Holy  Word.  [Applause.]  There 
has  not  been  a  day  since  by  the  labors, 
the  prayers  and  the  sacrifices  of  the  old 
anti-slavery  men  and  women  of  the  coun- 
try, from  1830  to  1855 — during  twenty-five 
years — I  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  here,  to- 
day, that  this  party,  the  product  of  these 
prayers,  and  these  sacrifices,  and  these  ef- 
forts— with  all  its  faults — has  been  true  to 
patriotism,  true  to  liberty,  true  to  justice, 
true  to  humanity,  true  to  Christian  civili- 
Hition.     [Cheers.] 

I  say  to  you  here  to-day,  that  all  along 
during  this  time,  the  Democratic  party 
carried  the  banners  of  slavery.  When- 
ever the  slave  power  desired  anything  they 
got  it.  They  wielded  the  entire  power  of 
the  nation,  until,  in  their  arrogance,  when 
we  elected  Abraham  Lincoln,  they  plunged 
the  country  into  the  fire  and  blood  of  the 
greatest  civil  war  recorded  in  history. 
After  the  war  all  the  measures  inaugurated 
for  emancipation — to  make  the  country 
free — ^to  lift  an  emancipated  race  up — to 
give  them  instruction  and  make  them  citi- 
zens— to  give  them  civil  rights  and  make 
them  voters — ^to  put  them  on  an  equality 
with  the  rest  of  the  people — to  every  one 
of  that  series  of  thirty  or  forty  measures 
the  Democratic  party  gave  their  President 
unqualified  and  united  opposition.  Well, 
now,  we  have  been  accustomed  to  say  that 
they  were  mistaken,  misinformed,  that  they 
were  honest — ^that  they  believed  what  they 
did ;  but,  gentlemen,  if  they  have  believed 
what  they  have  said,  that  they  have  acted 
according  to  their  convictions  from  1832 
to  1872 — a  period  of  forty  years — can  they 
be  honest,  to-day,  in  indorsing  the  Cincin- 
nati platform — in  supporting  Horace  Gree- 
ley? ["No,  no!"] 

Why,  we  have  read  of  sudden  and  mira- 
culous conversions.  We  read  of  St.  Paul's 
conversion,  of  the  light  that  shone  around 
him,  but  I  ask  you,  in  the  history  of  the 
human  family  have  vou  ever  known  three 
millions  of  men — three  millions  of  great 
sinners  for  forty  years — [laughter] — ^three 
millions  of  men,  all  convictea,  all  convert- 
ed, and  all  changed  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye.  [^Renewed  laughter.]  Why,  gentle- 
men, if  it  is  so,  for  one  I  will  lift  up  my 
eyes  and  my  heart  to  God,  that  those  sin- 
ners, that  this  great  political  party  that 
has  been  for  forty  years,  every  time  and  all 


the  time,  on  every  question  and  on  all 
questions  pertaining  to  the  human  race  and 
tne  rights  of  the  colored  race,  on  the  wrong 
side — on  the  side  of  injustice,  oppres- 
sion and  inhumanity — on  the  side  that  has 
been  against  man,  and  against  God's  holy 
word ;  I  say,  gentlemen,  that  I  will  lift  up 
my  heart  in  gratitude  to  God  that  these 
men  have  suddenly  repented. 

Why,  I  have  been  accustomed  to  think 
that  the  greatest  victory  the  Republican 
party  would  ever  be  called  upon  to  win — 
and  I  knew  it  would  win  it,  because  the 
Republican  party,  as  Napoleon  said  of 
his  armies,  are  accustomed  to  sleep  on  the 
field  of  victory.  The  Republican  party — 
that  always  won — always  ought  to  win, 
because  it  is  on  the  right  side;  and  when 
it  is  defeated,  it  only  falls  back  to  gather 
strength  to  advance  again.  [Applause.] 
I  did  suppose  that  the  greatest  task  it 
would  ever  have,  greater  than  putting  down 
the  rebellion,  greater  than  emancipating 
four  millions  of  men,  greater  than  lifting 
them  up  to  civil  rights — greater  than  all 
its  grand  deeds — would  be  the  conviction 
and  conversion  of  the  Democratic  party  of 
the  United  States.  [Laughter  and  cheers.] 
Just  as  we  are  going  into  a  Presidential 
election — when  it  was  certain  that  if  the 
Republican  party  said  and  aflirmed,  said 
by  its  members,  said  altogether,  that  its 
ideas,  its  principles,  its  policy,  its  measures, 
were  stronger  than  were  the  political  or- 
ganization of  the  Democrats.  I  gay,  just 
as  we  are  going  into  the  contest,  when  it 
was  certain  that  we  would  break  down 
and  crush  out  its  ideas,  and  take  its  flags 
and  disband  it,  and  out  of  the  wreck  we 
would  gather  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
changed  and  converted  men,  the  best  part 
of  the  body — just  at  that  time  some  of  our 
men  are  so  anxious  to  embrace  somebody 
that  has  always  been  wrong  that  they  start 
out  at  once  in  a  wild  hunt  to  clasp  hands 
with  our  enemies  and  to  save  the  Demo- 
cratic party  from  absolute  annihilation. 
[Laughter.]  To  do  what  they  want  us  is 
to  disband.  Well,  gentlemen,  I  suppose 
there  are  some  here  to-day  that  belonged 
to  the  grand  old  Army  of  the  Potomac.  If 
when  Lee  had  retreated  on  Richmond,  and 
Phil.  Sheridan  sent  back  to  Grant  that  if 
he  pushed  things  he  would  capture  the 
army — if,  instead  of  sending  back  to  Sheri- 
dan, as  Grant  did,  "Push  things,"  he  had 
said  to  him,  "  Let  us  disband  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac;  don't  hurt  the  feelings  of 
these  retreating  men  ;  let  us  clasp  hands 
with  them,"  what  would  have  been  the  re- 
sult? I  suppose  there  are  some  of  you 
here  to-day  that  followed  Sherman — that 
were  with  him  in  his  terrible  march  from 
Chattanooga  to  Atlanta — with  him  in  that 
great  marcn  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea — what 
would  you  have  thought  of  him  if,  when 
you  came  in  sight  of  the  Atlantic  ocean, 


BOOK  III.]  OLIVER  P.  MORTON  ON  THE  NATIONAL  IDEA.  151 


you  had  had  orders  to  disband  before  the 
banners  of  the  rebellion  had  disappeared 
from  the  Southern  heavens  ? 

I  tell  vou,  to-day,  this  movement  of  a 
portion  of  our  forces  is  this  and  nothing 
more.  I  would  as  soon  have  disbanded 
that  Army  of  the  Potomac  after  Sheridan's 
ride  through  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah, 
or  when  Sherman  had  reached  the  sea,  as 
to  disband  the  Republican  party  to-day. 
The  time  has  not  come.  [Loud  and  con- 
tinued applause.] 

I  am  not  making  a  mere  partisan  appeal 
to  you.  I  believe  in  this  Republican  party, 
and,  if  I  know  myself,  rather  than  see  it 
defeated  to-day — rather  than  «ee  the  gov- 
ernment pass  out  of  its  hands — I  would 
sacrifice  anything  on  earth  in  my  posses- 
sion, even  life  itself.  [Loud  applause]  I 
have  seen  brave  and  good  men — patriotic, 
liberty- loving,  God-fearing  men — I  have 
seen  them  die  for  the  cause  of  the  country 
— for  the  ideas  we  profess,  and  I  tell  you 
to-day,  with  all  the  faults  of  the  Republi- 
can party — and  it  has  had  faults  and  has 
made  some  mistakes — I  say  to  you  that  I 
believe  upon  my  conscience  its  defeat 
would  be  a  disaster  to  the  country,  and 
would  be  a  stain  upon  our  record.  It 
would  bring  upon  us — we  might  say  what 
we  pleased,  our  enemies  would  claim  it, 
and  the  world  would  record  it — that  this 
great,  patriotic,  liberty-loving  Republican 
party  of  the  United  States,  after  all  its 
great  labors  and  great  history,  had  been 
weighed  in  the  balances  and  found  want- 
ing, and  condemned  by  the  American 
people. 

Well,  gentlemen,  I  choose,  if  it  is  to  fall, 
to  fall  with  it.  I  became  an  anti-slaverv 
man  in  1835.  In  1836  I  tied  myself, 
pledged  myself,  to  do  all  I  could  to  over- 
throw the  slave  power  of  my  country. 
During  all  these  years  I  have  never  given 
a  vote,  uttered  a  word,  or  written  a  line 
that  I  did  not  suppose  tended  to  this  result. 
I  invoke  you  old  anti-slavery  men  here  to- 
day— and  I  know  I  am  speaking  to  men 
who  have  been  engaged  in  the  cause — I 
implore  you  men  who  have  been  true  in 
the  past,  no  matter  what  the  men  or  their 
natures  are,  to  stand  with  the  grand  organi- 
zation of  the  Republican  party — ^be  true  to 
its  cause  and  fight  its  battles — if  we  are 
defeated,  let  us  accept  the  defeat  as  best 
we  may ;  if  we  are  victorious,  let  us  make 
our  future  more  glorious  than  the  past.  If 
we  fail,  let  us  have  the  proud  consciousness 
that  we  have  been  faithful  to  our  princi- 
ples, true  to  our  convictions ;  that  we  go 
down  with  our  fla^  flying — that  we  go 
down  trusting  in  God  that  our  country  may 
become,  what  we  have  striven  to  make  it, 
the  foremost  nation  on  the  globe.  [Im- 
mense applause.] 


Speecb  ot  Senator  Oliver  P.  Morton,  of 
Indiana, 

On  the  National  Idea,  at  Providence,  B.  I. 

The  distipguished  orator  was  introduced 
by  Senator  Anthony,  and  made  an  ex- 
tended speech,  from  which  we  take  the 
more  pertinent  paragraphs : 

From   this  proposition  two  corollaries 
have  been  adduced  from  time  to  time,  and 
I  must  say  with  great  force  cf  logic.    The 
first  is  that  this  Union  is  composed  of  sov- 
ereign and  independent  Stsites  who  have 
simply  entered  into  a  compact  for  particu- 
lar jpurposes,  and  the  government  is  mere- 
ly their  agent ;  that  any  State  has  the  right 
to  withdraw  from  the'  Union  at  pleasure, 
or  whenever  in  its  judgment  the  terms  of 
the  compact  have  been  violated,  or  the  in- 
terests of  the  State  require  its  withdrawal. 
The  second  is  that  each  State  has  the  right 
to  nullify  any  law  of  Congress  which,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  State,  is  in  violation 
of  the  compact  by  which  the  government 
was  formed.    This  doctrine  has  been  the 
evil  genius  of  the  country  Irom  the  found- 
ation of  our  government.     It  may  be  said 
to  be  the  devil  in  our  political  system.    It 
has  been  our  danger  from  the  first.    It  is 
the  rock  in  the  straits,  and  we  fear  that 
the  end  is  not  yet    Now  what  can  we  op- 
pose to  this  doctrine?    We  oppose  what 
we  call  "  the  national  idea."     We  assume 
that  this  government  was  formed  by  the 
governments  of  the  United  States  in  their 
aggregate  and  in  their  primary  capacity. 
We  assume  that,  instead  of  there  being 
thirty-seven  nations,  there  is  but  one ;  in- 
stead of  there  being  thirty-seven  sover- 
eignties, there  is  but  one  sovereignty.  We 
assume  that  the  States  are  not  sovereign, 
but  that  they  are  integral  and  subordinate 
parts  of  one  great  country.  I  may  be  asked 
the  question   here,  "Are  there  no  State 
rights?     Would  you  override  the  States? 
Would  you  obliterate  State  lines?"    I  an- 
swer, "  No."     I  answer  that  this  doctrine 
is  the  only  doctrine  that  can  preserve  the 
peace  of  this  nation  and  preserve  the  rights 
of  the  States.     I  answer  that  there  is  a  vast 
body  of  State  rights  guaranteed  and  se- 
cured by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,   Dy    the    same    Constitution    that 
created  and  upholds  the  government  of  the 
United  States ;  that  these  State  rights  have 
the  same  guarantee  that  the  rights  of  the 
National  Government  have,  equally  en- 
titled to  the  protection  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  springing  out  of  the  same  instru- 
ment, and  that  ope  set  of  rights  are  just  as 
sacred  as  the  other.    Some  confound  the 
idea  of  State  sovereignty  and  State  rights 
as  being  one  and  the  same  thing.    Othem 
seem  to  suppose  that  State  rights  are  only 
consistent  with  State  sovereignty,  and  can- 
not exist  except  upon  the  theory  of  State 
sovereignty;  while  I   assume  that  State 
rights  are  consistent  with  National  sever- 


152 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  nr. 


eignty,  and  are  safest  under  the  protection 
of  the  nation.  The  Constitution  gives  one 
class  of  rights  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  specified,  and 
they  carry  with  them  all  the  rights  that 
are  indispensable  and  necessary  to  their 
full  execution  and  enjoyment.  The  rest 
are  to  be  held  and  enjoyed  by  the  States, 
or  reserved  to  the  people.  The  States  have 
their  rights  by  the  agreement  of  the  nation. 
That  seems  to  be  the  important  truth  that 
is  so  often  overlooked,  that  the  rights  of 
the  States,  sacred  and  unapproachable,  are 
sacred  by  the  agreement  of  the  nation,  as 
much  so  as  are  the  powers  that  are  con- 
ferred upon  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  that  the  States  derive  their  powers 
from  the  same  source,  viz :  The  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States.  That  Constitu- 
tion says  that  the  government  shall  have 
one  class  of  powers,  and  that  other  powers 
shall  be  gained  by  the  States,  to  be  enjoyed 
by  them  or  reserved  to  the  people.  In  the 
consideration  of  this  question,  we  must  re- 
flect that  the  nation  had  assembled  in  con- 
vention in  1787,  and  there  formed  a  gov- 
ernment, there  declared  what  rights  should 
be  given  to  the  National  Government,  and 
what  rights  should  be  reserved  to  the 
States,  and  that,  in  either  case,  the  grant 
and  guarantee  is  an  act  of  national  sover- 
eignty by  the  people  in  convention  assem- 
bled. When  we  shall  embrace  this  idea 
fiiUy,  all  the  danger  of  centralization  will 

gass  away,  though  we  discard  the  idea  of 
tate  sovereignty. 

I  do  not  differ  so  much  with  many  gen- 
tlemen in  regard  to  what  the  rights  of  the 
Statues  are.  I  difft  r  with  them  in  regard 
to  the  titles  by  which  they  hold  them.  I 
say  that  so  far  as  State  rights  are  con- 
cerned, and  the  rights  of  the  government, 
that  we  are  not  to  go  back  beyond  the 
period  of  1787,  when  the  Constitution  was 
formed.  The  rights  of  the  elder  States, 
and  of  Rhode  Island  as  she  has  them  now, 
are  to  be  dated  from  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution.  Then  they  came  into  con- 
vention. They  had  the  right  to  make  any 
sort  of  government  they  pleased,  and  they 
did.  And  in  that  government  they  guar- 
antied and  secured  to  the  States  the  great 
body  of  rights  in  regard  to  local  and  do- 
mestic government,  but  it  was  the  agree- 
ment of  the  nation  at  that  time.  So  far 
as  the  new  States  are  concerned,  they  are 
to  come  in  on  an  equality.  They  are  to 
have  the  same  rights  with  the  old;  and 
this  theory  would  be  impossible  of  execu- 
tion except  upon  the  idea  that  the  rights 
of  the  States  and  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment are  to  be  determined  from  the  action 
that  was  taken  at  that  time.  The  difficulty 
had  been  in  regard  to  this  theoiy  of  State 
sovereignty,  and  the  assumed  right  of  se- 
cession and  of  nullification  was  tne  result. 
They  assumed  that  these  States  existed  as 


nations  separate  and  distinct  before  that 
time,  and  that  they  only  loaned  a  portion 
of  their  rights  for  a  particular  purpose. 
This  is  the  base  of  that  theory ;  whi^  we 
assume  that  the  people  were  acting  to- 
gether at  that  time  in  their  aggregate  capa- 
city, raising  a  system  of  government,  giv- 
ing the  United  States  certain  powers,  and 
providing  that  the  States  should  hold  and 
enjoy  the  rest,  excepting  those  that  were 
reserved  to  the  people.  The  preservation 
of  local  self-government  is  essential  to  the 
liberties  of  this  nation.  Nobody  endorses 
that  sentiment  more  strongly  than  I  do. 
Nobody  will  stand  by  the  rights  of  the 
States  more  firmly  than  I  will.  I  hold  that 
their  rights  are  consistent  with  national 
sovereignty,  and  that  national  sovereignty 
is  consistent  with  the  rights  of  the  States, 
and  I  deny  that  these  rights  are  the  result 
of  inherent  original  State  sovereignty.  In 
other  words,  we  differ  in  regard  to  the  title. 
What  the  States  should  have,  and  what 
the  government  should  have,  was  settled 
by  the  act  of  the  nation  in  convention  in 
1787,  changed  to  some  extent  by  the  adop- 
tion of  amendments  since  that  time.  It  is 
not  enough  for  a  party  to  deny  the  right 
of  secession.  It  is  not  enough  for  a  party 
to  deny  the  right  of  nullification.  They 
must  go  further.  They  must  deny  the 
doctrine  of  State  sovereignty  ;  for  as  long 
as  that  doctrine  is  admitted,  these  other 
things  will  spring  up  spontaneously  from 
it,  and  whenever  the  occasion  allows  it.  If 
we  were  to  admit  that  the  States  were  sov- 
ereign, then  we  would  be  bound  to  say 
that  Webster  did  not  answer  Hayne,  and 
that  Webster  and  Hayne  never  answered 
Calhoun.  If  once  it  is  admitted  that  the 
States  are  sovereign,  it  is  hard  to  resist  the 
corollaries  to  which  I  have  referred,  that 
they  have  the  right  to  secede,  and  that 
th^  have  the  right  to  nullify. 

The  doctrine  of  nationality  planted  deep 
in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  is  our 
only  sheet-anchor  of  safety  for  the  future. 
Our  country  is  greatly  extended,  from  the 
tropical  to  the  arctic  regions,  with  every 
variety  of  climate,  soil,  and  productions, 
with  different  commercial  and  manufac- 
turing interests.  The  States  on  the  Pa- 
cific slopes  are  separated  from  those  on 
this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  fifteen 
hundred  miles  of  mountain  and  desert. 
They  have  a  different  commerce  from 
what  you  have,  almost  an  independent 
commerce.  Their  commerce  will  be  with 
China,  Japan,  Australia,  the  western  coun- 
tries of  South  America,  and  the  islands  of 
the  Southern  Pacific.  It  is  now  but  in  its 
infancy,  but  it  bids  fair  to  develop  into 
colossal  proportions,  and  may  change  the 
commercial  aspect  of  the  world.  We  know 
not  what  feelings  of  independence  may 
arise  in  those  States  in  time  to  come.  It 
is  diflScult  to  deny  the  effect  that  may  be 


BOOKIII.J  OLIVER  P.  MORTON  ON  THE  NATIONAL  IDEA.  1C3 


produced  by  the  separation  of  vast  States 
with  a  different  commerce  acting  in  con- 
junction with  forced  theories  of  the  origin 
and  laws  of  our  government.  In  saying 
this  I  will  cast  no  imputation  upon  the 
loyalty  of  those  States.  They  are  now  as 
loyal  as  any,  and  were  during  the  war. 
But  we  can  imagine  that  what  has  been 
maybe  again.  And  we  can  understand 
what  may  be  the  danger  of  this  doctrine,  if 
it  should  still  maintain  its  hold  in  the 
minds  of  the  American  people,  when  con- 
flicting interests  arise,  and  conflicting  no- 
tions arise  as  to  what  may  be  the  interests 
of  the  people ;  as  in  1812  a  war  was  brought 
about  which  was  regarded  as  being  fatal  to 
the  interests  of  the  New  England  States, 
thev  took  their  position  upon  it.  We  have 
had.  a  law  which  was  regarded  in  South 
Carolina  as  being  fatal  to  her  interests, 
and  she  took  her  position  upon  it.  This  doc- 
trine was  again  seized  by  slavery  in  1861, 
and  the  rebellion  was  brought  on.  And 
what  may  happen  in  the  far  future  upon 
the  eastern  and  western  coasts,  upon  the 
northern  and  southern  extremities  of  our 
nation,  we  cannot  tell. 

The  idea  that  we  are  a  nation,  that  we 
are  one  people,  undivided  and  indivisible, 
should  be  a  plank  in  the  platform  of  every 
party.  It  should  be  printed  on  the  banner 
of  every  party.  It  should  be  taught  in 
every  school,  academy,  and  college.  It 
should  be  the  political  North  Star  by  which 
every  political  manager  should  steer  his 
bark.  It  should  be  the  central  idea  of 
American  politics,  and  every  child,  so  to 
speak,  should  be  vaccinated  with  this  idea, 
80  that  he  may  be  protected  against  this 
political  distemper  that  has  brought  such 
calamity  upon  our  country.  Were  the 
mind  of  the  nation,  so  to  speak,  fully  satu- 
rated with  this  sentiment  of  nationality, 
that  we  are  but  one  people,  undivided  and 
indivisible,  there  would  be  no  danger 
though  our  boundaries  came  to  embrace 
the  entire  continent.  It  is  therefore  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  it  should  be  taught 
and  inculcated  upon  all  occasions.  What 
the  sun  is  in  the  heavens,  diffusing  light, 
and  life,  and  warmth,  and  by  ifa  subtle  in- 
fluence holding  the  planets  in  their  orbits 
and  preserving  the  harmony  of  the  uni- 
verse— such  is  the  sentiment  of  nationality 
in  a  nation,  diffusing  light  and  protection 
in  every  part,  holding  the  faces  of  Amer- 
icans always  toward  their  home,  protect- 
ing the  States  in  the  exercise  of  their  just 
powers,  and  preserving  the  harmony  and 
prosperity  of  all. 

We  must  have  a  nation.  It  is  a  necessity 
of  our  political  existence,  and  we  find  the 
countries  of  the  Old  World  now  aspiring 
for  nationality.  Italy,  after  a  long  absence, 
has  returned.  Rome  has  again  become  the 
centre  and  the  capital  of  a  great  nation. 
The  bleeding  fragments  of  the  beautiful 


land  have  been  bound  up  together,  and 
Italy  again  resumes  her  place  among  the 
nations.  And  we  find  the  great  Germanic 
family  has  been  sighing  for  a  nationality. 
That  race,  whose  overmastering  civilization 
is  acknowledged  by  all  the  world,  has 
hitherto  been  divided  into  petty  Principal- 
ities and  States,  such  as  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina  aspire  to  be,  but  now  are  coming 
together  and  asserting  their  unity,  their 
national  existence,  and  are  now  able  to 
dominate  all  the  nations  of  Europe.  We 
should  then  cherish  this  idea,  that  while 
the  States  have  their  rights  sacred  and  un- 
approachable, which  we  should  guard  with 
untiring  vigilance,  never  permitting  an  en- 
croachment, and  remembering  that  such 
encroachment  is  as  much  a  violation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  to  en- 
croach upon  the  rights  of  the  general 
Government,  still  bearing  in  mind  tnat  the 
States  are  but  subordinate  parts  of  one  great 
nation,  and  that  the  nation  is  over,  all  even 
as  God  is  over  the  universe.  Without 
entering  into  any  of  the  consequences  that 
flow  from  this  doctrine,  allow  me  for  to- 
night to  refer  to  that  great  national  attri- 
bute, that  great  national  duty — the  duty  and 
the  power  to  protect  the  citizen  in  the  en- 
joyment of  life,  liberty,  and  property.  If 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
not  the  power  to  protect  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  in  the  enjoyment  of  life,  lib- 
erty, and  property  in  cases  where  the  States 
fail,  or  refuse,  or  are  unable  to  grant  pro- 
tection, then  that  Government  should  be 
amended,  or  should  give  place  to  a  better. 
Great  Britain  sent  forth  a  costly  and  pow- 
erful expedition  to  Abyssinia  to  rescue  four 
British  subjects  who  had  been  captured  and 
imprisoned  by  the  government  of  that  coun- 
try. She  has  recently  threatened  Greece 
with  war,  if  she  did  not  use  all  her  power 
to  bring  to  justice  two  brigands  who  had 
lately  murdered  two  British  subjects.  These 
these  things  are  greatly  to  the  honor  of 
Great  Britain.  And  our  Government 
threatened  Austria  with  war  if  she  did  not 
release  Martin  Kosta,  who  had  declared  his 
intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
Statas,  and  was  therefore  protected  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  More 
recently  we  have  made  war  upon  Corea,  a 
province  in  Asia,  and  slaughtered  her  peo- 
ple, and  battered  down  her  forts,  because 
Americans  shipwrecked  upon  her  coast 
were  murdered  and  the  government  had 
refused  to  give  satisfaction  for  it.  And  if 
a  mob  in  London  should  murder  half  a 
dozen  American  citizens,  we  would  call 
upon  that  government  to  use  all  its  power 
to  bring  the  murderers  to  punishment,  and 
if  Great  Britain  did  not  do  so,  it  would  be 
regarded  as  a  cause  of  war.  And  yet  some 
people  entertain  the  idea  that  our  Govern- 
ment has  the  power  to  protect  its  citizens 
everywhere  except  upon  its  own  soil.    The 


154 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


idea  that  I  would  advocate,  the  doctrine 
that  I  would  urge  as  being  the  only  true 
and  national  one,  flowing  inevitably  from 
national  sovereignty,  is  that  our  Govern- 
ment has  the  right  to  protect  her  citizens 
in  the  enjoyment  of  life,  liberty,  and  prop- 
erty wherever  the  flag  floats,  whether  at 
home  or  abroad. 


Spcccli  of  Hon.  J.  Proctor  BLnott,  ot 
KentuclEy, 

Delivered  in  the  House  of  Eepresentativei  on  the  St.  Croix 
€md  Superior  Land  Grant,  January  21,  1871. 

The  house  having  under  consideration 
the  joint  resolution  (S.  R.  No.  11)  extend- 
ing the  time  to  construct  a  railroad  from 
St.  Croix  river  or  lake  to  the  west  end  of 
Lake  Superior  and  to  Bayfield — 

Mr.  Knott  said :  Mr.  Speaker — If  I  could 
be  actuated  by  any  conceivable  inducement 
to  betray  the  sacred  trust  in  me  by  those 
to  whose  generous  confidence  I  am  in- 
debted for  the  honor  of  a  seat  on  this  floor; 
if  I  could  be  influenced  by  any  possible 
consideration  to  become  instrumental  in 
giving  away,  in  violation  of  their  known 
wishes  any  portion  of  their  interest  in  the 
public  domain  for  the  mere  promotion  of 
any  railroad  enterprise  whatever,  I  should 
certainly  feel  a  strong  inclination  to  give 
this  measure  my  most  earnest  and  hearty 
support ;  for  I  am  assured  that  its  success 
would  materially  enhance  the  pecuniary 

grosperity  of  some  of  the  most  valued 
•lends  I  have  on  earth ;  friends  for  whose 
accommodation  I  would  be  willing  to  make 
almost  any  sacrifice  not  involving  my  per- 
sonal honor  or  my  fidelity  as  the  trustee  of 
an  express  trust.  And  that  act  of  itself 
would  be  suflicient  to  countervail  almost 
any  objection  I  might  entertain  to  the  j)a8- 
sage  of  this  bill  not  inspired  by  any  im- 

Serative  and  inexorable  sense  of  public 
uty. 

But,  independent  of  the  seductive  in- 
fluences of  private  friendship,  to  which  I 
admit  I  am,  perhaps,  as  susceptible  as  any 
of  the  gentlemen  I  see  around  me,  the  in- 
trinsic merits  of  the  measure  itself  are  of 
such  an  extraordinary  character  as  to  com- 
mend it  most  strongly  to  the  favorable  con- 
sideration of  every  member  of  this  house, 
myself  not  excepted,  notwithstanding  my 
constituents,  in  whose  behalf  alone  I  am 
acting  here,  would  not  be  benefited  by  its 
passage  one  particle  more  than  they  would 
oe  by  a  project  to  cultivate  an  orange  grove 
on  the  bleakest  summit  of  Greenland's  icy 
mountains. 

Now,  sir,  as  to  those  great  trunk  lines  of 
railways,  spanning  the  continent  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  I  confess  my  mind  has 
never  been  fully  made  up.  It  is  true  they 
may  afford  some  trifling  advantages  to  local 
traffic,  and  they  may  even  in  time  become 
the  channels  of  a  more  extended  commerce. 


Yet  I  have  never  been  thoroughly  satisfied 
either  of  the  necessity  or  expediency  of 
projects  promising  such  meagre  results  to 
the  great  body  of  our  people.  But  with 
regard  to  the  transcendent  merits  of  the 
gigantic  enterprise  contemplated  in  this 
bill,  I  have  never  entertained  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt. 

Years  ago,  when  I  first  heard  that  there 
was  somewhere  in  the  vast  teira  incognita, 
somewhere  in  the  bleak  regions  of  the 
great  northwest,  a  stream  of  water  known 
to  the  nomadic  inhabitants  of  the  neighbor- 
hood as  the  river  St.  Croix,  I  became  satis- 
fied that  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from 
that  raging  torrent  to  some  point  in  the 
civilized  world  was  essential  to  the  happi- 
ness and  prosperity  of  the  American  people 
if  not  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  per- 
petuity of  republican  institutions  on  this 
continent.  I  felt  instinctively  that  the 
boundless  resources  of  that  prolific  region 
of  sand  and  pine  shrubbery  would  never 
be  fiilly  developed  without  a  railroad  con- 
structed and  equipped  at  the  expense  of 
the  government,  and  perhaps  not  then.  I 
had  an  abiding  presentiment  that,  some 
day  or  other,  the  people  of  this  whole 
countiy,  irrespective  of  party  affiliations, 
regardless  oi  sectional  prejudices,  and 
"  without  distinction  of  race,  color,  or  pre- 
vious condition  of  servitude,"  would  rise 
in  their  majesty  and  demand  an  outlet  for 
the  enormous  agricultural  productions  of 
those  vast  and  fertile  pine  barrens,  drained 
in  the  rainy  season  by  the  surging  waters 
of  the  turbid  St.  Croix. 

These  impressions,  derived  simply  and 
solely  from  the  "  eternal  fitness  of  things," 
were  not  only  strengthened  by  the  interest- 
ing and  eloquent  debate  on  this  bill,  to 
which  I  listened  with  so  much  pleasure 
the  other  day,  but  intensified,  if  possible, 
as  I  read  over  this  morning,  the  lively  col- 
loquy which  took  place  on  that  occasion, 
as  I  find  it  reported  in  last  Friday's  Globe. 
I  will  ask  the  indulgence  of  the  house 
while  I  read  a  few  short  passages,  which 
are  sufficient,  in  my  judgment,  to  place  the 
merits  of  the  great  enterprise,  contem- 
plated in  the  measure  now  under  discus- 
sion, beyond  all  possible  controversy. 

The  honorable  gentleman  from  Minne- 
sota (Mr.  Wilson),  who,  I  believe,  is  ma- 
naging this  bill,  in  speaking  of  the  charac- 
ter of  the  country  through  which  this  rail- 
road is  to  pass,  says  this : 

"  We  want  to  have  the  timber  brought 
to  us  as  cheaply  as  possible.  Now,  if  you 
tie  up  the  lands,  in  this  way,  so  that  no 
title  can  be  obtained  to  them — for  no  set- 
tler will  go  on  these  lands,  for  he  cannot 
make  a  living — you  deprive  us  of  the  bene- 
fit of  that  timber." 

Now,  sir,  I  would  not  have  it  by  any 
means  inferred  from  this  that  the  gentle- 
man from  Minnesota  would  insinuate  that 


BOOK  III.]         J.    PROCTOR    KNOTT'S    DULUTH   SPEECH. 


155 


the  people  out  in  this  section  desire  this 
timber  merely  for  the  purpose  of  fencing 
up  their  farms  so  that  their  stock  may  not 
wander  off  and  die  of  starvation  among  the 
bleak  hills  of  St.  Croix.  I  read  it  for  no 
such  purpose,  sir,  and  make  no  comment 
on  it  myself.  In  corroboration  of  this  state- 
ment of  the  gentleman  from  Minnesota,  I 
find  this  testimony  given  by  the  honorable 
gentleman  from  Wisconsin  (Mr.  Wash- 
burn). Speaking  of  these  same  lands,  he 
says : 

"  Under  the  bill,  as  amended  by  my 
friend  from  Minnesota,  nine-tenths  of  the 
land  is  open  to  actual  settlers  at  $2.50  per 
acre ;  the  remaining  one-tenth  is  pine- 
timbered  land,  that  is  not  fit  for  settle- 
ment, and  never  will  be  settled  upon  ;  but 
the  timber  .will  be  cut  off.  I  admit  that  it 
is  the  most  valuable  portion  of  the  grant, 
for  most  of  the  grant  is  not  valuable.  It  is 
quite  valueless;  and  if  you  put  in  this 
amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  Indiana 
you  may  as  well  just  kill  the  bill,  for  no 
man  and  no  company  will  take  the  grant 
and  build  the  road." 

I  simply  pause  here  to  ask  some  gentle- 
man better  versed  in  the  science  of  mathe- 
matics than  I  am,  to  tell  me  if  the  tim- 
bered lands  are  in  fact  the  most  valuable 
portion  of  that  section  of  country,  and  they 
would  be  entirely  valueless  without  the 
timber  that  is  in  them,  what  the  remainder 
of  the  land  is  worth  which  has  no  timber 
on  it  at  all  ? 

But,  further  on,  I  find  a  most  entertain- 
ing and  instructive  interchange  of  views 
between  the  gentleman  from  Arkansas  (Mr. 
Rogers),  the  gentleman  from  Wisconsin 
(Mr.  Washburn),  and  the  gentleman  from 
Maine  (Mr.  Peters),  upon  the  subject  of 
pine  lands  generally,  which  I  will  tax  the 
patience  of  the  house  to  read : 

"  Mr.  Rogers — Will  the  gentleman  allow 
me  to  ask  him  a  question  ? 

"Mr.  Washburn,  of  Wisconsin — Cer- 
tainly. 

"  Mr.  Rogers — Are  these  pine  lands  en- 
tirely worthless  except  for  timber? 

"Mr.  Washburn,  of  Wisconsin— They 
are  generally  worthless  for  any  other  pur- 
pose. I  am  personally  familiar  with  that 
subject.  These  lands  are  not  valuable  for 
purposes  of  settlement. 

"Mr.  Farnsworth — They  will  be  after 
the  timber  is  taken  off. 

"  Mr.  Washburn,  of  Wisconsin — No,  sir. 

"  Mr.  Rogers — I  want  to  know  the  cha- 
racter of  these  pine  lands. 

"  Mr.  Washburn,  of  Wisconsin — They 
are  generally  sandy,  barren  lands.  My 
friend  from  the  Green  Bay  district  (Mr. 
Sawyer)  is  himself  perfectly  familiar  with 
this  question,  and  he  will  bear  me  out  in 
what  I  say,  that  these  timber  lands  are  not 
adapted  to  settlement. 

"Mr.  Rogers — The  pine  lands  to  which 


I  am  accustomed  are  generally  very  good. 
What  I  want  to  know  is,  what  is  the  differ- 
ence between  our  pine  lands  and  your  pine 
lands?  ^ 

"Mr.  Washburn,  of  Wisconsin— The 
pine  timber  of  Wisconsin  generally  grows 
upon  barren,  sandy  land.  The  gentleman 
from  Maine  (Mr.  Peters)  who  is  familiar 
with  pine  lands,  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  say 
that  pine  timber  grows  generally  upon  the 
most  barren  lands." 

"  Mr.  Peters — As  a  general  thing  pine 
lands  are  not  worth  much  for  cultiva- 
tion." 

And  further  on  I  find  this  pregnant  ques- 
tion the  joint  production  of  the  two  gentle- 
men from  Wisconsin. 

"  Mr.  Paine — Does  my  friend  from  Indi- 
ana suppose  that  in  any  event  settlers 
will  occupy  and  cultivate  these  pine 
lands  ? 

"  Mr.  Washburn,  of  Wisconsin — Partic- 
ularly without  a  railroad." 

Yes,  sir,  "particularly  without  a  rail- 
road." It  will  be  a.sked  after  awhile,  I  am 
afraid,  if  settlers  will  go  anywhere  unless 
the  government  builds  a  railroad  for  them 
to  go  on. 

I  desire  to  call  attention  to  only  one  more 
statement,  which  I  think  sufficient  to  settle 
the  question.  It  is  one  made  by  the  gen- 
tleman from  Wisconsin  (Mr.  Paine),  who 
says: 

"  These  lands  will  be  abandoned  for  the 
present.  It  may  be  that  at  some  remote 
period  there  will  spring  up  in  that  region 
a  new  kind  of  agriculture,  which  will  cause 
a  demand  for  these  particular  lands ;  and 
they  may  then  come  into  use  and  be  valu- 
able for  agricultural  purposes.  But  I 
know,  and  I  cannot  help  thmking  that  my 
friend  from  Indiana  understands  that,  for 
the  present,  and  for  many  years  to  come, 
these  pine  lands  can  have  no  possible 
value  other  than  that  arising  from  the  pine 
timber  which  stands  on  them." 

Now,  sir,  who,  after  listening  to  this  em- 
phatic and  unequivocal  testimony  of  these 
intelligent,  competent  and  able-bodied  wit- 
nesses, who  that  is  not  as  incredulous  as 
St.  Thomas  himself,  will  doubt  for  a  mo- 
ment that  the  Goshen  of  America  is  to  be 
found  in  the  sandy  valleys  and  upon  the 
pine-clad  hills  of  the  St.  Croix?  Who  will 
have  the  hardihood  to  rise  in  his  seat  on 
this  floor  and  assert  that,  excepting  the 
pine  bushes,  the  entire  region  would  not 
produce  vegetation  enough  in  ten  years  to 
fatten  a  grasshopper?  Where  is  the  patriot 
who  is  willing  that  his  country  shall  incur 
the  peril  of  remaining  another  day  without 
the  amplest  railroad  connection  with  such 
an  inexhaustible  mine  of  agricultural 
wealth  ?  Who  will  answer  for  the  conse- 
quences of  abandoning  a  great  and  warlike 
people,  in  the  possession  of  a  country  like 
that,  to  brood  over  the  indifference  and 


156 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


neglect  of  their  government?  How  long 
would  it  be  before  they  would  take  to 
studying  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  hatching  out  the  damnable  neresy  of 
secession  ?  How  long  before  the  grim  de- 
mon of  civil  discord  would  rear  again  his 
horrid  head  in  our  midst,  "  gnash  loud  his 
iron  fangs  and  shake  his  crest  of  bristling 
bavonets?" 

Then,  sir,  think  of  the  long  and  painful 
process  of  reconstruction  that  hiust  follow 
with  its  concomitant  amendments  to  the 
constitution,  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth 
and  nineteenth  articles.  The  sixteenth,  it 
is  of  course  understood,  is  to  be  appropri- 
ated to  those  blushing  damsels  who  are, 
day  after  day,  beseeching  us  to  let  them 
vote,  hold  office,  drink  cocktails,  ride 
a-straddle,  and  do  everything  else  the  men 
do.  But  above  all,  sir,  let  me  implore  you  to 
reflect  for  a  single  moment  on  the  deplor- 
able condition  of  our  country  in  case  of  a 
foreign  war,  with  all  our  ports  blockaded, 
all  our  cities  in  a  state  of^siege,  the  gaunt 
specter  of  famine  brooding  like  a  hungry 
vulture  over  our  starving  land;  our  com- 
missary stores  all  exhausted,  and  our  fam- 
ishing armies  withering  away  in  the  field, 
a  helpless  prey  to  the  insatiate  demon  of 
hunger ;  our  navy  rotting  in  the  docks  for 
want  of  provisions  for  our  gallant  seamen, 
and  we  without  any  railroad  communica- 
tion whatever  with  the  prolific  pine 
thickets  of  the  St.  Croix. 

Ah,  sir,  I  could  very  well  understand 
why  my  amiable  Mends  from  Pennsyl- 
vania (Mr.  Mvers,  Mr.  Kelley  and  Mr. 
O'Neill)  should  be  so  earnest  in  their  sup- 

Eort  of  this  bill  the  other  day;  and  if  their 
onorable  colleague,  my  friend,  Mr.  Ran- 
dall, will  pardon  the  remark,  I  will  say  I 
consider  his  criticism  of  their  action  on 
that  occasion  as  not  only  unjust,  but  un- 
generous. I  knew  they  were  looking  for- 
ward with  a  far-reaching  ken  of  enlight- 
ened statesmanship  to  the  pitiable  condi- 
tion in  which  Philadelphia  will  be  left 
unless  speedily  supplied  with  railroad  con- 
nection in  some  way  or  other  with  this 
garden  spot  of  the  universe.  And  beside, 
sir,  this  discussion  has  relieved  my  mind 
of  a  mystery  that  has  weighed  upon  it  like 
an  incubus  for  years.  I  could  never  un- 
derstand before  why  there  was  so  much 
excitement  during  the  last  Congress  over 
the  acquisition  of  Alta  Vela.  I  could 
never  understand  why  it  was  that  some  of 
our  ablest  statesmen  and  most  disinterested 
patriots  should  entertain  such  dark  fore- 
bodings of  the  untold  calamities  that  were 
to  befall  our  beloved  country  unless  we 
should  take  immediate  possession  of  that 
desirable  island.  But  I  see  now  that  they 
were  laboring  under  the  mistaken  impres- 
sion that  the  government  would  need  the 
guano  to  manure  the  public  lands  on  the 
St  Croix. 


Now,  sir,  I  repeat,  I  have  been  satisfied 
for  years  that  if  there  was  any  portion  of 
the  inhabited  globe  absolutely  in  a  suffer- 
ing condition  for  want  of  a  railroad  it  was 
these  teeming  pine  barrens  of  the  St. 
Croix.  At  what  particular  point  on  that 
noble  stream  such  a  road  should  be  com- 
menced I  knew  was  immaterial,  and  it 
seems  so  to  have  been  considered  by  the 
draughtsman  of  this  bill.  It  might  be  up 
at  the  spring  or  down  at  the  foot-log,  or 
the  water-gate,  or  the  fish- dam,  or  any- 
where along  the  bank,  no  matter  where. 
But  in  what  direction  should  it  run,  or 
where  it  should  terminate,  were  always  to 
my  mind  questions  of  the  most  painful 
perplexity.  I  could  conceive  of  no  place 
on  "God's  green  earth"  in  such  straitened 
circumstances  for  railroad  facilities  as  to  be 
likely  to  desire  or  willing  to  accept  such  a 
connection.  I  knew  that  neither  Bayfield 
nor  Superior  city  would  have  it,  for  they 
both  indignantly  spurned  the  munificence 
of  the  government  when  coupled  with  such 
ignominious  conditions,  and  let  this  very 
same  land  grant  die  on  their  hands  years 
and  years  ago  rather  than  submit  to  the 
degradation  of  a  direct  communication  by 
railroad  with  the  piny  woods  of  the  St. 
Croix ;  and  I  knew  that  what  the  enter- 
prising inhabitants  of  those  giant  young 
cities  would  refuse  to  take  would  have  few 
charms  for  others,  whatever  their  necessi- 
ties or  cupidity  might  be. 

Hence  as  I  have  said,  sir,  I  was  utterly 
at  a  loss  to  determine  where  the  terminus 
of  this  great  and  indispensable  road  should 
be,  until  I  accidentally  overheard  some 
gentleman  the  other  day  mention  the 
name  of  **  Dulvih," 

Duluth!  The  word  fell  upon  my  ear 
with  a  peculiar  and  indescribable  charm, 
like  the  gentle  murmur  of  a  low  fountain 
stealing  forth  in  the  midst  of  roses ;  or  the 
soft,  sweet  accents  of  an  angel's  whisper  in 
the  bright,  joyous  dream  of  sleeping  in- 
nocence. 

"  Duluth  I "  'Twas  the  name  for  which 
my  soul  had  panted  for  years,  as  the  hart 
panteth  for  the  water-brooks.  But  where 
was  Duluth  f  Never  in  all  my  limited 
reading,  had  my  vision  been  gladdened  by 
seeing  the  celestial  word  in  print.  And  I 
felt  a  profound  humiliation  in  my  ignorance 
that  its  dulcet  syllables  had  never  before 
ravished  my  delighted  ear.  I  was  certain 
the  draughtsman  in  this  bill  had  never 
heard  of  it  or  it  would  have  been  desig- 
nated as  one  of  the  termini  of  this  road.  I 
asked  my  friends  about  it,  but  they  knew 
nothing  of  it.  I  rushed  to  the  library, 
and  examined  all  the  maps  I  could  find. 
I  discovered  in  one  of  them  a  delicate  hair- 
like line,  diverging  from  the  Mississippi 
near  a  place  marked  Prescott,  which,  I  sup- 

gosed,  was  intended  to  represent  the  river 
t.  Croix,  but,  could  nowhere  find  DulutK 


BOOK  III.]        J.    PROCTOR    KNOTT'S    DULUTH   SPEECH. 


157 


Nevertheless,  I  was  confident  it  existed 
somewhere,  and  that  its  discovery  would 
constitute  the  crowning  glory  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  if  not  of  all  modern  times.  I 
knew  it  was  bound  to  exist  :a  the  very  na- 
ture of  things ;  that  the  symmetry  and  per- 
fection of  our  planetary  system  would  be 
incomplete  without  it.  That  the  elements 
of  maternal  nature  would  since  have  re- 
solved themselves  back  into  original  chaos 
if  there  had  been  such  a  hiatus  in  creation 
as  would  have  resulted  from  leaving  out 
Duluth  I  In  fact,  sir,  I  was  overwhelmed 
with  the  conviction  that  Duluth  not  only 
existed  somewhere,  but  that  wherever  it 
was,  it  was  a  great  and  glorious  place.  I 
was  convinced  that  the  greatest  calamity 
that  ever  befell  the  benighted  nations  of 
the  ancient  world  was  m  their  having 
passed  away  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
actual  existence  of  Duluth ;  that  their  fa- 
bled Atlantis,  never  seen  save  by  the  hal- 
lowed vision  of  the  inspired  poesy,  was,  in 
fact,  but  another  name  for  Duluth ;  that 
the  golden  orchard  of  the  Hesperides,  was 
but  a  poetical  synonym  for  the  beer-gar- 
dens in  the  vicinity  of  Duluth.  I  was  cer- 
tain that  Herodotus  had  died  a  miserable 
death,  because  in  all  his  travels  and  with 
all  his  geographical  research  he  had  never 
heard  of  Duluth.  I  knew  that  if  the  im- 
mortal spirit  of  Homer  could  look  down 
from  another  heaven  than  that  created  by 
his  own  celestial  genius  upon  the  long 
lines  of  pilgrims  from  every  nation  of  the 
earth  to  the  gushing  fountain  of  poesy 
opened  by  the  touch  of  his  magic  wand,  if 
he  could  be  permitted  to  behold  the  vast 
assemblage  of  grand  and  glorious  produc- 
tions of  the  lyric  art  called  into  being  by 
his  own  inspired  strains,  he  would  weep 
tears  of  bitter  anguish  that,  instead  of  lav- 
ishing all  the  stores  of  his  mighty  genius 
upon  the  fall  of  Illion,  it  had  not  been  his 
more  blessed  lot  to  crystalize  in  deathless 
son^  the  rising  glories  of  Duluth.  Yes, 
sir,  had  it  not  oeen  for  this  map,  kindly 
furnished  me  by  the  legislature  of  Minne- 
sota, I  might  have  gone  down  to  my  ob- 
scure and  humble  grave  in  an  agony  of 
despair,  because  I  could  nowhere  find 
Duluth.  Had  such  been  my  melancholy 
fate,  I  have  no  doubt  that  with  the  last 
feeble  pulsation  of  my  breaking  heart,  with 
the  last  faint  exhalation  of  my  fleeting 
breath,  I  should  have  whispered,  "  Where 
is  Duluth  f 

But,  thanks  to  the  beneficence  of  that 
band  of  ministering  angels  who  have  their 
bright  abodes  in  the  far-off  capital  of  Min- 
nesota, just  as  the  agony  of  my  anxiety 
was  about  to  culminate  in  the  frenzy  of  de- 
spair, this  blessed  map  was  placed  in  my 
hands ;  and  as  I  unfolded  it  a  resplendent 
scene  of  ineffable  glory  opened  before  me, 
such  as  I  imagined  burst  upon  the  enrap- 
tured vision  of  the  wandering  peri  through 


the  opening  gates  of  Paradise.  There, 
there,  for  the  first  time,  my  enchanted  ey© 
rested  upon  the  ravishing  word,  "  Duluth ! " 
This  map,  sir,  is  intended,  as  it  appears 
from  its  title,  to  illustrate  the  position  of 
Duluth  in  the  United  States ;  but  if  gen- 
tlemen will  examine  it,  I  think  they  will 
concur  with  me  in  the  opinion,  that  it  is  far 
too  modest  in  its  pretensions.  It  not  only 
illustrates  the  position  of  Duluth  in  the 
United  States,  but  exhibits  its  relations 
with  all  created  things.  It  even  goes  fur- 
ther than  this.  It  hits  the  shadowy  vale 
of  futurity,  and  affords  us  a  view  of  the 
golden  prospects  of  Duluth  far  along  the 
dim  vista  of  ages  yet  to  come. 

If  gentlemen  will  examine  it,  they  will 
find  Duluth  not  only  in  the  center  of  the 
map,  but  represented  in  the  center  of  a 
series  of  concentric  circles  one  hundred 
miles  apart,  and  some  of  them  as  much  as 
four  thousand  miles  in  diameter,  embracing 
alike,  in  their  tremendous  sweep  the  frag- 
rant savannas  of  the  sunlit  South  and  the 
eternal  solitudes  of  snow  that  mantle  the 
ice-bound  North.  How  these  circles  were 
produced  is  perhaps  one  of  those  primordial 
mysteries  that  the  most  skilled  paleologist 
will  never  be  able  to  explain.  Butthefactis, 
sir,  Duluth  is  pre-eminently  a  central  point, 
for  I  am  told  by  gentlemen  who  have  been 
so  reckless  of  their  own  personal  safety  as 
to  venture  away  into  those  awful  regions 
where  Duluth  is  supposed  to  be,  that  it  is 
so  exactly  in  the  center  of  the  visible  uni- 
verse that  the  sky  comes  down  at  precisely 
the  same  distance  all  around  it. 

I  find,  by  reference  to  this  map,  that 
Duluth  is  situated  somewhere  near  the 
western  end  of  Lake  Superior,  but  as  there 
is  no  dot  or  other  mark  indicating  its  exact 
location,  I  am  unable  to  say  whether  it  is 
actually  confined  to  any  particular  spot,  or 
whether  "it  is  just  lying  around  there 
loose."  I  really  cannot  tell  whether  it  is 
one  of  those  ethereal  creations  of  intellec- 
tual frostwork,  more  intangible  than  the 
roscrtinted  clouds  of  a  summer  sunset;  one 
of  those  airy  exhalations  of  the  specula- 
tor's brain  which,  I  am  told,  are  very  flit- 
ting in  the  form  of  towns  and  cities  along 
those  lines  of  railroad,  built  with  govern- 
ment subsidies,  luring  the  unwary  settler  as 
the  mirage  of  the  desert  lures  the  famish- 
ing traveler  on,  and  ever  on,  until  it  fades 
away  in  the  darkening  horizon ;  or  whether 
it  is  a  real,  bona  fide,  substantial  city,  all 
"  staked  off,"  with  the  lots  marked  with 
their  owners'  names,  like  that  proud  com- 
mercial metropolis  recently  discovered 
on  the  desirable  shores  of  San  Domingo. 
But,  however  that  may  be,  I  am  satisfied 
Duluth  is  there,  or  thereabouts,  for  I  see 
it  stated  here  on  the  map  that  it  is  ex- 
actly thirty-nine  hundred  and  ninety  miles 
from  Liverpool,  though  I  have  no  doubt, 
for  the  sake  of  convenience,  it  will  be 


158 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


moved  back  ten  miles,  so  as  to  make  the 
distance  an  e^en  four  thousand. 

Then,  sir,  there  is  the  climate  of  Duluth, 
unquestionably  the  most  salubrious  and 
delightful  to  be  found  anywhere  on 
the  Lord's  earth.  Now,  I  have  always 
been  under  the  impression,  as  I  pre- 
sume other  gentlemen  have,  that  in  the 
region  around  Lake  Superior  it  was  cold 
enough  for  at  least  nine  months  in  the 
year  to  freeze  the  smoke-stack  off  a  loco- 
motive. But  I  see  it  represented  on  this  map 
that  Duluth  is  situated  exactly  half  way  be- 
tween the  latitudes  of  Paris  and  Venice, 
Bo  that  gentlemen  Avho  have  inhaled  the 
exhilarating  air  of  the  one,  or  basked  in 
the  golden  sunlight  of  the  other,  may  see 
at  a  glance  that  Duluth  must  be  the  place  of 
untold  delight,  a  terrestrial  paradise,fanned 
by  the  balmy  zephyrs  of  an  eternal  spring, 
clothed  in  the  gorgeous  sheen  of  ever  bloom- 
ing flowers,  and  vocal  with  the  silvery  melo- 
dy of  nature's  choicest  songsters.  In  fact 
sir,  since  I  have  seen  this  map,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  Byron  was  vainly  endeavoring 
to  convey  some  faint  conception  of  the  de- 
licious charms  of  Duluth  when  his  poetic 
soul  gushed  forth,  in  the  rippling  strains 
of  that  beautiful  rhapsody — 

"  Know  ye  the  land  of  the  cedar  and  the  vine, 
W)ience  the  flowers  ever  blossom,  the  beams  ever  gbine ; 
Where  the  light  wing8  of  Zephyr,  oppressed  with  pur- 
fume. 
Wax  faint  o'er  the  gardens  of  Gul  in  her  bloom ; 
Where  the  citron  and  olive  are  fairest  of  fruit. 
And  the  voice  of  the  nightingale  never  is  mute ; 
Where  the  tints  of  the  earth  and  the  hues  of  the  sky, 
In  color  though  varied,  in  beauty  may  vie  ?  " 

As  to  the  commercial  resources  of 
Duluth,  sir,  they  are  simply  illimitable 
and  inexhaustible,  as  is  shown  by  this 
map.  I  see  it  stated  here  that  there  is  a 
vast  scope  of  territory,  embracing  an  area 
of  over  two  millions  of  square  miles,  rich 
in  every  element  of  material  wealth  and 
commercial  prosperity,  all  tributary  to 
Duluth.  Look  at  it,  sir,  (pointing  to 
the  map.)  Here  are  inexhaustible  mmes 
of  gold,  immeasurable  veins  of  silver,  im- 
penetrable depths  of  boundless  forest,  vast 
coal  measures,  vide  extended  plains  of 
richest  pasturage  —  all,  all  embraced  in 
this  vast  territory — which  must,  in  the 
very  nature  of  things,  empty  the  untold 
treasures  of  its  commerce  into  the  lap  of 
Duluth.  Look  at  it,  sir,  (pointing  to  the 
map) ;  do  not  you  see  from  the^e  broad, 
brown  lines  drawn  around  this  immense  ter- 
ritory, that  the  enterprising  inhabitants  of 
Duluth  intend  some  day  to  inclose  it  all 
in  one  vast  corrall,  so  that  its  commerce 
will  be  bound  to  go  there  whether  it  would 
or  not?  And  here,  sir.  (still  pointing  to 
the  map),  I  find  within  a  convenient  dis- 
tance the  Piegan  Indians,  which,  of  all 
the  manv  acce^'S'^ries  to  the  glory  of 
Duluth.  I    consider  by  far  the  most    in- 


estimable. For,  sir,  I  have  been  told  that 
when  the  small-pox  breaks  out  among  the 
women  and  children  of  the  famous  tribe, 
as  it  sometimes  does,  they  afford  the  finest 
subjects  in  the  world  for  the  strategical  ex- 
periments of  any  enterprising  military  hero 
who  desires  to  improve  himself  in  the  no- 
ble art  of  war,  especially  for  any  valiant 
lieutenant-general  whose 

"Trenchant  blade,  Toledo  trusty. 
For  want  of  fighting  has  grown  rusty, 
And  eats  into  itself  for  lack, 
Of  somebody  to  hew  and  hack." 

Sir,  the  great  conflict  now  raging  in  the 
Old  World  has  presented  a  phenomenon  in 
military  science  unprecedented  in  the  an- 
nals of  mankind,  a  phenomenon  that  has 
reversed  all  the  traditions  of  the  past  as  it 
has  disappointed  all  the  expectations  of 
the  present.  A  great  and  warlike  people, 
renowned  alike  for  their  skill  and  valor, 
have  been  swept  away  before  the  triumph- 
ant advance  of  an  inferior  foe,  like  autumn 
stubble  before  a  hurricane  of  fire.  For 
aught  I  know  the  next  flash  of  electric  fire 
that  simmers  along  the  ocean  cable  may 
tell  us  that  Paris,  with  every  fibre  quiver- 
ing with  the  agony  of  impotent  despair, 
writhes  beneath  the  conquering  heel  of 
her  loathed  invader.  Ere  another  moon 
shall  wax  and  wane,  the  brightest  star  in 
the  galaxy  of  nations  may  fall  from  the 
zenith  of  her  glory  never  to  rise  again. 
Ere  the  modest  violets  of  early  spring  shall 
ope  their  beauteous  eyes,  the  genius  of  civ- 
ilization may  chaunt  the  wailing  requiem 
of  the  proudest  nationality  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  as  she  scatters  her  withered  and 
tear-moistened  lilies  o'er  the  bloody  tomb 
of  butchered  France.  But,  sir,  I  wish  to 
ask  if  you  honestly  and  candidly  believe 
that  the  Dutch  would  have  overrun  the 
French  in  that  kind  of  style  if  General 
Sheridan  had  not  gone  over  there,  and  told 
King  William  and  Von  Moltke  how  he 
had  managed  to  whip  the  Piegan  Indians. 

And  here,  sir,  recurring  to  this  map,  I 
find    in    the    immediate  vicinity  of    the 
Piegans  "  vast  herds  of  buffalo  "  and  "  im- 
mense fields  of  rich  wheat  lands." 
[Here  the  hammer  fell.] 

[Many  cries :  "  Go  on !"  "  go  on  !"J 

The  Speaker — Is  there  any  objection  to 
the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  continuing 
his  remarks  ?  The  chair  hears  none.  The 
gentleman  will  proceed. 

Mr.  Knott — i  was  remarking,  sir,  upon 
these  vast  "  wheat  fields  "  represented  on 
this  map  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  buffaloes  and  Piegans,  and  was  about 
to  say  that  the  idea  of  there  being  these 
immense  wheat  fields  in  the  very  heart  of 
a  wilderness,  hundreds  and  hundreds  of 
miles  beyond  the  utmost  verge  of  civiliza- 
tion, may  appear  to  some  gentlemen  as 
rather  incongruous,  as  rather  too  great  a 


BOOKiii.J    HENRY  CAREY  ON  THE  RATES  OP  INTEREST.  169 


■train  on  the  "  blankets  "  of  veracity.    But 
to  my  mind  there  is  no  diflBculty  in  the  mat- 
ter whatever.    The   phenomenon  is  very 
easily  accounted  for.     It  is  evident,  sir, 
that  the  Piegans  sowed  that  wheat  there 
and  ploughed  it  in  with  buffalo  bulls.    Now, 
sir,  tnis  fortunate  combination  of  buffaloes 
and  Piegans,  considering  their  relative  po- 
sitions to  each  other  and  to  Duluth,  as  they 
are  arranged  on  this  map,  satisfies  me  that 
Duluth  is  destined  to  be  the  best  market  of 
the  world.    Here,  you  will  observe,  (point- 
ing to  the  map),  are  the  buffaloes,  directly 
between   the  Piegans   and    Duluth;  and 
here,  right  on  the  road  to  Duluth,  are  the 
Creeks.     Now,  sir,  when  the  buffaloes  are 
sufficiently  fat  from  grazing  on  those  im- 
mense wheat  fields,  you  see  it  will  be  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world  for  the  Piegans 
to  drive  them  on  down,  stay  all  night  with 
their  friends,  the  Creeks,  and  go  into  Du- 
luth in  the  morning.     I  think  I  see  them, 
now,  sir,  a  vast  herd  of  buffaloes,  with  their 
heads  down,  their  eyes  glaring,  their  nos- 
trils dilated,  their  tongues  out,  and  their 
tails  curled  over  their  backs,  tearing  along 
toward  Duluth,  with  about  a  thousand  Pie- 
gans on  their  grass-bellied  ponies,  yelling 
at  their  heels  I     On  they  come  I    And  as 
they  sweep  past  the  Creeks,  they  join  in 
the  chase,  and  away  they  all  go,  yelling, 
bellowing,  ripping  and  tearing  along,  amid 
clouds  of  dust,   until  the  last  buffalo  is 
safely  penned  in  the  stock-yards  at  Duluth. 
Sir,  I  might  stand  here  for  hours  and 
hours,   and  expatiate  with  rapture  upon 
the  gorgeous  prospects  of  Duluth,  as  de- 
picted upon  this  map.     But  human  life  is 
too  short,  and  the  time  of  this  house  far 
too  valuable  to  allow  me  to  linger  longer 
upon  this  delightfiil  theme.     I  think  every 
gentleman  upon  this  floor  is  as  well  satisfied 
as  I  am  that  Duluth  is  destined  to  become 
the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  universe 
and  that  this  road  should  be  built  at  once. 
I  am  fully  persuaded  that  no  patriotic  rep- 
resentative of  the  American  people,  who 
has  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  associated 
glories  of  Duluth  and  the  St.  Croix,  will 
hesitate  a  moment  that  every  able-bodied 
female  in  the  land,  bgtween  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  forty-five,  who  is  in  favor  of 
"  woman's  rights,"  should  be  drafted  and 
set  to  work  upon  this  great  work  without 
delay.     Nevertheless,  sir,  it  grieves  my  very 
Boul  to  be  compelled  to  say  that  I  cannot  vote 
for  the  grant  of  lands  provided  for  in  this  bill. 
Ah,  sir,  you  can  have  no  conception  of 
the  poignancy  of  my  anguish  that  I  am  de- 
prived of  that  blessed  privilege !  There  are 
two  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way.     In 
the  first  place  my  constituents,  for  whom  I 
am  acting  here,  have  no  more  interest  in 
this  road  than  they  have  in  the  great  ques- 
tion of  culinary  taste  now,  perhaps,  agitat- 
ing the   public  mind  of  Dominica,  as  to 
whether  the  illustrious  commissioners,  who 


recently  left  this  capital  for  that  free  and 
enlightened  republic,  would  be  better  fri- 
casseed, boiled,  or  roasted,  and,  in  the  sec- 
ond place,  these  lands,  which  I  am  asked 
to  give  away,  alas,  are  not  mine  to  bestow  1 
My  relation  to  them  is  simply  that  of  trustee 
to  an  express  trust.  And  shall  I  ever  be- 
tray that  trust?  Never,  sir!  Rather  perish 
Duluth!  Perish  the  paragon  of  cities! 
Rather  let  the  freezing  cyclones  of  the 
bleak  northwest  bury  it  forever  beneath 
the  eddying  sands  of  the  raging  St.  Croix. 


Heiii7  Career's  Speech  on   tlie  Rate*  or 
Intereat. 

In  the  Ptmuylvania  Coiutiiutional  Convention,  1873. 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention,  in 
Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  article  re- 
ported from  the  Committee  on  Agriculture, 
Mining,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce,  the 
first  section  being  as  follows: — "In  the 
absence  of  special  contracts  the  legal  rate 
of  interest  and  discount  shall  be  seven  per 
centum  per  annum,  but  special  contracts 
for  higher  or  lower  rates  snail  be  lawful. 
All  national  and  other  banks  of  issue  shall 
be  restricted  to  the  rate  of  seven  per  cen- 
tum per  annum."  Mr,  H.  C.  Carey  made 
an  address  in  favor  of  striking  out  the  sec- 
tion. The  following  is  an  abstract  of  his 
remarks : — 

Precisely  a  century  and  a  half  since,  in 
1723,  the  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylva- 
nia reduced  the  legal  charge  for  the  use  of 
money  from  eight  to  six  per  cent,  per  annum. 
This  was  a  great  step  in  the  direction  of  civil- 
ization, proving,  as  it  did,  that  the  labor  of 
the  present  was  obtaining  increased  power 
over  accumulations  of  the  past,  the  laborer 
approaching  toward  equality  with  the 
capitalist.  At  that  point  it  has  since  re- 
mained, with,  however,  some  change  in  the 
penalties  which  had  been  then  prescribed 
for  violations  of  the  law. 

Throughout  the  recent  war  the  financial 
policy  of  the  National  Government  so 
greatly  favored  the  money-borrower  and 
the  laborer  as  to  have  afforded  reason  for 
believing  that  the  actual  rate  of  interest 
was  about  to  fall  permanently  below  the 
legal  one,  with  the  effect  of  speedily  caus- 
ing usury  laws  to  fall  into  entire  disuse. 
Since  its  close,  however,  under  a  mistaken 
idea  that  such  was  the  real  road  to  resump- 
tion, all  the  Treasury  operation  of  favoring 
the  money-lender ;  the  result  exhibiting  it- 
self in  the  facts  that  combinations  are  being 
everywhere  formed  for  raising  the  price  of 
money ;  that  the  long  loans  of  the  past  are 
being  daily  more  and  more  superseded  by 
the  call  loans  of  the  present ;  that  manu- 
facturer and  merchant  are  more  and  more 
fleeced  by  Shylocks  who  would  gladly  take 
"the  pound  of  flesh  nearest  the  heart" 


160 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[bOOE  III. 


from  all  over  whom  they  are  enabled  to 
obtain  control. 

Anxious  for  the  perpetuation  of  this  un- 
happy state  of  things,  these  latter  now  in- 
vite their  victims  to  give  their  aid  towards 
leveling  the  barriers  oy  which  they  them- 
selves are  even  yet  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent protected,  assuring  them  that  further 
grant  of  power  will  be  followed  by  greater 
moderation  in  its  exercise.  Misled  there- 
by, money  borrowers,  traders,  and  manu- 
facturers are  seen  uniting,  year  after  year 
with  their  common  enemy  in  the  effort  at 
obtaining  a  repeal  of  the  laws  in  regard  to 
money,  under  which  the  State  has  so 
greatly  prospered.  Happily  our  working 
men,  farmers,  mechanics,  and  laborers  fail 
to  see  that  advantage  is  likely  to  accrue  to 
them  from  a  change  whose  obvious  ten- 
dency is  that  of  increasing  the  power  of 
the  few  who  have  money  to  lend  over  the 
many  who  need  to  borrow  ;  and  hence  it 
is  that  their  Representatives  at  Harrisburg 
have  so  steadily  closed  their  ears  against 
the  siren  song  by  which  it  is  sought  to 
lead  their  constituents  to  give  their  aid  to 
the  work  of  their  own  destruction. 

Under  these  circumstances  is  it  that  we 
are  now  asked  to  give  place  in  the  organic 
law  to  a  provision  by  means  of  which  this 
deplorable  system  is  to  be  made  permanent, 
the  Legislature  being  thereby  prohibited, 
be  the  necessity  what  it  may,  from  placing 
any  restraint  upon  the  few  who  now  con- 
trol the  supply  of  the  most  important  of 
all  the  macninery  of  commerce,  as  against 
the  many  whose  existence,  and  that  of 
their  wives  and  children,  is  dependent 
upon  the  obtaining  the  use  thereof  on  such 
terms  as  shall  not  from  year  to  year  cause 
them  to  become  more  and  more  mere  tools 
in  the  hands  of  the  already  rich.  This 
being  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history 
that  any  such  idea  has  been  suggested,  it 
may  be  well,  before  determining  on  its 
adoption,  to  study  what  has  been  elsewhere 
done  in  this  direction,  and  what  has  been 
the  result. 

Mr.  Carev  then  proceeded  to  quote  at 
great  length  from  recent  and  able  writers 
the  results  that  had  followed  in  England 
from  the  adoption  of  the  proposition  now 
before  the  convention.  These  may  be 
summed  up  as  the  charging  of  enormous 
rates  of  interest,  the  London  joint-stock 
banks  making  dividends  among  their  stock- 
holders to  the  extent  of  twenty,  thirty,  and 
almost  forty  per  cent.,  the  whole  of  which 
has  ultimately  to  be  taken  from  the  wages 
of  labor  employed  in  manufactures,  or  in 
agriculture.  At  no  time,  said  Mr.  Carey, 
in  Britain's  history,  have  pauperism  and 
usury  traveled  so  closely  hand  in  hand  to- 
gether ;  the  rich  growing  rich  to  an  extent 
that,  till  now,  would  have  been  regarded 
as  fabulous,  and  the  wretchedness  of  the 
poor  having  grown  in  like  proportion. 


After  discussing  the  effects  of  the  repeal 
of  the  usury  laws  in  some  of  the  American 
States,  Mr.  Carey  continued : — 

"  We  may  be  told,  however,  that  at  times 
money  is  abundant,  and  that  even  so  late 
as  last  summer  it  was  difficult  to  obtain 
legal  interest.  Such  certainly  was  the 
case  with  those  who  desired  to  put  it  out 
on  call ;  but  at  that  very  moment  those 
who  needed  to  obtain  the  use  of  money  for 
long  periods  were  being  taxed,  even  on  se- 
curities of  unexceptionable  character,  at 
double,  or  more  than  double,  the  legal 
rates.  The  whole  tendency  of  the  existing 
system  is  in  the  direction  of  annihilating 
the  disposition  for  making  those  perma- 
nent loans  of  money  by  means  of  which 
the  people  of  other  countries  are  enabled 
to  carry  into  effect  operations  tending  to 
secure  to  themselves  control  of  the  world's 
commerce.  Under*  that  system  there  is, 
and  there  can  be,  none  of  that  stability  in 
the  price  of  money  required  for  carrying 
out  such  operations. 

Leaving  out  of  view  the  recent  great 
combination  for  the  maintenance  and  per- 
petuation of  slavery,  there  has  been  none 
so  powerftil,  none  so  dangerous  as  that 
which  now  exists  among  those  who,  hav- 
ing obtained  a  complete  control  of  the 
money  power,  are  laboring  to  obtain  legal 
recognition  of  the  right  of  capital  to  per- 
fect freedom  as  regards  all  the  measures  to 
which  it  may  be  pleased  to  resort  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  more  perfect  control 
over  labor.  Already  several  of  the  States 
have  to  some  extent  yielded  to  the  pressure 
that  has  been  brought  to  bear  upon  them. 
Chief  among  these  is  Massachusetts,  the 
usury  laws  having  there  been  totally  re- 
pealed, and  with  the  effect,  says  a  distin- 
guished citizen  of  that  State,  that  "all  the 
savings  institutions  of  the  city  at  once 
raised  the  rate  from  six  to  seven  per  cent.; 
those  out  of  the  city  to  seven  and  a  half 
and  eight  per  cent,  and  there  was  no  rate 
too  high  for  the  greedy.  The  conse- 
quence," as  he  continues,  has  been  disas- 
trous to  indnstrial  pursuits.  Of  farming 
towns  in  my  county,  more  than  one  quar- 
ter have  diminished  in  population."  Rates 
per  day  have  now  to  a  great  extent,  as  I 
am  assured,  superseded  the  old  rates  per 
month  or  year ;  two  cents  per  day,  or  $7.30 
per  annum,  having  become  the  charge  for 
securities  of  the  highest  order.  What,  un- 
der such  circumstances,  must  be  the  rate 
for  paper  of  those  who,  sound  and  solvent 
as  they  may  be,  cannot  ftirnish  such  secu- 
rity, may  readily  be  imagined.  Let  the 
monopoly  system  be  maintained  and  the 
rate,  even  at  its  headquarters.  New  Eng- 
land, will  attain  a  far  higher  point  than 
any  that  has  yet  been  reachea ;  this,  too 
in  despite  of  the  fact  that  her  people  had 
so  promptly  secured  to  themselves  a  third 
of  the  whole  circulation  allowed  to  the 


BOOK  III.]   HENRY  CAREY  ON  THE  RATES  OF  INTEREST.  161 


40,000,000  of  the  population  of  the  Union 
scattered  throughout  almost  a  continent. 
How  greatly  they  value  the  power  that  has 
been  thus  obtained  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  to  every  effort  at  inducing  them  to 
surrender,  for  advantage  of  the  West  or 
South,  any  portion  thereof,  has  met  with 
resistance  so  determined  that  nothing  has 
been  yet  accomplished. 

Abandonment  of  our  present  policy  is 
strongly  urged  upon  us  for  the  reason  that 
mortgages  bear  in  New  York  a  higher  rate 
of  interest.  A  Pennsylvanian  in  any  of 
the  northern  counties  has,  as  we  are  told, 
but  to  cross  the  line  to  obtain  the  best  se- 
curity at  seven  per  cent.  Why,  however, 
is  it  that  his  neighbors  find  themselves 
compelled  to  go  abroad  when  desirous  of 
obtaining  money  on  such  security?  The 
answer  to  this  question  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  taxation  of  mortgages  is  there  so 
great  as  to  absorb  from  half  to  two-thirds 
of  the  interest  promised  to  be  paid. 

Again,  we  are  told  that  Ohio  legalizes 
"  special  contracts  "  up  to  eight  per  cent, 
ana,  that  il^we  would  prevent  the  efflux  of 
capital  we  must  follow  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. Is  there,  however,  in  the  exhibit 
now  made  by  that  State,  anything  to  war- 
rant us  in  so  doing?  Like  Pennsylvania, 
she  has  abundant  coal  and  ore.  She  has 
two  large  cities,  the  one  fronting  on  the 
Ohio,  and  the  other  on  the  lakes,  giving 
her  more  natural  facilities  for  maintaining 
commerce  than  are  possessed  by  Pennsyl- 
vania; and  yet,  while  the  addition  to  her 
population  in  the  last  decade  was  but  306,- 
000,  that  of  Pennsylvania  was  615,000.  In 
that  time  she  added  900  to  her  railroad 
mileage,  Pennsylvania  meantime  adding 
2,500.  While  her  capital  engaged  in  man- 
ufactures rose  from  67  to  141  millions,  that 
of  Pennsylvania  grew  from  109  to  406,  the 
mere  increase  of  the  one  being  more  than 
fifty  per  cent,  in  excess  of  the  total  of  the 
other.  May  we  find  in  these  figures  any 
evidence  that  capital  has  been  attracted  to 
Ohio  by  a  higher  rate  of  interest,  or  re- 
pelled from  our  State  by  a  lower  one  ?  As- 
suredly not ! 

What  in  this  direction  is  proposed  to  be 
done  among  ourselves  is  shown  in  the  sec- 
tion now  presented  for  our  consideration. 
By  it  the  legal  rate  in  the  absence  of  "  spe- 
cial contracts  "  is  to  be  raised  to  seven  per 
cent.,  such  "  contracts,"  however  ruinous 
in  their  character,  and  whatsoever  the  na- 
ture of  the  security,  are  to  be  legalized ; 
the  only  exception  to  these  sweeping 
changes  being  tnat  national  banks,  issuing 
circulating  notes  are  to  be  limited  to  seven 
per  cent.  Shylock  asked  only  "  the  due 
and  forfeit  of  his  bond."  Let  this  section 
be  adopted,  let  him  then  present  himself 
In  any  of  our  courts,  can  its  judge  do  other 
'.han  decide  that  "  the  law  allows  it  and 
the  court  awards  it,"  monstrous  as  may 
39 


have  been  the  usury,  and  discreditable  as 
may  have  been  the  arts  by  means  of  which 
the  unfortunate  debtor  may  have  been  en- 
trapped? Assuredly  not.  Shylock,  hap- 
pily, was  outwitted,  the  bond  having  made 
no  provision  for  taking  even  "  one  jot  of 
blood."  Here,  the  unfortunate  debtor, 
forced  by  his  flinty-hearted  creditor  into  a 
"special  contract"  utterly  ruinous,  may, 
in  view  of  the  destruction  of  all  hope  for 
the  future  of  his  wife  and  children,  shed 
almost  tears  of  blood,  but  they  will  be  of 
no  avail ;  yet  do  we  claim  to  live  under  a 
system  whose  foundation-stone  exhibits  it- 
self in  the  great  precept  from  which  we 
learn  that  duty  requires  of  us  to  do  to  others 
as  we  would  that  others  should  do  unto 
ourselves. 

By  the  English  law  the  little  landowner, 
the  mechanic  who  owns  the  house  in  which 
he  lives,  is  protected  against  his  wealthy 
mortgagee.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  the 
farmer,  sufiering  under  the  effects  of  blight 
or  drought,  and  thus  deprived  of  power  to 
meet  with  punctuality  the  demands  of  his 
mortgagee,  is  to  have  no  protection  what- 
soever. So,  too,  with  the  poor  mechanic 
suffering  temporarily  by  reason  of  acciden  • 
tal  incapacity  for  work,  and,  with  the 
sheriff"  ftill  in  view  before  him,  compelled 
to  enter  into  a  "  special  contract "  doubling 
if  not  trebling,  the  previous  rate  of  interest. 
Infamous  as  may  be  its  extortion  the  court 
may  not  deny  the  aid  required  fo.r  its  en- 
forcement. 

The  amount  now  loaned  on  mortgage  se- 
curity in  this  State  at  six  per  cent,  is  cer- 
tainly not  less  than  $400,000,000,  and  prob- 
ably extends  to  $.500,000,000,  a  large  por- 
tion of  which  is  liable  to  be  called  for  at 
any  moment.  Let  this  section  be  adopted 
and  we  shall  almost  at  once  witness  a  com- 
bined movement  among  mortgagees  for 
raising  the  rate  of  interest.  Notices  de- 
manding payment  will  fly  thick  as  hail 
throughout  the  State,  every  holder  of  such 
security  knowing  well  that  the  greater  the 
alarm  that  can  be  produced  and  the  more 
utter  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  other 
moneys  the  larger  may  be  made  the  future 
rate  of  interest.  The  unfortunate  mort- 
gagor must  then  accept  the  terms,  hard  as 
they  may  be,  dictatecl  to  him,  be  they  8, 
10,  12,  or  20  per  cent.  Such,  as  I  am  as- 
sured has  been  the  course  of  things  in  Con- 
necticut, where  distress  the  most  severe 
has  been  produced  by  a  recent  abandon- 
ment by  the  State  of  the  policy  under 
which  it  has  in  the  past  so  greatly  pros- 
pered. At  this  moment  her  savings'  banks 
are  engaged  in  compelling  mortgagers  to 
accept  eight  per  cent,  as  the  present  rate. 
How  long  it  will  be  before  they  will  carry 
it  up  to  ten  or  twelve,  or  what  will  be  the 
effect,  remains  to  be  seen.  Already  among 
ourselves  the  effects  of  tbe  sad  blundeni.ot 
our  great  financiers  exhibit  themselvee-  in 


162 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


the  ter^  unpleasant  fact  that  sheriffi'  sales 
are  six  times  more  numerous  than  they 
were  in  the  period  from  1861  to  1867, 
when  the  country  was  so  severely  suffering 
under  the  waste  of  property,  labor,  and 
life,  which  had  but  tnen  occurred.  Let 
this  section  be  adopted,  giving  perfect  free- 
dom to  the  Shylocks  of  the  day,  and  the 
next  half  dozen  years  will  witness  the 
transfer,  under  the  sheriff's  hammer,  of 
the  larger  portion  of  the  real  property  of 
both  the  city  and  the  State.  Of  all  the  de- 
vices yet  invented  for  the  subjugation  of 
labor  by  capital,  there  is  none  that  can 
claim  to  be  entitled  to  take  precedence  of 
that  which  has  been  now  proposed  for  our 
consideration. 

Rightly  styled  the  Keystone  of  the 
Union,  one  duty  yet  remains  to  her  to  be 
performed,  to  wit :  that  of  bringing  about 
equality  in  the  distribution  of  power  over 
that  machinery  for  whose  use  men  pay  in- 
terest, which  is  known  as  money.  New 
England,  being  rich  and  having  her  peo- 

Ele  concentrated  within  very  narrow  limits, 
as  been  allowed  to  absorb  a  portion  of 
that  power  fully  ecjual  to  her  needs,  while 
this  State,  richer  still,  has  been  so  "  cabined, 
cribbed,  confined,"  that  her  mine  and  fur- 
nace operators  find  it  difficult  to  obtain 
that  circulating  medium  by  whose  aid 
alone  can  they  distribute  among  their 
workmen  their  shares  of  the  things  pro- 
duced.— New  York,  already  rich,  has  been 
allowed  to  absorb  a  fourth  of  the  permitted 
circulation,  to  the  almost  entire  exclusion 
of  the  States  south  of  Pennsylvania  and 
west  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  hence  it  is 
that  her  people  are  enabled  to  levy  upon 
those  of  all  these  latter  such  enormous 
taxes.  To  the  work  of  correcting  this 
enormous  evil  Pennsylvania  should  now 
address  herself.  Instead  of  following  in. 
the  wake  of  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut, 
thereby  giving  to  the  monopoly  an  increase 
of  strength,  let  her  place  herself  side  by 
side  with  the  suffering  States  of  the  West, 
the  South,  and  the  Southwest,  demanding 
that  what  has  been  made  free  to  New 
York  and  New  England  shall  be  made 
equally  free  to  her  and  them.  Let  her  do 
this,  and  the  remedy  will  be  secured,  with 
such  increase  in  the  general  power  for  de- 
veloping the  wonderful  resources  of  the 
Union  as  will  speedily  make  of  it  an  iron 
and  cloth  exporting  State,  with  such  power 
for  retaining  and  controlling  the  precious 
metals  as  will  i)lace  it  on  a  surer  footing  in 
that  respect  than  any  of  the  powers  of  the 
Eastern  world.  The  more  rapid  the  socie- 
tary  circulation,  and  the  greater  the  facili- 
ty of  making  exchanges  from  hand  to 
hand,  and  from  place  to  place,  the  ^eater 
is  the  tendency  toward  reduction  in  the 
rate  of  interest,  toward  equality  in  the  con- 
dition of  laborer  and  employer,  and  toward 
growth  and  power  to  command  the  services 


of  all  the  metals,  gold  and  silver  in- 
cluded. 

It  will  be  said,  however,  that  adoption 
of  such  measures  as  have  been  indicated 
would  tend  to  produce  a  general  rise  of 
prices ;  or,  in  the  words  of  our  self-styled 
economists,  would  cause  "  inflation."  The 
vulgar  error  here  involved  was  examined 
some  thirty  years  since  by  an  eminent 
British  economist,  and  with  a  thorough- 
ness never  before  exhibited  in  reference  to 
any  other  economic  question  whatsoever, 
the  result  exhibiting  itself  in  the  follow- 
ing brief  words  of  a  highly  distinguished 
American  one,  published  some  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  since,  to  wit : 

"  Among  the  innumerable  influences 
which  go  to  determine  the  general  rate  of 
prices,  the  quantity  of  money,  or  currency, 
is  one  of  the  least  effective." 

Since  then  we  have  had  a  great  war,  in 
the  course  of  which  there  have  been 
numerous  and  extensive  changes  in  the 
price  of  commodities,  every  one  of  which 
is  clearly  traceable  to  causes  widely  differ- 
ent from  those  to  which  they  so  generally 
are  attributed.  Be  that,  however,  as  it 
may,  the  question  now  before  us  is  one  of 
right  and  justice,  and  not  of  mere  expedi- 
ency. North  and  east  of  Pennsylvania 
eight  millions  of  people  have  been  allowed 
a  greater  share  of  the  most  important  of 
all  powers,  the  money  one,  than  has  been 
allotted  to  the  thirty-two  millions  south 
and  west  of  New  York,  and  have  thus  been 
granted  a  power  of  taxation  that  should  be 
no  longer  tolerated.  The  basis  of  our 
whole  system  is  to  be  found  in  equality 
before  the  law,  each  and  every  man,  eacn 
and  every  State,  being  entitled  to  exercise 
the  same  powers  that  are  permitted  to  our 
people,  or  other  States,  If  the  Union  is 
to  be  maintained,  it  can  be  so  on  no  terms 
other  than  those  of  recognition  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  equality  that  has  here  been 
indicated.  To  the  work  of  compelling 
that  recognition  Pennsylvania  should  give 
herself,  inscribing  on  her  shield  the  brief 
words  jiat  Justitia,  mat  ccclum — let  justice 
be  done  though  the  heavens  fall  I 


Speech  of  0«n.  Stmen  Cameron. 

On  the  benefiti  derived  by  Penntylvania  from  the  PoUey  »f 
Internal  Improvement*. 

Any  one  will  see,  who  will  take  the 
trouble  to  read  the  debates  on  the  location 
of  the  National  Capital,  that  the  decision 
of  that  question  seems  to  have  been  made 
solely  with  reference  to  a  connection  of  the  ' 
East  with  the  then  great  wilderness  of  the 
West.  All  the  sagacious  men  then  in  pub- 
lic life  looked  to  the  time  when  the  West, 
with  its  wonderful  productive  soil  brought 
under  subjection  by  industry,  would  exer- 
cise a  controlling  influence  on  the  destiny 


BOOK  III.]     CAMERON    ON    INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 


163 


of  the  country.  Columbia,  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  was  at  one  time  within  one 
vote  of  becoming  the  site  of  the  Capital ; 
and  Germantown,  near,  and  now  a  part  of, 
Philadelphia,  was  actually  decided  on  as 
the  proper  location  by  a  majority  of  one. 
The  first  of  these  was  favored  because  it 
was  believed  to  be  a  favorable  point  from 
which  to  begin  a  slack  water  route  to  the 
west.  Germantown  near  the  Schuylkill, 
was  chosen  for  the  same  reason.  All  looked 
forward  to  a  system  of  canals  which  would 
accomplish  this  desirable  object,  and  ex- 
perience has  fully  demonstrated  their  wis- 
dom in  that  great  design.  About  1790, 
General  Washington  and  the  great  finan- 
cier Robert  Morris,  traveled  on  horseback 
from  Philadelphia  to  the  Susquehanna 
river,  with  a  view  of  deciding  whether  a 
canal  could  be  built  over  that  route. 

Shortly  after  this,  some  gentlemen  near 
Philadelphia  actually  began  building  a 
canal  to  the  west,  did  some  work  on  its 
eastern  end,  built  one  or  two  locks  on  the 
dividing  ridge  near  Lebanon,  and  for  want 
of  sufficient  funds  and  knowledge  of  the 
subject  the  work  was  stopped.  The  money 
expended  on  the  enterprise  was  lost. 

But  the  progressive  men  of  the  country, 
keeping  their  minds  on  the  subject,  con- 
tinued to  agitate  the  popular  mind  on  it 
until  1820,  when  the  Legislature  of  Penn- 
sylvania chartered  the  Union  Canal  Com- 
pany, and  appropriated  one  million  dollars 
to  aid  its  construction.  In  a  few  years  the 
canal  was  completed  between  the  Schuyl- 
kill and  Susquehanna.  Although  very 
small,  this  improvement  did  a  great  deal 
of  good.  And  the  most  remarkable  thing 
about  it  was  its  unpopularity  with  the 
masses.  Not  only  the  members  of  General 
Assembly  who  passed  the  bill,  but  Gov- 
ernor Heister,  who  signed  the  act  of  in- 
corporation, were  driven  from  office  at  the 
first  opportunity  legally  presented  for  test- 
ing public  opinion,  and  the  party  to  which 
they  belonged  went  into  a  minority.  I 
remember  well  what  a  mighty  sum  a  mil- 
lion dollars  seemed  to  be ;  and  the  politi- 
cal revolution  caused  by  this  appropriation 
showed  me  that  the  idea  of  its  vastness 
wa.s  not  confined  by  any  means  to  myself. 

Our  system  of  cananals  was  completed, 
and  the  benefits  derived  from  them  were 
incalculable.  When  they  were  commenced 
our  State  was  poor.  Industry  languished. 
The  interchange  of  her  products  was  dif- 
ficult. Population  was  sparse.  Intelli- 
gence was  not  generally  diffused.  Manu- 
factures struggled  weakly  along.  Work 
was  not  plentiml.  Wages  were  low.  When 
they  were  finished  the  bugy  hum  of  indus- 
try was  heard  on  every  hand.  Our  popu- 
lation had  grown  until  we  numbered  mil- 
lions. Our  iron  ore  beds  were  yielding 
their  precious  hoards  for  human  use.  Coal 
mines,  unknown  or  useless  until   means 


were  provided  for  transporting  their  wealth 
to  market,  now  sent  millions  of  tons  in 
every  direction.  Progress  in  everv  walk  of 
advanced  civilization  was  realizea,  and  we 
were  on  the  high  road  to  permanent  pros- 
perity. But  in  the  meantime  a  new  and 
better  means  of  communication  had  been 
discovered,  and  the  building  of  railroads 
quickly  reduced  the  value  of  canals,  and 
tlie  works  we  had  completed  at  so  much 
cost,  and  with  such  infinite  labor,  were 
suddenly  superseded.  We  lost  nejirly  all 
the  money  they  had  cost  us,  but  this  in- 
vestment was  wisely  made.  The  return  to 
our  State  was  many  times  greater  than  the 
outlay. 

Like  all  great  projects  intended  for  the 
public  good,  that  of  Internal  Improvement 
progressed.  In  1823,  the  New  It  ork  canal 
— which  had  been  pushed  through  against 
the  prejudiced  opposition  of  the  people, 
by  tne  genius  of  De  Witt  Clinton — was 
opened.  Its  success  caused  a  revolution 
in  the  public  mind  all  over  the  country. 
The  effect  was  so  marked  in  the  State, 
that  in  1825  a  convention  was  called  to 
consider  the  subject.  Every  county  in  the 
State  was  represented,  I  believe.  That 
body  pronounced  in  favor  of  a  grand  sys- 
tem of  public  works,  which  diould  not 
only  connect  the  East  and  West,  but  also 
the  waters  of  the  Susquehanna  with  the 
great  lakes,  the  West  and  the  North-west. 
Appropriations  were  recommended  to  the 
amount  of  three  millions  of  dollars,  and  in 
1826,  I  think  thejwork  began.  This  sum 
seemed  to  be  enormous,  and  the  estimates 
of  the  engineers  reached  a  total  of  six  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Meeting  an  ardent  friend 
of  the  system  one  day,  he  declared  that  a 
sum  of  that  magnitude  could  never  be  ex- 
pended on  these  works.  I  ventured  to  re- 
ply, with  great  deference  to  his  age  and 
experience,  that  I  thought  it  would  be  in- 
sufficient, and  before  they  were  completed 
I  would  not  be  surprised  if  ten  millions 
would  be  found  necessary.  Looking  at  me 
steadily  for  a  few  moments,  he  closed  the 
conversation  by  exclaiming,  "  Young  man, 
you  are  a  d — - — d  fool !  "  I  was  thus  left 
m  fiill  possession  of  his  opinion  of  me. 
But  after  we  had  spent  $41,698,594.74  in 
the  construction  of  these  works,  I  found 
my  estimate  of  his  judgment  was  singular- 
ly in  harmony  with  niy  opinion  of  his 
politeness.    His  candor  I  never  doubted. 

In  the  convention  of  1825,  there  were  two 
gentlemen  who  voted  for  railways  instead 
of  canals.  One  was  professor  Vethake  of 
Dickinson  College,  Carlisle ;  and  the  other 
was  Jacob  Alter,  a  man  of  very  little  edu- 
cation, but  of  strong  understanding.  The 
professor  was  looked  upon  as  a  dreamer, 
and  was  supposed  to  have  led  his  colleague 
astray  in  his  vagaries.  But  they  both  1  ivcd 
to  see  railroads  extended  over  the  whole 
world.    As  a  part  of  our  system  of  publio 


164 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  lit. 


works,  we  built  a  railroad  from  the  Dela- 
ware to  the  Susquehanna,  from  Philadel- 
phia to  Columbia,  and  one  from  the  east- 
ern base  of  the  Allegheny  mountains  to 
their  western  base.  They  were  originally 
intended  to  be  used  with  horse  power.  In 
the  meantime  the  railroad  system  had  been 
commenced,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road, under  the  charge  of  a  man  of  extra- 
ordinary ability,  John  Edgar  Thompson, 
was  rapidly  pushed  to  completion.  An- 
other great  railway,  the  Philadelphia  and 
Reading,  was  built  to  carry  anthracite  coal 
from  the  Schuylkill  mines  to  the  market. 
A  railroad  was  built  each  side  of  the  Le- 
high river,  that  another  part  of  our  coal 
territory  might  find  a  market  in  New  York. 
Another  was  built  from  the  north  branch 
of  the  Susquehanna,  connecting  with  the 
New  York  roads,  and  leading  to  the 
northern  coal  field.  And  yet  another  was 
built  along  the  Susquehanna,  through  the 
southern  coal  basin,  to  the  city  of  Balti- 
more. The  total  cost  of  these  roads,  inde- 
pendent of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad,  was 
195,250,410.10,  as  shown  by  official  reports. 
Their  earnings  last  year  are  officially  given 
at  $24,753,065.32.  Each  of  these  was  forced 
to  contend  with  difficulty  and  prejudice. 
All  were  unpopular,  and  all  were  looked 
upon  with  suspicion  until  they  actually 
forced  their  useftilness  on  the  public  mind;. 
Those  who  made  the  fight  for  canals  were 
forced  to  go  over  the  whole  ground  again 
for  railroads,  and  their  double  victory  is 
greater  than  the  success  generally  vouch- 
safed to  the  pioneers  in  any  cause.  These 
roads,  with  tne  Pennsylvania  railroad  and 
the  lesser  lines  of  improvements  running 
through  the  coal  region  cost  over  $207,000,- 
000. 

The  Reading  Railroad  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  struggle  of  these  great  schemes. 
Its  stock,  now  worth  over  par,  once  sold 
for  twenty  cents  on  the  dollar ;  and  at  one 
time  it  was  forced  to  sell  its  bonds  at  forty 
cents  on  the  dollar  to  pay  operating  expen- 
ses. The  vindication  of  the  sagacity  ot  the 
pioneers  in  these  great  enterprises  is  com- 
plete. All  these  lines  are  now  profitable, 
and  it  has  been  demonstrated  everywhere 
in  the  United  States,  that  every  new  rail- 
road creates  the  business  from  which  its 
■tockholders  receive  their  dividends.  It 
seems,  therefore,  scarcely  possible  to  fix  a 
limit  to  our  profitable  railroad  expansion. 
They  open  new  fields  of  enterprise,  and  this 
enterprise  in  turn,  makes  the  traffic  which 
fills  the  coffers  of  the  companies. 

I  cannot  now  look  back  to  the  struggle 
to  impress  the  people  with  the  advantages 
of  railways,  without  a  feeling  of  weariness 
at  the  seeming  hopeless  struggle,  and  one 
of  merriment  at  the  general  unbelief  in  our 
new-fangled  project.  Once  at  Elizabeth- 
town  in  this  State  a  public  meeting  had 
been  called  for  the  purpose  of  securing 


subscriptions  to  the  stock  of  the  Harrisburg 
and  Lancaster  Railroad.  This  road  was 
intended  to  complete  the  railway  between 
Philadelphia  and  Harrisburg,  one  hundred 
and  five  miles.     A   large  concourse  had 

gathered.  Ovid  F.  Johnson,  Attorney- 
reneral  of  our  State,  and  a  brilliant  orator, 
made  an  excellent  speech;  but  the  effect 
was  not  in  proportion  to  the  effort.  I  deter- 
mined to  make  an  appeal,  and  I  gave  such 
arguments  as  I  coula.  In  closing  I  pre- 
dicted that  thoBe  now  listening  to  me  would 
see  the  day  when  a  man  could  breakfast  in 
Harrisburg,  go  to  Philadelphia,  transact  a 
fair  day's  business  there,  and  returning, 
eat  his  supper  at  home.  Great  applause 
followed  this,  and  some  additional  subscrip- 
tions. Abram  Harnly,  a  friend  of  the 
road,  and  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  his 
class,  worked  his  way  to  me,  and  taking 
me  aside  whispered,  "  That  was  a  good  idea 
about  going  to  Philadelphia  and  back  to 
Harrisburg  the  same  day;"  and  then, 
bursting  with  laughter,  he  added , — "  But 
you  and  I  know  better  than  that !  "  We 
both  lived  to  see  the  road  built ;  and  now 
people  can  come  and  go  over  the  distance 
twice  a  day,  which  Abram  seemed  to  con- 
sider impossible  for  a  single  daily  trip. 

The  peculiar  condition  of  the  States  then 
known  as  "  the  West "  was  the  subject  of 
anxiety  to  many.  They  had  attracted  a 
large  population,  but  the  people,  were  ex- 
clusively devoted  to  agriculture.  Lacking 
diversified  industry,  they  were  without 
accumulated  wealth  to  enable  them  to 
build  railways ;  nor  were  the  States  in  con-  ■ 
dition  to  undertake  such  an  onerous  duty, 
although  several  of  them  made  a  feeble 
attempt  to  do  so.  At  one  time  the  bonds 
of  Illinois,  issued  to  build  her  canals,  sold 
as  low  as  thirty  cents  on  the  dollar.  So 
with  Indiana.  Both  States  were  supposed 
to  be  bankrupt.  It  became,  therefore,  an 
important  problem  as  to  how  means  of 
communication  should  be  supplied  to  the 
people  of  the  West.  Congress,  in  1846, 
gave  a  grant  of  land  to  aid  in  building  a 
railroad  in  Illinois.  Every  alternate  sec- 
tion was  given  to  the  Company,  and  each 
alternate  section  was  reserved  by  the  Grov- 
ernment.  The  road  was  built;  and  the 
one-half  of  the  land  retained  by  the  gov- 
ernment sold  for  a  great  deal  more  than 
all  was  worth  before  the  road  was  con- 
structed. This  idea  was  original,  I  think, 
with  Mr.  Whitney  of  Mass.,  who  spent  two 
winters  in  Washington,  about  1845,  en- 
deavoring to  induce  Congress  to  adopt  that 
plan  for  the  construction  of  a  Trans-Con- 
tinental Railway. 

He  died  before  seeing  his  scheme  suc- 
ceed. Others  have  built  a  road  across  the 
continent  on  the  Central  route.  Another 
on  the  Northern  route  is  now  progressing, 
and  the  wealth  and  enterprise  of  those 
having  it  in  charge  renders  its  completioq 


bookiilJ       JOHN    A.    LOGAN    ON    SELF-GOVERNMENT. 


165 


certain.  And  it  yet  remains  for  us  to  give 
the  people  of  the  Southern  route  a  road  to 
the  Pacific  which  shall  develop  the  mag- 
nificent region  through  which  it  will  pass, 
and  give  the  country  one  route  to  the  great 
ocean  protected  from  the  ordinary  difficulty 
of  climate  with  which  railroads  must  con- 
tend over  so  large  a  part  of  our  territory. 
But  I  am  admonishecl  by  the  value  of  your 
space  to  confine  myself  to  the  limits  oi  my 
own  State. 

I  have  said  that  the  outlay  we  have 
made  in  building  our  public  works  was  of 
great  benefit  to  us  even  when  the  canals 
had  been  rendered  almost  valueless  through 
the  competition  of  railroads.  Tliis  is 
paradoxical,  but  it  is  true  nevertheless. 
That  expenditure  gave  our  people  a  needed 
knowledge  of  our  vast  resources.  It 
familiarized  them  with  large  expenditures 
when  made  for  the  public  good.  And  it 
showed  them  how  a  great  debt  may  be 
beneficially  incurred,  and  yet  not  break 
down  the  enterprise  of  the  people.  We  at 
one  time  owed  $41,698,595.74.  By  a  steady 
attention  to  our  finances,  it  is  now  reduced 
to  $31,000,000,  with  resources, — the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sale  of  public  works — on  hand 
amounting  to  $10,000,000.  And  while  we 
have  been  steadily  reducing  our  State 
debt,  we  have  built  5,384  miles  of  railway 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  500  miles  un- 
derground in  our  mines,  at  a  cost  of  not  less 
than  $350,000,000,  for  a  mile  of  railroad  in 
Pennsylvania  means  something.  We  sent 
368,000  men  to  the  Federal  Army.  And 
our  credit  stands  high  on  every  stock  ex- 
change. Gratifying  as  this  progress  is,  it 
is  only  a  fair  beginning.  There  is  a  large 
part  of  our  territory  rich  in  timber  and 
full  of  iron,  coal,  and  all  kinds  of  mineral 
wealth,  so  entirely  undeveloped  by  rail- 
roads that  we  call  it  "  the  Wilderness." 
To  open  it  up  is  the  business  of  to-day, 
and  I  sincerely  hope  to  see  it  done  soon. 

Forty  years  ago  George  Shoemaker,  a 
young  tavern-keeper  of  more  vigor  and  en- 
terprise than  his  neighbors,  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  anthracite  coal  could  be 
used  as  fuel.  He  went  to  the  expense  of 
taking  a  wagon  load  of  it  to  Philadelphia, 
a  hundred  miles  away,  and,  after  pedaling 
it  about  the  streets  for  some  days,  was 
forced  to  give  it  away,  and  lose  his  time, 
his  labor  and  his  coal.  He  afterwards  saw  a 
great  railway  built  to  carry  the  same  article 
to  the  same  point,  and  enrichingthousands 
from  the  profits  of  the  traffic.  But  his  ex- 
perience did  not  end  there.  He  saw  a 
thousand  dollars  paid  eagerly  for  an  acre 
of  coal  land,  which  at  the  time  of  his  ven- 
ture to  Philadelphia,  no  one  would  have, 
and  he  could  not  give  away. 

I  have  thought  that  a  retrospective  sur- 
vey of  our  wonderful  development  might 
point  plainly  to  the  duty  of  the  future. 
For  if  the  experience  of  what  has  gone  be- 


fore is  not  useful  to  cast  light  on  what  is 
yet  to  come,  then  it  will  be  difficult  indeed 
to  discover  wherein  its  value  lies.  It 
teaches  me  to  devote  time  and  labor  for  the 
advancement  of  all  Public  Improvements, 
and  I  trust  it  may  have  a  like  eftect  on  all 
who  have  the  time  and  patience  to  read 
what  I  have  here  written. 


Speech  ot  Hon.  John  A.  Laog^n, 

On  Self- Government  in  Louitiana,  January  13  and  14,  1875 

The  Senate  having  under  consideration 
the  resolution  submitted  by  Mr.  ScHURa 
on  the  8th  of  January,  directing  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Judiciary  to  inquire  what 
legislation  is  necessary  to  secure  to  the 
people  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  their  rights 
of  Self-government  under  the  Constitution 
Mr.  Logan  said : 

Mr.  President  :  I  believe  it  is  consid- 
ered the  dutv  of  a  good  sailor  to  stand  by 
his  ship  in  the  midst  of  a  great  storm.  We 
have  been  told  in  this  Chamber  that  a  great 
storm  of  indignation  is  sweeping  over  this 
land,  which  will  rend  asunder  and  sink  the 
old  republican  craft.  We  have  listened  to 
denunciations  of  the  President,  of  the  re- 
publicans in  this  Chamber,  of  the  republi- 
can party  as  an  organization,  their  acts 
heretofore  and  their  purposes  in  reference 
to  acts  hereafter,  of  such  a  character  as  has 
seldom  been  listened  to  in  this  or  in  any 
other  legislative  hall.  Every  fact  on  the  side 
of  the  republican  party  has  been  perverted, 
every  falsehood  on  the  part  of  the  opposi- 
tion has  been  exaggerated,  arguments  nave 
been  made  here  calculated  to  inflame  and 
arouse  a  certain  class  of  the  people  of  this 
country  against  the  authorities  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, based  not  upon  truth  but  upon 
manufactured  statements  which  were  utter- 
ly false.  The  republican  party  has  been 
characterized  as  despotic,  as  tyrannical,  as 
oppressive.  The  course  of  the  Administra- 
tion and  the  party  toward  the  southern  peo- 
ple has  been  denounced  as  of  the  most 
tyrannical  character  by  men  who  have  re- 
ceived clemency  at  the  hands  of  this  same 
party. 

Now,  sir,  what  is  the  cause  of  all  this 
vain  declamation?  What  is  the  cause  of 
all  this  studied  denunciation?  What  is 
the  reason  for  all  these  accusations  made 
against  a  party  or  an  administration?  I 
may  be  mistaken,  but,  if  I  am  not,  this  is 
the  commencement  of  the  campaign  of 
1876.  It  has  been  thought  necessary  on 
the  part  of  the  opposition  Senators  here  to 
commence,  if  I  may  use  a  homely  phrase, 
a  raid  upon  the  republican  party  and  upon 
this  Administration,  and  to  base  that  upon 
false  statements  in  reference  to  the  conduct 
of  affairs  in  the  State  of  Ijouisiana. 

I  propose  in  this  debate,  and  I  hope  I 
shall  not  be  too  tedious,  though  I  may  be 


156 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iu. 


somewhat  so,  to  discuss  the  question  that 
should  be  presented  to  the  American  peo- 
ple. I  propose  to  discuss  that  question 
fairly,  candidly,  and  truthfully.  I  propose 
to  discuss  it  from  a  just,  honest,  and  legal 
stand-point.  Sir,  what  is  that  question? 
There  was  a  resolution  offered  iu  this  Cham- 
ber calling  on  the  President  to  furnish  cer- 
tain information.  A  second  resolution  was 
introduced,  (whether  for  the  purpose  of 
hanging  on  it  an  elaborate  speech  or  not  I 
am  not  aware,)  asking  the  (Committee  on 
the  Judiciary  to  report  at  once  some  legis- 
lation in  reference  to  Louisiana.  Without 
any  facts  presented  officially  arguments 
have  been  made,  the  country  has  been 
aroused,  and  some  people  have  announced 
themselves  in  a  manner  calculated  to  prpf 
duce  a  very  sore  feeling  against  the  course 
and  conduct  of  the  party  in  power.  I  say 
this  is  done  without  the  facts ;  without  any 
basis  whatever;  without  any  knowledge 
officially  communicated  to  them  in  refer- 
ence to  the  conduct  of  any  of  the  parties 
in  the  State  of  Louisiana.  In  discussing 
this  question  we  ought  to  have  a  stand- 
point; we  ought  to  have  a  beginning; 
some  point  from  which  we  may  all  reason 
and  see  whether  or  not  any  great  outrage 
has  been  perpetrated  against  the  rights  of 
the  American  people  or  any  portion  of 
them. 

I  then  propose  to  start  at  this  point,  that 
there  is  a  government  in  the  State  of  Loui- 
siana. Whether  that  government  is  a 
government  of  right  or  not  is  not  the  ques- 
tion. Is  there  a  government  in  that  State 
against  which  treason,  insurrection,  or  re- 
bellion, may  be  committed?  Is  there  such 
a  government  in  the  State  of  Louisiana  as 
should  require  the  maintenance  of  peace 
and  order  among  the  citizens  of  that  State  ? 
Is  there  such  a  government  in  the  State  of 
Louisiana  as  requires  the  exercise  of  Exec- 
utive authority  for  the  purpose  of  preserv- 
ing peace  and  order  within  its  borders?  I 
ask  any  Senator  on  this  floor  to-day  if  he 
can  stand  up  here  as  a  lawver,  as  a  Sena- 
tor, as  an  honest  man,  and  deny  the  fact 
that  a  government  does  exist?  Whether  he 
calls  it  a  government  dejure  or  a  govern- 
ment de  facto,  it  is  immaterial.  It  is  such 
an  organization  as  involves  the  liberties 
and  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple of  that  State.  It  will  not  do  for  Sena- 
tors to  talk  about  the  election  of  1872.  The 
election  of  1872  has  no  more  to  do  with 
this  "  military  usurpation  "  that  you  speak 
of  to-day  than  an  election  of  a  hundred 
years  ago.  It  is  not  a  question  as  to  wheth- 
er this  man  or  that  was  elected.  The 
question  is,  is  there  such  a  government 
there  as  can  be  overturned,  and  has  there 
been  an  attempt  to  overturn  it?  If  so,  then 
what  is  required  to  preserve  lU  status  or 
preserve  the  peace  and  order  of  the  peo- 
ple? 


But  the  other  day  when  I  asked  the 
question  of  a  Senator  on  the  other  side, 
who  was  discussing  this  question,  whether 
or  not  he  indorsed  the  Penn  rebellion,  he 
answered  me  in  a  playful  manner  that 
excited  the  mirth  of  people  who  did  not 
understand  the  question,  by  saying  that  I 
had  decided  that  there  was  no  election, 
and  that  therefore  there  was  no  govern- 
ment to  overturn.  Now  I  ask  Senators,  I 
ask  men  of  common  understanding  if  that 
is  the  way  to  treat  a  question  of  this  kind ; 
when  asked  whether  insurrection  against 
a  government  recognized  is  not  an  insur- 
rection and  whether  he  endorses  it,  he 
says  there  is  no  government  to  overturn. 
If  there  is  no  government  to  overturn, 
why  do  you  make  this  noise  and  confusion 
about  a  Legislature  there  ?  If  there  is 
no  State  government,  there  is  no  State 
Legislature.  But  I  will  not  answer  in 
that  manner.  I  will  not  avoid  the  issue ; 
I  will  not  evade  the  question.  I  answer 
there  is  a  Legislature,  as  there  is  a  State 
government,  recognized  by  the  President, 
recognized  by  the  Legislature,  recognized 
by  the  courts,  recognized  by  one  branch  of 
Congress,  and  recognized  by  the  majority 
of  the  citizens  by  their  recognition  of  the 
laws  of  the  State ;  and  it  will  not  do  to 
undertake  to  avoid  questions  in  this 
manner. 

Let  us  see,  then,  starting  from  that  stand- 
point, what  the  position  of  Louisiana  is 
now,  and  what  it  haS  been.  On  the  14th 
day  of  September  last  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Penn,  as  to  whom  we  have  official  in- 
formation this  morning,  with  some  seven 
or  ten  thousand  white-leaguers  made  war 
against  that  government,  overturned  it,  dis- 
persed it,  drove  the  governor  from  the  ex- 
ecutive chamber,  and  he  had  to  take  refuge 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  soil  occupied 
by  the  United  States  custom-house,  where 
the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  Grovernment  extends,  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  his  own  life. 

This  then  was  a  revolution;  this  then 
was  a  rebellion ;  this  then  was  treason 
against  the  State,  for  which  these  men 
should  have  been  arrested,  tried,  and  pun- 
ished. Let  gentlemen  dodge  the  question 
as  they  may ;  it  may  be  well  for  some  men 
there  who  engaged  in  this  treasonable  act 
against  the  government  that  they  had  Mr. 
Kellogg  for  governor.  It  might  not  have 
been  so  well  for  them,  perhaps,  had  there 
been  some  other  man  in  his  place.  I  tell 
the  Senator  from  Maryland  if  any  crowd 
of  armed  men  should  undertake  to  disperse 
the  government  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
drive  its  governor  from  the  executive 
chamber,  enter  into  his  private  drawers, 
take  his  private  letters,  and  publish  them, 
and  act  as  those  men  did,  some  of  them 
would  pay  the  penalty  either  in  the  peni- 


BOOK  III.]       JOHN   A.    LOGAN    ON   SELF-GOVERNMENT. 


167 


tentiary  or  by  dancing  iat  the  end  of  a 
rope. 

But  when  this  rebellion  was  going  on 
against  that  State,  these  gentlemen  say  it 
was  a  State  affair ;  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  has  nothing  to  do  with  it! 
That  is  the  old-fashioned  secession  doctrine 
again.  The  government  of  the  United 
States  haa  nothing  to  do  with  it!  This 
national  government  is  made  up  of  States, 
and  each  State  is  a  part  of  the  Government, 
each  is  a  part  of  its  life,  of  its  body.  It 
takes  them  all  to  make  up  the  whole ;  and 
treason  against  any  part  of  it  is  treason 
against  the  whole  of  it,  and  it  became  the 
duty  of  the  President  to  put  it  down,  as  he 
did  do ;  and,  in  putting  down  that  treason 
against  the  Kellogg  government,  the  whole 
country  almost  responded  favorably  to  his 
action. 

But  our  friend  from  Maryland,  not  in 
his  seat  now,  [Mr.  Hamilton]  said  that 
that  was  part  of  the  cause  of  the  elections 
going  as  they  did.  In  other  words,  my 
friend  from  Maryland  undertook  in  a  round- 
about way  to  endorse  the  Peun  rebellion, 
and  claim  that  people  of  the  country  did 
the  same  thing  against  the  government  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  on  this  floor 
since  this  discussion  has  been  going  on, 
not  one  Senator  on  that  side  of  the  cham- 
ber has  lisped  one  word  against  the  rebel- 
lion against  the  government  of  the  State 
of  Louisiana,  and  all  who  have  spoken  of 
it  have  passed  it  by  in  silence  so  as  to  indi- 
cate clearly  that  they  endorse  it,  and  I  be- 
lieve they  do. 

Then,  going  further,  the  President  issued 
his  proclamation  requiring  those  insurgents 
to  lay  down  their  arms  and  to  resume  their 

Eeaceful  pursuits.  This  morning  we  have 
card  read  at  the  clerk's  desk  that  these 
men  have  not  yet  complied  fully  with  that 
proclamation.  Their  rebellious  organiza- 
tion continued  up  to  the  time  of  the  elec- 
tion and  at  the  election.  When  the  elec- 
tion took  place,  we  are  told  by  some  of 
these  Senators  that  the  election  was  a 
peaceable,  and  a  fair  election,  that  a  major- 
ity of  democrats  were  elected.  That  is  the 
question  we  propose  to  discuss  as  well  as 
.we  are  able  to  do  it.  They  tell  us  that 
there  was  no  intimidation  resorted  to  by 
any  one  in  the  State  of  Louisiana.  I  dis- 
lijce  very  much  to  follow  out  these  state- 
ments that  are  not  true  and  attempt  to 
controvert  them  because  it  does  seem  to 
me  that  we  ought  to  act  fairly  and  candidly 
in  this  Chamber  and  discuss  questions 
without  trying  to  pervert  the  issue  or  the 
facts  in  connection  with  it. 

Now,  I  state  it  as  a  fact,  and  I  appeal  to 
the  Senator  from  Louisiana  to  say  wn  ether 
or  not  I  state  truly,  that  on  the  night  be- 
fore the  election  in  Louisiana  notices  were 
posted  all  over  that  country  on  the  doors 
of  the  colored  republicans  and  the  white 


republicans,  too,  of  a  character  giving  them 
to  understand  that  if  they  voted  their  lives 
would  be  in  danger ;  and  here  is  one  of  the 
notices  posted  all  over  that  country : 


This  "  2  X  6  "  was  to  show  the  length  and 
width  of  the  grave  they  would  have.  Not 
only  that,  but  the  negroes  that  they  could 
impose  upon  and  get  to  vote  the  democratic 
ticket  received,  after  they  had  voted,  a 
card  of  safety;  and  here  is  that  card  issued 
to  the  colored  people  whom  they  had  in- 
duced to  vote  the  democratic  ticket,  so  that 
they  might  present  it  if  any  white-leaguers 
should  undertake  to  plunder  or  murder 
them: 


New  Obleans,  Aok.  28, 1874. 
Thit  it  to  certify  that  CharUt  Duratsa,  a  barber  bg 
occupation,  is  a  Member  of  the  Irt  Ward  Caiored 
Democratic  Club,  and  that  at  the  late  election  he  voted 
for  and  umrked  m  the  interetti  of  the  Democraiie  dim- 
didalet. 

WILLIAM  ALEXANDER, 
Prerident  l$t  Ward  CoFd  Democratic  CM. 
NICK  HOPE,  Secretary. 


Booms  Democratic  Pakisb  Cohxittbe. 
JVew  Orleanf,  Nov.  28, 1874- 
The  undertigned.  Special  Commiilee.  appointed  on 
behalf  of  the  Parith  Committee,  approve  of  the  above 
Certificate. 

ED.  FLOOD,  Chairman. 
PAUL  WATEIIMAN. 
Attest:  B  J.  BIVET. 

J.  H.  HABDT,  Au't  Sec.  Parish  Committee. 


These  were  the  certificates  given  to 
negroes  who  voted  the  democratic  ticket, 
that  they  might  present  them  to  save  their 
lives  when  attacked  by  the  men  commonly 
known  as  Ku-Klux  or  white  leaguers  in 
that  country ;  and  we  are  told  that  there  is 
no  intimidation  in  the  State  of  Louisiana  I 

Our  friend  from  Georgia  [Mr.  Gordon] 
has  been  very  profuse  in  his  declamation 
as  to  the  civility  and  good  order  and  good 
bearing  of  the  people  of  Louisiana  and 
the  other  Southern  States.  But,  sir,  this 
intimidation  continued  up  to  the  election. 
After  the  election,  it  was  necessary  for  the 
governor  of  that  State  to  proceed  in  some 
manner  best  calculated  to  preserve  the 
peace  and  order  of  the  country. 


168 


AJIERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


Now,  Mr.  President,  I  want  to  ask  can- 
did, honest,  fair-minded  men,  after  read- 
ing the  report  of  General  Sheridan  showing 
the  murder,  not  for  gain,  not  for  plunder, 
but  for  political  opinions  in  the  last  few 
years  of  thirty-five  hundred  persons  in  the 
ctate  of  Louisiana,  all  of  them  republi- 
cans, not  one  of  them  a  democrat — I  want 
to  ask  if  they  can  stand  here  before  this 
country  and  defend  the  democratic  party 
of  Louisiana?  I  put  this  (question  to  them 
for  they  have  been  here  lor  days  crying 
against  the  wrongs  upon  the  democracy  of 
Louisiana.  I  want  any  one  of  them  tor  tell 
me  if  he  is  prepared  to  defend  the  de- 
mocracy of  Louisiana.  What  is  your  de- 
mocracy of  Louisiana?  You  are  excited, 
your  extreme  wrath  is  aroused  at  General 
Sheridan  because  he  called  your  White 
Leagues  down  there  "  banditti."  I  ask  you 
if  the  murder  of  thirty-five  hundred  men 
in  a  short  time  for  political  purposes  by  a 
band  of  men  banded  together  for  the  pur- 
pose of  murder  does  not  make  them  ban- 
ditti, what  it  does  make  them?  Does  it 
make  them  democrats?  It  certainly  does 
not  make  them  republicans.  Does  it  make 
them  honest  men?  It  certainly  does  not. 
Does  it  make  them  laAv-abiding  men  ?  It 
certainly  does  not.  Does  it  make  them 
peaceable  citizens?  It  certainly  does  not. 
But  what  does  it  make  them  ?  A  band  of 
men  banded  together  and  jjerpetrating  mur- 
der in  their  own  State  ?  Webster  says  a  ban- 
dit is  "a  lawless  or  desperate  fellow;  a 
robber;  a  brigand,"  and  "banditti"  are 
men  banded  together  for  plunder  and 
murder ;  and  whai  are  your  White  Leagues 
banded  together  for  if  the  result  proves 
that  they  are  banded  together  for  murder 
for  political  purposes? 

O,  what  a  crime  it  was  in  Sheridan  to 
say  that  these  men  were  banditti !  He  is  a 
wretch.  From  the  papers  he  ought  to  be 
hanged  to  a  lamp-post ;  from  the  Senators 
he  is  not  fit  to  breathe  the  free  air  of  heav- 
en or  of  this  free  Republic ;  but  your  mur- 
derers of  thirty-five  hundred  people  for 
political  offenses  are  fit  to  breathe  the  air 
of  this  country  and  are  defended  on  this 
floor  to-day,  and  they  are  defended  here 
by  the  democratic  party,  and  you  cannot 
avoid  or  escape  the  proposition.  You  have 
denounced  republicans  for  trying  to  keep 
the  peace  in  Louisiana;  you  have  de- 
nounced the  Administration  for  trying  to 
suppress  bloodshed  in  Louisiana;  you  have 
denounced  all  for  the  same  purpose;  but 
not  one  word  has  fallen  from  the  lips  of  a 
solitary  democratic  Senator  denouncing 
these  wholesale  murders  in  Louisiana. 
You  have  said,  "  I  am  sorry  these  things 
are  done,"  but  you  have  defended  the 
White  Leagues  ;  you  have  defended  Penn ; 
you  have  defended  rebellion;  and  you 
.stand  here  to-day  the  apologists  of  murder, 
of  rebellion,  and  of  treason  in  that  State. 


I  want  to  ask  the  judgment  of  an  honest 
country,  I  want  to  ask  the  judgment  of  the 
moral  sentiments  of  the  law-abiding  people 
of  this  grand  and  glorious  Republic  to  tell 
me  whether  men  shall  murder  by  the  score, 
whether  men  shall  trample  the  law  under 
foot,  whether  men  shall  force  judges  to  re- 
sign, whether  men  shall  force  prosecuting 
attorneys  to  resign,  whether  men  shall  take 
five  officers  of  a  State  out  and  hang  or  shoot 
them  if  they  attempt  to  exercise  the  func- 
tions of  their  office,  whether  men  shall  ter- 
rify the  voters  and  office-holders  of  a  State, 
whether  men  shall  undertake  in  violation 
of  law  to  organize  a  Legislature  for  revolu- 
tionary purposes,  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
a  governor  in  possession  and  taking  pos- 
session of  the  State  and  then  ask  the 
democracy  to  stand  by  them — I  appeal  to 
the  honest  judgment  of  the  people  of  this 
land  and  ask  them  to  respond  whether  this 
was  not  an  excusable  case  when  this  man 
used  the  Army  to  protect  the  life  of  that 
State  and  to  preserve  the  peace  of  that 
people?  Sir,  the  man  who  will  not  use  all 
the  means  in  his  power  to  preserve  the  na- 
tionality, the  integrity  of  this  Government, 
the  integrity  of  a  State  or  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  a  people,  is  not  fit  to  govern, 
he  is  not  fit  to  hold  position  in  this  or  any 
other  civilized  age. 

Does  liberty  mean  wholesale  slaughter  ? 
Does  republican  government  mean  tyranny 
and  oppression  of  its  citizens?  Does  an 
intelligent  and  enlightened  age  of  civiliza- 
tion mean  murder  and  pillage,  bloodshed 
at  the  hands  of  Ku-Klux  or  White  Leagues 
or  anybody  else,  and  if  any  one  attempts  to 
put  it  down,  attempts  to  reorganize  and 
produce  order  where  chaos  and  confiision 
have  reigned,  they  are  to  be  denounced  as 
tyrants,  aa  oppressors,  and  as  acting  against 
republican  institutions?  I  say  then  the 
happy  days  of  this  Republic  are  gone. 
Wnen  we  fail  to  see  that  republicanism 
means  nothing,  that  liberty  means  nothing 
but  the  unrestrained  license  of  the  mobs  to 
do  as  they  please,  then  republican  govern- 
ment is  a  failure.  Liberty  of  the  citizen 
means  the  right  to  exercise  such  rights  as 
are  prescribed  within  the  limits  of  the  law 
so  that  he  does  not  in  the  exercise  of  these  , 
rights  infringe  the  rights  of  other  citizens. 
But  the  definition  is  not  well  made  by  our 
friends  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  Cham- 
ber. Their  idea  of  liberty  is  license ;  it  is 
not  liberty,  but  it  is  license.  License  to  do 
what?  License  to  violate  law,  to  trample 
constitutions  under  foot,  to  take  life,  to 
take  property,  to  use  the  bludgeon  and  the 
gun  or  anything  else  for  the  purpose  ot 
giving  themselves  power.  What  statesman 
ever  heard  of  that  as  a  definition  of  liberty  ? 
What  man  in  a  civilized  age  has  ever  heard 
of  liberty  being  the  unrestrained  license  of 
the  people  to  do  as  they  please  without  any 
restraint  of  law  or  of  authority?    No  man. 


BooKin.]       JOHN    A.    LOGAN    ON    SELF-GOVERNMENT. 


169 


no  not  one  until  we  found  the  democratic 
party,  would  advocate  this  proposition  and 
indorse  and  encourage  this  kind  of  license 
in  a  free  country. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  perhaps  said  more 
on  this  question  of  Louisiana  than  might 
have  been  well  for  me  to  say  on  account  of 
my  stren^h,  but  what  I  have  said  about  it 
I  nave  said  because  I  honestly  believed  it. 
What  I  have  said  in  reference  to  it  comes 
from  an  honest  conviction  in  my  mind  and 
in  my  heart  of  what  has  been  done  to  sup- 
press violence  and  wrong.  But  I  have  a 
few  remarks  in  conclusion  to  submit  now 
to  my  friends  on  the  other  side,  in  answer 
to  what  they  have  said  not  by  way  of  ar- 
gument but  by  way  of  accusation.  You 
say  to  us — I  had  it  repeated  to  me  this 
morning  in  private  conversation — "  With- 
draw your  troops  from  Louisiana  and  you 
will  have  peace."  Ah,  I  heard  it  said  on 
this  floor  once  "  Withdraw  your  troops 
from  Louisiana  and  your  State  government 
will  not  last  a  minute."  I  heard  that  said 
from  the  opposite  side  of  the  Chamber,  and 
now  you  say  "  Withdraw  your  troops  from 
Louisiana  and  you  will  have  peace." 

Mr.  President,  I  dislike  to  refer  to  things 
that  are  past  and  gone  ;  I  dislike  to  have 
my  mind  called  back  to  things  of  the  past ; 
but  I  well  remember  the  voice  in  this 
Chamber  once  that  rang  out  and  was  heard 
throughout  this  land,  "Withdraw  your 
troops  from  Fort  Sumter  if  you  want 
peace."  I  heard  that  said.  Now  it  is 
Withdraw  your  troops  from  Louisiana 
if  you  want  peace."  Yes,  I  say,  withdraw 
your  troops  from  Louisiana  if  you  want  a 
revolution,  and  that  is  what  is  meant. 
But,  sir,  we  are  told,  and  doubtless  it  is  be- 
lieved by  the  Senators  who  tell  us  so,  who 
denounce  the  republican  party,  that  it  is 
tyrannical,  oppressive,  and  outrageous. 
They  have  argued  themselves  into  the  idea 
that  they  are  patriots,  pure  and  undefiled, 
They  have  argued  themselves  into  the  idea 
that  the  democratic  party  never  did  any 
wrong.  They  have  been  out  of  power  so 
long  that  they  have  convinced  themselves 
that  if  they  only  had  control  of  this  coun- 
try for  a  short  time,  what  a  glorious  coun- 
try they  would  make  it.  They  had  control 
for  nearly  forty  long  years,  and  while  they 
were  the  agents  of  this  country — I  appeal 
to  history  to  bear  me  out — they  made  the 
Government  a  bankrupt,  with  rebellion 
and  treason  in  the  land,  and  were  then 
sympathizing  with  it  wherever  it  existed. 
That  is  the  condition  in  which  they  left 
the  country  when  they  had  it  in  their  pos- 
session and  within  their  control.  But  they 
say  the  republican  party  is  a  tyrant ;  that 
it  is  oppressive.  As  I  have  said,  I  wish  to 
make  a  few  suggestions  to  my  friends  in 
answer  to  this  accusation — oppressive  to 
whom  ?  They  say  to  the  South,  that  the 
republican  party  has  tyrannized  over  the 


South.  Let  me  ask  you  how  has  it  tyran- 
nized over  the  South?  Without  speaking 
of  our  troubles  and  trials  through  which  we 
passed,  I  will  say  this:  at  the  end  of  a 
rebellion  that  scourged  this  land,  that 
drenched  it  with  blood,  that  devastated  a 
portion  of  it,  left  us  in  debt  and  almost 
bankrupt,  what  did  the  republican  party 
do?  Instead  of  leaving  these  our  friend* 
and  citizens  to-day  in  a  territorial  condi- 
tion where  we  might  exercise  jurisdiction 
over  them  for  the  next  coming  twenty 
years,  where  we  might  have  deprived  them 
of  the  rights  of  members  on  this  floor,  what 
did'  we  do  ?  We  reorganized  them  into 
States,  admitted  them  back  into  the  Union, 
and  through  the  clemency  of  the  republi- 
can party  we  admitted  representatives  on 
this  floor  who  had  thundered  against  the 
gates  of  liberty  for  four  bloody  years.  la 
that  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  which 
you  complain  at  the  hands  of  the  republi- 
can party  ?  Is  that  a  part  of  our  oppres- 
sion against  you  southern  people  ? 

Let  us  go  a  little  further.  When  the 
armed  democracy,  for  that  is  what  they 
were,  laid  down  their  arms  in  the  Southern 
States,  after  disputing  the  right  of  freedom 
and  liberty  in  this  land  for  four  years,  how 
did  the  republican  party  show  itself  in  its 
acts  of  tyranny  and  oppression  toward 
you  ?  You  appealed  to  them  for  clemency, 
bid  you  get  it?  Not  a  man  was  punished 
for  his  treason.  Not  a  man  ever  knocked 
at  the  doors  of  a  republican  Congress  for  a 
pardon  who  did  not  get  it.  Not  a  man 
ever  petitioned  the  generosity  of  the  repub- 
lican party  to  be  excused  for  his  crimes 
who  was  not  excused.  Was  that  oppres- 
sion upon  the  part  of  the  republicans  in 
this  land  ?  Is  that  a  part  of  the  oppression 
of  which  you  accuse  us  ? 

Let  us  look  a  little  further.  We  find 
to-day  twenty-seven  democratic  Represent- 
atives in  the  other  branch  of  Congress  who 
took  arms  in  their  hands  and  tried  to  de- 
stroy this  Government  holding  commis- 
sions there  by  the  clemency  of  the  repub- 
lican party.  We  find  in  this  Chamber  by 
the  clemency  of  the  republican  party  three 
Senators  who  held  such  commissions.  Is 
that  tyranny;  is  that  oppression;  is  that 
the  outrage  of  this  republican  party  on  you 
southern  people?  Sir,  when  Jeff  Davis, 
the  head  of  the  great  rebellion,  who  roams 
the  land  free  as  air,  North,  South,  East, 
and  West,  makes  democratic  speeches 
wherever  invited,  and  the  vice-president 
of  the  southern  rebellion  holds  his  seat  ia 
the  other  House  of  Congress,  are  we  to  be 
told  that  we  are  tyrants,  and  oppressing 
the  southern  people?  These  things  may 
sound  a  little  harsh,  but  it  is  time  to  tell 
the  truth  in  this  country.  The  time  has 
come  to  talk  facts.  The  time  has  come  when 
cowards  should  hide,  and  honest  men 
should  come  to  the  front  and  tell  you  plain. 


170 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


honest  truths.  You  of  the  South  talk  to 
us  about  oppressing  you.  You  drenched 
your  land  in  blood,  caused  weeping 
throughout  this  vast  domain,  covered  the 
land  in  weeds  of  mourning  both  North  and 
South,  widowed  thousands  and  orphaned 
many,  made  the  pension-roll  as  long  as  an 
army-list,  made  the  debt  that  grinds  the 
poor  of  this  land — for  all  these  things  you 
nave  been  pardoned,  and  yet  you  talk  to 
us  about  oppression.  So  much  for  the  op- 
pression of  the  republican  party  of  your 
patriotic  souls  and  selves.  Next  comes  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  He  is  a 
tyrant,  too.  He  is  an  oppressor  still,  in 
conjunction  with  the  republican  party. 
Oppressor  of  what?  Who  has  he  oppressed 
of  your  Southern  people,  and  when,  and 
where?  When  your  Ku-Klux,  banded  to- 
gether for  murder  and  plunder  in  the 
Southern  States,  were  convicted  by  their 
own  confession,  your  own  representatives 
pleaded  to  the  President  and  said.  "  Give 
them  pardon,  and  it  will  reconcile  many 
of  the  southern  people."  The  President 
pardoned  them;  pardoned  them  of  their 
murder,  of  their  plunder,  of  their  piracy 
on  land ;  and  for  this  I  suppose  he  is  a 
tyrant. 

More  than  that,  sir,  this  tyrant  in  the 
White  House  has  done  more  for  you  south- 
em  people  than  you  ought  to  have  asked 
him  to  do.  He  has  had  confidence  in  you 
until  you  betrayed  that  confidence.  He 
has  not  only  pardoned  the  offences  of  the 
South,  pardoned  the  criminals  of  the  dem- 
ocratic party,  but  he  has  placed  in  high 
official  position  in  this  Union  some  of  the 
leading  men  who  fought  in  the  rebellion. 
He  has  put  in  his  Cabinet  one  of  your 
men ;  he  has  made  governors  of  Territories 
of  some  of  your  leading  men  who  fought 
in  the  rebellion;  he  haa  sent  on  foreign 
missions  abroad  some  of  your  men  who 
warred  against  this  country ;  he  has  placed 
others  in  the  Departments ;  and  has  tried 
to  reconcile  you  in  every  way  on  earth,  by 
appealing  to  your  people,  by  recognizing 
them  and  forgiving  them  for  their  offenses, 
and  for  these  acts  of  generosity,  for  these 
acts  of  kindness,  he  is  arraigned  to-day  as 
a  Caesar,  as  a  tyrant,  as  an  oppressor. 

Such  kindness  in  return  as  the  Presi- 
dent has  received  from  these  people  will 
mark  itself  in  the  history  of  generosity.  O, 
but  say  they,  Grant  wants  to  oppress  the 
While  Leagues  in  Louisiana;  therefore 
he  is  an  oppressor.  Yes,  Mr.  President, 
Grant  does  desire  that  these  men  should 
quit  their  every-day  chivalric  sporta  of 
gunning  upon  negroes  and  republicans. 
He  asks  kindly  that  you  stop  it.  He  says 
to  you,  "  That  is  all  I  want  you  to  do ; "  and 
you  say  that  you  are  desirous  that  they 
shall  quit  it.  You  have  but  to  say  it  and 
they  will  quit  it.  It  is  because  you  have 
never  said  it  that  they  have  not  quit  it.  It 


is  in  the  power  of  the  democratic  party 
to-day  but  to  speak  in  tones  of  majesty,  of 
honor,  and  justice  in  favor  of  human  life, 
and  your  Ku-Klux  and  murderers  will 
stop.  But  you  do  not  do  it ;  and  that  is 
the  reason  they  do  not  stop.  In  States 
where  it  has  been  done  they  have  stopped. 
But  it  will  not  do  to  oppress  those  people ; 
it  will  not  do  to  make  them  submit  and 
subject  them  to  the  law ;  it  will  not  do  to 
stop  these  gentlemen  in  their  daily  sports 
and  in  their  lively  recreations.  They  are 
White  Leagues ;  they  are  banded  together 
as  gentlemen ;  they  are  of  southern  blood; 
they  are  of  old  southern  stock ;  they  are 
the  chivalry  of  days  gone  by;  they  are 
knights  of  the  bloody  shield;  and  the 
shield  must  not  be  taken  from  them.  Sirs, 
their  shield  will  be  taken  from  them ;  this 
country  will  be  aroused  to  its  danger ;  this 
country  will  be  aroused  to  do  justice  to  its 
citizens ;  and  when  it  does,  the  perpetrat- 
ors of  crime  may  fear  and  tremble.  Ty- 
ranny and  oppression!  A  people  who 
without  one  word  of  opposition  allows  men 
who  have  been  the  enemies  of  a  govern- 
ment to  come  into  these  legislative  Halls 
and  make  laws  for  that  government  to  be 
told  that  they  are  oppressors  is  a  monstros- 
ity in  declamation  and  assertion.  Who  ever 
heard  of  such  a  thing  before  ?  Who  ever 
believed  that  such  men  could  make  such 
charges  ?    Yet  we  are  tyrants ! 

Mr.  President,  the  reading  of  the  title  of 
that  bill  from  the  House  only  reminds  me 
of  more  acts  of  tyranny  and  oppression  of 
the  republican  party,  and  there  is  a  contin- 
uation of  the  same  great  offenses  constant- 
ly going  on  in  this  Chamber.  But  some 
may  say  "It  is  strange  to  see  Logan  de- 
fending the  President  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  not  strange  to  me.  I  can 
disagree  with  the  President  when  I  think 
he  is  wrong;  and  I  do  not  blame  him  for 
disagreeing  with  me ;  but  when  these  at- 
tacks are  made,  coming  from  where  they 
do,  I  am  ready  to  stand  from  the  rising 
sun  in  the  morning  to  the  setting  sun  in 
the  evening  to  defend  every  act  of  his  in 
connection  with  this  matter  before  us. 

I  may  have  disagreed  with  President 
Grant  in  many  things ;  but  I  was  calling 
attention  to  the  men  who  have  been  ac- 
cusing him  here,  on  this  floor,  on  the 
stump,  and  in  the  other  House ;  the  kind 
of  men  who  do  it,  the  manner  of  its  doing, 
the  sharpness  of  the  shafts  that  are  sent  at 
him,  the  poisonous  barbs  that  they  bear 
with  them,  and  from  these  men  who,  at 
his  hands,  have  received  more  clemency 
than  any  men  ever  received  at  the  han(M 
of  any  President  or  any  man  who  governed 
a  country.  Why,  sir,  I  will  appeal  to  the 
soldiers  of  the  rebel  army  to  testify  in  be- 
half of  what  I  say  in  defense  of  President 
Grant — the  honorable  men  who  fought 
against  the  country,  if  there  was  honor  ia 


BOOKiii.J  JAMES    G.    BLAINE    ON    A    FALSE    ISSUE. 


171 


doing  it.  What  will  be  their  testimony  ? 
It  will  be  that  he  captured  your  armed  de- 
mocracy of  the  South,  he  treated  them 
kindly,  turned  thera  loose,  with  their 
horses,  with  their  wagons,  with  their  pro- 
visions; treated  them  as  men,  and  not  as 
pirates.  Grant  built  no  prison-pens  for 
the  southern  soldiers ;  Grant  provided  no 
starvation  for  southern  men;  Grant  pro- 
vided no  "dead-lines"  upon  which  to 
shoot  southern  soldiers  if  they  crossed 
them ;  Grant  provided  no  outrageous  pun- 
ishment against  these  people  that  now  call 
him  a  tyrant.  Generous  to  a  fault  in  all 
his  actions  toward  the  men  who  were  fight- 
ing his  country  and  destroying  the  consti- 
tution, that  man  to-day  is  denounced  as  a 
very  Caesar ! 

Sherman  has  not  been  denounced,  but 
the  only  reason  is  that  he  was  not  one  of 
the  actors  in  this  transaction ;  but  I  want 
now  to  say  to  my  friends  on  theoth^  side, 
especially  to  mv  friend  from  Delaware, 
who  repeated  his  bitter  denunciation 
against  Sheridan  yesterday — and  I  say  this 
in  all  kindness,  because  I  am  speaking 
what  future  history  will  bear  me  out  in — 
when  Sheridan  and  Grant  and  Sherman, 
and  others  like  them,  are  forgotten  in  this 
country,  you  will  have  no  country.  When 
the  democratic  party  is  rotten  for  centu- 
ries in  its  grave,  the  life,  the  course,  the 
conduct  of  these  men  will  live  as  bright  as 
the  noonday  sun  in  the  heart  of  every  pa- 
triot of  a  republic  like  the  American  Union. 
Sirs,  you  may  talk  about  tyranny,  you  may 
talk  about  oppression,  you  may  denounce 
these  men ;  their  glory  may  fade  into  the 
darkness  of  night ;  but  that  darkness  will 
be  a  brilliant  light  compared  with  the 
darkness  of  the  democratic  party.  Their 
pathway  is  illuminated  by  glory ;  yours  by 
dark  deeds  against  the  Government.  That 
is  a  difference  which  the  country  will 
bear  witness  to  in  future  history  when 
speaking  of  this  country  and  the  actors  on 
its  stage. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  have  a  word  to 
say  about  our  duty.  A  great  many  people 
are  asking,  what  shall  we  do?  Plain  and 
simple  in  my  judgment  is  the  proposition. 
I  say  to  republicans,  do  not  be  scared.  No 
man  is  evei'  hurt  by  doing  an  honest  act 
and  performing  a  patriotic  duty.  If  we 
are  to  have  a  war  of  words  outside  or  in- 
side, let  us  have  them  in  truth  and  sober- 
ness, but  in  earnest.  What  then  is  our 
duty?  I  did  not  believe  that  in  1872  there 
were  official  data  upon  which  we  could  de- 
cide who  was  elected  governor  of  Louisi- 
ana. But  this  is  not  the  point  of  my  argu- 
ment. It  is  that  the  President  has  recog- 
nized Kellogg  as  governor  of  that  State,  and 
he  has  acted  for  two  years.  The  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  has  recognized  him ;  the 
supreme  court  of  the  State  has  recognized 
him ;  one  branch  of  Congress  has  recog- 


nized him.  The  duty  is  plain,  and  that  is 
for  this,  the  other  branch  of  Congress,  to 
do  it,  and  that  settles  the  question.  Then, 
when  it  does  it,  your  duty  is  plain  and  sim- 
ple, and  as  the  President  has  told  you,  he 
will  perform  his  without  fear,  favor,  or  af- 
fection. Recognize  the  government  that 
revolution  has  been  against  and  intended 
to  overthrow,  and  leave  the  President  to 
his  duty,  and  he  will  do  it.  That  is  what 
to  do. 

Sir,  we  have  been  told  that  this  old  craft 
is  rapidly  going  to  pieces ;  that  the  angry 
waves  or  dissension  in  the  land  are  lashing 
against  her  sides.  We  are  told  that  she  is 
sinking,  sinking,  sinking  to  the  bottom  of 
the  political  ocean.  Is  that  true?  Is  it  true 
th^t  this  gallant  old  party,  that  this  gal- 
lant old  ship  that  has  sailed  through 
troubled  seas  before  is  going  to  be  stranded 
now  upon  the  rock  of  fury  that  has  been 
set  up  by  a  clamor  in  this  Chamber  and  a 
few  newspapers  in  the  country  ?  Is  it  true 
that  the  party  that  saved  this  countiy  in 
all  its  great  crises,  in  all  its  great  trials,  is 
sinking  to-day  on  account  of  its  fear  and 
trembling  before  an  inferior  enemy?  I 
hope  not.  I  remember,  sir,  once  I  was 
told  that  the  old  republican  ship  was  gone ; 
but  when  I  steadied  myself  on  the  shores 
bounding  the  political  ocean  of  strife  and 
commotion,  I  looked  afar  off*  and  there  I 
could  see  a  vessel  bounding  the  boisterous 
billows  with  white  sails  unfurled,  marked 
on  her  sides  "  Freighted  with  the  hopes  of 
mankind,"  while  the  great  Mariner  above, 
as  her  helmsman,  steered  her,  navigated 
her  to  a  haven  of  rest,  of  peace,  and  of 
safety.  You  have  but  to  look  again  upon 
that  broad  ocean  of  political  commotion 
to-day,  and  the  time  will  soon  come  when 
the  same  old  craft,  provided  with  the  same 
cargo,  will  be  seen,  flying  the  same  flag, 
passing  through  these  tempestuous  waves, 
anchoring  herself  at  the  shores  of  honesty 
and  justice,  and  there  she  will  lie  undis- 
turbed by  strife  and  tumult,  again  in  peace 
and  safety.  [Manifestations  of  applause 
in  the  galleries.] 


Speech  of  Hon.  Jamea  G.  Blaine,  of  HlmXmtf 

On  the  FuUe  hnie  raued  by  the  Demoeratio  Party,  De- 
livered in  the  Senate  of  the  United  State*,  Monday, 
April  14,  1879, 

The  Senate  having  under  consideration 
the  bill  (H.  R.  No.  1,)  making  appropria- 
tions for  the  support  of  the  Army  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 1880,  and  for 
other  purposes — 

Mr.  Blaine  said : 

Mr.  President:  The  existing  section 
of  the  Revised  Statutes  numbered  2002 
reads  thus : 

No  military  or  naval  officer,  or  other 
person  engaged  in  the  civil,  military,  or 
naval  service  of  the  United  States,  shall 


172 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


order,  bring,  keep  or  have  under  his  au- 
thority or  control,  any  troops  or  armed 
men  at  the  place  where  any  general  or 
special  election  is  held  in  any  State,  unless 
it  be  necessary  to  repel  the  armed  enemies 
of  the  United  States,  or  to  keep  the  peace  at 
the  polls. 

The  object  of  the  proposed  section,  which 
haa  just  been  read  at  the  Clerk's  desk,  is 
to  get  rid  of  the  eight  closing  words,  name- 
ly, "or  to  keep  the  peace  at  the  polls," 
and  therefore  the  mode  of  legislation  pro- 
posed in  the  Army  bill  now  before  the 
Senate  is  an  unusual  mode ;  it  is  an  extra- 
ordinary mode.  If  you  want  to  take  off  a 
single  sentence  at  the  end  of  a  section  in 
the  Revised  Statutes  the  ordinary  way  is 
to  strike  off  those  words,  but  the  m«de 
chosen  in  this  bill  is  to  repeat  and  re-en- 
act the  whole  section  leaving  those  few 
words  out.  While  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
needlessly  suspicious  on  a  small  point  I 
am  quite  persuaded  that  this  did  not  hap- 
pen by  accident  but  that  it  came  by  design. 
If  I  may  so  speak  it  came  of  cunning,  the 
intent  being  to  create  the  impression  that 
whereas  the  republicans  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  General  Government  had 
been  using  troops  right  and  left,  hither 
and  thither,  in  every  direction,  as  soon  as 
the  democrats  got  power  they  enacted  this 
section.  I  can  imagine  democratic  candi- 
dates for  Congress  all  over  the  country 
reading  this  section  to  gaping  and  listen- 
ing audiences  as  one  of  the  first  offsprings 
of  democratic  reform,  whereas  every  word 
of  it,  every  syllable  of  it,  from  its  first  to 
its  last,  is  the  enactment  of  a  republican 
Congress. 

I  repeat  that  this  unusual  form  presents 
a  dishonest  issue,  whether  so  intended  or 
not.  It  presents  the  issue  that  as  soon  as 
the  democrats  got  possession  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  they  proceeded  to  enact 
the  clause  which  is  thus  expressed.  The 
law  was  passed  by  a  republican  Congress 
in  1865.  There  were  forty-six  Senators 
eitting  in  this  Chamber  at  that  time,  of 
whom  only  ten  or  at  most  eleven  were 
democrats.  The  House  of  Representatives 
was  overwhelmingly  republican.  We  were 
in  the  midst  of  a  war.  The  republican  ad- 
ministration had  a  million  or  possibly 
twelve  hundred  thousand  bayonets  at  its 
command.  Thus  circumstanced  and  thus 
surrounded,  with  the  amplest  possible 
power  to  interfere  with  elections  had  they 
BO  designed,  with  soldiers  in  every  hamlet 
and  county  of  the  United  States,  the  re- 
publican party  themselves  placed  that  pro- 
vision on  the  statute-book,  and  Abraham 
Lincoln,  their  President,  signed  it. 

I  beg  you  to  observe,  Mr.  President, 
that  this  is  the  first  instance  in  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  United  States  in  which  any  re- 
strictive clause  whatever  was  put  upon  the 
statute-book  in  regard  to  the  use  oi  troops 


at  the  polls.  The  republican  party  did  it 
with  the  Senate  and  the  House  in  their 
control.  Abraham  Lincoln  signed  it  when 
he  waa  Commander-in-Chief  of  an  army 
larger  than  ever  Napoleon  Bonaparte  ha^ 
at  his  command.  So  much  by  way  of  cor- 
recting an  ingenious  and  studied  attempt 
at  misrepresentation. 

The  alleged  object  is  to  strike  out  the 
few  words  that  authorize  the  use  of  troops 
to  keep  peace  at  the  polls.  This  country 
has  been  alarmed,  I  rather  think  indeed 
amused,  at  the  great  effort  made  to  create 
a  widespread  impression  that  the  republi- 
can party  relies  for  its  popular  strength 
upon  the  use  of  the  bayonet.  This  demo- 
cratic Congress  has  attempted  to  give  a 
bad  name  to  this  country  throughout  the 
civilized  world,  and  to  give  it  on  a  false 
issue.  They  have  raided  an  issue  that  has 
no  foundation  in  fact — that  is  false  in 
whole«and  detail,  false  in  the  charge,  false 
in  all  the  specifications.  That  impression 
sought  to  be  created,  as  I  say,  not  only 
throughout  the  North  American  continent 
but  in  Europe  to-day,  is  that  elections  are 
attempted  in  this  country  to  be  controlled 
by  the  bayonet. 

I  denounce  it  here  as  a  false  issue.  I 
am  not  at  liberty  to  say  that  any  gentle- 
man making  this  issue  knows  it  to  be  false ; 
I  hope  he  does  not;  but  I  am  going  to 
prove  to  him  that  it  is  false,  and  that  there 
is  not  a  solitary  inch  of  solid  earth  on 
which  to  rest  the  foot  of  any  man  who  makes 
that  issue.  I  have  in  my  hand  an  ofiicial 
transcript  of  the  location  and  the  number  of 
all  the  troops  of  the  United  States  east  of 
Omaha.  By  "east  of  Omaha,"  I  mean  all 
the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi 
river  and  that  belt  of  States  that  border 
the  Mississippi  river  on  the  west,  includ- 
ing forty-one  million  at  least  out  of  the 
fortv-five  million  of  people  that  this  coun- 
try IS  supposed  to  contain  to-day.  In  that 
magnificent  area,  I  will  not  pretend  to 
state  its  extent,  but  with  forty-one  million 
people,  how  many  troops  of  the  United 
States  are  there  to-day?  Would  any  Sen- 
ator on  the  opposite  side  like  to  guess,  or 
would  he  like  to  state  how  many  men  with 
muskets  in  their  hands  there  are  in  the 
vast  area  I  have  named?  There  are  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety -seven ! 
And  not  one  more. 

FVom  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi 
River  to  the  lakes,  and  down  the  great 
chain  of  lakes,  and  down  the  Saint  Law- 
rence and  down  the  valley  of  the  Saint 
John  and  down  the  St.  Croix  striking  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  and  following  it  down  to 
Key  West,  around  the  Gulf,  up  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  again,  a  frontier 
of  eight  thousand  miles  either  bordering 
on  the  ocean  or  upon  foreign  territory  ia 
guarded  by  these  troops.  Within  this  do- 
main forty-five   fortifications  are  manned 


BOOK  III.]         JAMES    G.    BLAINE    ON    A    FALSE    ISSUE. 


173 


and  eleven  arsenals  protected.  There  are 
sixty  troops  to  every  million  of  people. 
In  the  South  I  have  the  entire  number 
in  each  State,  and  will  give  it. 

And  the  entire  South  has  eleven  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  soldiers  to  intimidate, 
overrun,  oppress  and  destroy  the  liber- 
ties of  fifteen  million  people  I  In  the 
Southern  States  there  are  twelve  hundred 
and  three  counties.  If  you  distribute  the 
soldiers  there  is  not  quite  one  for  each 
county ;  and  when  I  give  the  counties  I 
give  them  from  the  census  of  1870.  If 
yju  distribute  them  territorially  there  is 
one  for  every  seven  hundred  square  miles 
of  territory,  so  that  if  you  make  a  terri- 
torial distribution,  I  would  remind  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Delaware,  if  I 
saw  him  in  his  seat,  that  the  quota  for 
his  State  would  be  three — "one  ragged 
sergeant  and  two  abreast,"  as  the  old 
song  has  it.  [Laughter.]  That  is  the 
force  ready  to  destroy  the  liberties  of 
Delaware  1 

Mr.  President,  it  was  said,  as  the  old 
maxim  has  it,  that  the  soothsayers  of 
Eome  could  not  look  each  other  in  the 
face  without  smiling.  There  are  not  two 
democratic  Senators  on  this  floor  who  can 
go  into  the  cloak-room  and  look  each 
other  in  the  face  without  smiling  at  this 
talk,  or,  more  appropriately,  I  should  say 
without  blushing — the  whole  thing  is  such 
a  prodigious  and  absolute  farce,  such  a 
miserably  manufactured  false  issue,  such 
a  pretense  without  the  slightest  founda- 
tion in  the  world,  and  talked  about  most 
and  denounced  the  loudest  in  States  that 
have  not  and  have  not  had  a  single  Federal 
soldier.  In  New  England  we  have  three 
hundred  and  eighty  soldiers.  Throughout 
the  South  it  does  not  run  quite  seventy  to 
the  million  people.  In  New  England  we 
have  absolutely  one  hundred  and  twenty 
soldiers  to  the  million.  New  England  is 
far  more  overrun  to-day  by  the  Federal 
soldier,  immensely  more,  than  the  whole 
South  is.  I  never  heard  anybody  complain 
about  it  in  New  England,  or  express  any 
great  fear  of  his  liberties  being  endangered 
by  the  presence  of  a  handful  of  troo[>s. 

As  I  nave  said,  the  tendency  of  this  talk 
is  to  give  us  a  bad  name  in  Europe.  Re- 
publican institutions  are  looked  upon  there 
with  jealousy.  Every  misrepresentation, 
every  slander  is  taken  up  and  exaggerated 
and  talked  about  to  our  discredit,  and  the 
democratic  party  of  the  country  to-day 
stand  indicted,  and  I  here  indict  them,  for 
public  slander  of  their  country,  creating 
the  impression  in  the  civilized  world  that 
we  are  governed  by  a  ruthless  military 
despotism,  I  wonder  how  amazinj^  ^  it 
would  be  to  any  man  in  Europe,  faniiliar 
as  Europeans  are  with  great  armies,  if  he 
were  told  that  over  a  territory  larger  than 
France  and  Spain  and  Portugal  and  Great 


Britain  and  Holland  and  Belgium  and  the 
German  Empire  all  combined,  there  were 
but  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-five  soldiers  I 
That  is  all  this  democratic  howl,  this  mad 
cry,  this  false  issue,  this  absurd  talk  is 
baaed  on — the  presence  of  eleven  hundred 
and  fifty-five  soldiers  on  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  square  miles  of  terri- 
tory, not  double  the  number  of  the  demo- 
cratic police  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  not  a 
third  of  the  police  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  not  double  the  democratic  police 
in  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  I  repeat,  the 
number  iOdicts  them ;  it  stamps  the  whole 
cry  as  without  any  foundation ;  it  derides 
the  issue  as  a  false  and  scandalous  and 
partisan  makeshift. 

What  then  is  the  real  motive  underlying 
this  movement?  Senators  on  that  side, 
democratic  orators  on  the  stump  cannot 
make  any  sensible  set  of  men  at  the  cross- 
roads believe  that  they  are  afraid  of  eleven 
hundred  and  fifty-five  soldiers  distributed 
one  to  each  county  in  the  South.  The 
minute  you  state  that,  everybody  sees  the 
utter,  palpable  and  laughable  absurdity  of 
it,  and  therefore  we  must  go  further  and 
find  a  motive  for  all  this  cry.  We  want  to 
find  out,  to  use  a  familiar  and  vulgar 
phrase,  what  is  "the  cat  under  the  meal." 
It  is  not  the  troops.  That  is  evident. 
There  are  more  troops  by  fifty  per  cent, 
scattered  through  the  Northern  States  east 
of  the  Mississippi  to  -day  than  through  the 
Southern  States  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  yet  nobody  in  the  North  speaks  of  it; 
everybody  would  be  laughed  at  for  speak- 
ing of  it;  and  therefore  the  issue,  I  take 
no  risk  in  stating,  I  make  bold  to  declare, 
that  this  issue  on  the  troops,  being  a  false 
one,  being  one  without  foundation,  con- 
ceals the  true  issue,  which  is  simply  to  get 
rid  of  the  Federal  presence  at  Federal 
elections,  to  get  rid  of  the  civil  power  of  the 
United  States  in  the  election  of  Repre- 
sentatives to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States.  That  is  the  whole  of  it ;  and  dis- 
guise it  as  you  may  there  is  nothing  else  in 
it  or  of  it. 

You  simply  want  to  get  rid  of  the  super- 
vision by  tne  Federal  Government  of  the 
election  of  Representatives  to  Congress 
through  civil  means;  and  therefore  this 
bill  connects  itself  directly  with  another 
bill,  and  you  cannot  discuss  this  military 
bill  without  discussing  a  bill  which  we 
had  before  us  last  winter,  known  as  the 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  appro- 
priation bill.  I  am  quite  well  aware,  I 
profess  to  be  as  well  aware  as  any  one, 
that  it  is  not  permissible  for  me  to  discuss 
a  bill  that  is  pending  before  the  other 
House.  I  am  quite  well  aware  that  pro- 
prietv  and  parliamentary  rule  forbid  that  I 
should  speak  of  what  is  done  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  ;  but  I  know  very  well 
that  I  am  not  forbidden  to  speak  of  that 


174 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


which  is  not  done  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. I  am  quite  free  to  speak  oi  the 
things  that  are  not  done  there,  and  there- 
fore I  am  free  to  declare  that  neither  this 
military  bill  nor  the  legislative,  executive, 
and  judicial  appropriation  bill  ever 
emanated  from  any  committee  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  at  all ;  they  are  not  the 
work  of  any  committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and,  although  the  present 
House  of  Representatives  is  almost  evenly 
balanced  in  party  division,  no  solitary  sug- 
gestion has  been  allowed  to  come  from  the 
minority  of  that  House  in  regard  to  the 
shaping  of  these  bills.  Where  do  they 
come  from  ?  We  are  not  left  to  infer ;  we 
are  not  even  left  to  the  Yankee  privilege 
of  guessing,  because  we  know.  The  Sena- 
tor from  Kentucky  [Mr.  Beck]  obligingly 
told  us — I  have  his  exact  words  here — 
"that  the  honorable  Senator  from  Ohio 
[Mr.  Thurman]  was  the  chairman  of  a 
committee  appointed  by  the  democratic 
party  to  see  how  it  was  best  to  present  all 
these  questions  before  us." 

We  are  told,  too,  rather  a  novel  thing, 
that  if  we  do  not  take  these  laws,  we  are 
not  to  have  the  appropriations.  I  believe 
it  has  been  announced  in  both  branches  of 
Congress,  I  suppose  on  the  authority  of  the 
democratic  caucus,  that  if  we  do  not  take 
these  bills  as  they  are  planned,  we  shall 
not  have  any  of  the  appropriations  that  go 
with  them.  The  honorable  Senator  from 
West  Virginia  [Mr.  Hereford]  told  it  to 
us  on  Friday ;  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Ohio  [Mr.  Thurman]  told  it  to  us  last 
session ;  the  honorable  Senator  from  Ken- 
tucky [Mr.  Beck]  told  it  to  us  at  the  same 
time,  and  I  am  not  permitted  to  speak  of 
the  legions  who  told  us  so  in  the  other 
House.  They  say  all  these  appropriations 
are  to  be  refuseti — not  merely  the  Army 
appropriation,  for  they  do  not  stop  at  that. 
Look  for  a  moment  at  the  legislative  bill 
that  came  from  the  democratic  caucus. 
Here  is  an  appropriation  in  it  for  defray- 
ing the  expenses  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
the  circuit  and  district  courts  of  the  United 
States,  including  the  District  of  Columbia, 
&c.,  "$2,800,000:  "  Provided  "—provided 
what? 

That  the  following  sections  of  the  Re- 
vised Statutes  relating  to  elections — going 
on  to  recite  them — be  repealed. 

That  is,  you  will  pass  an  appropriation 
for  the  support  of  the  judiciary  of  the 
United  States  only  on  condition  of  this  re- 
peal. We  often  speak  of  this  government 
being  divided  between  three  great  depart- 
ments, the  executive,  the  legislative,  and 
the  judicial — co-ordinate,  independent, 
enual.  The  legislative,  under  the  control 
or  a  democratic  cau  -us,  now  stei>s  forward 
and  says,  "  We  offer  to  the  Executive  this 
bill,  and  if  he  doo  not  sign  it,  we  are  go- 
ing to  starve  the  judiciary  "    That  is  car- 


rying the  thing  a  little  further  than  I  have 
ever  known.  We  do  not  merely  propose  to 
starve  the  Executive  if  he  will  not  sign  the 
bill,  but  we  propose  to  starve  the  judiciary 
that  has  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
the  question.  That  has  been  boldly 
avowed  on  this  floor  ;  that  has  been  boldly 
avowed  in  the  other  House ;  that  has  been 
boldly  avowed  in  democratic  papers 
throughout  the  country. 

And  ^ou  propose  not  merely  to  starve 
the  judiciary  but  you  propose  that  you  will 
not  appropriate  a  solitary  dollar  to  take 
care  of  this  Capitol.  The  men  who  take 
care  of  this  great  amount  of  public  prop- 
erty are  provided  for  in  that  bill.  You 
say  they  shall  not  have  any  pay  if  the 
President  will  not  agree  to  change  the  elec- 
tion laws.  There  is  the  public  printing 
that  goes  on  for  the  enlightenment  of  the 
whole  country  and  for  printing  the  public 
documents  of  every  one  of  the  Depart- 
ments. You  say  they  shall  not  have  a 
dollar  for  public  printing  unless  the  Pres- 
ident agrees  to  repeal  these  laws. 

There  is  the  Congressional  Library  that 
has  become  the  pride  of  the  whole  Ameri- 
can people  for  its  magnificent  growth  and 
extent.  You  say  it  shall  not  have  one  dol- 
lar to  take  care  of  it,  much  less  add  a  new 
book,  unless  the  President  signs  these  bills. 
There  is  the  Department  of  State  that  we 
think  throughout  the  history  of  the  Gov- 
ernment has  been  a  great  pride  to  this 
country  for  the  ability  with  which  it  has 
conducted  our  foreign  affairs ;  it  is  also  to 
be  starved.  You  say  we  shall  not  have 
any  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  not  a 
dollar  shall  be  appropriated  therefor  unless 
the  President  signs  these  bills.  There  is 
the  Light-House  Board  that  provides  for 
the  beacons  and  the  warnings  on  seventeen 
thousand  miles  of  sea  and  gulf  and  lake 
coast. 

You  say  those  lights  shall  all  go  out 
and  not  a  dollar  shall  be  appropriated  for 
the  board  if  the  President  does  not  sign 
these  bills.  There  are  the  mints  of  the 
United  States  at  Philadelphia,  New  Or- 
leans, Denver,  San  Francisco,  coining  sil- 
ver and  coining  gold — not  a  dollar  shall  be 
appropriated  for  them  if  the  President  does 
not  sign  these  bills.  There  is  the  Patent 
Office,  the  patents  issued  which  embody 
the  invention  of  the  country — not  a  dollar 
for  them.  The  Pension  Bureau  shall  cease 
its  operations  unless  these  bills  are  signed 
and  patriotic  soldiers  mav  starve.  The 
Agricultural  Bureau,  the  Post  Office  De- 
partment, every  one  of  the  great  executive 
ranctions  of  the  Government  is  threatened, 
taken  by  the  throat,  highwayman-stvle, 
collared  on  the  highway,  commanded,  to 
stand  and  deliver  in  the  name  of  the  dem- 
ocratic congressional  caucus.  That  is  what 
it  is  ;  simply  that.  No  committee  of  this 
Congress  m  either  branch  has  ever  recom- 


BOOKiii.J         JAMES    G.    BLAINE    ON    A    FALSE    ISSUE. 


175 


mended  that  legislation — not  one.   Simply 
a  democratic  caucus  has  done  it. 

Of  course  this  is  new.  We  are  learning 
something  every  day.  I  think  you  may 
search  the  records  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment in  vain  ;  it  will  take  some  one  much 
more  industrious  in  that  search  than  I 
have  ever  been,  and  much  more  observant 
than  I  have  ever  been,  to  find  any  possible 
parallel  or  any  possible  suggestion  in  our 
past  history  of  any  such  thing.  Most  of 
the  Senators  who  sit  in  this  Chamber  can 
remember  some  vetoes  by  Presidents  that 
shook  this  country  to  its  centre  with  ex- 
citement. The  veto  of  the  national-bank 
bill  by  Jackson  in  1832,  remembered  by 
the  oldest  in  this  Chamber  ;  the  veto  of  the 
national-bank  bill  in  1841  by  Tyler,  re- 
membered by  those  not  the  oldest,  shook 
this  country  with  a  political  excitement 
which  up  to  that  time  had  scarcely  a  paral- 
lel ;  and  it  was  believed,  whether  rightfully 
or  wrongfully  is  no  matter,  it  was  believed 
by  those  who  advocated  those  financial 
measures  at  the  time,  that  they  were  of 
the  very  last  importance  to  the  well-being 
and  prosperity  of  the  people  of  the  Union. 
That  was  believed  by  the  great  and  shin- 
ing lights  of  that  day.  It  was  believed  by 
that  man  of  imperial  character  and  im- 
perious will,  the  great  Senator  from  Ken- 
tucky. It  was  believed  by  Mr.  Webster, 
the  greatest  of  New  England  Senators. 
When  Jackson  vetoed  the  one  or  Tyler  ve- 
toed the  other,  did  you  ever  hear  a  sug- 
gestion that  those  bank  charters  should  be 
put  on  appropriation  bills  or  that  there 
should  not  be  a  dollar  to  run  the  Govern- 
ment until  they  were  signed  ?  So  far  from 
it  that,  in  1841,  when  temper  was  at  its 
height ;  when  the  whig  party,  in  addition 
to  losing  their  great  measure,  lost  it  under 
the  sting  and  the  irritation  of  what  they 
believed  was  a  desertion  by  the  President 
whom  they  had  chosen ;  and  when  Mr. 
Clay,  goaded  by  all  these  considerations, 
rose  to  debate  the  question  in  the  Senate, 
he  repelled  the  suggestion  of  William  C. 
Eives,  of  Virginia,  who  attempted  to  make 
upon  him  the  point  that  he  had  indulged 
in  some  threat  involving  the  independence 
of  the  Executive.  Mr.  Clay  rose  to  his 
full  height  and  thus  responded : 

"  I  said  nothing  whatever  of  any  obliga- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  President  to  con- 
form his  juagment  to  the  opinions  of  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives, 
although  the  Senator  argued  as  if  I  had, 
and  persevered  in  so  arguing  after  repeated 
correction.  I  said  no  such  thing.  I  know 
and  I  respect  the  perfect  independence  of 
each  department,  acting  within  its  proper 
sphere,  of  the  other  departments." 

A  leading  democrat,  an  eloquent  man,  a 
man  who  has  courage  and  frankness  and 
many  good  qualities,  has  boasted  publicly 
that  the  democracy  are  in  power  for  the 


first  time  in  eighteen  years,  and  they  do 
not  intend  to  stop  until  they  have  wiped 
out  every  vestige  of  every  war  measure. 
Well,  "  rorewarned  is  forearmed,"  and  you 
begin  appropriately  on  a  measure  that  has 
the  signature  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  I 
think  the  picture  is  a  striking  one  when 
you  hear  these  words  from  a  man  who  was 
then  in  arms  against  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  doing  his  best  to  destroy 
it,  exerting  everv  power  given  him  in  a 
bloody  and  terrible  rebellion  against  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  and  when 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  marching  at  the 
same  time  to  his  martyrdom  in  its  defense  I 
Strange  times  have  fallen  upon  us  that 
those  of  us  who  had  the  great  honor  to  be 
associated  in  higher  or  lower  degree  with 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  administration  of  the 
Government  should  live  to  hear  men  in 
public  life  and  on  the  floors  of  Congress, 
fresh  from  the  battle-fields  of  the  rebellion, 
threatening  the  people  of  the  United  States 
that  the  democratic  party,  in  power  for 
the  first  time  in  eighteen  years,  proposes 
not  to  stay  its  hand  until  every  vestige  of 
the  war  measures  has  been  wiped  out  I 
the  late  vice-president  of  the  confederacy 
boasted — perhaps  I  had  better  say  stated 
— ^that  for  sixty  out  of  the  seventy- two 
years  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  re- 
bellion, from  the  foundation  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, the  South,  though  in  a  minority, 
had  by  combining  with  what  he  termed 
the  anti-centralists  in  the  North  ruled  the 
country  ;  and  in  1866  the  same  gentleman 
indicated  in  a  speech,  I  think  before  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia,  that  by  a  return  to 
Congress  the  South  might  repeat  the  ex- 
periment with  the  same  successful  result. 
I  read  that  speech  at  the  time ;  but  I  little 
thought  I  should  live  to  see  so  near  a  ful- 
fillment of  its  prediction.  I  see  here  to- 
day two  great  measures  emanating,  as  I 
have  said,  not  from  a  committee  of  either 
House,  but  from  a  democratic  caucus  in 
which  the  South  has  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority, two-thirds  in  the  House,  and  out  of 
forty-two  Senators  on  the  other  side  of 
this  Chamber  professing  the  democratic 
faith  thirty  are  from  the  South — twenty- 
three,  a  positive  and  pronounced  majority, 
having  themselves  been  participants  in  the 
war  against  the  Union  either  in  military 
or  civil  station.  So  that  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  plainly  deducible  from  counting  your 
fingers,  the  legislation  of  this  country  to- 
day, shaped  and  fashioned  in  a  democratic 
caucus  where  the  confederates  of  the  South 
hold  the  majority,  is  the  realization  of  Mr. 
Stephens'  prophecy.  And  very  appro- 
priately the  House  under  that  control  and 
the  Senate  under  that  control,  embodying 
thus  the  entire  legislative  powers  of  the 
Government,  deriving  its  political  strength 
from  the  South,  elected  from  the  South, 
say  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 


176 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[bOOE  III. 


at  tl>e  head  of  the  Executive  Department 
of  the  Government,  elected  as  h*^  was  from 
the  North — elected  by  the  whole  people, 
but  elected  as  a  Northern  man  ;  elected  on 
Republican  principles,  elected  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  party  that  controls  both  branches 
of  Congress  to-day — they  naturally  say, 
"  You  shall  not  exercise  your  constitutional 
power  to  veto  a  bill." 

Some  gentleman  may  rise  and  say,  "  Do 
you  call  it  revolution  to  put  an  amendment 
on  an  appropriation  bill  ?"  Of  course  not. 
There  have  been  a  great  many  amendments 
put  on  appropriation  bills,  some  mischie- 
vous and  some  harmless ;  but  I  call  it  the 
audacity  of  revolution  for  any  Senator  or 
Representative,  or  any  caucus  of  Senators 
or  Representatives,  to  get  together  and  say, 
"  We  will  have  this  legislation  or  we  will 
stop  the  great  departments  of  the  Govern- 
ment." That  is  revolutionary.  I  do  not 
think  it  will  amount  to  revolution ;  my 
opinion  is  it  will  not.  I  think  that  is  a 
revolution  that  will  not  go  around ;  I  think 
that  is  a  revolution  which  will  not  revolve ; 
I  think  that  is  a  revolution  whose  wheel 
will  not  turn ;  but  it  is  a  revolution  if  per- 
sisted in,  and  if  not  persisted  in,  it  must  be 
backed  out  from  with  ignominy.  The  de- 
mocratic party  in  Congress  have  put  them- 
selves exactly  in  this  position  to-day,  that 
if  they  go  forward  in  the  announced  pro- 
gramme, they  march  to  revolution.  I 
think  they  will,  in  the  end,  go  back  in  an 
ignominious  retreat.  That  is  my  judg- 
ment. 

The  extent  to  which  they  control  the 
legislation  of  the  country  is  worth  pointing 
out.  In  round  numbers,  the  Southern 
people  are  about  one-third  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  Union,  I  am  not  permitted  to 
speak  of  the  organization  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  but  I  can  refer  to  that  of 
the  last  House.  In  the  last  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, of  the  forty-two  standing 
committees  the  South  had  twenty-five.  I 
am  not  blaming  the  honorable  Speaker  for 
it.  He  was  hedged  in  by  partisan  forces, 
and  could  not  avoid  it.  In  this  very  Se- 
nate, out  of  thirty-four  standing  commit- 
tees the  South  has  twenty -two.  I  am  not 
calling  these  things  up  just  now  in  re- 
proach ;  I  am  only  showing  what  an  admi- 
rable prophet  the  late  vice-president  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy  was,  and  how  en- 
tirely true  all  his  words  have  been,  and 
how  he  has  lived  to  see  them  realized. 

I  do  not  profess  to  know,  Mr.  President, 
least  of  all  Senators  on  this  floor,  certainly 
as  little  as  any  Senator  on  this  floor,  do  I 
profess  to  know,  what  the  President  of  the 
United  States  will  do  when  these  bills  are 
presented  to  him,  as  I  suppose  in  due 
course  of  time  they  will  be.  I  certainly 
should  never  speak  a  solitary  word  of  dis- 
respect of  the  gentleman  holding  that  ex- 
alted position,  and  I  hope  I.  should  not 


speak  a  word  unbefitting  the  dignity  of  the 
office  of  a  Senator  of  the  United  States. 
But  as  there  has  been  speculation  here  and 
there  on  both  sides  as  to  what  he  would 
do,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  dead  heroes  of 
the  Union  would  rise  from  their  graves  if 
he  should  consent  to  be  intimidated  and 
outraged  in  his  proper  constitutional  pow- 
ers bv  threats  like  tnese. 

All  the  war  measures  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln are  to  be  wiped  out,  say  leading  demo- 
crats! The  Bourbons  of  France  busied 
themselves,  I  believe,  after  the  restoration, 
in  removing  every  trace  of  Napoleon's 
power  and  grandeur,  even  chiseling  the 
f<-\r»   from  public  monuments  raised  to 


;j^; 


Eerpetuate  his  glory ;  but  the  dead  man's 
and  from  Saint  Helena  reached  out  and 
destroyed  them  in  their  pride  and  in  their 
folly.  And  I  tell  the  Senators  on  the  other 
side  of  this  Chamber, — I  tell  the  demo- 
cratic party  North  and  South— South  in 
the  lead  and  North  following, — that,  the 
slow,  unmoving  finger  of  scorn,  from  the 
tomb  of  the  martyred  President  on  the 
prairies  of  Illinois,  will  wither  and  destroy 
them.  Though  dead  he  speaketh.  [Great 
applause  in  the  galleries.J 

The  presiding  officer,  (Mr.  Anthony  in 
the  chair.)  The  Sergeant-at-Arms  will 
preserve  order  in  the  galleries  and  arrest 
persons  manifesting  approbation  or  disap- 
probation. 

Mr.  Blaine.  When  you  present  these 
bills  with  these  threats  to  the  living  Presi- 
dent, who  bore  the  commission  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  served  with  honor  in  the 
Army  of  the  Union,  which  Lincoln  re- 
stored and  preserved,  I  can  think  only  of 
one  appropriate  response  from  his  lips  or 
his  pen.  He  should  say  to  you  with  all 
the  scorn  befitting  his  station : 

la  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he  should  do  this  thing? 


Speech  of  Roacoe  Conkllng. 

On  the  Extra  Settion  o/ 1879.  What  it  Teache*  and  what 
it  Meant.     In  the  Senate  of  the  VniUd  Slates,  April  24,1879. 

The  Senate  having  under  consideration 
the  bill  (H.  R.  No.  1)  making  appropria- 
tions for  the  support  of  the  Army  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1880,  and  for 
other  purposes — 

Mr.  CoNKLiNG  said : 

Mr.  President:  During  the  last  fiscal 
year  the  amount  of  national  taxes  paid  in- 
to the  Treasury  was  $234,831,461,77.  Of 
this  sum  one  hundred  and  thirty  million 
and  a  fraction  was  collected  under  tariflflaws 
as  duties  on  imported  merchandise,  and  one 
hundred  and  four  million  and  a  fraction  as 
tax  on  American  productions.  Of  this 
total  of  $235,0Q0,000  in  round  numbers, 
twenty-seven  States  which  adhered  to  the 
Union  during  the  recent  war  paid  $221,- 
204,268,88.    The  residue  came  trom  eleven 


(jootiii.l     CONKLING  ON  THE  EXTRA  SESSION  OF  1879. 


177 


State*.  I  will  read  their  names :  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina,Tenne8see,  Texas, Virginia.  These  elev- 
en States  paid  $13,627,192.89.  Of  this  sum 
more  than  six  million  and  a  half  came 
from  the  tobacco  of  Virginia.  Deducting 
the  amount  of  the  tobacco-tax  in  Virginia, 
the  eleven  States  enumerated  paid  $7,125,- 
462,60  of  the  revenues  and  supplies  of  the 
Republic. 

Mr,  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Will  the  Senator 
from  New  York  allow  me  to  ask  him  a 
question? 

Mr.  CONKLIXG.  If  the  Senator  thinks 
that  two  of  us  are  needed  to  make  a  state- 
ment of  figures  I  will. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Two  no  doubt  can 
make  it  better. 

The  Presiding  Officer.  Does  the 
Senator  from  New  York  yield  to  the  Sena- 
tor from  Georgia? 

Mr.  Conk  LING.  After  the  expressed 
opinion  of  the  Senator  from  Georgia  that 
the  statement  needs  his  aid,  I  cannot 
decline. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  will  not  inter- 
rupt the  Senator  if  it  is  disagreeable  to 
him,  I  assure  him.  I  ask  if  in  the  compu- 
tation he  has  made  of  the  amount  paid  he 
does  not  ascribe  to  the  States  that  adhered 
to  the  Union,  to  use  his  language,  all 

Mr.  CoNKLiNG.  Having  heard  the 
Senator  so  far,  I  must  ask  him  to  desist. 

The  Presiding  Officer.  The  Senator 
from  New  York  declines  to  yield  further. 

Mr.  CONKLING.  I  have  stated  certain 
figures  as  they  appear  in  the  published 
official  accounts :  the  Senator  seems  about 
to  challenge  the  process  or  system  by  which 
the  accounts  are  made  up.  I  cannot  give 
way  for  this,  and  must  beg  him  to  allow 
me  to  proceed  with  observations  which  I 
fear  to  prolong  lest  they  become  too  weari- 
some to  the  Senate. 

The  laws  exacting  these  few  millions 
from  eleven  States,  and  these  hundreds  of 
millions  from  twenty-seven  States,  origi- 
nated, as  the  Constitution  requires  all  bills 
for  raising  revenue  to  originate,  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  They  are  not 
recent  laws.  They  have  been  approved 
and  affirmed  by  succeeding  Congresses.  The 
iast  House  of  Representatives  and  its  pre- 
decessor approved  them,  and  both  these 
Houses  were  ruled  by  a  democratic  Speak- 
er, by  democratic  committees,  and  by  £ 
democratic  majority.  Both  Senate  and 
House  are  democratic  now,  and  we  hear  of 
no  purpose  to  repeal  or  suspend  existing 
revenue  laws.  They  are  to  remain  in  full 
force.  They  will  continue  to  operate  and 
to  take  tribute  of  the  people.  If  the  sum 
thev  exact  this  year  and  next  year,  shall 
be  less  than  last  year,  it  will  be  only  or 
chiefly  because  recent  legislation  favoring 
southern  and  tobacco-growing  regions  has 

40 


dismissed  twelve  or  fourteen  million  of 
annual  tax  on  tobacco. 

This  vast  revenue  is  raised  and  to  be 
raised  for  three  uses.  It  is  supplied  in 
time  of  severe  depression  and  distress,  to 
pay  debt  inflicted  by  rebellion ;  to  pay  pen- 
sions to  widows,  orphans,  and  cripples 
made  by  rebellion ;  and  to  maintain  the 
Government  and  enforce  the  laws  pre- 
served at  inestimable  cost  of  life  and 
treasure. 

It  can  be  devoted  to  its  uses  in  only  one 
mode.  Once  in  the  Treasury,  it  must  re- 
main there  useless  until  appropriated  by 
act  of  Congress.  The  Constitution  so  or- 
dains. To  collect  it,  and  then  defeat  or 
prevent  its  object  or  use,  would  be  recreant 
and  abominable  oppression. 

The  Constitution  leaves  no  discretion 
to  Congress  whether  needful  appropria- 
tions shall  be  made.  Discretion  to  as- 
certain and  determine  amounts  needful,  is 
committed  to  Congress,  but  the  appropria- 
tion of  whatever  is  needful  after  the 
amount  has  been  ascertained,  is  command- 
ed positively  and  absolutely.  When,  for 
example,  the  Constitution  declares  that 
the  President  and  the  judges  at  stated  pe- 
riods shall  receive  compensation  fixed  by 
law,  the  duty  to  make  the  appropriations 
is  plain  and  peremptory ;  to  refiise  to  make 
them,  is  disobedience  of  the  Constitution, 
and  treasonable.  So,  when  it  is  declared 
that  Congress  shall  have  power  to  provide 
money  to  pay  debts,  and  for  the  common 
defense  and  the  general  welfare,  the  plain 
meaning  is  that  Congress  shall  do  these 
things,  and  a  refiisal  to  do  them  is  revolu- 
tionary, and  subversive  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. A  refusal  less  flagrant  would  be  im- 
peachable in  the  case  of  every  ofiicer  and 
department  of  the  Government  within  the 
reach  of  impeachment.  Were  the  Presi- 
dent to  refuse  to  do  any  act  enjoined  on 
him  by  the  Constitution,  he  would  be  im- 
peachable, and  ought  to  be  convicted  and 
removed  from  office  as  a  convict.  Should 
the  judges,  one,  or  some,  or  all  of  them,  re- 
fuse to  perform  any  duty  which  the  Con- 
stitution commits  to  the  judicial  branch, 
the  refusal  would  be  plainly  impeachable. 

Congress  is  not  amenable  to  impeach- 
ment. Congressional  majorities  are  tri- 
able at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  and  in 
no  other  human  forum.  Could  Congress 
be  dissolved  instantly  here  as  in  England, 
could  Senators  and  Representatives  be 
driven  instantly  from  their  seats  bv  popu- 
lar disapproval,  were  they  amenable  pres- 
ently somewhere,  there  would  be  more,  of 
bravery,  if  not  less  of  guilt,  in  a  disregard 
of  sworn  obligation.  Legislators  are  bound 
chiefly  by  their  honor  and  their  oaths ;  and 
the  very  impunity  and  exemption  they  en- 
joy  exalts  and  measures  their  obligations, 
and  the  crime  and  odium  of  violating 
them.    Because  of  the  fixed   tenure  hy 


178 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


which  the  members  of  each  House  hold 
their  places  and  their  trusts,  irreparable 
harm  may  come  of  their  acts  and  omis- 
sions, before  they  can  be  visited  with  even 
political  defeat,  and  before  the  wrong 
they  do  can  be  undone.  A  congressional 
majority  is  absolutely  safe  during  its  term, 
and  those  who  suffered  such  impunity  to 
exist  in  the  frame  of  our  Government, 
must  have  relied  on  the  enormity  and 
turpitude  of  the  act  to  deter  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people  and  the  representa- 
tives of  States  from  betraying  a  trust  so 
exalted  and  so  sacred  as  their  offices  imply. 

Mr.  President,  it  does  not  escape  my  at- 
tention, as  it  must  occur  to  those  around 
me,  that  in  ordinary  times  obvious  apho- 
risms, I  might  say  truisms  like  these  would 
be  needless,  if  not  out  of  place  in  the  Sen- 
ate. They  are  pertinent  now  because 
of  an  occasion  without  example  in  Ameri- 
can history.  I  know  of  no  similar  instance 
in  British  history.  Could  one  be  found, 
it  would  only  mark  the  difference  between 
an  hereditary  monarchy  without  a  written 
constitution,  and  a  free  republic  with  a 
written  charter  plainly  defining  from  the 
beginning  the  powers,  the  rights,  and  the 
duties  of  every  department  of  the  Grovern- 
ment.  The  nearest  approaches  in  English 
experience  to  the  transactions  which  now 
menace  this  country,  only  gild  with  broad 
light  the  wisdom  of  those  who  established 
a  system  to  exempt  America  forever  from 
the  struggles  between  kingcraft  and  lib- 
erty, between  aristocratic  pretensions  and 
human  rights,  which  in  succeeding  centu- 
ries had  checkered  and  begrimed  the  an- 
nals of  Great  Britain.  It  was  not  to  trans- 
plant, but  to  leave  behind  and  shut  out 
the  usurpations  and  prerogatives  of  kings, 
nobles,  and  gentry,  and  the  rude  and  vio- 
lent resorts  which,  with  varying  and  only 
partial  success^  had  been  matched  against 
them,  that  wise  and  far-seeing  men  of 
many  nationalities  came  to  these  shores 
and  founded  "  a  government  of  the  people,, 
for  the  people,  and  by  the  people."  Such 
boisterous  conflicts  as  the  Old  World  had 
witnessed  between  subjects  and  nil  ere — 
between  privilege  and  right,  were  the 
warnings  which  our  fathers  heeded,  the 
dangers  which  they  shunned,  the  evils 
which  they  averted,  the  disasters  which 
they  made  impossible  so  long  as  their- pos- 
terity should  cherish  their  inheritance. 

Until  now  no  madness  of  party,  no  au- 
dacity or  desperation  of  sinister,  sectional, 
or  partisan  design,  has  ever  ventured  on 
such  an  attempt  as  has  recently  come  to 
paas  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress.  The 
proceeding  I  mean  to  characterize,  if  mis- 
understood anywhere,  is  misunderstood 
here.  One  listening  to  addresses  delivered 
to  the  Senate  during  this  debate,  as  it  is 
called,  must  think  that  the  majority  is 
arraigned,    certainly   that   the   majority 


wishes  to  seem  and  is  determined  to  seem 
arraigned,  merely  for  insisting  that  pro- 
visions appropriating  money  to  keep  the 
Government  alive,  and  provisions  not  in 
themselves  improper  relating  to  other  mat- 
ters, may  be  united  in  the  same  bill.  With 
somewhat  of  monotonous  and  ostentatious 
iteration  we  have, been  asked  whether  in^ 
corporating  general  legislation  in  apprO' 
priation  bills  is  revolution,  or  revolution- 
ary ?  No  one  in  my  hearing  has  ever  so 
contended. 

Each  House  is  empowered  by  the  Con- 
stitution to  make  rules  governing  the 
modes  of  its  own  procedure.  The  rules 
permitting,  I  know  of  nothing  except  con- 
venience, common  sense,  and  the  danger 
of  log-rolling  combinations,  which  forbids 

Eutting  all  the  appropriations  into  one 
ill,  and  in  the  same  bill,  all  the  revenue 
laws,  a  provision  admitting  a  State  into 
the  Union,  another  paying  a  pension  to  a 
widow,  another  changing  the  name  of  a 
steamboat.  The  votes  and  the  executive 
approval  which  would  make  one  of  these 

f)rovisions  a  law,  would  make  them  all  a 
aw.  '  The  proceeding  would  be  outland- 
ish, but  it  would  not  violate  the  Constitu- 
tion. 

A  Senator  might  vote  against  such  a 
huddle  of  incongruities,  although  separate- 
ly he  would  approve  each  one  of  them.  If, 
however,  they  passed  both  Houses  in  a 
bunch,  and  the  Executive  found  no  objec- 
tion to  any  feature  of  the  bill  on  its  merits, 
and  the  only  criticism  should  be  that  it 
would  have  been  better  legislative  practice 
to  divide  it  into  separate  enactments,  it  is 
not  easy  to  see  on  "what  ground  a  veto 
could  stand. 

The  assault  which  has  been  made  on  the 
executive  branch  of  the  Government  and 
on  the  Constitution  itself,  would  not  be 
less  flagrant  if  separate  bills  had  been  re- 
sorted to  as  the  weapons  of  attack.  Sup 
pose  in  a  separate  bill,  the  majority  had,  in 
advance  of  the  appropriations,  repealed 
the  national-bank  act  and  the  resumption 
act,  and  had  declared  that  unless  the  Exe- 
cutive surrendered  his  convictions  and 
yielded  up  his  approval  of  the  repealing 
act,  no  appropriations  should  be  made; 
would  the  separation  of  the  bills  have  pal- 
liated or  condoned  the  revolutionary  pur- 
pose? In  the  absence  of  an  avowal  that 
appropriations  were  to  be  finally  withheld, 
or  that  appropriations  were  to  be  made  to 
hinge  upon  the  approval  or  veto  of  some- 
thing else,  a  resort  to  separate  bills  might 
have  cloaked  and  secreted  for  a  time  the 
real  meaning  of  the  transaction.  In  that 
respect  it  would  have  been  wise  and  artful 
to  resort  to  separate  bills  on  this  occasion ; 
and  I  speak,  I  think,  in  the  hearing  of  at 
least  one  democratic  Senator  who  did  not 
overlook  in  advance  the  suggession  now 
made.    But  when  it  was  declared,  or  in* 


BOOK  in.]   CONKLINQ   ON   THE   EXTRA   SESSION  OF  1879.  179 


tended,  that  unless  another  species  of  le- 
gislation is  agreed  to,  the  money  of  the 
people,  paid  for  that  purpose,  shall  not  be 
usea  to  maintain  their  Government  and  to 
enforce  the  laws — when  it  is  designed  that 
the  Government  shall  be  thrown  into  con- 
fusion and  shall  stop  unless  private  charity 
or  public  succor  comes  to  its  relief,  the 
threat  is  revolutionary,  and  its  execution 
is  treasonable. 

In  the  case  before  us,  the  design  to  make 
appropriations  hinge  and  depend  upon  the 
destruction  of  certain  laws  is  plain  on  the 
face  of  the  bills  before  us, — the  bill  now 

Lending,  and  another  one  on  our  tables, 
he  same  design  wa-s  plain  on  the  face  of  the 
bills  sent  us  at  the  last  session.  The  very 
fact  that  the  sections  uncovering  the  ballot- 
box  to  violence  and  fraud,  are  not,  and  never 
have  been  separately  presented,  but  are 
thrust  into  appropriation  bills,  discloses  and 
proves  a  belief,  if  not  a  knowledge,  that  in 
a  separate  bill  the  Executive  would  not 
approve  them.  Moreover  both  Houses 
have  rung  with  the  assertion  that  the  Exe- 
cutive would  not  approve  in  a  separate 
msasure  the  overthrow  of  existing  safe- 
guards of  the  ballot-box,  and  that  should 
he  refuse  to  give  his  approval  to  appropri- 
ations and  an  overthrow  of  those  safeguards 
linked  together,  no  appropriations  should 
be  made. 

The  plot  and  the  purpose  then,  is  by 
duress  to  compel  the  Executive  to  give  up 
his  convictions,  his  duty,  and  his  oath,  as 
the  price  to  be  paid  a  political  party  for 
allowing  the  Government  to  live !  Whether 
the  bills  be  united  or  divided,  is  mere 
method  and  form.  The  substance  in  either 
form  is  the  same,  and  the  plot  if  persisted 
in  will  bury  its  aiders  and  abettors  in  op- 
probrium, and  will  leave  a  buoy  on  the 
sea  of  time  warning  political  mariners  to 
keep  aloof  from  a  treacherous  channel  in 
which  a  political  party  foundered  and 
went  down. 

The  size  of  the  Army  and  its  pay,  have 
both  been  exactly  fixed  by  law — by  law 
enacted  by  a  democratic  House,  and  ap- 

f roved  by  a  second  democratic  House. 
t  has  been  decided  and  voted  that  the 
coast  defenses  and  the  Indian  and  fron- 
tier service,  require  a  certain  number  of 
soldiers;  and  tne  appropriations  needed 
for  provision  and  pay  have  been  ascer- 
tained to  a  farthing.  Nothing  remains  to 
be  done,  but  to  give  formal  sanction  and 
warrant  for  the  use  of  the  money  from 
time  to  time.  This  was  all  true  at  the 
las^  session.  But  a  democratic  House,  or 
more  justly  speaking  the  democratic  ma- 
jority in  the  House  refused  to  give  its 
sanction,  refused  to  allow  the  people's 
iftOPiey.  'jo  rea«  .'i  the  use  for  which  the 
people  paid  i;  unless  certain  long-stand- 
ing laws  were  repealed.  When  the  Senate 
Yoted  against  cAe  repeal,  we  were  bluntly 


told  'that  unless  that  vote  was  reversed, 
unless  the  Senate  and  the  Executive  would 
accept  the  bills,  repealing  clauses  and  all, 
the  session  should  die,  no  appropriations 
should  be  made,  and  the  wheels  of  the 
Government  should  stop.  The  threat  was 
executed;  the  session  aid  die,  and  every 
branch  of  the  Government  was  left  with- 
out the  power  to  execute  its  duties  after 
the  30th  of  next  June. 

We  were  further  told  that  when  the 
extra  session,  thus  to  be  brought  about, 
should  convene,  the  democrats  would  rule 
both  Houses,  that  the  majority  would 
again  insist  on  its  terms,  and  that  then  un- 
less the  Executive  submitted  to  become 
an  accomplice  in  the  design  to  fling  down 
the  barriers  that  block  the  way  to  the  bal- 
lot-box against  fraud  and  force,  appropria- 
tions would  again  be  refused,  and  again 
the  session  should  die  leaving  the  Govern- 
ment paralyzed.  The  extra  session  has 
convened ;  the  democrats  have  indeed  the 
power  in  both  Houses,  and  thus  far  the 
war  and  the  caucus  have  come  up  to  the 
manifesto.  So  far  the  exploit  has  been 
easy.  The  time  of  trial  is  to  come ;  the 
issue  has  been  made,  and  of  its  ignomini- 
ous failure,  there  can  be  no  doubt  if  the 
Executive  shall  plant  itself  on  constitu- 
tional right  and  duty,  and  stand  firm.  The 
actors  in  this  scheme  have  managed  them- 
selves and  their  party  into  a  predicament, 
and  unless  the  President  lets  tnem  oiit  they 
will  and  they  must  back  out.  [Laugh- 
ter, and  manifestations  of  applause  in  the 
galleries.] 

Should  the  Executive  interpose  the  con- 
stitutional shield  against  the  political 
enormities  of  the  proposed  bills,  and  then 
should  the  majority  carry  out  the  threat  to 
desert  their  posts  by  adjournment  without 
making  the  needed  appropriations,  I  hope 
and  trust  they  will  be  called  back  instantly 
and  called  back  as  often  as  need  be  until 
they  relinquish  a  monstrous  pretension 
and  abandon  a  treasonable  position. 

The  Army  bill  now  pending,  is  not,  in 
its  political  features,  the  bill  tendered  us 
af  the  last  session  a  few  days  ago ;  it  is  not 
the  same  bill  then  insisted  on  as  the  ulti- 
matum of  the  majority..  The  bill  as  it 
comes  to  us  now,  condemns  its  predecessor 
as  crude  and  objectionable.  It  was  found 
to  need  alteration.  It  did  need  altera- 
tion badly,  and  those  who  lately  insisted 
on  it  as  it  was,  insist  on  it  now  as  it  then 
was  not.  A  grave  proviso  has  been  added 
to  save  the  right  of  the  President  to  aid  a 
State  gasping  in  the  throes  of  rebellion  or 
invasion  and  calling  for  help.  As  the  pro- 
vision stood  when  thrust  upon  us  first  and 
last  at  the  recent  session,  it  would  have 
punished  as  a  felon  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  General  of  the  Army, 
and  others,  for  attempting  to  obey  the  Con- 
gtitution  of  the  United  States  ar.d  two  an- 


180 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


cient  acts  of  Congress,  one  of  them  signed 
by  George  Washington.  Shorn  of  this  ab- 
surdity, the  bill  as  it  now  stands,  should  it 
become  a  law,  will  be  the  first  enactment 
of  its  kind  that  ever  found  its  way  into  the 
statutes  of  the  United  States.  A  century, 
with  all  its  activities  and  party  strifes, 
with  all  its  passionate  discords,  with  all  its 
expedients  for  party  advantage,  with  all 
its  wisdom  and  its  folly,  with  all  its  pa- 
triotism and  its  treason,  has  never  till  now 
Produced  a  congressional  majority  which 
eemed  such  a  statute  fit  to  be  enacted. 
Let  me  state  the  meaning  of  the  amend- 
ments proposed  under  guise  of  enlarging 
liberty  on  election  day — ^that  day  of  days 
when  order,  peace,  and  security  for  all,  as 
well  as  liberty,  should  reign.  The  amend- 
ments declare  in  plain  legal  effect  that,  no 
matter  what  the  exigency  may  be,  no  mat- 
ter what  violence  or  carnage  may  run  riot 
and  trample  down  right  and  life,  no  matter 
what  mob  brutality  may  become  master,  if 
the  day  be  election  day,  any  officer  or  per- 
son, civil,  military,  or  naval,  from  the 
President  down,  who  attempts  to  interfere, 
to  prevent  or  quell  violence  by  the  aid  of 
national  soldiers,  or  armed  men  not  sol- 
diers, shall  be  punished,  and  may  be  fined 
$5,000  and  imprisoned  for  five  years.  This 
is  the  law  we  are  required  to  set  up.  Yes, 
not  only  to  leave  murderous  ruffianism  un- 
touched, but  to  invite  it  into  action  by  as- 
surances of  safety  in  advance. 

In  the  city  of  New  York,  all  the  thugs 
and  shoulder-hitters  and  repeaters,  all  the 
carriers  of  slung-shot,  dirks,  and  blud- 
geons, all  the  fraternity  of  the  bucket- 
shops,  the  rat-pits,  the  hells  and  the 
slums,  all  the  graduates  of  the  nurseries 
of  modern  so-called  democracy,  [laughter;] 
all  those  who  employ  and  incite  them,  from 
King's  Bridge  to  the  Battery,  are  to  be  told 
in  advance  that  on  the  day  when  the  mil- 
lion people  around  them  choose  their 
members  of  the  National  Legislature,  no 
matter  what  God-daring  or  man-hurting 
enormities  they  may  commit,  no  matter 
what  they  do,  nothmg  that  they  can  do 
will  meet  with  the  slightest  resistance 
from  any  national  soldier  or  armed  man 
clothed  with  national  authority. 

Another  bill,  already  on  our  tables, 
itfikes  down  even  police  officers  armed, 
or  unarmed,  of  the  United  States. 

In  South  Carolina,  in  Louisiana,  in  Mis- 
sissippi, and  in  the  other  States  where  the 
colored  citizens  are  counted  to  swell  the 
representation  in  Congress,  and  then  robbed 
01  their  ballota  and  dismissed  from  the 
political  sun — in  all  such  States,  every 
rifle  club,  and  white  league,  and  mur- 
derous band,  and  every  tissue  ballot-box 
stuffer,  night-rider,  and  law-breaker,  is  to 
be  told  that  they  mav  turn  national  elec- 
tions into  a  bloody  farce,  that  they  may 
choke  the  whole  proceeding  with  force 


and  fraud,  and  blood,  and  that  the  na- 
tion shall  not  confront  them  with  one 
armed  man.  State  troops,  whether  under 
the  name  of  rifle  clubs  or  white  leagues,  or 
any  other,  armed  with  the  muskets  of  the 
United  States,  may  ccastitute  the  mob,  may 
incite  the  mob,  but  the  liational  arm  is  to 
be  tied  and  palsied. 

I  repeat  such  an  act  of  Congress  has 
never  yet  existed.  If  there  ever  was  a 
time  when  such  an  act  could  safely  and 
fitly  stand  upon  the  statute-book,  that  time 
is  not  now,  and  is  not  likely  to  arrive  in 
the  near  future.  Until  rebellion  raised  its 
iron  hand,  all  parties  and  all  sections  had 
been  content  to  leave  where  the  Constitu- 
tion left  it  the  power  and  duty  of  the 
President  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed. 

The  Constitution  has  in  this  regard  three 
plain  commands : 

The  President  "  shall  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed." 

Again,  "The  President  shall  be  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  Army  and  Navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the 
several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual 
service  of  the  United  States." 

"The  actual  service  of  the  United 
States"  some  man  may  say  means  war 
merely,  service  in  time  of  war.  Let  me  read 
again,  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  pro- 
vide for  calling  forth  the  militia."  For 
what?  First  of  all,  "to  execute  the  laws  of 
the  Union." 

Yes,  Congress  shall  have  power  "  to  pro- 
vide for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute 
the  laws  of  the  Union."  Speaking  to  law- 
yers, I  venture  to  emphasize  the  word 
"execute."  It  is  a  term  of  art;  it  has  a 
long-defined  meaning.  The  act  of  1795, 
re-enacted  since,  emphasized  these  consti- 
tutional provisions. 
*         *  «  »  » 

The  election  law  came  in  to  correct 
abuses  which  reached  their  climax  in  1868 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  that  year  in 
the  State  of  New  York  the  republican 
candidate  for  governor  was  elected;  the 
democratic  candidate  was  counted  in. 
Members  of  the  Legislature  were  fraudu- 
lently seated.  The  election  was  a  barba- 
rous burlesque.  Many  thousand  forged 
naturalization  papers  were  issued ;  some  of 
them  were  white  and  some  were  coffee-col- 
ored. The  same  witnesses  purported  to 
attest  hundreds  and  thousands  of  natural- 
ization affidavits,  and  the  stupendous 
fraud  of  the  whole  thing  was  and  is  an 
open  secret.  Some  of  these  naturalization 
papers  were  sent  to  other  States.  So  plen- 
ty were  they,  that  some  of  them  were  sent 
to  Germany,  and  Germans  who  had  never 
left  their  country  claimed  exemption  from 
the  German  draft  for  soldiers  in  the  Fran- 
co-Prussian war,  because  they  were  na^- 
ralized  American  citizens  I  [Laughter.] 


BOOK  III.]    CONKLING   ON  THE  EXTRA  SESSION  OF   1879.  181 


Repeating,  ballot-box  stuflSng,  ruffian- 
ism, and  false  counting  decided  every- 
thing. Tweed  made  the  election  officers, 
and  the  election  officers  were  corrupt.  In 
1868,  thirty  thousand  votes  were  falsely 
added  to  tne  democratic  majority  in  the 
cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  alone. 
Taxes  and  elections  were  the  mere  spoil 
and  booty  of  a  corrupt  junta  in  Tammany 
Hall.  Assessments,  exactions,  and  ex- 
emptions were  made  the  bribes  and  the 
penalties  of  political  submission.  Usurpa- 
tion and  fraud  inaugurated  a  carnival  of 
corrupt  disorder;  and  obscene  birds  with- 
out number  swooped  down  to  the  harvest 
and  gorged  themselves  on  every  side  in 
plunder  and  spoliation.  Wrongs  and  usur- 
pations springing  from  the  pollution  and 
desecration  of  the  ballot-box  stalked  high- 
headed  in  the  public  way.  The  courts  and 
the  machinery  of  justice  were  impotent  in 
the  presence  of  culprits  too  great  to  be 
punished. 

The  act  of  1870  came  in  to  throttle  such 
abuses.  It  was  not  born  without  throes 
and  pangs.  It  passed  the  Senate  after  a 
day  and  a  night  which  rang  with  demo- 
cratic maledictions  and  foul  aspersions. 

In  the  autumn  of  that  year  an  election 
was  held  for  the  choice  of  Representatives 
in  Congress.  I  see  more  than  one  friend 
near  me  who  for  himself  and  for  others 
has  reason  even  unto  this  day  to  remember 
that  election  and  the  apprehension  which 
preceded  it.  It  was  the  first  time  the  law 
of  1870  had  been  put  in  force.  Resistance 
waa  openly  counseled.  Democratic  news- 
papers in  New  York  advised  that  the  offi- 
cers of  the  law  be  pitched  into  the  river. 
Disorder  was  afoot.  Men,  not  wanting  in 
bravery,  and  not  republicans,  dreaded  the 
day.  Bloodshed,  arson,  riot  were  feared. 
Ghastly  spectacles  were  still  fresh  in  mem- 
ory. The  draft  riots  had  spread  terror  which 
had  never  died,  and  strong  men  shuddered 
when  they  remembered  the  bloody  assizes 
of  the  democratic  party.  They  had  seen 
men  and  women,  blind  with  party  hate, 
dizzy  and  drunk  with  party  madness,  stab 
and  bum  and  revel  in  murder  and  in 
mutilating  the  dead.  They  had  seen  an 
asylum  for  colored  orphans  made  a  faneral 
pile,  and  its  smoke  sent  up  from  their 
Christian  and  imperial  city  to  tell  in 
heaven  of  the  inhuman  bigotry,  the  horri- 
ble barbarity  of  man.  Remembering  such 
sickening  scenes,  and  dreading  their  repe- 
tition, they  asked  the  President  to  protect 
them — to  protect  them  with  the  beak  and 
claw  of  national  power.  Instantly  the  un- 
kenneled packs  of  party  barked  in  venge- 
ful chorus.  Imprecations,  maledictions, 
and  threats  were  hurled  at  Grant;  but 
with  that  splendid  courage  which  never 
blanched  in  battle,  which  never  quaked 
before  clamor — with  that  matchless  self- 
poise  which  did  not  desert  him  even  when 


a  continent  beyond  the  sea  rose  and  un- 
covered before  him,  [applause  in  the  galle- 
ries,] he  responded  in  the  orders  which  it 
has  pleased  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Delaware  to  read.  The  election  thus  pro- 
tected was  the  fairest,  the  freest,  the  most 
secure,  a  generation  has  seen.  When,  two 
years  afterward,  New  York  came  to  crown 
Grant  with  her  vote,  his  action  in  protect- 
ing her  chief  city  on  the  Ides  of  Novem- 
ber, 1870,  was  not  forgotten.  When  next 
New  York  has  occasion  to  record  her  judg- 
ment of  the  services  of  Grant,  his  action  in 
1870  touching  peace  in  the  city  of  New 
York  will  not  be  hidden  away  by  those 
who  espouse  him  wisely.  [Applause  in  the 
galleries.] 

Now,  the  election  law  is  to  be  emascu- 
lated; no  national  soldier  must  confront 
rioters  or  mobs ;  no  armed  man  by  nation- 
al authority,  though  not  a  soldier,  must 
stay  the  tide  of  brutality  or  force ;  no  dep- 
uty marshal  must  be  within  call;  no  su- 
pervisor must  have  power  to  arrest  unj 
man  who  in  his  sight  commits  the  most  fla- 
grant breach  of  the  peace.  But  the  demo- 
crats tell  us  "  we  have  not  abolished  the 
supervisors;  we  have  left  them."  Yes,  the 
legislative  bill  leaves  the  supervisors,  two 
stool-pigeons  with  their  wings  clipped, 
[laughter,]  two  licensed  witnesses  to  stand 
about  idle,  and  look — yes,  "  a  cat  may  look 
at  a  king  " — but  they  must  not  touch  bul- 
lies or  lawbreakers,  not  if  they  do  murders 
right  before  their  eyes. 

If  a  civil  officer  should,  under  the  pend- 
ing amendment,  attempt  to  quell  a  riot  by 
calling  on  the  bystanders,  if  they  have 
arms,  he  is  punishable  for  that.  If  a  mar- 
shal, the  marshal  of  the  district  in  which 
the  election  occurs,  the  marshal  nominated 
to  the  Senate  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate 
— I  do  not  mean  a  deputy  marshal — should 
see  an  aifray  or  a  riot  at  the  polls  on  elec- 
tion day  and  call  upon  the  bystanders  to 
quell  it,  if  this  bill  becomes  a  law,  and  one 
of  those  bystanders  has  a  revolver  in  his 
pocket,  or  another  one  takes  a  stick  or  a 
cudgel  in  his  hand,  the  marshal  may  be 
fined  $5,000  and  punished  by  five  years' 
imprisonment. 

Such  are  the  devices  to  belittle  national 
authority  and  national  law,  to  turn  the  idea 
of  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation  into  a 
laughing-stock  and  a  by-word. 

Under  what  pretexts  is  this  uprooting 
and  overturning  to  be?  Any  officer  who 
transgresses  the  law,  be  he  civil  or  military, 
may  be  punished  in  the  courts  of  the-Stat© 
or  in  the  courts  of  the  nation  under  exist- 
ing law.  Is  the  election  act  unconstitu- 
tional ?  The  courts  for  ten  years  have  been 
open  to  that  question.  The  law  has  been 
pounded  with  all  the  hammers  of  the  law- 
yers, but  it  has  stood  the  test ;  no  court 
has  pronounced  it  unconstitutional,  al- 
though many  men  have  been  prosecuted 


182 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


and  convicted  under  it.  Judge  Woodruflf 
and  Judge  Blatchford  have  vindicated  its 
constitutionality.-  But,  as  I  said  before, 
the  constitutional  argument  has  been  aban- 
doned. The  supreme  political  court,  prac- 
tically now  above  Congresses  or  even  con- 
stitutions, the  democratic  caucus,  has  de- 
cided that  the  law  is  constitutional.  The 
record  of  the  judgment  is  in  the  legislative 
bill. 

We  are  told  it  costs  money  to  enforce 
the  law.  Yes,  it  costs  money  to  enforce  all 
laws;  it  costs  money  to  prosecute  smug- 

flers,  counterfeiters,  murderers,  mail  rob- 
ers  and  others.  "We  have  been  informed 
that  it  has  cost  $200,000  to  execute  the 
election  act.  It  cost  more  than  $5,000,000,- 
000  in  money  alone,  to  preserve  our  insti- 
tutions and  our  laws,  in  one  war,  and  the 
nation  which  bled  and  the  nation  which 
paid  is  not  likely  to  give  up  its  institutions 
and  the  birthright  of  its  citizens  for  $200,- 
000.     [Applause  in  the  galleries.] 

The  presiding  officer,  (Mr.  Cockrell, 
in  the  chair.)  The  Senator  will  suspend  a 
moment.  The  chair  will  announce  to  the 
galleries  that  there  shall  be  no  more  ap- 
plause ;  if  so,  the  galleries  will  be  cleared 
immediately. 

Mr.  CoNKLiNG.  Mr.  President,  that  in- 
terruption reminds  me,  the  present  occu- 
pant of  the  chair  having  been  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  bill,  that  the  appropriations 
made  and  squandered  for  local  and  unlaw- 
ful improvements  in  the  last  river  and 
harbor  bill  alone,  would  pay  for  executing 
the  election  law  as  long  as  grass  grows  or 
water  runs.  The  interest  on  the  money 
wrongfully  squandered  in  that  one  bill, 
would  execute  it  twice  over  perpetually. 
The  cost  of  this  needless  extra  session, 
brought  about  as  a  partisan  contrivance, 
would  execute  the  election  law  for  a  great 
while.  A  better  waj'  to  save  the  cost,  than 
to  repeal  the  law^  is  to  obey  it.  Let  White 
Leagues  and  rifle  clubs  disband ;  let  your 
night-riders  dismount;  let  your  tissue  bal- 
lot-box stuffers  desist ;  let  repeaters,  false- 
counters,  and  ruffians  no  longer  be  em- 
ployed to  carry  elections,  and  then  the  cost 
of  executing  the  law  will  disappear  from 
the  public  ledger. 

Again  we  are  told  that  forty-five  million 
people  are  in  danger  from  an  army  nomi- 
nally of  twenty-five  thousand  men  scat- 
tered over  a  continent,  most  of  them  be- 
yond the  frontiers  of  civilized  abode.  Mil- 
itary power  has  become  an  affrighting 
specter.  Soldiers  at  the  polls  ai  e  displeas- 
ing to  a  political  party.  What  party? 
That  party  whose  Administration  ordered 
soldiers,  who  obeyed,  to  shoot  down  and 
kill  unoffending  citizens  here  in  the  streets 
of  Washington  on  election  day ;  that  party 
which  has  arrested  and  dispersed  Legisla- 
tures at  the  point  of  the  bayonet;  that 
party  which  has  employed  troops  to  carry 


elections  to  decide  that  a  State  should  be 
slave  and  should  not  be  free;  that  party 
which  has  corraled  courts  of  justice  with 
national  bayonets,  and  hunted  panting 
ftigitive  slaves,  in  peaceful  communities, 
with  artillery  and  dragoons;  that  party 
which  would  have  to-day  no  majority  in 
either  House  of  Congress  except  for  elec- 
tions dominated  and  decided  by  violence 
and  fraud ;  that  party  under  whose  sway, 
in  several  States,  not  only  the  right  to  vote, 
but  the  right  to  be,  is  now  trampled  under 
foot. 

Such  is  the  source  of  an  insulting  sum- 
mons to  the  Executive  to  become  pariiceps 
criminis  in  prostrating  wholesome  laws, 
and  this  is  the  condition  on  which  the 
money  of  the  people,  paid  bv  the  people, 
shall  be  permitted  to  be  used  for  the  pur- 
poses for  which  the  people  paid  it. 

Has  the  present  national  Administration 
been  officiously  robust  in  checking  the  en- 
croachments and  turbulence  of  democrats, 
either  by  the  use  of  troops  or  otherwise? 
I  ask  this  question  because  the  next  elec- 
tion is  to  occur  during  the  term  of  the  pres- 
ent Administration. 

What  is  the  need  of  revolutionary  mea- 
sures now?  What  is  all  this  uproar  and 
commotion,  this  daring  venture  of  partisan 
experiment,  for?  Why  not  make  your 
issue  against  these  laws,  and  carry  your 
issue  to  the  people?  If  you  can  elect  a 
President  and  a  Congress  of  your  think- 
ing, you  will  have  it  all  your  own  way. 

Why  now  should  there  be  an  attempt  to 
block  the  wheels  of  government  on  the  eve 
of  an  election  at  which  this  whole  question 
is  triable  before  the  principals  and  masters 
of  us  all  ?  The  answer  is  inevitable.  But 
one  truthful  explanation  can  be  made  of 
this  daring  enterprise.  It  is  a  political,  a 
partisan  manoeuvre.  It  is  a  strike  for 
party  advantage.  With  a  fair  election 
and  an  honest  count,  the  democratic  party 
cannot  "carry  the  country.  These  laws,  if 
executed,  insure  some  approach  to  a  fair 
election.  Therefore  they  stand  in  the 
way,  and  therefore  they  are  to  be  broken 
down. 

I  reflect  upon  no  man's  motives,  but  I 
believe  that  the  sentiment  which  finds  ex- 
pression in  the  transaction  now  proceeding 
in  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  lias  its  ori- 
gin in  the  idea  I  have  stated.  I  believe 
that  the  managers  and  charioteers  of  the 
democratic  party  think  that  with  a  fair 
election  and  a  fair  count  they  cannot  carry 
the  State  of  New  York.  They  know  that 
with  free  course,  such  as  existed  in  1868, 
to  the  ballot-box  and  count,  no  matter 
what  majority  may  be  given  in  that  State 
where  the  green  grass  grows,  the  great  ci- 
ties will  overbalance  and  swamp  it.  They 
know  that  with  the  ability  to  give  eighty, 
ninety,  one  hundred  thousand  majority  in 
I  the  county  of  New  York  and  the  county  of 


BOOK.III.]    CONKLING  ON  THE  EXTRA  SESSION  OF   1879. 


183 


Kings,  half  of  it  fraudulently  added,  it  is 
idle  for  the  three  million  people  living 
above  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson  to 
vote. 

This  is  a  struggle  for  power.  It  is  a 
fight  for  empire.  It  is  a  contrivance  to 
clutch  the  National  Government.  That 
we  believe ;  that  I  believe. 

The  nation  has  tasted,  and  drunk  to  the 
dregs,  the  sway  of  the  democratic  party, 
organized  and  dominated  by  the  same  in- 
fluences which  dominate  it  again  and  still. 
You  want  to  restore  that  dominion.  We 
mean  to  resist  you  at  every  step  and  by 
every  lawful  means  that  opportunity  places 
in  our  hands.  We  believe  that  it  is  good 
for  the  country,  good  for  every  man  North 
and  South  who  loves  the  country  now,  that 
the  Government  should  remain  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  were  never  against  it. 
We  believe  that  it  is  not  wise  or  safe  to 
give  over  our  nationality  to  the  dominion 
of  the  forces  which  formerly  and  now  again 
rule  the  democratic  party.  We  do  not 
mean  to  connive  at  further  conquests,  and 
we  tell  you  that  if  you  gain  further  politi- 
cal power,  you  must  gain  it  by  fair  means, 
and  not  by  foul.  We  believe  that  these  laws 
are  wholesome.  We  believe  that  they 
are  necessary  barriers  against  wrongs,  ne- 
cessary defenses  for  rights;  and  so  be- 
lieving, we  will  keep  and  defend  them  even 
to  the  uttermost  of  lawful  honest  effort. 

The  other  day,  it  was  Tuesday  I  think, 
it  pleased  the  honorable  Senator  from  Il- 
linois [Mr.  Davis]  to  deliver  to  the  Senate 
an  address,  I  had  rather  said  an  opinion, 
able  and  carefully  prepared.  That  honor- 
able Senator  knows  well  the  regard  not 
only,  but  the  sincere  respect  in  which  I 
hold  him,  and  he  will  not  misjinderstand 
the  freedom  with  which  I  shall  refer  to 
some  of  his  utterances. 

Whatever  else  his  sayings  fail  to  prove, 
they  did  I  think,  prove  their  author,  after 
Mrs.  Winslow,  the  most  copious  arid  inex- 
haustible fountain  of  soothing  syrup.  The 
honorable  Senator  seemed  like  one  slum- 
bering in  a  storm  and  dreaming  of  a  calm. 
He  said  there  was  no  uproar  anywhere — 
one  would  infer  you  could  hear  a  pin  drop 
— from  centre  to  circumference.  Rights, 
he  said,  are  secure.  I  have  his  language 
here.  If  I  do  not  seem  to  give  the  sub- 
stance aright  I  will  stop  and  read  it. 
Rights  secure  North  and  South  ;  peace  and 
tranquillity  everywhere.  The  law  obeyed 
and  no  need  of  special  provisions  or  anx- 
iety. It  was  in  tnis  strain  that  the  Sena- 
tor discoursed. 

Are  rights  secure,  when  fresh-done  bar- 
barities show  that  local  government  in  one 
portion  of  our  land  is  no  better  than  des- 
potism tempered  by  assassination?  Rights 
secure,  when  such  things  can  be,  as  stand 
proved  and  recorded  by  committees  of  the 
Senate  I    Rights  secure,  when  the  old  and 


the  young  fly  in  terror  from  their  homes, 
and  from  the  graves  of  their  murdered 
dead!  Rights  secure,  when  thousands 
brave  cold^  hunger,  death,  seeking  among 
strangers  in  a  far  country  a  humanity 
which  will  remember  that — 

"  Before  man  made  them  citizens, 
Great  nature  made  them  men  I " 

Read  the  memorial  signed  by  Judgei 
Dillon,  by  the  democratic  mayor  of  Saint 
Louis,  by  Mr.  Henderson,  once  a  member 
of  the  Senate,  and  by  other  men  known  to 
the  nation,  detailing  what  has  been  done 
in  recent  weeks  on  the  Southern  Missis- 
sippi. Read  the  affidavits  accompanying 
this  memorial.  Has  any  one  a  copy  of  the 
memorial  here?  I  have  seen  the  memorial. 
I  have  seen  the  signatures.  I  hope  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Illinois  will  read 
it,  and  read  the  affidavits  which  accom- 
pany it.  When  he  does,  he  will  read  one 
of  the  most  sickening  recitals  of  modern 
times.  He  will  look  upon  one  of  the 
bloodiest  and  blackest  pictures  in  the  book 
of  recent  years.  Yet  the  Senator  says,  all 
is  quiet.  "  There  is  not  such  faith,  no  not 
in  Israel."  Verily  "  order  reigns  in  War- 
saw," 

SoUtudinem  faciuni,  pacem  appellant. 

Mr.  President,  the  republican  party 
every  where  wants  peace  and  prosperity — 
peace  and  prosperity  in  the  South,  as 
much  and  as  sincerely  as  elsewhere.  Dis- 
guising the  truth,  will  not  bring  peace  and 
prosperity.  Soft  phrases  will  not  bring 
peace.  "Fair  words  butter  no  parsnips." 
We  hear  a  great  deal  of  loose,  flabby  talk 
about  "  fanning  dying  embers,"  "  rekind- 
ling smoldering  fires,"  and  so  on.  When- 
ever the  plain  truth  is  spoken,  these  unc- 
tions monitions,  with  a  Peter  Parley  be- 
nevolence, fall  copiously  upon  us.  This 
lullaby  and  hush  has  been  in  my  belief  a 
mistake  from  the  beginning.  It  has  mis- 
led the  South  and  misled  the  North.  In 
Andrew  Johnson's  time  a  convention  was 
worked  up  at  Philadelphia,  and  men  were 
brought  from  the  North  and  South,  for 
ecstasy  and  gush.  A  man  from  Massachu- 
setts and  a  man  from  South  Carolina  locked 
arms  and  walked  into  the  convention  arm 
in  arm,  and  sensation  and  credulity  pal- 
pitated, and  clapped  their  hands,  and 
thought  an  universal  solvent  had  been 
found.  Serenades  were  held  at  which 
"  Dixie  "  was  played.  Later  on,  anniver- 
saries of  battles  fought  in  the  war  of  Inde- 
pendence, were  made  occasions  by  men 
from  the  North  and  men  from  the  South 
for  emotional,  dramatic,  hugging  ceremo- 
nies. General  Sherman,  I  remember,  at- 
tended one  of  them,  and  I  remember  also, 
that  with  the  bluntness  of  a  soldier,  and 
the  wisdom  and  hard  sense  of  a  statesman, 
he  plainly  cautioned  all  concerned  not  to 
be  carried  away,  and  not  to  be  fooled. 


184 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


But  many  have  been  fooled,  and  being 
fooled,  have  helped  to  swell  the  democratic 
majorities  which  now  display  themselves 
before  the  public  eye. 

Of  all  such  effusive  demonstrations  I 
have  this  to  say:  honest,  serious  convic- 
tions are  not  ecstatic  or  emotional.  Grave 
affairs  and  lasting  purposes  do  not  express 
or  vent  themselves  in  honeyed  phrase  or 
sickly  sentimentality,  rhapsody,  or  profuse 
professions. 

This  is  as  true  of  political  as  of  religious 
duties.  The  Divine  Master  tells  us,  "  Not 
every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord, 
shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven; 
but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven." 

Facts  are  stubborn  things,  but  the  better 
way  to  deal  with  them  is  to  look  them 
squarely  in  the  face. 

The  republican  party  and  the  Northern 

rople  preach  no  crusade  against  the  South, 
will  say  .nothing,  of  the  past  beyond  a 
single  fact.  When  the  war  was  over,  no 
man  who  fought  against  his  flag  was  pun- 
ished even  by  imprisonment.  No  estate 
was  confiscated.  Every  man  was  left  free 
to  enjoy  life,  libertj',  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness.  After  the  Southern  States  were 
restored  to  their  relations  in'  the  Union,  no 
man  was  ever  disfranchised  by  national 
authoritv — not  one.  If  this  statement  is 
denied,  1  invite  any -Senator  to  correct  me. 
I  repeat  it.  After  the  Southern  State  go- 
vernments were  rebuilded,  and  the  States 
were  restored  to  their  relations  in  the 
Union,  by  national  authority,  not  one  man 
for  one  moment  was  ever  denied  the  right 
to  vote,  or  hindered  in  the  right.  From 
the  time  that  Mississippi  was  restored,  there 
never  has  been  an  hour  when  Jefferson  Da- 
vis might  not  vote  as  freely  as  the  honora- 
ble Senator  in  his  State  of  Illinois.  The 
North,  burdened  with  taxes,  draped  in 
mourning,  dotted  over  with  new-made 
graves  tenanted  by  her  bravest  and  her 
best,  sought  to  inflict  no  penalty  upon 
those  who  had  stricken  her  with  the  great- 
est, and,  as  she  believed,  the  guiltiest  re- 
bellion that  ever  crimsoned  the  annals  of 
the  human  race. 

As  an  example  of  generosity  and  mag- 
nanimity, the  conduct  of  the  nation  in  vic- 
tory was  the  grandest  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  The  same  spirit  prevails  now.  Yet 
our  ears  are  larumed  with  the  charge  that 
the  republicans  of  the  North  seek  to  revive 
and  intensify  the  wounds  and  pangs  and 
passions  of  the  war,  and  that  the  southern 
democrats  seek  to  bury  them  in  oblivion 
of  kind  forgetfulness. 

We  can  test  the  truth  of  these  assertions 
right  before  our  eyes.  Let  us  test  them. 
Twenty-seven  States  adhered  to  the  Union 
in  the  dark  hour.  Those  States  send  to 
Congress  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
Senators  and  Representatives.    Of  these 


two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  Senators  and 
Representatives,  fifty-four,  and  only  fifty- 
four,  were  soldiers  in  the  armies  of  the 
Union.  The  eleven  States  which  were 
disloyal  send  ninety-three  Senators  and 
Representatives  to  Congress.  Of  these, 
eignty-five  were  soldiers  in  the  armies  of 
the  rebellion,  and  at  least  three  more 
held  high  civil  station  in  the  rebellion, 
making  in  all  eighty-eight  out  of  ninety- 
three. 

Let  me  state  the  same  fact,  dividing  the 
Houses.  There  are  but  four  Senators  here 
who  fought  in  the  Union  Army.  They  all 
sit  here  now;  and  there  are  but  four. 
Twenty  Senators  sit  here  who  fought  in  the 
army  of  the  rebellion,  and  three  more 
Senators  sit  here  who  held  high  civil  com^ 
mand  in  the  confederacy. 

In  the  House,  there  are  fifty  Union 
soldiers  from  twenty-seven  States,  and 
sixty-five  confederate  soldiers  from  eleven 
States. 

Who,  I  ask  you.  Senators,  tried  by  this 
record,  is  keeping  up  party  divisions  on 
the  issues  and  hatreds  of  the  war  ? 

The  South  is  solid.  Throughout  all  its 
borders  it  has  no  seat  here  save  two  in 
which  a  republican  sits.  The  Senator  from 
Mississippi  [Mr.  Bruce]  and  the  Senator 
from  Louisiana  [Mr.  Kellogg]  are  still 
spared;  and  whisper  says  that  an  enter- 
prise is  afoot  to  deprive  one  of  these  Sena- 
tors of  his  seat.  The  South  is  emphatically 
solid.  Can  you  wonder  that  the  North 
soon  becomes  solid  too  ?  Do  you  not  see 
that  the  doings  witnessed  now  in  Congress 
fill  the  North  with  alarm,  and  distrust  of 
the  patriotism  and  good  faith  of  men  from 
the  South?  Forty-two  democrats  have 
seats  on  this  floor ;  forty -three  if  you  add 
the  honorable  Senator  from  Illinois,  [Mr. 
Davis.]  He  does  not  belong  to  the 
democratic  party,  although  I  must  say, 
after  reading  his  speech  the  other  day, 
that  a  democrat  who  asks  anything  more 
of  him  is  an  insatiate  monster.  [  Laughter.] 
If  we  count  the  Senator  from  Illinois, 
there  are  forty-three  democrats  in  this 
Chamber.  Twenty -three  is  a  clear  majority 
of  all,  and  twenty-three  happens  to  be  ex- 
actly the  number  of  Senators  from  the 
South  who  were  leaders  in  the  late  re- 
bellion. 

Do  you  anticipate  my  object  in  stating 
these  numbers  ?  For  fear  you  do  not,  let 
me  explain.  Forty-two  Senators  rule  the 
Senate ;  twenty-three  Senators  rule  the 
caucus.  A  majority  rules  the  Senate;  a 
caucus  rules  the  majority ;  and  the  twenty- 
three  southern  Senators  rule  the  caucus. 
The  same  thing,  in  the  same  way,  governed 
by  the  same  elements,  is  true  in  the  House. 

This  present  assault  upon  the  purity  and 
fairness  of  elections,  upon  the  Constitu- 
tion, upon  the  executive  department,  and 
upon  tne  rights  of  the  people;   not  the 


BooKiii.]    CONKLING  ON  THE  EXTRA  SESSION  OF  1879. 


185 


rights  of  a  king,  not  on  such  rights  as  we 
heard  the  distinguished  presiding  oflScer, 
who  I  am  glad  now  to  discover  in  his  seat, 
dilate  upon  of  a  morning  some  weeks  ago  ; 
not  the  divine  right  of  kings,  but  the  in- 
born rights  of  the  people — the  present  as- 
sault upon  them,  could  never  have  been 
inaugurated  without  the  action  of  the 
twenty-three  southern  Senators  here,  and 
the  southern  Representatives  there,  [point- 
ing to  the  House.] 

The  people  of  the  North  know  this  and 
see  it.  They  see  the  lead  and  control  of 
the  democratic  party  again  where  it  was 
before  the  war,  in  the  hands  of  the  South. 
"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 
The  honorable  Senator  from  Alabama  [Mr. 
Morgan],  educated  no  doubt  by  experi- 
ence in  political  appearances,  and  specta- 
cular effects,  said  the  other  day  that  he 
preferred  the  democrats  from  the  North 
should  go  first  in  this  debate.  I  admired 
his  sagacity.  It  was  the  skill  of  an  expe- 
rienced tactician  to  deploy  the  northern 
levies  as  the  sappers  and  miners ;  it  was 
very  becoming  certainly.  It  was  not  from 
cruelty,  or  to  make  them  food  for  powder, 
that  he  set  them  in  the  forefront  of  the 
battle ;  he  thought  it  would  appear  better 
for  the  northern  auxiliaries  to  go  first  and 
tunnel  the  citadel.  Good,  excellent,  as  far 
as  it  went ;  but  it  did  not  go  very  far  in 
misleading  anybody ;  putting  the  tail  fore- 
most and  the  head  in  the  sand,  only  dis- 
played the  species  and  habits  of  the  bird. 
[Laughter.] 

We  heard  the  other  day  that  "  the 
logic  of  events  "  had  filled  the  southern 
seats  here  with  men  banded  together  by  a 
common  history  and  a  common  purpose. 
The  Senator  who  made  that  sage  observa- 
tion perhaps  builded  better  than  he  knew. 
The  same  logic  of  events,  let  me  tell 
democratic  Senators,  and  the  communities 
behind  them,  is  destined  to  bring  from  the 
North  more  united  delegations. 

I  read  in  a  newspaper  that  it  was  pro- 
posed the  other  day  in  another  place,  to 
restore  to  the  Army  of  the  United  States 
men  who,  educated  at  the  nation's  cost  and 
presented  with  the  nation's  sword,  drew 
the  sword  against  the  nation's  life.  In 
the  pending  bill  is  a  provision  for  the  re- 
tirement of  officers  now  in  the  Army,  with 
advanced  rank  and  exaggerated  p£v.  This 
may  be  harmless,  it  may  be  kind.  One 
swallow  proves  not  spring,  but  along  with 
other  things,  suspicion  will  see  in  it  an  at- 
tempt to  coax  officers  now  in  the  Army  to 
dismount,  to  empty  their  saddles,  in  order 
that  others  may  get  on. 

So  hue  and  cry  is  raised  because  courts, 
on  motion,  for  cause  shown  in  open  court, 
have  a  right  to  purge  juries  in  certain 
cases.  No  man  in  all  the  South,  under 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  can  be  affected  by 
this  provision,  because  every  such  man 


was  too  young  when  the  armies  of  the  re- 
bellion were  recruited  to  be  subject  to  the 
provision  complained  of.  As  to  the  rest, 
the  discretion  is  a  wholesome  one.  But, 
even  if  it  were  not,  let  me  say  in  all  kind- 
ness to  southern  Senators,  it  was  not  wise 
to  make  it  a  part  of  this  proceeding,  and 
raise  this  uproar  in  regard  to  it. 

Even  the  purpose,  in  part  already 
executed,  to  remove  the  old  and  faithful 
officers  of  the  Senate,  even  Union  soldiers, 
that  their  places  may  be  snatched  by 
others — to  overturn  an  order  of  the  Senate 
which  has  existed  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, in  order  to  grasp  all  the  petty  places 
here,  seems  to  me  unwise.  It  is  not.  wise, 
if  you  want  to  disarm  suspicion  that  you 
mean  aggrandizing,  gormandizing,  un- 
reasonable things. 

Viewing  all  these  doings  in  the  light  of 
party  advantage — advantage  to  the  party 
to  which  I  belong,  I  could  not  deplore 
them ;  far  from  it ;  but  wishing  the  repose 
of  the  country,  and  the  real,  lasting, 
ultimate  welfare  of  the  South,  and  wishing 
it  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  I  believe 
they  are  flagrantly  unwise,  hurtfully  in- 
judicious. 

What  the  South  needs  is  to  heal,  build, 
mend,  plant,  sow.  In  short,  to  go  to  work. 
Invite  labor ;  cherish  it ;  do  not  drive  it 
out.  Quit  proscription,  both  for  opinion's 
sake,  and  for  color's  sake.  Reform  it  alto- 
gether. I  know  there  are  difficulties  in 
the  way.  I  know  there  is  natural  repug- 
nance in  the  way ;  but  drop  passion,  drop 
sentiment  which  signifies  naught,  and  let 
the  material  prosperity  and  civilization  of 
your  land  advance.  i)o  not  give  so  much 
energy,  so  much  restless,  sleepless  activity, 
to  an  attempt  so  soon  to  get  possession 
once  more,  and  dominate  and  rule  the 
country.  'There  is  room  enough  at  the 
national  board,  and  it  is  not  needed,  it  is 
not  decorous,  plainly  speaking,  that  the 
South  should  be  the  MacGregor  at  the  ta- 
ble, and  that  the  head  of  the  table  should 
be  wherever  he  sits.  For  a  good  many 
reasons,  it  is  not  worthwhile  to  insist  upon 
it. 

Mr.  President,  one  of  Rome's  famous 
legends  stands  in  these  words  :  "  Let  what 
each  man  thinks  of  the  Republic  be  writ- 
ten on  his  brow."  I  have  spoken  in  the 
spirit  of  this  injunction.  Meaning  offence 
to  no  man,  and  holding  ill-will  to  no  man, 
because  he  comes  from  the  South,  or  be- 
cause he  differs  with  me  in  political  opin- 
ion, I  have  spoken  frankly,  but  with  malice 
toward  none. 

This  session,  and  the  bill  pending,  are 
acts  in  a  partisan  and  political  enterprise. 
This  debate,  begun  after  a  caucus  had  de- 
fined and  clenched  the  position  of  every 
man  in  the  majority,  has  not  been  waged 
to  convince  anybody  here.  It  has  re- 
sounded to  fire  the  democratic  heart,  to 


186 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[BOOK  m. 


gound  a  blast  to  the  cohorts  of  party,  to 
beat  the  long-roll,  and  set  the  squadrons  in 
the  field.  That  is  its  object,  as  plainly  to 
be  seen  as  the  ultimate  object  of  the  at- 
tempted overthrow  of  laws. 

Political  speeches  having  been  thus  or- 
dained, I  have  discussed  political  themes, 
and  with  ill-will  to  no  portion  of  the  coun- 
try but  good-will  toward  every  portion  of 
it,  I  have  with  candor  spoken  somewhat  of 
my  thoughts  of  the  duties  and  dangers  of 
the  hour.  [Applause  on  the  floor  and  in 
the  galleries.] 


IJtncolik'8  Speecb  at  Crettyaburg. 

"  Four-score  and  seven  years  ago,  our 
fathers  brought  forth  on  this  continent,  a 
new  Nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  ded- 
icated to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are 
created  equal. 

"  Now,  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil 
war  testing  whether  that  Nation,  or  any 
Nation,  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can 
long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  bat- 
tle-field of  that  war.  We  have  come  to 
dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field,  as  a  final 
resting-place  for  those,  who  here  gave  their 
lives  that  that  Nation  might  live.  It  is 
altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should 
do  this. 

"  But,  in  a  large  sense,  we  cannot  dedi- 
cate— we  cannot  consecrate — we  cannot 
hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  conse- 
crated far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or 
detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor 
long  remember  what  we  SAY  here,  but  it 
can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is 
for  us  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated 
here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they 
who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly 
advancea.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here 
dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  be- 
fore us,  that  from  these  honored  dead,  we 
take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for 
which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of 
devotion,  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that 
these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ; 
that  this  Nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a 
new  birth  of  freedom ;  and  that  Govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
th«  people  shall  not  perish  trom  this  earth. 


Speveli  of  Hon.  John  M.  Broontall,  of  Penn- 
sylvania., 

Om  O*  CM  BighU  BUL    Route  of  fepreMntotivet,  Harch 
8,  1866. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  alleged  that  this  species 
of  legislation  will  widen  the  breach  exist- 
ing between  the  two  sections  of  the  coun- 
try, will  offend  our  southern  brethren.  Do 
not  gentlemen  know  that  those  who  are 
most  earnestly  asking  this  legislation  are 
our  southern  brethren  themselves. 


They  are  imploring  us  to  protect  them 
against  the  conquered  enemies  of  the  coun- 
try, who  notwithstanding  their  surrender, 
have  managed,  through  their  skill  or  our 
weakness,  to  seize  nearly  all  the  conquered 
territory. 

This  is  not  the  first  instance  in  the 
world's  history  in  which  all  that  had  been 
gained  by  hard  fighting  was  lost  by  bad 
diplomacy. 

But  they,  whose  feelings  are  entitled  to 
so  much  consideration  in  the  estimation  of 
those  who  urge  this  argument,  are  not  our 
southern  brethren,  but  the  southern  breth- 
ren of  our  political  opponents ;  the  con- 
quered rebels,  pardoned  and  unpardoned ; 
traitors  priding  themselves  upon  their  trea- 
son. 

These  people  are  fastidious.  The  ordi- 
nary terms  of  the  English  language  must 
be  perverted  to  suit  their  tastes.  Though 
they  surrendered  in  open  and  public  war, 
they  are  not  to  be  treated  as  prisoners. 
Though  beaten  in  the  last  ditch  of  the  last 
fortification,  they  are  not  to  be  called  a 
conquered  people.  The  decision  of  the 
forum  of  their  own  choosing  is  to  be  ex- 
plained away  into  meaningless  formality 
for  their  benefit.  Though  guilty  of  treason, 
murder,  arson,  and  all  the  crimes  in  the 
calendar,  they  are  "  our  southern  brethren.'' 
The  entire  decalogue  must  be  suspended 
lest  it  should  offend  these  polished  candi- 
dates for  the  contempt  and  execration  of 
posterity. 

Out  of  deference  to  the  feelings  of  these 
sensitive  gentlemen,  an  executive  construc- 
tion must  be  given  to  the  word  "  loyalty,"  so 
that  it  shall  embrace  men  who  only  are  not 
hanged  because  they  have  been  pardoned, 
and  who  only  did  not  destroy  the  Govern- 
ment because  they  could  not.  Out  of 
deference  to  the  feelings  of  these  sensitive 
gentlemen,  too,  a  distinguished  public 
functionary,  once  the  champion  of  the 
rights  of  man,  a  leader  in  the  cause  of  hu- 
man progress,  a  statesman  whose  keen 
foreknowledge  could  point  out  the  "  irre- 
pressible conflict  between  slavery  and  free- 
dom," cannot  now  see  that  treason  and 
loyalty  are  uncompromising  antagonisms. 

It  is  charged  against  us  that  the  wheels 
of  Government  are  stopped  by  our  refusal 
to  admit  the  representatives  of  these  south- 
em  communities.  When  we  complain 
that  Europe  is  underselling  us  in  our  mar- 
kets, and  aemand  protection  for  the  Amer- 
ican laborer,  we  are  told  to  "admit  the 
southern  Senators  and  Eepresentatives." 
When  we  complain  that  excessive  impor- 
tations are  impoverishing  the  country,  and 
rapidly  bringing  on  financial  ruin,  we  are 
told  to  "  admit  the  southern  Senators  and 
Representatives."  When  we  complain  that 
an  inflated  currency  is  making  the  rich 
richer,  and  the  poor  poorer,  keeping  the 
prices  of  even  the  necessaries  of  life  beyond 


BOOKiii.]         JOHN    M.    BROOMALL    ON    CIVIL    RIGHTS. 


187 


the  reach  of  widows  and  orphans  who  are 
living  upon  fixed  incomes,  the  stereotyped 
answer  comes,  "  Admit  the  southern  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives."  When  we  de- 
mand a  tax  upon  cotton  to  defray  the 
enormous  outlay  made  in  dethroning  that 
usurping  "  king  of  the  world,"  still  the 
answer  comes,  and  the  executive  parrots 
everywhere  repeat  it,  "  Admit  the  southern 
Senators  and  Representatives." 

The  mind  of  the  man  who  can  see  in 
that  prescription  a  remedy  for  all  political 
and  social  diseases  must  be  curiously  con- 
stituted. Would  these  Senators  and'  Rep- 
resentatives vote  a  tax  upon  cotton  ?  Would 
they  protect  American  industry  by  in- 
creasing duties  ?  Would  they  prevent  ex- 
cessive importations  ?  To  believe  this  re- 
quires as  unquestioning  a  faith  as  to  be- 
lieve in  the  sudden  conversion  of  whole 
communities  from  treason  to  loyalty. 

We  are  blocking  the  wheels  of  Govern- 
ment 1  Why,  the  Government  has  man- 
aged to  get  along  for  four  years,  not  only 
without  the  aid  of  the  Southern  Senators 
and  Representatives,  but  against  their  ef- 
forts to  destroy  it ;  and  in  the  mean  time 
has  crushed  a  rebellion  that  would  have 
destroyed  any  other  Government  under 
heaven.  Surely  the  nation  can  do  without 
the  services  of  these  men,  at  least  during 
the  time  required  to  examine  their  claims 
and  to  protect  by  appropriate  legislation 
our  Southern  brethren.  None  but  a  Dem- 
ocrat would  think  of  consulting  the  wolf 
about  what  safeguard  should  be  thrown 
around  the  flock. 

Those  who  advocate  the  ad  mission  of  the 
Senators  and  Representatives  from  the 
States  lately  reclaimed  from  the  rebellion, 
as  a  means  of  protecting  the  loyal  men  in 
those  States  and  as  a  substitute  for  the  sys- 
tem of  legislation  of  which  this  bill  is 
part,  well  know  that  the  majority  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress  ardently  desire  the 
full  recognition  of  those  States,  and  only 
ask  that  the  rights  and  interests  of  the 
truly  loyal  men  in  those  States  shall  be  first 
satisfactorily  secured. 

Much  useless  controversy  has  been  had 
about  the  legal  status  of  those  States.  There 
is  no  difference  between  the  two  parties  of 
the  country  on  that  point.  The  actual 
point  of  difference  is  this :  the  Democrats 
affiliate  with  their  old  political  friends  in 
the  South,  the  late  rebels,  the  friends  and 
.followers  of  Breckinridge,  Lee,  and  Davis. 
The  Union  majority,  on  the  other  hand, 
(naturally  affiliate  with  the  loyal  men  in 
the  South,  the  men  who  have  always  sup- 
ported the  Government  against  Breckin- 
ridge, Lee,  and  Davis.  Each  party  wants 
the  South  reconstructed  in  the  hands  of  its 
own  "  southern  brethren." 

In  short,  the  northern  party  correspond- 
ing with  the  loyal  men  of  the  South  ask 
that  the  legitimate  results  of  Grant's  vic- 


tory shall  be  carried  out,  while  the  north- 
ern party  corresponding  with  the  rebels  of 
the  South  ask  that  things  should  be  con- 
sidered as  if  Lee  had  been  the  conqueror, 
or  at  least  as  if  there  had  been  a  drawn 
battle,  without  victory  on  either  side. 

This  brings  the  rights  of  those  in  whose 
behalf  the  opponents  of  the  bill  under 
consideration  are  acting  directly  in  ques- 
tion, and  in  order  to  limit  down  the  field  of 
controversy  as  far  as  possible,  let  us  inquire 
how  far  all  parties  agree  upon  the  legal 
status  of  the  communities  lately  in  re- 
bellion. Now,  the  meanest  of  all  contro- 
versies is  that  which  comes  from  dialec-  - 
tics.  Where  the  disputants  attach  differ- 
ent meanings  to  the  same  word  their  time 
is  worse  than  thrown  away.  I  have  always 
looked  upon  the  question  whether  the 
States  are  in  or  out  of  the  Union  as  only 
worthy  of  the  schoolmen  of  the  middle 
ages,  who  could  write  volumes  upon  a  mere 
verbal  quibble.  The  disputants  would 
agree  if  they  were  compelled  to  use  the 
word  "  State  "  in  the  same  sense.  I  will 
endeavor  to  avoid  this  trifling. 

All  parties  agree  that  at  the  close  of  the 
rebellion  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  for 
example,  had  been  "  deprived  of  all  civil 
government."  The  President,  in  his  proc- 
lamation of  May  29,  1865,  tells  the  people 
of  North  Carolina  this  in  so  many  words, 
and  he  tells  the  people  of  the  other  rebel 
States  the  same  thing  in  his  several  procla- 
mations to  them.  This  includes  the  Con- 
servatives and  Democrats,  who,  however 
they  may  disagree,  at  last  agree  in  this, 
that  the  President  shall  do  their  thinking. 

The  Republicans  subscribe  to  this  doc- 
trine, though  they  differ  in  their  modes  of 
expressing  it.  Some  say  that  those  States 
have  ceased  to  possess  any  of  the  rights 
and  powers  of  government  as  States  of  the 
Union.  Others  say,  with  the  late  lamented 
President,  that  "those  States  are  out  of 
practical  relations  with  the  Government." 

Others  hold  that  the  State  organizations 
are  out  of  the  Union.  And  still  others 
that  the  rebels  are  conquered,  and  therefore 
that  their  organizations  are  at  the  will  of 
the  conqueror. 

The  President  has  hit  upon  a  mode  of  ex- 
pression which  embraces  concisely  all  these 
ideas.  He  says  that  the  people  of  those 
States  were,  by  the  progress  of  the  rebel- 
lion and  by  its  termination,  "  deprived  of 
all  civil  government." 

One  step  further.  All  parties  agree  that 
the  people  of  these  States,  being  thus  dis- 
organized for  all  State  purposes,  are  still 
at  the  election  of  the  government,  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  as  such,  as  far 
as  they  have  not  been  disqualified  by 
treason,  ought  to  be  allowed  to  form  their 
own  State  governments,  subject  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 


188 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IIL 


Still  one  step  further.  All  parties  agree 
that  this  cannot  be  done  by  mere  unauthor- 
ized congregations  of  the  people,  but  that 
the  time,  place  and  manner  must  be  pre- 
scribed by  some  department  of  the  Govern- 
ment, according  to  the  argument  of  Mr. 
Webster  and  the  spirit  of  the  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  Luther  vs.  Borden, 
7  Howard,  page  1. 

Yet  another  step  in  the  series  ot  proposi- 
tions. All  parties  agree  that  as  Congress 
was  not  in  session  at  the  close  of  the  rebel- 
.lion,  the  President,  as  Commander-in- 
Chief,  was  bound  to  take  possession  of  the 
conquered  country  and  establish  such  gov- 
ernment as  was  necessary. 

Thus  far  all  is  harmonious;  but  now  the 
divergence  begins.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  present  session  of  Congress  three- 
fourths  of  both  Houses  held  that  when 
the  people  of  the  States  are  "  deprived  of  all 
civil  government,"  and  when,  therefore,  it 
becomes  necessary  to  prescribe  the  time, 
place,  and  manner  in  and  by  which  they 
shall  organize  themselves  again  into  States 
while  the  President  may  take  temporary 
measures,  yet  only  the  law-making  power 
of  the  Government  is  competent  to  the  full 
accomplishment  of  the  task.  In  other 
words,  that  only  Congress  can  enable  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  to  create  States. 
I  have  said  that  at  the  commencement  of 
the  session  three-fourths  of  both  houses 
held  this  opinion.  The  proportion  is 
smaller  now,  and  by  a  judicious  use  of 
executive  patronage  it  may  become  still 
smaller ;  but  the  truth  of  the  proposition 
will  not  be  affected  if  every  Representative 
and  Senator  should  be  manipulated  into 
denying  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  remaining  fourth, 
composed  of  the  supple  Democracy  and 
its  accessions,  maintain  that  this  State- 
creating  power  is  vested  in  the  President 
alone,  and  that  he  has  alreadv  exercised  it. 

The  holy  horror  with  which  our  oppo- 
nents affect  to  contemplate  the  doctrine  of 
destruction  of  States  is  that  much  political 
hypocrisv.  Every  man  who  asks  the  recog- 
nition of  the  existing  local  governments 
in  the  .South  thereby  commits  himself  to 
that  doctrine.  The  only  possible  claim 
that  can  be  set  up  in  favor  of  the  existing 
governments  is  based  upon  the  theory  that 
the  old  ones  have  been  destroyed.  The 
present  organizations  sprang  up  at  the  bid- 
ding of  the  President  after  the  conquest 
among  a  people  who,  he  said,  had  been 
"  deprived  of  all  civil  government." 

If  the  President's  "  experiment"  had  re- 
sulted in  organizing  the  southern  com- 
munities in  loyal  hands,  the  majority  in 
Congress  would  have  found  no  difficulty 
in  indorsing  it  and  giving  it  the  necessary 
efficiency  by  legislative  enactment. 

In  this  case,  too,  the  President  nti^er 
would  have  denied  the  power  of  Congress 


in  the  premises.  He  never  would  have  set 
up  the  theory  that  the  citizens  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  though  their  representatives, 
are  not  to  be  consulted  when  those  who 
have  once  broken  faith  with  them  ask  to 
have  the  compact  renewed. 

Our  opponents  have  no  love  for  the 
President.  They  called  him  a  usurper  and 
a  tyrant  in  Tennessee.  They  ridiculed  him 
as  a  negro  "  Moses."  They  tried  to  kill 
him,  and  failing  that,  they  accused  him  of 
being  privy  to  the  murder  of  his  predeces- 
sor, cut  when  his  "  experiment "  at  re- 
construction was  found  to  result  in  favor 
of  their  friends,  the  rebels,  then  they  hung 
themselves  about  his  neck  like  so  many 
mill-stones,  and  tried  to  damn  him  to  eter- 
nal infamy  by  indorsing  his  policy.  Will 
they  succeed  ?  Will  he  shake  them  off,  or 
go  down  with  them  ? 

But  let  us  suffer  these  discordant  ele- 
ments to  settle  their  own  terms  of  combi- 
nations as  best  thev  may.  The  final  result 
cannot  be  doubtfiil. 

If  ten  righteous  men  were  needed  to  save 
Sodom,  even  Andrew  Johnson  will  find  it 
impossible  to  save  the  Democratic  party. 

Our  path  of  duty  is  plain  before  us. 
Let  us  pass  this  bill  and  such  others  as 
may  be  necessary  to  secure  protection  to 
the  loyal  men  of  the  South.  If  our  politi- 
cal opponents  thwart  our  purposes  in  this, 
let  us  go  to  the  country  upon  that  issue. 

I  am  by  no  means  an  aavocate  of  exten- 
sive punishment,  either  in  the  way  of  hang- 
ing or  confiscation,  though  some  of  both 
might  be  salutary.  I  do  not  ask  that  full 
retribution  be  enforced  against  those  who 
have  so  grievously  sinned.  I  am  willing 
to  make  forgiveness  the  rule  and  punish- 
ment the  exception ;  yet  I  have  my  ulti- 
matum. I  might  excuse  the  pardon  of  the 
traitors  Lee  and  Davis,  even  after  the  hang- 
ing of  Wirz,  who  but  obeyed  their  orders, 
orders  which  he  would  have  been  shot  for 
disobeying.  I  might  excuse  the  sparing 
of  the  master  after  killing  the  dog  whose 
bite  but  carried  with  it  the  venom  engend- 
ered in  the  master's  soul.  I  might  look 
calmly  upon  a  constituency  ground  down 
by  taxation,  and  tell  the  complainants  that 
they  have  neither  remedy  nor  hope  of  ven- 

feance  upon  the  authors  of  their  wrongs, 
might  agree  to  turn  unpityingly  from  the 
mother  vmose  son  fell  in  the  Wilderness, 
and  the  widow  whose  husband  was  starved 
at  Andersonville,  and  tell  them  that  in  the 
nature  of  things  retributive  justice  is  denied 
them,  and  that  the  murderers  of  their  kin- 
dred may  yet  sit  in  the  councils  of  their 
country ;  yet  even  I  have  my  ultimatum. 
I  might  consent  that  the  glorious  deeds  of 
the  last  five  years  should  be  blotted  from 
the  country's  history ;  that  the  trophies 
won  on  a  hundred  battle-fields,  the  sub- 
lime visible  evidence  of  the  heroic  devotion 
of  America's  citizen  soldiery,  should  be 


BOOKiiLj    ELDRIDQE  AGAINST  THE  CIVIL  RIGHTS  BILL. 


189 


burned  on  the  altar  of  reconciliation.  I 
might  consent  that  the  cemetery  at  Gettys- 
burg should  be  razed  to  the  ground ;  that 
its  soil  should  be  submitted  to  the  plow, 
and  that  the  lamentation  of  the  bereaved 
should  give  place  to  the  lowing  of  cattle. 
But  there  is  a  point  beyond  which  I  shall 
neither  be  forced  nor  persuaded.  I  will 
never  consent  that  the  government  shall 
desert  its  allies  in  the  South  and  surrender 
their  rights  and  interests  to  the  enemy, 
and  in  this  I  will  make  no  distinction  of 
caste  or  color  either  among  friends  or  foes. 

The  people  of  the  South  were  not  all 
traitors.  Among  them  were  knees  that 
never  bowed  to  the  Baal  of  secession,  lips 
that  never  kissed  his  image.  Among  the 
fastneas  of  the  mountains,  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, far  from  the  contagion  of  political 
centres,  the  fires  of  patriotism  still  burned, 
sometimes  in  the  higher  walks  of  life, 
oftener  in  obscure  hamlets,  and  still  oftener 
under  skins  as  black  as  the  hearts  of  those 
who  claimed  to  own  them. 

These  people  devoted  all  they  had  to 
their  country.  The  homes  of  some  have 
been  confiscated,  and  they  are  now  fugi- 
tives from  the  scenes  that  gladdened  their 
childhood.  Some  were  cast  into  dungeons 
for  refiising  to  fire  upon  their  country's 
fla^,  and  still  others  bear  the  marks  of 
stripes  inflicted  forgiving  bread  and  water 
to  the  weary  soldier  of  the  Republic,  and 
aiding  the  fugitive  to  escape  the  penalty 
of  the  disloyalty  to  treason.  If  the  God 
of  nations  listened  to  the  prayers  that  as- 
cended from  so  many  altars  during  those 
eventful  years,  it  was  to  the  prayers  of 
these  people. 

Sir,  we  talked  of  patriotism  in  our  hap- 
py northern  homes,  and  claimed  credit  for 
the  part  we  acted ;  but  if  the  history  of 
these  people  shall  ever  be  written,  it  will 
make  us  olush  that  we  ever  professed  to 
love  our  country. 

The  government  now  stands  guard  over 
the  lives  and  fortunes  of  these  people. 
They  are  imploring  us  not  to  yield  them 
up  without  condition  to  those  into  whose 
hands  recent  events  have  committed  the 
destinies  of  the  unfortunate  South.  A 
nation  which  could  thus  withdraw  its  pro- 
tection from  such  allies,  at  such  a  time, 
without  their  full  and  free  consent,  could 
neither  hope  for  the  approval  of  mankind 
nor  the  blessing  of  heaven. 


Speecli    of   Hon.   Charles   A.  Eldrldge,   of 
Wlaconsln , 

Agaitut  lh«  CivQ  BighU  BOl,  in  the  Houte  of  Bepretenla- 
tiee*,  March  2,  1866. 

Mr.  Speaker :  I  thought  yesterday  that 
I  would  discuss  this  measure  at  some 
length ;  but  I  find  myself  this  morning 
very  unwell ;  and  I  shall  therefore  make 


only  a  few  remarks,  suggesting  some  ob' 
jections  to  the  bill. 

I  look  upon  the  bill  before  us,  Mr. 
Speaker,  as  one  of  the  series  of  measures 
rising  out  of  a  feeling  of  distrust  and 
hatred  on  the  part  of  certain  individuals, 
not  only  in  this  House,  but  throughout  the 
country,  tojvard  these  persons^who  formerly 
held  slaves.  I  had  hoped  that  long  before 
this  time  the  people  oi  this  country  would 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  and  the  questions  connected 
with  it  had  already  sufficiently  agitated 
this  country.  I  had  hoped  that  now,  when 
the  war  is  over,  when  peace  has  been  re- 
stored, when  in  every  State  of  the  Union 
the  institution  of  slavery  has  been  freely 
given  up,  its  abolition  acquiesced  in,  and 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
amended  in  accordance  with  that  idea, 
this  subject  would  cease  to  haunt  us  as  it 
is  made  to  do  in  the  various  measures 
which  are  constantly  being  here  intro- 
duced. 

This  bill  is,  it  appears  to  me,  one  of  .the 
most  insidious  and  dangerous  of  the  vari- 
ous measures  which  have  been  directed 
against  the  interest  of  the  people  of  this 
country.  It  is  another  of  the  measures  de- 
signed to  take  away  the  essential  rights  of 
the  State.  I  know  that  when  I  speak  of 
States  and  State  rights,  I  enter  upon  un- 
popular subjects.  But,  sir,  whatever  other 
gentlemen  may  think,  I  hold  that  the 
rights  of  the  States  are  the  rights  of  the 
Union,  that  the  rights  of  the  States  and 
the  liberty  of  the  States  are  essential  to  the 
liberty  of  the  individual  citizen.  ***** 

Now,  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  no  rea- 
son for  this  distinction ;  but  I  claim  that 
there  is.  And  there  is  no  man  that  can 
look  upon  this  crime,  horrid  as  it  is,  dia- 
bolical as  it  is  when  committed  by  the 
white  man,  and  not  say  that  such  a  crime 
committed  by  a  negro  upon  a  white  woman 
deserves,  in  the  sense  and  judgment  of  the 
American  people,  a  different  punishment 
from  that  inflicted  upon  the  white  man. 
And  yet  the  very  purpose  of  this  section, 
as  I  contend,  is  to  abolish  or  prevent  the 
execution  of  laws  making  a  distinction  in 
regard  to  the  punishment. 

But,  farther,  it  is  said  the  negro  race  is 
weak  and  feeble  ;  that  they  are  mere  child- 
ren— "wards  of  the  Government."  In 
many  instances  it  might  be  just  and  pro- 
per to  inflict  a  less  punishment  upon  them 
for  certain  crimes  than  upon  men  of  intel- 
ligence and  education,  whose  motives  may 
have  been  worse.  It  might  be  better  for 
the  community  to  control  them  by  milder 
and  gentler  means.  If  the  judge  sitting 
upon  the  bench  of  the  State  court  shall,  in 
carrying  out  the  law  of  the  State,  inflict  a 
higher  penalty  upon  the  white  man  than 
that  which  attaches  to  the  freedman,  not 
that  I  suppose  it  is  ever  contemplated  to 


190 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


enforce  that,  yet  it  would  be  equally  ap- 
plicable, and  the  penalty  would  be  in- 
curred by  the  judge  in  the  same  manner 
precisely. 

But  I  proceed  to  the  section  I  was  about 
to  remark  upon  when  the  gentleman  in- 
terrupted me.  The  marshals  who  may  be 
employed  to  execute  warrants  and  pre- 
cepts under  this  bill,  as  I  have  already  re- 
marked, are  offered  a  bribe  for  the  execu- 
tion of  them.  It  creates  marshals  in  great 
numbers,  and  authorizes  commissioners  to 
appoint  almost  anybody  for  that  purpose, 
and  it  stimulates  them  by  the  offer  of  a  re- 
ward not  given  in  the  case  of  the  arrest  of 
persons  guilty  of  any  other  crime. 

It  goes  further.  It  authorizes  the  Presi- 
dent, when  he  is  apprehensive  that  some 
crime  of  that  sort  may  be  committed,  on 
mere  suspicion,  mere  information  or  state- 
ment that  it  is  likely  to  be  committed,  to 
take  any  judge  from  the  bench  or.  any 
marshal  from  his  office  to  the  place  where 
the  crime  is  apprehended,  for  the  purpose 
of  more  efficiently  and  speedily  carrying 
out  the  provisions  of  the  bill. 

The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr. 
Thayer)  tells  us  that  it  is  very  remarkable 
that  it  should  be  claimed  that  this  bill  is 
intended  to  create  and  continue  a  sort  of 
military  despotism  over  the  people  where 
this  law  is  to  be  executed.  It  seems  to 
me  nothing  is  plainer.  Where  do  we 
find  any  laws  heretofore  passed  having  no 
relation  to  the  negro  in  which  such  a  pro- 
vision as  this  tenth  section  is  to  be  found  ? 
Generally  the  marshal  seeks  by  himself  to 
execute  this  warrant,  and  failing,  he  calls 
out  his  POSSE  COMITATUS.  But  this  bill 
authorizes  the  use  in  the  first  instance  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  by  the  President  for 
the  purpose  of  executing  such  writs. 

The  gentlemen  who  advocate  this  bill 
are  great  sticklers  for  equality,  and  insist 
that  there  shall  be  no  distinction  made  on 
account  of  race  or  color. 

Why,  sir,  every  provision  of  this  bill 
carries  upon  its  face  the  distinction,  and  is 
calculated  to  perpetuate  it  forever  as  long 
as  the  act  shall  oe  in  force.  Where  did 
this  measure  originate  but  in  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  difference  between  races  and 
colors?  Does  any  one  pretend  that  this 
bill  is  intended  to  protect  white  men — to 
save  them  from  any  wrongs  which  may  be 
inflicted  upon  them  by  the  negroes?  Not 
at  all.  It  is  introduced  and  pressed  in  the 
pretended  interest  of  the  black  man,  and 
recognizes  and  virtually  declares  distinc- 
tion oetween  race  and  color. 

******* 

I  deprecate  all  these  measures  because  of 
the  implication  they  carry  upon  their  face, 
that  the  people  who  have  heretofore  owned 
slaves  intena  to  do  them  harm.  I  do  not 
believe  it.  So  far  .is  my  knowledge  goes, 
and  so  far  as  my  information  extends,  I  be- 


lieve that  the  people  who  have  held  the 
freedmen  as  slaves  will  treat  them  with 
more  kindness,  with  more  leniency,  than 
those  of  the  North  who  make  such  loud  pro- 
fessions of  love  and  affection  for  them,  and 
are  so  anxiou?  to  pass  these  bills.  They 
know  their  nature ;  they  know  their  wants ; 
they  know  their  habits ;  they  have  been 
brought  up  together ;  none  of  the  pre- 
judices and  unkind  feelings  which  many 
in  the  north  would  have  toward  them. 

I  do  not  credit  all  these  stories  about  the 
general  feeling  of  hostility  in  the  South  to- 
ward the  negro.  So  far  as  I  have  heard 
opinions  expressed  upon  the  subject,  and  I 
have  conversed  with  many  persons  from 
that  section  of  the  country,  they  do  not 
blame  the  negro  for  anything  that  has  hap- 
pened. As  a  general  thing,  he  was  faith- 
ful to  them  and  their  interests,  until  the 
army  reached  the  place  and  took  him  from 
them.  He  has  supported  their  wives  and 
children  in  the  absence  of  the  husbands 
and  fathers  in  the  armies  of  the  South. 
He  has  done  for  them  what  no  one  else 
could  have  done.  They  recognize  his 
general  good  feeling  toward  them,  and  are 
inclined  to  reciprocate  that  feeling  toward 
him. 

I  believe  that  is  the  general  feeling  of 
the  southern  people  to-day.  The  cases  of 
ill-treatment  are  exceptional  cases.  They 
are  like  the  cases  which  have  occurred  in 
the  northern  States  where  the  unfortunate 
have  been  thrown  upon  our  charity. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  stories  of  the 
cruel  treatment  of  the  insane  in  the  State 
of  Massachusetts.  They  may  have  been 
barbarously  confined  in  the  loathsome  dens 
as  stated  in  particular  instances ;  but  is 
that  any  evidence  of  the  general  ill-will  of 
the  people  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
toward  the  insane?  Is  that  any  reason 
why  the  Federal  arm  should  be  extended 
to  Massachusetts  to  control  and  protect  the 
insane  there  ? 

It  has  also  been  said  that  certain  paupers 
in  certain  States  have  been  badly  used, 
paupers,  too,  who  were  whites.  Is  tnat  any 
reason  why  we  should  extend  the  arm  of 
the  Federal  Government  to  those  States  to 
protect  the  poor  who  are  thrown  upon  the 
charity  of  the  people  there  ? 

Sir,  we  must  yield  to  the  altered  state  of 
things  in  this  country.    We  must  trust  the 

Seople ;  it  is  our  duty  to  do  so ;  we  cannot 
o  otherwise.  And  the  sooner  we  place 
ourselves  in  a  position  where  we  can  win 
the  confidence  of  our  late  enemies,  where 
our  counsels  will  be  heeded,  where  oUr  ad- 
vice may  be  regarded,  the  sooner  will  the 
people  of  the  whole  country  be  ftilly  recon- 
ciled to  each  other  and  their  changed  re- 
lationship ;  the  sooner  will  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  our  country  be  in  the  possession  of 
all  the  rights  and  immunities  essential  to 
their  prosperity  and  happiness. 


BOOK  III.]     A.  K.  McCLURE  ON  WHAT  OP  THE  REPUBLIC? 


191 


Hon.  A.  K.  KcCInre  on  "Wliat  ot  tbe  Re- 
public T 

Annnal  Address  delivered  before  the  Literary  SocietiM  of 
Dickinson  OoUege,  June  26(A,  1873. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Literary  Socie- 
ties :  —  What  of  the  Republic  ?  The 
trials  and  triumphs  of  our  free  institutions 
are  hackneyed  themes.  They  are  the  star 
attractions  of  every  political  conflict. 
They  furnish  a  perpetual  well-spring  of 
every  grade  of  rhetoric  for  the  hustings, 
and  partisan  organs  proclaim  with  the 
regularity  of  the  seasons,  the  annual 
perils  of  free  government. 

But  a  different  occasion,  with  widely 
different  opportunities  and  duties,  has 
brought  us  together.  The  dissembling  of 
the  partisan  would  be  unwelcome,  but 
here  truth  may  be  manfully  spoken  of  that 
which  so  prowundly  concerns  us  all.  I 
am  called  to  address  young  men  who  are 
to  rank  among  the  scholars,  the  teachers, 
the  statesmen,  the  scientists  of  their  age. 
They  will  be  of  the  class  that  must  furnish 
a  large  proportion  of  the  executives,  legis- 
lators, ministers,  and  instructors  of  the 
generation  now  rapidly  crowding  us  to  the 
long  halt  that  soon  must  come.  Doubt- 
less, here  and  there,  some  who  have  been 
less  favored  with  opportunities,  will  sur- 
pass them  in  the  race  for  distinction ;  but 
in  our  free  government  where  education  is 
proffered  to  all,  and  the  largest  freedom  of 
conviction  and  action  invites  the  humblest 
to  honorable  preferment,  the  learned  must 
bear  a  conspicuous  part  in  directing  the 
destiny  of  the  nation.  Every  one  who 
moulds  a  thought  or  inspires  a  fresh  re- 
solve even  in  the  remotest  regions  of  the 
Continent,  shapes,  in  some  measure,  the 
sovereign  power  of  the  Republic. 

The  time  and  the  occasion  are  alke 
propitious  for  a  dispassionate  review  of 
our  political  system,  and  of  the  political 
duties  which  none  can  reject  and  be  blame- 
less. Second  only  to  the  claims  of  religion 
are  the  claims  of  country.  Especially 
should  the  Christian,  whether  teaeher  or 
hearer,  discharge  political  duties  with 
fidelity.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  harangue 
of   the    partisan    should    desecrate    holy 

E laces,  or  that  men  should  join  in  the 
rawls  of  pot-house  politicians  ;  but  I  do 
mean  that  a  faithful  discharge  of  our  duty  to 
free  government  is  not  only  consistent 
with  the  most  exemplary  and  religious 
life,  but  is  a  Christian  as  well  as  a  civil 
obligation.  The  government  that  main- 
tains liberty  of  conscience  as  one  of  its 
fundamental  principles,  and  under  which 
Christianity  is  recognized  as  the  common 
law,  has  just  claims  upon  the  Christian 
citizen  for  the  vigilant  exercise  of  all 
political  rights. 

If  itbe  true,  as  is  so  often  confessed  around 
us,  that  we  have  suffered  a  marked  decline 
in  political  morality  and  in  our  political 


administration,  let  it  not  be  assumed  that 
the  defect  is  in  our  system  of  government, 
or  that  the  blame  lies  wholly  with  those 
who  are  faithless  or  incompetent.  Here  no 
citizen  is  voiceless,  and  none  can  claim 
exemption  from  just  responsibility  for 
evils  m  the  body  politic.  Ours  is,  in  fact 
as  well  as  in  theory,  a  government  of  the 
people ;  and  its  administration  is  neither 
better  nor  worse  than  the  people  them- 
selves. It  was  devised  by  wise  and 
patriotic  men,  who  gave  to  it  the  highest 
measure  of  fidelity  ;  and  so  perfectly  and 
harmoniously  is  its  framework  fashioned, 
that  the  sovereign  power  can  always  ex- 
ercise a  salutary  control  over  its  own  ser- 
vants. An  accidental  mistake  of  popular 
judgment,  or  the  perfidy  of  an  executive, 
or  the  enactment  of  profligate  or  violent 
laws,  are  all  held  in  such  wholesome  check 
by  co-ordinate  powers,  as  to  enable  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  nation  to  restrain 
or  correct  almost  every  conceivable  evil. 

Until  the  people  as  a  whole  are  given 
over  to  debauchery  the  safety  of  our  free 
institutions  cannot  be  seriously  endan- 
gered. True,  such  a  result  might  be 
possible  without  the  demoralization  of  a 
majority  of  the  people,  if  good  citizens 
surrender  their  rights,  and  their  duties, 
and  their  government  to  those  who  desire 
to  rule  in  profligacy  and  oppression. 

If  reputable  citizens  refrain  from  active 
participation  in  our  political  conflicts, 
they  voluntarily  surrender  the  safety  of 
their  persons  and  property,  and  the  good 
order  and  well-being  of  society,  to  those 
who  are  least  fitted  for  the  exercise  of  au- 
thority. When  such  results  are  visible  in 
any  of  the  various  branches  of  our  politi- 
cal system,  turn  to  the  true  source  and 
f»lace  the  responsibility  where  it  justly  be- 
ongs.  Do  not  blame  the  thief  and  the 
adventurer,  for  they  are  but  plying  their 
vocations,  and  they  rob  public  rather  than 
private  treasure,  because  men  guard  the 
one  and  do  not  guard  the  other.  Good 
men  emplojr  every  proper  precaution  to 
protect  their  property  from  the  lawless. 
When  an  injury  is  done  to  them  individ- 
ually they  are  swift  to  invoke  the  aveng- 
ing arm  of  justice.  They  are  faithful  guar- 
dians of  their  own  homes  and  treasures 
against  the  untitled  spoiler,  while  they  are 
criminally  indifferent  to  the  public  wrongs 
done  by  those  who,  in  the  enactment  and 
execution  of  the  laws,  directly  affect  their 
happiness  and  prosperity.  Do  not  answer 
that  politics  have  become  disreputable. 
Such  a  declaration  is  a  confession  of  guilt. 
He  who  utters  it  becomes  his  own  accuser. 
If  it  be  true  that  our  politics,  either  gen- 
erally or  in  any  particular  municipality  or 
State,  have  become  disreputable,  who 
must  answer  for  it?  Who  have  madfl  our 
politics  disreputable?  Surely  not  the  dis- 
reputable citizens,  for  they  are  a  small  mi- 


192 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


nority  in  every  community  and  in  every 
party.  If  they  have  obtained  control  of 
political  organizations,  and  thereby  secured 
their  election  to  responsible  trusts,  it  must 
have  been  with  the  active  or  passive  ap- 
proval of  the  good  citizens  who  hold  the 
actual  power  in  their  own  hands.  There 
is  not  a  disgraceful  official  shaming  the 
people  of  this  country  to-day,  who  does 
not  owe  his  place  to  the  silent  assent  or 
positive  support  of  those  who  justly  claim 
to  be  respectable  citizens,  and  who  habit- 
ually plead  their  own  wrongs  to  escape 
plain  and  imperative  duties.  If  dishonest 
or  incompetent  appointments  have  been 
made,  in  obedience  to  the  demands  of 
mere  partisans,  a  just  expression  of  the 
honest  sentiments  of  better  citizens,  made 
with  the  manliness  that  would  point  to 
retribution  for  such  wrongs,  would  prompt- 
ly give  us  a  sound  practical  civil  service, 
and  profligacy  and  dishonesty  would 
end. 

Our  Presidents  and  Governors  are  not 
wholly  or  even  mainly  responsible  for  the 
low  standard  of  our  officials.  If  good  men 
concede  primary  political  control  to  those 
who  wield  it  for  seliish  ends,  by  refraining 
from  an  active  discharge  of  their  political 
duties,  and  make  the  appointing  powers 
dependent  for  both  counsel  and  support 
upon  the  worst  political  elements,  who  is 
to  blame  when  public  sentiment  is  out- 
raged by  the  selection  of  unworthy  men  to 
important  public  trusts?  The  fruits  are 
but  the  natural,  logical  results  of  good  cit- 
izens refusing  to  accept  their  political 
duties.  There  is  not  a  blot  on  our  body 
politic  to-day  that  the  better  elements  of 
the  people  coulS  not  remove  whenever 
they  resolved  to  do  so, — and  they  will  so 
resolve  in  good  time,  as  they  have  always 
done  in  the  past.  There  is  not  a  defect  or 
deformity  in  our  political  administration 
that  they  cannot,  and  will  not  correct,  by 
the  peaceful  expression  of  their  sober  con- 
victions, inthe  legitimate  way  pointed  out 
by  our  free  institutions. 

You  who  are  destined  to  be  more  or  less 
conspicuous  among  the  teachers  of  men, 
should  study  well  this  reserved  power  so 
immediately  connected  with  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  government.  The  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  the  people  is  the  sure  bul- 
wark of  safety  for  the  Republic.  It  has 
been  the  soujjce  of  safety  in  all  times  past, 
in  peace  and  in  war,  and  it  is  to-day,  and 
will  ever  continue  to  be,  the  omnipotent 
power  that  forbids  ua  to  doubt  the  com- 
plete success  of  free  government.  It  may, 
at  times,  be  long  suffering  and  slow  to  re- 
sent wrongs  which  grow  ^adually  in 
strength  and  diffuse  their  poison  through- 
out the  land.  It  may  invoke  just  censure 
for  its  forbearance  in  seasons  of  partisan 
strife.  It  may  long  seem  lost  as  a  ruling 
element  of  our  political  system,  and  may 


appear  to  be  faithless  to  its  high  and  sacred 
duties.  It  may  be  unfelt  in  its  gentler  in- 
fluences, which  should  ever  be  active  in 
maintaining  the  purity  and  dignity  of  so- 
ciety and  government.  But  if  for  a  season 
the  better  efforts  of  a  free  people  are  not 
evident  to  quicken  and  support  public  vir- 
tue, it  must  not  be  assumed  that  the  source 
of  good  influences  has  been  destroyed,  or 
that  public  virtue  cannot  be  restored  to  its 
just  supremacy.  When  healthful  influ- 
ences do  not  come  like  the  dew  drops 
which  glitter  in  the  morning  as  they  re- 
vive the  harvest  of  the  earth,  they  will 
most  surely  come  in  their  terrible  majesty, 
as  the  tempest  comes  to  purify  the  atmos- 
phere about  us.  The  miasmas  which  arise 
from  material  corruption,  poison  the  air 
we  breathe  and  disease  all  physical  life 
within  their  reach.  The  poison  of  political 
corruption  is  no  less  subtle  and  destructive 
in  its  influences  upon  communities  and 
nations.  But  when  either  becomes  general 
or  apparently  beyond  the  power  of  ordi- 
nary means  of  correction,  the  angry  sweep 
of  the  hurricane  must  perform  the  work  of 
regeneration.  In  our  government  the 
mild,  but  effectual  restraints  of  good  men 
should  be  ceaseless  in  their  beneficent 
offices,  but  when  they  fail  to  be  felt  in  our 
public  affairs,  and  evil  control  has  widened 
and  strengthened  itself  in  departments  of 
power,  the  storm  and  the  thunderbolt  have 
to  be  invoked  for  the  public  safety,  and  our 
convulsive  but  lawful  revolutions  attest 
the  omnipotence  of  the  reserved  virtue  of 
a  faithful  and  intelligent  people.  . 

I  am  not  before  you  to  garner  the  scars 
and  disjointed  columns  of  free  government. 
The  Republic  that  has  been  reared  by  a 
century  of  patriotic  labor  and  sacrifice, 
more  than  covers  its  wounds  with  the 
noblest  'achievements  ever  recorded  in 
man's  struggle  for  the  rights  of  man.  It 
is  not  perfect  in  its  administration  or  in 
the  exercise  of  its  vast  and  responsible 
powers ;  but  when  was  it  so  ?  when  shall  it 
DC  so?  No  human  work  is  perfect.  No 
government  in  all  the  past  has  been  with- 
out its  misshaped  ends;  and  few,  indeed, 
have  survived  three  generations  without 
revolution.  We  must  have  been  more  than 
mortals,  if  our  history  does  not  present 
much  that  we  would  be  glad  to  efface.  We 
should  be  unlike  all  great  peoples  of  the 
earth,  if  we  did  not  mark  the  ebo  and  flow 
of  public  virtue,  and  the  consequent  strug- 
gles between  the  good  and  evil  elements  of 
a  society  in  which  freedom  is  at  times  de- 
based to  license.  We  have  had  seasons  of 
war  and  of  peace.  We  have  had  tidal  waves 
of  passion,  with  their  sweeping  demoraliza- 
tion. We  have  enlisted  the  national  pride 
in  the  perilous  line  of  conquest,  and  vindi- 
cated it  by  the  beneficent  fruits  of  our 
civilization.  We  have  had  the  tempest  of 
aggression,  and  the  profound  calm  that 


BOOK  III.]     A.  K.  McCLURE  ON  WHAT  OF  THE  REPUBLIC? 


193 


i 


was  the  conservator  of  peace  throughout 
the  world.  We  have  revolutionized  the 
policy  of  the  government  through  the  bit- 
ter conflicts  of  opposing  opinions,  and  it 
has  been  strengthened  by  its  trials.  We 
have  had  the  fruits  of  national  struggles 
transferred  to  the  vanquished,  without  a 
shade  of  violence ;  and  the  extreme  power 
of  impeachment  has  been  invoked  in  the 
midst  of  intensest  political  strife,  and  its 
udgraent  patriotically  obeyed.  We  have 
ad  fraternal  war  with  its  terrible  bereave- 
ments and  destruction.  We  have  com- 
pleted the  circle  of  national  perils,  and  the 
virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people  have 
ever  been  the  safety  of  the  Republic. 

At  no  previous  period  of  our  history 
have  opportunity  and  duty  so  happily 
united  to  direct  the  people  of  this  country 
to  the  triumphs  and  to  the  imperfections 
of  our  government.  We  have  reached  a 
healthy  calm  in  our  political  struggles. 
The  nation  has  a  trusted  ruler,  just  chosen 
by  an  overwhelming  vote.  The  disappoint- 
ments of  conviction  or  of  ambition  have 
passed  away,  and  all  yield  cordial  obedi- 
ence and  respect  to  the  lawful  authority  of 
the  country.  The  long-lingering  passions 
of  civil  war  have,  for  the  last  time,  embit- 
tered our  political  strife,  and  must  now  be 
consigned  to  forgetfiilness.  The  nation  is 
assured  of  peace.  The  embers  of  discord 
may  convulse  a  State  until  justice  shall  be 
enthroned  over  mad  partisanship,  but  peace 
and  justice  are  the  inexorable  purposes  of 
the  people,  and  they  will  be  obeyed.  Sec- 
tional hatred,  long  fanned  by  political  ne- 
cessities, is  henceforth  effaced  from  our 
politics,  and  the  unity  of  a  sincere  brother- 
hood will  be  the  cherished  faith  of  every 
citizen.  We  first  conquered  rebellion,  and 
now  have  conquered  the  bitterness  and 
estrangement  of  its  discomfiture. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  insurgent  Con- 
federacy is  a  Representative  in  our  Con- 
gress. One  who  was  first  in  the  field  and 
last  in  the  Senate  in.  support  of  rebellion 
has  just  died  while  representing  the  go- 
vernment in  a  diplomatic  position  of  the 
highest  honor.  Another  who  served  the 
Confederacy  in  the  field  and  in  the  forum, 
has  been  one  of  the  constitutional  advisers 
of  the  national  administration.  One  of  the 
most  brilliant  of  Confederate  warriors  now 
serves  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
has  presided  over  that  body.  The  first 
Lieutenant  of  Lee  was  long  since  honored 
with  responsible  and  lucrative  official  trust, 
and  many  of  lesser  note,  lately  our  ene- 
mies, are  discharging  important  public  du- 
ties. The  war  and  its  issues  are  settled 
forever.  Those  who  were  arrayed  against 
each  other  in  deadly  conflict  are  now 
friends.  The  appeal  from  the  ballot  to  the 
Bword  has  been  made,  and  its  arbitrament 
has  been  irrevocably  ratified  by  the  su- 
preme power  of  the  nation.  Each  has  won 
41 


from  the  other  the  respect  that  is  ever 
awarded  to  brave  men,  and  the  affection 
that  was  clouded  by  the  passion  that  made 
both  rush  to  achieve  an  easy  triumph,  has 
returned  chastened  and  strengthened  by 
our  common  sacrifices.  Our  battle-fields 
will  be  memorable  as  the  theatres  of  the 
conflicts  of  the  noblest  people  the  world 
had  to  offer  to  the  god  of  carnage,  and  the 
monuments  to  our  dead.  North  and  South, 
will  be  pointed  to  by  succeeding  genera- 
tions as  the  proud  records  of  the  heroism 
of  the  American  people. 

The  overshadowing  issues  touching  the 
war  and  its  logical  results  are  now  no 
longer  in  controversy,  and  in  vain  will  the 
unworthy  invoke  patriotism  to  give  them 
unmerited  distinction.  No  supreme  dan- 
ger can  now  confront  the  citizen  who  de- 
sires to  correct  errors  or  abuses  of  our  po- 
litical system.  He  who  despairs  of  tree 
institutions  because  evils  have  been  tole- 
rated, would  have  despaired  of  every  ad- 
ministration the  country  has  ever  had,  and 
of  every  government  the  world  has  ever 
known.  If  corruption  pervades  our  insti- 
tutions to  an  alarming  extent,  let  it  not  be 
forgotten  that  it  is  the  natural  order  of  his- 
tory repeating  itself.  It  is  but  the  experi- 
ence of  every  nation,  and  our  own  experi- 
ence returning  to  us,  to  call  into  vigorous 
action  the  regenerating  power  of  a  patri- 
otic people.  We  have  a  supreme  tribunal 
that  is  most  jealous  of  its  high  preroga- 
tives, and  that  will  wield  its  authority 
mercilessly  when  the  opportune  season  ar- 
rives. We  have  just  emerged  from  the 
most  impassioned  and  convulsive  strife  of 
modern  history.  It  called  out  the  highest 
type  of  patriotism,  and  life  and  treasure 
were  freely  given  with  the  holiest  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  self-government."  With  it 
came  those  of  mean  ambition,  and  of  venal 
purposes,  and  they  could  gain  power  while 
the  unselfish  were  devoted  to  the  country's 
cause.  They  could  not  be  dethroned  be- 
cause there  were  grave  issues  which  dare 
not  be  sacrificed.  Such  evils*  must  be 
borne  at  times  in  all  governments,  rather 
than  destroy  the  temple  to  punish  the  ene- 
mies of  public  virtue.  To  whatever  extent 
these  evils  exist,  they  are  not  the  legitimate 
creation  of  our  free  institutions.  They  are 
not  the  creation  of  mal-administration,  nor 
of  any  party.  They  are  the  monstrous  bar- 
nacles spawned  by  unnatural  war,  which 
clogged  the  gallant  ship  of  State  in  her  ex- 
tremity, and  had  to  be  borne  into  port  with 
her.  And  now  that  the  battle  is  ended,  and 
the  issues  settled,  do  not  distrust  the  re- 
served power  of  our  free  institutions.  It 
will  heal  the  scars  of  war  and  efface  the 
stains  of  corruption,  and  present  the  great 
Republic  to  the  world  surpassing  in  pan- 
deur,  might  and  excellence,  the  sublimest 
conceptions  ever  cherished  of  human  go- 
I  vernment. 


194 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


As  you  come  to  assume  the  responsibili- 
ties which  must  be  accepted  by  the  edu- 
cated citizen,  you  will  be  profoundly  im- 
pressed with  the  multiplied  dangers  which 
threaten  the  government.  They  will  ap- 
pear not  only  to  be  innumerable  and  likely 
to  defy  correction,  but  they  will  seem  to  be 
of  modern  creation.  It  is  common  to  hear 
intelligent  political  leaders  declaim  against 
the  moral  and  intellectual  degeneracy  of 
the  times,  and  especially  against  the  de- 
cline in  public  morality  and  statesmanship. 
They  would  make  it  appear  that  the  people 
and  the  government  in  past  times  were  mo- 
dels of  purity  and  excellence,  while  we  are 
unworthy  sons  of  noble  sires.  Our  rulers 
are  pronounced  imbecile,  or  wholly  devoted 
to  selfish  ends. 

Our  law-makers  are  declared  to  be  reek- 
ing with  corruption  or  blinded  by  ambi- 
tion, and  greed  and  faithlessness  are  held 
up  to  the  world  as  the  chief  characteristics 
or  our  officials.  From  this  painful  picture 
we  turn  to  the  history  of  those  who  ruled 
in  the  earlier  and  what  we  call  the  better 
days  of  the  Republic,  and  the  contrast  sinks 
us  deep  in  the  slough  of  despair.  I  am 
not  prepared  to  say  that  much  of  the  com- 
plaint against  the  political  degeneracy  of 
the  times,  and  the  standard  of  our  officials, 
is  not  just;  but  in  the  face  of  all  that  can 
be  charged  against  the  present,  I  regard  it 
as  the  very  best  age  this  nation  has  ever 
known.  The  despairing  accusations  made 
gainst  our  public  servants  are  not  the  pe- 
culiar creation  of  the  times  in  which  we 
live,  and  the  allegation  of  wide  spread  de- 
moiulization  in  the  body  politic,  was  no 
more  novel  in  any  of  the  generations  of 
the  past  than  it  is  now.  We  say  nothing 
of  our  rulers  that  was  not  said  of  those 
whose  memory  we  so  sacredly  worship. 
License  is  one  of  the  chief  penalties,  indeed 
the  sole  defect  of  liberty,  and  it  has  ever 
asserted  its  prerogatives  with  tireless  in- 
dustry. It  was  as  irreverent  with  Wash- 
ington as  it  is  with  Grant.  It  racked  Jef- 
ferson and  Jackson,  and  it  pained  and 
scarred  Lincoln  and  Chase,  and  their  com- 
patriots. It  criticised  the  campaigns  and 
the  heroes  of  the  revolutionary  times,  as 
we  criticise  the  living  heroes  of  our  da^y. 
It  belittled  the  statesmen  of  every  epoch  in 
our  national  progress,  just  as  we  belittle 
those  who  are  now  the  guardians  of  our 
free  institutions.  Perhaps  we  have  more 
provocation  than  they  had ;  but  if  so,  they 
were  less  charitable,  for  the  tide  of  ungen- 
erous criticism  and  distrust  has  known  no 
cessation.  I  believe  we  have  had  seasons 
when  our  political  sj^stem  was  more  free 
from  blemish  than  it  is  now,  and  that  we 
have  had  periods  when  both  government 
and  people  maintained  a  higher  standard 
of  excellence  than  we  can  boast  of;  but  it 
is  emially  true  that  we  have,  in  the  past, 
sounded  a  depth  in  the  decline  of  our  po- 


litical administration  that  the  present  age 
can  never  reach. 

You  must  soon  appear  in  the  active 
struggles  for  the  perpetuity  of  free  govern- 
ment, and  some  of  the  sealed  chapters  of  the 
past  are  most  worthy  of  your  careful  study. 
I  would  not  efiace  one  good  inspiration 
that  you  have  gathered  from  the  lives  and 
deeds  of  our  lathers,  whose  courage  and 
patriotism  have  survived  their  infirmities. 
Whatever  we  have  from  them  that  is  puri- 
fying or  elevating,  is  but  the  truth  of  his- 
tory ;  and  when  unborn  generations  shall 
have  succeeded  us,  no  age  in  all  the  long 
century  of  freedom  in  the  New  World,  will 
furnish  to  them  higher  standards  of  heroism 
and  statesmanship  than  the  defamed  and 
unappreciated  times  in  which  we  live. 
And  when  the  future  statesmen  shall  turn 
to  history  for  the  most  unselfish  and  en- 
lightened devotion  to  the  Republic,  they 
will  pause  over  the  records  we  have  writ- 
ten, and  esteem  them  the  brightest  in  all 
the  annals  of  man's  best  efforts  for  his  race. 
We  can  judge  of  the  true  standard  of  our 
government  and  people  only  by  a  faithful 
comparison  with  the  true  standard  of  the 
men  and  events  which  have  passed  away. 
You  find  widespread  distrust  of  the  success 
of  our  political  system.  It  is  the  favorite 
theme  of  every  disappointed  ambition,  and 
the  vanquished  of  every  important  struggle 
are  tempted,  in  the  bitterness  of  defeat,  to 
despair  of  the  government.  Would  you 
know  whence  comes  this  chronic  or  spas- 
modic political  despair  ?  If  so,  you  must 
turn  back  over  the  graves  of  ages,«for  it  is 
as  old  as  free  government.  Glance  at  the 
better  days  of  which  we  all  have  read,  and 
to  which  modern  campaign  eloquence  is  so 
much  indebted.  Do  not  stop  with  the  ap- 
proved histories  of  the  fathers  of  the  Re- 
public. They  tell  only  of  the  transcendent 
wisdom  and  matchless  perfections  of  those 
who  gave  us  liberty  and  ordained  govern- 
ment of  the  people.  Go  to  the  inner  tem- 
Ele  of  truth.  Seek  that  which  was  then 
idden  from  the  nation,  but  which  in  these 
days  of  newspapers  and  free  schools,  and 
steam  and  lightning,  is  an  open  record  so 
that  he  who  runs  may  read.  Gather  up 
the  few  public  journals  of  a  century  ago, 
and  the  rare  personal  letters  and  sacrea 
diaries  of  the  good  and  wise  men  whose 
examples  are  so  earnestly  longed  for  in  the 
degenerate  present,  and  your  despair  will 
be  softened  and  your  indignation  at  cvu-- 
rent  events  will  be  tempered,  as  you  learn 
that  our  history  is  steadily  repeating  itself, 
and  that  with  all  our  many  faults,  we  grow 
better  as  we  progress. 

Do  you  point  to  the  unfaltering  courage 
and  countless  sacrifices  of  those  who  gave 
us  freedom,  so  deeply  crimsoned  with  their 
blood?  I  join  you  in  naming  them  with 
reverence,  but  I  must  point  to  their  sons, 
for  whom  we  have  not  yet  ceased  to  mourn. 


BOOK  III.]    A.  K.  McCLURE  ON  WHAT  OF  THE  REPUBLIC? 


195 


who   equalled  them  in  every  manly  and 

ftatriotic  attribute.  When  wealth  and 
uxury  were  about  us  to  tempt  our  people 
to  indifference  and  ease,  the  world  has  no 
records  of  heroism  which  dim  the  lustre  of 
the  achievements  we  have  witnessed  in  the 
preservation  of  the  liberty  our  fathers  be- 
queathed to  us.  Have  corruption  and 
Eerfidy  stained  the  triumphs  of^  which  we 
oast?  So  did  corruption  and  perfidy  stain 
the  revolutionary  "times  that  tried  men's 
souls."  Do  we  question  the  laurels  with 
which  our  successful  captains  have  been 
crowned  by  a  grateful  country  ?  So  did  our 
forefathers  question  the  just  dictinction 
of  him  who  was  first  in  war  and  first  in 
peace,  and  he  had  not  a  lieutenant  who 
escaped  distrust,  nor  a  council  of  war  that 
was  free  from  unworthy  jealousies  and 
strife.  Do  politicians  and  even  statesmen 
teach  the  early  destruction  of  our  free 
institutions?  It  is  the  old,  old  story ;  "  the 
babbling  echo  mocks  itself."  It  distracted 
the  cabinets  of  Washington  and  the  elder 
Adams.  It  was  the  tireless  assailant  of 
Jefferson  and  Madison.  It  made  the  Jack- 
son administration  tempestuous.  It  gave 
us  foreign  war  under  Polk.  It  was  a  teem- 
ing fountain  of  discord  under  Taylor, 
Pierce  and  Buchanan.  It  gave  us  deadly 
fraternal  conflict  under  Lincoln.  Its  dying 
throes  convulsed  the  nation  under  John- 
son. The  promise  of  peace,  soberly  ac- 
cepted from  Grant,  was  the  crown  of  an 
unbroken  column  of  triumphs  over  the 
distrust  of  every  age,  that  was  attacking 
free  government.  Do  we  complain  of  vio- 
lent and  profligate  legislation  ?  Hamilton, 
the  favorite  statesman  of  Washington, 
was  the  author  of  laws,  enacted  in  time  of 
peace,  which  could  not  have  been  enforced 
in  our  day  even  under  the  necessities  and 
passions  of  war.  And  when  the  judgment 
of  the  nation  repealed  them,  he  sought  to 
overthrow  the  popular  verdict,  because  he 
believed  that  the  government  was  over- 
thrown. Almost  before  order  began  after 
the  political  chaos  of  the  revolution,  the 
intensest  struggles  were  made,  and  the 
most  violent  enactments  urged,  for  mere 
partisan  control.  Jefferson,  the  chief 
apostle  of  government  of  the  people,  did 
not  always  cherish  supreme  faith  in  his 
own  work.  He  trembled  at  the  tendencies 
to  monarchy,  and  feared  because  of  "  the 
dupery  of  which  our  countrymen  have 
shown  themselves  susceptible."  He  res- 
cued the  infant  Republic  from  the  central- 
ization that  was  the  lingering  dregs  of 
despotism,  and  unconsciously  sowed  the 
seeds  which  ripened  into  States'  rights  and 
nullification  under  Jackson,  and  into  re- 
bellion under  Lincoln.  But  for  the  des- 
perate conflict  of  opposing  convictions  as 
to  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  structure, 
Jefferso^^  would  have  been  more  wise  and 
conservative.    He  was  faithful  to  popular 


government  in  the  broadest  acceptation  of 
the  theory.  He  summed  it  up  in  his 
memorable  utterance  to  his  neighbors  when 
he  returned  from  France.  He  said: — 
"  The  will  of  the  majority,  the  natural  law 
of  every  society,  is  the  only  sure  guardian 
of  the  rights  of  man.  Perhaps  even  this 
may  sometimes  err,  but  its  errors  are  honest 
solitary  and  short-lived."  Politically  speak- 
ing, with  the  patriots  and  statesmen  of  the 
"  better  days  "  of  the  Republic,  their  con- 
fidence in,  or  distrust  of,  the  government, 
depended  much  upon  whether  Hamilton  or 
Jefferson  ruled.  Dream  of  them  as  we 
may,  they  were  but  men,  with  the  same 
ambition,  the  same  love  of  power,  the 
same  infirmities,  which  we  regard  as  the 
peculiar  besetting  sins  of  our  times.  If 
you  would  refresh  your  store  of  distrust  of 
all  political  greatness,  study  Jefferson 
through  Burr  and  Hamilton,  or  Washing- 
ton and  Hamilton  through  Jefferson,  or 
Jackson  through  Clay  and  the  second 
Adams,  or  Clay  and  Adams  through  Jack- 
son and  Randolph,  and  you  will  think 
better  of  the  enlightened  and  liberal  age 
in  which  you  live. 

No  error  is  so  common  among  free 
people  as  the  tendency  to  depreciate  the 
present  and  all  its  agencies  and  achieve- 
ments. 

We  all  turn  with  boundless  pride  to  the 
Senate  of  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun.  In 
the  period  of  their  great  conflicts,  it  was 
the  ablest  legislative  tribunal  the  world 
has  ever  furnished.  Rome  and  Greece  in 
the  zenith  of  their  greatness,  never  gath- 
ered such  a  galaxy  of  statesmen.  But  not 
until  they  had  passed  away  did  the  nation 
learn  to  judge  them  justly.  Like  the  tow- 
ering oaks  when  the  tempest  sweeps  over 
the  forest,  the  storm  of  faction  was  fiercest 
among  their  crowns,  and  their  struggles  of 
mere  ambition,  and  their  infirmities,  which 
have  been  kindly  forgotten,  often  made  the 
thoughtless  or  the  unfaithfiil  despair  of 
our  free  institutions.  Not  one  of  them  es- 
caped detraction  or  popular  reprobation. 
Not  one  was  exempt  from  the  grave  accu- 
sation of  shaping  the  destruction  of  our 
nationality,  and  yet  not  one  meditated  de- 
liberate wrong  to  the  country  on  which  all 
reflected  so  much  honor.  Calhoun  des- 
paired of  the  Union,  because  of  the  irre« 
pressible  antagonism  of  sectional  interests, 
but  he  cherished  the  sincerest  faith  in  free 
institutions.  But  when  the  dispassionate 
historian  of  the  future  is  brought  to  the 
task  of  recording  the  most  memorable  tri- 
umphs of  our  political  system,  he  will  pass 
over  the  great  Senate  of  the  last  genera- 
tion, and  picture  in  their  just  proportions 
the  grander  achievements  of  the  heroes 
and  statesmen  who  have  been  created  in 
our  own  time.  If  we  could  draw  aside  the 
veil  that  conceals  the  future  from  us,  and 
see  how  our  children  will  judge  the  trials 


196 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  lit. 


and  triumphs  of  the  last  decade,  we  would 
be  shamed  at  our  distrust  of  ourselves  and 
of  the  instruments  we  have  employed  to 
discharge  the  noblest  duties.  Our  agents 
came  up  from  among  us.  We  knew  them 
before  they  were  great,  and  remembered 
well  their  common  inheritance  of  human 
defects. — Thev  are  not  greater  than  were 
men  who  had  lived  before  them,  but  the 
nation  has  had  none  in  all  the  past  who 
could  have  written  their  names  higher  on 
the  scroll  of  fame.  We  knew  Lincoln  as 
the  uncouth  Western  campaigner  and  ad- 
vocate; as  a  man  of  jest,  untutored  in  the 
graces,  and  unschooled  in  statesmanship. 
We  know  him  in  the  heat  and  strife  of  the 

folitical  contests  which  made  him  our 
'resident,  and  our  passions  and  prejudices 
survived  his  achievements.  If  his  friends, 
we  were  brought  face  to  face  with  his  im- 

Eerfections,  and  perhaps  complained  that 
e  was  unequal  to  impossibilities.  If  his 
enemies,  we  antagonized  his  policy  and 
magnified  his  errors.  We  saw  him  wrestle 
with  the  greed  of  the  place-man,  with  the 
ambitious  warrior  and  with  the  disappoint- 
ed statesman.  We  received  his  great  act 
of  Emancipation  as  a  part  of  the  mere  po- 
litical policy  of  his  rule,  and  judged  it  by 
the  light  of  prejudiced  partisan  convic- 
tions. 

But  how  will  those  of  the  future  judge 
him?  When  the  hatreds  which  attached 
to  his  public  acts  have  passed  into  forget- 
fulness;  when  his  infirmities  shall  have 
been  buried  in  oblivion,  and  when  all  his 
master  monuments  shall  stand  out  in  bold 
relief,  made  stainless  by  the  generous  offi- 
ces of  time,  his  name  will  be  linked  with 
devotion  wherever  liberty  has  a  worship- 
per. And  it  will  be  measurably  so  of  those 
who  were  his  faithful  co-laborers.  It  will 
be  forgotten  that  they  were  at  times  weak, 
discordant,  irresolute  men  when  they  had 
to  confront  problems  the  solution  of  which 
had  no  precedents  in  the  world's  history. 
It  will  not  be  conspicuous  in  the  future 
records  of  those  great  events,  that  the 
most  learned  and  experienced  member  of 
his  cabinet  would  have  accepted  peace  by 
any  supportable  compromise,  and  that  one 
of  the  most  trusted  of  his  constitutional 
advisers  would  have  assented  to  peaceable 
dismemberment  to  escape  internecine  war. 
Few  will  ever  know  that  our  eminent  Min- 
ister of  War  was  one  of  those  who  was 
least  hopeful  of  the  preservation  of  the 
unity  of  the  States,  when  armed  secession 
made  its  first  trial  of  strength  with  the  ad- 
ministration. It  will  not  be  recorded  how 
the  surrender  of  Sumter  was  gravely  dis- 
cussed to  postpone  the  presence  of  actual 
hoetilitiea,  and  how  the  midsummer  mad- 
ness of  rebellion  made  weakness  and  dis- 
cord give  way  to  might  and  harmony,  by 
the  fint  gun  that  sent  its  unprovoked  mes- 
senger of  death  against  the  flag  and  de- 


fenders of  the  Union.  It  will  not  be  re- 
membered that  faction  ran  riot  in  the  high- 
est places,  and  that  the  struggle  for  the 
throne  embittered  cabinet  councils  and  es- 
tranged eminent  statesmen,  even  when  the 
artillery  of  the  enemy  thundered  within 
sound  of  the  Capital. 

It  will  not  be  declared  how  ^eat  captains 
toyed  with  armies  and  decimated  them 
upon  the  deadly  altar  of  ambition,  and  how 
blighted  hopes  of  preferment  made  jangled 
strife  and  fruitless  campaigns.  Nor  will 
the  insidious  treason  tnat  wounded  the 
cause  of  free  government  in  the  home  of 
its  friends,  blot  the  future  pages  of  our 
history  in  the  just  proportions  in  which 
the  living  felt  and  knew  it  It  will  be  told 
that  in  the  hour  of  greatest  peril,  the  ad- 
ministration was  criticised,  and  the  consti- 
tution and  laws  expounded,  with  supreme 
ability  and  boldness,  while  the  meaner 
struggles  of  the  cowardly  and  faithless  will 
be  effaced  with  the  passions  of  the  times 
that  created  them.  And  it  is  best  that 
these  defects  of  greatness  should  slumber 
with  mortality.  Not  only  the  heroes  and 
rulers,  but  the  philanthropists  as  well,  of 
all  nations  and  ages,  have  had  no  exemp- 
tion from  the  frailties  which  are  colossal 
when  in  actual  view.  That  we  have  been 
no  better  than  we  have  seen  ourselves,  does 
not  prove  that  we  are  a  degenerate  people. 
On  the  contrary,  it  teaches  how  much  of 
good  and  great  achievement  may  be  hoped 
for  with  all  the  imperfections  we  see  about 
us.  In  our  unexampled  struggle,  when 
faction,  and  corruption,  and  faithlessness 
had  done  their  worst,  a  [regenerated  na- 
tionality, saved  to  perfected  justice,  liberty 
and  law,  was  the  rich  fruits  of  the  patriotic 
efforts  of  the  people  and  their  trusted  but 
fallible  leaders.  There  is  the  ineffaceable 
record  we  have  written  for  history,  and  it 
will  be  pointed  to  as  the  sublimest  tribute 
the  world  has  given  to  the  theory  of  self- 
government.  The  many  grievous  errors 
and  bitter  jealousies  of  the  conflict  which 
weakened  and  endangered  the  cause;  the 
venality  that  grew '  in  hideous  strength, 
while  higher  and  holier  cares  gave  it 
safety;  the  incompetency  that  grasped 
place  on  the  tidal  waves  of  devotion  to 
country,  and  the  wide-spread  political  evils 
which  still  linger  as  sorrowful  legacies 
among  us,  will  in  the  fulness  of  time  be 
healea  and  forgotten,  and  only  the  grand 
consummation  will  be  memorable.    This 

f;enerous  judgment  of  the  virtue  and  intel- 
igence  of  the  people,  that  corrects  the 
varying  efforts  and  successes  of  political 
prostitution;  that  pardons  the  defects  of 
those  who  are  faithful  in  purpose,  and 
without  which  the  greatest  deeds  would  go 
down  to  posterity  scarred  and  deformed,  w 
the  glass  through  which  all  must  read  of 
the  noblest  triumphs  of  men. 
Our  Republic  stands  alone  in  tne  whol« 


BooKiii.]    A.  K.  McCLURE  ON  WHAT  OF  THE  REPUBLIC?  197 


records  of  civil  government.  In  its  theory, 
in  its  complete  organization,  and  in  its  ad- 
ministration, it  is  wholly  exceptional.  We 
talk  thoughtlessly  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
old  RepuDlics,  and  the  weak  or  disap- 
pointed turn  to  history  for  the  evidence  of 
our  destruction.  It  is  true  that  Republics 
which  have  been  mighty  among  the  powers 
of  the  earth  have  crumbled  into  hopeless 
decay,  and  that  the  shifting  sands  of  time 
have  left  desolate  places  where  once  were 
omnipotence  and  grandeur.  Rome  made 
her  almost  boundless  conquests  under  the 
banner  of  the  Republic,  and  a  sister  Re- 
public was  her  rival  in  greatness  and  splen- 
dor. They  are  traced  obscurely  on  the 
pages  of  history  as  governments  of  the  peo- 
ple. Rome  became  mistress  of  the  world. 
Her  triumphal  arches  of  costliest  art  re- 
corded her  many  victories.  Her  temples 
of  surpassing  elegance,  her  colossal  and 
exquisite  statues  of  her  chieftains,  her  im- 
posing columns  dedicated  to  her  invincible 
soldiery,  and  her  apparently  rapid  progress 
toward  a  beneficent  civilization,  give  the 
story  of  the  devotion  and  heroism  of  her 
citizens.  But  Rome  never  was  a  free  rep- 
resentative government.  What  is  called 
her  Republic  was  but  a  series  of  surging 
plebeian  and  patrician  revolutions,  of  Tri- 
bunes, Consuls  and  Dictators,  with  seasons 
of  marvelous  prowess  under  the  desperate 
lead  of  as  marvelous  ambition.  The  tran- 
quillity, the  safety,  and  the  inspiration  of  a 
government  of  liberty  and  law,  are  not  to 
"be  found  in  all  the  thousand  years  of  Ro- 
man greatness.  The  lust  of  empire  was 
the  ruling  passion  in  the  ancient  Repub- 
lics. Hannibal  reflected  the  supreme  sen- 
timent of  Carthage  when  he  bowed  at  the 
altar  and  swore  eternal  hostility  to  Rome ; 
and  Cato,  the  Censor,  as  faithfully  spoke 
for  Rome  when  he  declared  to  an  approv- 
ing Senate — "  Carthago  delenda  /"  Such 
was  the  mission  of  what  history  hands 
down  to  us  as  the  great  free  governments  of 
the  ancients.  Despotism  was  the  forerun- 
ner of  corruption,  and  the  proudest  eras 
they  knew  were  but  hastening  them  to  in- 
evitable destruction. 

The  imperial  purple  soon  followed  in 
Rome,  as  a  debauched  people  were  pre- 
pared to  accept  in  form  what  they  had 
Iqng  accepted  with  the  mockery  of  free- 
dom. Rulers  and  subjects,  noble  and  ig- 
noble, church  and  state,  made  common 
cause  to  precipitate  her*  decay.  At  last 
the  columns  of  the  barbarian  clouded  her 
valleys.  The  rude  hosts  of  Attila,  the 
"  Scourge  of  Gk)d,"  swarmed  upon  her,  and 
their  battle-axes  smote  the  demoralized 
warriors  of  the  tottering  empire.  The  Groth 
and  the  Vandal  jostled  each  other  from  the 
degraded  sceptre  they  had  conquered,  and 
Rome  was  left  widowed  in  her  ruins.  And 
Carthage! — she  too  had  reared  a  great 
government  by  spoliation,  and  called  it  a 


I  Republic.  It  was  the  creation  of  ambition 
ana  conquest.  Her  great  chieftain  swept 
over  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Alps  with  his 
victorious  legions,  and  even  made  the  gates 
of  the  Eternal  City  tremble  before  the 
impetuous  advance  of  the  Carthagenians. 
But  Carthage  never  was  free  until  the 
cormorant  and  the  bittern  possessed  it, 
and  the  God  of  nations  had  "  stretched  out 
upon  it  the  line  of  confusion  and  the  stones 
or  emptiness."  Conqueror  and  conquered 
are  blotted  from  the  list  of  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  We  read  of  the  Grecian  Re- 
public ;  but  it  was  a  libel  upon  free  gov- 
ernment. Her  so-called  free  institutions 
consisted  of  a  loose,  discordant  confedera- 
tion of  independent  States,  where  despo- 
tism ruled  in  the  name  of  liberty.  Sparta 
has  made  romance  pale  before  the  achieve- 
ments of  her  sons,  but  her  triumphs  were 
not  of  peace,  nor  were  they  for  free  gov- 
ernment. Athens  abolished  royalty  more 
than  a  thousand  years  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  and  niade  Athenian  history  most 
thrilling  and  instructive,  but  her  citizens 
were  strangers  to  freedom.  The  most 
sanguinary  wars  with  sister  States,  domes- 
tic convulsions  almost  without  cessation, 
and  the  grinding  oppression  of  caste,  were 
the  chief  oSerings  of  the  government  to  its 
subjects.  Solon  restored  her  laws  to  some 
measure  of  justice,  only  to  be  cast  aside  for 
the  usurper.  Greece  yet  has  a  name  among 
the  nations  of  the  world,  but  her  sceptre 
for  which  the  mightiest  once  warred  to  en- 
slave her  people  under  the  banner  of  the 
Republic,  has  long  since  been  unfelt  in 
shaping  the  destiny  of  mankind.  Thus 
did  Rome  and  Carthage  and  Greece  fade 
from  the  zenith  of  distinction  and  power, 
before  constitutional  government  of  the 
people  had  been  bom  among  men.  To- 
day there  is  not  an  established  sister  Re- 
public that  equals  our  single  Common- 
wealth in  population.  Spain,  France  and 
Mexico  have  in  turn  worshiped  Emperors, 
Kings,  Dictators  -and  popular  Presidents. 
Yesterday  they  were  reckoned  Republics. 
What  they  have  been  made  to-day,  or 
what  they  will  be  made  to-morrow,  is  un- 
certain and  unimportant.  They  are  not 
now,  and  never  have  been.  Republics  save 
in  name,  and  never  can  be  free  govern- 
ments until  their  people  are  transformed 
into  law-creating  ana  law-abiding  com- 
munities. With  them  monarchy  is  a  re- 
fuge from  the  license  they  miscall  liberty, 
and  despotism  is  peace.  Switzerland  is 
called  a  Republic.  She  points  to  her  ac- 
knowledged independence  four  hundred 
years  ago,  but  not  until  the  middle  of  the 
present  century  did  the  Republic  of  the 
Alps  find  tranquillity  in  a  constitutional 
government  that  inaugurated  the  liberty 
of  law.  Away  on  a  rugged  mountain-top 
in  Italy,  is  the  only  Republic  that  has 
maintained   popular   government  among 


198 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


the  States  of  Europe.  For  more  than  four- 
teen hundred  years  a  handful  of  isolated 
people,  the  followers  of  a  Dalmatian  her- 
mit priest,  have  given  the  world  an  ex- 
ample of  unsullied  freedom.  Through  all 
the  mutations,  and  revolutions,  and  re- 
linings  of  the  maps  of  Europe,  the  little 
territory  of  San  Marino  has  been  sacredly 
respected.  Her  less  than  ten  thousand 
people  have  prospered  without  interrup- 
tion; and  civil  commotions  and  foreign 
disputes  or  conflicts  have  been  unknown 
among  them.  She  has  had  no  wealth  to 
tempt  the  spoiler ;  no  commerce  or  teem- 
ing valleys  to  invite  conquest ;  no  wars  to 
breed  dictators;  no  surplus  revenues  to 
corrupt  her  officials ;  and  in  patient  and 
frugal  industry  her  citizens  have  enjoyed 
the  national  felicity  of  having  no  history. 
They  have  had  no  trials  and  no  triumphs, 
and  have  made  civilization  better  only  by 
the  banner  of  peace  they  have  worshipped 
through  all  the  convulsions  and  bloody 
strife  of  many  centuries. 

The  worli  has  but  one  Republic 
that  has  illustrated  constitutional  freedom 
in  all  its  beneficence,  power  and  grandeur, 
and  that  is  our  own  priceless  inheritance. 
As  a  government,  our  Republic  has  alone 
been  capable  of,  and  faithful  to,  represen- 
tative free  institutions,  with  equal  rights, 
equal  justice,  and  equal  laws  for  every  con- 
dition of  our  fellows.  All  the  nations  of 
the  past  furnish  no  history  that  can  logic- 
ally repeat  itself  in  our  advancement  or 
decline.  Created  through  the  severest  trials 
and  sacrifices ;  maintained  through  foreign 
and  civil  war  with  unexampled  devotion ; 
faithful  to  law  as  the  offspring  and  safety 
of  liberty ;  progressive  in  all  that  ennobles 
our  peaceful  industry,  and  cherishing  en- 
lightened and  liberal  Christian  civilization 
as  the  trust  and  pride  of  our  citizens,  for 
our  government  of  the  people,  none  but 
iteelf  can  be  its  parallel. 

In  what  are  called  free  governments  of 
antiquity,  we  search  in  vain  for  constitu- 
tional freedom,  or  that  liberty  that  subor- 
dinates passion  and  license  to  law.  The 
refuge  from  the  constant  perils  of  an  unre- 
strained Democracy  was  always  found  in 
despotism,  and  when  absolutism  became 
intolerable,  the  tide  of  passion  would  surge 
back  to  Democracy.  The  people,  in  mass 
councils,  would  rule  Consuls,  Presidents 
and  Generals,  but  it  was  fruitful  only  of 
chaos  and  revolution.  The  victorious 
chieftain  and  the  illustrious  philosopher 
would  be  honored  with  thcwksgivings  to 
the  gods  for  their  achievements,  and  their 
banishment  or  death  would  next  be  de- 
manded by  the  same  supreme  tribunal. 
Grand  temples  and  columns  and  triumphal 
arches  would  be  erected  to  commemorate 
the  victories  of  the  dominant  power,  and 
the  returning  waves  of  revolution  would 
decree  the  actors  and  their  monuments  to 


destruction.  Ambitious  demagogues  pros- 
tituted such  mockeries  of  government  to 
the  basest  purposes.  The  Olympic  games 
of  Greece  became  the  mere  instruments  of 
unscrupulous  leaders  to  lure  the  people,  in 
the  name  of  freedom,  to  oppression  and 
degradation,  and  the  wealth  of  Rome  was 
lavishly  employed  to  corrupt  the  source  of 
popular  power,  and  spread  demoralization 
throughout  the  Republic.  The  debauched 
citizens  and  soldiers  were  inflamed  by  cun- 
ning and  corrupt  devices,  against  the  purest 
and  most  eminent  of  the  sincere  defenders 
of  liberty ;  and  the  vengeance  of  the  infu- 
riated mob,  usurping  the  supreme  power  of 
the  State,  would  doom  to  exile  or  to  death, 
honest  Romans  who  struggled  for  Roman 
freedom.  Cato,  the  younger.  Tribune  of 
the  people,  and  faithful  to  his  country,  took 
his  own  life  to  escape  the  reprobation  of  q 
polluted  sovereignty.  Cicero  was  Consul 
of  the  people,  made  so  by  his  triumph  over 
Caesar.  But  the  same  people  who  wor- 
shipped him  and  to  whose  honor  and  pros- 
perity he  was  devoted,  banished  him  in 
disgrace,  confiscated  his  wealth  and  devas- 
tated his  home.  Again  he  was  recalled 
through  a  triumphal  ovation,  and  again 

Proscribed  by  the  triumvirs  and  murdered 
y  the  soldiers  of  Antony.  The  Grecian 
Republic  banished  "Aristides  the  just," 
and  Demosthenes,  the  first  orator  of  the 
world,  who  withstood  the  temptations  of 
Macedonian  wealth,  was  fined,  exiled  and 
his  death  decreed.  He  saved  his  country 
the  shame  of  his  murder  by  suicide.  Mil- 
tiades  won  the  plaudits  of  Greece  for  his 
victories,  only  to  die  in  prison  of  wounds 
received  in  fighting  her  battles.  Themis- 
tocles,  orator,  statesman  and  chieftain,  was 
banished  and  died  in  exile.  Pericles,  once 
master  of  Athens,  and  who  gave  the  world 
the  highest  attainments  in  Grecian  arts, 
was  deposed  from  military  and  civil  au- 
thority by  the  people  he  had  honored. 
Socrates,  immortal  teacher  of  Grecian 
philosophy,  soldier  and  senator,  and  one  of 
the  most  shining  examples  of  public  vir- 
tue, was  ostracised  and  condemned  and 
drank  the  fatal  hemlock.  The  Republic 
of  Carthage  gave  the  ancients  their  great- 
est general,  and  as  chief  magistrate,  he  was 
as  wise  in  statesmanship  as  he  was  skillful 
in  war ;  but  in  a  strange  land  Hannibal 
closed  his  eyes  to  his  country's  woes  by 
taking  his  own  life.  Nor  need  we  confine 
our  research  to  Pagan  antiquity  alone,  for 
such  stains  upon  what  is  called  popular 
government.  During  the  present  century 
France  has  enthroned  and  banished  the 
Bourbons,  and  worshiped  and  execrated 
the  Bonapartes ;  and  Spain  and  Mexico, 
and  scores  of  States  of  lesser  note,  have 
welcomed  and  spurned  the  same  rulers, 
and  created  and  overthrew  the  same  dy- 
na.sties. 
For  the  matchless  progress  of  enlight- 


bookiilJ    a.  K.  McCLURE  ON  WHAT  OF  THE  REPUBLIC? 


199 


ened  rule  during  the  last  century,  the 
world  ia  indebted  to  England  and  America. 
Parent  and  child,  though  separated  by 
violence  and  estranged  in  their  sympathies 
even  to  the  latest  days,  have  been  co- 
workers in  the  great  cause  of  perfecting  and 
strengthening  liberal  government.  Each 
has  been  too  prone  to  hope  and  labor  for 
the  decline  or  subordination  of  the  other, 
but  they  both  have  thereby  "builded 
wiser  than  they  knew."  Their  ceaseless 
rivalry  for  the  approving  judgment  of 
civilization  and  for  the  development  of  the 
noblest  attributes  of  a  generous  and  en- 
during authority,  have  made  thenr  vastly 
better  and  wiser  than  either  would  have 
been  without  the  other.  We  have  in- 
herited her  supreme  sanctity  for  law,  and 
thus  bounded  our  liberties  by  conservative 
restraints  upon  popular  passions,  until  the 
sober  judgment  of  the  people  can  correct 
them.  She  has,  however  unwillingly, 
yielded  to  the  inspiration  of  our  enlarged 
freedom  and  advanced  with  hesitating 
steps  toward  the  amelioration  of  her  less 
favored  classes.  She  maintains  the  form 
and  splendor  of  royalty,  but  no  monarch, 
no  ministry,  no  House  of  Lords,  can  now 
defy  the  Commoners  of  the  English  people. 
The  breath  of  disapproval  coming  from  the 
popular  branch  of  the  government,  dis- 
solves a  cabinet  or  compels  an  appeal  to 
the  country.  A  justly  beloved  Queen,  un- 
vexed  by  the  cares  of  State,  is  the  symbol 
of  the  majesty  of  English  law,  and  there 
monarchy  practically  ends.  We  have 
reared  a  nobler  structure,  more  delicate  in 
its  framework,  more  exquisite  in  its  har- 
mony, and  more  imposing  in  its  progress. 
Its  beneficence  would  be  its  weakness  with 
any  other  people  than  our  own.  Solon 
summed  up  the  history  of  many  peoples, 
when,  in  answer  to  the  question  whether 
he  had  given  the  Athenians  the  best  of 
laws,  he  said :  "  The  best  they  were  capa- 
ble of  receiving  ! "  Even  England  with 
her  marked  distinctions  of  rank,  and 
widely  divided  and  unsympathetic  classes, 
could  not  entrust  her  administration  to 
popular  control,  without  inviting  convul- 
sive discord  and  probable  disintegration. 
Here  we  confide  the  enactment  and  execu- 
tion of  our  laws  to  the  immediate  repfe- 
sentatives  of  the  people;  but  executives, 
and  judicial  tribunals,  and  conservative 
legislative  branches,  are  firmly  established, 
to  receive  the  occasional  surges  of  popular 
error,  as  the  rock-ribbed  shore  makes 
harmless  the  waves  of  the  tempest.  We 
have  no  antagonism  of  rank  or  caste  ;  no 
patent  of  nobility  save  that  of  merit,  and 
the  Republic  has  no  distinction  that  may 
not  be  won  by  the  humblest  of  her  citizens. 
Our  illustrious  patriots,  statesmen,  and 
chieftains  are  cherished  as  household  gods. 
Thev  have  not  in  turn  been  applauded  and 
condemned,  unless  they  have  betrayed  pub- 


lic trust.  They  are  the  creation  of  our  people 
under  our  exceptional  system,  that  educates 
all  and  advances  those  who  are  most  emi- 
nent and  faithful ;  and  they  are,  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  the  enduring  monuments 
of  the  Republic.  We  need  no  triumphal 
arches,  or  towering  columns,  or  magnificent 
temples  to  record  our  achievements.  Every 
patriotic  memory  bears  in  perpetual  fresh- 
ness the  inscriptions  of  our  noblest  deeds, 
and  every  devoted  heart  quickens  its  pulsa- 
tions at  the  contemplation  of  the  power 
and  safety  of  government  of  the  people. 
In  every  trial,  in  peace  and  in  war,  we 
have  created  our  warriors,  our  pacificators 
and  our  great  teachers  of  the  country's 
sublime  duties  and  necessities.  It  is  not 
always  our  most  polished  scholars,  or  our 
ripest  statesmen  who  have  the  true  inspi- 
ration of  the  loyal  leader.  Ten  years  ago 
one  of  the  most  illustrious  scholars  and 
orators  of  our  age,  was  called  to  dedicate 
the  memorable  battle  field  of  Gettysburg, 
as  the  resting  place  of  our  martyred  dead. 
In  studied  grandeur  he  told  the  story  of 
the  heroism  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Repub- 
lic, and  in  chaste  and  eloquent  passages  he 
plead  the  cause  of  the  imperiled  and  bleed- 
ing Union.  The  renowned  orator  has 
passed  away,  and  his  oration  is  forgotten. 
There  was  present  on  that  occasion,  the 
chosen  ruler  and  leader  of  the  people.  He 
was  untutored  in  eloquence,  and  a  stranger 
to  the  art  of  playing  upon  the  hopes  or 
grief  of  the  nation.  He  was  the  sincere, 
the  unfaltering  guardian  of  the  unity  of  the 
States,  and  his  utterance,  brief  and  un- 
studied, inspired  and  strengthened  every 
patriotic  impulse,  and  made  a  great  people 
renew  their  great  work  with  the  holiest 
devotion.  As  he  turned  from  the  dead  to 
the  living,  he  gave  the  text  of  liberty  for 
all  time,  when  he  declared :  "  It  is  rather 
for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great 
task  remaining  before  us, — that  from  these 
honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion 
to  the  cause  for  which  they  here  gave  the 
last  full  measure  of  devotion — that  we  here 
highly  resolve  that  the  dead  shall  not 
have  died  in  vain ;  that  the  nation  shall, 
under  God,  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom, 
and  that  the  government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not 
perish  from  the  earth." 

Neither  birth,  nor  circumstance,  nor 
power,  can  command  the  devotion  of  our 
people.  Our  revolutions  in  enlightened 
sentiment,  have  been  the  creation  of  all 
the  varied  agencies  of  our  free  government, 
and  the  judgments  of  the  nation  have 
passed  into  history  as  marvels  of  justice. 
We  have  wreathed  our  military  and  civil 
heroes  with  the  greenest  laurels.  In  the 
strife  of  ambition,  some  have  felt  keenly 
what  they  deemed  the  ingratitude  of  the 
Republic;  but  in  their  disappointment, 
they  could  not  understand  that  the  highest 


200 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


homage  of  a  free  people  is  not  measured 
by  place  or  titled  honors.  Clay  was  none 
the  less  beloved,  and  Webster  none  the  less 
revered,  because  their  chief  ambition  was 
not  realized.  Scott  was  not  less  the  "  Great 
Captain  of  the  Age,"  because  he  was  smit- 
ten in  his  efforts  to  attain  the  highest  civil 
distinction.  But  a  few  months  ago  two 
men  of  humblest  opportunities  and  oppo- 
site characteristics,  were  before  us  as  rival 
candidates  for  our  first  office.  One  had 
been  a  great  teacher,  who  through  patient 
years  of  honest  and  earnest  effort,  had 
made  his  impress  upon  the  civilization  of 
every  clime.  He  was  the  defender  of  the 
oppressed,  and  the  unswerving  advocate  of 
ecjual  rights  for  all  mankind.  Gradually 
his  labors  ripened,  but  the  fruits  were  to 
be  gathered  through  the  flame  of  battle, 
and  he  was  unskilled  in  the  sword.  An- 
other had  to  come  with  his  brave  reapers 
into  the  valley  of  death.  He  was  tin  known 
to  fame,  and  the  nation  trusted  others  who 
wore  its  stars.  But  he  transformed  despair 
into  hope,  and  defeat  into  victory.  He 
rose  through  tribulation  and  malice,  by 
his  invincible  courage  and  matchless  com- 
mand, until  the  fruition  of  his  rival's 
teachings  had  been  realized  in  their  own, 
and  their  country's  grandest  achievement. 
In  the  race  for  civil  trust,  partisan  de- 
traction swept  mercilessly  over  both,  and 
two  men  who  had  written  the  proudest  re- 
cords of  their  age,  in  their  respective 
spheres  of  public  duty,  were  assailed  as 
incompetent  and  unworthy .  Both  taught 
peace.  One  dared  more  for  hastened  re- 
conciliation, forgiveness  and  brotherhood. 
The  other  triumphed,  and  vindicated  his 
rival  and  himself  by  calling  the  insurgent 
to  share  the  honors  of  the  Republic.  Soon 
after  the  strife  was  ended,  they  met  at  the 
gates  of  the  "  City  of  the  Silent,"  and  the 
victor,  as  chief  of  the  nation,  paid  the  na- 
tion's sincere  homage  to  its  untitled,  but 
most  beloved  and  lamented  citizen.  Had 
the  victor  been  the  vanquished,  the  lustre 
of  his  crown  would  have  been  undimmed 
in  the  judgment  of  our  people  or  of  his- 
tory. Our  rulers  are  but  our  agents,  cho- 
sen in  obedience  to  the  convictions  which 
govern  the  policy  of  the  selection,  and 
mere  political  success  is  no  enduring  con- 
stituent of  greatness.  The  public  servant, 
and  the  private  citizen,  will  alike  be  hon- 
ored or  condemned,  as  they  are  faithful  or 
unfaithful  to  their  responsible  duties. 

When  we  search  for  the  agencies  of  the 
great  epochs  in  our  national  progress,  we 
look  not  to  the  accidents  of  place.  Un- 
like all  other  governments,  ours  is  guided 
supremely  by  intelligent  and  educated  pub- 
lic convictions,  and  those  who  are  clothed 
with  authority,  are  but  the  exponents  of 
the  popular  will.  Herein  is  the  source  of 
safety  and  advancement  of  our  free  in- 
stitutions.   On  every  hand,  in  the  ranks 


of  people,  are  the  tireless  teachers  of  our 
destiny.  Away  in  the  forefront  of  every 
struggle,  are  to  be  found  the  masters  who 
brave  passion  and  prejudice  and  interest, 
in  the  perfection  of  our  nationality. 

Our  free  press  reaching  into  almost  every 
hamlet  of  the  land ;  our  colleges  now  reared 
in  every  section;  our  schools  with  open 
doors  to  all ;  our  churches  teaching  every 
faith,  with  the  protection  of  the  law ;  our 
citizens  endowed  with  the  sacred  right  of 
freedom  of  speech  and  action ;  our  rail- 
roads spanning  the  continent,  climbing  our 
mountains,  and  stretching  into  our  valleys ; 
our  telegraphs  making  every  community 
the  centre  of  the  world's  daily  records — 
these  are  the  agencies  which  are  omnipo- 
tent in  the  expression  of  our  national  pur- 
poses and  duties.  Thus  directed  and  main- 
tained, our  free  government  has  braved 
foreign  and  domestic  war,  and  been  purified 
and  strengthened  in  the  crucible  of  conflict. 
It  has  grown  from  a  few  feeble  States  east 
of  the  Ohio  wilderness,  to  a  vast  continent 
of  commonwealths,  and  forty  millions  of 
population.  It  has  made  freedom  as  uni- 
versal as  its  authority  within  its  vast  pos- 
sessions. The  laws  of  inequality  and  caste 
are  blotted  from  its  statutes.  It  reaches 
the  golden  slopes  of  the  Pacific  with  its 
beneficence,  and  makes  beauty  and  plenty 
in  the  valleys  of  the  mountains  on  the  sun- 
set side  of  the  Father  of  Waters.  From 
the  cool  lakes  of  the  north,  to  the  sunny 
gulfs  of  the  South,  and  from  the  eastern 
seas  to  the  waters  that  wash  the  lands  of 
the  Pagan,  a  homogeneous  people  obey  one 
constitution,  and  are  devoted  to  one  coun- 
try. Nor  have  its  agencies  and  influences 
been  limited  to  our  own  boundaries.  The 
whole  accessible  world  has  felt  its  power, 
and  paid  tribute  to  its  excellence.  Europe 
has  been  convulsed  from  centre  to  circum- 
ference by  the  resistless  throbbings  of  op- 
pressed peoples  for  the  liberty  they  cannot 
know  and  could  not  maintain.  The  proud 
Briton  has  imitated  his  wayAvard  but  reso- 
lute child,  and  now  rules  his  own  throne. 
France  has  sung  the  Marseillaise,  her  an- 
them of  freedom,  and  waded  through  blood 
in  ill-directed  struggles  for  her  disenthral- 
ment.  The  scattered  tribes  of  the  Father- 
land now  worship  at  the  altar  of  German 
unity,  with  a  liberalized  Empire.  The  sad 
song  of  the  serf  is  no  longer  heard  from  the 
children  of  the  Czar.  Italy,  dismembered 
and  tempest  tossed  through  centuries,  again 
ordains  her  laws  in  the  Eternal  City,  un- 
der a  monarch  of  her  choice.  The  thron* 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  has  now  no 
kingly  ruler,  and  the  inspiration  of  free- 
dom has  unsettled  the  title  of  despotism  to 
the  Spanish  sceptre.  The  trained  light- 
ning flashes  the  lessons  of  our  civilization 
to  the  home  of  the  Pyramids ;  the  land  of 
the  Heathen  has  our  teachers  in  its  deso- 
late places,  and  the  God  of  Day  sets  not 


flooKHi.J    ROBEET  G.  INGERSOLL  NOMINATING  BLAINE. 


201 


upon  the  boundless  triumphs  of  our  go- 
vernment of  the  people. 


Ro1>crt  G.  Ingeraoll,  of  IlltnoU, 

In  the  National  Republican  Convenlitm  tU  Cincinnati,  June, 
1876,  in  nominating  James  G.  Blaine  for  Ute  Pretidency. 

"Massachusetts  may  be  satisfied  with 
the  loyalty  of  Benjamin  H.  Bristow;  so 
am  I ;  but  if  any  man  nominated  by  this 
convention  cannot  carry  the  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, I  am  not  satisfied  with  the 
loyalty  of  that  State.  If  the  nominee  of 
this  convention  cannot  carry  the  grand  old 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  by 
seventy-five  thousand  majority,  I  would 
advise  them  to  sell  out  Faneuil  Hall  as  a 
Democratic  headquarters.  I  would  advise 
them  to  take  from  Bunker  Hill  that  old 
monument  of  glory. 

"The  Republicans  of  the  United  States 
demand  as  their  leader  in  the  great  contest 
of  1876  a  man  of  intelligence,  a  man  of 
integrity,  a  man  of  well-known  and  ap- 
proved political  opinions.  They  demand 
a  reformer  after  as  well  as  before  the  elec- 
tion. They  demand  a  politician  in  the 
highest,  broadest  and  best  sense — a  man  of 
superb  moral  courage.  They  demand  a 
man  acquainted  with  public  affairs,  with 
the  wants  of  the  people ;  with  not  only  the 
requirements  of  the  hour,  but  with  the 
demands  of  the  fiiture.  They  demand  a 
man  broad  enough  to  comprehend  the  re- 
lations of  this  government  to  the  other 
nations  of  the  earth.  They  demand  a  man 
well  versed  in  the  powers,  duties,  and  pre- 
rogatives of  each  and  every  department  of 
this  Government.  They  demand  a  man 
who  will  sacredly  preserve  the  financial 
honor  of  the  United  States  ;  one  who  knows 
enough  to  know  that  the  national  debt 
must  be  paid  through  the  prosperity  of  this 
people ;  one  who  knows  enough  to  know 
that  all  the  financial  theories  in  the  world 
cannot  redeem  a  single  dollar;  one  who 
knows  enough  to  know  that  all  the  money 
must  be  made,  not  by  law,  but  by  labor ; 
one  who  knows  enough  to  know  that  the 

Seople  of  the  United  States  have  the  in- 
ustry  to  make  the  money  and  the  honor 
to  pay  it  over  just  as  fast  as  they  make  it. 
The  Republicans  of  the  United  States 
demand  a  man  who  knows  that  prosperity 
and  resumption,  when  they  come  must 
come  together ;  that  when  they  come,  they 
will  come  hand  in  hand  through  the  golden 
harvest  fields ;  hand  in  hand  by  the  whirl- 
ing spindles  and  the  turning  wheels ;  hand, 
in  nand  past  the  open  furnace  doors ;  hand 
in  hand  by  the  naming  forges;  hand  in 
hand  by  the  chimneys  filled  with  eager  fire 
—greeted  and  grasped  by  the  countless 
sons  of  toil. 
**  This  money  has  to  be  dug  out  of  the 


earth.  You  cannot  make  it  by  passing 
resolutions  in  a  political  convention. 

"  The  Republicans  of  the  United  States 
want  a  man  who  knows  that  this  Govemr 
ment  should  protect  every  citizen,  at  home 
and  abroad ;  who  knows  that  any  govern- 
ment that  will  not  defend  its  deienders, 
and  protect  its  protectors,  is  a  disgrace  to 
the  map  of  the  world.  They  demand  a 
man  who  believes  in  the  eternal  separation 
and  divorcement  of  Church  and  School. 
They  demand  a  man  whose  political  repu- 
tation is  spotlesa  as  a  star ;  but  they  do  not 
demand  that  their  candidate  shall  have  a 
certificate  of  moral  character  signed  by  a 
Confederate  Congress.  The  man  who  has, 
in  full,  heaped  and  rounded  measure,  all 
these  splendid  qualifications,  is  the  present 
grand  and  gallant  leader  of  the  Republi- 
can party — James  G.  Blaine. 

"Our  country,  crowned  with  the  vast 
and  marvelous  achievements  of  its  first 
century,  asks  for  a  man  worthy  of  the  past 
and  prophetic  of  her  future ;  asks  for  a 
man  who  has  the  audacity  of  genius; 
asks  for  a  man  who  is  the  grandest  com- 
bination of  heart,  conscience  and  brain 
beneath  her  flag.  Such  a  man  is  James  G. 
Blaine. 

"  For  the  Republican  host,  led  by  this 
intrepid  man,  there  can  be  no  defeat. 

"  This  is  a  grand  year — a  year  filled  with 
the  recollections  of  the  Revolution ;  filled 
with  proud  and  tender  memories  of  the 
past ;  with  the  sacred  legends  of  liberty ; 
a  year  in  which  the  sons  of  freedom  will 
drink  from  the  fountains  of  enthusiasm; 
a  year  in  which  the  people  call  for  a  man 
who  has  preserved  in  Congress  what  our 
soldiers  won  upon  the  field ;  a  year  in  which 
they  call  for  the  man  who  has  torn  from 
the  throat  of  treason  the  tongue  of  slander; 
for  the  man  who  has  snatched  the  mask  of 
Democracy  from  the  hideous  face  of  rebel- 
lion ;  for  the  man  who,  like  an  intellectual 
athlete,  has  stood  in  the  arena  of  debate 
and  challenged  all  comers,  and  who  is  still 
a  total  stranger  to  defeat. 

"  Like  an  armed  warrior,  like  a  plumed 
knight,  James  G.  Blaine  marched  down 
the  halls  of  the  American  Congress,  and 
threw  his  shining  lance  fiiU  and  fair  against 
the  brazen  foreheads  of  the  defamers  of  his 
country  and  the  maligners  of  his  honor. 

"  For  the  Republican  party  to  desert  this 
gallant  leader  now,  is  as  though  an  army 
should  desert  their  general  upon  the  field 
of  battle. 

"  James  G.  Blaine  is  now  and  has  been 
for  years  the  bearer  of  the  sacred  standard 
of  the  Republican  party.  I  call  it  sacred, 
because  no  human  being  can  stand  beneath 
its  folds  without  becoming  and  without  re- 
maining free. 

"Gentlemen  of  the  convention,  in  the 
name  of  the  great  Republic,  the  only  Re- 
public that  ever  existed  upon  this  earth ; 


202 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


in  the  name  of  all  her  defenders  and  of  all 
her  supporters ;  in  the  name  of  all  her  sol- 
diers living ;  in  the  name  of  all  her  soldiers 
dead  upon  the  field  of  battle,  and  in  the 
name  oi  those  who  perished  in  the  skeleton 
clutch  of  famine  at  Andersonville  and 
Libby,  whose  suffering  he  so  vividly  re- 
members, Illinois — Illinois  nominates  for 
the  next  President  of  this  country,  that 

f)rince  of  parliamentarians — that  leader  of 
eaders— James  G.  Blaine." 


Roscoe  Conkling,  of  Neir  Tork, 

In  the  National  liepuhlican  Convention  at  Chicago,  June, 
1880,  nominating  Ulyttet  8.  Grant  for  the  Presidency. 

"And  when  asked  what  State  he  halls  from, 
Our  sole  reply  shall  be, 
He  hails  from  Appomattox 
And  the  famous  Apple  tree." 

Obeying  instructions  I  should  never  dare  to 
disregard,  I  rise  in  behalf  of  the  State  of  New 
York  to  propose  a  nomination  with  which 
the  country  and  the  Republican  party  can 

frandly  win.  The  election  before  us  will 
e  the  Austerlitz  of  American  politics.  It 
will  decide  whether  for  years  to  come  the 
country  will  be  'Republican  or  Cossack.' 
The  need  of  the  hour  is  a  candidate  who 
can  carry  doubtful  States,  North  and  South ; 
and  believing  that  he  more  surely  than  any 
other  can  carry  New  York  against  any  op- 
ponent, and  carry  not  only  the  North,  but 
several  States  of  the  South,  New  York  is 
for  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  He  alone  of  living 
Republicans  has  carried  New  York  as  a 
Presidential  candidate.  Once  he  carried 
it  even  according  to  a  Democratic  count, 
and  twice  he  carried  it  by  the  people's 
vote,  and  he  is  stronger  now.  The  Repub- 
lican party  with  its  standard  in  his  hand, 
is  stronger  now  than  in  1868  or  1872. 
Never  defeated  in  war  or  in  peace,  his 
name  is  the  most  illustrious  borne  by  any 
living  man  ;  his  services  attest  his  great- 
ness, and  the  country  knows  them  by  heart. 
His  fame  was  born  not  alone  of  things 
written  and  said,  but  of  the  arduous  great- 
ness of  things  done,  and  dangers  and 
emergencies  will  search  in  vain  in  the  fu- 
ture, as  they  have  searched  in  vain  in  the 
f>a8t,  for  any  other  on  whom  the  nation 
eans  with  such  confidence  and  trust. 
Standing  on  the  highest  eminence  of  hu- 
man distinction,  and  having  filled  all  lands 
with  hfs  renown,  modest,  firm,  simple  and 
self-poised,  he  has  seen  not  only  the  titled 
but  the  poor  and  the  lowly  in  the  utmost 
ends  of  the  world  rise  and  uncover  before 
him.  He  has  studied  the  needs  and  de- 
fects of  many  systems  of  government,  and 
he  comes  back  a  better  American  than 
ever,  with  a  wealth  of  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience added  to  the  hard  common  sense 
which  so  conspicuously  distinguished  him 
in  all  the  fierce  light  that  beat  upon  him 
throughout  the  most  eventful,  trying  and 


perilous  sixteen  years  of  the  nation's  his- 
tory. 

"  Never  having  had  '  a  policy  to  enforce 
against  the  will  of  the  people,'  he  never 
betrayed  a  cause  or  a  friend,  and  the  peo- 
ple will  never  betray  or  desert  him.  Vili- 
ned  and  reviled,  truthlessly  aspersed  by 
numberless  presses,  not  in  other  lands,  but 
in  his  own,  the  assaults  upon  him  have 
strengthened  and  seasoned  his  hold  upon 
the  public  heart.  The  ammunition  of 
calumny  has  all  been  exploded ;  the  pow- 
der has  all  been  burned  once,  its  force  is 
spent,  and  General  Grant's  name  will  glit- 
ter as  a  bright  and  imperishable  star  in  the 
diadem  of  the  Republic  when  those  who 
have  tried  to  tarnish  it  will  have  mouldered 
in  forgotten  graves  and  their  memories  and 
epitaphs  have  vanished  utterly. 

"  Never  elated  by  success,  never  de- 
pressed by  adversity,  he  has  ever  in  peace, 
as  in  war,  shown  the  very  genius  of  com- 
mon sense.  The  terms  he  prescribed  for 
Lee's  surrender  foreshadowed  the  wisest 
principles  and  prophecies  of  true  recon- 
struction. 

"  Victor  in  the  greatest  of  modern  wars, 
he  quickly  signalized  his  aversion  to  war 
and  his  love  of  peace  by  an  arbitration  of 
international  disputes  which  stands  as  the 
wisest  and  most  majestic  example  of  its 
kind  in  the  world's  diplomacy.  When 
inflation,  at  the  height  of  its  popularity 
and  frenzy,  had  swept  both  houses  of  Con- 
gress, it  was  the  veto  of  Grant  which,  sin- 
gle and  alone,  overthrew  expansion  and 
cleared  the  way  for  specie  resumption.  To 
him,  immeasurably  more  than  to  any 
other  man,  is  due  the  fact  that  every  paper 
dollar  is  as  good  as  gold.  With  him  as 
our  leader  we  shall  have  no  defensive  cam- 
paign, no  apologies  or  explanations  to 
make.  The  shafts  and  arrows  have  all 
been  aimed  at  him  and  lie  broken  and 
harmless  at  his   feet.     Life,  liberty  and 

Eroperty  will  find  safeguard  in  him.  When 
e  said  of  the  black  man  in  Florida, 
'  Wherever  I  am  they  may  come  also,'  he 
meant  that,  had  he  the  power  to  help  it, 
the  poor  dwellers  in  the  cabins  of  the 
South  should  not  be  driven  in  terror  from 
the  homes  of  their  childhood  and  the 
graves  of  their  murdered  dead.  When  he 
refused  to  receive  Denis  Kearney  he  meant 
that  lawlessness  and  communism,  although 
it  should  dictate  laws  to  a  whole  city,  would 
everywhere  meet  a  foe  in  him,  and,  popu- 
lar or  unpopular,  he  will  hew  to  the  line 
of  right,  let  the  chips  fly  where  they 
mav. 

His  integrity,  his  common  sense,  his 
courage  and  nis  un equaled  experience  are 
the  qualities  offered  to  his  country.  The 
only  argument  against  accepting  them 
would  amaze  Solomon.  He  thought  there 
could  be  nothing  new  under  the  sua  Hav- 
ing tried  Grant  twice  and  found  bin;  faitb* 


BOOK  III.] 


GARFIELD    NOMINATING   SHERMAN. 


203 


fill,  we  are  told  we  must  not,  even  after  an 
interval  of  years,  trust  him  again.  What 
stultification  does  not  such  a  fallacy  in- 
volve 1  The  American  people  exclude  Jef- 
ferson Davis  from  public  trust.  Why? 
Because  he  was  the  arch  traitor  and  would 
be  a  destroyer.  And  now  the  same  people 
are  asked  to  ostracize  Grant  and  not  trust 
him.  Why?  Because  he  was  the  arch 
preserver  of  his  country  ;  because,  not  only 
in  war,  but  afterward,  twice  as  a  civic 
magistrate,  he  gave  his  highest,  noblest 
efforts  to  the  Republic.  Is  such  absurdity 
an  electioneering  jugglery  or  hypocrisy's 
masquerade  ? 

"  There  is  no  field  of  human  activity, 
responsibility  or  reason  in  which  rational 
beings  object  to  Grant  because  he  has  been 
weighed  in  the  balance  and  not  found 
wanting,  and  because  he  has  had  unequal ed 
experience,  making  him  exceptionally 
competent  and  fit.  From  the  man  who 
shoes  your  horse  to  the  lawyer  who  pleads 
your  case,  the  officers  who  manage  your  rail- 
way, the  doctor  into  whose  hands  you  give 
your  life,  or  the  minister  who  seeks  to  save 
your  souls,  what  now  do  you  reject  because 
you  have  tried  him  and  by  his  works  have 
known  him  ?  What  makes  the  Presidential 
office  an  exception  to  all  things  else  in  the 
common  sense  to  be  applied  to  selecting 
its  incumbent?  Who  dares  to  put  fetters 
on  the  free  choice  and  judgment  which  is 
the  birthright  of  the  American  people? 
Can  it  be  said  that  Grant  has  used  official 
power  to  perpetuate  his  plan  ?  He  has  no 
place.  Jso  official  power  has  been  used  for 
him.  Without  patronage  or  power,  with- 
out telegraph  wires  running  from  his 
house  to  the  convention,  without  elec- 
tioneering contrivances,  without  effort  on 
his  part,  his  name  is  on  his  country's  lips, 
and  he  is  struck  at  by  the  whole  Democra- 
tic party  because  his  nomination  will  be 
the  death-blow  to  Democratic  success.  He 
is  struck  at  by  others  who  find  offense  and 
disqualification  in  the  very  service  he  has 
rendered  and  in  the  very  experience  he 
has  gained.  Show  me  a  better  man.  Name 
one  and  I  am  answered.  But  do  not  point, 
as  a  disqualification,  to  the  very  facts 
which  make  this  man  fit  beyond  all  others. 
Let  not  experience  discjualify  or  excellence 
impeach  him.  There  is  no  third  term  in 
the  case,  and  the  pretense  will  die  with 
the  political  dog-days  which  engendered 
it.  Nobody  is  really  worried  about  a  third 
term  except  those  hopelessly  longing  for  a 
first  term  and  the  dupes  they  have  made. 
Witjiout  bureaus,  committees,  officials  or 
emissaries  to  manufacture  sentiment  in 
his  favor,  without  intrigue  or  effort  on  his 
part.  Grant  is  the  candidate  whose  sup- 
porters have  never  threatened  to  bolt.  As 
they  say,  he  is  a  Republican  who  never 
wavers.  He  and  his  friends  stood  by  the 
creed  and  the  candidates  of  the  Republican 


party,  holding  the  right  of  a  majority  as 
the  very  essence  of  their  faith,  and  mean- 
ing to  uphold  that  faith  against  the  com- 
mon enemy  and  the  charlatans  and  guer- 
rillas who  from  time  to  time  deploy  be- 
tween the  lines  and  forage  on  one  side  or 
the  other. 

"The  Democratic  party  is  a  standing 
protest  against  progress.  Its  purposes  are 
spoils.  Its  hope  and  very  existence  is  a 
solid  South.  Its  success  is  a  menace  to 
prosperity  and  order. 

"  This  convention  is  master  of  a  supreme 
opportunity,  can  name  the  next  President 
of  the  United  States  and  make  sure  of  his 
election  and  his  peaceful  inauguration.  It 
can  break  the  power  which  dominates  and 
mildews  the  South.  It  can  speed  the 
nation  in  a  careerof  grandeur  eclipsing  all 
past  achievements.  We  have  only  to  lis- 
ten above  the  din  and  look  beyond  the 
dust  of  an  hour  to  behold  the  Republican 
party  advancing  to  victory,  with  its  great- 
est marshal  at  its  head." 


James  A.  Garfleld,  of  Ohio, 

In  the  National  liepuhllcan   Convention  at  Chicago,  June, 
1880,  nominating  John  Sfiennanfor  the  Presidency. 

"  I  have  witnessed  the  extraordinary 
scenes  of  this  convention  with  deep  solici- 
tude. No  emotion  touches  my  heart  more 
quickly  than  a  sentiment  in  honor  of  a 
great  and  noble  character.  But  as  I  sat  on 
these  seats  and  witnessed  these  demonstra- 
tions, it  seemed  to  me  you  were  a  human 
ocean  in  a  tempest.  I  have  seen  the  sea 
xashed  into  a  fury  and  tossed  into  a  spray, 
and  its  grandeur  moves  the  soul  of  the 
dullest  man.  But  I  remember  that  it  is 
not  the  billows,  but  the  calm  level  of  the 
sea  from  which  all  heights  and  depths  are 
measured.  When  the  storm  has  passed 
and  the  hour  of  calm  settles  on  the  ocean, 
when  sunlight  bathes  its  smooth  surface, 
then  the  astronomer  and  surveyor  takes 
the  level  from  which  he  measures  all 
terrestrial  heights  and  depths.  Gentlemen 
of  the  convention,  your  present  temper 
may  not  mark  the  healthful  pulse  of  our 
people.  When  our  enthusiasm  has  passed, 
when  the  emotions  of  this  hour  have  sub- 
sided, we  shall  find  the  calm  level  of  pub- 
lic opinion  below  the  storm  from  wnich 
the  thoughts  of  a  mighty  people  are  to  be 
measured,  and  by  which  their  final  action 
will  be  determined.  Not  here,  in  this 
brilliant  circle  where  fifteen  thousand  men 
and  women  are  assembled,  is  the  destiny 
of  the  Republic  to  be  decreed ;  not  here, 
where  I  see  the  enthusiastic  faces  of  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-six  delegates  waiting  to 
cast  their  votes  into  the  urn  and  determine 
the  choice  of  their  party  ;  but  by  four  mil- 
lion Republican  firesides,  where  the 
thoughtful  fathers,  with  wives  and  children 


204 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ni. 


about  them,  with  the  calm  thoughts  in- 
spired by  love  of  home  and  love  of  country, 
with  the  history  of  the  past,  the  hopes  of 
the  fiiture,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  great 
men  who  have  adorned  and  blessed  our 
nation  in  days  gone  by — ^there  Grod  pre- 
pares the  verdict  that  shall  determine  the 
wisdom  of  our  work  to-night.  Not  in 
Chicago  in  the  heat  of  June,  but  in  the 
sober  quiet  that  comes  between  now  and 
the  melancholy  days  of  November,  in  the 
silence  of  deliberate  judgment  will  this 
great  question  be  settled.  Let  us  aid  them 
to-night. 

But  now,  gentlemen  of  the  convention, 
what  do  we  want?  Bear  with  me  a  mo- 
ment. Hear  me  for  this  cause,  and  for  a 
moment  be  silent,  that  you  may  hear. 
Twenty-five  years  ago  this  Republic  was 
wearing  a  triple  chain  of  bondage.  Long 
familiarity  with  traffic  in  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  men  had  paralyzed  the  conscience 
of  a  majority  of  our  people.  The  baleiul 
doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty  had  shocked 
and  weakened  the  noblest  and  most  benefi- 
cent powers  of  the  National  Government, 
and  the  grasping  power  of  slavery  was 
seizing  the  virgin  territory  of  the  West  and 
dragging  them  into  the  den  of  eternal 
bondage.  At  that  crisis  the  Republican 
party  was  born.  It  drew  its  first  inspira- 
tion from  that  fire  of  liberty  which  God 
has  lighted  in  every  man's  heart,  and 
which  all  the  powers  of  ignorance  and 
tyranny  can  never  wholly  extinguish.  The 
Republican  party  came  to  deliver  and  save 
the  Republic.  It  entered  the  arena  when 
the  beleaguered  and  assailed  territories  were 
struggling  for  freedom,  and  drew  around 
them  the  sacred  circle  of  liberty  which  the 
demon  of  slavery  has  never  dared  to  cross. 
It  made  them  free  forever.  Strengthened 
by  its  victory  on  the  frontier,  the  young 
party,  under  the  leadership  of  that  great 
man  who,  on  this  spot,  twenty  years  ago, 
was  made  its  leader,  entered  the  national 
capital  and  assumed  the  high  duties  of  the 
Government.  The  light  which  shone  from 
its  banner  dispelled  the  darkness  in  which 
slavery  had  enshrouded  the  capital,  and 
melted  the  shackles  of  every  slave,  and 
consumed,  in  the  fire  of  liberty,  eveiy 
slave-pen  within  the  shadow  of  the  Capi- 
tol. Our  national  industries,  by  an  im- 
poverishing policy,  were  themselves  pros- 
trated, and  the  streams  of  revenue  flowed 
in  such  feeble  currents  that  the  Treasury 
itself  was  well  nigh  empty.  The  money  of 
the  people  was  the  wretched  notes  of  two 
thousand  uncontrolled  and  irresponsible 
State  banking  corporations,  which  was 
filling  the  country  with  a  circulation  that 
poisoned  rather  than  sustained  the  life  of 
Dusiness.  The  Republican  party  changed 
all  this.  It  abolislied  the  babel  of  confu- 
sion, and  gave  the  country  a  currency  as 
national  as  its  flag,  based  upon  the  sacred 


faith  of  the  people.  It  threw  its  protecting 
arm  around  our  great  industries,  and  they 
stood  erect  as  with  new  life.  It  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  true  nationality  all  the  great 
functions  of  the  Government.  It  con- 
fronted a  rebellion  of  unexampled  magni- 
tude, with  slavery  behind  it,  and,  under 
God,  fought  the  final  battle  of  liberty  until 
victory  was  won.  Then,  after  the  storms 
of  battle,  were  heard  the  sweet,  calm  words 
of  peace  uttered  by  the  conquering  nation, 
and  saying  to  the  conquered  foe  that  lay 
prostrate  at  its  feet:  'This  is  our  only  re- 
venge, that  you  join  us  in  lifting  to  the 
serene  firmament  of  the  Constitution,  to 
shine  like  stars  for  ever  and  ever,  the  im- 
mortal principles  of  truth  and  justice,  that 
all  men,  white  or  black,  shall  be  free  and 
stand  equal  before  the  law.' 

"  Then  came  the  question  of  reconstruc- 
tion, the  public  debt,  and  the  public  faith. 
In  the  settlement  of  the  questions  the  Re- 
publican partj'  has  completed  its  twenty- 
five  years  of  glorious  existence,  and  it  has 
sent  us  here  to  prepare  it  for  another  lus- 
trum of  duty  and  of  victory.  How  shall 
we  do  this  great  work  ?  We  cannot  do  it, 
my  friends,  by  assailing  our  Republican 
brethren.  God  forbid  that  I  should  say 
one  word  to  cast  a  shadow  upon  any  name 
on  the  roll  of  our  heroes.  This  coming 
fight  is  our  Thermopylae.  We  are  stand- 
ing upon  a  narrow  isthmus.  If  our  Spartan 
hosts  are  united,  we  can  withstand  all  the 
Persians  that  the  Xerxes  of  Democracy  can 
bring  against  us.  Let  us  hold  our  ground 
this  one  year,  for  the  stars  in  their  courses 
fight  for  us  in  the  future.  The  census 
taken  this  year  will  bring  reinforcements 
and  continued  power.  But  in  order  to  win 
this  victory  now,  we  want  the  vote  of  every 
Republican,  of  every  Grant  Republican 
and  every  anti-Grant  Republican  in 
America,  of  every  Blaine  man  and  every 
anti-Blaine  man.  The  vote  of  every  fol- 
lower of  every  candidate  is  needed  to  make 
our  success  certain ;  therefore  I  say,  gen- 
tlemen and  brethren,  we  are  here  to  take 
calm  counsel  together,  and  inquire  what 
we  shall  do.  We  want  a  man  whose  life 
and  opinions  embody  all  the  achievements 
of  which  I  have  spoken.  We  want  a  man 
who,  standing  on  a  mountain  height,  sees 
all  the  achievements  of  our  past  history, 
and  carries  in  his  heart  the  memory  of  all 
its  glorious  deeds,  and  who,  looking  for- 
ward, prepares  to  meet  the  labor  and  the 
dangers  to  come.  We  want  one  who  will 
act  in  no  spirit  of  unkindness  toward  those 
we  lately  met  in  battle.  The  Republican 
party  offers  to  our  brethren  of  the  South 
the  olive  branch  of  peace,  and  wishes  them 
to  return  to  brothernood,  on  this  supreme 
condition,  that  it  shall  be  admitted  forever 
and  forevermore,  that,  in  the  war  for 
the  Union,  we  were  right  and  they  were 
wrong.    On   that  supreme  condition  wo 


bookiilJ  GEORGE    GRAY   NOMINATING   BAYARD. 


205 


meet  them  as  brethren,  and  on  no  other.  I       Daniel  DoogbertT',  orPeiui*jriv«nia, 

We  ask  them  to  share  with  us  the  blessings     £l  the  Democratic  Natimml  Convention  at  Cincinnati,  JuM 

and  honors  of  this  great  Republic.  '"'"'  — ....™....-  iir.-..^..,j  t...,,  rr ,.  ^    .^ 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  not  to  weary  you, 


am  about  to  present  a  name  for  your  con- 
si* '*^ration — the  name  of  a  man  who  was 
tb-*  comrade  and  associate  and  friend  of 
nearly  all  those  noble  dead  whose  faces 
look  down  upon  us  from  these  walls  to- 
n'«5ht ;  a  man  who  began  his  career  of  pub- 
lic service  twenty-five  years  ago,  whose  first 
duty  was  courageously  done  in  the  days  of 
peril  on  the  plains  of  Kansas,  when  the  first 
red  drops  of  that  bloody  shower  began  to 
fall  which  finally  swelled  into  the  deluge 
of  war.     He  bravely  stood  by  young  Kan- 
sas then,  and,  returning  to  his  duty  in  the 
National  Legislature,  through  all  subse- 
quent time,  his  pathway  has  been  marked 
by  labors  performed  in  every  department 
of   legislation.    You  ask   for  his  monu- 
ments,    I  point  you  to  twenty-five  years 
of  national  statutes.     Not  one   great  be- 
neficent  statute  has  been    placed  in  our 
statute  books  without  his  intelligent  and 
powerful  aid.    He  aided  these  men  to  for- 
mulate   the  laws  that    raised  our    great 
armies  and  carried  us  through  the  war. 
His  hand  was  seen  in  the  workmanship  of 
those  statutes  that  restored  and  brought 
back  the  unity  and  married  calm  of  the 
States,     His  hand  was  in  all  that  great 
legislation  that  created  the  war  currency, 
and  in  a  still  greater  work  that  redeemed 
the  promises  of  the  Government,  and  made 
the  currency  equal  to  gold.     And  when  at 
last  called  from  the  halls  of  legislation  into 
a  high  executive  oflice  he  displayed  that 
experience,  intelligence,  firmness  and  poise 
of  character  which  has  carried  us  through 
a  stormy  period  of  three  years.     With  one- 
half  the  public  press  crying  '  crucify  him, ' 
and  a  hostile  Congress  seeking  to  prevent 
success,  in  all  this  he  remained  unmoved 
until  victoiy  crowned  him.  The  great  fiscal 
affairs  of  the  nation,  and  the  great  busi- 
ness interests  of  the  country,  he  has  guard- 
ed and  preserved,  while  executing  the  law 
of  resumption  and  effecting  its  object  with- 
out a  jar  and  against  the  false  prophecies  of 
one-half  of  the  press  and  all  the  Democracy 
of  this  continent.    He  has  shown  himself 
able  to  meet  with  calmness  the  great  emer- 
encies  of  the  Gk)vernment  for  twenty-five 
years.  He  has  trodden  the  perilous  heights 
of  public  duty,  and  against  all  the  shafts 
of  malice  has  borne  his  breast  unharmed. 
He  has  stood  in  the  blaze  of '  that  fierce 
light  that  beats  against  the  throne,'  but  its 
fiercest  ray  has  found  no  flaw  in  his  armor, 
no  stain  on  his  shield.     I  do  not  present 
him  as  a  better  Republican  or  as  a  better 
man  than  thousands  of  others  we  honor, 
but  I  present  him  for  your  deliberate  con- 
sideration.   I  nominate  John  Sherman,  of 
Ohio. 


18»0,  nominalitig  Winjield  Scott  Hancock  for  the 
Pre»idency, 


"  I  proj)ose  to  present  to  the  thoughtful 
consideration  of  the  convention  the  name 
of  one  who,  on  the  field  of  battle,  was 
styled  '  The  Superb,'  yet  won  the  still  no- 
bler renown  as  a  military  governor  whose 
first  act  when  in  command  of  Louisiana 
and  Texas  was  to  salute  the  Constitution 
by  proclaiming  that  the  military  rule  shall 
ever  be  subservient  to  the  civil  power. 
The  plighted  word  of  a  soldier  was  proved 
by  the  acts  of  a  statesman.  I  nominate 
one  whose  name  will  suppress  all  factions, 
will  be  alike  acceptable  to  the  North  and 
to  the  South — a  name  that  will  thrill  the 
Republic,  a  name,  if  nominated,  of  a  man 
that  will  crush  the  last  embers  of  sectional 
strife,  and  whose  name  will  be  hailed  as  the 
dawning  of  the  day  of  perpetual  brother- 
hood. With  him  we  can  fling  away  our 
shields  and  wage  an  aggressive  war.  We 
can  appeal  to  the  supreme  tribunal  of  the 
American  people  against  the  corruption  of 
the  Republican  party  and  their  untold  vio- 
lations of  constitutional  liberty.  With  him 
as  our  chieftain  the  bloody  banner  of  the 
Republicans  will  fall  from  their  palsied 
grasp.  Oh,  my  countrymen,  in  this  su- 
preme moment  the  destinies  of  the  Repub- 
lic are  at  stake,  and  the  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple are  imperiled.  The  people  hang  breath- 
less on  your  deliberation.  Take  heed  I 
Make  no  mis-step !  I  nominate  one  who 
can  carry  every  Southern  State,  and  who 
can  carry  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Connec- 
ticut, New  Jersey  and  New  York — the 
soldier-statesman,  with  a  record  as  stain- 
less as  his  sword — Winfield  Scott  Han- 
cock, of  Pennsylvania.  If  elected,  he  will 
take  his  seat." 


Georg«  Grajr,  of  Dela-vvmre, 

In  the  Democratic  National  Convention  at  CincinnaU,  June, 
1880,  nominating  Thomas  F.  Bayard  for  the  Presidency , 

"I  am  instructed  by  the  Delaware  dele- 
gation to  make  in  their  behalf  a  nomina- 
tion for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 
Small  in  territory  and  population,  Dela- 
ware is  proud  of  her  history  and  of  her  po- 
sition in  the  sisterhood  of  States.  Always 
devoted  to  the  principles  of  that  great  party 
which  maintains  the  equality  and  rights  of 
the  States,  as  well  as  oi  the  individual  citi- 
zen, she  is  here  to-day  in  grand  council  to 
do  all  that  in  her  lies  for  the  advancement 
of  our  common  cause.  Who  will  best  lead 
the  Democratic  hosts  in  the  impending 
struggle  for  the  restoration  of  honest  go- 
vernment and  the  constitutional  rights  of 
the  States  and  of  their  people,  is  the  im- 

f)ortant  question  that  we  must  decide.  De- 
aware  is  not  blinded  by  her  affection* 
when  she  presents  to  this  convention,  as  a 


206 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


candidate  for  this  ereat  trust,  the  name  of 
her  gallant  son,  Tnonias  Francis  Bayard. 
He  is  no  carpet  knight  rashly  put  forth  to 
flash  a  maiden  sword  in  this  great  contest. 
He  is  a  veteran  covered  with  the  scars  of 
many  hard-fought  battles,  when  the  prin- 
ciples of  constitutional  liberty  have  oeen 
at  stake  in  an  arena  where  the  giants  of  ra- 
dicalism were  his  foes,  and  his  bruised 
arms,, not  'hung  up,'  but  still  burnished 
brightly,  are  monuments  of  his  prowess. 
Thomas  F.  Bayard  is  a  statesman  who  will 
need  no  introduction  to  the  American  peo- 
ple. His  name  and  his  record  are  known 
wherever  our  flag  floats — aye,  wherever  the 
English  tongue  is  spoken.  His  is  no  sec- 
tional fame.  With  sympathies  as  broad  as 
the  continent,  a  private  character  as  spot- 
less as  the  snow  from  heaven,  a  judgment 
as  clear  as  the  sunlight,  an  intellect  keen 
and  bright  as  a  flashing  sabre,  a  courage 
that  none  dare  question,  honest  in  thought 
and  deed,  the  people  all  know  him  by 
heart,  and,  as  I  said  before,  they  need  not 
be  told  who  and  what  he  is.  But  you,  gen- 
tlemen of  the  convention,  who  must  keep 
in  view  the  success  so  important  to  be 
achieved  in  November,  pray  consider  the 
elements  of  his  strength.  Who  more  than 
he  will  as  a  candidate  appeal  to  the  best 
traditions  of  our  party  and  our  country? 
In  whom  more  than  he  will  the  business 
interests  of  the  country,  now  re-awakening 
to  new  life  and  hope,  confide  for  that  eco- 
nomy and  repose  which  shall  send  capital 
and  labor  forth  like  twin  brothers  hand  in 
hand  to  the  great  work  of  building  up  the 
country's  prosperity  and  advancing  its  ci- 
vilization? Who  better  than  he  will  re- 
present the  heart  and  intellect  of  our  great 
party,  or  give  expression  to  its  noblest  in- 
spirations? Who  will  draw  so  largely 
upon  the  honest  and  reflecting  independent 
voters  as  he,  whose  very  name  is  a  syno- 
nym for  honest  and  fearless  opposition  to 
corruption  every  where  and  in  every  form, 
and  who  has  dared  to  follow  in  what  he 
thought  the  path  of  duty  with  a  chivalrous 
devotion  that  never  counted  personal  gains 
or  losses  ?  Who  has  contributed  more  than 
Thomas  Francis  Bayard  to  the  command- 
ing strength  that  the  Democratic  par^ 
possesses  to-day?  Blot  out  him  and  his 
influence,  and  who  would  not  feel  and 
mourn  his  loss?  Pardon  Delaware  if  she 
■ays  too  much ;  she  speaks  in  no  disparage- 
ment of  the  distinguished  Democrats  whose 
names  sparkle  like  stars  in  the  political  fir- 
mament. She  honors  them  all.  But  she 
knows  her  son,  and  her  heart  will  speak. 
Nominate  him  and  success  is  assured.  His 
very  name  will  be  a  platform.  It  will  fire 
every  Democratic  heart  with  a  new  zeal 
and  put  a  sword  in  the  hand  of  every  ho- 
nest man  with  which  to  drive  from  place 
and  power  the  reckless  men  who  have  for 
four  years  held  both  against  the  expressed 


will  of  the  American  people.  Don't  tell  us 
that  you  admire  and  love  him,  but  that  he 
is  unavailable.  Tell  the  country  that  the 
sneer  of  our  Republican  enemies  is  a  lie, 
and  that  such  a  man  as  Thomas  F.  Bayard 
is  not  too  good  a  man  to  receive  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  Democratic  party.  Take  the 
whole  people  into  your  confidence,  and 
tell  them  that  an  honest  and  patriotic  party 
is  to  be  led  by  as  honest  and  pure  a  man 
as  God  ever  made ;  that  a  brave  party  is 
to  be  led  by  a  brave  man  whose  courage 
will  never  falter,  be  the  danger  or  emer- 
gency what  it  may.  Tell  them  that  our 
party  has  the  courage  of  its  convictions,  and 
that  statesmanship,  ability  and  honesty  are 
to  be  realized  once  more  in  the  government 
of  these  United  States,  and  the  nomination 
of  Thomas  F.  Bayard  will  fall  like  a  bene- 
diction on  the  land,  and  will  be  the  pre- 
sage of  a  victory  that  will  sweep  like  a 
whirlwind  from  the  lakes  to  the  Gulf  and 
from  ocean  to  ocean." 


Frye  Nomlnatlna^  Blaine 

In  the  Cliicago  Oonverdion,  1880. 

"  I  once  saw  a  storm  at  sea  in  the  night- 
time ;  an  old  ship  battling  for  its  life  with 
the  fiiry  of  the  tempest;  darkness  every- 
where ;  the  winds  raging  and  howling ;  the 
huge  waves  beating  on  the  sides  of  the 
ship,  and  making  her  shiver  from  stem  to 
stern.  The  lightning  was  flashing,  the 
thunders  rolling ;  there  was  danger  every- 
where. I  saw  at  the  helm,  a  bold,  coura- 
geous, immovable,  commanding  man.  In 
the  tempest,  calm;  in  the  commotion, 
quiet;  in  the  danger, hopeful.  I  saw  him 
take  that  old  ship  and  bring  her  into  her 
harbor,  into  still  waters,  into  safety.  That 
man  was  a  hero.  [Applause.]  I  saw  the 
good  old  ship  of  State,  the  State  of  Maine, 
within  the  last  year,  fighting  her  way 
through  the  same  waves,  against  the 
dangers.  She  was  freighted  with  all  that 
is  precious  in  the  principles  of  our  repub- 
lic ;  with  the  rights  of  tne  American  citi- 
zenship, with  all  that  is  guaranteed  to  the 
American  citizen  by  our  Constitution.  The 
eyes  of  the  whole  nation  were  on  her,  and 
intense  anxiety  filled  every  American 
heart  lest  the  grand  old  ship,  the  "  State  of 
Maine,"  might  go  down  beneath  the  waves 
forever,  carrying  her  precious  freight  with 
her.  But  there  was  a  man  at  the  helm, 
calm,  deliberate,  commanding,  sagacious; 
he  made  even  the  foolish  man  wise;  coura- 

feous.  he  inspired  the  timid  with  courage ; 
opeful,  he  gave  heart  to  the  dismayed, 
ana  he  brought  that  good  old  ship  safely 
into  harbor,  into  safety ;  and  she  floats  to- 
day greater,  purer,  stronger  for  her  bap- 
tism of  danger.  That  man  too,  was  heroic, 
and  his  name  was  James  G.  Blaine.  [Louc. 
cheers.] 


BOOK  in.]        SENATOR    HILL    DENOUNCING    MAHONE. 


207 


Maine  sent  us  to  this  magnificent  Con- 
vention with  a  memory  of  her  own  salva- 
tion from  impending  peril  fresh  upon  her. 
To  you  representatives  of  50,000,000  of  the 
American  people,  who  have  met  here  to 
counsel  how  the  Republic  can  be  saved, 
she  says,  "  Representatives  of  the  people, 
take  the  man,  the  true  man,  the  staunch 
man,  for  your  leader,  who  has  just  saved 
uie,  and  he  will  bring  you  to  safety  and 
certain  victory." 


Senator   Hill's    Demmclatlon    of  Senator 
Slahone. 

In  Extra  Se$sion  of  the  Senate,  March  14, 1881. 

Very  well ;  the  records  of  the  country 
must  settle  that  with  the  Senator.  The 
Senator  will  say  who  was  elected  as  a  re- 
publican from  any  of  the  States  to  which 
I  allude.  I  say  what  the  whole  world 
knows,  that  there  are  thirty-eight  men  on 
this  floor  elected  as  democrats,  declaring 
themselves  to  be  democrats,  who  supported 
Hancock,  and -who  have  supported  the 
democratic  ticket  in  every  election  that  has 
occurred,  and  who  were  elected,  moreover, 
by  democratic  Legislatures,  elected  by  Leg- 
islatures which  were  largely  democratic ; 
and  the  Senator  from  New  York  will  not 
deny  it.  One  other  Senator  who  was 
elected,  not  as  a  democrat,  but  as  an  inde- 
pendent, has  announced  his  purpose  to 
vote  with  us  on  this  question.  That  makes 
thirty-nine,  unless  some  man  of  the  thirty- 
eight  who  was  elected  by  a  democratic 
Legislature  proves  false  to  his  trust.  Now, 
the  Senator  from  New  York  does  not  say 
that  somebody  has  been  bought.  No ;  I 
have  not  said  that.  He  does  not  say  Sv^me- 
body  has  been  taken  and  carried,  away. 
No ;  I  have  not  said  that.  But  the  Sena- 
tor has  said,  and  here  is  his  language,  and  I 
hope  he  will  not  find  it  necessary  to  correct 
it: 

It  may  be  said,  very  likely  I  shall  be 
found  to  say  despite  some  criticism  that  I 
may  make  upon  so  saying  in  advance,  that 
notwithstanding  the  words  "  during  the 
present  session,"  day  after  to-morrow  or 
the  day  after  that,  if  the  majority  then 
present  in  the  Chamber  changes,  that  ma- 
jority may  overthrow  all  this  proceeding, 
obliterate  it,  and  set  up  an  organization  of 
the  Senate  in  conformity  with  and  not  in 
contradiction  of  the  edict  of  the  election. 
^  The  presidential  election  he  was  refer- 
ring to — 

If  an  apology  is  needed  for  the  objection 
which  I  feel  to  that,  it  will  be  found  I 
think  ip  the  circumstance  that  a  majority, 
a  constitutional  majority  of  the  Senate,  is 
against  that  resolution,  is  against  the  for- 
mation of  committees  democratic  in  inspi- 
ration and  persuasion,  to  which  are  to  go 
for  this  session  all  executive  matters. 


The  Senator  has  announced  to-day  that 
the  majority  on  this  side  of  the  Chamber 
was  only  temporary..  He  has  announced 
over  and  over  that  it  was  to  be  a  tempora- 
ry majority,  I  meet  him  on  the  fact.  I 
say  there  are  thirty-eight  members  sitting 
in  this  Hall  to-day  who  were  elected  by 
democratic  Legislatures,  and  as  democrats, 
and  one  distinguished  Senator  who  was 
not  elected  as  a  democrat,  but  by  demo- 
cratic votes,  the  distinguished  Senator  from 
Illinois,  [Mr.  Davis,]  has  announced  his 
purpose  to  vote  with  these  thirty-eight 
democrats.  Where,  then,  have  I  misrep- 
resented ?  If  that  be  true,  and  if  those  who 
were  elected  as  democrats  are  not  faithless 
to  the  constituency  that  elected  them,  you 
will  not  have  the  majority  when  the  sen- 
ate is  full. 

Again,  so  far  from  charging  the  Senator 
from  New  York  with  being  a  personal  par- 
ty to  this  arrangement,  I  acquitted  nim 
boldly  and  fearlessly,  for  I  undertake  to 
say  what  I  stated  before,  and  I  repeat  it,  to 
his  credit,  he  is  no  party  to  an  arrangement 
by  which  any  man  chosen  by  a  democratic 
Legislature  and  as  a  democrat  is  not  going 
to  vote  for  the  party  that  sent  him  here. 
Sir,  I  know  too  well  what  frowns  would 
gather  with  lightning  fierceness  upon  the 
brow  of  the  Senator  from  New  York  if  I 
were  to  intimate  or  any  other  man  were  to 
intimate  that  he,  elected  as  a  republican, 
because  he  happened  to  have  a  controlling 
vote  was  going  to  vote  with  the  democrats 
on  the  organization.  What  would  be  in- 
sulting to  him  he  cannot,  he  will  not  re- 
spect in  another. 

Now,  sir,  I  say  the  Senator  has  been  un- 
just in  the  conclusion  which  he  has  drawn, 
because  it  necessarily  makes  somebody  who 
was  chosen  as  a  democrat  ally  himself  with 
the  republicans,  not  on  great  questions  of 
policy,  but  on  a  question  of  organization, 
on  a  question  of  mere  political  organiza- 
tion. I  assume  that  that  has  not  been 
done.  No  man  can  charge  that  I  have 
come  forward  and  assumed  that  his  fidelity 
was  in  question.  I  have  assumed  that  the 
Senator  from  New  York  was  wrong  in  his 
statement.  Why?  Because  if  any  gentle- 
man who  was  chosen  to  this  body  as  a 
democrat  has  concluded  not  to  vote  with 
the  democrats  on  the  organization,  he  haa 
not  given  us  notice,  and  I  take  it  for 

granted  that  when  a  gentleman  changes 
is  opinions,  as  every  Senator  has  a  right 
to  change  his  opinions,  his  first  duty  is  to 
give  notice  of  that  change  to  those  with 
whom  he  has  been  associated.  He  has  not 
given  that  notice ;  no  democrat  of  the  thir- 
ty-eight has  given  that  notice  to  this  side 
of  the  House.  I  therefore  assume  that  no 
such  change  has  occurred. 

But  there  is  another  obligation.  "NVTiile 
I  concede  the  right  of  any  gentleman  to 
change  his  opinions  and  change  his  party 


208 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  iil 


affiliations,  yet  I  say  that  when  he  has  ar- 
rived at  the  conclusion  that  duty  requires 
him  to  make  that  change  he  must  give  no- 
tice to  the  constituency  that  sent  him  here. 
I  have  heard  of  no  such  notice.  If  the 
people  of  any  of  these  democratic  States, 
who  through  democratic  Legislatures  have 
sent  thirty-eight  democrats  to  this  body 
and  one  more  by  democratic  votes,  have 
received  notice  of  a  change  of  party  opin- 
ion or  a  change  of  party  affiliations  by  any 
of  those  they  sent  nere,  I  have  not  heard 
of  it;  the  evidence  of  it  has  not  been  pro- 
duced. 

Sir,  I  concede  the  right  of  every  man  to 
change  his  opinions ;  I  concede  the  right 
of  every  man  to  change  his  party  affilia- 
tions; I  concede  the  right  of  any  man  who 
was  elected  to  the  high  place  of  a  seat  in 
this  Senate  as  a  democrat  to  change  and 
become  a  republican;  but  I  deny  m  the 

Eresence  of  this  Senate,  I  deny  in  the 
earing  of  this  people,  that  any  man  has  a 
right  to  accept  a  commission   from  one 

Earty  and  execute  the  trust  confided  to 
im  in  the  interest  of  another  party.  De- 
moralized as  this  country  has  become, 
though  every  wind  bears  to  us  charges  of 
fraud  and  bargain  and  corruption;  though 
the  highest  positions  in  the  land,  we  fear, 
have  been  degraded  by  being  occupied  by 
persons  who  procured  them  otherwise  than 
by  the  popular  will,  yet  I  deny  that  the 
people  of  either  party  in  this  country  have 
yet  given  any  man  a  right  to  be  faithless 
to  a  trust.  They  have  given  no  man  a 
right  to  accept  a  commission  as  a  demo- 
crat and  hold  that  commission  and  act  with 
the  republicans.  Manhood,  bravery,  cour- 
age, fidelity,  morality,  respect  for  the  opin- 
ions of  mankind  requires  that  whenever  a 
man  has  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  he 
cannot  carry  out  the  trust  which  was  con- 
fided to  him,  he  should  return  the  commis- 
sion and  tell  his  constituents,  "I  have 
changed  my  mind  and  therefore  return  you 
the  commission  you  gave  me."  Sir,  I  do  not 
believe  that  a  single  one  of  the  thirty-eight 
gentlemen  who  were  elected  as  democrats 
and  whose  names  are  before  me  here,  will 
hold  in  his  pocket  a  commision  conferred 
by  democrats,  conferred  on  him  as  a  dem- 
ocrat, and  without  giving  notice  to  his  con- 
stituency, without  giving  notice  to  his  as- 
sociates, will  execute  that  commission  in 
the  interest  of  the  adversary  party  and  go 
and  communicate  his  conclusion,  first  of 
all,  and  only,  to  the  members  of  the  adver- 
sary party. 

Sir,  who  is  it  that  has  changed?  "WTiom 
of  these  thirty-eight  does  the  Senator  rely 
upon  to  vote  with  the  republicans?  That 
one  has  not  notified  us ;  he  has  not  notified 
his  constituency.  Therefore  I  say  it  is  not 
true,  and  I  cannot  sit  here  quietly  and 
allow  a  gentleman  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Chamber,  however  distinguished,  to  get  up 


here  and  assume  and  asseverate  over  and 
over  that  somebody  elected  as  a  democrat 
is  faithless  to  his  trust,  and  not  repel  it. 
No,  gentlemen,  you  are  deceived ;  you  will 
be  disappointed.  I  vindicate  the  character 
of  American  citizenship,  I  vindicate  the 
honor  of  human  nature  when  I  say  you 
will  be  disappointed,  and  no  man  elected 
as  a  democrat  is  going  to  help  you  organ- 
ize the  committees  of  this  Senate.  I  do  not 
say  so  because  I  know.  No,  I  have  no 
personal  information,  but  I  will  stand  here 
and  affirm  that  no  man  who  has  been 
deemed  by  any  constituency  in  this  count 
try  to  be  worthy  of  a  place  in  this  body 
will  be  guilty  of  that  treachery.  And  how 
is  the  Senator's  majority  to  come?  How 
many  are  there?  He  has  not  told  us.  The 
papers  said  this  morning  that  there  were 
two  or  three,  and  they  named  my  good 
friend  from  Tennessee,  [Mr.  Harris.] 
When  I  saw  that  I  knew  the  whole  thing 
was  absurd.  The  idea  that  anybody  in 
this  world  would  ever  believe  that  my 
friend  from  Tennessee  could  possibly  be 
guilty  of  such  a  thing,  and  my  colleague 
[Mr.  Brown]  also  was  named — gentlemen 
who  were  born  and  reared  in  the  school  of 
fidelity  to  their  party.  How  many  ?  Have 
you  one?  If  you  have  but  one  that  waa 
elected  as  a  democrat  and  who  has  con- 
cluded to  go  with  the  republicans,  then 
you  have  only  half,  you  have  38  to  38,  and 
I  suppose  you  count  upon  the  vote  of  the 
Vice-President.  Has  that  been  arranged  ? 
Sir,  I  will  not  blame  you  if  you  vote  for 
voting  according  to  the  sentiment  that 
elected  you,  for  voting  according  to  the 
professions  of  your  principles  which  you 
avowed  when  you  were  elected.  I  deny 
myself  the  right  of  the  Vice-President  to 
take  part  in  the  constitution  and  organiza- 
tion of  this  Senate;  but  I  shall  not  make 
the  question.  If  you  have  got  one,  the 
vote  will  be  38  to  38.  Who  is  the  one  ? 
Who  is  ambitious  to  do  what  no  man  in 
the  history  of  this  country  has  ever  done, 
to  be  the  first  man  to  stand  up  in  this  high 
presence,  after  this  country  has  reached 
fifty  million  people,  and  proclaim  from  this 
proud  eminence  that  he  disgraces  the  com- 
mission he  holds.  [Applause  in  the  gal- 
leries.] 

The  Vice-President  rapped  to  order. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Who  is  it?  Who 
can  he  be  ?  Do  you  receive  him  with  af- 
fection ?  Do  you  receive  him  with  respect? 
Is  such  a  man  worthy  of  your  association  ? 
Such  a  man  is  not  worthy  to  be  a  demo- 
crat. Is  he  worth v  to  be  a  republican  ?  If 
my  friend  from  Illinois,  my  friend  from 
Kansas,  or  my  friend  from  New  York, 
were  to  come  to  me  holding  a  republican 
commission  in  his  pocket,  sent  here  by  a 
republican  Legislature,  and  whisper  to  me 
"  I  will  vote  with  the  democrats  on  organ- 
ization," I  would  tell  him  that  if  he  so 


BOOK  III.]  SENATOR    HILL    DENOUNCING    MAHONE. 


20j* 


came  he  would  be  expelled  with  ignominy 
from  the  ranks  of  the  party. 

And  why  do  you  beg  us  to  wait?  If  all 
who  were  elected  as  democrats  are  to  re- 
main democrats,  what  good  will  waiting 
do  you?  You  will  still  be  in  a  minority  of 
two,  the  same  minority  you  are  in  this 
morning. 

Mr.  President,  I  affirm  that  no  man 
elected  and  sent  here  by  a  democratic  Leg- 
islature as  a  democrat,  whatever  may  have 
been  local  issues,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  divisions  of  factions,  and  above 
all  no  man  who  professed  to  be  a  democrat 
when  he  was  elected  and  who  procured 
his  election  by  professing  to  be  a  democrat, 
in  the  name  of  democracy  and  republican- 
ism as  well,  in  the  name  of  American  na- 
ture, I  charge  that  no  such  man  will  prove 
false  to  his  trust;  and  therefore  why  wait? 
Why  delay  the  business  of  the  country? 
Why  should  the  nominations  lie  on  the 
table  unacted  on  ?  Why  should  we  spend 
days  and  days  here  with  the  parties  on  the 
other  side  filibustering  for  time  to  get  de- 
lay, to  get  a  few  days?  Why  should  we  do 
that  when  upon  the  assumption  that  the 
Senate  is  not  to  blush  at  an  exhibition  of 
treachery  the  result  will  be  the  same  one 
week,  two  weeks,  six  months,  two  years 
from  now  that  it  is  now? 

Sir,  I  know  that  there  is  a  great  deal  in 
this  question.  The  American  people  have 
had  much  to  humiliate  them ;  all  peoples 
have  much  to  humiliate  them.  I  know 
that  the  patronage  of  this  Government  has 
become  very  great.  I  know  that  the  dis- 
tinguished gentleman  who  presides  at  the 
other  end  of  the  xVvenue  holds  in  his  hand 
millions  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  pat- 
ronage. To  our  shame  be  it  said  it  has 
been  whispered  a  hundred  times  all  through 
the  country  by  the  presses  of  both  parties 
until  it  has  become  absolutely  familiar  to 
American  ears  that  the  patronage  of  the 
Federal  Government  has  been  used  to  buy 
votes  and  control  elections  to  keep  one 
party  in  power.  It  is  a  question  that  con- 
fronts every  honest  statesman  whether 
something  shall  not  be  done  to  lessen  that 
patronage.  I  respond  to  the  sentiment  of 
the  President  in  his  inaugural  when  I  say 
there  ought  to  be  a  rule  in  even  the  civil 
service  by  which  this  patronage  shall  be 
placed  where  it  cannot  be  used  for  such 
purposes.  If  it  is  not  done,  I  do  not  know 
what  humiliations  are  in  store  for  us  all. 

But,  ""Mr.  President,  here  are  facts  that 
no  man  can  escape.  Gentlemen  of  the  re- 
publican party  of  this  Senate,  you  cannot 
organize  the  Senate  unless  you  can  get  the 
vote  of  some  man  who  was  elected  as  a 
democrat.  You  cannot  escape  that.  Have 
you  gotten  it?  If  so,  how?  If  you  have, 
nobody  knows  it  bnt  yourselves.  How  ? 
There  is  no  effect  without  a  cause ;  there  is 
no  change  without  a  purpose ;  there  is  no 

42 


bargain  without  a  consideration.  What  is 
the  cause  ?  If  there  has  been  a  change, 
why  a  change  ?  How  does  it  happen  that 
you  know  the  change  and  we  do  not? 
What  induced  the  change?  I  deny  that 
there  has  been  a  change.  I  maintain  that 
all  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who  make 
up  the  thirty-eight  democrats  on  this  side 
01  the  Chamber  are  firm,  firm  to  the  prin- . 
ciples  that  sent  them  here,  firm  to  the  pro- 
fessions that  sent  them  here,  and  firm  to 
the  constituencies  that  sent  them  here. 
They  were  elected  as  democrats.  Now  on 
the  (question  of  organization,  which  is 
nothing  in  the  world  but  a  pure  political 
question  and  a  party  question  at  that,  they 
will  act  with  the  democratic  party,  and 
you,  gentlemen,  will  be  deceived  if  you 
calculate  otherwise.  Therefore,  there  is 
no  necessity  for  you  to  enter  into  all  this 
filibustering  and  producing  this  delay  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  the  organization. 

Mr.  President,  as  I  said  before,  the 
Senate  should  be  a  place  where  there 
should  be  no  masquerading ;  men  should 
deal  frankly  with  each  other.  If  I  were 
to  charge  anv  gentleman  on  the  republican 
side  of  the  Chamber  who  was  elected  as  a 
republican,  who  professed  to  be  a  republi- 
can when  he  was  elected,  with  having 
made  arrangements  with  the  democrats  to 
vote  with  them,  I  should  insult  him  and 
he  would  resent  it  as  an  insult,  and  gen- 
tlemen excuse  me  for  repelling  the  charge 
which  if  made  against  you,  you  would 
repel  as  an  insult.  I  repel  as  an  insult 
the  charge  made  against  any  democrat 
that  he  would  be  false  to  his  colors  and  is 
intending  to  vote  with  you  on  the  organiza- 
tion. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  President,  I  rise  only 
to  say  that  I  regret  that  the  honorable 
Senator  from  Georgia  should  have  deemed 
it  proper  to  dignify  the  miserable  newspa- 
per twaddle  in  respect  to  my  political  posi- 
tion  

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  will  say  to  my 
friend  I  did  not  intend 

Mr.  Harris.  I  am  quite  sure  the  Sena- 
tor did  not  intend  anything  unkind  to  me; 
yet,  by  mentioning  the  matter  here,  he 
gives  a  dignity  to  it  that  it  never  could 
have  had  otherwise,  and  one  that  it  is  not 
worthy  of,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact, 
as  I  very  well  know,  that  there  is  not  a 
democrat  or  a  republican  in  America,  who 
knows  me,  who  has  ever  doubted,  or  doubts 
to-day,  what  my  political  position  is.  It  is 
unworthy  of  furthe~  notice,  and  I  will 
notice  it  no  more. 

Mr.  Mahone.  Mr.  President,  I  do  not 
propose  to  detain  you  and  the  Senate  more 
than  a  few  minutes.  The  distinguished 
Senator  from  Georgia  has  manifestljr  en- 
gaged in  an  effort  to  disclose  ray  position 
on  this  floor. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.    I  do  not  know 


210 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


what  jrour  position  is.  How  could  I  dis- 
cloae  it  ? 

Mr.  Mahone.  Sir,  the  Senator  might 
be  a  little  more  direct  as  he  might  well 
have  been  in  the  course  of  his  remarks  in 
asking  my  position  ;  and  that  I  will  give 
him. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  the  Senator  has  as- 
sumed not  only  to  be  the  custodian  here  of 
the  democratic  party  of  this  nation,  but  he 
has  dared  to  assert  his  right  to  speak  for  a 
constituency  that  I  have  the  privilege,  the 
proud  and  honorable  privilege  on  this  floor, 
of  representing  [applause  in  the  galleries] 
without  his  assent,  without  the  assent  of 
such  democracy  as  that  he  speaks  for. 

t Applause  in  the  galleries.]  I  owe  them,  sir, 
owe  you  [addressing  Mr.  Hill]  and  those 
for  whom  you  undertake  to  speak  nothing 
in  this  Chamber.  [Applause  in  the  galle- 
ries.] I  came  here,  sir,  as  a  Virginian  to 
represent  my  people,  not  to  represent  that 
democracy  for  which  you  stand.  [Ap- 
plause in  the  galleries.]  I  come  with  as 
proud  a  claim  to  represent  that  people  as 
you  to  represent  the  people  of  Georgia, 
won  on  fields  where  I  have  vied  with  Geor- 
gians whom  I  commanded  and  others  in 
the  cause  of  my  people  and  of  their  section 
in  the  late  unhappy  contest;  but  thank 
God  for  the  peace  and  the  good  of  the 
country  that  contest  is  over,  and  as  one  of 
those  who  engaged  in  it,  and  who  has 
neither  here  nor  elsewhere  any  apology  to 
make  for  the  part  taken,  I  am  here  by  my 
humble  efforts  to  bring  peace  to  this  whole 
country,  peace  and  good  will  between  the 
sections,  not  here  as  a  partisan,  not  here  to 
represent  that  Bourbonism  which  has  done 
so  muah  injury  to  my  section  of  the  coun- 
try.    [Applause  in  the  galleries.] 

Now,  sir,  the  gentleman  undertakes  to 
say  what  constitutes  a  democrat.  A  dem- 
ocrat 1  I  told,  sir,  that  to-day  I  am  a  bet- 
ter democrat  than  he,  infinitely  better — he 
who  stands  nominally  committed  to  a  full 
vote,  a  fi-ee  ballot,  and  an  honest  count.  I 
should  like  to  know  how  he  stands  for 
these  things  where  tissue  ballots  are  fash- 
ionable. [Laughter,  and  applause  in  the 
galleries.] 

Now,  sir,  I  serve  notice  on  you  that  I 
intend  to  be  here  the  custodian  of  my  own 
democracy.  I  do  not  intend  to  be  run  by 
your  caucus.  I  am  in  every  sense  a  free 
man  here.  I  trust  I  am  able  to  protect 
my  own  rights  and  to  defend  those  of  the 
people  whom  I  represent,  and  certainly  to 
take  care  of  my  own.  I  do  not  intend  that 
any  Senator  on  this  floor  shall  undertake 
to  criticise  my  conduct  by  innuendoes,  a 
method  not  becoming  this  body  or  a 
straightforward  legitimate  line  of  pi^"8uit  in 
argument. 

I  wish  the  Senator  from  Georgia  to  un- 
derstand just  here  that  we  may  get  along 
in  the  future  harmoniously,  that  the  way 


to  deal  with  me  is  to  deal  directly.  "We 
want  no  bills  of  discovery.  Now,  sir,  you 
will  find  out  how  I  am  going  to  vote  in  a 
little  while.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Davis,  of  West  Virginia.  Mr. 
President,  during  this  temporary  suspen- 
sion  

Mr.  Mahone.  I  have  not  yielded  the 
floor.     I  am  waiting  for  a  little  order. 

Mr.  Davis,  of  West  Virginia.  I  wish  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  Chair  to  the  dis- 
order in  the  Senate  both  when  my  jfriend 
from  Georgia  was  speaking  and  now.  I 
believe  it  has  been  some  time  since  we 
have  had  as  much  disorder  as  we  have  had 
to-day  in  the  galleries.  I  hope  the  Chair 
will  enforce  order. 

Mr.  Teller.  I  should  like  to  say  that 
much  of  the  disorder  originated  in  the  first 
place  from  the  cheering  on  the  democratic 
side  of  the  Chamber 

The  Vice-President.  The  Chair  an- 
nounces that  order  must  be  maintained  in 
the  galleries  ;  otherwise  the  Sergeant-at- 
Arms  will  be  directed  to  clear  the  galle- 
ries. 

Mr.  Mahone.  I  promised  not  to  detain 
the  Senate,  and  I  regret  that  so  early  after 
my  appearance  here  I  should  find  it  neces- 
sary to  intrude  any  remarks  whatsoever 
upon  the  attention  of  this  body.  I  would 
prefer  to  be  a  little  modest ;  I  would  prefer 
to  listen  and  to  learn  ;  but  I  cannot  feel 
content  after  what  has  passed  in  this  pres- 
ence, when  the  gentleman  by  all  manner 
of  methods,  all  manner  of  insinuations,  di- 
rect and  indirect,  has  sought  to  do  that 
which  would  have  been  better  done  and 
more  bravely  pursued  if  he  had  gone  di- 
rectly to  the  question  itself.  He  has 
sought  to  discover  where  the  democrat  was 
who  should  here  choose  to  exercise  his 
right  to  cast  his  vote  as  he  pleased,  who 
should  here  exercise  the  liberty  of  man- 
hood to  differ  with  his  caucus.  Why,  sir, 
the  gentleman  seems  to  have  forgotten  that 
I  refused  positively  to  attend  his  little  love- 
feast  ;  not  only  that,  I  refused  to  take  part 
in  a  caucus  wnich  represents  a  party  that 
has  not  only  waged  war  upon  me  but  upon 
those  whom  I  represent  on  this  floor. 
They  have  not  only  intruded  within  the 
boundaries  of  my  own  State,  without  provo- 
cation, to  teach  honesty  and  true  democracy, 
but  they  would  now  pursue  my  people  fur- 
ther by  intruding  their  unsolicited  advice 
and  admonition  to  their  representative  in 
this  Chamber.  Yes,  sir,  you  have  been 
notified,  duly  notified  that  I  would  take  no 
part  or  lot  in  any  political  machinery. 

Further  than  that,  you  have  been  notified 
that  I  was  supremely  indifferent  to  what 
you  did ;  that  I  had  no  wish  to  prefer,  and 
was  indifferent  to  your  performances ;  that 
I  should  stand  on  this  floor  representing  in 
part  the  people  of  the  State  of^  Virginia,  for 
I  whom  I  have  the  right  to  speak  (and  not 


bookiil]        senator   HILL   DENOUNCING   MAHONE; 


211 


the  Senator  from  Georgia)  even  of  their 
democracy.  The  gentleman  may  not  be 
advised  that  the  Legislature  which  elected 
me  did  not  require  that  I  should  state 
either  that  I  was  a  democrat  or  anything 
else.  I  suppose  he  could  not  get  here  from 
Georgia  unless  he  was  to  say  that  he  was  a 
democrat,  anyhow.  [Laughter.]  I  come 
here  without  being  required  to  state  to  my 
people  what  I  am.  They  were  willing  to 
trust  me,  sir,  and  I  was  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  not  by  a  legislature,  for  it  was  an 
issue  in  the  canvass.  There  was  no  man 
elected  by  the  party  with  which  I  am  iden- 
tified that  did  not  go  to  the  Legislature  in- 
structed by  the  sovereigns  to  vote  for  me 
for  the  position  I  occupy  on  this  floor.  It 
required  no  oath  of  allegiance  blindly 
given  to  stand  by  your  democracy,  such  as 
IS  ia,  [laughter,]  that  makes  a  platform  and 
practices  another  thing.  That  is  the  de- 
mocracy they  have  in  some  of  the  Southern 
States. 

Now,  I  hope  the  gentleman  will  be  re- 
lieved. He  has  been  chassezing  all  around 
this  Chamber  to  see  if  he  could  not  find  a 
partner  somewhere ;  he  has  been  looking 
around  in  every  direction  ;  occasionally  he 
would  refer  to  some  other  Senator  to  know 
exactly  where  the  Senator  was  who  stood 
here  as  a  democrat  that  had  the  manhood 
and  the  boldness  to  assert  his  opinions  in 
this  Chamber  free  from  the  dictation  of  a 
mere  caucus.  Now,  I  want  the  gentleman 
to  know  henceforth  and  forever  here  is  a 
man,  sir,  that  dares  stand  up  [applause] 
and  speak  for  himself  without  regard  to 
caucus  in  all  matters.  [Applause,  long 
continued,  in  the  galleries  and  on  the  floor.] 
Mr.  President,  pardon  me ;  I  have  done. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.     Mr.  President — 

The  Vice-President.  The  Senate  will 
be  in  order.  Gentlemen  on  the  floor 
not  members  of  the  Senate  will  take  seats. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Mr.  President, 
I  hope  nobody  imagines  that  I  rise  to  make 
any  particular  reply  to  the  remarkable  ex- 
hibition we  have  just  seen.  I  rise  to  say  a 
few  things  in  justification  of  myself.  I 
certainly  did  not  say  one  word  to  justify 
the  gentleman  in  the  statement  that  I  made 
an  assault  upon  him,  unless  he  was  the  one 
man  who  had  been  elected  as  a  democrat 
and  was  not  going  to  vote  with  his  party. 
I  never  saw  that  gentleman  before  the 
other  day.  I  have  not  the  slightest  un- 
kind feeling  for  him.  I  never  alluded  to 
him  by  name ;  I  never  alluded  to  his  State ; 
and  I  cannot  understand  how  the  gentle- 
man says  that  I  alluded  to  him  except  up- 
on the  rule  laid  down  by  the  distinguished 
Senator  from  New  York,  that  a  guilty 
conscience  needs  no  accuser.  [Applause 
and  hisses  in  the  galleries.]  I  aid  not 
mention  the  Senator.  It  had  been  stated 
here  by  the  Senator  from  New  York  over 
and  over  that  the  other  side  would  have  a 


majority  when  that  side  was  full.  I  showed 
it  was  impossible  that  they  should  have  a 
majority  unless  they  could  get  one  demo- 
cratic vote,  with  the  vote  of  the  Vice- 
President.  I  did  not  know  who  it  was :  I 
asked  who  it  was;  I  begged  to  know  who 
it  was  ;  and  to  my  utter  astonishment  the 
gentleman  from  Virginia  comes  out  and 
says  he  is  the  man. 

The  Senator  from  Virginia  makes  a 
very  strange  announcement.  He  charged 
me  not  only  with  attacking  him,  but  with 
attacking  the  people  of  Virginia  ?  Did  I 
sayawordof  thepeopleof  Virginia?  I  said 
that  the  people  of  no  portion  of  this  coun- 
try would  tolerate  treachery.  Was  that  at- 
tacking the  people  of  Virginia?  J  said 
that  thirty-eight  men  had  been  elected  to 
this  body  as  democrats.  Does  the  Senator 
deny  that?  Does  he  say  he  was  elected 
here  not  as  a  democrat  ?  lie  says  he  waa  not 
required  to  declare  that  he  was  a  democrat, 
and  in  the  next  breath  he  says  he  is  a  truer, 
better  democrat  than  I  am.  Then  I  commend 
him  to  you.  Take  good  care  of  him,  my 
friends.  Nurse  him  well.  How  do  you 
like  to  have  a  worse  democrat  than  I  am  ? 

Mr.  Conkling  and  others.  A  better 
democrat. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Oh,  a  better  I 
Then  my  friend  from  New  York  is  a  better 
democrat  than  I  am.  You  have  all  turned 
democrats;  and  we  have  in  the  United 
States  Senate  such  an  exhibition  as  that  of 
a  gentleman  showing  his  democracy  by 
going  over  to  the  Republicans  I 

Sir,  I  will  not  defend  Virginia.  She 
needs  no  defense.  Virginia  has  given  this 
country  and  the  world  and  humanity  some 
of  the  brightest  names  of  history.  She 
holds  in  her  bosom  to-day  the  ashes  of 
some  of  the  noblest  and  greatest  men  that 
ever  illustrated  the  glories  of  any  country. 
I  say  to  the  Senator  from  Virginia  that 
neither  Jefferson,  nor  Madison,  nor  Henry, 
nor  Washington,  nor  Leigh,  nor  Tucker, 
nor  any  of  the  long  list  of  great  men  that 
Virginia  has  produced  ever  accepted  a 
commission  to  represent  one  party  and 
came  here  and  represented  another.  [Ap- 
plause on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries.] 

Mr.  CocKRELL.  I  trust  that  those  at 
least  who  are  enjoying  the  privilege  of  the 
floor  of  the  Senate  Chamber  will  be  pro- 
hibited from  cheering. 

The  Vice  President.  The  Chair  will 
state  that  the  violation  of  the  rules  does 
not  appear  to  be  in  the  galleries,  but  by 
persons  who  have  been  admitted  to  the 
privilege  of  the  floor.  The  Chair  regrets 
to  clear  the  floor,  but  if  the  manifestation 
is  continued  he  will  be  obliged  to  do  so. 
It  is  a  violation  of  the  rules  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Mahone  rose. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Does  the  Sena- 
tor from  Virginia  wish  to  interrupt  me? 

Mr.  Mahonb.  I  do  wish  to  interrupt  you. 


212 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  ni. 


The  Vice-Presideih'.  Does  the  Sena- 
tor from  Georgia  yield  ? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.    Certainly. 

Mr.  Mahone.  I  understand  you  to  say 
that  I  accepted  a  commission  from  one 

Earty  and  came  here  to  represent  another, 
►o  I  understand  you  correctly  ? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  understood 
that  you  were  elected  as  a  democrat, 

Mr.  Mahone.  Never  mind ;  answer  the 
question. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Yes,  I  say  you 
accepted  a  commission,  having  been  elect- 
ed as  a  democrat.  That  is  my  informa- 
tion. 

Mr.  Mahoxe.  I  ask  you  the  question : 
Did  you  say  that  I  had  accepted  a  com- 
mission from  one  party  and  came  here  to 
represent  another  ?    That  is  the  question. 

Mr  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Oh,  I  said  that 
will  be  the  case  if  you  vote  with  the  re- 

fublicans.  You  have  not  done  it  yet,  and 
say  you  will  not  do  it. 

Mr.  Mahoxe.  If  not  out  of  order  in  this 
place,  I  say  to  the  gentleman  that  if  he 
undertakes  to  make  that  statement  it  is 
unwarranted  and  untrue. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  should  like  to 
ask  the  gentleman  a  question :  Was  he  not 
acting  with  the  democratic  party,  and  was 
he  not  elected  as  a  democrat  to  this  body  ? 
Answer  that  question. 

ftlr.  Mahone.  Quickly,  sir.  I  was 
elected  as  a  readjuster.  Do  you  know 
what  they  are  ?     [Laughter  and  applause.] 

The  Vice-Presidext  rapped  with  his 
gavel. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  understand 
there  are  in  Virginia  what  are  called  re- 
adjuster  democrats  and  debt-paying  demo- 
crats, or  something  of  that  kind,  but  as  I 
understand  they  are  all  democrats.  We 
have  nothing  to  do  with  that  issue.  We 
are  not  to  settle  the  debt  of  Virginia  in  the 
Senate  Chamber ;  but  I  ask  the  Senator 
again,  was  he  not  elected  to  this  body  as  a 
member  of  the  national  democratic  party  ? 

Mr.  Mahone.  I  will  answer  you,  sir. 
No.    You  have  got  the  answer  now. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Then  I  conceive 
that  the  gentleman  spoke  truly  when  he 
said  that  I  do  not  know  what  he  is.  What 
is  he?  Everj'body  has  understood  that 
he  voted  with  the  democrats.  Did  he  not 
support  Hancock  for  the  Presidency  ?  Did 
not  the  Senator  support  Hancock  for  the 
Presidency,  I  ask  him?  [A  pause] 
Dumb!  Did  he  not  act  with  the  demo- 
cratic party  in  the  national  election,  and 
was  not  the  Senator  from  Virgina  himself 
a  democrat  ?  That  is  the  question.  Why 
attempt  to  evade?  Gentlemen,  I  com- 
mend him  to  you.  Is  there  a  man  on  that 
side  of  the  Chamber  who  doubts  that  the 
Senator  was  sent  to  this  body  as  a  demo- 
crat ?  Is  there  a  man  in  this  whole  body 
who  doubts  it?    Is  there  a  man  in  Vir- 


ginia who  doubts  it  ?  The  gentleman  will 
not  deny  it.  Up  to  this  very  hour  it  was 
not  known  on  this  si  ie  of  the  Chamber  or 
in  the  country  how  he  would  vote  in  this 
case,  or  whether  he  was  still  a  democrat  or 
not.  I  maintain  that  he  is.  The  Senator 
from  New  York  seemed  to  have  informa- 
tion that  somebody  who  was  elected  as  a 
democrat  was  not,  and  I  went  to  work  to 
find  out  who  it  was.  It  seems  I  have  un- 
covered him.  For  months  the  papers  of 
the  country  have  been  discussing  and  de- 
bating how  the  Senator  would  vote.  No- 
body could  know,  nobody  could  tell,  no- 
body could  guess.  I  have  been  a  truer 
friend  to  the  Senator  than  he  has  been  to 
himself.  I  have  maintained  always  that 
when  it  came  to  the  test  the  Senator  would 
be  true  to  his  commission ;  that  the  Senator 
would  be  true  to  the  democratic  professions 
he  made  when  he  was  elected.  He  will 
not  rise  in  this  presence  and  say  he  could 
have  been  elected  to  the  Senate  as  a  re- 
publican. He  will  not  rise  in  the  Senate 
and  say  he  could  have  been  elected  to  the 
Senate  if  he  had  given  notice  that  on  the 
organization  of  this  body  he  would  vote 
with  the  republicans.     He  will  not  say  it. 

The  gentleman  makes  some  remarks 
about  the  caucus.  I  have  no  objection  to 
a  gentleman  remaining  out  of  a  caucus. 
That  is  not  the  question.  I  have  no  ob- 
jection to  a  gentleman  being  independent. 
That  is  not  the  question.  I  have  no  ob- 
jection to  a  gentleman  being  a  readjuster 
in  local  politics.  That  is  not  the  question. 
I  have  no  objection  to  a  man  dodging  from 
one  side  to  another  on  such  a  question. 
With  that  I  have  nothing  to  do.  That  is 
a  matter  of  taste  with  him ;  but  I  do  object 
to  any  man  coming  into  this  high  council, 
sent  here  by  one  sentiment,  commissioned 
by  one  party,  professing  to  be  a  democrat, 
and  after  he  gets  here  acting  with  the  other 
party.  If  the  gentleman  wants  to  be  what 
he  so  proudly  said,  a  man,  when  he  changes 
opinions,  as  ne  had  a  right  to  do,  when  he 
changes  party  affiliations  as  he  had  a  right 
to  do,  he  should  have  gone  to  the  people 
of  Virginia  and  said,  "  Youbelievedme  to 
be  a  democrat  when  you  gave  me  this  com- 
mission ;  while  I  differed  with  many  of  you 
on  the  local  question  of  the  debt,  I  was 
with  you  corclially  in  national  politics ;  I 
belonged  to  the  national  democratic  party ; 
but  I  feel  that  it  is  my  duty  now  to  co- 
operate with  the  republican  party,  and  I 
return  you  the  commission  which  yoa 
gave  to  me.''  If  the  gentleman  had  done 
that  and  then  gone  before  the  people  of 
Virginia  and  asked  them  to  recew  his 
commission  upon  his  change  of  opinion,  he 
would  have  been  entitled  to  the  eulogy  of 
manhood  he  pronounced  upon  himself 
here  in  such  theatrical  style.  I  like  man- 
hood. 

I  say  once  more,  it  is  very  far  from  me 


BOOK  III.]         SENATOR    HILL    DENOUNCING    MAHONE. 


213 


to  desire  to  do  the  Senator  injury.  I  have 
nothing  but  the  kindest  feehngs  for  him. 
He  is  very  much  mistaken  if  he  supposes  I 
had  any  personal  enmity  against  him.  I 
have  not  the  slightest.  As  I  said  before,  I 
never  spoke  to  the  gentleman  in  my  life 
until  I  met  him  a  few  days  ago ;  but  I 
have  done  what  the  newspapers  could  not 
do,  both  sides  having  been  engaged  in  the 
effort  for  months  ;  I  have  done  what  both 
parties  could  not  do,  what  the  whole  coun- 
try could  not  do — I  have  brought  out  the 
Senator  from  Virginia. 

But  now,  in  the  kindest  spirit,  knowing 
the  country  from  which  the  honorable 
Senator  comes,  identified  as  I  am  with  its 
fame  and  its  character,  loving  as  I  do 
every  line  in  its  history,  revering  as  I  do 
its  long  list  of  great  names,  I  perform  the 
friendly  office  unasked  of  making  a  last 
appeal  to  the  honorable  Senator,  whatever 
other  fates  befall  him,  to  be  true  to  the 
trust  which  the  proud  people  of  Virginia 
gave  him,  and  whoever  else  may  be  disap- 
pointed,'whoever  else  may  be  deceived, 
whoever  else  may  be  offended  at  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Senate,  I  appeal  to  the 
gentleman  to  be  true  to  the  people,  to  the 
sentiment,  to  the  party  which  he  knows 
commissioned  him  to  a  seat  in  this  body. 

Mr.  Logan.  Mr.  President,  I  have  but 
a  word  to  say.  I  have  listened  to  a  very 
extraordinary  speech.  The  Senate  of  the 
United  States  is  a  body  where  each  Sena- 
tor has  a  right  to  have  a  free  voice.  I 
have  never  known  before  a  Senator,  espe- 
cially a  new  Senator,  to  be  arraigned  in 
the  manner  in  which  the  Senator  from  Vir- 
ginia has  been,  and  his  conduct  criticised 
before  he  had  performed  any  official  act, 
save  one,  so  far  as  voting  is  concerned.  He 
needs  no  defense  at  my  hands ;  he  is  able 
to  take  care  of  himself ;  but  I  tell  the  Sena- 
tor from  Georgia  when  he  says  to  this 
country  that  no  man  has  a  right  to  come 
here  unless  he  fulfills  that  office  which 
was  dictated  to  him  by  a  party,  he  says 
that  which  does  not  belong  to  American 
independence.  Sir,  it  takes  more  nerve, 
more  manhood,  to  strike  the  party  shackles 
from  your  limbs  and  give  free  thought  its 
scope  than  any  other  act  that  man  can 
perform.  The  Senator  from  Georgia  him- 
self, in  times  gone  by,  has  changed  his 
opinions.  If  the  records  of  this  country 
are  true  (and  he  knows  whether  they  are 
or  not)  he,  when  elected  to  a  convention 
as  a  Union  man,  voted  for  secession. 
[Applause  in  the  galleries.] 

The  Vice-Pbesident  rapped  with  his 
gavel. 

Mr.  Hoar.  If  my  friend  will  pardon 
me  a  moment,  I  desire  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  Chair  to  the  fact  that  there  has  been 
more  disorder  in  this  Chamber  during  this 
brief  session  of  the  Senate  than  in  all  the 
aggregate  of  many  years  before.    I  take 


occasion  when  a' gentleman  with  whose 
opinions  I  perfectly  agree  myself  in  speak- 
ing to  say  that  I  shall  move  the  Chair  to 
clear  any  portion  of  the  gallery  from  which 
expressions  of  applause  or  dissent  shall 
come  if  they  occur  again. 

Mr.  Logan.  What  I  have  said  in  re- 
ference to  this  record  I  do  not  say  by 
way  of  casting  at  the  Senator,  but  mere- 
ly to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  men 
are  not  always  criticised  so  severely  for 
changing  their  opinions.  The  Senator 
from  Georgia  spoke  well  of  my  colleague. 
Well  he  may.  He  is  an  honorable  man 
and  a  man  deserving  well  of  all  the  people 
of  this  country.  He  was  elected  not  as  a 
democrat  but  by  democratic  votes.  He 
votes  with  you.  He  never  was  a  democrat 
in  his  life ;  he  is  not  to-day.  You  applaud 
him  and  why?  Because  he  votes  with 
you.  You  want  his  vote ;  that  is  all.  You 
criticise  another  man  who  was  elected  by 
republican  votes  and  democratic  votes,  re- 
adjusters  as  they  are  called,  and  say  that 
he  has  no  right  to  his  opinions  in  this 
Chamber.  The  criticism  is  not  well.  Do 
you  say  that  a  man  shall  not  change  his 
political  opinions? 

The  Senator  from  Georgia  in  days  gone 
by,  in  my  boyhood  days,  I  heard  of,  not  as 
a  democrat.  To-day  he  sits  here  as  a  de- 
mocrat. No  one  wishes  to  citicise  him  be- 
cause he  has  changed  his  political  opinions. 
He  had  a  right  to  do  so.  I  was  a  demo- 
crat once,  too,  and  I  had  a  right  to  change 
my  opinions  and  I  did  change  them.  The 
man  who  will  not  change  his  opinions 
when  he  is  honestly  convinced  that  he  was 
in  error  is  a  man  who  is  not  entitled  to  the 
respect  of  men.  I  say  this  to  the  Senator 
from  Georgia.  The  Senator  says  to  us, 
"  take  him,"  referring  to  the  Senator  from 
Virginia.  Yes,  sir,  we  will  take  him  if  he 
will  come  with  us,  and  we  will  take  every 
other  honest  man  who  will  come.  We 
will  take  every  honest  man  in  the  South 
who  wanta  to  come  and  join  the  republi- 
can party,  and  give  him  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship,  be  he  black  or  white.  Will 
you  do  as  much  ? 

Mr.  Hill  of  Georgia.  We  have  got 
them  already. 

Mr.  Logan.  Yes,  and  if  a  man  hap. 
pens  to  differ  with  you  the  tyranny  of  po- 
litical opinion  in  your  section  of  country 
is  such  that  you  undertake  to  lash  him 
upon  the  world  and  try  to  expose  him  to 
the  gaze  of  the  public  as  a  man  unfaithful 
to  his  trust.  We  have  no  such  tyranny  of 
opinion  in  the  country  where  I  live ;  and 
it  will  be  better  for  your  section  when  such 
notions  are  driven  to  the  shades  and  re- 
tired from  the  action  of  your  people. 

I  do  not  know  that  the  gentleman  from 
Virginia  intends  to  vote  as  a  republican. 
I  have  never  heard  him  say  so.  I  know 
only  what  he  has  »aid  here  to-day ;  but 


214 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in 


I  respect  him  for  stating  to  the  Senate  and 
the  country  that  he  is  tired  of  the  Bourbon 
democracy  ;  and  if  more  men  were  tired  of 
it  the  country  would  be  better  off.  The 
people  are  getting  tired  of  it  even  down  in 
vour  country,  every  where.  The  sooner  we 
have  a  division  down  there  the  better  it 
will  be  for  both  sides,  for  the  people  of  the 
whole  country. 

I  did  not  rise  to  make  any  defense  of  the 
Senator  from  Virginia,  for  he  is  able,  as  I 
said,  to  defend  himself,  but  merely  to  say 
to  the  Senator  from  Georgia  that  the  criti- 
cism made  upon  that  Senator  without  any 
J'ust  cause  is  something  I  never  witnessed 
)efore  in  this  Chamber  or  in  any  other  de- 
liberative body,  and  in  my  judgment  it  was 
not  justified  in  any  way  whatever. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  desire  to  say 
once  more,  what  everybody  in  the  audi- 
ence knows  is  true,  that  I  did  not  ar- 
raign the  Senator  from  Virginia.  In  the 
first  speech  I  never  alluded  to  Virginia  or 
to  the  Senator  from  Virginia. 

Mr.  Logan.  Every  one  in  the  Chamber 
knew  to  whom  the  Senator  alluded. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  alluded  to 
somebody  who  was  elected  as  a  democrat, 
and  who  was  going  to  vote  as  a  republican. 

Mr.  Teller.  He  was  not  elected  as  a 
democrat. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Then  I  did  not 
allude  to  the  Senator  from  Virginia. 

Mr.  Teller.  The  Senator  said  that 
thirty-eight  members  of  the  Senate  were 
elected  as  democrats. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Certainly  they 
were. 

Mr.  Teller.    That  is  a  mistake. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Certainly  they 
were,  and  the  record  shows  it. 

Mr.  CONKLING.  May  I  ask  the  Senator 
4  question  ? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Let  me  go  on 
and  then  you  can  follow  me.  I  again .  say 
it  is  strange  that  the  Senator  from  Virginia 
should  say  I  arraigned  him,  and  his  valiant 
defender,  the  Senator  from  Illinois,  comes 
to  defend  him  from  an  arraignment  that 
Was  never  made. 

Mr.  Logan.  Did  not  the  Senator  from 
Georgia  ask  the  Senator  from  Virginia  in 
his  seat  if  he  was  not  elected  as  a  Demo- 
crat ?  Did  not  the  Senator  charge  that  a 
man  was  acting  treacherously  to  his  con- 
stituents ?  Did  the  Senator  not  make  the 
most  severe  arraignment  of  him  that  he 
could  possibly  make  ? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  If  the  Senator 
will  allow  me,  I  did  that  only  after  the 
Senator  from  Virginia  had  arraigned  him- 
self The  Senator  from  Virginia  insisted 
that  I  alluded  to  hini  when  I  had  not 
called  his  name,  and  I  had  not  alluded  to 
his  State  and  when  I  had  arraigned  nobody. 

Mr.  Logan.  Will  the  Senator  allow  me 
to  ask  him  this  question :  Did  he  not  have 


in  his  mind  distinctly  the  Senator  from 
Virginia  when  he  made  his  insinuations  ? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  will  answer 
the  gentleman's  question  fairly.  I  did  be- 
lieve that  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side 
who  were  counting  upon  a  democratic  vote 
were  counting  upon  the  Senator  from  Vir- 
ginia, but  I  equally  believed  that  they 
would  be  disappointed.  I  did  not  believe 
that  the  Senator  from  Virginia  was  guilty, 
and  I  in  perfect  sincerity  and  good  faith, 
so  far  from  arraigning  him,  intended  to 
defend  him  from  the  foul  suspicion,  and 
my  honest  repulsion  of  the  insinuation, 
which  was  necessary  in  consequence  of 
what  they  expected,  was  regarded  by  the 
Senator  himself  as  an  arraignment.  There 
is  an  anecdote  told  in  the  lite  of  the  great 
minister,  Whitefield.  When  he  was  speak- 
ing one  day  in  the  country  to  an  audience, 
he  described  the  enormity  of  sin  and  the 
characteristics  of  sin  ;  he  did  it  with  won- 
derful power.  When  he  came  out  he  was 
assailed  by  a  gentleman  for  having  made 
a  personal  assault  on  him.  "  Why,"  said 
Whitefield,  "  I  never  heard  of  you  before ; 
I  did  not  intend  any  assault  upon  you." 
He  replied,  "  Well,  sir,  you  told  me  every- 
thing I  have  been  doing  all  my  life."  I 
frankly  confess  I  am  not  a  man  to  dodge. 
The  papers  have  justified  me  in  believing. 
Senators  have  justified  me  in  believing, 
that  you  are  calculating  to  get  the  demo- 
cratic vote  of  the  Senator  from  Virginia, 
whom  the  whole  country  has  treated  as 
having  been  elected  as  a  democrat.  I  be- 
lieved you  would  be  disappointed ;  I  be- 
lieved that  because  you  would  be  disap- 
pointed it  was  wholly  unnecessary  to  delay 
this  organization.  I  did  not  believe  the 
Senator  would  vote  with  you,  and  in  vin- 
dication of  that  Senator  I  will  not  believe 
it  yet.  He  has  not  said  so.  He  has  made 
the  mistake,  because  of  what  the  papers 
say,  of  assuming  that  I  alluded  to  him ; 
but  I  vindicate  him  yet.  He  said  if  I  as- 
serted that  he  was  elected  as  a  democrat 
and  would  be  false  to  his  commission,  I 
said  what  was  not  warranted  and  what 
was  untrue.  I  am  glad  he  said  so.  1  did 
not  say  he  would ;  but  I  say  you  expected 
it,  I  say  your  papers  expected  it,  and  I  say 
it  has  been  calculated  on.  I  vindicate  the 
Senator  from  Virginia,  and  I  hope  he  will 
vindicate  himseli  by  not  doing  what  you 
expect  him  to  do.  The  Senator  from 
Illinois  charges  me  again  with  criticising 
a  man  for  changing  his  opinion.  I  dis- 
tinctly said  that  every  man  in  this  country 
has  a  right  to  change  his  opinion  The  dis- 
tinguished Senator  from  Illinois  has  chang- 
ed his  opinion.  He  siiys  the  country  is 
tired  of  Bourbon  democracy.  He  ought  to 
know,  for  he  used  to  be  one  of  the  worst 
Bourbon  democrats  this  country  ever  saw. 

Mr.  Logan.  That  was  when  you  be- 
longed to  the  other  side. 


BOOKIII.J  SENATOR    HILL    DENOUNCING    MAHONE. 


215 


Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  The  first  time  I 
ever  heard  of  that  Senator  was  when  I  was 
battling  in  the  South  for  the  good  old  whig 
principles  and  he  was  an  outrageous  Bour- 
bon democrat.  That  amounts  to  nothing. 
You  had  a  right  to  change,  if  you  have 
changed ;  I  do  not  say  you  have. 

Mr.  Logan.  I  will  only  say,  if  the 
Senator  will  allow  me,  that  when  I  saw 
the  light  I  changed  for  the  right.  The 
Senator  saw  the  darkness  and  changed  for 
the  wrong. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Ah,  that  is  not 
argument. 

Mr.  Logan.  It  is  true,  however,  just 
the  same. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  hope  the  Sen- 
ator will  see  more  light  and  change  again. 

Mr.  Logan.    I  do  not  think  I  shall. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  He  needs  a  great 
deal  of  light. 

Mr.  Logan.  No  doubt  of  that.  I  do 
not  expect  to  get  it,  however,  from  that 
side. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  object  to  this 
style  of  interruption ;  it  is  unworthy  of 
the  Senate.  I  am  not  here  to  indulge  in 
such  remarks.  The  Senator  has  a  right  to 
change ;  I  have  arraigned  nobody  for 
changing  his  opinion.  If  the  Senator  from 
Virginia  has  changed  his  opinions  he  has 
a  right  to  change  them ;  I  have  not  said 
he  has  not.  I  do  not  deny  his  right.  I 
admit  that  a  man  has  a  right  also  to  change 
his  party  affiliations  if  he  is  convinced  he 
has  Deen  wrong;  but  a  man  has  no  right 
to  hold  a  commission  which  was  given  him 
while  he  was  a  democrat  and  because  he 
was  a  democrat  and  given  to  him  as  a  dem- 
ocrat, and  change  his  opinions  and  act 
with  the  adversary  party.  It  is  his  duty 
to  return  that  commission  to  the  people 
who  gave  it  and  ask  them  to  renew  it  up- 
on his  change  of  opinion.  That  is  all  I 
ask. 

Mr.  Logan.  Will  the  Senator  allow  me 
to  ask  him  what  right  has  he  as  a  Senator 
to  undertake  to  dictate  to  the  Senator  from 
Virginia  as  to  what  shall  be  required  in 
his  State  ? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  That  is  incor- 
rect again.  I  have  not  undertaken  to  dic- 
tate to  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  The 
Senator  from  Virginia  can  do  just  as  he 
pleases ;  but  when  the  Senator  from  Vir- 
ginia acts  as  a  public  man  I  have  a  right 
to  my  opinion  of  his  public  acts,  and  I 
have  a  right  to  speak  of  all  public  acts 
and  their  character.  I  will  not  deny  his 
right;  I  am  not  dictating  to  him — far 
from  it.  There  is  not  in  my  heart  now  an 
unkind  feeling  for  the  Senator  from  Vir- 
ginia. I  would  if  I  could  rescue  him  from 
the  infamy  into  which  others  are  trying  to 
precipitate  him.  That  is  what  I  want  to 
do.  I  am  not  assailing  him ;  I  am  not 
arraigning  him ;  I  am  not  dictating  to 


him.  I  know  the  proud  nature  of  the 
Senator  from  New  York.  I  know  if  that 
Senator  was  elected  to  this  body  as  a  re- 
publican, although  he  might  have  been  a 
readjuster  at  the  time,  and  if  he  should 
come  to  this  body  and  the  democrats 
should  begin  to  intimate  in  this  Hall  and 
the  democratic  papers  should  intimate 
over  the  country  that  he  was  going  to 
vote  with  the  democrats  on  the  organiza- 
tion, he  would  feel  insulted  just  as  my 
friend  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Harris)  justly 
felt  by  the  allusions  to  him  in  the  news- 
papers. So  with  any  other  man  on  that 
side.  If  the  Senator  from  Virginia  was 
elected  as  a  democrat  I  am  right ;  but  if 
as  a  republican  I  have  nothing  more  to 
say. 

Mr.  Logan.  Will  the  Senator  allow  me 
right  there?  Is  it  not  true  that  the  demo- 
cracy of  the  Virginia  Legislature  that 
elected  the  Senator  now  in  his  seat  from 
Virginia  did  nominate  Mr.  Withers  as 
their  candidate  and  supported  him,  and 
was  not  this  senator  elected  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  democrats  of  that  Legisla- 
ture ?  Is  not  that  true  ?  I  ask  the  Senator 
from  Virginia. 

Mr.  Mahone.    Substantially  so. 

Mr.  Logan.  Then  if  that  be  true,  why 
say  that  he  came  here  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  democracy  of  Virginia? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  My  understand- 
ing is  that  the  democracy  of  Virginia  is 
very  much  like  the  democracy  of  other 
States,  as  Tennessee.  We  are  divided 
down  there  in  several  States  on  local  ques- 
tions that  have  nothing  to  do  with  national 
politics.  In  Virginia  the  democracy  was 
divided  between  what  are  called  readjuster 
democrats  and  debt-paying  democrats,  but 
all  democrats. 

What  was  called  the  republican  party 
it  was  said,  although  I  must  vindicate 
many  of  the  republicans  in  the  State  from 
the  charge,  coalesced  with  what  are  called 
the  readjuster  democrats.  The  late  Sena- 
tor from  Virginia  was  nominated  by  what 
are  called  the  debt-paying  democrats,  and 
the  present  Senator  from  Virginia,  as  I 
understand  it,  was  run  against  him  as  % 
readjuster  democrat. 

Mr.  Logan.  And  the  republicans  all 
supported  him. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  Certainly,  be- 
cause they  always  support  a  candidate  who 
is  running  against  the  regular  nominee.  I 
suppose  the  republicans  always  go  for 
men  who  are  not  in  favor  of  paying  debts! 
I  had  thought  that  republicans  professed 
to  affiliate  with  those  who  would  pay  debts. 
But  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  tnat  ques- 
tion ;  it  does  not  come  in  here.  What  I 
say  and  what  will  not  be  denied,  and  I  am 
ashamed  that  there  is  an  attempt  to  deny 
it,  is,  and  it  is  the  worst  feature  of  this 
whole  thing,  that  anybody  should  get  up 


216 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IIL 


here  and  attempt  to  deny  that  the  Senator 
from  Virginia  was  elected  to  the  Senate  as 
a  democrat ;  should  attempt  to  evade  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  Hancock  democrat  last 
year ;  that  he  has  acted  with  the  national 
democracy  all  the  time;  and  that  what- 
ever might  have  been  the  local  differences 
in  Virginia,  he  has  been  a  national  demo- 
crat every  hour,  held  out  to  the  country 
as  such.  I  say  I  am  ashamed  that  any- 
l>ody  should  attempt  to  make  a  question 
of  that  fact.  He  was  not  only  a  democrat, 
a  national  democrat,  and  voted  for  Han- 
cock, but  I  remember  the  historical  fact 
that  he  had  what  he  called  his  own  ticket  in 
the  field  for  Hancock  and  voted  for  it. 
He  is  just  as  much  a  democrat,  sent  here 
as  a  readjuster  democrat,  as  the  other  can- 
didate, the  debt-paying  democrat,  would 
have  been  if  he  had  been  elected. 

Mr.  Logan.  The  difference  is,  if  the 
Senator  will  allow  me,  if  the  other  had 
been  elected,  he  would  have  been  in  full 
accord  with  the  democracy  here.  This 
gentleman  does  not  happen  to  be,  and 
therefore  the  criticism  of  the  Senator  from 
Georgia. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  do  not  wish  to 
do  the  republicans  of  Virginia  injustice;  I 
do  not  wish  to  do  any  body  injustice. 
There  are  some  republicans  of  Virginia 
for  whom  I  confess,  if  reports  be  true,  I 
have  a  profound  respect.  When  a  portion 
of  the  democrats,  under  the  cry  of  read- 
justerism,  sought  to  get  the  support  of  the 
republicans  of  Virginia,  there  were  manly 
republicans  who  refused  to  go  into  a  coali- 
tion that  would  compromise  the  character 
of  the  State  on  the  question  of  its  debt.  I 
am  told  there  are  republicans  now  in  Vir- 
ginia who  say  that  if  republicanism  here 
means  the  Senator  from  Virginia,  and  you 
accept  him  as  a  republican,  you  must  give 
them  up  as  republicans.  I  do  not  know 
how  true  it  is.  But  this  is  unworthy  of  the 
Senate. 

I  repeat,  the  worst  feature  of  this  whole 
transaction  is  that  anybody  should  get  up 
here  and  attempt  to  make  an  impression 
that  there  was  a  doubt  as  to  the  democracy 
gf  the  Senator  from  Virginia  heretofore. 
That  is  an  evasion  unworthy  cf  the  issue, 
unworthy  of  the  place,  unworthy  of  the 
occasion,  unworthy  of  Virginia,  unworthy 
of  the  Senator,  unworthy  of  his  defenders. 
Admit  the  fact  that  he  was  a  democrat, 
and  then  claim  that  he  exercised  the  in- 
alienable' right  of  changing  his  opinions 
and  his  party  affiliations,  but  do  not  claim 
that  he  had  a  right  to  do  it  in  the  manner 
you  say  he  has  done  it. 

Once  more  let  me  say,  the  Senator  from 
Virginia  ought  to  know  that  by  all  the 
memories  of  the  pa.st  there  is  not  a  man  in 
this  body  whose  whole  soul  goes  out  more 
in  earnest  to  protect  his  honor  than  my 
own.    I  would  rather  lose  the  organization 


of  the  Senate  by  the  democratic  party  and 
never  again  have  a  democratic  committee 
in  this  body  than  have  Virginia  soiled  with 
dishonor.  I  do  not  say  that  the  Senator  is 
going  to  do  it,  but  I  see  the  precipice  yawn^ 
ing  before  him,  I  see  whither  potential 
influences  are  leading  him.  I  know  the 
danger  just  ahead.  I  would  rescue  him  if 
I  could.  He  may  say  it  is  enmity ;  he  may 
say  it  is  an  unfriendly  spirit ;  he  will  live 
to  know  the  force  of  the  words  I  am  utter- 
ing. Men  in  this  country  have  a  right  to  be 
democrats;  men  in  this  country  have  a 
right  to  be  republicans ;  men  in  this  coun- 
try have  a  right  to  divide  on  national 
issues  and  local  issues ;  but  no  man  has  a 
right  to  be  false  to  a  trust,  I  repeat  it,  and 
whether  the  Senator  from  Virginia  shall 
be  guilty  or  not  is  not  for  me  to  judge  and 
I  will  not  judge.  I  say  if  he  votes  as  you 
want  him  to  vote  God  save  him  or  he  is 
gone.  If  he  comes  here  to  illustrate  his 
democracy  by  going  over  to  that  side  of 
the  House  and  voting  with  that  side  of  the 
House,  he  will  be  beyond  my  rescue.  No, 
gentlemen,  I  honor  you.  I  like  a  proud 
republican  as  well  as  I  do  a  proud  demo- 
crat. I  am  conscious  of  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  best  personal  friends  I  have  in  this 
body  sit  on  that  side  of  the  Chamber,  men 
whose  high  character  I  would  trust  any- 
where and  everywhere.  Gentlemen,  you 
know  your  hearts  respond  to  every  word  I 
am  uttering  when  I  say  you  despise  treach- 
ery, and  you  honor  me  to-day  for  making 
an  effort  to  rescue  a  gentleman,  not  from 
treachery,  but  from  the  charge  of  it.  If 
the  Senator  shall  vote  as  you  desire  him 
to  vote,  he  cannot  escape  the  charge. 

Mr.  Mahone.  Mr.  President,  I  want  to 
interrupt  the  Senator  from  Georgia. 

The  Vice-President.  Does  the  Sena- 
tor from  Georgia  yield  ? 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.    Certainly. 

Mr.  Mahone,  I  cannot  allow  you  to 
make  any  such  insinuation. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  make  no  in- 
sinuation. 

Mr.  Mahone.  You  did  emphatically, 
and  it  was  unmanly.  Now  it  must  stop. 
Let  us  understand  that. 

Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.  I  repeat,  I  do 
not  know  how  the  Senator  is  going  to  vote. 
I  believe  he  is  not  going  to  vote  as  you  ex- 
pect. I  believe  he  is  not  going  to  be  guilty 
of  being  false  to  his  commission.  I  will 
not  charge  that  he  will ;  I  will  not  insinu- 
ate that  he  will.  I  have  not  insinuated  it. 
The  gentleman  must  be  his  own  keeper ; 
the  gentleman  must  solve  his  own  ques- 
tions ;  but  I  repeat,  I  repeat  as  a  friend,  I 
repeat  as  a  friend  whose  friendship  will  be 
appreciated  some  day,  that  the  Senator  is 
in  danger  of  bringing  upon  himself  a 
charge  which  he  will  never  nave  the  power 
to  explain. 

Mr.  Mahone.    I  cannot  allow  you  or 


BOOK  III.] 


SENATOR    MAHONE'S    REPLY    TO    HILL. 


217 


any  other  man  to  make  that  charge  with- 
out a  proper  answer. 
Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia.    Oh,  well. 


Senator  DIahone's  Reply  to  Senator  Hill 

in  Extra  Senate  Session,  March  2Slh,  1881. 

Mr.  Mahone.  Mr.  President,  my  pro- 
found respect  for  the  wisdom  and  ex- 
perience ot  my  seniors  in  this  Chamber 
compels  me  to  renew  expression  of  the 
reluctance  with  which  I  so  soon  intrude 
upon  its  deliberations.  Senators  and  the 
country  will  concede  that  to  this  seeming 
forwardness  I  have  been  provoked. 

If  I  do  not  challenge  generous  considera- 
tion from  those  who  would  appear  to  have 
found  pleasure  in  their  unjustifiable  as- 
saults, I  do  not  doubt  that  I  shall  com- 
mand the  respect  of  the  brave  and  inde- 
pendent here,  as  I  know  I  shall  command 
that  of  my  own  people.  I  shall  not  com- 
plain of  the  intolerance  and  indirection 
which  have  characterized  the  allusions  of 
some  Senators  to  myself.  Doubtless  they 
comport  entirely  with  their  own  sense  of 
manly  deportment  and  senatorial  dignity, 
however  little  they  do  with  mine.  Vir- 
ginia is  accustomed  to  meet  occasions 
where  the  independent  spirit  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  required  to  assert  itself;  Virginia 
has  ever  met,  with  fortitude  and  dignity, 
every  duty  that  destiny  has  imposed, 
always,  however,  with  much  contempt  for 
small  party  tactics  where  principles  were 
involved  to  which  her  faith  and  her  honor 
were  committed. 

With  absolute  confidence  in  my  loyalty 
to  her  and  my  devotion  to  every  interest  of 
her  people,  I  shall  not  relax  my  purpose 
to  repel  every  impeachment  of  the  consti- 
tuency which  sent  me  here  with  clearly 
defined  duties  which  they  and  I  compre- 
hend. I  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  to  do  their  will,  not  to  a  cau- 
cus to  do  its  petty  bidding.  Virginia 
earned  her  title  of  the  Old  Dominion  by 
the  proud  and  independent  action  of  her 
own  people,  by  the  loyalty  of  her  sons  to 
the  instincts  of  independence,  without  help 
at  the  hands  of  those  who  would  now  inter- 
fere with  her  affairs. 

However  feebly  I  may  assert  thf\t  spirit 
against  the  gratuitous  and  hypocritical 
concern  for  her  of  strangers  to  her  trials, 
her  sacrifices,  and  her  will,  I  feel  that  the 
spirit  of  my  people  inspires  me  when  I 
scornfully  repel  for  them  and  for  myself 
ungracious  attempts  to  instruct  a  Virginia 
Senator  as  to  his  duty  to  them  and  to  him- 
self. Senators  should  learn  to  deal  with 
their  constituencies,  while  I  answer  to  mine. 

To  him  who  would  insinuate  that  my 
action  in  respect  to  the  organization  of 
the  committees  of  this  body  and  the  pro- 
posed election  of  its  officers  has  been 
governed  or  controlled  by  impure  consider- 


ations— and  I  am  loth  to  beliere  that  any 
honorable  Senator  has  so  intended — in  the 
language  of  another,  I  say : 

If  thou  saidst  I  am  not  peer 
To  any  lord  in  Scotland  hero, 
Lowland  or  highland,  far  ur  near, 
Lord  Anguti,  thou  hast  hud .' 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  permit  me  to  say 
that  Senators  can  no  more  realize  my  re- 
gret than  they  can  measure  my  amazement 
that  my  colleague  should  have  felt  it  in- 
cumbent upon  him  to  join  the  assaulting 
column  in  this  Chamber.  He  first  intro- 
duces the  consideration  of  my  political 
consistency,  and  he  next  introduces  me, 
with  the  eighty -odd  thousand  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  who  sent  me  here,  to  this  honor- 
able body  as  a  repudiator  of  public  obliga- 
tions. The  sensa  of  justice  of  fellow  Sen- 
ators renders  it  unnecessary  for  me  to 
apologize  for  noticing  my  colleague's  criti- 
cisms on  the  one  hand  and  his  perversions 
on  the  other.  However  much  he  and  his 
friends  may  endeavor,  by  the  chop-logic  of 
the  attorney,  to  demonstrate  what  I  ought 
to  be,  I  know  by  my  convictions  and  by 
my  sense  of  duty  what  I  am.  In  this  par- 
ticular I  have  largely  the  advantage  of  my 
colleague  ;  for  if  I  take  him  by  his  record, 
diminutive  as  it  is,  he  neither  knows  what  he 
was,  what  he  U,  or  what  duty  he  came  here 
to  perform.  A  very  brief  recital  of  Vir- 
ginia political  history,  covering  but  a  dec- 
ade, will  give  a  clear  view  of  the  Virginia 
situation  as  it  is  represented  on  this  floor. 
My  colleague  gave  the  first  page,  and  then, 
like  the  lazy,  truant  school-boy,  skipped 
many  pages,  or,  like  the  shifty  lawyer,  read 
only  so  much  of  the  authority  as  suited  his 
case.  I  am  duly  grateful  to  him  for  the 
small  meed  of  praise  he  would  deal  out  to 
me  for  the  humble  part  I  bore  in  the  great 
liberal  movement  of  1869,  which  was  under- 
taken to  return  our  State  to  her  normal 
condition  in  the  Union. 

I  am  the  more  grateful  because  the 
organs  of  the  faction  he  represents  here 
have  recently  published  columns  to  prove 
that  I  was  breathed  into  political  existence 
subsequently  to  that  momentous  period. 
Not  being  sworn,  my  colleague  thought  it 
was  sufficient  for  him  to  tell  the  truth  with- 
out the  usual  obligation  to  tell  the  whole 
truth.  It  is  now  my  privilege,  as  well  as 
duty,  to  supply  all  deficiencies.  The  views 
I  entertained  then  I  still  adhere  to,  and 
though,  as  far  as  my  information  goes,  we 
had  no  material  assistance  from  him  in 
that  severe  and  trying  ordeal  of  1869,  I  do 
know  that  after  his  election  to  this  body 
he  confessed  himself  in  entire  accord  witn 
all  that  had  been  done  by  Virginia  as  a 
condition-precedent  to  her  restoration,  and 
with  the  zeal  of  a  new  convert  expressed 
the  hope  that  other  States  of  the  Union 
without  the  same  propelling  caiiae  should 
do  likewise.    In  a  letter  addressed  to  tho 


218 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  hi 


then  governor  of  Virginia  (Walker)   he 
wrote  as  follows : 

JOHNSTON  TO  GOVERNOR  WALKER  IN  1869. 

Believing  fully  not  only  that  we  in  Vir- 
ginia could  not  prosper,  tut  that  our  con- 
tinued exclusion  from  the  Union  interfered 
with  the  business  of  the  whole  country,  I 
have  been  anxious  for  an  early  compliance 
with  the  reconstruction  laws,  and  that  the 
State  should  itself  inaugurate  some  move- 
ment similar  to  that  which  resulted  in  your 
election  for  the  purpose,  and  not  wait,  like 
Micawber,  "  for  something  to  turn  up." 
******* 

The  fifteenth  amendment,  which  I  trust 

will  soon  be  adopted  by  States  enough  to 

make  it  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the 

United  States,  will  end  a  question  which 

has  agitated  the  country  for  half  a  century. 

I  entirely  approve  of  the  principles  of  that 

amendment,  and  as  we  have  invested  the 

freedman  with  the  right  to  vote,  let  us  give 

him  a  fair  opportunity  to  vote  understand- 

ingly.    He  nas  civil  rights,  and  it  is  our 

interest  he  should  know  their  value. 
******* 

That  we  are  apparently  so  near  to  the  con- 
summation of  reconstruction  we  are  greatly 
indebted  to  President  Grant's  kind  offices. 
The  State  was  in  a  dilemma ;  it  wanted  a 
constitution ;  but  the  one  made  for  it  has 
at .  least  two  very  objectionable  features. 
We  felt  that  we  were  suffering  in  all  our 
material  interests  by  staying  out  of  the 
Union,  and  vet  to  go  in  under  the  consti- 
tution with  all  its  provisions  would  have 
been  worse. 

The  Gordian  knot  was  happily  cut  by 
the  President's  first  message  to  Congress 
and  the  prompt  response  of  that  bodj'.  Up 
to  this  time  the  conduct  of  the  administra- 
tion has  been  liberal,  and  if  the  same  pol- 
icy is  pursued  hereafter  it  ought  to  have 
the  hearty  support  of  this  State.  If  we  cast 
dead  issues  behind  us  and  look  only  to  that 
line  of  conduct  which  shall  restore  quiet 
and  confidence,  and  encourage  enterprise 
and  industry,  we  shall  even  see  the  coun- 
try richer  and  more  prosperous  than  it  has 
ever  been. 

This  movement  in  1869  accomplished 
the  restoration  of  our  State  under  the  ex- 
purgated constitution  and  gave  us  repre- 
sentation here  in  the  persons  of  my  colleague 
and  ex-Senator  L#ewi8.  We  were  relieved 
of  military  government,  became  rehabilita- 
ted in  our  sovereignty,  with  entire  control 
of  our  local  autonomy.  Thus,  for  a  period, 
Virginia  seemed  to  be  enjoying  the  full 
freedom  of  herlong-deferred  hope  for  peace. 

In  the  curious  panoramic  exhibition  of 
my  colleague  I  next  appear  as  a  candidate 
for  governor  in  1877.  To  be  a  candidate 
in  Virginia  is  a  privilege  which  every 
qualified  voter  may  constitutionally  exer- 
cise, and  in  that  year  there  were  three  prom- 


inent candidates  other  than  those  named 
by  the  Senator.  Two  of  them  had  been 
major-generals  and  one  a  brigadier-general. 
Wnat  an   omission  I    Shades  of  departed 

§lory  defend  us !  when  a  United  States 
enator  of  the  Bourbon  persuasion  can 
omit  imposing  titles  in  detailing  events 
with  which  they  were  intimately  associa- 
ted. 'Tis  true  I  was  not  nominated,  lack- 
ing forty  votes  of  a  certain  majority  of  a 
convention  composed  of  over  fourteen  hun- 
dred delegates  against  a  combination  of 
five  candidates,  one  of  whom  my  colleague 

E referred,  that  preference  perhaps  being 
ased  upon  motives  as  unselfish  as  are  usual 
in  veteran  politicians  and  office-holders. 

Mr.  President,  I  can  scarcely  hope,  in 
the  presence  of  this  body,  where  my  col- 
league has  served  for  many  years,  and 
where  the  altitude  of  his  statesmanship 
frowns  contemptuously  down  upon  all  who 
would  aspire  to  reach  its  summit,  to  attain 
the  awful  diffidence  with  which  I  should 
undertake  to  correct  any  of  his  statements. 
He  is  one  of  the  conscript  fathers  of  the 
Senate,  old  in  all  its  ways  and  usages ;  and 
long  absence  from  his  constituency  and 
perpetual  service  to  the  national  democrat- 
ic party  in  helping  to  organize  its  numer- 
ous defeats  make  him  forgetful  of  recent 
events  in  Virginia.  Hence  the  necessity 
of  my  attempting  to  inform  him  as  to  cer- 
tain matters  of  recent  history  at  home. 

"  The  next  event,"  says  my  colleague, 
"  was  that  the  readjusters  separated  them- 
selves from  the  democratic  party ;"  and 
after  treating  this  at  some  length  he  says, 
"  This  brings  us  down  to  what  is  called 
Mozart  Hall  convention,"  in  which,  he 
adds,  "  I  spoke  of  the  conservative  party  as 
though  I  belonged  to  it." 

Mr.  President,  I  confess  my  inability  to 
understand  all  this  curious  mixture  of  the 
odds  and  ends  of  my  colleague's  scrap-book. 
He  parades  his  facts  in  curiously-contrived 
array.  He  empties  his  ill-assorted  jewels 
of  information  and  "  chunks  of  wisdom," 
and  seems  to  rely  upon  Senators  to  give 
them  that  consecutive  arrangement  as  to 
fact  and  date  which  they  have,  possibly,  in 
his  own  great  mind.  But,  sir,  the  fact  is 
there  was  no  remarkable  incident  in  Vir- 
ginia politics  between  the  election  of  1877 
and  1879,  the  month  of  February  of  the 
latter  year  being,  the  date  of  the  assem- 
bling of  the  Mozart  Hall  convention. 
Certainly  until  February,  1879,  there  was 
no  change  in  the  status  of  parties  in  Vir- 
ginia within  ^hat  period.  There  was  no 
organization  of  readjusters  until  February, 
1879,  and  there  was  no  declared  democratic 
party  until  1880. 

This  brings  me,  Mr.  President,  to  a  pe- 
riod when  I  propose  to  do  more  than  follow 
my  colleague  in  his  half-way  candid  and 
nearly  always  inaccurate  statement.  It  is 
at  this  juncture,  he  says,  that  Mr.  Riddle- 


BOOK  III.] 


MAHONE'S    REPLY    TO    HILL. 


219 


berger  and  I  are  so  much  identified  that 
he  cannot  separate  us.  It  is  at  this  point 
the  organization  of  the  readjusters  begins; 
and  it  is  at  this  point  he  appears  to  seek 
to  make  an  impression  wholly  unwarranted 
by  any  act  of  the  readjusters  in  Virginia. 
It  is  at  this  point,  too,  Mr.  President,  that 
I  am  constrained  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  my 
people,  my  State,  and  myself  to  treat  the 
question  of  our  State  debt  as  it  presents 
itself  in  Virginia.  In  doing  this,  I  wish  it 
distinctly  understood  that  I  hold  this  to  be 
a  matter  belonging  exclusively  to  the  State 
of  Virginia,  and  I  should  repel  any  Fed- 
eral interference  with  this  as  I  would  with 
any  other  question  of  mere  State  concern. 
I  shall  presume  upon  the  indulgence  of 
Senators  because  they  have  heard  but  one 
side,  and  that  more  than  once,  and  I  know 
they  will  be  willing  to  hear  a  defense  of 
Virginia  against  unjust  attacks  from  those 
who  ought  to  be  her  defenders. 

Sir,  there  is  not  a  fact  upon  which  to 
base  any  one  of  the  statements  or  argu- 
ments of  my  colleague.  Instead  of  the 
Mozart  Hall  convention  being  held  to  ef- 
fect a  repeal  of  an  irrepealable  contract,  it 
was  a  body  of  people  assembled  on  a  call 
of  members  of  the  General  Assembly  op- 
posed to  what  is  known  in  Virginia  as  the 

brokers'  bill."  They  assembled  before 
that  bill  had  passed  either  House  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and,  coming  fresh  from 
the  people,  expressed  their  unqualified  dis- 
approval of  that  measure.  It  was  appa- 
rent the  measure  was  to  pass,  and  organized 
opposition  began.  But,  Mr.  President, 
this  is  neither  the  beginning  nor  the  end  of 
this  question.  It  was  in  1871  that  the  first 
funding  bill  was  enacted,  and  this  we  know 
in  Virginia  as  the  first  contract. 

I  will  not  go  into  the  details  of  this  mea- 
sure, as  I  shall  ask  the  clerk  to  read  a  re- 
view of  all  the  Virginia  funding  acts  before 
concluding  my  remarks.  It  is  my  purpose 
now  only  to  notice  the  speeches  of  Senators, 
notably  that  of  my  colleague,  in  this  Cham- 
ber. It  will  be  news  to  Senators  to  hear 
to-day  that  the  readjusters  never  repealed 
either  of  the  funding  contracts.  That  en- 
acted and  only  partially  executed  in  1866- 
'67  was  in  effect  repealed  by  the  Assembly 
W'hich  passed  it,  and  the  work  of  repeal* 
was  consummated  by  the  Legislature  that 
enacted  the  more  obnoxious  measure  of 
1871.  This  in  turn  was  repealed  by  the 
Assembly  of  1872,  the  propounder  of  the 
repeal  measure  being  the  present  lieuten- 
ant-governor of  the  State,  subsequently  in 
full  fellowship  with  the  alleged  debt-pay- 
ers. Indeed  this  measure  was  so  obnox- 
ious that  Governor  Walker,  who  was  con- 
ceded to  be  its  author,  subsequently  urged 
that  the  Federal  Government  should  as- 
sume the  debts  of  the  Southern  States. 

Mr.  President,  I  might  pause  to  inquire 
if  that  is  a  part  of  the  doctrine  of  my  col- 


league and  the  Senators  who  cotoperate 
with  him,  when  they  stand  here  to  repre- 
sent the  party  for  which  Governor  Walker 
then  spoke,  the  pretended  debt-payers  of 
Virginia?  It  was  this  repeal  bill  which 
the  Virginia  court  of  appeals  held  to  be 
unconstitutional,  and  here  the  matter  rest- 
ed until  the  State  had  accumulated  interest 
arrears  to  over  five  million  dollars,  beside 
diverting  one  and  a  half  million  dollars 
which  was  dedicated  by  the  constitution 
to  the  public  free  schools. 

In  1877  what  is  known  as  the  Barbour 
bill  was  proposed  and  passed,  not  a  few  of 
the  latter-day  self-styled  debt-payers  being 
among  its  most  zealous  supporters.  Al- 
though this  did  not  repeal  in  terms  the 
original  fiinding  bill,  it  was  nevertheless 
vetoed  by  the  governor. 

Such  was  our  condition  ar  the  succeed- 
ing election — schools  reduced  50  per  cent., 
length  of  sessions  abridged,  asylums  sus- 
tained by  money  borrowed  from  the  banks 
— after  exhausting  every  possible  expedient 
even  to  a  reduction  of  judicial  salaries, 
that  a  Legislature  was  returned  pledged  to 
a  resettlement  of  this  debt. 

That  settlement  came  in  the  form  of  the 
brokers'  bill,  for  which  my  colleague  stands 
at  home  and  here  the  champion,  aided  and 
abetted  by  distinguished  gentlemen  on  this 
floor.  I  commend  the  virtuous  democracy 
of  this  Chamber  to  read  that  bill,  and 
then  tell  this  Senate  whether  there  ever 
was  a  more  undemocratic  measure  than 
the  bill  propounded  in  Virginia  by  the 
party  whose  cause  they  espouse. 

That  settlement  came  in  the  form  of  the 
broker's  bill,  as  I  have  &aid,  and  this  was 
the  last  repeal  of  the  original  contract. 
Yet  my  colleague  would  say  the  readjusters 
of  to-day  disregard  the  court  decisions. 
Surely  he  has  not  forgotten  that  he  was 
upon  the  hustings  in  Virginia  advocating 
each  of  the  successive  measures  repealing 
the  "  irrepealable  "  contract,  while  in  every 
instance  the  readjusters  proper  opposed  the 
new  measure. 

But  here  again  I  am  called  upon  to  an- 
swer the  charge  of  personal  inconsistefticy.  , 
My  colleague  cannot  ascertain  that  I  op- 
posed the  funding  scheme  of  1871 — a  mea- 
sure which,  I  assert  without  the  fear  of 
contradiction,  not  only  repudiated  but 
forcibly  repudiated  what  my  colleague  un- 
derstands to  be  one-third  of  the  debt  of 
Virginia.  I  suggest  to  my  fellow-Senatorj 
on  the  opposite  side  to  take  care  of  that 
contamination  '^f  which  they  have  warned 
the  country  in  icspect  to  the  readjusters  of 
Virginia. 

My  colleague  adverted  to  the  Richmond 
Whig,  and  proclaimed  it  as  my  mouth- 
piece. Mr.  President,  nobody  speaks  for 
me ;  I  speak  for  myself.  Why  not  have 
ascertained  from  the  same  source  how  I 
stood  on  the  funding  bill  of  1871  ?    Sena- 


220 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


tore  will  not  find  that  I  ever  supported  the 
measure  of  1871. 

Passing  over  what  appears  in  my  col- 
league's speech  as  extracts  from  newspa- 
pers, to  whose  misstatements  he  has  con- 
tributed a  full  share,  I  come  now  to  notice 
his  animadversions  on  the  Riddleberger 
bill.  If  his  criticisms  were  based  on  fact 
and  a  proper  understanding  of  that  mea- 
sure, thev  would  be  unanswerable.  He 
says  that  the  '  Riddleberger  bill '  has  been 
substantially  pronounced  unconstitutional 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States."  I  ask  him  in  what  particular? 
Is  it  in  this — that  it  does  not  recognize  the 
interest  that  accrued  during  the  war  ?  If 
80,  will  my  learned  colleague  inform  me 
upon  what  principle  of  right  he  last  sum- 
mer sustained  a  measure  which  repudiated 
one-half  of  the  interest  that  has  accrued 
since  the  complete  restoration  of  our  State? 
Does  he  not  know  that  that  measure  of 
forcible  readjustment  absolutely  repudiated 
one-half  of  the  accrued  and  unfunded  in- 
terest, while  the  Riddleberger  bill  provides 
for  paying  it  dollar  for  dollar?  The  differ- 
ence is  simply  this:  that  since  1871  we 
have  denied  the  right  of  the  creditor  to 
exact  war  interest  and  proposed  to  pay 
him  all  else  in  full.  Our  adversaries  would 
and  did  fund  that  war  interest  and  pro- 
posed to  repudiate  one-half  of  that  which 
we  are  in  honor  and  in  law  bound  to  pay. 

Is  it  unconstitutional  in  that  it  pays 
but  3  per  cent.  ?  The  only  measure  ever 
passed  by  the  Virginia  Assembly  to  pay 
as  much  as  4  per  cent,  and  the  only  one 
under  which  one-third  of  our  creditors 
have  received  a  penny  of  interest,  was  in- 
troduced and  patronized  by  Mr.  Riddle- 
berger. The  first  time  that  our  Legislature 
ever  voiced  3  per  cent,  was  when  they 
passed  the  brokers'  job,  the  pet  scheme  of 
my  colleague,  so  ably  re-enforced  in  his 
advocacy  of   it  on  this  floor  by  distin- 

Eiished  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  the 
egislature  then  themselves  admitting  and 
declaring  in  the  preamble  of  their  bill  that 
this  is  all  the  State  can  pay  for  ten  years 
"  without  destroying  its  industries ;"  and 
last  winter  every  legislator  of  their  party 
voted  to  run  the  3  per  cent,  for  the  whole 
time. 

Is  it  unconstitutional  in  that  it  does  not 
exempt  the  bonds  from  taxation  foreoer, 
as  the  brokers'  bill  attempted  to  do,  a 
feature  peculiar  to  that  measure  for  pay- 
ing the  debt  of  Virginia  which  my  col- 
league advocates  here  ?  If  so,  I  would  re- 
spectfully refer  my  colleague  to  his  State 
constitution,  which  says  that  all  property 
shall  be  taxed  equally  and  uniformly  ;  that 
no  one  species  of  property  shall  be  taxed 
higher  than  another,  and  that  only  such 
property  as  is  used  for  religious,  educa- 
tional, and  charitable  purposes  may  be 
•xempt  from  taxation.    My  learned  col- 


league, who  80  unkindly  characterized  the 
patron  of  that  bill  as  a  county  court  law- 
yer, cites  only  Hartman  vs.  Greenhow  as 
the  case  which  holds  this  bill  unconstitu- 
tional. That  case  decided  no  principle 
that  this  bill  infringes.  The  Riddleberger 
bill  imposes  no  tax  upon  bonds  held  either 
in  or  out  of  the  State.  It  simply  does  not 
exempt  any.  By  what  authority,  I  would 
ask  my  colleague,  can  such  a  tax  be  made 
and  collected?    He  must  answer  to  the 

Earty  which  he  undertakes  to  represent 
ere  for  doing  an  unconstitutional  act :  to 
tax  bonds  of  the  State  of  Virginia  held  by 
a  non-resident.  The  Riddleberger  bill 
does  not  tax  them.  Whenever  the  General 
Assembly,  carrying  out  the  Riddleberger 
bill,  shall  endeavor  to  tax  bonds  held  out 
of  the  State,  it  will  be  time  for  the  Senator 
to  renew  the  test  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  and  cite  the  precedent 
of  Hartman  vs.  Greenhow. 

Is  it  the  much-discussed  fourteenth  sec- 
tion which  is  unconstitutional?  If  so  I 
would  remind  my  legal  colleague  that  it  is 
a  verbatim  copy  of  a  statute  passed  by  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  adjudicated  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and 
not  only  held  by  that  high  tribunal  to  be 
constitutional  but  proper  legislation  for 
the  protection  and  maintenance  of  gov- 
ernment. Is  it  unconstitutional  in  what 
is  called  its  force  feature  ?  If  so  it  has 
precedent  in  the  bill  of '71,  which  forbade 
the  payment  of  any  interest  to  a  creditor 
who  did  not  accept  a  reduction  of  one- 
third.  It  has  precedent  in  the  brokers' 
bill,  which  provided  tax  certificates  to 
compete  at  a  reduced  price  with  the  re- 
ceivable coupon,  and  both  of  these  mea- 
sures found  a  hustings  advocate  in  my 
colleague. 

But  he  would  imply  that  our  debt  was 
ascertained  at  a  certain  sum  in  pursuance 
of  the  State  Constitution,  whien  he  says 
was  $29,667,304.76. 

Mr.  President,  if  there  is  any  man  in  the 
party  which  my  colleague  represents  who 
agrees  with  another  member  of  that  party 
in  Virginia  as  to  what  the  debt  of  that 
State  is,  we  have  yet  to  find  the  concur- 
rence ;  it  is  with  one  leader  this  figure, 
with  another  leader  another  figure  ;  by  one 
report  of  their  officers  one  sum,  and  then 
by  another  report  of  other  officers  a  differ- 
ent sura.  Grant  that  sum  to  be  the  true 
one;  but  let  the  Senator  state  that  our 
constitution  recognized  no  specific  sum. 
It  says  there  shall  first  be  a  settlement 
with  West  Virginia,  which  has  not  yet 
been  had,  and  commands  payment  of  what 
Virginia  shall  owe.  That  is  the  language, 
that  is  the  instruction  of  the  constitution 
of  Virginia ;  that,  after  a  settlement  with 
West  Virginia,  covering  one-third  of  old 
Virginia's  territory,  shall  have  been 
arrived  at  by  an  adjustment  of  their  rela- 


BOOK   III.J 


MAHONE'S    REPLY    TO    HILL, 


221 


tive  proportions  of  the  public  debt,  Vir- 
ginia will  provide  for  her  share.  Now  I 
would  like  the  Senators  from  West  Vir- 
ginia in  this  cry  against  readjusters  as  re- 
pudiators  to  tell  the  country  what  answer 
they  have  made  to  their  obligation  for 
one-third  of  the  debt  contracted  by  the  old 
Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  Will  they 
tell  the  country  where  they  have  ever 
made  a  proposition  to  pay  one  stiver  of 
their  share  of  the  public  debt  of  that  State 
to  maintain  the  honor  and  the  dignity  of 
their  own  Commonwealth  ?    Let  them  an- 


It  was  the  party  of  my  colleague,  that  re- 
pudiated the  settlement  of  1871  by  the  pas- 
gage  of  the  brokers'  bill  in  1879,  and  in 
turn  attempted  to  repudiate  the  latter  by 
unanimously  indorsing  what  is  known  as 
the  "  Ross  Hamilton  oill."  I  suppose  it 
would  not  suit  my  colleague  to  tell  this 
audience  who  Ross  Hamilton  is.  Yet,  I 
beg  Senators  to  take  notice  that  the  party 
of  my  colleague,  after  a  winter  spent  in  the 
vain  effort  to  find  a  leader  capable  of  de- 
vising means  to  overthrow  the  popular  will, 
discovered  such,  as  they  supposed,  in  the 
person  of  Ross  Hamilton,  a  colored  repub- 
lican member  of  the  Legislature  from  the 
county  of  Mecklenburg,  and  blindly  fol- 
lowed him  to  defeat.  Hamilton's  bill, 
which  was  thus  unanimously  supported  by 
my  colleague's  party,  not  only  in  effect  re- 
pealed their  pet  scheme,  the  brokers'  bill, 
but  all  other  acts  in  respect  to  the  public 
debt  of  Virginia. 

I  come  now  to  perform  a  duty — ^the  most 
unpleasant  in  one  sense  and  the  most  agree- 
able in  another.  It  is  to  repel  the  charge 
flippantly,  I  hope  inconsiderately,  made  on 
this  floor  that  we  are  repudiators  and  our 
proposed  measure  dishonorable.  To  the 
first  I  reply  that  my  colleague's  party  in 
eight  years  of  administration  of  our  State 
affairs  paid  2  per  cent,  installments  of  in- 
terest on  ten  millions  of  our  public  debt 
just  six  times,  or  12  per  cent,  in  all ;  6 
times  8  would  be  48  per  cent.  Instead  of 
that  they  paid  12  per  cent-,  and  that  is 
debt-paying  I 

Let  this  suffice.  But  when  Senators  ap- 
ply the  word  dishonorable,  they  do  not 
Know  either  whom  or  what  they  character- 
ize. Two  things  they  have  endeavored  to 
demonstrate,  and  one  is  that  I  received  a 
majority  of  the  white  conservative  vote  of 
both  branches  of  the  Virginia  General  As- 
sembly. Proudly  do  I  proclaim  the  truth 
of  this.  Every  one  of  those  who  voted  for 
me  to  come  to  this  Chamber  gave  an  un- 
qualified vote  for  the  Riddleberger  bill. 
Are  they  dishonorable  men?  Scornfully 
do  I  repel  the  charge  that  any  one  of  them 
is  capable  of  dishonorable  action. 

Were  it  true,  what  a  sad  commentary  it 
would  be  upon  those  honorable  gentlemen 
whom  it  is  said  I  am  not  representing 


here.  Mr.  President,  my  colleague  comes 
from  what  we  call  in  Virginia  the  great 
Southwest,  a  noble  and  prosperous  section 
of  Virginia.  Fifteen  white  Conservative 
counties  compose  his  congressional  dis- 
trict, and  though  the  ablest  of  the  orators 
of  my  colleague's  party  canvassed  it 
thoroughly  against  me  and  the  views  set 
forth  in  this  measure,  but  two  delegates 
and  no  senator  of  the  gentleman's  party 
came  to  the  Legislature.  To  a  man  they 
supported  the  Riddleberger  bill.  Every 
senator  and  every  delegate  from  my  col- 
league's own  congressional  district,  save 
ana  except  two  delegates,  supported  me  for 
the  Senate  and  the  Riddleberger  bill  as  a 
measure  for  debt-paying.  He  would  do 
well  to  spend  a  little  more  time  with  his 
constituents ! 

Whatever  our  differences  on  this  ques- 
tion, it  seems  to  me  those  people  should 
have  had  a  defender  in  him  against  such 
foul  and  slanderous  accusations  as  have 
been  made — that  they  are  dishonorable 
men.  O  Shame!  where  is  thy  blush? 
Dishonorable  in  Virginia  to  beg  the  privi- 
lege of  paying  every  dollar  she  borrowed 
— that  is,  her  rightful  share,  instead  of  not 
only  paying  that  but  also  the  share  of 
West  Virginia — dishonorable  to  pay  every 
dollar  she  borrowed,  only  abating  the  war 
interest !  Dishonorable,  too,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  gentlemen  who  represent  States  on 
this  floor  and  municipalities  which  have 
by  arbitrary  legislation  reduced  their  in- 
debtedness from  $243,000,000  down  to 
$84,000,000 !  Dishonorable  in  Virginia  not 
only  to  assume  her  full  share  of  her  public 
obligations,  as  measured  by  her  territory 
in  this  division  of  it,  but  offering  to  tax 
her  people  to  an  extent  threatening  the 
destruction  of  her  industrial  interests !  Is 
that  dishonorable  in  that  people?  If  so, 
what  have  you  to  say  of  this  tier  of  South- 
ern States  whose  public  indebtedness, 
whose  plighted  faith,  whose  sacred  obliga- 
tions— as  sacred  as  are  those  of  my  State 
of  Virginia — have  been  reduced  from 
$243,000,000  by  one  or  another  method  of 
repudiation,  upon  one  or  another  excuse, 
down  to  $84,000,000,  with  a  reduced  in- 
terest rate  upon  the  curtailed  principal, 
and  only  proposing  to  pay  interest  in  some 
cases  at  2  per  cent,  ana  in  others  3  and  in 
others  4  on  the  reduced  principal?  Is  it 
dishonorable  in  Virginia  to  assume  $20,- 
000,000  of  the  debt  of  the  old  State  and 
then  to  tax  her  industries  within  the  verge 
of  endurance  to  pay  on  that  sum  the  high- 
est rate  of  interest  ?  Let  Senators  who  as- 
sail unjustly  the  conduct  of  Virjginia  in 
this  respect  put  their  own  houses  in  order. 
I  want,  Mr.  President,  the  Secretary  to 
read  from  the  International  Review  the 
mea.su res  of  readjustment  in  the  Southern 
States  that  Senators  mav  know  how  fashion- 
able readjustment  has  been  in  that  sectiou 


222 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III 


of  this  great  country  on  which  northern 
democrats  rely  in  a  presidential  election. 
The  Chief  Clerk  read  as  follows : 


a  s).s  $.='3 


00  SC  t-  OS  ^ 


S'^S 


SX  00        -3* 

t-  t^  .—        CO 

-f  ^  t^        C) 


^  iO  m  irT -^ -^co" 05^ <r ■N  cc  ic" o* 


*  '>4  ^         f-*         r^ 


;cSCX3i  —  »'iC^»-'2C00c£aJ 
;  ?5.5.  t^i-^»0  CR  (N^'»*_I^O<  X  X^ 
;  t-  Ci  -T  -"iO— '«  C'lC  QO  »-I  CO" 
.  -^  (N  C^  C^        CO        ^        .-I -^ 


CM^CCOJ  — rtCC^OCX 

•  c'cT'C  -^  ao  cc  i^' '^ cc  c>  c^ ^ 

CffiCX-^Xt-O^OifpCOC: 

I  t-^c^t^ts  f^coi-i*o      cc  od'co' 


:  (N  5  o o  o o     »     ^5c^ 


It't-'^O        Q  r- Ol  O*  Q  t- -N 

i  m      nci      oot-^iHtfTi-Tcoio" 


:t-     ■*  oc  c  o  o 


"  :  5~ 


>•--"-'  a  rf  C  or,   C8 

—  5  '^  *:s 


^ 


aft 


Mr.  Mahone.  There  is  no  mere  read- 
justment there ;  I  will  not  say  it  is  repudia- 
tion. "  Eepudiation  "  is  honorable,  per- 
haps; "readjustment"  dishonorable. 

Oh,  Virginia  1  It  was  for  this  you  bared 
your  bosom  to  soldier's  tread  and  horse's 
hoof.  It  was  for  this  you  laid  waste  your 
fields.  It  was  for  this  you  displayed  your 
noble  virtues  of  fortitude  and  courage, 
your  heroic  suffering  and  sacrifice.  It  was 
for  this  you  suffered  the  dismemberment 
of  your  territory  and  sent  your  sons  to  the 
field  to  return  to  the  ruins  where  were 
once  their  homes.  It  was  for  this  you  so 
reluctantly  abandoned  your  allegiance  to 
a  common  country  to  be  the  last  to  make 
war  and  the  last  to  surrender.  O  Ingrati- 
tude, thou  basest  and  meanest  of  crimes ! 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  at  the  time  of 
my  election  who  constituted  my  oppo- 
nents? Already,  as  you  have  been  advised, 
another  representing  distinctly  the  Bour- 
bon democracy  of  Virginia  and  the  so- 


called  democracy  of  this  Chamber,  another 
representing  distinctly  the  republican 
party  of  Virginia — these  were  the  candi- 
dates before  flie  Legislature  which  elected 
me  to  this  body.  1  received  not  only  a 
majority  of  the  so-called  democratic  read- 
justers  but  of  the  so-called  republican  re- 
adjusters.  And  now  what  were  the  efforts/ 
known  there  if  not  here  to  gentlemen,  to 
defeat  me?  Were  not  combinations  sought 
to  be  made?  It  is  known  of  all  men  there 
at  the  capital  of  my  State,  if  not  here,  that 
every  influence  from  whatsoever  quarter  it 
could  be  adduced,  whether  democratic  or 
republican,  was  brought  together  at  Rich- 
mond for  the  purpose  by  combination  of 
defeating  my  election,  of  defeating  the 
sovereign  will  of  the  people  of  that  Corn- 
wealth  as  expressed  on  the  4th  of  No- 
vember, 1879. 

There  was  a  democracy  which  sought  to 
secure  the  election  of  an  orthodox,  simon- 
pure,  unadulterated  republican,  but  of  that 
kind  called  Bourbons  in  Virginia — a  de- 
mocracy which  was  not  only  willing  but 
ready  and  anxious  to  send  here  in  the 
place  I  have  the  honor  to  hold  a  republi- 
can whom  they  would  otherwise  profess  to 
despise.  What  for?  For  the  considera- 
tion well  known  there,  that  they  might 
elect  certain  county  judges  and  control  the 
State  ofiices,  and  by  that  means  prevent 
the  disclosures  which  have  subsequently 
followed  since  the  readjusters  have  gotten 
possession  of  the  capitol.  That  democracy 
which  like  Caesar's  wife  would  stand 
"  above  suspicion,"  were  ready  to  trade  a 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  so  that  a 
few  county  judges  might  be  preserved,  that 
the  oflSces  in  the  capitol  at  Richmond 
might  be  retained  in  their  control ;  I  say 
in  order,  perhaps,  that  the  disclosures 
which  have  followed  the  advent  of  the 
party  I  represent  might  have  been  longer 
concealed ;  moreover  that  control  of  the 
ballot-box  in  the  State  might  continue 
where  it  had  been ;  so  certainly  I  believe ; 
and  all  this  by  those  who  professed  to  rep- 
resent the  party  which  had  declared  in  na- 
tional convention  for  a  full  vote,  a  free 
ballot,  and  an  honest  count. 

Such  were  the  considerations,  such  I  say 
were  the  inducements  which  prompted 
that  democracy  to  its  efforts  to  send  to  this 
Chamber  a  republican  beyond  question 
since  these  many  long  and  weary  years. 
If  that  is  the  democracy  that  the  gentlemen 
on  that  side  love,  I  proclaim  my  inability 
to  co-operate  with  them. 

I  supported  neither  of  the  candidates  for 
Congress  in  my  district,  and  emphatically 
declared  that  purpose  on  more  than  one 

Sublic  occasion,  because  one  was  a  can- 
idate  of  that  party,  the  Bourbon  reaction- 
ists, and  the  other  a  Bourbon  republican 
with  accommodating  views  on  the  debt 
i  question. 


BOOK  HI.] 


MORRILL    ON   A   TARIFF    COMMISSION. 


223 


To  obey  the  behests  of  the  democratic 
caucus  of  this  body,  whose  leadership  on 
this  floor,  whose  representative  national 
authority — the  one  here  and  the  other 
elsewhere — have  championed  the  cause  of 
the  Bourbon-funder  party  in  Virginia, 
would  be  an  obsequious  surrender  of  our 
State  policy  and  self-condemnation  of  our 
independent  action. 

The  desire  of  our  people  for  cordial  re- 
lations with  all  sections  of  a  common  coun- 
try and  the  people  of  all  the  States  of  the 
Union,  their  devotion  to  popular  educa- 
tion, their  efforts  for  the  free  enjoyment  of 
a  priceless  suffrage  and  an  honest  count  of 
ballots,  their  determination  to  make  Vir- 
ginia, in  the  public  belief,  a  desirable  home 
for  all  men,  wherever  their  birthplace, 
whatever  their  opinions,  and  to  open  her 
fields  and  her  mines  to  enterprise  and  capi- 
tal, and  to  stay  the  retrograde  movement  of 
years,  so  as  to  bring  her  back  from  the  fif- 
teenth in  grade  to  her  original  position 
among  the  first  in  the  sisterhood  of  States, 
forbid  that  my  action  here  should  be  con- 
trolled or  influenced  by  a  caucus  whose 
party  has  waged  war  upon  my  constituency 
and  where  party  success  is  held  paramount 
to  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  interests  of  Vir- 
ginia and  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country. 

The  readjusters  of  Virginia  have  no 
feeling  of  hostility,  no  words  of  unkind- 
nesa  for  the  colored  man.  His  freedom 
has  come,  and  whether  by  purpose  or  by 
accident,  thank  God,  that  among  other  is- 
sues which  so  long  distracted  our  country 
and  restrained  its  growth,  was  concluded, 
and  I  trust  forever,  by  the  results  of  the 
sanguinary  struggle  between  the  sections. 

I  have  faith,  and  it  is  my  earnest  hope, 
that  the  march  of  an  enlightened  civiliza- 
tion and  the  progress  of  human  freedom 
will  proceed  until  God's  great  family  shall 
everywhere  enjoy  the  products  of  their  own 
labor  and  the  blessings  of  civil,  political, 
and  religious  liberty. 

The  colored  man  was  loyal  to  Virginia 
in  all  the  days  of  conflict  and  devastation 
which  came  of  the  heroic  struggle  in  the 
war  of  sections  that  made  her  fields  his- 
toric. By  no  act  of  his  was  either  the 
clash  of  arms  provoked  or  freedom  secured. 
He  did  not  solve  his  duty  by  considera- 
tionr  of  self-interest. 


Speecli  of  Hon.  Jnstln  S.  Morrill,  ot  Ver- 
uont, 

(Author  of  the  Tariff  B»H  of  1861),  delivered  in  the  Benale  of 

the  United  Statet,  December  8, 1881,  on  the  BiU  to 

Appoint  a  Tariff  Oommitnon, 

The  Senate,  being  as  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  and  having  under  consideration  the 
bill  (S.  No.  22)  to  provide  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission  to  investigate  the 


question  of  the  tariff  and  internal  revenu« 
laws — 

Mr.  Morrill  said :  I  have  brought  this 
subject  to  the  early  attention  of  the  Senate 
because,  if  early  legislative  action  on  the 
tariff  is  to  be  had,  obviously  the  measure 
proposed  by  Senator  Eaton  and  passed  at 
the  last  session  of  the  Senate  is  a  wise  and 
indispensable  preliminary,  which  cannot 
be  started  too  soon.  The  essential  infor- 
mation needed  concerns  important  inte- 
rests, vast  in  number  and  overspreading 
every  nook  and  corner  of  our  country ;  and 
when  made  available  by  the  ingathering 
and  collocation  of  all  the  related  facts,  will 
secure  the  earliest  attention  of  Congress,  as 
well  as  the  trust  and  confidence  of  the 
country,  and  save  the  appropriate  commit- 
tees of  both  Houses  weeks  and  months  of 
irksome  labor — possibly  save  them  also 
from  some  blunders  and  from  final  defeat. 

An  enlargement  of  the  free  list,  essential 
reductions  and  readjustments  of  rates,  are 
to  be  fully  considered,  and  some  errors  of 
conflicting  codifications  corrected. 

If  a  general  revision  of  the  Bible  seems 
to  have  been  called  for,  it  is  hardly  to  be 
wondered  at  that  some  revision  of  our  re- 
venue laws  should  be  invited.  But  changes 
in  the  frame-work  of  a  law  that  has  had 
more  of  stability  than  any  other  of  its  kind 
in  our  history,  and  from  which  an  unex- 
ampled growth  of  varied  industries  has 
risen  up,  should  be  made  with  much  cir- 
cumspection, after  deliberate  consideration, 
by  just  and  friendly  hands,  and  not  by  ill- 
informed  and  reckless  revolutionists.  "When 
our  recent  great  army  was  disbanded,  war 
taxes  were  also  largely  dismissed,  and  we 
have  now,  and  certainly  shall  have  here- 
after, no  unlimited  margin  for  slashing  ex- 
periments. 

THE  TARIFF  OF  1861. 

The  tariff  act  of  1861,  which,  by  a  nick- 
name given  by  bafiied  opponents  as  an 
echo  to  a  name  so  humble  as  m^  own,  it 
was  perhaps  hoped  to  render  odious,  was 
yet  approved  by  a  democratic  President 
and  gave  to  Mr.  Buchanan  a  much-needed 
opportunity  to  perform  at  last  one  oflicial 
act  approved  by  the  people. 

If  I  refer  to  this  measure,  it  will  not  be 
egotistically  nor  to  shirk  responsibility,  but 
only  in  defense  of  those  who  aided  its  pas- 
sage— such  as  the  never-to-be-forgotten 
Henry  Winter  Davis,  Thad.  Stevens,  and, 
William  A.  Howard,  and,  let  me  add,  the 
names  of  Fessenden  and  Crittenden — and, 
without  the  parliamentary  skill  of  one 
(Mr.  Sherman)  now  a  member  of  this 
body,  its  success  would  not  have  been 
made  certain. 

And  yet  this  so-called  "  Morrill  tariff," 
hooted  at  as  a  "Chinese  wall "  that  was  to 
shut  out  both  commerce  and  revenue,  not- 
withstanding   amendments   subsequently 


224 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


piled  and  patched  upon  it  at  every  fresh 
demand  during  the  war,  but  retaining  ita 
vertebrae  and  all  of  its  specific  characteris- 
tics, has  been  as  a  financial  measure  an 
unprecedented  success  in  spite  of  its  sup- 
posed patronymical  incumbrance.  Trans- 
forming ad  valorem  duties  into  specific, 
then  averaging  but  25  per  cent,  upon  the 
invoice  values,  imposing  much  higher  rates 
upon  luxuries  than  upon  necessaries,  and 
introducing  compound  duties  *  upon  wool- 
ens, justly  compensatory  for  the  duties  on 
wool,  it  has  secured  all  the  revenue  antici- 
pated, or  $198,159,676  in  1881  against  $53,- 
187,511  in  1860,  and  our  total  trade,  exports 
and  imports,  in  1860,  of  $687,192,176,  ap- 
pears to  have  expanded  in  1880  to  $1,613,- 
770,633,  with  a  grand  excess  of  exports  in 
our  favor  of  $167,683,912,  and  an  excess  in 
1881  of  $259,726,254,  while  it  was  $20,040,- 
062  against  us  in  1860.  A  great  reduction 
of  the  public  debt  has  followed,  and  the 
interest  charged  has  fallen  from  $143,781,- 
691  in  1867  to  about  $60,500,000  at  the 
present  time. 

If  such  a  result  is  not  a  practical  demon- 
stration of  healthy  intrinsic  merits,  when 
both  revenue  and  commerce  increase  in  a 
much  greater  ratio  than  population,  what 
is  it?  Our  imports  in  the  past  two  years 
have  been  further  brilliantly  embellished 
by  $167,060,041  of  gold  and  silver  coin  and 
bullion,  while  retaining  in  addition  all  of 
our  own  immense  domestic  productions ; 
and  it  was  this  only  which  enabled  us  to 
resume  and  to  maintain  specie  payments. 
Let  the  contrast  of  1860  be  also  borne  in 
mind,  when  the  excess  of  our  exports  of 
gold  and  silver  was  $57,996,004. 

As  a  protective  measure  this  tariff,  with 
all  its  increasing  amendments,  has  proven 
more  satisfactory  to  the  people  and  to  va- 
rious industries  of  the  country  than  any 
other  on  record.  The  jury  of  the  country 
has  so  recorded  its  verdict.  Agriculture 
has  made  immense  strides  forward.  The 
recent  exports  of  food  products,  though 
never  larger,  is  not  equal  by  twenty-fold  to 
home  consumption,  and  prices  are  every 
where    more    remunerative,    agricultural 

f)roduct8  being  higher  and  manufactures 
ower.  Of  wheat,  corn,  and  oats  there  was 
produced  1,184,540,849  bushels  in  1860,  but 
in  1880  the  crop  had  swelled  to  2,622,200,- 
039  bushels,  or  had  much  more  than  dou- 
bled. Since  1860  lands  in  many  of  the 
Western  States  have  risen  from  100  to  175 
per  cent.  The  production  of  rice,  during 
the  same  time,  rose  from  11,000,000  pounds 
to  117,000,000.  The  fires  of  the  tall  chim- 
neys have  every  where  been  lighted  up ; 
and  while  we  made  only  987,559*  tons  of 
pig  iron  in  1860,  in  1880  we  made  4,295,- 
414  tons ;  and  of  railroad  iron  the  increase 

*  The  dominion  of  C&nada  has  since  imposed  compound 
datiw  upon  a  large  number  of  article*. 


was  from  235,107  tons  to  1,461,837  tons. 
In  twenty  years  the  production  of  salt  rose 
from  12,717,200  bushels  to  29,800,298  bush- 
els. No  previous  crop  of  cotton  equalled 
the  4,861,000  bales  of  1860;  but  the  crop 
of  1880  was  larger,  and  that  of  1881  is  re- 
ported at  6,606,000  bales.  The  yield  of 
cotton  from  1865  to  1881  shows  an  increase 
over  the  fifteen  years  from  1845  to  1861  of 
14,029,000  bales,  or  almost  an  average  gain 
of  a  million  bales  a  year. 

The  giant  water-wheels  have  revolved 
more  brisklv,  showing  the  manufacture  of 
1,797,000  bales  of  cotton  in  1880  against 
only  979,000  bales  in  1860,  and  this  brought 
up  the  price  of  raw  cotton  to  higher  figures 
than  in  1860.  Thirteen  States  and  one 
Territory  produced  cotton,  but  its  manu- 
facture spreads  over  thirty  States  and  one 
Territory.  The  census  of  cotton  manufac- 
ture shows : 


Capitftl  invested 

Number  of  operativea 

Wages  paid 

Value  of  productions 


1860. 


$98,5?5,269 

122,028 

$23,940,108 

115,681,774 


1880. 


$207,781,868 

175,187 

$41,9^1,106 

192,773,960 


It  will  be  found  that  a  larger  amount  of 
capital  has  been  invested  in  cotton  mills 
than  in  woolen,  and  that  the  increase  of 
productions  has  been  large  and  healthy,  a 
very  handsome  proportion  of  which  is  to 
be  credited  to  Southern  States.  Goods  of 
many  descriptions  have  also  been  cheap- 
ened in  price..  Standard  prints  or  calicoes 
which  sold  in  1860  for  nine  and  one-half 
cents  per  yard  now  sell  for  six  and  one- 
half  cents. 

The  census  returns  of  woolen  manufac- 
tures show  the  following  astonishing  re- 
sults : 


Males  employed 

Females  employed 

Capital  invested 

Wages  paid....- 

Value  raw  mater'l  consum'd 
Value  of  aunual  product — 

Importations  of  woolens 

Ann'al  product'n  of  wooL.Ibs 


Census  of 

Census  of 

1880. 

1860. 

74,367 

24,841 

66,261 

16,519 

H66,454,105 

$30,862,654 

47,116,614 

9,80«,264 

162,609,436 

36,68r.,887 

266,684,796 

61.895,217 

33,61 3,S97 

37,876,945 

264,600,000 

60,511,343 

It  thus  appears,  that  while  the  number 
of  hands  employed  is  three  times  and  a  half 
larger  than  in  1860,  the  wages  paid  is  about 
five  times  larger  and  the  capital  is  five 
times  greater.  The  annual  productions 
have  been  more  than  quadrupled,  and  the 
aggregate  importations  have  fallen  off  four 
millions.  With  these  results  in  our  front, 
protection  on  wool  and  woolens  will  be 
likely  to  withstand  the  hand-grenades  of 
all  free-trade  besiegers. 


BOOK  in.] 


MORRILL    ON    A   TARIFF    COMMISSION. 


225 


In  New  England  and  some  other  States 
sheep  husbandry  has  fallen  off,  and  in 
some  places  it  has  been  replaced  by  the 
dairy  ousiness;  but  in  other  States  the 
wool-clip  has  largely  increased,  especially 
has  the  weight  of  the  fleece  increased. 
The  number  of  sheep  has  increased  about 
80  per  cent,  and  the  weight  of  wool  over 
400  per  cent.  The  discovery  that  the  fine 
long  merino  wools,  known  as  the  Ameri- 
can merino,  are  in  fact  the  best  of  combing 
wools  and  now  used  in  many  styles  of  dress 
goods  has  added  greatly  to  their  demand 
and  value.  Many  kinds  of  woolen  goods 
can  be  had  at  a  less  price  than  twenty 
years  ago.  Cashmerets  that  then  brought 
forty-six  cents  per  yard  brought  only  thirty- 
eight  and  one-fourth  cents  in  1880,  and 
muslin  de  laines  dropped  from  twenty  cents 
to  fifteen,  showing  that  the  tariff  did  not 
make  them  dearer,  but  that  American  com- 
petition caused  a  reduction  of  prices. 

The  length  of  our  railroads  has  been 
trebled,  rising  from  31,185  miles  in  1860  to 
94,000  miles  in  1881,  and  possibly  to  one- 
half  of  all  in  the  world.  For  commercial 
purposes  the  wide  area  of  our  country  has 
been  compressed  within  narrow  limits,  and 
transportation  in  time  and  expense,  from 
New  York  to  Kansas,  or  from  Chicago  to 
Baltimore,  is  now  less  formidable  than  it 
was  from  Albany  or  Pittsburgh  to  Phila- 
delphia prior  to  the  era  of  railroads.  The 
most  distant  States  reach  the  same  mar- 
kets, and  are  no  longer  neighbors-in-law, 
but  sister  States.  The  cost  of  eastern  or 
western  bound  freight  is  less  than  one- 
third  of  former  rates.  Working-men,  in- 
cluding every  ship-load  of  emigrants,  have 
found  acceptable  employment.  Our  ag- 
gregate wealth  in  1860  was  $19,089,156,289, 
but  is  estimated  to  have  advanced  in 
1880  to  over  forty  billions.  Further  ex- 
amination will  show  that  the  United  States 
are  steadily  increasing  in  wealth,  and  in- 
creasing, too,  much  more  rapidly  than 
free-trade  England,  notwithstanding  all 
her  early  advantages  of  practical  experi- 
ence and  her  supremacy  in  accumulated 
capital.  The  increase  of  wealth  in  France 
is  twice  as  rapid  as  in  England,  but  in  the 
United  States  it  is  more  rapid  than  even 
in  France. 

These  are  monumental  facts,  and  they 
can  no  more  be  blinked  out  of  sight  than 
the  AUeghanies  or  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
They  belong  to  our  country,  and  sufficiently 
illustrate  its  progress  and  vindicate  the 
tariff  of  1861.  If  the  facts  cannot  be  de- 
nied, the  argument  remains  irrefutable. 
If  royal  "cowboys"  who  attempted  to 
whistle  down  American  independence  one 
hundred  years  ago  ingloriously  failed,  so  it 
may  be  hoped  will  fail  royal  trumpeters  of 
free-trade  who  seem  to  take  sides  against 
the  United  States  in  all  commercial  con- 
tests for  industrial  independence. 
43 


Among  the  branches  of  manufactures 
absolutely  waked  into  life  by  the  tariff  of 
1861,  and  which  then  had  no  place  above 
zero,  may  be  named  crockery  and  china 
ware.  The  number  of  white-ware  factories 
is  now  fifty-three,  with  forty  decorating 
establishments ;  and  the  products,  amount- 
ing to  several  millions,  are  sold  at  prices 
25  to  50  per  cent,  below  the  prevailing 

E rices  of  twenty  years  ago.  Clay  and 
aolin  equal  to  the  best  in  China  have 
been  found  east,  west,  and  south  in  such 
abundance  as  to  promise  a  large  extension 
of  American  enterprise,  not  only  in  th«) 
ordinary  but  in  the  highest  branches  of 
ceramic  art.  Steel  may  also  here  claim  its 
birth.  No  more  of  all  sorts  than  11,838 
tons  were  made  in  1860,  but  1,397,015  tons 
were  made  in  1880.  Those  who  objected 
to  a  duty  on  steel  have  found  they  were 
biting  something  more  than  a  file.  Silks 
in  1860,  hardly  unwound  from  the  cocoon, 
were  creeping  along  with  only  a  small 
showing  of  sewing-silk  and  a  few  trim- 
mings, but  now  this  industry  rises  to  na- 
tional importance,  furnishing  apt  employ- 
ment to  many  thousand  women  as  well  as 
to  men ;  and  the  annual  products,  sharply 
competing  with  even  the  Bonnet  silks  of 
Lyons,  amount  to  the  round  sum  of  $34,- 
600,000.  Notwithstanding  the  exception- 
ally heavy  duties,  I  am  assured  that  silk 
goods  in  general  are  sold  for  25  per  cent, 
less  than  they  were  twenty  years  ago. 

Plate-glass  is  another  notable  manufac- 
ture, requiring  great  scientific  and  mecha- 
nical skill  and  large  capital,  whose  origin 
bears  date  since  the  tariff  of  1861.  It  is 
made  in  Missouri  and  in  Indiana,  and  to  a 
small  extent  in  Kentucky  and  Massachu- 
setts; but  in  Indiana  it  is  made  of  the 
purest  and  best  quality  by  an  establish- 
ment which,  after  surmounting  many 
perils,  has  now  few  equals  in  the  magni- 
tude or  perfection  of  its  productions, 
whether  on  this  or  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  and  richly  merits  not  only  the 
favor  but  the  patronage  of  the  Government 
itself.  Copper  is  another  industry  upon 
which  a  specific  duty  was  imposed  in  1861, 
which  has  had  a  rapid  growth,  and  now 
makes  a  large  contribution  to  our  mineral 
wealth.  The  amount  produced  in  1860 ' 
was  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  present  pro- 
duction, and  valued  at  $2,288,182 ;  while 
in  1880  the  production  rose  to  the  value  of 
$8,849,961.  The  capital  invested  increased 
from  $8,525,500  to  $31,  675,096.  In  1860 
the  United  States  Mint  paid  from  twenty- 
three  and  one-half  to  twenty-five  cents  per 
pound  for  copper ;  but  has  obtained  it  the 
present  year  under  a  protective  tariff" as  low 
as  seventeen  cents.  Like  our  mines  of  in- 
exhaustible coal  and  iron,  copper  is  found 
in  many  States,  some  of  it  superior  to  any  in 
the  world,  .and  for  special  uses  is  constantly 
sought  after  by  foreign  governments. 


226 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


Many  American  productions  sustain  the 
character  they  have  won  by  being  the  best 
in  the  world.  Our  carpenters  and  joiners 
could  not  be  hired  to  handle  any  other 
than  American  tools ;  and  there  are  no 
foreign  agricultural  implements,  from  a 
spade  to  a  reaper,  that  an  American  farmer 
would  accept  as  a  gift.  There  is  no  sad- 
dlery hardware  nor  house-furnishing,  equal 
in  Quality  and  style  to  American.  Watches 
ana  jewelry  and  the  electric  gold  and  silver 
plated  ware  of  American  workmanship  as 
to  quality  have  the  foremost  place  in  the 
marts  of  the  world.  The  superiority  of 
our^staple  cotton  goods  is  indisputable,  as 
is  proven  by  the  tribute  of  frequent  counter- 
feits displayed  abroad.  The  city  of  Phila- 
delphia alone  makes  many  better  carpets 
and  more  in  quantity  than  the  whole  of 
Great  Britain.  These  are  noble  achieve- 
ments, which  should  neither  be  obscured 
nor  lost  by  the  sinister  handling  and  in- 
dustrious vituperation  of  free-trade  mono- 
graphists. 

The  vast  array  of  important  and  useful 
inventions  recorded  in  our  Patent  Office, 
and  in  use  the  world  over,  shows  that  it  is 
hardly  arrogance  tor  us  to  accept  the  com- 
pliment of  Mr.  Cobden  and  claim  that  the 
natural  mechanical  genius  of  average 
Americans  will  soon  appear  as  much  su- 

Serior  to  that  of  Englishmen  as  was  that  of 
Inglishmen  one  hundred  years  ago  to  that 
of  the  Dutch. 

THE  TARIFF  SHIELDED  US  IN  1873. 

If  we  had  been  under  the  banner  of  free 
trade  in  1873,  when  the  wide-spread  finan- 
cial storm  struck  our  sails,  what  would 
have  been  our  fate  ?  Is  it  not  apparent 
that  our  people  wouM  have  been  stranded 
on  a  lee  shore,  and  tlrat  the  general  over- 
production and  excess  of  unsold  merchan- 
dise everywhere  abroad  would  have  come 
without  hindrance,  with  the  swiftness  of 
the  winds,  to  find  a  market  here  at  any 

Srice?  As  it  was  the  gloom  and  suffering 
ere  were  very  great,  but  American  work- 
ing-men found  some  shelter  in  their  home 
markets,  and  their  recovery  from  the  shock 
was  much  earlier  assured  than  that  of  those 
who  in  addition  to  their  own  calamities 
had  also  to  bear  the  pressure  of  the  hard 
times  of  other  nations. 

In  six  years,  ending  June  30,  1881,  our 
exports  of  merchandise  exceeded  imports 
by  over  $1,175,000,000— a  large  sum  in  it- 
self, largely  increasing  our  stock  of  gold, 
filling  the  pockets  of  the  people  with  more 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  not 
found  in  the  Treasury  or  banks,  making 
the  return  to  specie  payments  easy,  and 
arresting  the  painful  drain  of  interest  so 
long  paid  abroad.  It  is  also  a  very  con- 
clusive refutation  of  the  wild  free-trade 
chimeras  that  exports  are  dependent  upon 


imports,  and  that  comparatively  high  du- 
ties are  invariably  less  productive  of  reve- 
nue than  low  duties.  The  pertinent  ques- 
tion arises.  Shall  we  not  in  the  main  hold 
fast  to  the  blessings  we  have?  As  Ameri- 
cans we  must  reject  free  trade.  To  use  some 
words  of  Burke  upon  another  subject:  "  If 
it  be  a  panacea  we  do  not  want  it.  We 
know  the  consequences  of  unnecessary 
physic.  If  it  be  a  plague,  it  is  such  a 
plague  that  the  precautions  of  tlie  most 
severe  quarantine  ought  to  be  established 
against  it.'' 

FREE-TRADE  PROSPERITY  ON  THE  WANE. 

It  gives  me  no  pleasure  to  notice  retro- 
e  steps  in  the  prosperity  of  Great 
Britain  ;  and,  if  some  evidence  of  this  sort 
is  brought  out,  like  that  of  the  five  thou- 
sand houses  now  marked  "  To  let "  in  Shef- 
field and  ten  thousand  in  Birmingham,  it 
will  have  no  other  purpose  than  to  show 
that  free  trade  has  failed  to  secure  the  pro- 
mised supremacy  to  English  manufactures. 
The  avowal  of  Mr.  Gladstone  that  the  ad- 
ditional penny  to  the  income-tax  produces 
less  revenue  than  formerly  indicates  a 
positive  decrease  of  wealth ;  and  the  steady 
diminution  of  British  exports  since  1873, 
amounting  in  1880  to  one  hundred  and 
sixty  million  dollars,  with  a  diminution  in 
the  total  of  exports  and  imports  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars,  is  more 
conclusive  proof  as  well  of  British  de- 
cadence as  of  the  advancement  of  other 
nations. 

COMMERCIAL  PROTECTION. 

The  sum  of  our  annual  support  bestowed 
upon  the  Navy,  like  that  upon  the  Army, 
may  be  too  close-fisted  and  disproportion- 
ate'to  our  extended  ocean  boundaries,  and 
to  the  value  of  American  commerce  afloat; 
yet  whatever  has  been  granted  has  been 
designed  almost  exclusively  for  the  protec- 
tion of  our  foreign  commerce,  and  amounts 
in  the  aggregate  to  untold  millions.  Manu- 
facturers do  not  complain  that  this  is  a 
needless  and  excessive  favor  to  importers  ; 
and  why,  then,  should  importers  object  to 
some  protection  to  a  much  larger  amount 
of  capital,  and  to  far  greater  numbers  em- 
barked certainly  in  an  equally  laudable 
enterprise  at  home? 

THE-  FREE-TRADE    PROPAGANDISTS    OF 
ENGLAND. 

For  the  last  thirty-five  years  England 
has  been  making  extraordinary  efforts,  po- 
litical, industrial,  legislative,  diplomatic, 
social,  and  literary,  all  combined,  to  per- 
suade mankind  to  follow  her  example  of 
reversing  that  policy  of  protection,  supreme 
in  her  Augustan  age,  or  from  Queen  Anne 
down  throughout  the  Georgian  era,  and 
the  policy  maintained  by  Chatham,  bv  the 
younger  Pitt,  and  by  Canning  with  an 


BOOK  III.] 


MORRILL    ON    A    TARIFF    COMMISSION. 


227 


energy  that  created  and  sustained  the  most 
varied  and  extensive  workshops  of  the 
world.  Already  mistress  of  the  ocean  and 
abounding  in  wealth,  the  sea-girt  Island 
aspired  to  a  world-wide  monopoly  of  trade. 
Penetrated  with  this  later  free-trade  am- 
bition, and  not  infrequently  accused  of 
trying  to  make  all  England  tributary  to 
Manchester,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
tributary  to  England,  the  eloquent  Mr. 
Bright,  who  grandly  rejected  any  idea  of  a 
new  nation  in  America,  resorts  even  to  the 
infelicitous  language  of  passion  when  he 
denounces  his  opponents,  as  he  does,  by 
declaring  that  any  looking  toward  protec- 
tive legislation  anywhere  in  the  world  is 
proof  either  of  "  congenital  depravity  or 
defect  of  judgment."  Let  us  be  thankful 
it  is  no  worse,  for  what  would  have  hap- 
pened if  the  wrathful  Englishman  had 
said  "total  depravity?" 

The  repeal  of  the  corn  laws  was  not  for 
the  benefit  of  foreign  nations,  but  solely 
for  the  benefit  of  Englishmen. 

First.  It  was  their  belief  that  their 
skill  and  great  capital  gave  them  that  su- 
periority which  would  secure  them  against 
all  competition  except  that  arising  from 
cheaper  food. 

Second.  The  cheaper-fed  workmen  of 
Germany,  France,  and  America  presented 
the  only  competition  not  to  be  resisted,  and 
it  had  to  beat  once  squarely  met.  Protec- 
tion was  abandoned,  and  abandoned  possi- 
bly forever,  but  abandoned  because  the  la- 
boring British  populatio!i  had  become  too 
great  and  too  hungry,  with  over  a  million 
and  a  half  of  paupers,  when  measured  by 
the-supply  of  home-grown  food.  Some  of 
the  little  Benjamins  mu>t  go  to  Egypt  for 
corn.  Starving  men  do  little  work,  but 
occasionally  do  too  much.  The  sole  condi- 
tions to  the  continuance  of  the  dense  popu- 
lation and  the  grand  scale  of  British  manu- 
factures in  competition  with  modern  na- 
tions appeared  to  be  parsimony  and  priva- 
tion, or  lower-priced  bread  and  lowest- 
priced  labor.  With  these  partially  secured 
there  came  a  season  of  temporary  relief, 
but,  unfortunately,  with  no  increase  of 
wages.  It  was  barely  success  at  the  cost 
of  an  alliance  with  the  discontent  of  un- 
derpaid workmen,  with  strikes  and  organ- 
ized expatriation.  Free  trade,  it  is  found, 
grinds  labor  to  the  bone,  and  forces  it  to 
fly,  with  muscles  and  machinery,  to  more 
inviting  fields. 

British  agriculture,  long  depressed  and 
chronically  exposed  to  bad  harvests,  is  now 
threatened  with  ruin  by  foreign  competi- 
tion, and  British  manufactures  also  seem 
almost  as  destitute  of  sunshine  as  their 
agriculture,  though  still  owning  a  reluctant 
allegiance  to  the  laws  of  the  universe  and 
to  the  exact  science  of  the  garrulous 
Bonamy  Price.  Lord  Derby,  in  a  late 
speech  to  the  Lancashire  farmers,  recom- 


mended that  some  of  the  farmers  should 
emigrate — five  millions,  I  believe,  he  pro- 
posed— and  those  who  might  remain,  said 
he,  will  then  be  able  to  farm  on  better 
terms. 

True  enough ;  but  what  a  cold,  sunless, 
and  desperate  remedy  is  that !  If  not  Ro- 
man decimation,  at  least  a  sentence  of 
banishment,  crushing  out  the  sweetest  af- 
fections planted  in  human  hearts,  their  love 
for  their  birthplaces,  the  homes  of  their 
fathers !  But  if  these  ill-fated  men  have 
barely  supported  life  by  the  pittances 
daily  earned,  by  what  means,  at  whose 
cost,  can  they  be  transported  to  better' and 
more  welcome  homes?  The  advice  of  Lord 
Derby  is  like  that  of  the  children  of  Marie 
Antoinette  when  the  populace  of  Paris 
were  clamoring  for  bread.  Said  the  chil- 
dren: "Why  don't  they  buy  cake?" 
Equally  " child-like  and  bland"  is  Lord 
Derby.  It  would  seem,  when  over  40  per 
cent,  of  their  yearly  imports  must  be  of 
food,  that  the  British  Islands  are  too  small 
for  the  foundations  of  the  empire.  The 
grand  pyramid  stands  upon  its  apex  re- 
versed. 

English  statesmen  have  not  forgotten 
the  reservation  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the 
author  of  the  free-trade  bill  in  1846 :  "  I 
reserve  to  myself,"  said  he,  "  distinctly 
and  unequivocally  the  right  of  adapting 
my  conduct  to  the  exigencies  of  the  mo- 
ment and  to  the  wants  of  the  country;  " 
and  that  is  all  protectionists  ever  claim 
to  do. 

Already  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  the 
leader  of  the  Tory  opposition  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  is  on  the  fence,  and  only 
ventures  to  favor  "universal  free  trade.'' 
That  is  surely  a  horse  of  another  color,  not 
Wellington's  "Copenhagen,"  but  more 
like  Sancho  Panza's  "  Dapple." 

The  recent  reaction  or  change  in  many 
organs  of  British  opinion  shows  that  this 
right  of  adaptation  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
moment  is  neither  surrendered  nor  obso- 
lete. Let  me  cite  an  extract  from  an  in- 
fluential paper,  called  the  Observer :  _ 

There  is  no  obligation  upon  us  to  incur 
industrial  martyrdom  for  the  sake  of  pro- 
pagating free-trade  principles,  even  sup- 
posing their  truth  to  be  as  self-evident  as 
we  fondly  imagined.  Moreover,  to  speak 
the  honest  truth,  we  are  beginning  to 
doubt  how  far  the  creed  to  which  we 
pinned  our  faith  is  so  self-evident  as  we 
originally  conceived.  If  we  can  persuade 
other  nations  to  follow  our  example,  then 
free  trade  is  unquestionably  the  best  thing 
for  England.  It  does  not  follow,  however, 
that  it  IS  the  best  thing  for  us,  if  we  are  to 
be  left  the  sole  adherents  of  free  trade  in 
the  midst  of  a  communit"  of  nations  de- 
voted to  protection. 

The  Observer  does  not  say,  as  will  be 
seen,  that  it  is  best  for  other  nations,  but 


228 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


only,  if  they  will  follow  her  example, 
"  unquestionably  the  best  thing  for  Eng- 
land ; ''  and  that  will  not  be  disputed. 

Other  nations,  however,  seei»  to  prefer 
to  profit  by  the  earlier  English  example, 
displayed  for  seventy  years  after  Smith's 
Wealtn  of  Nations  appeared,  and  free 
trade,  like  the  favorite  English  plum-pud- 
ding, is  now  called  for  by  nobody  but 
themselves,  and  is  getting  so  cold  as  to  be 
unpalatable  even  at  home.  Yet  it  is  pro- 
posed by  the  amateur  statesmen  of  our 
urban  free-trade  clubs,  guiltless  of  any 
drop  of  perspiration  in  the  paths  of  indus- 
try, to  arrest  American  development  by 
copying  this  foreign  examj^le,  and  thus 
bring  our  home  labor  and  all  of  its  re- 
ward down  to  the  European  and  Asiatic 
level.  Nevertheless,  I  have  faith  that  we 
shall  abide  in  the  track  of  the  principles 
and  politics  which  elevate  and  give  char- 
acter to  American  citizens,  surrounding 
them  with  the  daily  presence  and  beauty 
of  the  useful  arts,  which  so  largely  add  to 
the  power  and  dignity  of  any  people  in 
the  great  family  of  nations.  To  limit  the 
industrial  forces  of  an  active,  inventive, 
and  ingenious  people  to  agriculture  alone, 
excluding  manufactures  and  the  mechanic 
arts,  would  be  little  better  than  in  time  of 
war  to  restrict  an  army  to  infantry  alone, 
to  the  exclusion  of  cavalry  and  artillery. 
Great  battles  are  not  often  so  won. 

A  diversity  of  pursuits  makes  a  great 
nation  possible  in  peace,  and  greater  in 
war.  General  competence,  habits  of  self- 
reliance,  and  higher  culture  are  thus  more 
surely  obtained.  The  improvement  in  one 
occupation  is  contagious,  and  spreads  to 
all  others.  Philosophy,  politics,  and  liber- 
ty all  go  up  higher,  and  the  happiness 
and  dignity  of  mankind  are  promoted. 

It  is  an  axiom  of  British  free-trade 
pconomy  that  for  any  branch  of  manufac- 
tures to  rest  on  safe  foundations  it  is  in- 
dispensable that  both  the  raw  material 
and  the  skilled  labor  required  should  be 
indigenous.  This  seems  to  be  a  rule  in- 
tended to  fence  out  of  the  field  all  nations 
where  either  the  raw  material  or  the  skilled 
labor  called  for  is  not  native  and  abundant ; 
but,  if  applied  where  the  raw  material  is 
not  indigenous,  the  British  Islands  would 
be  stripped  of  a  great  share  of  their  indus- 
try. Nor  can  anv  nation  claim  a  cla.ss  of 
men  as  born  with  a  monopoly  of  skilled 
endowments ;  these,  at  any  rate,  are  not 
"  congenital,"  and  trades  must  be  taught 
by  long  apprenticeships;  but  raw  mate- 
rials are  usually  planted  by  nature,  and 
climate  and  soil  fix  and  determine  inflexi- 
ble boundaries.  Cotton  is  not  indigenous 
in  the  British  Islands,  though  their  ac- 
complished cotton  manufactures  have 
made  it  the  leading  article  of  commerce, 
leading  their  national  policy.  Hemp  and 
silk,  also,  are  the  products  of  other  lands. 


Having  no  timber  or  lumber  good  enough 
for  ships,  it  is  all  brought,  like  their  royal 
timber,  from  any  place  in  the  world  but 
home.  The  steel  used  at  SheflBeld  for 
cutlery  is  made  from  iron  imported  from 
Sweden  and  Norway ;  and  no  fine  or 
merino  wool  consumed  is  of  home  growth. 
Not  a  little  of  the  best  machinery  now 
alive  in  England  had  its  birth  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  must  be  credited  to 
American  genius. 

The  title  of  the  British  Islands  to  all  the 
raw  material,  and  to  exclusive  and  heredi- 
tarj'  mechanical  skill  among  men,  is  widely 
contested,  and  the  world  will  not  fold  its 
arms  unresistingly  to  any  such  pretentious 
domination.  The  power  of  steam,  though 
man'elously  developed  by  English  clever- 
ness, is  an  auxiliarj'  force  belonging  of 
right  to  the  whole  human  race,  as  much 
as  gravity  or  electricity,  wherever  its  ser- 
vice may  be  called  for,  and  its  abode  can 
no  more  be  exclusively  monopolized  than 
that  of  the  Promethean  fire  stolen  from 
Heaven. 

The  first  steam-engine  is  supposed  to 
have  been  employed  at  Manchester  in 
1790,  where  there  are  now,  it  is  stated,  in 
daily  use  within  a  circuit  of  ten  miles 
more  than  fifty  thousand  boilers,  yielding 
a  total  force  equal  to  the  power  of  one  mil- 
lion horses,  and  the  combined  steam-power 
of  Great  Britain  is  represented  to  be  equal 
to  the  manual  labor  of  twice  the  number 
of  males  living  on  the  globe.  We  greatly 
admire  the  prodigious  enterprise  of  Great 
Britain,  and  it  would  be  strange  if,  with 
our  immensely  greater  coal-fields,  it  should 
let  Americans  sleep. 

THE  THEORY. 

Free  trade,  as  a  theory,  unembarrassed 
by  contact  with  practical  affairs,  and  di- 
vorced from  any  idea  of  supplying  other 
equal  and  legitimate  sources  of  revenue 
for  the  support  of  governments,  appears 
wonderfully  simple  and  seductive.  Tear- 
ing down  custom-houses,  as  a  knock-down 
argument,  is  held  to  be  scientific,  but  it  is 
not  conclusive.  Some  schoolmen,  inno- 
cent of  earning  even  a  coat  or  a  pair  of 
shoes  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow,  and  sage 
without  experience,  adopt  the  theory  be- 
cause it  is  an  article  of  faith — saving  with- 
out works — with  a  ready-made  catechism 
in  imported  text^books,  and  requires  no 
comprehensive  investigation  of  tne  multi- 
form and  ever-varying  facts  and  exigen- 
cies in  national  affairs;  but  when  the 
theory  comes  to  be  practically  applied  alike 
to  all  times,  places  and  conditions  of  men, 
it  obviously  becomes  political. quackery, 
as  untenable  and  preposterous  ip  it  would 
be  to  insist  unon  clothing  all  mankind  in 
garments  of  the  same  material,  in  summer 
or  winter,  and  of  equal  cut  and  dimen- 
sions, whether  for  big  men  or  little,  on  the 


BOOK  III. 


MORRILL    ON    A    TARIFF    COMMISSION. 


229 


Danube  or  on  the  Mississippi.  But  how- 
ever free  trade  comes  to  America,  it  comes 
as  a  strait-jacket,  and  whether  new  or 
second-hand,  it  is  equally  a  misfit  and  un- 
acceptable. 

The  affairs  of  communities  are  subject 
to  endless  diflferences  from  age  to  age  and 
year  to  year,  and  governments  that  do  not 
recognize  these  differences  are  either  stu- 
pid or  tyrannical,  and  deserve  to  be  super- 
seded or  overthrown.  In  1816  the  sound 
policy  of  England,  as  Lord  Brougham  de- 
clared, was  to  stifle  "  in  the  cradle  those 
infant  manufactures  in  the  United  States 
which  the  war  had  forced  into  existence." 
In  1824  the  policy,  according  to  Huskis- 
son,  was  "  an  extension  of  the  principle  of 
reducing  duties  just  so  far  as  was  consistent 
with  complete  protection  of  British  indus- 
try." In  1846  duties  upon  most  foreign 
manufactures  had  almost  ceased  to  yield 
any  revenue,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel  was 
forced  to  listen  to  the  cry  for  cheap  bread, 
though  he  was  teased  almost  to  the  fight- 
ing point  by  the  fertile,  bitter,  and  match- 
less sarcasms  of  Disraeli,  who  also  said  : 
"The  time  will  come  when  the  working 
classes  of  England  will  come  to  you  on 
bended  knees  and  pray  you  to  undo  your 
present  legislation." 

At  this  moment  important  changes  of 
public  opinion  seem  to  be  going  on  abroad, 
and  the  ponderous  octavo-!  of  Malthus, 
Ricardo,  McCulloch,  and  Mill  may  have 
some  repose.  What  may  have  been  found 
expedient  yesterday  may  be  fraught  with 
mischief  to-day,  and  he  that  has  no  dis- 
trust of  an  inflexible  free-trade  hobby  will 
turn  out  to  be,  unwittingly  perhaps,  as  has 
been  well  said,  "  a  friend  of  every  other 
country  but  his  own,"  and  find  at  last  that 
he  has  rejected  the  solid  school  of  experi- 
ence only  to  get  astride  of  an  imported 
catch-word,  vainly  imagining  he  is  bot- 
tomed on  a  scientific  and  universal  princi- 
ple. Daniel  Webster  declared,  "I  give  up 
what  is  called  the  science  of  political 
economy.  There  is  no  such  science.  There 
are  no  rules  on  these  subjects  so  fixed  and 
invariable  that  their  aggregate  constitutes 
a  science." 

PRACTICE    VERSUS    THEORY. 

But  English  free  trade  does  not  mean 
free  trade  in  such  articles  as  the  poor  re- 
quire and  must  have,  like  tea  and  coffee, 
nor  in  tobacco,  wines  and  spirituous  liquors. 
These  articles  they  reserve  for  merciless 
exactions,  all  specific,  yielding  a  hundred 
millions  of  revenue,  and  at  three  times  the 
rate  we  levy  on  spirits  and  more  than  five 
times  the  rate  we  levy  on  tobacco  !  This 
is  the  sly  part  of  the  entertainment  to 
which  we  are  invited  by  free-traders. 

In  1880  Great  Britain,  upon  tobacco  and 
cigars,  mainly  from  the  United  States, 
valued  at  16,586,520,  collected  $43,955,- 


670  duties,  or  nearly  two-thirds  as  much 
as  we  collect  from  our  entire  importations 
of  merchandise  from  Great  Britain. 

After  all,  is  it  not  rather  conspicuous 
hypocrisy  for  England  to  disclaim  all  pro- 
tection, so  long  as  she  imposes  twenty-nine 
cents  per  pound  more  upon  manufactured 
tobacco  than  upon  unmanufactured,  and 
double  the  rate  upon  manufactured  cocoa 
of  that  upon  the  raw?  American  locomo- 
tives are  supposed  to  have  great  merit,  and 
the  foreign  demand  for  them  is  not  un- 
known, but  the  use  of  any  save  English 
locomotives  upon  English  railroads  is  pro- 
hibited. Is  there  any  higher  protection 
than  prohibition  ?  And  have  not  her  sugar 
refiner*  lived  upon  the  difference  of  the 
rates  imposed  upon  raw  and  refined  su- 
gars ?  On  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  such 
legislation  would  be  called  protection. 

WHAT  THEY  MEAN. 

One  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  British 
free-traders  is,  "  Buy  where  you  can  buy 
cheapest,  and  sell  where  you  can  sell  dear- 
est," and  that  is  precisely  what  they 
mean.  They  expect  to  buy  of  us  cheapest 
and  sell  to  us  dearest.  It  is  the  only  logi- 
cal outcome  of  the  whole  policy.  We  are 
to  be  the  victims  of  sharpers,  whether  we 
sell  or  buy.  One-half  of  this  resounding 
phrase,  "  buy  where  you  can  buy  chea;>- 
est,"  often  appears  to  touch  the  pocket 
nerve  of  those  who,  having  nothing  to  sell, 
derive  their  income  from  capital,  or  from 
a  fixed  salary,  and  they  forget  that  their 
capital  or  their  salary  might  have  been 
much  smaller  had  it  not  been  for  the  great- 
er prosperity  and  compensation  which  pro- 
tection has  wiven  to  labor  and  to  all  busi- 
ness enterprises.  Some  part  of  this  class 
are  accustomed  to  make  periodical  jour- 
neys through  foreign  lands,  and  as  they 
often  bring  home  more  or  less  ef  esthetic 
rarities,  they  feel  aggrieved  that  such  ex- 
pensive luxuries,  which,  if  cheap  and  com- 
mon, would  have  had  no  attractions  for 
them,  often  happen  to  be  among  the  very 
tidbits  upon  which  it  is  the  fitting  policy 
of  a  republican  form  of  government  to  levy 
revenue.  The  tax  falls  upon  those  able  to 
pay.  No  country  on  the  globe  sends  out 
so  many  foreign  travelers  with  a  spendable 
surplus,  as  the  United  States,  or  that  scat- 
ter their  money  more  generously,  not  to 
say  extravagantly.  English  reciprocity  in 
pleasure  travel,  however,  like  tneir  often 
proposed  commercial  reciprocity,  is  com- 
paratively jug-handled.  They  come  singly; 
we  go  in  droves  and  caravans. 

AMERICA    VINDICATED    BY    THOSE    WHO 
COME  TO   STAY. 

But  if  foreign  countries  send  compara- 
tively an  unequal  number  of  visitors  tend- 
ing to  reimburse  the  abounding  expendi- 
tures of  Americans  abroad,  they  do  send 


230 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


us  a  far  more  numerous  if  not  valuable 
company  who  come  to  stay,  bringing  both 
fortunes  and  affections,  and  adding,  as  they 
have  added  within  the  past  two  years,  over 
a  million  and  a  quarter  of  brave  hearts 
and  willing  hands  to  the  productive  forces 
of  the  country.  Their  tracks  are  all  one 
way.  None  go  back  and  none  come  here 
as  drones,  for  such  stay  away  to  absorb 
honey  already  stored ; '  but  the  "  tenth 
legions,"  so  to  say,  of  all  the  conscripted 
armies  of  Europe,  in  health  and  fit  for  any 
service,  are  rushing  to  our  shore  on  the 
"waves  of  the  Atlantic,  three  thousand 
miles  long,"  as  volunteers  for  life.  Were 
we  to  drop  protection  this  western  exodus 
would  cease  and  the  emigrants  n#w  here 
would  be  relegated  to  the  same  scale  of 
wages  from  which  they  so  anxiously  at- 
tempted to  escape. 

These  facts  are  pregnant  arguments  an- 
nually reproduced,  upholding  the  Ameri- 
can policy  of  protection,  and  show  that 
those  who  expect  to  earn  their  living — 
tempted,  it  is  true,  by  the  highest  rewards, 
and  tempted  by  free  schools  for  their  chil- 
dren— know  where  to  find  the  largest  op- 
Eortunities  for  the  comforts  of  life,  for 
appiness  and  intellectual  progress;  and 
know  also  that  America  is  not  and  never 
intends  to  be  a  transatlantic  Ireland  nor 
an  agricultural  back  lot  of  Europe. 

•      COMMERCIAL  BULE8  NOT  A  SCIENCE. 

We  have  some  worthy  literary  professors 
of  free  trade  and  some  hacks  who  know 
their  master's  crib  "of  quick  conception 
and  easy  deliverv,"  as  John  Eandolph 
would  have  described  them,  who,  having 
determined  that  the  sun  shall  hereafter 
rise  in  the  west,  assume  for  their  doctrines, 
like  their  English  masters,  the  basis  of  ab- 
solute science,  which  they  insist  shall  be 
everjTvhere  accepted,  regardless  of  all  con- 
ditions, wants,  or  circumstances,  as  the 
latest  revelation  of  economic  truth ;  but 
free  trade  fails,  shamefully  fails,  to  stand 
the  admitted  tests  of  an  exact  science,  as 
its  results  must  ever  be  both  an  inconsist- 
ent quantity  and  incapable  of  prediction. 
It  yields  to  the  condition  of  nations  and  of 
the  seasons,  to  war,  to  time,  and  constantly 
yields  to  facts.  The  blackboard  compels 
universal  assent  to  mathematics,  and  the 
laboratory  offers  the  same  service  to  chem- 
istrv;  but  any  test  or  analysis  of  free  trade 
yields  nothing  but  polemical  vagaries,  and 
It  may  appropriately  be  consigned  to  the 
witches'  caularon  with — 

Eye  of  newt,  and  toe  of  frox. 
Wool  of  bat,  and  tongue  of  dog. 

•  *  • 

Minglp,  mingle,  mingle, 
Ton  that  mingle  may. 

Queerly  enough  some  of  the  parties  re- 
ferred to,  denounce  the  tariff  men  as  but 


"  half-educated,"  while,  perhaps,  properly 
demanding  themselves  exclusive  copyright 
protection  for  all  of  their  own  literanr 
productions,  whether  ephemeral  or  abia- 
ing.  It  is  right,  they  seem  to  think,  to 
protect  brains — and  of  these  they  claim 
the  monopoly — but  monstrous  to  protect 
muscles ;  right  to  protect  tb"  pen,  but  not 
the  hoe  nor  the  hammer. 

Free  trade  would  almost  seem  to  be  an 
aristocratic  disease  from  which  working- 
men  are  exempt,  and  those  that  catch  it 
are  as  proud  of  it  as  they  would  be  of  the 
gout — another  aristocratic  distinction. 

It  might  be  more  modest  for  these  "  neb" 
ulous  professors "  of  political  economy  to 
agree  among  themselves  how  to  define  and 
locate  the  leading  idea  of  their  "  dismal 
science  "  whether  in  the  value  in  exchange 
or  value  in  use,  in  profits  of  capital  or 
wages,  whether  in  the  desire  for  wealth  or 
aversion  to  labor,  or  in  the  creation,  accu- 
mulation, distribution  and  consumption  of 
wealth,  and  whether  rent  is  the  recom- 
pense for  the  work  of  nature  or  the  conse- 
quence of  a  monopoly  of  property,  before 
tney  ask  a  doubting  world  to  accept  the 
flickering  and  much  disputed  theory  of 
free  trade  as  an  infallible  truth  about 
which  they  have  themselves  never  ceased 
to  wrangle.  The  weight  of  nations  against 
it  is  as  forty  to  one.  It  may  be  safe  to  say 
that  when  sea-serpents,  mermaids,  and 
centaurs  find  a  place  in  natural  history, 
free  trade  will  obtain  recognition  as  a  sci- 
ence ;  but  till  then  it  must  go  uncrowned, 
wearing  no  august  title,  and  be  content 
with  the  thick-and-thin  championship  of 
the  "  Cobden  Club." 

THE   BRITISH  POLICY   EVERYWHERE    RE- 
JECTED, 

All  of  the  principal  British  colonies 
from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun — 
India  alone  possibly  excepted — are  in  open 
and  successful  revolt  against  the  applica- 
tion of  the  free-trade  tyranny  of  their 
mother  country,  and  European  States  not 
only  refuse  to  copy  the  loudly-heralded 
example,  but  they  are  retreating  from  it  as 
though  it  were  charged  with  dynamite. 
Even  the  London  Times,  the  great  "  thun- 
derer  "  of  public  opinion  in  Great  Britain, 
does  not  refrain  from  giving  a  stunning 
blow  to  free  trade  when  it  indicates  that  it 
has  proved  a  blunder,  and  reminds  the 
world  that  it  predicted  it  would  so  prove 
at  the  start.  The  ceremony  of  free  trade, 
with  only  one  party  responding  solitary 
and  alone,  turns  out  as  dull  and  disconso- 
late as  that  of  a  wedding  without  a  bride. 
The  honeymoon  of  buying  cheap  and  sell- 
ing dear  appears  indefinitely  postponed. 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  party 
coming  to  rescue  England  from  her  isolated 
predicament.  Bismarck,  while  aiming  to 
take  care  of  the  interests  of  his  own  coun« 


BOOK  III.J 


MORRILL    ON    A    TARIFF    COMMISSION. 


231 


try,  as  do  all  ministers,  on  this  question  per- 
haps represents  the  attitude  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  far-sighted  statesmen  of  Eu- 
rope, and  he,  in  one  of  his  recent  parlia- 
mentary speeches,  declared : 

Without  being  a  passionate  protection- 
ist, I  am  as  a  financier,  however,  a  passion- 
ate imposer  of  duties,  from  the  conviction 
that  the  taxes,  the  duties  levied  at  the 
frontier,  are  almost  exclusively  borne  by 
the  foreigner,  especially  for  manufactured 
articles,  and  that  they  have  always  an 
advantageous,  retrospective,  protectionist 
action. 

Practically  the  nations  of  continental 
Europe  acquiesce  in  this  opinion,  and  are 
a  unit  in  their  flat  refusal  of  British  free 
trade.  They  prefer  the  example  of  Amer- 
ica. Before  self-confident  men  pronounce 
the  whole  world  of  tariff  men,'  at  home 
and  abroad,  "  half-educated  or  half-wit- 
ted," they  would  do  well  to  see  to  it  that 
the  stupidity  is  not  nearer  home,  or  that 
they  have  not  themselves  cut  adrift  from 
the  logic  of  their  own  brains,  only  to  be 
wofully  imposed  upon  by  free-trade  quack- 
ery, which  treats  man  as  a  mere  fact,  no 
more  important  than  any  other  fact,  and 
ranks  labor  only  as  a  commodity  to  be 
bought  and  sold  in  the  cheapest  or  dear- 
est markets. 

So  long  as  statesmen  are  expected  to 
study  the  prosperity  and  advancement  of 
the  people  for  whose  government  and  guid- 
ance they  are  made  responsible,  so  long 
free-trade  theories  must  be  postponed  to 
that  Utopian  era  when  the  health,  strength 
and  skill,  capital  and  labor  of  the  whole 
human  race  shall  be  reduced  or  elevated  to 
an  entire  equality,  and  when  each  individ- 
ual shall  dwell  in  an  equal  climate,  upon 
an  equal  soil,  freely  pasture  his  herds  and 
flocks  where  he  pleases,  and  love  his 
neighbor  better  than  himself. 

OUR   FARMERS. 

The  test  of  profitable  farming  is  the  state 
of  the  account  at  the  end  of  the  year.  Un- 
der free  trade  the  evidence  multiplie3  that 
the  English  farmer  comes  to  the  end  of  the 
year  with  no  surplus,  often  in  debt,  bare 
and  discontented.  Their  laborers  rarely 
know  the  luxury  of  meat,  not  over  sixteen 
ounces  per  week,*  and  never  expect  to  own 
a  rood  of  the  soil. 

But  under  the  protective  policy  the 
American  farmer  holds  and  cultivates  his 
own  land,  has  a  surplus  at  the  end  of  the 
year  for  permanent  investments  or  improve- 
ments, and  educates  and  brings  up  his  sons 
and  daughters  with  the  advantages  and 
comforts  of  good  society.  There  are  more 
American  houses  with  carpets  than  in  any 

*In  the  British  Almanac  of  1881  it  is  stated  that  meat 
is  Miten  in  Ireland  by  only  59  per  cent,  of  the  farm  la- 
Uiro'-s,  and  in  quantity  only  four  and  oue-balf  ounces 
per  week. 


other  country  of  the  world.  I  believe  it 
will  not  be  disputed  that  the  down-trod- 
den tillers  of  the  soil  in  Great  Britain  are 
not  well  fed ;  that  they  are  coarsely  under- 
clad,  and  that  for  lack  of  common-school 
culture  they  would  hardly  be  regarded  as 
fit  associates  here  for  Americans  who  drive 
their  teams  afield,  or  for  the  young  men 
who  start  in  life  as  laborers  upon  farms. 
The  claim  that  free  trade  is  the  true  policy 
of  the  American  farmer  would  seem  to  be, 
therefore,  a  very  courageous  falsehood. 

It  is  an  unfortunate  tendency  of  the  age 
that  nearly  one-half  of  the  population  of 
the  globe  is  concentrated  in  cities,  often 
badly  governed,  and  sharply  exposed  to 
extravagance,  pauperism,  immorality,  and 
all  the  crimes  and  vices  which  overtake 
mankind  reared  in  hot-beds.  I  would 
neither  undervalue  the  men  of  brilliant 
parts,  nor  blot  out  the  material  splendor  of 
cities,  but  regret  to  see  the  rural  districts 
depopulated  for  their  unhealthy  aggran- 
dizement. Free  trade  builds  up  a  few  of 
these  custom-house  cities,  where  gain  from 
foreign  trade  is  the  chief  object  sought, 
where  mechanics,  greater  in  numbers  than 
any  other  class,  often  hang  their  heads, 
though  Croesus  rolls  in  Pactolian  wealth, 
and  Shylock  wins  his  pound  of  flesh ;  but 
protection  assembles  artisans  and  skilled 
workmen  in  tidy  villages  and  towns,  de- 
tails many  squadrons  of  industry  to  other 
and  distant  localities,  puts  idle  and  play- 
ful waterfalls  at  work,  opens,  builds  up, 
and  illumines,  as  with  an  electric  light,  the 
whole  interior  of  the  country  ;  and  the  far- 
mer of  Texas  or  of  New -England,  of  Iowa 
or  of  Wisconsin,  is  benefited  by  such  re- 
enforcements  of  consumers,  whether  they 
are  by  his  side  or  across  the  river,  at  At- 
lanta or  South  Bend,  at  Paterson  or  at 
Providence.  The  farmers  own  and  occupy 
more  than  nineteen-twentieths  of  our 
whole  territory,  and  their  interest  is  in 
harmony  with  the  even-handed  growth 
and  prosperity  of  the  whole  country. 

There  is  not  a  State  whose  interests 
would  not  be  jeopardized  by  free  trade, 
and  I  should  like  to  dwell  upon  the  salient 
facts  as  to  Missouri,  Kansas,  Indiana,  Al- 
abama, Illinois,  and  many  other  States, 
but  I  shall  only  refer  to  one.  The  State 
of  Texas,  surpassing  empires  in  its  vast 
domains,  doubling  its  population  within  a 
decade,  and  expending  over  twenty  million 
dollars  within  a  year  in  the  construction 
of  additional  railroads,  with  a  promised 
expenditure  within  the  next  fifteen  months 
of  over  twenty-seven  millions  more,  has 
sent  to  market  as  raw  material  the  past 
year  12,262,  052  pounds  of  hides,  20.671,- 
639  pounds  of  wool,  and  1,260,247  bales  of 
cotton.  Her  mineral  resources,  though 
known  to  be  immense,  are  as  yet  untouched. 
Her  bullocks,  in  countless  herds  on  their 
way  to  market,  annually  crowd  and  crop 


232 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


the  prairies  from  Denver  to  Cliicago.  But 
now  possessed  of  a  liberal  system  of  rail- 
roads, how  long  will  the  dashing  spirit  of 
the  Lone  Star  State — where  precious  mem- 
ories still  survive  of  Austin,  of  Houston,  of 
Rusk,  and  of  Schleicher — be  content  to 
send  ofF  unmanufactured  her  immense 
bulk  of  precious  raw  materials,  which 
should  be  doubled  in  value  at  home,  and 
by  the  same  process  largely  multiply  her 
population  ?  With  half  as  many  in  num- 
ber now  as  had  the  original  thirteen,  and 
soon  to  pass  our  largest  States,  wanting  in- 
definite quantities  of  future  manufactures  at 
home,  Texas  should  also  prepare  to  supply 
the  opening  trade  with  Mexico,  in  all  of  its 
magnitude  and  variety,  and  far  more  wor- 
thy of  ambition  than  in  the  golden  days  of 
Montezuma, 

No  State  can  run  and  maintain  railroads 
unless  the  way-stations,  active  and  grow- 
ing settlements  and  towns,  are  numerous 
enough  to  offer  a  large,  constant,  and  in- 
creasing support.  The  through  business 
of  long  lines  of  railroads  is  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  termini,  and  gives  the 
roads  some  prestige,  but  the  prosperity 
and  dividends  mainly  accrue  from  the 
local  business  of  thrifty  towns  on  the  line 
of  the  roads.  It  is  these,  especially  manu- 
facturing towns,  which  make  freight  both 
ways,  to  and  from,  that  free  trade  must 
ever  fail  to  do,  and  while  through  freights, 
owing  to  inevitable  competition,  pay  little 
or  no  profit,  the  local  freights  sustain  the 
roads,  and  are  and  must  be  the  basis  of 
their  chief  future  value.  Without  this 
efficient  local  support,  cheap  and  rapid 
long  transportation  would  be  wholly  im- 
practicable. 

The  Southern  States,  in  the  production 
of  cotton,  have  possibly  already  reached 
the  maximum  quantity  that  can  be  culti- 
vated with  greatest  profit,  unless  the 
demand  of  the  world  expands.  A  short 
crop  now  often  brings  producers  a  larger 
sum  than  a  full  crop.  The  amount  of  the 
surplus  sent  abroad  determines  the  price 
of  the  whole  crop.  Production  appears 
likely  soon  to  outrun  the  demand.  Texas 
alone  has  latent  power  to  overstock  the 
world.  Is  it  not  time,  therefore,  to  curtail 
the  crop,  or  to  stop  any  large  increase  of 
it,  while  sure  to  obtain  as  much  or  more 
for  it,  and  to  turn  unfruitful  capital  and 
labor  into  other  and  more  profitable  chan- 
nels of  industry?  The  untrodden  fields, 
where  capital  and  labor  wait  to  be 
organized  for  the  development  of  Southern 
manufactures  and  mining,  offer  unrivaled 
temptations  to  leaders  among  men  in 
search  of  legitimate  wealth. 

The  same  facts  are  almost  equally  ap- 
plicable to  general  agriculture,  but  more 
particularly  to  the  great  grain-growing  re- 
gions of  the  ^V''est.  A  great  harvest 
frequently  tends  to  render  the  labor  of  the 


whole  year  almost  profitless,  whenever 
foreign  countries  are  blessed  with  com- 
paratively an  equal  abundance.  The  ex- 
port of  corn  last  year  in  October  was 
8,535,067  bushels,  valued  at  $4,604,840, 
but  the  export  of  only  4,974,661  bushels 
this  year  brings  $3,606,813.  An  equal  dif- 
ference appears  in  the  increased  value  of 
exports  of  flour.  A  much  larger  share  of 
crops  must  be  consumed  nearer  home,  if 
any  sure  and  regular  market  is  to  be  per- 
manently secured.  The  foreign  demand, 
fittiil  and  uncertain  as  it  is,  rarely  exceeds 
one-twentieth  of  even  the  present  home  re- 
quirements, and  the  losses  from  long 
transportation,  incident  to  products  of 
great  bulk,  can  never  be  successfully 
avoided  except  by  an  adequate  home  de- 
mand. 

Farmers  do  not  look  for  a  market  for 
grain  among  farmers,  but  solely  among 
non-producing  consumers,  and  these  it  is 
greatly  to  their  interest  to  multiply  rather 
than  to  diminish  by  forcing  them  to  join 
in  producing  or  doubling  crops  for  which 
there  may  be  an  insufficient  demand. 
Every  ship-load  of  wheat  sent  abroad  tends 
to  bring  down  foreign  prices;  and  such 
far-off  markets  should  be  sought  only 
when  the  surplus  at  home  is  excessive  or 
when  foreign  prices  are  extraordinarily 
remunerative. 

The  wheat  regions  of  the  West,  superb 
as  they  undoubtedly  are,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
have  too  little  staying  character  to  be 
prodigally  squandered,  and  their  natural 
fertility  noticeably  vanishes  in  the  rear  un- 
less retained  by  costly  fertilizers  almost  as 
rapidly  as  new  fields  open  in  front.  Some 
of  the  Middle  States  as  well  as  the  New 
England,  though  seeking  fertilizers  far  and 
near,  already  look  to  the  West  for  much  of 
their  corn  and  bread  ;  and  there  is  written 
all  over  Eastern  fields,  as  Western  visitors 
may  read,  the  old  epitaph,  "As  we  are 
now  so  you  may  be."  It  will  take  time  for 
this  threatened  decadence,  but  not  long  in 
the  life  of  nations.  The  Avheat  crop  runs 
away  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the 
Pacfec,  and  sinks  in  other  localities  as  it 
looms  up  in  Minnesota,  Nebraska,  and 
Dakota.  Six  years  of  cropping  in  Califor- 
nia, it  is  said,  reduces  the  yield  per  acra 
nearly  one-half. 

There  was  in  1880  devoted  to  wheat  cul- 
ture over  thirty-five  million  acres,  or 
nearly  double  the  acreage  of  1875.  In 
twenty-five  years  a  hundred  million  people 
will  more  than  overtake  any  present  or 
prospective  surplus,  and  we  may  yet  need 
all  of  our  present  magnificent  wheat-fields 
to  give  bread  to  our  own  people.  Certainly 
we  need  not  be  in  haste  to  slaughter  and 
utterly  exhaust  the  native  fertility  of  our 
fields  on  the  cheap  terms  now  presented. 

England,  with  all  her  faults,  is  great, 
but  unfortunately  has  not  room  to  support 


BOOK  III.]    REVENUE    SPEECH    OF    SENATOR    CAMERON. 


233 


her  greatness,  and  must  have  cheap  food 
and  be  able  to  offer  better  wages  or  part 
with  great  numbers  of  her  people.  I  most 
sincerely  hope  her  statesmen — and  she 
is  never  without  those  of  eminence — will 
prove  equal  to  their  great  trust  and  to  any 
crisis ;  but  we  cannot  surrender  the  welfare 
of  our  Republic  to  any  foreign  empire. 
Free  trade  niay  or  may  not  be  England's 
necessity.  Certainly  it  is  not  our  necessity ; 
and  it  has  not  reached,  and  never  will 
reach,  the  altitude  of  a  science.  An  im- 
post on  corn  there,  it  is  clear,  would  now 
produce  an  exodus  of  her  laboring  popula- 
tion that  would  soon  leave  the  banner  of 
Victoria  waving  over  a  second-rate  power. 
Among  the  nations  of  the  world  the  high 
position  of  the  United  States  was  never 
more  universally  and  cordially  admitted. 
Our  rights  are  everywhere  promptly  con- 
ceded, and  we  ask  nothing  more.  It  is  an 
age  of  industry,  and  we  can  only  succeed 
by  doing  our  best.  Our  citizens  under  a 
protective  tariff  are  exceptionally  pros- 
perous and  happy,  and  not  strangers  to  no- 
ble deeds  nor  to  private  virtues.  A  popu- 
lar government  based  on  universal  suffrage 
will  be  best  and  most  certainly  perpetuated 
by  the  elevation  of  laboring  men  through 
the  more  liberal  rewards  of  diversified  em- 
ployments, which  give  scope  to  all  grades 
of  genius  and  intelligence  and  tend  to 
secure  to  posterity  the  blessings  of  univer- 
sal education  and  the  better  hope  of 
personal  independence. 


Speecb  ot  Hon.  J.  D.  Cameron,  of  Penna. 

On  Ihe  Reduction  of  Revenue  at  Affecting  the  Tariff.     De- 
livered in  the  United  States  Senate  January  16,  1882. 

Mr.  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania.  I  move 
tc  take  up  the  resolution  submitted  by  me 
in  relation  to  internal-revenue  taxes. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to ;  and  the  Sen- 
ate proceeded  to  consider  the  following 
resolution  submitted  by  Mr.  Cameron,  of 
Pennsylvania,  December  6,  1881 : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Senate  it  is  expedient  to  reduce  the  revenue 
of  the  Government  by  abolishing  all  ex- 
isting internal  revenue  taxes  except  those 
imposed  upon  high  wines  and  distilled 
spirits. 

Mr.  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania.  Mr. 
President,  the  surplus  revenue  of  this 
Government  applicable  to  the  payment  of 
the  public  debt  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1881,  was  $100,069,404.98. 

The  inference  from  these  figures  must  be 
that  if  such  surplus  receipts  are  applied  to 
the  reduction  of  the  debt  it  will  be  paid 
within  ten  or  twelve  years.  The  question 
then  is :  Should  the  people  continue  to  be 
taxed  as  heavily  as  they  now  are  to  pay 
it  off  within  so  short  a  period?  Is  it  wise 
or  prudent? 


No  one  will  deny  the  wisdom  of  the  leg- 
islators who  inaugurated  the  system  of 
reducing  the  debt,  or  the  patriotism  of  the 
people  who  have  endured  a  heavy  load  of 
taxation  to  pay  the  interest  and  reduce  the 
principal  of  such  indebtedness.  Both  have 
been  causes  of  wonder  to  the  world,  and 
have  shown  the  strength,  honesty,  and 
prudence  attainable  under  a  republican 
form  of  government  in  matters  where  it 
was  thought  to  be  weak.  It  is  acknow- 
ledged that  the  course  thus  pursued  by  Con- 
gress, and  supported  by  the  people,  has  had 
several  good  results.  The  exercise  of  the 
power  of  the  Government  and  the  cheer- 
ful submission  to  the  enacting  nature  of 
the  laws  by  the  people  has  had  an  un- 
doubted tendency  to  elevate  and  strength- 
en the  moral  tone  of  the  nation,  giving  the 
people  more  confidence  in  each  other,  and 
compelling  the  approval  of  the  world.  It 
has  reduced  the  principal  sum  of  our  na- 
tional indebtedness  until  it  is  entirely 
within  the  ready  control  of  the  financial 
ability  of  the  people  either  to  pay  off  or  to 
pay  the  interest  thereon.  It  has  estab- 
lished the  credit  of  the  country,  and 
brought  it  up  from  a  position  where  the  6 
per  cent,  gold  bonds  of  the  United  States 
before  the  war  would  not  command  par 
to  a  present  premium  of  17  per  cent,  on  a  4 
per  cent,  bond,  and  to  the  ready  exchange 
of  called  6  per  cent,  bonds  into  new  ones 
bearing  3J  per  cent,  interest.  It  has  dem- 
onstrated the  ability  of  the  country  not 
only  to  carry  on  a  most  expensive  internal 
war,  but  to  pay  off  its  cost  in  a  time  un- 
known to  any  other  people ;  and  further, 
that  the  ability  of  the  country  to  furnish 
men  and  material  of  war  and  to  meet  in- 
creased financial  demands  is  cumulative. 
The  burden  carried  by  this  country  from 
1861  to  the  present  day  has  been  much 
greater  than  it  would  be  if  laid  upon  this 
nation  and  people  from  1881  to  1900. 

The  burden,  therefore,  of  the  present 
debt  would  fall  but  lightly  on  the  country 
if  the  payment  thereof  should  be  for  a 
time  delayed,  or  the  rate  at  which  it  has 
been  paid  be  decreased.  It  thus  becomes 
a  question  of  prudence  with  the  Govern- 
ment whether  they  will  continue  the  bur- 
den upon  the  people,  or  relieve  them  of 
part  or  it. 

The  burdens  of  general  taxation  borne 
by  the  people  are  very  onerous.  They 
have  not  only  the  General  Government  to 
sustain,  on  which  devolves  the  expenses  of 
legislation,  of  the  Federal  judiciary,  of  the 
representatives  of  our  country  in  all  the 
principal  governments  and  cities  of  the 
world,  of  the  management  of  such  of  our 
internal  affairs  and  conveniences  as  belong 
to  Congress,  the  keeping  up  of  our  Army 
and  Navy,  the  erection  of  public  buildings, 
the  improvement  of  the  rivers  and  harbors, 
and  many  other  items  that  require  large 


234 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[booe  in. 


annual  expenditures.  With  the  increase 
of  population  and  the  filling  up  of  our  un- 
occupied lands  almost  all  these  annual  out- 
lays and  expenses  will  tend  to  increase  in 
place  of  decreasing,  and  all  such  expendi- 
tures must  be  in  some  way  met  by  the 
people  of  the  country.  They  have  also  to 
sustain  their  State  governments  with  the 
expenses  and  outlays  incident  to  them, 
their  legislatures,  judiciaries,  peniten- 
tiaries, places  of  reform,  hospitals,  and  all 
means  of  aiding  the  afflicted,  to  sustain  the 
common  schools,  to  pay  the  cost  of  such 
improvements  of  rivers,  of  canals,  of  rail- 
ways, or  of  roads  as  the  States  may  under- 
take. They  have  also  the  heavy  cost  to 
meet  of  city  governments,  of  county,  town 
and  borough  governments ;  they  must  pay 
the  inferior  Legislatures,  erect  buildings, 
provide  water,  police,  jails,  poor-houses, 
and  build  roads  and  take  care  of  them. 

On  the  liberality  of  the  people  the  coun- 
try depends  for  the  building  of  charitable 
institutions,  universities,  colleges,  private 
schools  of  high  grade,  and  every  variety  of 
relief  to  the  poor  and  the  afflicted.  In 
addition  to  these  burdens  almost  all  the 
States,  most  of  the  large  cities,  and  many 
ol  the  counties  and  towns  in  the  States 
still  labor  under  the  burdens  of  indebted- 
ness incurred  during  the  war  to  sustain  the 
General  Government,  which  indebtedness, 
incurred  on  the  then  value  of  paper  cur- 
rency, has  now  to  be  paid  in  gold.  They 
have  not  had  the  means  at  command  to 
pay  off  much  of  such  indebtedness  like  the 
General  Grovernment,  nor  to  refund  it  at  a 
lower  rate  of  interest.  The  superior  credit 
of  the  General  Government  has  been  made 
partially  at  the  expense  of  the  local  gov- 
ernments. I  have  stated  these  facts  that 
Senators  might  keep  in  mind  that  the 
question  should  not  be  considered  as  mere- 
ly one  of  our  ability  to  reduce  our  indebt- 
edness by  paying  off  annually  one  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  and  by  continuing  our 
present  laws  for  raising  revenues,  as  if  it 
were  but  a  small  matter  for  the  people  to 
do,  but  it  should  be  considered  in  connec- 
tion with  the  total  burden  of  taxation  im- 
posed by  the  revenue  laws  of  the  General 
Government,  as  well  as  by  those  of  the 
State  and  the  subordinate  govemmenta 
within  their  bounds. 

There  is,  therefore,  a  strong  argument  to 
be  found  in  these  facts  of  the  other  bur- 
dens of  taxation  borne  by  the  people  in 
favor  of  reducing  the  amount  of-  revenue 
applicable  to  the  payment  of  the  public 
deot  when  it  can  be  done  without  injury 
to  the  credit  of  the  Government  and  with- 
out risking  in  the  least  the  ability  of  the 
Government  either  to  pay  such  indebted- 
ness as  it  matures  or  to  interfere  with  the 
ability  of  the  Government  to  fully  provide 
for  the  wants  of  the  country  as  they  may 
be  developed.    A  complete  statement  of 


the  percentage  of  taxation  borne  by  each 
male  citizen  of  the  United  States  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age  in  the  various 
ways  stated  would  astound  the  Senate  and 
the  country.  There  is  probably  no  coun- 
try in  the  world  where  the  taxation  direct 
and  indirect  is  so  heavy,  and  only  a  people 
situated  and  circumstanced  as  the  Ameri- 
can people  are  could  prosper  under  such 
a  burden.  If  no  other  reason  could  be  ad- 
vanced in  favor  of  a  reduction  of  the 
amount  of  moneys  derived  from  our  inter- 
nal-revenue laws  than  this  one  of  reducing 
the  burdens  of  the  people,  it  would  be  amply 
sufficient,  in  my  judgment,  to  warrant  the 
proposed  reduction.  Yet  I  will  say  frank- 
ly that  I  have  another  object  in  wishing  to 
have  the  internal  revenue  reduced,  and  I 
hope  before  long  that  every  vestige  of  that 
system  will  cease  to  exist.  That  object  is 
to  prevent  any  material  change  being 
made  in  the  tariff  upon  imports  as  it  now 
exists,  for  upon  its  existence  depends  the 
prosperity,  the  happiness,  the  improve- 
ment, the  education  of  the  laboring  people 
of  the  country,  although  I  do  not  object  to 
a  careful  revision  of  it  by  a  competent 
commission. 

I  want  to  say  a  word  here  about  the  ar- 
rears of  pension  act.  This  act  never  should 
be  repealed,  and  in  my  judgment  it  never, 
will  or  can  be.  It  has  lately  been  held  up 
to  contempt  by  that  class  of  people  who 
twenty  years  ago  were  engaged  in  exhorting 
these  same  pensioners  to  go  to  the  front, 
and  who  now  object  to  rewarding  them; 
but  their  opinion  is  not  shared  by  the  peo- 
ple at  large ;  in  fact,  no  more  essentially 
just  law  was  ever  placed  upon  the  statute- 
book.  Its  effect  18  simply  and  solely  to 
prevent  the  Government  from  pleading 
the  statue  of  limitation  against  its  former 
defenders.  It  did  not  increase  the  rate  of 
pensions  in  any  way  whatever,  but  merely 
said  that  a  man  entitled  to  a  pension  for 
physical  injury  received  in  Government 
service  should  not  be  debarred  trom  re- 
ceiving it  because  he  was  late  in  making 
his  application.  To  the  payment  of  these 
pensions  every  sentiment  of  honesty  and 
gratitude  should  hold  us  firmly  committed. 

My  friend  the  Senator  from  Kentucky 
[Mr.' Beck]  is  very  honest,  is  generally 
very  astute,  and  has  great  capacity  as  a 
leader.  My  personal  friendship  makes  me 
desire  his  success,  and  as  an  individual 
I  want  him  to  be  the  recipient  of  all  the 
honors  his  party  can  bestow  upon  him,  but 
I  am  very  sure  that  he  is  now  opposing  a 
measure  that  is  intended  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  and  is  in  accord  with  the  wishes 
of  the  people  of  the  country.  He  is  lead- 
ing his  party  astray,  he  is  holding  it  back, 
he  is  tying  it  to  the  carcass  of  free  trade. 

Politically  I  am  glad  that  he  is ;  on  his 
own  account  I  regret  it.  He  is  opposing 
the  principle  of  protection,  and,  in   my 


BOOK  III.]    REVENUE    SPEECH    OF    SENATOR    CAMERON. 


235 


judgment,  no  man  can  do  that  and  retain 
the  support  of  the  people.  No  party  can 
to-day  proclaim  the  doctrine  of  "  a  tariff  for 
revenue  only"  and  survive.  Opposition 
to  an  earnest  prosecution  of  the  war  for 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  failed  to 
destroy  the  Democratic  partv  because  of 
the  recruits  it  received  from  tne  South,  but 
opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  protection  to 
American  productions,  hostility  to  the  ele- 
vation of  American  labor,  no  party  in  this 
enlightened  day  can  advocate  and  live.  I 
am  astonished  that  the  Democratic  party 
does  not  learn  by  experience.  The  "  tariff- 
for-a-revenue-only "  plank  in  the  Cincin- 
nati platform  lost  it  Indiana,  lost  it  New 
York,  and  in  1884  it  will  lose  it  one-half  of 
the  Southern  States. 

The  President  pro  tempore.  The  morn- 
ing hour  has  expired.  Is  it  the  pleasure 
of  the  Senate  that  unanimous  consent  be 
given  to  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  to 
proceed  with  his  remarks  ? 

Mr.  Beck,  I  move  that  unanimous  con- 
sent be  granted. 

The  President  pro  tempore.  The  Chair 
hears  no  objection,  and  the  morning  hour 
will  be  continued  until  the  Senator  from 
Pennsylvania  closes  his  remarks. 

Mr. 'Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
great  question  of  protection  to  American 
labor  will  be  the  question  which  will  obli- 
terate old  dissensions  and  unite  the  States 
in  one  common  brotherhood.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  has  made  its  last  great  fight. 
It  will  struggle  hard,  and  in  its  death 
throes  will,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  unsuc- 
cessful and  disiippointed  Republicans,  pos- 
sibly have  temporary  local  successes,  but 
death  has  marked  it  for  its  victim,  die  it 
will,  and  on  its  tomb  will  be  inscribed, 
"  Died  because  of  opposition  to  the  educa- 
tion, the  elevation,  the  advancement  of  the 
people." 

The  historic  policy  of  this  country  has 
been  to  raise  its  revenues  mainly  from  du- 
ties on  imports  and  from  the  sale  of  the 
public  lands.  There  are  many  reasons  in 
lavor  of  this  policy.  It  is  more  just  and 
equal  in  its  burdens  on  the  States  and  on 
the  people ;  it  is  less  inquisitorial,  less  ex- 
pensive, less  liable  to  corruption  ;  it  is  free 
from  many  vexed  questions  which  our  ex- 
perience of  twenty  years  in  collecting  in- 
ternal revenue  has  developed.  The  inter- 
nal revenue  brings  the  General  Govern- 
ment in  contact  with  the  people  in  almost 
every  thing  they  eat,  wear,  or  use.  The 
collection  of  revenue  by  duties  on  imports 
is  so  indirect  as  to  remove  much  of  the 
harshness  felt  when  the  citizen  comes  in 
direct  contact  with  the  iron  grip  of  the  law 
compelling  him  to  affix  a  stamp  to  what  he 
makes  or  uses.  No  one  will  question  the 
fact  that  the  collection  of  internal  duties 
unfavorably  affected  the  general  morals  of 
the  nation. 


The  internal  revenue  laws  were  adopted 
by  the  Government  as  a  war  measure,  as  an 
extraordinary  and  unusual  means  of  raising 
money  for  an  emergency,  and  it  is  proper 
and  in  accordance  with  public  opinion 
that  with  the  end  of  the  emergency  such 
policy  should  cease.  I  cannot  but  think 
that  every  Senator  will  agree  with  me 
that  the  end  of  the  emergency  has  been 
reached.  The  emergency  embraced  not 
only  the  time  of  the  expenditures,  but  their 
continuation  until  the  debt  incurred  during 
the  emergency  was  so  reduced  as  to  be 
readily  managed,  if  not  exclusively  by  the 
ordinary  revenues  of  the  Government,  yet . 
with  a  greatly  reduced  system  of  internal 
revenues  and  for  a  limited  time.  But  in 
determining  wherein  such  reduction  shall 
be  made,  two  great  interests  of  the  country 
are  to  be  considered : 

First,  the  system  of  duties  on  foreign 
goods,  wares,  &c. 

Second,  our  national  banking  system. 

It  has  been  proposed  to  meet  this  ques- 
tion of  reduction  by  lowering  the  rates  of 
duty,  and  thus  to  continue  in  this  country 
indefinitely  the  use  of  direct  and  indirect 
taxation,  supposing  that  such  reduction 
would  require  the  prolonged  continuation 
of  internal  taxation. 

The  first  effect  of  this  would  be  to  in- 
crease the  revenues,  as  lower  duties  would 
lead  for  a  while  to  increased  importations; 
but  ultimately  these  increased  importations 
would  destroy  our  manufactures  and  im- 
poverish the  people  to  the  point  of  inabi- 
lity to  buy  largely  abroad,  and  when  that 
point  would  be  reached,  we  should  have 
no  other  source  of  revenue  than  internal 
taxes  upon  an  impoverished  people.  At 
first  we  should  have  more  revenue  than  we 
need,  but  in  the  end  much  less. 

This  statement  of  the  effect  of  lower  du- 
ties may  at  first  seem  anomalous  and  ques- 
tionable, but  that  such  would  be  the  result 
is  proven  by  the  effect  on  the  revenues  of 
the  country  of  the  reduction  in  duties  in 
the  tariff  of  1846  below  that  of  1842.  This 
will  be  evident  from  the  Treasury  statistics 
of  the  years  1844,  1845,  1846,  1847,  &c., 
which  will  show  for  the  latter  years  a  large 
increase  of  revenues.  A  reduction  of  du- 
ties which  would  afi^ct  Jhe  ability  of  our 
manufacturers  to  compete  with  foreign 
makers  would  cause  a  large  importation  of 
goods,  with  two  objects:  first,  to  find  a 
market,  the  effect  of  which  would  be  to 
keep  the  mills  of  England  and  other  coun- 
tries fully  employed ;  and,  second,  a  repe- 
tition of  the  custom  of  English  manufac- 
turers to  put  goods  on  our  markets  at  low 
and  losing  prices  for  the  purpose  of  crip- 
pling and  breaking  down  our  operators. 
And  this  increase  of  our  national  revenues 
would  continue  until  our  fires  were  stopped, 
our  mills  and  mines  closed,  our  laborers 
starved,  and  our  capital  and  skill,  the  work 


236 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book   III. 


of  many  years,  lost.  This  time  would  be 
marked,  by  a  renewal  of  our  vassalage  to 
England,  Then  the  tables  would  be 
turned,  our  revenues  would  fall  off  with  our 
inability  to  purchase,  our  taxation  would 
continue  and  become  very  onerous,  and  in 
place  of  a  strong,  reliant,  and  self-support- 
ing people,  exercising  a  healthful  influence 
over  the  nations  of  the  world,  we  would  be 
owned  and  be  the  servants  of  Europe,  til- 
ling the  ground  for  the  benefit  of  its  peo- 
ple ;  our  laborers  would  be  brought  down 
to  a  level  with  the  pauper  labor  of  Eu- 
rope. 

Our  form  of  government  will  not  permit 
the  employment  of  ignorant  pauper  labor. 
It  is  a  government  of  the  people,  and  to 
have  it  continue  to  grow  and  prosper  the 
people  must  be  paid  such  wages  as  will 
enaole  them  to  be  educated  sufficiently  to 
realize  and  appreciate  the  benefits  of  its 
free  institutions;  and  knowing  these  bene- 
fits, they  will  maintain  them.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  desirable  that  the  reve- 
nues from  duties  should  be  decreased,  and 
thereby  retain  both  kinds  of  taxation,  the 
direct  and  the  indirect,  the  best  possible 
way  to  do  this  would  be  to  largely  increase 
the  duties  on  imported  goods,  which  would 
for  a  time  decrease  the  imports,  thereby 
decreasing  the  amount  of  duties  received. 
This  tendency  would  last  until,  through 
this  policy,  the  wealth  and  purchasing 
power  of  the  country  would  so  largely  in- 
crease that  the  revenues  would  again  in- 
crease, both  by  reason  of  decreased  cost  in 
foreign  countries  and  because  of  the  pur- 
chase by  us  of  articles  of  special  beauty, 
skill,  and  luxury.  It  may  be  said  (and 
however  paradoxical  it  may  appear,  the  as- 
sertion is  proven  by  the  history  of  the 
tariff)  that  while  the  immediate  tendency 
with  firee-trade  duties  is  to  increase  im- 
ports and  revenues,  the  ultimate  result  of 
such  low  duties  is  to  decrease  the  imports 
and  revenues,  due  to  the  decreasing  ability 
of  the  country  to  purchase.  The  imme- 
diate tendency  of  protective  tariffs  is  to 
decrease  imports  and  revenues,  but  the 
final  result  is  to  increase  the  imports  and 
duties,  arising  from  the  greater  ability  of 
the  country  to  purchase.  But  my  inten- 
tion is  not  to  discuss  at  this  time  the 
question  of  a  tariff,  but  to  show  the  effect 
of  a  change  in  the  duties  on  imports  upon 
the  revenues  of  the  country. 

I  clearly  recognize  that  while  the  public 
mind  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  encouraging 
home  manufacturers  by  levying  what  are 
called  protective  duties,  yet  the  people  are 
opposed  to  placing  those  duties  so  high 
that  they  become  prohibitory  and  making 
thereby  an  exclusive  market  for  our  manu- 
facturers at  home.  It  seems  very  clear  to 
my  mind,  in  view  of  these  statements  as  to 
the  result  of  decreasing  or  increasing  the 
duties  on  our  imports,  that  no  reduction 


of  revenue  is  practicable  by  changes  in 
our  tariff. 

The  second  great  interest  of  the  people, 
which  will  very  shortly  be  directly  af- 
fected by  the  large  and  increasing  surplus 
revenues  of  the  country,  is  the  system  of 
national  banks,  and  this  through  the  de- 
crease of  the  public  indebtedness  by  the 
application  of  the  annual  surplus  to  its 
payment.  The  large  annual  reduction  of 
the  public  debt  will  very  shortly  begin  to 
affect  the  confidence  of  the  public  in  the 
continuation  of  the  system.  It  will  in- 
crease public  anxieties  and  excite  their 
fears  as  to  a  substitution  of  any  other  sys- 
tem for  this  that  has  proven  so  acceptable 
and  so  valuable  to  the  country.  If  the  na- 
tional banking  system  is  to  be  worked  out 
of  existence,  it  will  inevitably  cause  serious 
financial  trouble. 

Financial  difficulties  among  a  people 
like  those  of  this  country,  however  ill-based 
or  slight,  are  always  attended  by  disas- 
trous consequences,  because  in  times  of 
prosperity  the  energies  and  hopefulness  of 
the  people  are  stretched  to  the  utmost 
limits,  and  the  shock  of  financial  trouble 
has  the  effect  of  an  almost  total  paralysis 
on  the  business  of  the  country.  It  is  cer- 
tainly the  part  of  statemanship  to  avoid 
such  a  calamity  whenever  it  is  possible. 

I  unhesitatingly  declare  and  believe  that 
the  value  of  our  system  of  national  banks 
is  so  great  in  the  benefits  the  country  de- 
rives therefrom  and  the  dangers  and  losses 
its  continuance  will  avoid  that  it  were 
better  to  continue  in  existence  an  indebt- 
edness equal  to  the  wants  of  the  banks 
which  the  country  may  from  time  to  time 
require  until  some  equally  conservative 
plan  may  be  offered  that  will  enable  us  to 
dispense  with  the  system. 

It  is  also  important  in  this  connection 
for  Senators  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  in- 
creasing business  of  the  country  will  an- 
nually require  increased  banking  facili- 
ties, and  consequently  increased  bonds  as 
the  basis  on  which  they  can  be  organized  ; 
and  it  should  not  be  overlooked  that  a 
possible  determination  by  Congress  to  pay 
off  by  retiring  or  by  funding  the  greenbacks 
will  create  a  great  hiatus  in  the  circulating 
medium  of  the  country,  which  can  only  be 
replaced  by  additional  national-bank  notes 
based  upon  an  equivalent  amount  of  pub- 
lie  indeotedness. 

In  view  of  the  statements  I  have  made,  I 
cannot  but  conclude  that  the  wisest  and 
most  prudent  course  for  Congress  is  to 
leave  tne  question  of  changes  in  the  tariff 
laws  to  be  adjusted  as  they  may  from  time 
to  time  require,  and  to  make  whatever  re- 
duction of  the  income  of  the  Government 
that  may  be  found  desirable  by  reducing 
the  changes  in  the  internal-revenue  laws. 

The  national  revenue  laws  as  they  now 
are  may  be  greatly  and  profitably  changed. 


BOOK  III.]  BENTON    ON    THE    ELECTION    OF    PRESIDENT. 


237 


They  are  very  burdensome  to  a  heavily- 
taxed  people,  and  such  burdens  should  be 
relieved  wherever  it  is  possible.  This  can 
now  be  done  with  safety  by  providing  that 
so  much  of  the  public  debt  may  be  paid  off 
from  time  to  time  as  may  not  be  required 
to  sustain  the  system  of  national  banks. 

I  move  that  the  resolution  be  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Finance. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 


Extracts  from  Speecli  of  Hon.  Tliomas  H. 
Benton, 

On  Propo$ed  Amendment  of  the  ConstUutkni  in  relation  to 
tht  election  of  Presi'lent  and  Vice-President,  Delivered 
in  the  U.  S.  Senate  Chamber,  A.  D.  1824. 

He  said: — The  evil  of  a  want  of  uni- 
formity in  the  choice  of  Presidential  elect- 
ors, is  not  limited  to  its  disfiguring  effect 
upon  the  face  of  our  government,  but  goes 
to  endanger  the  rights  of  the  people,  by 
permitting  sudden  alterations  on  the  eve 
of  an  election,  and  to  annihilate  the  rights 
of  the  small  States,  by  enabling  the  large 
ones  to  combine,  and  to  throw  all  their 
votes  into  the  scale  of  a  particular  candi- 
date. These  obvious  evils  make  it  certain 
that  any  uniform  rule  would  be  preferable 
to  the  present  state  of  things.  But,  in  fix- 
ing on  one,  it  is  the  duty  of  statesmen  to 
select  that  which  is  calculated  to  give  to 
every  portion  of  the  Union  its  due  share 
in  the  choice  of  a  chief  magistrate,  and 
to  every  individual  citizen  a  fair  opportu- 
nity of  voting  according  to  his  will.  This 
would  be  effected  by  adopting  the  District 
System.  It  would  divide  every  State  into 
districts  equal  to  the  whole  number  of  votes 
to  be  given,  and  the  people  of  each  district 
would  be  governed  by  its  own  majority, 
and  not  by  a  majority  existing  in  some  re- 
mote part  of  the  State.  This  would  be 
agreeable  to  the  rights  of  individuals  :  for 
in  entering  into  society,  and  submitting  to 
be  bound  oy  the  decision  of  the  majority, 
each  individual  retained  the  right  of  voting 
for  himself  wherever  it  was  practicable, 
and  of  being  governed  by  a  majority  of 
the  vicinage,  and  not  by  majorities  brought 
from  remote  sections  to  overwhelm  him 
with  their  accumulated  numbers.  It  would 
be  agreeable  to  the  interests  of  all  parts  of 
the  States ;  for  each  State  may  have  differ- 
ent interests  in  different  parts;  one  part 
may  be  agricultural,  another  manufactur- 
ing, another  commercial ;  and  it  would  be 
imjust  that  the  strongest  should  govern,  or 
that  two  should  combine  and  sacrifice  the 
third.  The  district  system  would  be  agree- 
able to  the  intention  of  our  present  consti- 
tution, which,  in  giving  to  each  elector  a 
separate  vote,  instead  of  giving  to  each 
State  a  consolidated  vote,  composed  of  all 
its  electoral  suffrages,  clearly  intended  that 
each  mass  of  persons  entitled  to  one  elector, 


should  have  the  right  of  gi\  one  vote, 
according  to  their  own  sense  o.  their  own 
interest. 

The  general  ticket  system  now  existing 
in  ten  States,  was  the  offspring  of  policy, 
and  not  of  any  disposition  to  give  fair  play 
to  the  will  of  the  people.  It  was  adopted 
by  the  leading  men  of  those  States,  to  en- 
able them  to  consolidate  the  vote  of  the 
State.  It  would  be  easy  to  prove  this  by 
referring  to  facts  of  historical  notoriety. 
It  contributes  to  give  power  and  conse- 
quence to  the  leaders  who  manage  the 
elections,  but  it  is  a  departure  from  the 
intention  of  the  constitution  ;  violates  the 
rights  of  the  minorities,  and  is  attended 
with  many  other  evils. 

The  intention  of  the  constitution  is  vio- 
lated because  it  was  the  intention  of  that 
instrument  to  give  to  each  mass  of  persons, 
entitled  to  one  elector,  the  power  of  giving 
an  electoral  vote  to  any  candidate  they 
preferred.  The  rights  of  minorities  are 
violated,  because  a  majority  of  one  will 
carry  the  vote  of  the  whole  State.  The 
principle  is  the  same,  whether  the  elector 
is  chosen  by  general  ticket,  or  b^  legisla- 
tive ballot;  a  majority  of  one,  in  either 
case,  carries  the  vote  of  the  whole  State. 
In  New  York,  thirty-six  electors  are  chosen; 
nineteen  is  a  majority,  and  the  candidate 
receiving  this  majority  is  fairly  entitled  to 
receive  nineteen  votes ;  but  he  counts  in 
reality  thirty-six :  because  the  minority  of 
seventeen  are  added  to  the  majority.  These 
seventeen  votes  belong  to  seventeen  masses 
of  people,  of  40,009  souls  each,  in  all  680,- 
000  people,  whose  votes  are  seized  upon, 
taken  away,  and  presented  to  whom  the 
majority  pleases.  Extend  the  calculation 
to  the  seventeen  States  now  choosing  elect- 
ors by  general  ticket  or  legislative  ballot, 
and  it  will  show  that  three  millions  of 
souls,  a  population  equal  to  that  which 
carried  us  through  the  Revolution,  may 
have  their  votes  taken  from  them  in  the 
same  way.  To  lose  their  votes  is  the  fate 
of  all  minorities,  and  it  is  theirs  only  to 
submit ;  but  this  is  not  a  case  of  votes  lost, 
but  of  votes  taken  away,  added  to  those  of 
the  majority,  and  given  to  a  person  to  whom 
the  minority  was  opposed. 

He  said,  this  objection  (to  the  direct 
vote  of  the  people)  had  a  weight  in  the 
year  1787,  to  which  it  is  not  entitled  in  the 
year  1824.  Our  government  was  then 
young,  schools  and  colleges  were  scarce, 
political  science  was  then  confined  to  ievi, 
and  the  means  of  diffusing  intelligence 
were  both  inadequate  and  uncertain.  The 
experiment  of  a  popular  government  was 
just  beginning;  the  people  had  been  just 
released  from  subjection  to  an  hereditary 
king,  and  were  not  yet  practiced  in  the  art 
of  choosing  a  temporary  chief  for  them- 
selves. But  thirtv-six  years  have  reversed 
this  picture ;  thirty-six  years,  which  have 


m 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  in. 


produced  so  many  wonderful  changes  in  I 
America,  have  accomplished  the  work  of 
many  centuries  upon  the  intelligence  of 
its  iriiabitants.  Within  that  period,  schools, 
colleges,  and  universities  have  multiplied 
to  an  amazing  extent.  The  means  of  dif- 
fusing intelligence  have  been  wonderfiilly 
augmented  by  the  establishment  of  six 
hundred  newspapers,  and  upwards  of  five 
thousand  post-offices.  The  whole  course 
of  an  American's  life,  civil,  social,  and  re- 
ligious, has  become  one  continued  scene  of 
intellectual  and  of  moral  improvement. 
Once  in  every  week,  more  than  eleven 
thousand  men,  eminent  for  learning  and 
for  piety,  perform  the  double  duty  of  amend- 
ing the  hearts,  and  enlightening  the  under- 
standings, of  more  than  eleven  thousand 
congregations  of  people.  Under  the  benign 
influence  of  a  free  government,  both  our 
public  institutions  and  private  pursuits,  our 
J  uries,  elections,  courts  of  justice,  the  liberal 
professions,  and  the  mechanical  arts,  have 
each  become  a  school  of  political  science 
and  of  mental  improvement.  The  federal 
legislature,  in  the  annual  message  of  the 
President,  in  reports  of  heads  of  depart- 
ments, and  committees  of  Congress,  and 
speeches  of  members,  pours  forth  a  flood 
of  intelligence  which  carries  its  waves  to 
the  remotest  confines  of  the  republic.  In 
the  different  States,  twenty-four  State  ex- 
ecutives and  State  legislatures,  are  annu- 
ally repeating  the  same  process  within  a 
more  limited  sphere.  The  habit  of  uni- 
versal travelling,  and  the  practice  of  uni- 
versal interchange  of  thought,  are  continu- 
ally circulating  the  intelligence  of  the 
country,  and  augmenting  its  mass  The 
face  of  our  country  itself,  its  vast  extent, 
its  grand  and  varied  features,  contribute  to 
expand  the  human  intellect  and  magnify 
its  power.  Less  than  half  a  century  of  the 
enjoyment  of  liberty  has  given  practical 
evidence  of  the  great  moral  truth,  that 
under  a  free  government,  the  power  of  the 
intellect  is  the  only  power  which  rules  the 
affairs  of  men ;  and  virtue  and  intelligence 
the  only  durable  passports  to  honor  and 
preferment  The  conviction  of  this  great 
truth  has  created  an  universal  taste  for 
learning  and  for  reading,  and  has  con- 
vinced every  parent  that  the  endowments 
of  the  mina  and  the  virtues  of  the  heart, 
are  the  only  imperishable,  the  only  inesti- 
mable riches  which  he  ccn  leave  to  his 
posterity. 

This  objection  (the  danger  of  tumults 
and  violence  at  the  elections)  is  taken 
from  the  history  of  the  ancient  republics ; 
and  the  tumultuary  elections  of  Rome  and 
Greece.  But  the  justness  of  the  example 
is  denied.  There  is  nothing  in  the  laws  of 
physiology  which  admits  a  parallel  between 
the  sanguinary  Roman,  the  volatile  Greek, 
and  the  phlegmatic'  American.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  state  of  the  respective  coun- 


tries, or  in  the  manner  of  voting,  which 
makes  one  an  example  for  the  other.  The 
Romans  voted  in  a  mass,  at  a  single  voting 
place,  even  when  the  qualified  voters 
amounted  to  millions  of  persons. 

They  came  to  the  polls  armed,  and  di- 
vided into  classes,  and  voted,  not  by  heads, 
but  by  centuries. 

In  the  Grecian  republics  all  the  voters 
were  brought  together  in  a  great  city,  and 
decided  the  contest  in  one  great  struggle. 

In  such  assemblages,  both  the  induce- 
ment to  violence,  and  the  means  of  com- 
mitting it,  were  prepared  by  the  govern- 
ment itself.  In  the  United  States  all  this 
is  different.  The  voters  are  assembled  in 
small  bodies,  at  innumerable  voting  places, 
distributed  over  a  vast  extent  of  country. 
They  come  to  the  polls  without  arms,  with- 
out odious  instructions,  without  any  temp- 
tation to  violence,  and  with  every  induce- 
ment to  harmony. 

If  heated  during  the  day  of  election, 
they  cool  off"  upon  returning  to  their 
homes,  and  resuming  their  ordinary  occu- 
pations. 

But  let  us  admit  the  truth  of  the  objec- 
tion. Let  us  admit  that  the  American 
people  would  be  as  tumultuary  at  this 
presidential  election  as  were  the  citizens 
of  the  ancient  republics  at  the  election  of 
their  chief  magistrates.  What  then  ?  Are 
we  thence  to  infer  the  inferiority  of  the 
officers  thus  elected,  and  the  consequent 
degradation  of  the  countries  over  which 
they  presided  ?  I  answer  no.  So  far  from 
it,  that  I  assert  the  superiority  of  these 
officers  over  all  others  ever  obtained  for 
the  same  countries,  either  by  hereditary 
succession,  or  the  most  select  mode  of 
election.  I  affirm  those  periods  of  history 
to  be  the  most  glorious  in  arms,  the  most 
renowned  in  arts,  the  most  celebrated  in 
letters,  the  most  useful  in  practice,  and  the 
most  happy  in  the  condition  of  the  people, 
in  which  the  whole  body  of  the  citizens 
voted  direct  for  the  chief  officer  of  their 
country.  Take  the  history  of  that  com- 
monwealth which  yet  shines  as  the  leading 
star  in  the  firmanent  of  nations.  Of  the 
twenty-five  centuries  that  the  Roman  state 
has  existed,  to  what  period  do  we  look  for 
the  generals  and  statesmen,  the  poets  and 
orators,  the  philosophers  and  historians, 
the  sculptors,  painters  and  architects,  whose 
immortal  works  have  fixed  upon  their 
country  the  admiring  eyes  of  all  succeed- 
ing ages  ?  Is  it  to  the  reign  of  the  seven 
first  kings  ? — to  the  reigns  of  the  emperors^ 
proclaimed  by  the  praetorian  bands  ? — to 
the  reigns  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs,  chosen 
by  a  select  body  of  electors  in  a  conclave 
of  most  holy  cardinals?  No. — We  look 
to  none  of  these,  but  to  that  short  interval 
of  four  centuries  and  a  half  which  lies  be- 
tween the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins,  and 
the  re-establishment  of  monarchy  in  the 


BOOK  III.]  BENTON    ON    THE    ELECTION    OF    PRESIDENT. 


239 


person  of  Octavius  Caesar.  It  is  to  this 
short  period,  during  which  the  consuls, 
tribunes,  and  praetors,  were  annually 
elected  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people,  to 
which  we  look  ourselves,  and  to  which  we 
direct  the  infant  minds  of  our  children, 
f  )r  all  the  works  and  monuments  of  Roman 
greatness ;  for  roads,  bridges,  and  acque- 
ducts,  constructed ;  for  victories  gained, 
nations  vanquished,  commerce  extended, 
treasure  imported,  libraries  founded,  learn- 
ing encouraged,  the  arts  flourishing,  the 
city  embellished,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth 
humbly  suing  to  be  admitted  into  the 
friendship,  and  taken  under  the  protection 
of  the  Roman  people.  It  was  of  this  mag- 
nificent period  that  Cicero  spoke,  when  he 
proclaimed  the  people  of  Rome  to  be  the 
masters  of  kings,  and  the  conquerors  and 
commanders  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
And,  what  is  wonderful,  during  this  whole 
period,  in  a  succession  of  four  hundred  and 
fifty  annual  elections,  the  people  never 
once  prepared  a  citizen  to  the  consulship 
who  did  not  carry  the  prosperity  and  glory 
of  the  Republic  to  a  point  beyond  that  at 
which  he  had  found  it. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  Giecian  Repub- 
»lics.  Thirty  centuries  have  elapsed  since 
they  were  founded ;  yet  it  is  to  an  ephem- 
eral period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
only  the  period  of  popular  elections  which 
intervened  between  the  dispersing  of  a 
cloud  of  petty  tyrants,  and  the  coming  of  a 
great  one  in  the  person  of  Philip,  King  of 
Macedon,  that  we  are  to  look  for  that 
galaxy  of  names  which  shed  so  much  lus- 
tre upon  their  country,  and  in  which  we 
are  to  find  the  first  cause  of  that  intense 
sympathy  which  now  burns  in  our  bosoms 
at  the  name  of  Greece. 

These  short  and  brilliant  periods  exhib- 
it the  great  triumph  of  popular  elections ; 
often  tumultuary,  often  stained  with  blood, 
but  always  ending  gloriously  for  the 
country. 

Then  the  right  of  suffrage  was  enjoyed  ; 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people  was  no  fiction. 
Then  a  sublime  spectacle  was  seen,  when 
the  Roman  citizen  advanced  to  the  polls 
and  proclaimed :  "/  vote  for  Cato  to  be 
consul ;"  the  Athenian,  "Ivotefor  Aristides 
to  he  Archon;"  the  Hebran,  "/  vote  for 
Pelopidas  to  be  Bceotrach;"  the  Lacede- 
monian, "Ivotefor  Leonidas  to  be  first  of 
the  Ephori,"  and  why  not  an  American 
citizen  the  same  ?  Why  may  he  not  go  up 
to  the  poll  and  proclaim,  "Ivotefor  Thomas 
Jefferson  to  be  President  of  the  United 
States  f"  Why  is  he  compelled  to  put  his 
vote  in  the  hands  of  another,  and  to  incur 
all  the  hazards  of  an  irresponsible  agency, 
when  he  himself  could  immediately  give 
his  own  vote  for  his  own  chosen  candidate, 
without  the  slightest  assistance  ''•om  agents 
•r  managers? 

But  I  have  other  objections  to  these  in- 


termediate electors.  They  are  the  peculiar 
and  favorite  institution  of  aristocratic  re- 
publics, and  elective  monarchies.  I  refer 
the  Senate  to  the  late  republics  of  Venice 
and  Genoa;  of  France,  and  her  litter;  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Poland;  the  empire  of 
Germany,  and  the  Pontificate  of  Rome. 
On  the  contrary,  a  direct  vote  by  the  peo- 
ple is  the  peculiar  and  favorite  institution 
of  democratic  republics ;  as  we  have  just 
seen  in  the  governments  of  Rome,  Athens, 
Thebes,  and  Sparta;  to  which  may  be 
added  the  principal  cities  of  the  Amphyc- 
tionic  and  Achaian  leagues,  and  the  re- 
nowned republic  of  Carthage  when  the 
rival  of  Rome. 

I  have  now  answered  the  objections 
which  were  brought  forward  in  the  year 
'78.  I  ask  for  no  judgment  upon  their 
validity  of  that  day,  but  I  aflirm  them  to 
be  without  force  or  reason  in  the  year  1824. 

Time  and  experience  have  so  decided. 
Yes,  time  and  experience,  the  only  infallible 
tests  of  good  or  had  institutions,  have  now 
shown  that  the  continuance  of  the  elec- 
toral system  will  be  both  useless  and  dan- 
gerous to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and 
that  the  only  effectual  mode  of  preserving 
our  government  from  the  corruptions 
which  have  undermined  the  liberties  of  so 
many  nations,  is,  to  confide  the  election  of 
our  chief  magistrates  to  those  who  are 
farthest  removed  from  the  influence  of  his 
patronage;  that  is  to  say,  to  the  whole 
body  of  American  citizens. 

The  electors  are  not  independent ;  they 
have  no  superior  intelligence ;  they  are  not 
left  to  their  own  judgment  in  the  choice  of 
a  President ;  they  are  not  above  the  con- 
trol of  the  people ;  on  the  contrary,  every 
elector  is  pledged,  before  he  is  chosen,  to 
give  his  vote  according  to  the  will  of  those 
who  choose  him. 

He  is  nothing  but  an  agent,  tied  down  to 
the  execution  of  a  precise  trust.  Every 
reason  which  induced  the  convention  to 
institute  electors  has  failed.  They  are  no 
longer  of  any  use,  and  may  be  dangerous 
to  the  liberties  of  the  people.  They  are 
not  useful,  because  they  have  no  power 
over  their  own  vote,  and  because  the  peo- 
ple can  vote  for.  a  President  as  easily  as 
they  can  vote  for  an  elector.  They  are 
dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
because,  in  the  first  place,  they  introduce 
extraneous  considerations  into  the  election 
of  President ;  and  in  the  second  place,  they 
may  sell  the  vote  which  is  intrusted  to 
their  keeping.  They  introduce  extraneous 
considerations,  by  bringing  their  own  char- 
acter and  their  own  exertions  into  the  pre- 
sidential canvass.  Every  one  sees  this. 
Candidates  for  electors  are  now  selected, 
not  for  the  reasons  mentioned  in  the  Fed- 
eralist, but  for  their  devotion  to  a  particu- 
lar party,  for  their  manners,  and  their 
talent  at  electioneering.    The  elector  may 


240 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


betray  the  liberties  of  the  people,  by  selling 
his  vote.  The  operation  is  easy,  because 
he  votes  by  ballot ;  detection  is  impossible, 
because  he  does  not  sign  his  vote ;  the  re- 
straint is  nothing  but  his  own  conscience, 
for  there  is  no  legal  punishment  for  this 
breach  of  trust.  If  a  swindler  defrauds 
you  out  of  a  few  dollars  of  property  or 
money,  he  is  whipped  and  pilloried,  and 
rendered  infamous  in  the  eye  of  the  law ; 
but,  if  an  elector  should  defraud  40,000 
people  of  their  vote,  there  is  no  remedy 
but  to  abuse  him  in  newspapers,  where  the 
best  men  in  the  country  may  be  abused,  as 
Benedict  Arnold  or  Judas  Iscariot. 

Every  reason  for  instituting  electors  has 
failed,  and  every  consideration  of  prudence 
requires  them  to  be  discontinued.  They 
are  nothing  but  agents,  in  a  case  which  re- 
quires no  agent;  and  no  prudent  man  would, 
or  ought,  to  employ  an  agent  to  take  care  of 
his  money,  his  property,  or  his  liberty, 
when  he  is  equally  capable  to  take  care  of 
them  himself. 

But,  if  the  plan  of  the  constitution  had 
not  failed — if  we  were  now  deriving  from 
electors  all  the  advantages  expected  from 
their  institution — I,  for  one,  would  still  be 
in  favor  of  getting  rid  of  them. 

I  should  esteem  the  incorruptibility  of 
the  people,  their  disinterested  desire  to  get 
the  best  man  for  President,  to  be  more 
than  a  counterpoise  to  all  the  advantages 
which  might  be  derived  from  the  superior 
intelligence  of  a  more  enlightened,  but 
smaller,  and  therefore,  more  corruptible 
body.  I  should  be  opposed  to  the  inter- 
vention of  electors,  oecause  the  double 
process  of  electing  a  man  to  elect  a  man, 
would  paralyze  the  spirit  of  the  people, 
and  destroy  the  life  of  the  election  itself? 
Doubtless  this  machinery  was  introduced 
into  our  constitution  for  the  purpose  of 
softening  the  action  of  the  democratic  ele- 
ment; but  it  also  softens  the  interest  of  the 
people  in  the  result  of  the  election  itself. 
It  places  them  at  too  great  a  distance  from 
their  first  servant,  ft  interposes  a  body 
of  men  between  the  people  and  the  object 
of  their  choice,  and  gives  a  false  direction 
to  the  gratitude  of  tlie  President  elected. 
He  feels  himself  indebted  to  the  electors 
who  collected  the  votes  of  the  people,  and 
not  to  the  people,  who  gave  their  votes  to 
the  electors. 

It  enables  a  few  men  to  govern  many, 
and,  in  time,  it  will  transfer  the  whole 
power  of  the  election  into  the  hands  of  a 
lew,  leaving  to  the  people  the  humble  oc- 
cupation of  confirming  what  has  been  done 
hy  superior  authority. 


IN  MEMORIAM. 

Hon.  James  O.  Blaine's  Oration  on  Pre«t« 
dent  Garfield. 

THE  GKAND  MOEAL  OF  HIS  CAREER. 

An  ElnboraU,  Puluhed  and  Bcholarly  Tribute  by  an  Aceom- 

pluhed  Orator,  in  the  Hall  of  the  Houte  of  Beprtienta- 

lives,  on  Monday,  Feb  27,  1882. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  doors  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  were  opened  to  holders  of 
tickets  for  the  memorial  services,  and  in 
less  than  half  an  hour  the  galleries  were 
filled,  a  large  majority  of  the  spectators 
being  ladies,  mostly  in  black.  There  were 
no  signs  of  mourning  in  the  hall,  even  the 
full-length  portrait  of  the  late  President, 
James  Abram  Garfield,  painted  by  E.  F. 
Andrews,  of  Washington,  being  unSraped. 
The  three  front  rows  of  desks  had  been  re- 
placed by  chairs  to  accommodate  the  invited 
guests,  and  the  Marine  Band  was  stationed 
in  the  lobby,  back  of  the  Speaker's  desk. 

Among  the  distinguished  guests  first  to 
arrive  were  George  Bancroft,  W.  W*.  Cor- 
coran, Cyrus  Field  and  Admiral  Worden, 
who  took  seats  directly  in  front  of  the 
clerk's  desk.  Among  the  guests  who  occu- 
pied seats  upon  the  floor  were  General 
Schenck,  Governor  Hoyt,  of  Pennsylvania ; 
Foster,  of  Ohio ;  Porter,  of  Indiana;  Ham- 
ilton, of  Maryland,  and  Bigelow,  of  Con- 
necticut, and  Adjutant-General  Harmine, 
of  Connecticut. 

At  11.30  Generals  Sherman,  Sheridan, 
Hancock,  Howard  and  Meigs,  and  Admi- 
rals Ammen  and  Rodgers  entered  at  the 
north  door  of  the  chamber  and  were  as- 
signed seats  to  the  left  of  the  Speaker's 
desk,  and  a  few  moments  later  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  in  full  re- 
falia,  were  ushered  in,  headed  by  the 
lawaiian  Minister,  as  dean  of  the  Corps. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  the  District,  heaaed 
by  Marshal  Henry,  arrived  next.  Mrs. 
Blaine  occupied  a  iront  seat  in  the  gallery 
reserved  for  friends  of  the  President.  At 
twelve  o'clock  the  House  was  called  to 
order  by  Speaker  Keifer,  and  prayer  was 
offered  by  the  Chaplain.  The  Speaker 
then  announced  that  the  House  was  assem- 
bled and  ready  to  perform  its  part  in  the 
memorial  services,  and  the  resolutions  to 
that  effect  were  read  by  Clerk  McPherson. 
At  12.10  the  Senate  was  announced,  and  ' 
that  body,  headed  by  its  oflScers,  entered 
and  took  their  assigned  seats.  The  Chief 
Justice  and  Associate  Justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  in  their  robes  of  office,  came 
next,  and  were  followed  by  President  Ar- 
thur and  his  Cabinet.  The  President  took 
the  front  seat  on  the  right  of  the  Presiding 
Officer's  chair,  next  to  that  occupied  by 
Cyrus  W.  Field. 

Senator  Sherman  and  Representative 
McKinley  (Ohio)  occupied  seats  at  the 
desk  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  orator  of 
the  day.    Mr.  West,  the  British  Minister, 


BOOK  III.]   BLAINE'S  EULOGY  ON  PRESIDENT  GARFIELD.         241 


was  the  only  member  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  who  did  not  wear  the  court  uni- 
form. 

A  delegation  of  gentlemen  from  the 
Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
acted  as  ushers  at  the  main  entrance  to 
the  Rotunda  and  in  the  various  corridors 
leading  to  the  galleries. 

At  12.30  the  orator  of  the  day  was  an- 
nounced, and  after  a  short  prayer  by  the 
Chaplain  of  the  House,  F.  D.  Power,  pre- 
sident Davis  said :  "  This  day  is  dedicated 
by  Congress  for  memorial  services  of  the 
late  President  of  the  United  States,  James 
A.  Grarfield.  I  present  to  you  the  Hon. 
James  G.  Blaine,  who  has  been  fitly  chosen 
as  the  orator  for  this  historical  occasion." 

Mr.  Blaine  then  rose,  and  standing  at 
the  clerk's  desk,  immediately  in  front  of 
the  two  presiding  officers,  proceeded,  with 
impressiveness  of  manner  and  clearness  of 
tone,  to  deliver  his  eulogy  from  manu- 
script, as  follows : 

Mr.  Blalne'8  Oration. 

Mr.  President :  For  the  second  time  in 
this  generation  the  great  departments  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  are 
assembled  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives 
to  do  honor  to  the  memory  oi  a  murdered 
President.  Lincoln  fell  at  the  close  of  a 
mighty  struggle  in  which  the  passions  of 
men  had  been  deeply  stirred.  The  tragi- 
cal termination  of  his  great  life  added  but 
another  to  the  lengthened  succession  of 
horrors  which  had  marked  so  many  lintels 
with  the  blood  of  the  first  born.  Garfield 
was  slain  in  a  day  of  peace,  when  brother 
had  been  reconciled  to  brother,  and  when 
anger  and  hate  had  been  banished  from 
the  land.  "  Whoever  shall  hereafter  draw 
the  portrait  of  murder,  if  he  will  show  it 
as  it  has  been  exhibited  where  such  ex- 
ample was  last  to  have  been  looked  for,  let 
him  not  give  it  the  grim  visage  of  Moloch, 
the  brow  knitted  by  revenge,  the  face 
black  with  settled  hate.  Let  him  draw, 
rather,  a  decorous  smootli-faced,  bloodless 
demon ;  not  so  much  an  example  of  human 
nature  in  its  depravity  and  in  its  par- 
oxysms of  crime,  as  an  infernal  being,  a 
fiend  in  the  ordinary  display  and  develop- 
ment of  his  character." 

GARFIELD'S  ANCESTORS. 

From  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth  till  the  uprising  against  Charles 
First,  about  twenty  thousand  emigrants 
came  from  old  England  to  New  England. 
As  they  came  in  pursuit  of  intellectual 
freedom  and  ecclesiastical  independence 
rather  than  for  worldly  honor  and  profit, 
the  emigration  naturally  ceased  when  the 
contest  for  religious  liberty  began  in 
earnest  at  home.  The  man  who  struck 
hia  most  effective  blow  for  freedom  of  con- 
44 


science  by  sailing  for  the  colonies  in  1620 
would  have  been  accounted  a  deserter  to 
leave  aft«r  1640.  The  opportunity  had 
then  come  on  the  soil  of  England  for  that 
great  contest  which  established  the  au- 
thority of  Parliament,  gave  religious  free- 
dom to  the  people,  sent  Charles  to  the 
block,  and  committed  to  the  hands  of  Oli- 
ver Cromwell  the  Supreme  Executive  au- 
thority of  England.  The  English  emigra- 
tion was  never  renewed,  and  from  these 
twenty  thousand  men  with  a  small  emi- 
gration from  Scotland  and  from  France 
are  descended  the  vast  numbers  who  have 
New  England  blood  in  their  veins. 

In  1685  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes  by  Louis  XIV.  scattered  to  other 
countries  four  hundred  thousand  Protea-' 
tants,  who  were  among  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  enterprising  of  French  subjects- 
merchants  of  capital,  skilled  manufac- 
turers, and  handicraftsmen  superior  at  the 
time  to  all  others  in  Europe.  A  consider- 
able number  of  these  Huguenot  French 
came  to  America ;  a  few  landed  in  New 
England  and  became  honorably  prominent 
in  its  history.  Their  names  have  in  large 
part  become  anglicised,  or  have  disap- 
peared, but  their  blood  is  traceable  m 
many  of  the  most  reputable  families,  and 
their  fame  is  perpetuated  in  honorable 
memorials  and  useful  institutions. 

From  these  two  sources,  the  English- 
Puritan  and  the  French-Huguenot,  came 
the  late  President — his  father,  Abram  Gur- 
field,  being  descended  from  the  one,  and 
his  mother,  Eliza  Ballou,  from  the  other. 

It  was  good  stock  on  both  sides — none 
better,  none  braver,  none  truer.  There 
was  in  it  an  inheritance  of  courage,  of 
manliness,  of  imperishable  love  of  liberty, 
of  undying  adherence  to  principle.  Gar- 
field was  proud  of  his  blood ;  and,  with  as 
much  satisfaction  as  if  he  were  a  British 
nobleman  reading  his  stately  ancestral 
record  in  Burke's  Peerage,  he  spoke  of 
himself  as  ninth  in  descent  from  those  who 
would  not  endure  the  oppression  of  the 
Stuarts,  and  seventh  in  descent  from  the 
brave  French  Protestants  who  refused  to 
submit  to  tyranny  even  from  the  Grand 
Monarque. 

General  Garfield  delighted  to  dwell  on 
these  traits,  and  during  his  only  visit  to 
England,  he  busied  himself  in  discovering 
every  trace  of  his  forefathers  in  parish 
registries  and  on  ancient  army  rolls.  Sit- 
ting with  a  friend  in  the  gallery  of  the 
House  of  Commons  one  night  after  a  long 
day's  labor  in  this  field  of  research,  he  said 
with  evident  elation  that  in  every  war  in 
which  for  three  centuries  patriots  of  En- 
glish blood  had  struck  sturdy  blows  for 
constitutional  government  and  human  lib- 
erty, his  familv  had  been  represented. 
They  were  at  Marston  Moor,  at  Nasebv 
and  at  Preston ;  they  were  at  Bunker  Hill, 


242 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  hi. 


at  Saratoga,  and  at  Monmouth,  and  in  hia 
own  person  had  battled  for  the  same  great 
cause  in  the  war  which  preserved  the 
Union  of  the  States. 

Losing  his  father  before  he  was  two 
years  old,  the  early  life  of  Garfield  was  one 
of  privation,  but  its  poverty  has  been  made 
indelicately  and  unjustly  prominent. 
Thoiisands  of  readers  have  imagined  him 
as  the  ragged,  starving  child,  whose  reality 
too  often  greets  the  eye  in  the  squalid  sec- 
tions of  our  large  cities.  General  Garfield's 
infancy  and  youth  had  none  of  their  des- 
titution, none  of  their  pitiful  features  ap- 
pealing to  the  tender  heart  and  to  the 
open  hand  of  charity  He  was  a  poor  boy 
in  the  same  sense  in  which  Henry  Clay 
was  a  poor  boy ;  in  which  Andrew  Jack- 
son was  a  poor  boy ;  in  which  Daniel  Web- 
ster was  a  poor  boy ;  in  the  sense  in  which 
a  large  majority  of  the  eminent  men  of 
America  in  all  generations  have  been  poor 
boys.  Before  a  great  multitude  of  men,  in 
a  public  speech,  Mr.  Webster  bore  this 
testimony : 

HIS  EARLY  DAYS. 

"  It  did  not  happen  to  me  to  be  born  in 
a  log  cabin,  but  my  elder  brothers  and  sis- 
ters were  born  in  a  log  cabin  raised  amid 
the  snow  drifts  of  New  Hampshire,  at  a 
period  so  early  that  when  the  smoke  rose 
first  from  its  rude  chimney  and  curled  over 
the  frozen  hills  there  was  no  similar  evi- 
dence of  a  white  man's  habitation  between 
it  and  the  settlements  on  the  rivers  of 
Canada.  Its  remains  still  exist.  I  make 
to  it  an  annual  visit.  I  carry  my  children 
to  it  to  teach  them  the  hardships  endured 
by  the  generations  which  have  gone  before 
them.  I  love  to  dwell  on  the  tender  recol- 
lections, the  kindred  ties,  the  early  affec- 
tions and  the  touching  narratives  and  in- 
cidents which  mingle  with  all  I  know  of 
this  primitive  family  abode." 

With  the  requisite  change  of  scene  the 
same  words  would  aptly  portray  the  early 
days  of  Garfield.  The  poverty  of  the 
frontier,  where  all  are  engaged  in  a  com- 
mon struggle  and  where  a  common  sym- 
pathy and  hearty  co-operation  lighten  the 
Durdens  of  each,  is  a  verv  different  pov- 
erty, different  in  kind,  different  in  influ- 
ence and  effect  from  that  conscious  and 
humiliating  indigence  which  is  every  day 
forced  to  contrast  itself  with  neighboring 
wealth  on  which  it  feels  a  sense  of  grind- 
ing dependence.  The  poverty  of  the 
frontier  is  indeed  no  poverty.  It  is  but 
the  beginning  of  wealth,  and  has  the 
boundless  possibilities  of  the  future  always 
opening  before  it.  No  man  ever  grew  up 
in  the  agricultural  regions  of  the  West, 
where  a  house-raising,  or  even  a  corn- 
busking,  is  a  matter  of  common  interest 
and  helpfulness,  with  any  other  feeling 
than  that  of  broad-minded,  generous  inde- 


pendence. This  honorable  independence 
marked  the  youth  of  Garfield  as  it  marks 
the  youth  of  millions  of  the  best  blood 
and  brain  now  training  for  the  future  citi- 
zenship and  future  government  of  the  re- 
public. Garfield  was  born  heir  to  land,  to 
the  title  of  free-holder  which  has  been  the 
patent  and  passport  of  self-respect  with 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  ever  since  Hengist 
and  Horsa  landed  on  the  shores  of  Eng- 
land. Hia  adventure  on  the  canal — an 
alternative  between  that  and  the  deck  of  a 
Lake  Erie  schooner — was  a  farmer  boy's 
device  for  earning  money,  just  as  the  New 
England  lad  begins  a  possibly  great  career 
by  sailing  before  the  mast  on  a  coasting 
vessel  or  on  a  merchantman  bound  to  the 
farther  India  or  to  the  China  Seas. 

No  manly  man  feels  anything  of  shame 
in  looking  back  to  early  struggles  with  ad- 
verse circumstances,  and  no  man  feels  a 
worthier  pride  than  when  he  has  con- 
quered the  obstacles  to  his  progress.  But 
no  one  of  noble  mould  desires  to  be  looked 
upon  as  having  occupied  a  menial  position, 
as  having  been  repressed  by  a  feeling  of 
inferiority,  or  as  having  suffered  the  evils 
of  poverty  until  relief  was  found  at  the 
hand  of  charity.  General  Garfield's  youth 
presented  no  hardships  which  family  love 
and  family  energy  did  not  overcome,  sub- 
jected him  to  no  privations  which  he  did 
not  cheerfully  accept,  and  left  no  memories 
save  those  which  wore  recalled  w-ith  de- 
light, and  transmitted  with  profit  and  with 
pride. 

Garfield's  early  opportunities  for  secur- 
ing an  education  were  extremely  limited, 
and  yet  were  sufficient  to  develop  in  him 
an  intense  desire  to  learn.  He  could  read 
at  three  years  of  age,  and  each  winter  he 
had  the  advantage  of  the  district  school. 
He  read  all  the  books  to  be  found  within 
the  circle  of  his  acquaintance ;  some  of 
them  he  got  by  heart.  While  yet  in  child- 
hood he  was  a  constant  student  of  the 
Bible,  and  became  familiar  with  its  liter- 
ature. .  The  dignity  and  earnestness  of  his 
speech  in  his  maturer  life  gave  evidence  of 
this  early  training.  At  eighteen  years  of 
age  he  was  able  to  teach  school,  and  thence- 
forward his  ambition  was  to  obtain  a  col- 
lege education.  To  this  end  he  bent  all 
his  efibrts,  working  in  the  harvest  field,  at 
the  carpenter's  bench,  and,  in  the  winter 
season,  teaching  the  common  schools  of 
the  neighborhood.  While  thus  laborious- 
ly occupied  he  found  time  to  prosecute  his 
studies  and  was  so  successful  that  at  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  he  was  able  to  enter  the 
junior  class  at  Williams  College,  then  un- 
der the  presidency  of  the  venerable  and 
honored  Mark  Hopkins,  who,  in  the  fiill- 
ness  of  his  powers,  survives  the  eminent 
pupil  to  whom  he  was  of  inestimable  ser- 
vice. 

The  history  of  Garfield's   life  to   this 


Boozm-J    BLAINE'S  EULOGY  ON  PRESIDENT  GARFIELD.        243 


Seriod  presents  no  novel  features.  He 
ad  undoubtedly  shown  perseverance,  self- 
reliance,  self-sacrifice,  and  ambition — qual- 
ities which,  be  it  said  for  the  honor  of  our 
country,  are  everywhere  to  be  found  among 
the  young  men  of  America.     But  from  his 

fraduation  at  Williams  onward,  to  the 
our  of  his  tragical  death,  Garfield's  career 
was  eminent  and  exceptional.  Slowly 
working  through  his  educational  period, 
receiving  his  diploma  when  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  he  seemed  at  one  bound  to 
spring  into  conspicuous  and  brilliant  suc- 
cess. Within  SIX  years  he  was  success- 
ively president  of  a  college,  State  Senator 
of  Ohio,  Major  General  of  the  Army  of 
the  United  States  and  Representative-elect 
to  the  National  Congress.  A  combination 
of  honors  so  varied,  so  elevated,  within  a 
period  so  brief  and  to  a  man  so  young,  is 
without  precedent  or  parallel  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  country. 

IN  THE  ARMY. 

Garfield's  army  life  was  begun  with  no 
other  military  knowledge  than  such  as  he 
had  hastily  gained  from  books  in  the  few 
months  preceding  his  march  to  the  field. 
Stepping  from  civil  life  to  the  head  of  a 
regiment,  the  first  order  he  received  when 
ready  to  cross  the  Ohio  was  to  assume  com- 
mand of  a  brigade,  and  to  operate  as  an 
independent  force  in  Eastern  Kentucky. 
His  immediate  duty  was  to  check  the  ad- 
vance of  Humphrey  Marshall,  who  was 
marching  down  the  Bi^  Sandy  with  the 
intention  of  occupying  in  connection  with 
other  Confederate  forces  the  entire  terri- 
tory of  Kentucky,  and  of  precipitating  the 
State  into  secession.  This  was  at  the  close 
of  the  year  1861.  Seldom,  if  ever,  has  a 
young  college  professor  been  thrown  into 
a  more  embarrassing  and  discouraging  po- 
sition. He  knew  just  enough  of  military 
science,  as  he  expressed  it  himself,  to  mea- 
sure the  extent  of  his  ignorance,  and  with 
a  handful  of  men  he  was  marching,  in 
rough  winter  weather,  into  a  strange  coun- 
try, among  a  hostile  population  to  confront 
a  largely  superior  force  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  distinguished  graduate  of  West 
Point,  who  had  seen  active  and  important 
service  in  two  preceding  wars. 

The  result  of  the  campaign  is  matter  of 
history.  The  skill,  the  endurance,  the  ex- 
traordinary energy  shown  by  Garfield,  the 
courage  imparted  to  his  men,  raw  and  un- 
tried as  himself,  the  measures  he  adopted 
to  increase  his  force  and  to  create  in  the 
enemy's  mind  exaggerated  estimates  of 
hia  numbers,  bore  perfect  fruit  in  the  rout- 
ing of  Marshall,  the  capture  of  his  camp, 
the  dispersion  of  his  force,  and  the  eman- 
cipation of  an  important  territory  from  the 
control  of  the  rebellion.  Coming  at  the 
close  of  a  long  series  of  disasters  to  the 
Union  arms,  Garfield's  victory  had  an  un- 


usual and  extraneous  importance,  and  in 
the  popular  judgment  elevated  the  young 
commander  to  the  rank  of  a  military  hero. 
With  less  than  two  thousand  men  in  his 
entire  command,  with  a  mobilized  force  of 
only  eleven  hundred,  without  cannon,  he 
had  met  an  army  of  five  thousand  and  de- 
feated them— driving  Marshall's  forces  suc- 
cessively from  two  strongholds  of  their 
own  selection,  fortified  witli  abundant  ar- 
tillery. Major-General  Buell,  command- 
ing the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  an  ex- 
perienced and  able  soldier  of  the  regular 
army,  published  an  order  of  thanks  and 
congratulation  on  the  brilliant  result  of 
the  Big  Sandy  campaign  which  would 
have  turned  the  head  of  a  less  cool  and 
sensible  man  than  Garfield.  Buell  declared 
that  his  services  had  called  into  action  the 
highest  qualities  of  a  soldier,  and  President 
Lincoln  supplemented  these  words  of  praise 
by  the  more  substantial  reward  of  a  brig- 
adier-general's commission,  to  bear  date 
from  the  day  of  his  decisive  victory  over 
Marshall. 

The  subsequent  military  career  of  Gar- 
field fiilly  sustained  its  brilliant  beginning. 
With  his  new  commission  he  was  assigned 
to  the  command  of  a  brigade  in  the  Army 
of  the  Ohio,  and  took  part  in  the  second 
and  decisive  day's  fight  in  the  great  battle 
of  Shiloh.  The  remainder  of  the  year 
1862  was  not  especially  eventful  to  Gar- 
field, as  it  was  not  to  the  armies  with 
which  he  was  serving.  His  practical  sense 
was  called  into  exercise  in  completing  the 
task,  assigned  him  by  General  Buell,  of  re- 
constructing bridges  and  re-establishing 
lines  of  railway  communication  for  the 
army.  His  occupation  in  this  useful  but 
not  brilliant  field  was  varied  by  service  on 
courts-martial  of  importance,  in  which  de- 
partment of  duty  he  won  a  valuable  repu- 
tation, attracting  the  notice  and  securing 
the  approval  of  the  able  and  eminent 
Judge-Advocate-General  of  the  Army. 
That  of  itself  was  a  warrant  to  honorable 
fame ;  for  among  the  great  men  who  in 
those  trying  days  gave  themselves,  with 
entire  devotion,  to  the  service  of  their 
country,  one  who  brought  to  that  service 
the  ripest  learning,  the  most  fervid  elo- 
quence, the  most  varied  attainments,  who 
labored  with  modesty  and  shunned  ap- 
plause, who  in  the  day  of  triumph  sat  re- 
served and  silent  and  grateful — as  Francis 
Deak  in  the  hour  of  Hungary's  deliverance 
— was  Joseph  Holt,  of  Kentucky,  who  in 
his  honorable  retirement  enjoys  "the  respect 
and  veneration  of  all  who  love  the  Union 
of  the  States. 

Early  in  1863  Garfield  was  assigned  to 
the  highly  important  and  responsible  post 
of  chief  of  staff  to  General  Rosecrans,  then 
at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land. Perhaps  in  a  great  military  cam- 
paign   no    subordinate    officer    requires 


244 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III, 


sounder  judgment  and  quicker  knowledge 
of  men  than  the  chief  of  staflF  to  the  com- 
manding general.  An  indiscreet  man  in 
such  a  position  can  sow  more  discord, 
breed  more  jealousy  and  disseminate  more 
strife  than  any  other  officer  in  the  entire 
organization.  When  General  Garfield  as- 
sumed his  new  duties  he  found  various 
troubles  already  well  developed  and  seri- 
ously affecting  the  value  and  efficiency  of 
the  Army  of  Cumberland.  The  energy, 
the  impartiality'  and  the  tact  with  which 
he  sought  to  allay  these  dissensions,  and 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  new  and  try- 
ing position,  will  always  remain  one  of  the 
most  striking  proofs  of  his  great  versatility. 
His  militarj-  duties  closed  on  the  memor- 
able field  of  Chickamauga,  a  field  which 
however  disastrous  to  the  Union  arms  gave 
to  him  the  occasion  of  winning  imperish- 
able laurels.  The  very  rare  distinction 
was  accorded  him  of  great  promotion  for 
his  bravery  on  a  field  that  was  lost.  Pres- 
ident Lincoln  appointed  him  a  Major-Gen- 
eral  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States  for 
gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Chickamauga. 

The  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  re- 
organized under  the  command  of  General 
Thomas,  who  promptly  offered  Garfield 
one  of  its  divisions.  He  was  extremely 
desirous  to  accept  the  position,  but  was 
embarrassed  by  the  fact  that  he  had,  a 
year  before,  been  elected  to  Congress,  and 
the  time  when  he  must  take  his  seat  was 
drawing  near.  He  preferred  to  remain  in 
the  military  ser\'ice,  and  had  within  "his 
own  breast  the  largest  confidence  of  suc- 
cess in  the  wider  field  which  his  new  rank 
opened  to  him.  Balancing  the  arguments 
on  the  one  side  and  the  other,  anxious  to 
determine  what  was  for  the  best,  desirous 
above  all  things  to  do  his  patriotic  duty, 
he  was  decisively  influencea  by  the  advice 
of  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Stan- 
ton, both  of  whom  assured  him  that  he 
could  at  that  time,  be  of  especial  value  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  He  re- 
signed his  commission  of  Major-General 
on  the  5th  day  of  December,  1863,  and 
took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives on  the  7th.  He  had  served  two  years 
and  four  months  in  the  army,  and  had  just 
completed  his  thirty-second  year. 

IX  CONGRESS. 

The  Thirty-eighth  Congress  is  pre-emi- 
nently entitled  m  history  to  the  designa- 
tion of  the  War  Congress.  It  was  elected 
while  the  war  was  flagrant,  and  every 
member  was  chosen  upon  the  issues  in- 
volved in  the  continuance  of  the  struggle. 
The  Thirty-seventh  Congress  had,  indeed, 
legislated  to  a  large  extent  on  war  measures 
but  it  was  chosen  before  any  one  believed 
that  secession  of  the  States  would  be  actu- 
ally attempted.    The  magnitude  of  the 


work  which  fell  upon  its  successor  was  un- 
precedented, both  in  respect  to  the  vast 
sums  of  money  raised  for  the  support  of 
the  Army  and  Navy,  and  of  the  new  and 
extraordmary  powers  of  legislation  which 
it  was  forced  to  exercise.  Onlv  twenty- 
four  States  were  represented,  ana  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-two  members  were  upon 
its  roll.  Among  these  were  many  dis- 
tinguished party  leaders  on  both  sides, 
veterans  in  the  public  service,  with  estab- 
lished reputations  for  ability,  and  with 
that  skill  which  comes  only  from  parlia- 
mentary experience.  Into  this  assemblage 
of  men  Garfield  entered  without  special 
preparation,  and  it  might  almost  be  said 
unexpectedly.  The  question  of  taking 
command  of  a  division  of  troops  under 
General  Thomas,  or  taking  his  seat  in 
Congress  was  kept  open  till  the  last  moment 
so  late,  indeed,  that  the  resignation  of  his 
military  commission  and  his  appearance 
in  the  House  were  almost  contempora- 
neous. He  wore  the  uniform  of  a  Major- 
General  of  the  United  States  Army  on 
Saturday,  and  on  Monday  in  civilian's 
dress,  he  answered  to  the  roll-call  as  a 
Representative  in  Congress  from  the  State 
of  Ohio. 

He  was  especially  loi-tunate  in  the  con- 
stituency which  elected  him.  Descended 
almost  entirely  from  New  England  stock, 
the  men  of  the  Ashtabula  district  were  in- 
tensely radical  on  all  questions  relating  to 
human  rights.  Well  educated,  thrifty, 
thoroughly  intelligent  in  affairs,  acutely 
discerning  of  character,  not  quick  to  bestow 
confidence,  and  slow  to  witndraw  it,  they 
were  at  once  the  most  helpful  and  most  ex- 
acting of  supporters.  Their  tenacious  trust 
in  men  in  whom  they  have  once  confided 
is  illustrated  by  the  unparalleled  fact  that 
Elisha  Whittlesey,  Joshua  R.  Giddings, 
and  James  A.  Garaeld  represented  the  dis- 
trict for  fifty-four  years. 

There  is  no  test  of  a  man's  ability  in  any 
department  of  public  life  more  severe  than 
service  in  the  House  of  Representatives; 
there  is  no  place  where  so  little  deference 
is  paid  to  reputation  previously  acquired 
or  to  eminence  won  outside ;  no  place  where 
so  little  consideration  is  shown  for  the  feel- 
ings or  failures  of  beginners.  What  a  man 
gams  in  the  House  he  gains  by  sheer  force 
of  his  own  character,  and  if  he  loses  and 
falls  back  he  must  expect  no  mercy  and 
will  receive  no  sympathy.  It  is  a  field  in 
which  the  survival  of  the  strongest  is  the 
recognized  rule  and  where  no  pretense  can 
deceive  and  no  glamour  can  mislead.  The 
real  man  is  discovered,  his  worth  is  impar- 
tially weighed,  his  rank  is  irreversibly  de- 
creed. 

With  possibly  a  single  exception  Garfield 
was  the  youngest  member  in  the  House 
when  he  entered,  and  was  but  seven  years 
from  his  college  graduation.    But  he  had 


BOOK  HI.]  BLAINE'S  EULOGY  ON  PRESIDENT  GARFIELD.        245 


not  been  in  his  seat  sixty  days  before  his 
ability  was  recognized  and  his  place  con- 
ceded. He  stepped  to  the  front  with  the 
confidence  of  one  who  belonged  there.  The 
House  was  crowded  with  strong  men  of 
both  parties ;  nineteen  of  them  have  since 
been  transferred  to  the  Senate,  and  many 
of  them  have  served  with  distinction  in  the 
gubernatorial  chairs  of  their  respective 
States,  and  on  foreign  missions  oi  great 
consequence ;  but  among  them  all  none 
grew  so  rapidly  none  so  firmly  as  Garfield. 
As  is  said  by  Trevelyan  of  his  parliament- 
ary hero,  Garfield  succeeded  "because  all 
the  world  in  concert  could  not  have  kept 
him  in  the  background,  and  because  when 
once  in  the  front  he  played  his  part  with  a 
prompt  intrepidity  and  a  commanding  ease 
that  were  but  the  outward  symptoms  of  the 
immense  reserves  of  energy,  on  which  it 
was  in  his  power  to  draw."  Indeed  the 
apparently  reserved  force  which  Garfield 
possessed  was  one  of  his  great  characteris- 
tics. He  never  did  so  well  but  that  it  seemed 
he  could  easily  have  done  better.  He 
never  expended  so  much  strength  but  that 
he  seemed  to  be  holding  additional  power 
at  call.  This  is  one  of  the  happiest  and 
rarest  distinctions  of  an  effective  debater, 
and  often  counts  forasmuch  in  persuading 
an  assembly  as  the  eloquent  and  elaborate 
argument. 

The  great  measure  of  Garfield's  fame 
was  filled  by  his  service  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  His  military  life,  illus- 
trated by  honorable  performance,  and  rich 
in  promise,  was,  as  he  himself  felt,  prema- 
turely terminated,  and  necessarily  incom- 
Elete.  Speculation  as  to  what  he  might 
ave  done  in  a  field,  where  the  great  prizes 
are  so  few,  cannot  be  profitable.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  as  a  soldier  he  did  his 
duty  bravely ;  he  did  it  intelligently ;  he 
won  an  enviable  fame,  and  he  retired  from 
the  service  without  blot  or  breath  against 
him.  As  a  lawyer,  though  admirably 
equipped  for  the  profession,  he  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  entered  on  its  practice. 
The  few  efforts  he  made  at  the  bar  were 
distinguished  by  the  same  high  order  of 
talent  which  he  exhibited  on  every  field 
where  he  was  put  to  the  test,  and  if  a  man 
may  be  accepted  as  a  competent  judge  of 
his  own  capacities  and  adaptations,  the 
law  was  the  profession  to  which  Garfield 
should  have  devoted  himself.  But  fate  or- 
dained otherwise,  and  his  reputation  in 
history  will  rest  largely  upon  his  service 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  That 
service  was  exceptionally  long.  He  was 
nine  times  consecutively  chosen  to  the 
House,  an  honor  enjoyed  by  not  more  than 
six  other  Representatives  of  the  more  than 
five  thousand  who  have  been  elected  from 
the  organization  of  the  government  to  this 
hour. 


ORATOR  AND  DEBATER. 

As  a  parliamentary  orator,  as  a  debater 
on  an  issue  squarely  joined,  where  the 
position  had  been  chosen  and  the  ground 
laid  out,  Garfield  must  be  assigned  a  very 
high  rank.  More,  perhaps,  than  any  man 
with  whom  he  was  associated  in  public 
life,  he  gave  careful  and  systematic  study 
to  public  questions,  and  he  came  to  everj' 
discussion  in  which  he  took  part  with 
elaborate  and  complete  preparation.  He 
was  a  steady  and  indefatigable  worker. 
Those  that  imagine  that  talent  or  genius 
can  supply  the  place  or  achieve  the  results 
of  labor  will  find  no  encouragement  in 
Garfield's  life.  In  preliminarj'  work  he 
was  apt,  rapid  and  skillful.  He  possessed 
in  a  high  degree  the  power  of  readily  ab- 
sorbing ideas  and  facts,  and,  like  Dr.  John- 
son, had  the  art  of  getting  from  a  book  all 
that  was  of  value  m  it  by  a  reading  ap- 
parently so  quick  and  cursory  that  it 
seemed  like  a  mere  glance  at  the  table  of 
contents.  He  was  a  pre-eminently  fair  and 
candid  man  in  debate,  took  no  petty  ad- 
vantage, stooped  to  no  unworthy  methods, 
avoided  personal  allusions,  rarely  appealed 
to  prejudice,  did  not  seek  to  inflame  pas- 
sion. He  had  a  quicker  eye  for  the  strong 
point  of  his  adversary  than  for  his  weak 
point,  and  on  his  own  side  he  so  marshaled 
his  weighty  arguments  as  to  make  his 
hearers  forget  any  possible  lack  in  the 
complete  strength  of  his  position.  He  had 
a  habit  of  stating  his  opponent's  side  with 
such  amplitude  of  fairness  and  such  liber- 
ality of  concession  that  his  followers  often 
complained  that  he  was  giving  his  cases 
away.    But  never  in  his  prolonged  partici- 

gation  in  the  proceedings  of  the  House  did 
e  give  his  case  away,  or  fail  in  the  judg- 
ment of  competent  and  impartial  listeners 
to  gain  the  mastery. 

These  characteristics,  which  marked 
Garfield  as  a  great  debater,  did  not,  how- 
ever, make  him  a  great  parliamentary 
leader.  A  parliamentary  leader,  as  that 
term  is  understood  wherever  free  repre- 
sentative government  exists,  is  necessarily 
and  very  strictly  the  organ  of  his  party. 
An  ardent  American  defined  the  instinctive 
warmth  of  patriotism  when  he  offered  the 
toast,  "Our  country  always  right,  but 
right  or  wrong,  our  countrj'."  The  par- 
liamentary leader  who  has  a  body  of  fol- 
lowers that  will  do  and  dare  and  die  for 
the  cause,  is  one  who  believes  his  party 
always  right,  but  right  or  wrong,  is  for  his 
party.  No  more  important  or  exacting 
duty  devolves  upon  him  than  the  selection 
of  the  field  and  the  time  for  contest.  He 
must  know  not  merely  how  to  strike,  but 
where  to  strike  and  when  to  strike.  He 
often  skillfully  avoids  the  strength  of  his 
opponent's  position  and  scatters  confusion 
in  his  ranks  by  attacking  an  exposed  point 
when  really  the  righteousness  of  the  cau8« 


246 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


and  the  strength  of  logical  intrenchment 
are  against  him.  He  conquers  often  both 
against  the  right  and  the  heavy  battalions ; 
as  when  young  Chas.  Fox,  in  the  days  of 
his  Toryism,  carried  the  House  of  Commons 
against  justice,  against  its  immemorial 
rights,  against  his  own  convictions,  if,  in- 
deed, at  that  period  Fox  had  convictions, 
and,  in  the  interest  of  a  corrupt  administra- 
tion, in  obedience  to  a  tyrannical  sovereign, 
drove  Wilkes  from  the  seat  to  which  the 
electors  of  Middlesex  had  chosen  him  and 
installed  Luttrell  in  defiance,  not  merely 
of  law,  but  of  public  decency.  For  an 
achievement  of  that  kind  Garfield  was  dis- 
qualified —  disqualified  by  the  texture  of 
nis  mind,  by  the  honesty  of  his  heart,  by 
his  conscience,  and  by  every  instinct  and 
aspiration  of  his  nature. 

The  three  most  distinguished  parlia- 
mentary leaders  hitherto  developed  in  this 
country  are  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Douglas  and 
Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens.  Each  was  a  man 
of  consummate  ability,  of  great  earnest- 
ness, of  intense  personality,  diflfering 
widely  each  from  the  others,  and  yet  with 
a  signal  trait  in  common — ^the  power  to 
command.  In  the  give  and  take  of  daily 
discussion,  in  the  art  of  controlling  and 
consolidating  reluctant  and  refractory  fol- 
lowers ;  in  the  skill  to  overcome  all  forms 
of  opposition,  and  to  meet  with  compe- 
tency and  courage  the  varying  phases  of 
unlooked-for  assault  or  unsuspected  defec- 
tion, it  would  be  difficult  to  rank  with 
these  a  fourth  name  in  all  our  Congres- 
sional history.  But  of  these  Mr.  Clay  was 
the  greatest.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  im- 
possible to  find  in  the  parliamentary 
annals  of  the  world  a  parallel  to  Mr.  Clay, 
in  1841,  when  at  sixty-four  years  of  age 
he  took  the  control  of  the  Whig  part^ 
from  the  President  who  had  received  their 
suflrages,  against  the  power  of  Webster  in 
the  Cabinet,  against  the  eloquence  of 
Choate  in  the  Senate,  against  the  Hercu- 
lean efforts  of  Caleb  Gushing  and  Henry 
A.  Wise  in  the  House.  In  unshared  lead- 
ership, in  the  pride  and  plenitude  of 
Sower  he  hurled  against  John  Tyler  with 
eepest  scorn  the  mass  of  that  conquering 
column  which  had  swept  over  the  land  in 
1840,  and  drove  his  administration  to  seek 
shelter  behind  the  lines  of  his  political 
foes.  Mr.  Douglas  achieved  a  victory 
scarcely  less  wonderful  when,  in  1854, 
against  the  secret  desires  of  a  strong  ad- 
ministration, against  the  w^ise  counsel  of 
the  older  chiefe,  against  the  conservative 
instincts  and  even  the  moral  sense  of  the 
country,  he  forced  a  reluctant  Congress 
into  a  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise. 
Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  in  his  contests 
from  1865  to  1868,  actually  advanced  his 
parliamentary  leadership  until  Congress 
tied  the  hands  of  the  President  and  gov- 
erned the  country  by  its  own  will,  leaving 


!  only  perfunctory  duties  to  be  discharged 
by  the  Executive.  With  two  hundred  mil- 
j  lions  of  patronage  in  his  hands  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  contest,  aided  by  the  active  force 
of  Steward  in  the  Cabinet  and  the  moral 
power  of  Chase  on  the  Bench,  Andrew 
Johnson  could  not  command  the  support 
of  one-third  in  either  House  against  the 
parliamentary  uprising  of  which  Thaddeus 
Stevens  was  the  animating  spirit  and  th* 
unquestioned  leader. 

From  these  three  great  men  Garfield 
differed  radically,  differed  in  the  quality  of 
his  mind,  in  temperament,  in  the  form 
and  phase  of  ambition.  He  could  not  do 
what  they  did,  but  he  could  do  what  they 
could  not,  and  ii^  the  breadth  of  his  Con- 
gressional work  he  left  that  which  will 
longer  exert  a  potential  influence  among 
men,  and  which,  measured  by  the  severe 
t€st  of  posthumous  criticism,  will  secure  a 
more  enduring  and  more  enviable  fame. 

GARFIELD'S    INDUSTRY. 

Those  unfamiliar  with  Garfield's  indus- 
try and  ignorant  of  the  details  of  his  work 
may,  in  some  degree,  measure  them  by  the 
annals  of  Congress.  No  one  of  the  gen- 
eration of  public  men  to  which  he  be- 
longed has  contributed  so  much  that  will 
be  valuable  for  future  reference.  His 
speeches  are  numerous,  many  of  them 
brilliant,  all  of  them  well  studied,  care- 
fully phrased  and  exhaustive  of  the  sub- 
ject under  consideration.  Collected  from 
the  scattered  pages  of  ninety  royal  octavo 
volumes  of  Congressional  Record  they 
would  present  an  invaluable  compendium 
of  the  political  history  of  the  most  impor- 
tant era  through  which  the  national  gov- 
ernment has  ever  passed.  When  the  his- 
tory of  this  perioa  shall  be  impartially 
written,  when  war  legislation,  measures  of 
reconstruction,  protection  of  human  rights, 
amendments  to  the  constitution,  mainte- 
nance of  public  credit,  steps  toward  specie 
resumption,  true  theories  of  revenue  may 
be  reviewed,  unsurrounded  by  prejudice 
and  disconnected  from  partisanism,  the 
speeches  of  Garfield  will  be  estimated  at 
their  true  value,  and  will  be  found  to  com- 
prise a  vast  magazine  of  fact  and  argu- 
ment, of  clear  analysis  and  sound  conclu- 
sion. Indeed,  if  no  other  authority  were 
accessible,  his  speeches  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  December  1863,  to 
June,  1880,  would  give  a  well  connected 
history  and  complete  defence  of  the  im- 
portant legislation  of  the  seventeen  event- 
ful years  that  constitute  his  Parliamentary 
life.  Far  beyond  that,  his  speeches  would 
be  found  to  forecast  many  great  measures, 
yet  to  be  completed — measures  which  he 
knew  were  beyond  the  public  opinion  of 
the  hour,  but  which  he  confidently  be- 
lieved   would   secure    popular   approval 


BooKiii.]  BLAINE'S    EULOGY    ON    GENERAL    GARFIELD,  247 


within  the  period  of  his  owa  lifetime,  and 
by  the  aid  of  his  own  efforts. 

Differing,  as  Garfield  does,  from  the 
brilliant  parliamentary  leaders,  it  is  not 
easy  to  find  his  counterpart  anywhere  in 
the  record  of  American  public  life.  He 
perhaps  more  nearly  resembles  Mr.  Seward 
m  his  supreme  faith  in  the  all-conquering 

{)Ower  of  a  principle.  He  had  the  love  of 
earning,  and  the  patient  industry  of  in- 
vestigation, to  which  John  Quincy  Adams 
owes  his  prominence  and  his  Presidency. 
He  had  some  of  those  ponderous  elements 
of  mind  which  distinguished  Mr.  Webster, 
and  which  indeed,  in  all  our  public  life, 
have  left  the  great  Massachusetts  Senator 
without  an  intellectual  peer. 

In  English  parliamentary  history,  as  in 
our  own,  the  leaders  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons present  points  of  essential  difference 
from  Garfield.  But  some  of  his  methods 
recall  the  best  features  in  the  strong,  inde- 
pendent course  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and 
striking  resemblances  are  discernible  in 
that  most  promising  of  modern  conserva- 
tives, who  died  too  early  for  his  country 
and  his  fame,  the  Lord  George  Bentinck. 
He  had  all  of  Burke's  love  for  the  sublime 
and  the  beautiful,  with,  possibly,  some- 
thing of  his  superabundance,  and  in  his 
faith  and  his  magnanimity,  in  his  power  of 
statement,  in  his  subtle  analysis,  in  his 
faultless  logic,  in  his  love  of  literature,  in 
his  wealth  and  world  of  illustration,  one  is 
reminded  of  that  great  English  statesman 
of  to-day,  who,  confronted  with  obstacles 
that  would  daunt  any  but  the  dauntless, 
reviled  by  those  whom  he  would  relieve  as 
bitterly  as  by  those  whose  supposed  rights 
he  is  forced  to  invade,  still  labors  with  se- 
rene courage  for  the  amelioration  of  Ire- 
land, and  for  the  honor  of  the  English 


NOMINATION  TO  THE   PRESIDENCY. 

Garfield's  nomination  to  the  Presidency, 
while  not  predicted  or  anticipated,  was  not 
a  surprise  to  the  country.  His  prominence 
in  Congress,  his  solid  qualities,  his  wide 
reputation,  strengthened  by  his  then  recent 
election  as  Senator  from  Ohio,  kept  him  in 
the  public  eye  as  a  man  occupying  the  very 
highest  rank  among  those  entitled  to  be 
called  statesmen.  It  was  not  mere  chance 
that  brought  him  this  high  honor.  "  We 
must,"  says  Mr.  Emerson,  "  reckon  success 
a  constitutional  trait.  If  Eric  is  in  robust 
health,  and  has  slept  well  and  is  at  the  top 
of  his  condition,  and  thirty  years  old  at  his 
departure  from  Greenland,  he  will  steer 
west  and  his  ships  will  reach  New  Found- 
land.  But  take  Eric  out  and  put  in  a 
stronger  and  bolder  man  and  the  snips  will 
sail  six  hundred,  one  thousand,  fifleen 
hundred  miles  farther  and  reach  Labrador 
and  New  England.  There  is  no  chance  in 
results." 


As  a  candidate,  Garfield  steadily  grew 
in  popular  favor.  He  was  met  with  a 
storm  of  detraction  at  the  very  hour  of  his 
nomination,  and  it  continued  with  increas- 
ing volume  and  momentum  until  the  close 
of  his  victorious  campaign : 

No  might  nor  greatness  in  mortality 
Can  censure  'scape ;  backwuunding  calumny 
The  whitest  virtue  strilies.    What  king  so  strong 
Can  tie  the  gall  up  in  the  slanderous  tongue  7 

Under  it  all  he  was  calm,  and  strong, 
and  confident ;  never  lost  his  self-posses- 
sion, did  no  unwise  act,  spoke  no  hasty  or 
ill-considered  word.  Indeed  nothing  in 
his  whole  life  is  more  remarkable  or  more 
creditable  than  his  bearing  through  those 
five  full  months  of  vituperation — a  pro- 
longed agony  of  trial  to  a  sensitive  man,  a 
constant  and  cruel  draft  upon  the  powers 
of  moral  endurance.  The  great  mass  of 
these  unjust  imputations  passed  unnoticed, 
and,  with  the  general  debris  of  the  cam- 
paign, fell  into  oblivion.  But  in  a  few 
instances  the  iron  entered  his  soul  and  he 
died  with  the  injury  unforgotten  if  not  un- 
forgiven. 

One  aspect  of  Garfield's  candidacy  was 
unprecedented.  Never  before  in  the  his- 
tory of  partisan  contests  in  this  country 
had  a  successful  Presidential  candidate 
spoken  freely  on  passing  events  and  cur- 
rent issues.  To  attempt  anything  of  the 
kind  seemed  novel,  rash,  and  even  desper- 
ate. The  older  class  of  voters  recalled  the 
unfortunate  Alabama  letter,  in  which  Mr. 
Clay  was  supposed  to  have  signed  his 
political  death-warrant.  They  remembered 
also  the  hot-tempered  effusion  by  which 
General  Scott  lost  a  lar^e  share  of  his 
popularity  before  his  nomination,  and  the 
unfortunate  speeches  which  rapidly  con- 
sumed the  remainder.  The  younger  voters 
had  seen  Mr.  Greeley  in  a  series  of  vigor- 
ous and  original  addresses,  preparing  the 
pathway  for  his  own  defeat.  Unmindful 
of  these  warnings,  unheeding  the  advice  of 
friends,  Garfield  spoke  to  large  crowds  as 
he  journeyed  to  and  from  New  York  in 
August,  to  a  great  multitude  in  that  city, 
to  delegations  and  deinitations  of  every 
kind  that  called  at  Mentor  during  the 
summer  and  autumn.  With  innumerable 
critics,  watchful  and  eager  to  catch  a 
phrase  that  might  be  turned  into  odium 
or  ridicule,  or  a  sentence  that  might  be 
distorted  to  his  own  or  his  party's  injury, 
Garfield  did  not  trip  or  halt  in  any  one  of 
his  seventy  speeches.  This  seems  all  the 
more  remarkable  when  it  is  remembered 
that  he  did  not  write  what  he  said,  and 
yet  spoke  with  such  logical  consecutive- 
ness  of  thought  and  sucli  admirable  preci- 
sion of  phrase  as  to  defy  the  accident  of 
misreport  and  the  malignity  of  misreprd- 
sentation. 


248 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


AS  PRESIDEKT. 

In  the  beginning  of  his  Presidential  life 
Grarfield's  experience  did  not  yield  him 
pleasure  or  satisfaction.  The  duties  that 
engross  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Presi- 
dent's time  were  distastel'ul  to  him,  and 
were  unfavorably  contrasted  with  his  leg- 
islative work.  "  I  have  been  dealing  all 
these  years  with  ideas,"  he  impatiently  ex- 
claimed one  day,  "  and  here  I  am  dealing 
only  with  persons.  I  have  been  heretofore 
treating  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
government,  and  here  I  am  considering  all 
day  whether  A  or  B  shall  be  appointed  to 
this  or  that  office.''  He  was  earnestly 
seeking  some  practical  way  of  correcting 
the  evils  arising  from  the  distribution  of 
overgrown  and  unwieldy  patronage — evils 
always  appreciated  and  often  discussed  by 
him,  but  whose  magnitude  had  been  more 
deeply  impressed  upon  his  mind  since  his 
accession  to  the  Presidency.  Had  he  lived, 
a  comprehensive  improvement  in  the  mode 
of  appointment  and  in  the  tenure  of  office 
would  have  been  proposed  by  him,  and 
with  the  aid  of  Congress  no  doubt  per- 
fected. 

But,  while  many  of  the  Executive  duties 
were  not  grateful  to  him,  he  was  assiduous 
and  conscientious  in  their  discharge.  From 
the  very  outset  he  exhibited  administrative 
talent  of  a  high  order.  He  grasped  the 
helm  of  office  with  the  hand  of  a  master. 
In  this  respect,  indeed,  he  constantly  sur- 
prised many  who  were  most  intimately  as- 
sociated with  him  in  the  government,  and 
especially  those  who  had  feared  that  he 
might  be  lacking  in  the  executive  faculty. 
His  disposition  of  business  was  orderly  and 
rapid.  His  power  of  analysis,  and  his 
skill  in  classification,  enabled  him  to  des- 
patch a  vast  mass  of  detail  with  singular 
promptness  and  ease.  His  Cabinet  meet- 
ings were  admirably  conducted.  His  clear 
presentation  of  official  subjects,  his  well- 
considered  suggestion  of  topics  on  which 
discussion  was  invited,  his  quick  decision 
when  all  had  been  heard,  combined  to 
show  a  thoroughness  of  mental  training  as 
rare  as  his  natural  ability  and  his  facile 
adaptation  to  a  new  and  enlarged  field  of 
labor. 

With  perfect  comprehension  of  all  the 
inheritances  of  the  war,  with  a  cool  calcu- 
lation of  the  obstacles  in  his  way,  im- 
pelled always  by  a  generous  enthusiasm, 
Garfield  conceived  that  much  might  be 
done  by  his  administration  towards  restor- 
ing harmony  between  the  different  sections 
of  the  Union.  He  was  anxious  to  go  South 
and  speak  to  the  people.  As  early  as 
April  he  had  ineffectually  endeavored  to 
arrange  for  a  trip  to  Nashville,  whither 
he  had  been  cordially  invited,  and  he  was 
again  disappointed  a  few  weeks  later  to  find 
that  he  could  not  go  to  South  Carolina  to 
attend  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  vic- 


tory of  the  Cowpens.  But  for  the  autumn 
he  definitely  counted  on  being  present  at 
three  memorable  assemblies  in  the  South, 
the  celebration  at  Yorktown,  the  opening 
of  the  Cotton  Exposition  at  Atlanta,  and 
the  meeting  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land at  Chattanooga.  He  was  already 
turning  over  in  his  mind  his  address  for 
each  occasion,  and  the  three  taken  toge- 
ther, he  said  to  a  friend,  gave  him  the 
exact  scope  and  verge  which  he  needed. 
At  Yorktown  he  would  have  before  him 
the  associations  of  a  hundred  years  that 
bound  the  South  and  the  North  in  the 
sacred  memory  of  a  common  danger  and 
a  common  victory.  At  Atlanta  he  would 
present  the  material  interests  and  the  in- 
dustrial development  which  appealed  to 
the  thrift  and  independence  of  every 
household,  and  which  should  unite  the 
two  sections  by  the  instinct  of  self-interest 
and  self-defence.  At  Chattanooga  he 
would  revive  memories  of  the  war  only  to 
show  that  after  all  its  disaster  and  all  its 
suflering,  the  country  was  stronger  and 
greater,  the  Union  rendered  indissoluble, 
and  the  future,  through  the  agony  and 
blood  of  one  generation,  made  brighter 
and  better  for  all. 

Garfield's  ambition  for  the  success  of 
his  administration  was  high.  With  strong 
caution  and  conservatism  in  his  nature, 
he  was  in  no  danger  of  attempting  rash 
experiments  or  of  resorting  to  the  empiri- 
cism of  statesmanship.  But  he  believed 
that  renewed  and  closer  attention  should 
be  given  to  questions  affecting  the  mate- 
rial interests  and  commercial  prospects  of 
fifty  millions  of  people.  He  believed  that 
our  continental  relations,  extensive  and 
undeveloped  as  they  are,  involved  respon- 
sibility, and  could  be  cultivated  into  pro- 
fitable friendship  or  be  abandoned  to 
harmful  indifference  or  lasting  enmity. 
He  believed  with  equal  confidence  that  an 
essential  forerunner  to  a  new  era  of  na- 
tional progress  must  be  a  feeling  of  con- 
tentment in  every  section  of  the  Union, 
and  a  generous  belief  that  the  benefits  ana 
burdens  of  government  would  be  common 
to  all.  Himself  a  conspicuous  illustration 
of  what  ability  and  ambition  may  do 
under  republican  institutions,  he  loved 
his  country  with  a  passion  of  patriotic  de- 
votion, and  every  waking  thought  was 
given  to  her  advancement.  He  was  an 
American  in  all  his  aspirations,  and  he 
looked  to  the  destiny  and  influence  of  the 
United  States  with  the  philosophic  com- 
posure of  Jefferson  and  the  demonstrative 
confidence  of  John  Adams. 

THE   POLITICAL   C0XTR0VER8Y. 

The  political  events  which  disturbed  the 
President's  serenity  for  many  weeks  before 
that  fatal  day  in  July  form  an  important 
chapter  in  his  career,  and,  in  his  own  judg- 


BOOKiii.]    BLAINE'S  EULOGY  ON  PRESIDENT  GARFIELD.        249 


ment,  involved  questions  of  principle  and 
of  right  which  are  vitally  essential  to  the 
constitutional  administration  of  the  Fede- 
ral Government.  It  would  be  out  of  place 
here  and  now  to  speak  the  language  of 
controversy,  but  the  events  referred  to, 
however  they  may  continue  to  be  source 
of  contention  with  others,  have  become, 
so  far  as  Garfield  is  concerned,  as  much  a 
matter  of  history  as  his  heroism  at  Chicka- 
mauga  or  his  illustrious  service  in  the 
House.  Detail  is  not  needful,  and  personal 
antagonism  shall  not  be  rekindled  by  any 
word  uttered  to-day.  The  motives  of  those 
opposing  him  are  not  to  be  here  adversely 
interpreted  nor  their  course  harshly  charac- 
terized. But  of  the  dead  President  this  is 
to  be  said,  and  said  because  his  own  speech 
is  forever  silenced  and  he  can  be  no  more 
heard  except  through  the  fidelity  and  the 
love  of  surviving  friends.  From  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  the  controversy  he 
so  much  deplored,  the  President  was  never 
for  one  moment  actuated  by  any  motive  of 
gain  to  himself  or  of  loss  to  others.  Least 
of  all  men  did  he  harbor  revenge,  rarely 
did  he  even  show  resentment,  and  malice 
was  not  in  his  nature.  He  was  congenially 
employed  only  in  the  exchange  of  good 
ofiices  and  the  doing  of  kindly  deeds. 

There  was  not  an  hour,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  trouble  till  the  fatal  shot 
entered  his  body,  when  the  President  would 
not  gladly,  for  the  sake  of  restoring  har- 
mony, have  retraced  any  step  he  had  taken 
if  such  retracing  had  merely  involved  con- 
sequences personal  to  himself.  The  pride 
of  consistency,  or  any  supposed  sense  of 
humiliation  that  might  result  from  sur- 
rendering his  position,  had  not  a  feather's 
weight  with  him.  No  man  was  ever  less 
subject  to  such  influences  from  within  or 
from  without.  But  after  the  most  anxious 
deliberation  and  the  coolest  survey  of  all 
the  circumstances,  he  solemnly  believed 
that  the  true  prerogatives  of  the  Executive 
were  involved  in  the  issue  which  had  been 
raised,  and  that  he  would  be  unfaithful  to 
his  supreme  obligation  if  he  failed  to  main- 
tain, in  all  their  vigor,  the  constitutional 
rights  and  dignities  of  his  great  office. 
He  believed  this  in  all  the  convictions  of 
conscience  when  in  sound  and  vigorous 
health,  and  he  believed  it  in  his  suffering 
and  prostration  in  the  last  conscious 
thought  which  his  wearied  mind  bestowed 
on  the  transitory  struggles  of  life. 

More  than  this  need  not  be  said.  Less 
than  this  could  not  be  said.  Justice  to  the 
dead,  the  highest  obligation  that  devolves 
upon  the  living,  demands  the  declaration 
that  in  all  the  bearings  of  the  subject, 
actual  or  possible,  the  President  was  con- 
tent in  his  mind,  justified  in  his  conscience, 
immovable  in  his  conclusions. 


GARFIELD'S  RELIGION. 

The  religious  element  in  Garfield's  char- 
acter was  deep  and  earnest.  In  his  early 
youth  he  espoused  the  faith  of  the  Disci- 
ples, a  sect  of  that  great  Baptist  Commu- 
nion which  in  different  ecclesiastical  estab- 
lishments is  so  numerous  and  so  influential 
throughout  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
But  the  broadening  tendency  of  his  mind 
and  his  active  spirit  of  inquiry  were  early 
apparent  and  carried  him  beyond  the 
dogmas  of  sect  and  the  restraints  of  asso- 
ciation. In  selecting  a  college  in  which  to 
continue  his  education  he  rejected  Bethany, 
though  presided  over  by  Alexander  Camp- 
bell, the  greatest  preacher  of  his  church. 
His  reasons  were  characteristic :  first,  that 
Bethany  leaned  too  heavily  toward  slavery ; 
and,  second,  that  being  himself  a  Disciple 
and  the  son  of  Disciple  parents,  he  had  lit- 
tle acquaintance  with  people  of  other  be- 
liefs, and  he  thought  it  would  make  him 
more  liberal,  quoting  his  own  words,  both 
in  his  religious  and  general  views,  to  go 
into  a  new  circle  and  be  under  new  influ- 
ences. 

The  liberal  tendency  which  he  had  an- 
ticipated as  the  result  of  wider  culture  was 
fully  realized.  He  was  emancipated  from 
mere  sectarian  belief,  and  with  eager  in- 
terest pushed  his  investigations  in  the  di- 
rection of  modern  progressive  thought.  He 
followed  with  quickening  step  in  the  paths 
of  exploration  and  speculation  so  fearlessly 
trodden  by  Darwin,  by  Huxley,  by  Tyn- 
dall,  and  by  other  living  scientists  of  the 
radical  and  advanced  type.  His  own 
church,  binding  its  disciples  by  no  formu- 
lated creed,  but  accepting  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  as  the  word  of  God,  with  un- 
biased liberality  of  private  interpretation, 
favored,  if  it  did  not  stimulate,  the  spirit  of 
investigation.  Its  members  profess  with 
sincerity,  and  profess  only,  to  be  of  one 
mind  and  one  laith  with  those  who  imme- 
diately followed  the  Master,  and  who  were 
first  called  Christians  at  Antioch.. 

But  however  high  Garfield  reasoned  of 
"  fixed  fate,  free-will,  foreknowledge  abso- 
lute," he  was  never  separated  from  the 
Church  of  the  Disciples  in  his  affections 
and  in  his  associations.  For  him  it  held 
the  ark  of  the  covenant.  To  him  it  was 
the  gate  of  Heaven.  The  world  of  re- 
ligious belief  is  full  of  solecisms  and  con- 
tradictions. A  philosophic  observer  de- 
clares that  men  oy  the  thousand  will  die 
in  defence  of  a  creed  whose  doctrines  they 
do  not  comprehend  and  whose  tenets  they 
habitually  violate.  It  is  equally  true  that 
men  by  the  thousand  will  cling  to  church 
organizations  with  instinctive  and  undeny- 
ing  fidelity  when  their  belief  in  maturer 
years  is  radically  different  from  that  which 
inspired  them  as  neophytes. 

But  after  this  range  of  speculation,  and 
this  latitude  of  doubt,  Garfield  came  back 


250 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  m. 


always  with  freshness  and  delight  to  the 
simpler  instincts  of  religious  faith,  which, 
earliest  implanted,  longest  survive.  Not 
many  weeks  before  his  assassination,  walk- 
ing on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  with  a 
friend,  and  conversing  on  these  topics  of 
personal  religion,  concerning  which  noble 
natures  have  an  unconquerable  reserve,  he 
said  that  he  found  the  Lord's  Prayer  and 
the  simple  petitions  learned  in  infancy  in- 
finitely restful  to  him,  not  merely  in  their 
stated  repetition,  but  in  their  casual  and 
frec[uent  recall  as  he  went  about  the  daily 
duties  of  life.  Certain  texts  of  scripture 
had  a  very  strong  hold  on  his  memory  and 
his  heart.  He  heard,  while  in  Edinburgh 
some  years  ago,  an  eminent  Scotch  preach- 
er who  prefaced  his  sermon  with  reading 
the  eighth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Komans,  which  book  had  been  the  subject 
of  careful  study  with  Garfield  during  his 
religious  life.  He  was  greatly  impressed 
by  the  elocution  of  the  preacher  and  de- 
clared that  it  had  imparted  a  new  and 
deeper  meaning  to  the  majestic  utterances 
of  Saint  Paul.  He  referred  often  in  after 
years  to  that  memorable  service,  and  dwelt 
with  exaltation  of  feeling  upon  the  radiant 
promise  and  the  assured  hope  with  which 
the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  was  "  per- 
suaded that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers  nor  things  pres- 
ent, nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be 
able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

The  crowning  characteristic  of  General 
Garfield's  religious  opinions,  as,  indeed,  of 
all  his  opinions,  was  his  liberality.  In  all 
things  he  had  charity.  Tolerance  was  of 
his  nature.  He  respected  in  others  the 
qualities  which  he  possessed  himself — 
sincerity  of  conviction  and  frankness  of 
expression.  With  him  the  inquiry  was  not 
so  much  what  a  man  believes,  but  does  he 
believe  it?  The  lines  of  his  friendship  and 
his  confidence  encircled  men  of  every  creed, 
and  men  of  no  creed,  and  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  on  his  ever  lengthening  list  of  friends, 
were  to  be  found  the  names  of  a  pious 
Catholic  priest  and  of  an  honest-minded 
and  generous-hearted  free-thinker. 

THE  assassin's  BULLET. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  2d, 
the  President  was  a  contented  and  happy 
man — not  in  an  ordinary  degree,  but  joy- 
fully, almost  boyishly  happy.  On  his  way 
to  the  railroad  station  to  which  he  drove 
slowly,  in  conscious  enjoyment  of  the  beau- 
tifiil  morning,  with  an  unwonted  sense  of 
leisure,  and  a  keen  anticipation  of  pleasure, 
his  talk  was  all  in  the  grateful  and  gratu- 
latory  vein.  He  felt  that  after  four  months 
of  trial  his  administration  was  strong  in  its 
grasp  of  affairs,  strong  in  popular  favor 
and  destined  to  grow  stronger ;  that  grave 


difficulties  confronting  him  at  his  inau- 
guration had  been  safely  passed ;  that 
troubles  lay  behind  him  and  not  before 
him ;  that  he  was  soon  to  meet  the  wife 
whom  he  loved,  now  recovering  from  an 
illness  which  had  but  lately  disquieted  and 
at  times  almost  unnerved  him ;  that  he 
was  going  to  his  Alma  Mater  to  renew  the 
most  cherished  associations  of  his  young 
manhood,  and  to  exchange  greetings  with 
those  whose  deepening  interest  had  fol- 
lowed every  step  of  his  upward  progress 
from  the  day  he  entered  upon  his  college 
course  until  he  had  attained  the  loftiest 
elevation  in  the  gift  of  his  countrymen. 

Surely,  if  happiness  can  ever  come  from 
the  honors  or  triumphs  of  this  world,  on 
that  quiet  July  morning  James  A.  Gar- 
field may  well  have  been  a  happjr  man. 
No  foreboding  of  evil  haunted  him ;  no 
slightest  premonition  of  danger  clouded  his 
sky.  His  terrible  fate  was  upon  him  in  an 
instant.  One  moment  he  stood  erect,  strong, 
confident,  in  the  years  stretching  peacefully 
out  before  him.  The  next  he  lay  wounded, 
bleeding,  helpless,  doomed  to  weary  weeks 
of  torture,  to  silence  and  the  grave. 

Great  in  life,  he  was  surpassingly  great 
in  death.  For  no  cause,  in  the  very  frenzy 
of  wantonness  and  wickedness  by  the  red 
hand  of  murder,  he  was  thrust  from  the 
fill!  tide  of  this  world's  interest,  from  its 
hopes,  its  aspirations,  its  victories,  into  the 
visible  presence  of  death — and  he  did  not 
quail.  Not  alone  for  one  short  moment  in 
which,  stunned  and  dazed,  he  could  give 
up  life,  hardly  aware  of  its  relinquishment, 
but  through  days  of  deadly  languor, 
through  weeks  of  agony,  that  was  not  less 
agony  because  silently  borne,  with  clear 
sight  and  calm  courage,  he  looked  into  his 
open  grave.  What  blight  and  ruin  met 
his  anguished  eyes,  whose  lips  may  tell — 
what  brilliant,  broken  plans,  what  baffled, 
high  ambitions,  what  sundering  of  strong, 
warm,  manhood's  friendship,  what  bitter 
rending  of  sweet  household  ties  I  Behind 
him  a  proud,  expectant  nation,  a  great  host 
of  sustaining  friends,  a  cherished  and  happy 
mother,  wearing  the  full,  rich  honors  of 
her  early  toil  and  tears ;  the  wife  of  his 
youth,  whose  whole  life  lay  in  his;  the 
little  boys  not  yet  emerged  from  child- 
hood's day  of  frolic ;  the  fair,  young  daugh- 
ter ;  the  sturdy  sons  just  springing  into 
closest  companionship,  claiming  every  day 
and  every  day  rewarding  a  father's  love 
and  care ;  and  in  his  heart  the  eager,  re- 
joicing power  to  meet  all  demand.  Before 
him,  desolation  and  great  darkness  1  And 
his  soul  was  not  shaken.  His  country- 
men were  thrilled  with  instant,  profound, 
and  universal  sympathy.  Masterftil  in  his 
mortal  weakness,  he  became  the  centre  of 
a  nation's  love,  enshrined  in  the  prayers 
of  a  world.  But  all  the  love  and  all  the 
sympathy  could  not  share  with  him  his 


BOOK  III.]  BLAINE'S  EULOGY  ON  PRESIDENT  GARFIELD.         251 


BufFering,  He  trod  tbe  wine-press  alone. 
With  unfaltering  front  he  faced  death. 
With  unfailing  tenderness  he  took  leave 
of  life.  Above  the  demoniac  hiss  of  the 
assassin's  bullet  he  heard  the  voice  of  God. 
With  simple  resignation  he  bowed  to  the 
Divine  decree. 

As  the  end  drew  near,  his  early  craving 
for  the  sea  returned.  The  stately  mansion 
of  power  had  been  to  him  the  wearisome 
hospital  of  pain,  and  he  begged  to  be  tak- 
en from  his  prison  walls,  from  its  oppres- 
sive, stifling  air,  from  its  homelessness  and 
its  hopelessness.  Gently,  silently,  the  love 
of  a  great  people  bore  the  pale  sufferer  to 
the  longed-for  healing  of  the  sea,  to  live  or 
to  die,  as  God  should  will,  within  sight  of 
its  heaving  billows,  within  sound  of  its 
manifold  voices.  With  wan,  fevered  face 
tenderly  lifted  to  the  cooling  breeze,  he 
looked  out  wistfully  upon  the  ocean's 
changing  wonders;  on  its  far  sails,  whiten- 
ing in  the  morning  light;  on  its  restless 
waves,  rolling  shoreward  to  break  and  die 
beneath  the  noonday  sun ;  on  the  red 
clouds  of  evening,  arching  low  to  the  hori- 
zon ;  on  the  serene  and  shining  pathway 
of  the  stars.  Let  us  think  that  his  dying 
eyes  read  a  mystic  meaning  which  only 
the  rapt  and  parting  soul  may  know.  Let 
us  believe  that  in  the  silence  of  the  reced- 
ing world  he  heard  the  great  waves  break- 
ing on  a  further  shore  and  felt  already  up- 
on his  wasted  brow  the  breath  of  the  eter- 
nal morning. 

AFTER  THE  ORATION. 

The  eulogy  was  concluded  at  1.50,  hav- 
ing taken  just  an  hour  and  a  half  in  its 
delivery.  As  Mr.  Blaine  gave  utterance 
to  the  last  solemn  words  the  spectators 
broke  into  a  storm  of  applause,  which  was 
not  hushed  for  some  moments.  The  ad- 
dress was  listened  to  with  an  intense  inter- 
est and  in  solemn  silence,  unbroken  by 
any  sound  except  by  a  sigh  of  relief  (such 


as  arises  from  a  large  audience  when  a 
strong  tension  is  removed  from  their  minds) 
when  the  orator  passed  from  his  allusion 
to  differences  existing  in  the  Republican 
party  last  spring.  Benediction  was  then 
offered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bullock,  Chaplain 
of  the  Senate.  The  Marine  Band  played 
the  "  Garfield  Dead  March  "  as  the  invited 
guests  filed  out  of  the  Chamber  in  the 
same  order  in  which  they  had  entered  it. 
The  Senate  was  the  last  to  leave,  and  then 
the  House  was  called  to  order  by  tho 
Speaker. 

Mr.  McKinley,  of  Ohio,  oflfered  the  fol- 
lowing resolution : 

Resolved,  The  Senate  concurring,  that 
the  thanks  of  Congress  are  hereby  pre- 
sented to  the  Hon.  James  G.  Blaine  for  the 
appropriate  memorial  address  delivered  by 
him  on  the  life  and  services  of  James  A. 
Garfield,  late  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  Representative  Hall,  before 
both  houses  of  Congress  and  their  invited 
guests,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1882,  and 
that  he  be  requested  to  furnish  a  copy  for 
publication. 

Resolved,  That  the  Chairman  of  the 
Joint  Committee  appointed  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  to  carry  into  ef- 
fect the  resolution  of  Congress  in  relation 
to  the  memorial  exercises  in  honor  of  James 
A.  Garfield  be  requested  to  communicate  to 
Mr.  Blaine  the  foregoing  resolution,  re- 
ceive his  answer  thereto  and  present  the 
same  to  both  Houses  of  Congress.  The 
resolution  was  adopted  unanimously. 

Mr.  McKinley  then  offered  the  following: 

Resolved,  That  as  a  further  mark  of  re- 
spect to  the  memory  of  the  deceased  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States  the  House  do 
now  adjourn. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopt- 
ed, and  in  accordance  therewith  the 
Speaker  at  1.55  declared  the  House  ad- 
journed untU  to-morrow. 


OIYIL  SEEYIOE. 


Improvement    of   the   Subordinate    Civil 
Service. 

Speech  of  Eon.  Oeorge  H.  Pendleton,  of  Ohio,  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  Stales,  Tuetday,  December  12,  1882. 

On  the  bill  (S.  133)  to  regulate  and  im- 
prove the  civil  service  of  the  United 
States. 

Mr.  Pendleton  said: 

Mr.  President:  When  I  assented 
yesterday  that  this  bill  should  be  inform- 
ally laid  aside  without  losing  its  place,  I 
had  no  set  speech  to  deliver,  nor  had  I  the 
intention  of  preparing  a  speech  for  to-day. 


I  did  not  intend  to  hold  up  the  bill  here 
as  an  obstruction  to  any  business  before 
the  Senate,  or  as  an  aid  in  passing  any 
measure  that  might  receive  my  appro- 
bation, as  my  good  Friend,  the  Senator 
from  Kansas  [Mr.  Plumb],  so  politely 
intimated.  The  bill  providing  for  a 
bankrupt  law  was  very  speedily,  and  to 
me  unexpectedly,  disposea  of  yesterday, 
and  this  bill  was  called  up  several  hours 
earlier  than  I  supposed  it  would  be,  and  I 
thought  the  convenience  of  the  Senate  as 
well  as  of  myself  would  be  subserved  if  I 


252 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  lit 


had  an  opj>ortunity  to  condense  what  I 
had  to  say  on  the  subject. 

The  necessity  of  a  change  in  the  civil 
administration  of  this  government  haabeen 
80  fully  discussed  in  the  periodicals  and 
pamphlets  and  newspapers,  and  before  the 
people,  that  I  feel  indisposed  to  make  any 
nirther  argument.  This  subject,  in  all  its 
ramifications,  was  submitted  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States  at  the  fall  elections, 
and  they  have  spoken  in  no  low  or  un- 
certain tone. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  the  local  questions 
exerted  great  influence  in  many  States 
upon  the  result ;  but  it  is  my  conviction, 
founded  on  the  observation  of  an  active 
participation  in  the  canvass  in  Ohio,  that 
dissatisfaction  with  the  methods  of  admin- 
istration adopted  by  the  Republican  party 
in  the  past  few  years  was  the  most  import- 
ant single  factor  in  reaching  the  conclusion 
that  was  attained.  I  do  not  say  that  the 
civil  service  of  the  Government  is  wholly 
bad.  I  can  not  honestly  do  so,  I  do  not 
say  that  the  men  who  are  employed  in  it 
are  all  corrupt  or  ineflicient  or  unworthy. 
That  would  do  a  very  great  injustice  to  a 
great  number  of  faithful,  honest,  and  in- 
telligent public  servants.  But  I  do  say 
that  the  civil  service  is  inefficient;  that  it 
is  expensive;  that  it  is  extravagant;  that 
it  is  in  many  cases  and  in  some  senses  cor- 
rupt; that  it  has  welded  the  whole  body 
of  its  employes  into  a  great  political  ma- 
chine; that  it  has  converted  them  into  an 
army  of  officers  and  men,  veterans  in  po- 
litical warfare,  disciplined  and  trained, 
whose  salaries,  whose  time,  whose  exertions 
at  least  twice  within  a  very  short  period  in 
the  history  of  our  country  have  robbed  the 
people  of  the  fair  results  of  Presidential 
elections. 

I  repeat,  Mr.  President,  that  the  civil 
service  is  inefficient,  expensive,  and  ex- 
travagant and  that  it  is  in  many  instances 
corrupt.  Is  it  necessary  for  me  to  prove 
facts  which  are  so  patent  that  even  the 
blind  must  see  and  the  deaf  must  hear? 

At  the  last  session  of  Congress,  in  open 
Senate,  it  was  stated  and  proven  that  in 
the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington 
there  were  3,400  employes,  and  that  of 
this  number  the  employment  of  less  thap 
1,690  was  authorized  by  law  and  appro- 
priations made  for  their  payment,  a,nd 
that  more  than  1,700  were  put  on  or  off 
the  rolls  of  the  Department  at  the  will 
-  and  pleasure  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, and  paid  not  out  of  appropriations 
made  for  that  purpose  but  out  or  various 
funds  and  balances  of  appropriation  lapsed 
in  the  Treasury  in  one  shape  or  another, 
which  are  not  bv  law  appropriated  to 
the  payment  of  these  employes.  I  was 
amazed.  I  had  never  before  heard  that 
such  a  state  of  affairs  existed.     I   did 


not  believe  that  it  was  possible  until  my 
honorable  colleague  rose  in  his  place  and 
admitted  the  general  truth  of  the  statement 
and  defended  the  system  as  being  necessary 
for  the  proper  administration  of  the  Treas- 
ury Department. 

Mr.  President,  we  see  in  this  statement 
whence  comes  that  immense  body  of  pub- 
lic officials,  inspectors,  detectives,  deputies, 
examiners,  from  the  Treasury  Department 
who  have  for  years  past  been  sent  over  the 
States  for  the  purpose  of  managing  Presi- 
dential conventions  and  securing  Presi- 
dential elections  at  the  public  expense. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  statement  made 
before  the  committee  which  reported  this 
bill,  showing  that  in  one  of  the  divisions 
of  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington 
where  more  than  nine  hundred  persons 
were  employed,  men  and  women,  five  hun- 
dred and  more  of  them  were  entirely  use- 
less, and  were  discharged  without  in  any 
degree  affecting  the  efficiency  of  the  bu- 
reau. I  read  from  the  testimony  taken 
before  the  committee.  Every  gentlemaa 
can  find  it  if  he  has  not  it  already  on  his 
table.  The  statement  to  which  I  refer  I 
read  from  page  121  of  report  of  committee 
No.  576: 

The  extravagance  of  the  present  system  was 
well  shown  in  the  examination  of  the  Bureau  o^ 
Engraving  and  Printing  by  a  committee  of 
which  I  was  chairman.  Of  a  force  of  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  persons  five  hundred 
and  thirty  nine,  with  annual  salaries  amount- 
ing to  $390,000,  were  found  to  be  superfluous 
and  were  discharged.  The  committee  reported 
that  for  years  the  force  in  some  branches  had 
been  twice  and  even  three  times  as  great  as  the 
work  required.    In  one  division — 

I  beg  Senators  to  listen  to  this — 

In  one  division  a  sort  of  platform  had  been 
built  underneath  the  iron  roof,  about  seven  feet 
above  the  floor,  to  accommodate  the  surplus 
counters.  It  appeared  that  the  room  was  of 
ample  size  without  this  contrivance  for  all  per- 
sons really  needed.  In  another  division  were 
found  twenty  messengers  doing  work  which  it 
was  found  could  be  done  by  one.  The  com- 
mittee reported  that  the  system  of  patronage 
was  chiefly  responsible  for  the  extravagance 
and  irregularities  which  had  marked  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  bureau,  and  declared  that  it 
had  cost  the  people  millions  of  dollars  in  that 
branch  of  the  service  alone.  Under  this  sys- 
tem the  office  had  been  made  to  subserve  the 
purpose  of  an  almshouse  or  asylum. 

In  consequence  of  this  report  the  annual  ap- 
propriation for  the  Printing  Bureau  was  reduced 
from  $800,000  to  $200,000,  and  out  of  the  first 
year's  savings  was  built  the  fine  building  now 
occupied  by  that  bureau. 

And  again,  on  page  126,  this  same  gen- 
tleman says: 

My  observation  teaches  me  there  is  more 
pressure  and  importunity  for  these  places — 

That  is,  the  $900  clerkship — 


BOOK  III.]     GEORGE  H.   PENDLETON  ON  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE. 


253 


and  that  more  time  is  consumed  by  heads  of 
Depariments,  and  those  having  the  appointing 
power,  in  listening  to  applications  for  tnat  grade 
than  for  all  the  other  places  in  the  Departments 
combined;  and  that  when  it  is  discretionary 
with  a  Department  to  appoint  a  man  or  a  wo- 
man the  choice  is  usually  exercised  in  favor  of 
the  woman.  I  know  a  recent  case  in  the  Treas- 
ury Department  where  a  vacancy  occurred 
which  the  head  of  the  bureau  deemed  it  im- 
portant to  fill  with  a  man.  It  was  a  position 
where  a  man's  services  were  almost  indispen- 
sable ;  but  the  importunity  was  so  great  that  he 
was  compelled  to  accept  a  woman,  although  her 
services  were  not  required.  In  consequence  of 
this  importunity  for  places  for  women  a  prac- 
tice has  grown  up  in  the  Treasury  Department 
of  allowing  the  salaries  of  the  higher  grades  of 
clerkships  to  lapse  whan  vacancies  occur,  and 
of  dividing  up  the  amount  among  clerks,  usually 
women,  at  lower  salaries.  In  the  place  of  a 
mile  clerk  at  $1,800  a  year,  for  instance,  three 
women  may  be  employed  at  $600.  Often  the 
services  of  a  man  are  required  in  its  higher 

frade,  while  the  women  are  not  needed  at  all ; 
ut  as  the  man  can  not  be  employed  without 
discharging  the  women  he  can  not  be  had.  The 
persons  employed  in  this  way  are  said  to  be  "  on 
the  lapse."  Out  of  this  grew  the  practice 
kn)wn  in  Departmental  language  as  antici- 
pating the  lapse." 

In  the  endeavor  to  satisfy  the  pressure  for  place 
more  people  are  appointed  on  this  roll  than  the 
salaries  then  lapsing  will  warrant,  in  the  hope 
that  enough  more  will  lapse  before  the  end  of 
the  fiscal  year  to  provide  funds  for  their  pay- 
ment. But  the  funds  almost  always  run  short 
before  the  end  of  the  year,  and  then  either  the 
"  lapse  "  appointees  must  be  dropped  or  clerks 
discharged  from  the  regular  roll  to  make  place 
for  them.  In  some  instances,  in  former  admin- 
istrations, the  employSs  on  the  regular  roll  were 
compelled,  under  terror  of  dismissal,  to  ask  for 
leaves  of  absence,  without  pay,  for  a  sufficient 
tira ;  to  make  up  the  deficiency  caused  by  the 
ap;)ointment  of  unnecessary  employg^  "  on  the 
lap-e."  Another  bad  feature  is  that  these 
"  lapse"  employSs  being  appointed  without  re- 
gara  to  the  necessities  of  the  work,  for  short 
periods  and  usually  without  regard  to  their 
qualifications,  are  of  little  service,  while  their 
employment  prevents  the  filling  of  vacancies 
on  the  regular  roll  and  demoralizes  the  ser- 
vice. 

In  one  case  thirty-five  persons  were  put  on 
the  "  lapse  fund  "  of  the  Treasurer's  office  for 
eight  days  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  to  sop 
up  some  money  which  was  in  danger  of  being 
saved  and  returned  to  the  Treasury. 

Mr.  Maxey.  Do  I  understand  the 
Senator  to  say  that  that  testimony  was 
taken  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Civil 
Service  and  Retrenchment? 

Mr.  PENDLfiTOV,  Yes  sir.  This  testi- 
mony wa.s  taken  in  the  month  of  March,  I 
think,  of  the  present  year. 

Says  this  gentleman  further — 

I  hare  no  doubt  that  under  a  rigid  application 
of  this  proposed  system  the  work  of  the  Treasury 
Department  could  be  performed  with  two-thirds 
the  number  of  clerks  now  employed,  and  that 
is  a  moderate  estimate  of  the  saving. 


Mr.  President,  a  Senator  who  is  now 
present  in  the  Chamber  and  who  will  rec- 
ognize the  statement  when  I  make  it. 
though  I  shall  not  indicate  his  name,  told 
me  that  the  Secretary  of  one  of  the  Depart- 
ments of  the  Government  said  to  him,  per- 
haps to  the  Committee  on  Appropriations, 
at  the  last  session,  that  there  were  seventeen 
clerks  in  liis  Department  for  whom  he 
could  find  no  employment;  that  he  did 
need  one  competent  clerk  of  a  higher  grade, 
and  if  the  appropriation  were  made  for 
that  one  clerk,  at  the  proper  amount  ac- 
cording to  the  gradations  of  the  service 
and  the  appropriation  for  the  seventeen 
were  left  out,  he  could,  without  impairing 
the  eflSciency  of  his  Department,  leave 
those  seventeen  clerks  off  the  roll ;  but  if 
the  appropriation  should  be  made  the  per- 
sonal, social,  and  political  pressure  was  so 
great  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  employ 
and  pay  them,  though  he  could  find  no 
employment    for  them. 

Need  I  prove,  Mr.  President,  that  which 
is  known  to  all  men,  that  a  systematic 
pressure  has  been  brought  upon  the  clerks 
in  the  Departments  of  the  Government 
this  year  to  extort  from  them  a  portion 
of  their  salary  under  a  system  which  the 
President  himself  scouts  as  being  volun- 
tary, and  that  they  are  led  to  believe  and 
fairly  led  to  believe  that  they  have  bought 
and  paid  for  the  offices  which  they  hold 
and  that  the  good  faith  of  those  who  take 
from  them  a  portion  of  the  salary  is  pledged 
to  their  retention  in  their  positions? 

I  have  said  before  upon  the  floor  of  the 
Senate  that  this  whole  system  demoralizes 
everybody  who  is  engaged  in  it.  It  de- 
moralizes the  clerks  who  are  appointed. 
That  is  inevitable.  It  demoralizes  those 
who  make  the  appointment.  That  also 
is  inevitable.  Ana  it  demoralizes  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  who  by  the  exer- 
cise of  their  power  as  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives exert  pressure  upon  the  ap- 
pointing power. 

I  repeat  that  this  system,  permeating 
the  whole  civil  service  of  the  country,  de- 
moralizes everybody  connected  with  it,  the 
clerks,  the  appointing  power,  and  those 
who  by  their  official  position  and  their  re- 
lations to  the  executive  administration  of 
the  Government  have  the  influence  ne- 
cessary to  put  these  clerks  in  oflSce. 

Mr.  President,  how  can  y(m  expect  pu- 
rity, economy,  efficiency  to  be  found  any- 
where in  the  service  of  the  Government  if 
the  report  made  by  this  committee  to  the 
Senate  has  even  the  semblance  of  truth? 
If  the  civil  service  of  the  country  is  to  be 
filled  up  with  superfluous  persons,  if  sala- 
ries are  to  be  increased  in  order  that  a-'sess- 
ments  may  be  paid,  if  members  of  Con- 
gress having  friends  or  partisan  supporters 
are  to  be  able  to  make  places  for  them  in 


254 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


public  employment,  how  can  you  expect 
Senators  and  Representatives  to  be  econo- 
mical and  oareful  in  th<j  administration  of 
the  public  money  ? 

I  am  sure  there  is  no  Senator  here  who 
will  forget  a  scene  which  we  had  upon  the 
last  night  session  of  the  last  session,  when 
the  Senator  from  Iowa  [Mr.  Allison],  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Appropria- 
tions, the  official  leader  of  the  Senate,  ris- 
ing in  his  place  with  the  last  appropriation 
bill  in  his  hand,  and  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee of  conference,  made  a  statement  to 
the  Senate  of  the  result  of  the  appropria- 
tions. He  stated  that  the  appropriations 
that  were  made  during  that  session 
amounted  to  $292,000,000—1  throw  off  the 
fractions — and  he  felicitated  the  Senate 
and  himself  as  the  organ  and  mouthpiece 
of  his  party,  that  this  was  an  excess  of 
only  $77,000,000  over  and  above  the  ex- 
penditures of  the  year  before.  Instantly 
the  Senator  from  Connecticut  [Mr.  Piatt] 
rose  in  his  place  and  reminded  the  Sena- 
tor that  there  would  be  a  deficiency  in  the 
Pension  Bureau  alone  of  $20,000,000  or 
$25,000,000.  The  honorable  Senator  from 
Georgia,  who  now  occupies  the  chair  [Mr. 
Brown],  inquired  of  the  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Appropriations  whether 
there  would  be  any  deficiencies  in  the  ex- 
penses of  the  current  year,  or  whether  the 
statement  was  supposed  to  cover  probable 
deficiencies  in  adaition  to  the  appropria- 
tions, and  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Kentucky  [Mr.  Beck],  certainly  as  famil- 
iar with  all  these  subjects  as  any  member 
of  this  body,  rose  in  his  place  and  said 
that  notwithstanding  the  utmost  scrutiny 
of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations,  un- 
doubtedly at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  the 
ordinary  deficiencievS  would  be  found. 

Two  hundred  and  ninety-two  millions 
of  dollars  of  regular  appropriations ;  $20, 
000,000  of  deficiency  in  one  bureau  alone, 
the  usual  deficiencies  occurring  during  the 
course  of  the  year  of  520,000,000  more  I  As 
if  this  were  not  enough,  my  honorable  col- 
league arose  in  his  place  and  took  up  the 
tale  and  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
permanent  appropriations  amounted  annu- 
ally to  one  hunared  and  thirty-seven  or 
more  millions  of  dollars.  According  to  his 
statement  made  in  that  speech,  which  I  am 
sure  nobody  will  forget,  the  expenditures  of 
the  Government  during  this  present  fiscal 
vear  would  amount  to  $402,000,000  or 
N03,000,000— nearly  $9  a  head  for  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  United 
States — more  money  than  was  appropriated 
for  all  the  expenses  of  the  Government 
during  the  first  forty  years  of  its  existence, 
I  will  venture  to  say,  though  I  do  not 
speak  by  the  book. 

Harbor  and  river  appropriation  bills  of 
$18,000,000!    Thirty-two  new   buildings 


commenced  in  the  States,  almost  every 
one  of  which  has  had  buildings  before  I 
Two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
appropriated  for  the  commencement  of 
those  buildings,  for  laying  the  foundation ! 
Before  they  are  finished  $26,000,000  more 
will  be  needed  to  complete  them  I  While 
these  enormous  appropriations  were  being 
made  there  came  up  from  the  country  a 
demand  for  a  revision  of  the  tariff,  which 
was  confessedly  greatly  needed ;  for  a  re- 
vision of  the  internal-revenue  laws,  which 
was  equally  necessary ;  for  a  reduction  of 
taxation  pressing  so  heavily  upon  all  the 
interests  of  the  country,  Our  honorable 
friends  upon  the  other  side  of  the  Cham- 
ber chose  to  answer  that  demand  by  a  bill 
repealing  the  taxes  upon  perfumery  and 
cosmetics  and  bank  checks,  and  met  with  a 
sneer  of  derision  and  ridicule  every  effort 
that  was  made  on  this  side  of  the  Chamber 
for  a  reduction  of  taxation. 

Mr.  President,  it  was  these  methods  of 
administration,  it  was  these  acts  of  the 
Republican  party,  which  made  it  possible 
for  the  Democratic  party,  and  other  men 
who  prized  their  country  higher  than  they 
did  their  party,  to  elect  in  Ohio  a  Demo- 
cratic ticket  by  eighteen  or  twenty  thou- 
sand majority,  and  elect  sixteen  out  of  the 
twenty-one  members  of  Congress  assigned 
to  that  State.  I  say  elected  sixteen, 
perfectly  conscious  of  the  fact  that 
thirteen  of  them  only  have  received  their 
certificates  at  present.  If  three  of  them, 
against  whom  the  aggregate  majority  is 
only  sixty  votes,  do  not  receive  certificates 
under  the  action  of  the  returning  board  or 
under  the  powers  of  our  judiciary  which 
have  been  invoked,  they  will  be  seated,  as 
they  ought  to  be,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  session  of  Congress  in  the  other 
house. 

Under  the  impulse  of  this  election  in 
Ohio,  upon  these  facts  and  influences 
which  I  nave  stated  as  being  of  great  im- 
portance there,  it  became  possible  for  the 
Democratic  party  and  its  allies,  whom  I 
have  described,  to  elect  a  Democratic  gov- 
ernor in  New  York,  in  Massachusetts,  in 
Kansas,  in  Michigan,  and  various  other 
States  in  which  there  has  been  none  but  a 
Republican  governor  for  many  years  past. 
The  same  influences  enable  us,  having  ac- 
cessions to  our  ranks  from  Iowa  and  Wis- 
consin and  Michigan  and  Pennsylvania,  to 
have  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  session 
of  Congress  an  aggregate  of  perhaps  sixty 
or  more  Democratic  majority  in  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

Mr.  Hale.  Will  the  Senator  from  Ohio 
let  me  ask  him  a  question  right  here? 
As  he  is  confining  himself  very  closely  to 
the  civil  service  of  the  Government,  I 
should  like  to  ask  him  one  question  here 
relating  to  that.    He  has  appealed  directly 


BOOK  III.]       GEORGE  H.  PENDLETON  ON   THE   CIVIL  SERVICE. 


255 


to  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ap- 
priations,  who  was  not  present  at  the  time, 
although  he  has  just  come  in.  The  Sena- 
tor from  Ohio  has  alluded  to  the  remark- 
able speech  made  by  the  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Appropriations  upon  the 
expenditures  of  the  Government  at  the 
last  session,  and  the  wonderful  scene  that 
was  exhibited  there  at  that  time.  In  that 
speech  on  the  expenditures  of  the  Govern- 
ment, by  the  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Appropriations,  was  the  admission  that 
the  aggregate  expenditures  were  seventy- 
odd  millions  of  dollars  more  than  the  year 
before — remarkable  when  in  that  speech 
of  the  Senator  from  Iowa,  the  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations,  he 
showed  that  every  dollar  was  accounted 
for  by  deficiencies  on  the  part  of  the  pre- 
vious Democratic  Congress  and  by  the  in- 
crease of  pensions  and  some  other  matters. 

Mr.  Pendleton.  I  remember  the 
speech  of  the  Senator  from  Iowa  very 
well ;  I  have  quoted  it  repeatedly  from  the 
Record,  in  which  I  found  it.  I  did  him 
no  injustice;  I  know  he  will  not  believe  I 
would  intentionally  do  him  injustice  at 
any  time.  I  stated  then,  I  stated  a  mo- 
ment ago,  I  have  stated  it  on  the  stump,  I 
repeat  it  now,  that  the  Senator  from  Iowa 
in  that  speech  said  that  the  appropriations 
for  the  current  year  were  $292,000,000,  and 
that  they  were  $77,000,000  in  excess  of 
those  made  for  the  last  year :  and  I  might 
have  added  if  I  chose  to  make  it  a  par- 
tisan affair,  that  the  last  Congress  was  un- 
der Democratic  control. 

Mr.  Hale.  And  did  he  not  account 
for  every  dollar  of  that  $77,000,000  in- 
crease? But  I  think  I  will  leave  it  to  him, 
as  he  is  present  now. 

Mr.  Pendleton.  Undoubtedly  he  ac- 
counted for  it,  for  he  gave  all  the  items 
that  went  to  make  up  the  $77,000,000. 

I  am  confining  myself  more  closely,  Mr. 
President,  to  the  discussion  of  the  reform 
of  the  civil  service  of  the  Government  than 
the  Senator  seems  to  apprehend.  I  was 
showing  to  him  the  causes  of  this  very  re- 
markable revolution  in  public  sentiment 
which  we  have  seen  as  exhibited  by  the 
last  election.  I  attributed  that  result  in 
great  measure  to  the  defects  in  our  civil- 
service  system  and  to  the  demoralization 
which,  arising  there  and  in  its  practices, 
has  reached  the  other  departments  of  the 
Government. 

Mr.  President,  I  was  about  to  say  when 
the  Senator  from  Maine  interrupted  me 
that  I  begged  gentlemen  on  this  side  of  the 
Chamber  and  I  beg  the  Democratic  party 
throughout  the  country  not  to  mistake 
this  result  of  last  fall  as  a  purely  Dem- 
ocratic triumph.  It  was  achieved  by  the 
Democratic  party  with  the  assistance  of 
men  of  all  parties  upon  whom  their  love 


of  country  sat  heavier  than  their  love 
of  party.  It  was  a  protest  made  by  an 
awakened  people  who  were  indignant  at 
the  wrongs  which  had  been  practiced 
upon  them.  It  was  a  tentative  stretching 
out  of  that  same  people  to  find  instru- 
mentalities by  which  those  wrongs  could 
be  righted. 

The  people  demanded  economy  and  the 
Republican  party  gave  them  extravagance. 
The  people  demanded  a  reduction  of  tax- 
ation and  the  Republican  party  gave  them 
an  increase  of  expenditure.  The  people 
demanded  purity  of  administration  and 
the  Republican  party  revelled  in  profli- 
gacy; and  when  the  Republican  party 
came  to  put  themselves  on  trial  before  that 
same  people  the  people  gave  them  a  day 
of  calamity. 

I  beg  that  my  colleagues  on  this  side  of 
the  Chamber  may  remember,  I  desire  that 
our  party  associates  throughout  the  coun- 
try shall  remember,  that  the  people  will 
continue  to  us  their  confidence  and  in- 
crease it,  that  they  will  continue  to  us 
power  and  increase  it,  just  in  the  propor- 
tion that  we  honestly  and  fairly  and 
promptly  answer  to  the  demands  which 
the  people  have  made,  and  which  were 
thus  responded  to  by  the  Republican  par- 
ty. They  asked  revenue  reform  and  tney 
received  none.  They  asked  civil-service 
reform  and  they  obtained  none.  They 
asked  that  the  civil  service  of  this  Govern- 
ment should  not  either  as  to  its  men  or  its 
expenditures  be  made  the  basis  upon  which 
political  contests  were  to  be  carried  on, 
and  they  received  for  answer  that  that 
was'  an  old  fashion  and  a  good  method  of 
political  warfare. 

I  beg  gentlemen  upon  this  side  of  the, 
Chamber  to  remember  that  if  they  desire 
to  escape  the  fate  which  now  seems  to  be 
impending  over  their  adversaries  they 
must  avoid  the  example  which  those  ad- 
versaries have  set  them. 

Mr.  President  the  bill  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  advocate  to-day,  and  which  is  re- 
ported by  a  committee  of  the  Senate,  is  the 
commencement,  in  my  humble  judgment, 
of  an  attempt  to  answer  one  of  the  de- 
mands which  the  people  have  authoritative- 
ly made.  I  speak  advisedly.  It  is  the  com- 
mencement of  an  attempt  to  organize  a 
system  which  shall  respond  to  one  of  the 
demands  which  the  people  have  made. 

I  suppose  the  most  enthusiastic  sup- 
porter of  this  bill  will  not  pretend  that  it  is 
perfect.  I  suppose  he  will  not  pretend 
that  upon  the  adoption  of  this  bill  a  system 
will  immediately  spring  into  life  which  will 
perfect  and  purify  the  civil  service  of  the 
Government.  But  it  is  the  commence- 
ment of  an  attempt  to  lajr  the  founda- 
tions of  a  system  which,  if  it  shall  an- 
swer in  any  reasonable  degree  the  ex- 


256 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


pectation  of  those  who  by  experience  and 
^ithful  study  have  framed  it,  it  will  in 
the  end  correct  the  abuses  to  which  I  have 
alluded,  and  which  have  been  delineated 
by  no  enemy  of  the  Republican  party  or  of 
the  Administration  in  the  report  which  I 
have  read  to  the  Senate. 

The  bill  has  for  its  foundation  the  simple 
and  single  idea  that  the  oflSces  of  the 
Government  are  trusts  for  the  people; 
that  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  those 
oflSces  is  to  be  in  the  interests  of  the  people ; 
that  there  is  no  excuse  ibr  the  being  of  one 
office  or  the  paying  of  one  salary  except 
that  it  is  in  the  highest  practicable  degree 
necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the  people; 
that  every  superfluous  office-holder  should 
be  cut  off;  that  every  incompetent  office- 
holder should  be  dismissed ;  that  the  em- 
ployment of  two  where  one  will  suffice  is 
robbery ;  that  salaries  so  large  that  they 
can  submit  to  the  extortion,  the  forced  pay- 
ment of  2  or  10  per  cent,  are  excessive  and 
ought  to  be  diminished.  lam  not  speaking 
of  purely  voluntary  contributions. 

If  it  be  true  that  offices  are  trusts  for  the 
people,  then  it  is  also  true  that  the  offices 
should  be  filled  by  those  who  can  perform 
and  discharge  the  duties  in  the  best  pos- 
sible way.  Fidelity,  capacity,  honesty, 
were  the  tests  established  by  Mr.  Jefferson 
when  he  assumed  the  reins  of  government 
in  1801.  He  said  then,  and  said  truly, 
that  these  elements  in  the  public  offices  of 
the  Government  were  necessary  to  an 
honest  civil  service,  and  that  an  honest 
civil  service  was  essential  to  the  purity 
and  efficiency  of  administration,  necessary 
to  the  preservation  of  republican  institu- 
tions. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  right.  The  expe- 
rience of  eighty  years  has  shown  it.  The 
man  best  fitted  should  be  the  man  placed 
in  office,  especially  if  the  appointment  is 
made  by  the  servants  of  the  people.  It  is 
as  true  as  truth  can  be  that  fidelity,  ca- 
pacity, honesty,  are  essential  elements  of 
fitness,  and  that  the  man  who  is  most 
capable  and  most  faith  ftil  and  most  honest 
is  the  man  who  is  the  most  fit,  and  he 
should  be  appointed  to  office. 

These  are  truths  that  in  their  statement 
will  be  denied  hy  none,  and  yet  the  best 
means  of  ascertaining  that  fitness  has  been 
a  vexed  Question  with  every  Administra- 
tion of  tnis  Government  and  with  every 
man  who  has  been  charged  with  the  re- 
sponsibility of  its  execution.  We  know 
what  is  the  result.  Pass  examinations 
have  been  tried;  professions  have  been 
tried ;  honest  endeavors  have  been  tried  ; 
a  disposition  to  live  faithfully  up  to  these 
roquirementH  has  been  tried ;  and  yet  we 
know  and  the  experience  of  to-day  shows 
it,  that  they  have  all  made  a  moat  lament- 
able failure.    We  do  now  know  that  so 


great  has  been  the  Increase  ©f  the  powers 
of  this  Government  and  the  number  of 
officers  under  it  that  no  President,  no 
Cabinet,  no  heads  of  bureaus,  can  bv  pos- 
sibility know  the  fitness  of  all  applicants 
for  the  subordinate  offices  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  result  has  been,  and  under  the 
existing  system  it  must  always  be,  that 
the  President  and  his  Cabinet  and  those 
who  are  charged  with  the  responsibility 
have  remitted  the  question  of  fitness  to  their 
own  partisan  friends,  and  those  partisan 
friends  have  in  their  turn  decided  the 
question  of  fitness  in  favor  of  their  partisan 
friends.  The  Administration  has  need  of 
the  support  of  members  of  Congress  in 
carrying  on  its  work.  It  therefore  remits  to 
members  of  Congress  of  its  own  party  the 
questions  of  appointment  to  office  in  the 
various  districts.  These  gentlemen,  in  the 
course  of  their  political  life,  naturally  (I  do 
not  find  fault  with  them  for  it)  find  them- 
selves under  strain  and  pressure  to  secure 
a  nomination  or  a  renomination  or  election, 
and  they  use  the  places  to  reward  those 
whose  friends  and  families  and  connections 
and  aids  and  deputies  will  serve  their  pur- 
pose. 

I  put  it  to  gentlemen,  particularly 
to  my  friends  on  this  side  of  the  Chamber, 
because  you  have  not  the  opportunity  to 
exercise  this  patronage  as  much  as  our 
friends  on  the  other  side,  whether  or  not 
the  element  of  fitness  enters  largely  into 
the  questions  of  appointment  in  your  re- 
spective districts  and  States.  It  can  not 
be.  The  necessities  of  the  case  prevent  it. 
The  pressure  upon  men  who  want  to  be 
elected  prevents  it.  The  demands  that 
are  made  by  partisan  friends  and  those 
who  have  been  influential  and  potent  in 
securing  personal  triumph  to  gentlemen 
who  may  happen  to  be  in  such  relation  to 
the  appointing  power  that  they  have  the 
influence  t<)  secure  appointment  prevent 
it.  The  result  is  as  I  have  stated,  that  in- 
stead of  making  fitness,  capacity,  honesty, 
fidelity  the  only  or  the  essential  qualifica- 
tions for  office,  personal  fidelity  and  parti- 
san activity  alone  control. 

When  I  came  to  the  Senate  I  had  occa- 
sion more  than  ever  before  to  make  some 
investigation  upon  the  subject,  and  found ^ 
to  my  surprise  the  extent  to  which  tbei 
demoralization  of  the  service  had  gone.  I 
saw  the  civil  service  debauched  and  de- 
moralized. I  saw  offices  distributed  to  in- 
competent and  unworthy  men  as  a  reward 
for  tne  lowest  of  dirty  partisan  work.  I 
saw  many  men  employed  to  do  the  work 
of  one  man.  I  saw  the  money  of  the  peo- 
ple shamefully  wasted  to  keep  up  election- 
eering fiinds  by  political  assessments  on 
salaries.  I  saw  the  whole  body  of  the  pub- 
lic officers  paid  by  the  people  organized  in- 
to a  compact,  disciplined  corps  of  election- 


BOOK  III.]     GEORGE  H.  PENDLETON  ON  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE. 


257 


eerers  obeying  a  master  as  if  they  were 
eating  the  bread  of  his  dependence  and 
rendering  him  personal  service.  I  saw 
these  evils  were  fostered,  encouraged, 
stimulated  very  largely  by  Senators  and 
Representatives.  They  had  their  friends 
who  lent  them  a  helping  hand ;  and  re- 
gardless of  the  fitness  of  these  friends,  of 
the  necessity  of  their  employment,  they 
insisted  on  the  appointment  and  had  the 
power,  which  on  consideration,  was  found 
sufficient  to  secure  it. 

I  believed  then,  and  I  believe  now,  ihat 
the  existing  system  which,  for  want  of  a 
better  name,  I  call  the  "spoils  system," 
must  be  killed  or  it  will  kill  the  Republic. 
I  believe  that  it  is  impossible  to  maintain 
free  institutions  in  the  country  upon  any 
basis  of  that  sort.  I  am  no  prophet  of 
evil,  I  am  not  a  pessimist  in  any  sense  of 
the  word,  but  I  do  believe  that  if  the 
present  system  goes  on  until  50,000,000 
people  shall  have  grown  into  100,000,000, 
and  140,000  officers  shall  have  grown  into 
300,000,  with  their  compensation  in  pro- 
portion, and  all  shall  depend  upon  the  ac- 
cession of  one  party  or  the  other  to  the 
Presidency  and  to  the  executive  functions, 
the  Presidency  of  the  country,  if  it  shall 
last  in  name  so  long,  will  be  put  up  for 
sale  to  the  highest  biddder,  even  as  in 
Rome  the  imperial  crown  was  put  to  those 
who  could  raise  the  largest  fund. 

I  beg  gentlemen  to  believe  that  what- 
ever I  may  have  said  as  to  the  relations  of 
parties  I  do  not  approach  the  question 
of  the  reform  of  the  civil  service  in  any 
mere  partisan  spirit.  It  was  because  I 
thought  I  saw  this  danger,  because  I  be- 
lieved that  it  was  imminent,  because  I  be- 
lieved then  as  I  do  now  that  it  is  destruc- 
tive of  republicanism  and  will  end  in  the 
downfall  of  republican  government,  that  I 
felt  it  my  duty  to  devote  whatever  ability  I 
bad  to  the  consideration  of  this  subject.  It 
was  that  which  induced  me  a  year  or  two 
ago  to  introduce  a  bill  which  after  the  best 
reflection,  the  best  study,  the  best  assistance 
that  I  could  get  I  did  introduce  in  the 
Senate,  and  which  in  some  degree  modi- 
fied, has  come  back  from  the  Committee 
on  Civil  Service  Reform,  and  is  now  pend- 
ing before  this  body. 

The  purpose  of  this  bill  is  merely  to  se- 
cure the  application  of  the  Jefferaonian 
tests,  fidelity,  honesty,  capacity.  The 
methods  are  those  which  are  known  and 
familiar  to  us  all  in  the  various  avocations 
of  life — competition,  comparison.  Perhaps 
the  bill  is  imperfect.  If  so,  I  am  sure  I 
express  the  wish  of  every  member  of  the 
committee  that  it  may  be  improved. 
There  is  no  pride  of  opinion,  there  is  no 
determination,  if  suggestions  of  value  are 
made  not  promptly  to  adopt  them.  There 
'e  no  disposition  to  do  aught  except  to 
45 


perfect,  and  in  the  best  possible  way,  this 
bill,  the  sole  object  of  which  is  to  improve 
this  great  department  of  our  Government. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  because  I  belieye 
the  "  spoils  system  "  to  be  a  great  crime, 
because  I  believe  it  to  be  fraught  with 
danger,  because  I  believe  that  the  highest 
dnty  of  patriotism  is  to  prevent  the  crime 
and  to  avoid  the  danger,  that  I  advocate 
this  or  a  better  bill  if  it  can  be  found  for 
the  improvement  of  the  civil  service. 

I  shall  say  in  passing  that  I  find  it  no 
objection  to  this  bill  at  all  that  while  I  be- 
lieve it  is  of  great  value  to  the  country  in 
all  its  aspects,  I  do  not  believe  it  will 
bring  disaster  to  the  Democratic  party. 
There  has  been  great  misapprehension  as 
to  the  methods  and  the  scope  of  the  bill. 
I  desire  the  attention  of  the  Senators  while 
I  briefly  state  them,  I  see  I  have  spoken 
a  good  deal  longer  than  I  intended.  The 
bill  simply  applies  to  the  Executive  De- 
partments of  the  (Jovernment  here  in 
Washington  and  to  those  offices  througb- 
out  the  country,  post-offices  and  custom- 
houses, which  employ  more  than  fifty  per- 
sons. I  am  told,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  am 
not  far  out  of  the  way,  if  I  am  not  exactly 
accurate,  that  the  number  of  such  offices 
does  not  exceed  thirty  or  perhaps  thirty- 
five,  and  that  the  number  of  persons  who 
are  employed  in  them,  together  with  those 
in  the  Departments  here,  will  not  exceed 
10,000. 

I  said  that  this  was  a  tentative  efibrt ; 
that  it  was  intended  to  be  an  experiment, 
and  it  is  because  it  is  tentative,  because  it^ 
h  intended  to  be  an  experiment,  that  the 
committee  thought  it  advisable  in  its  ini- 
tial stages  to  limit  it,  as  they  have  limited 
it,  in  the  bill.  The  bill  does  not  apply  to 
elective  officers,  of  course,  nor  to  officers 
appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  nor 
to  the  military,  nor  to  the  naval,  nor  to  the 
judicial  establishment.  It  applies  simply 
now  to  those  officials  who  are  employed  in 
the  Departments  here  and  in  the  large  offi- 
ces of  the  Government  elsewhere,  first,  be- 
cause as  an  experiment  it  was  thought  that 
it  gave  scope  enough  to  test  its  value  and 
labor  enough  to  employ  all  those  who  are 
engaged  in  putting  it  in  operation  until  its 
merits  shall  be  fairly  tried  and  it  shall 
commend  itself  either  to  the  approval  or 
condemnation  of  the  American  people. 

There  was  another  reason.  The  heads 
of  offices  and  bureaus,  where  the  number 
of  employes  is  small,  can  themselves  per- 
sonally judge  of  the  fitness  of  persons  who 
are  applicants  for  appointment,  knowing 
as  they  do  more  or  less  in  their  narrow 
communities  their  ant?cedent8,  their  hab- 
its, and  their  modes  of  life. 

The  bill  does  not  touch  the  question  of 
tenure  of  office  or  of  removal  m)m  office. 


258 


AMERICAN    POLITICS, 


[book  III. 


I  see  it  stated  by  those  who  do  not  know 
that  it  provides  for  a  seven  years'  tenure 
of  oflSce.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  the 
bill.  I  see  it  stated  that  it  provides  against 
removals  from  office.  There  is  nothing 
like  it  in  the  bill.  Whether  or  not  it 
would  be  advisable  to  tix  the  tenure  of  of- 
fice, whether  or  not  it  would  be  advisable 
to  limit  removals  are  questions  about 
which  men  will  differ;  but  the  bill  as  it  is 
and  as  we  invoke  the  judgment  of  the 
Senate  upon  it  contains  no  provisions 
either  as  to  tenure  of  office  or  removals 
from  office.  It  leaves  those  questions  ex- 
actly where  the  law  now  finds  them.  It 
concerns  itself  only  with  admission  to  the 
public  service;  it  concerns  itself  only  with 
discovering  in  certain  proper  ways  or  in 
certain  ways — gentlemen  may  differ  as  to 
whether  they  are  proper  or  not — the  fitness 
of  the  persons  who  shall  be  appointed.  It 
takes  cognizance  of  the  fact  that  it  is  im- 

f>ossible  for  the  head^f  a  Department  or  a 
arge  office  personally  to  know  all  the  ap- 
plicants, and  therefore  it  provides  a 
method  by  which,  when  a  vacancy  occurs 
by  death,  by  resignation,  by  the  unlimited 
power  of  removal,  a  suitable  person  may 
be  designated  to  fill  the  vacancy.  It  says 
in  effect  that  when  a  vacancy  occurs  in 
the  civil  service  everybodj'  who  desires 
entrance  shall  have  the  right  to  apply, 
Everybody,  humble,  poor,  without  patron- 
age, without  influence,  whatever  may  be 
his  condition  in  life,  shall  have  the  right 
to  go  before  the  parties  charged  with  an 
examination  of  his  fitness  and  there  be 
subjected  to  the  test  of  open,  regulated,  fair, 
impartial  examination. 

Mr.  Maxey.  If  it  is  agreeable  I  should 
like  to  interrupt  the  Senator  to  ask  a  ques- 
tion upon  that  point.  In  the  plan  sug- 
gested for  examination  as  to  fitness  is  it  to 
be  a  competitive  examination  by  the  bill? 
1  ask  the  Senator  if  the  committee  has 
fallen  upon  any  plan  as  to  the  line  of  inqui- 
ry that  should  be  instituted  in  that  exami- 
nation, and  if  so  will  he  indicate  it?  That 
I  think  is  an  important  consideration. 

Mk.  Pendleton.  I  am  glad  that  the 
Senator  has  asked  that  question,  for  it 
gives  me  an  opportunity  of  saying  to  him 
and  to  the  Senate  that  if  they  will  examine 
the  report  made  by  the  committee,  they 
will  find  that  this  system  is  not  entirely 
new,  but  that  to  a  very  large  extent  in  cer- 
tain offices  in  New  York,  in  Philadelphia, 
and  in  Boston  it  has  been  put  into  practi- 
cal operation  under  the  heads  of  the  offices 
there,  and  that  they  have  devised,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  commission  originally  ap- 
pointed by  General  Grant,  but  largely 
upon  their  own  motion,  a  system  which  I 
Buppoce  would,  to  some  extent,  be  followed 
under  this  bill. 
Mb.  Maxey.    What  I  desire  to  know 


is  whether  the  committee,  after  examining 
the  various  lines  of  questions  asked  in  the 
competitive  examinations,  have  themselves 
fallen  upon  any  plan  which  they  could  re- 
commend to  the  Senate  as  a  proper  plan 
for  examination  ? 

Mr.  Pendleton.  No  ;  the  commit- 
tee have  not  carried  their  investigations 
to  that  point  for  the  simple  reason  that  it 
would  be  impracticable  for  a  committee  of 
the  Senate  charged  with  the  examination 
of  the  general  subject  to  look  into  the 
proper  examinations  as  to  every  Depart- 
ment of  the  Government  and  every  de- 
partment in  that  Department.  For  in- 
stance, for  a  letter-carrier  one  series  of 
examinations  might  be  very  proper,  for  an 
assayer  another  system  of  examination,  for 
an  accountant  still  other  examinations,  for 
a  weigher  and  ganger  still  another.  The 
examinations  must  be  adapted  to  the 
particular  offices  which  it  is  sought  to  fill, 
and  that  can  only  be  by  the  leisurely  and 
competent  investigation  of  gentlemen  who 
are  charged  as  an  official  duty  with  the  de- 
termination of  what  the  needs  of  all  the 
Departments  and  offices  require. 

Mr.  Maxey.  That  may  be  quite  a 
reasonable  view  of  the  case;  but  some  of 
the  questions  which  I  have  seen  submitted 
I  am  of  the  opinion  have  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  the  examination  for  a  mere 
clerkship,  but  would  have  something  to  do 
perhaps  with  an  examination  in  a  college 
or  something  of  that  sort. 

Mb.  Pendleton.  The  examinations 
are  to  be  regulated  in  relation  to  the  par- 
ticular offices  to  be  filled.  I  am  not  the 
advocate  of  any  special  system  of  questions 
which  has  been  devised.  I  am  not  the 
apologist  for  any  error  which  may  have 
been  committed.  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say  that  I  have  seen  any  of  these  series  of 
questions  which  might  not  admit  of  im- 
provement. 

Mb.  Maxey.  I  will  state  to  the  Sen- 
ator that  the  suggestion  he  has  himself 
made  is  about  the  best  that  I  have  heard. 
A  great  many  of  the  questions  which  have 
been  submitted  I  think  are  nonsensical  to 
be  put  to  an  applicant  for  a  minor  clerk- 
ship. 

Mb.  Pendleton.  I  shall  offer  some 
amendments  in  behalf  of  the  committee 
and  in  behalf  of  myself  before  we  reach  a 
vote.  The  details  of  the  bill  are  these : 
The  preamble  expresses  fully  the  philos- 
ophy of  the  bill.  Read  it  carefully.  It 
sets  forth  what  common  justice  demands 
for  the  citizen  and  for  the  Government. 
It  sets  forth  what  the  economy,  efficiency, 
and  integrity  of  the  public  service  demand. 

Whebeas  common  justice  bequibes 
that,  so  fab  as  pbacticable,  all  citi- 
zens DULY  qualified  SHALL  BE  ALLOW- 
ED EQUAL  OPPOBTUNITIES,  ON  GB0UND8 


BOOK  in.]    GEORGE  H.  PENDLETON  ON  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE. 


259 


OF     PEBSOHAL     FITNESS,    FOR     SECURING 
APPOINTMENTS,  EMPLOYMENT,  AND   PRO- 
MOTION IN  THE  SUBORDINATE  CIVIL  SER- 
VICE OF  THE  United  States  ;  and 
Whereas    justice   to    the    public 

likewise  requires  that  the  GrOVERN- 
MENT  shall  HAVE  THE  LARGEST  CHOICE 
AMONG  THOSE  LIKELY  TO  ANSWER  THE 
REQUIREMENTS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SERVICE : 
AND 

Whereas  justice,  as  well  as  econ- 
omy, EFFICIENCY,  AND  INTEGRITY  IN  THE 
PUBLIC  SERVICE  WILL  BE  PROMOTED  BY 
SUBSTITUTING  OPEN  AND  UNIFORM  COM- 
PKTITIVE  EXAMINATIONS  FOR  THE  EXAM- 
INATIONS HERETOFORE  HELD  IN  PUR- 
SUANCE OF  THE  STATUTES  OF  1853  AND 
1855. 

Section  1  provides  for  the  appointment 
by  the  President  of  a  commission  of  five 
persons,  of  different  political  parties,  of 
whom  three  shall  hold  no  official  place, 
and  two  shall  be  experienced  in  the  public 
service. 

The  second  section  is  in  the  following 
words: 

Sec.  2.  That  it  shall  bs  the  duty  of  said  com- 
mission. 

First,  To  devise  and  submit  to  the  President 
for  his  approval  and  promulgation,  from  time 
to  time,  suitable  rules,  and  to  suggest  appro- 
priate action  for  making  this  act  effective :  and 
when  so  approved  and  promulgated  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  all  officers  of  the  United  States  in 
the  Departments  and  oflices  to  which  any  such 
rules  may  relate  to  aid,  in  all  proper  ways,  in 
carrying  said  rules,  and  any  modifications  there- 
of, into  effect. 

Second,  And,  among  other  things,  said  rules 
shall  provide  and  declare,  as  nearly  as  the  con- 
ditions of  good  administration  will  warrant,  as 
follows : 

First,  for  open,  competitive  examinations  for 
testing  the  capacity  of  applicants  for  the  public 
service  now  classified  or  to  be  classified  here- 
under. 

Second,  that  all  the  offices,  places,  and  em- 
ployments so  arranged  or  to  be  arranged  in 
classes  shall  be  filled  by  selections  from  among 
those  graded  highest  as  the  results  of  such  com- 
petitive examinations. 

Third,  that  original  entrance  to  the  public 
service  aforesaid  shall  be  at  the  lowest  grade. 

Fourth,  that  there  shall  be  a  period  of  proba- 
tion before  any  absolute  appointment  or  em- 
ployment aforesaid. 

Fifth,  that  promotions  shall  be  from  the  lower 
grades  to  the  higher  on  the  basis  of  merit  and 
competition. 

Sixth,  that  no  person  in  the  public  service  is 
for  that  reason  under  any  obligations  to  con- 
tribute to  any  political  fund,  or  to  render  any 
political  service,  and  that  he  will  not  be  re- 
moved or  otherwise  prejudiced  for  refusing  to 
do  so. 

Seventh,  that  no  person  in  said  service  has 
any  right  to  use  his  official  authority  or  in- 
fluence to  coerce  the  political  action  of  any 
person  or  body. 

Eighth,  there  shall  be  non-competitive  examJ 
inations  in  all  proper  cases  before  the  commis- 


sion, when  competition  may  not  be  found  prac- 
ticable. 

Ninth,  that  notice  shall  be  given  in  writing 
to  said  cominission  of  the  persons  selected  for 
appointment  or  employment  from  among  those 
who  have  been  examined,  of  the  rejection  of 
any  such  persons  afler  probation,  and  of  the 
date  thereof,  antl  a  record  of  the  same  shall  be 
kept  by  said  commission. 

And  any  necessary  exceptions  from  said  nine 
fundamental  provisions  of  the  rules  shall  be  set 
forth  in  connection  with  such  rules,  and  the 
reasons  therefor  shall  be  stated  in  the  annual 
reports  of  the  commission. 

Third.  Said  commission  shall  make  regula- 
tions for,  and  have  control  of,  such  examina- 
tions, and,  through  its  members  or  the  exam- 
iners, it  shall  supervise  and  preserve  the  records 
of  the  same ,  and  said  commission  shall  keep 
minutes  of  its  own  proceedings. 

Fourth.  Said  commission  may  make  investi- 
gations concerning  the  facts,  and  may  report 
upon  all  matters  touching  the  enforcement  and 
effects  of  said  rules  and  regulations,  and  con- 
cerning the  action  of  any  examiner  or  board  of 
examiners,  and  its  owjj  subordinates,  and  those 
in  the  public  service,  in  respect  to  the  execution 
of  this  act. 

Fifth.  Said  commission  shall  make  an  annual 
report  to  the  President,  for  transmission  to  Con- 
gress, showing  its  own  action,  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations and  the  exceptions  thereto  in  force,  the 
pracitical  effects  thereof,  and  any  suggestions  it 
may  approve  for  the  more  effectual  accomplish- 
ment 01  the  purposes  of  this  act. 

The  third  and  fourth  sections  authorize  the 
commission  to  employ  a  chief  examiner,  a  secre- 
tary, and  the  necessary  clerical  force ;  to  desig- 
nate boards  of  examiners,  to  direct  where  exam- 
inations shall  be  held ;  and  rec[uire3  that  suitable 
rooms  shall  be  furnished  for  its  accommodation 
in  the  public  buildings  in  Washington  and  else- 
where. They  require  also  the  chief  examiner 
to  act,  as  far  as  practicable,  with  the  examining 
boards,  and  to  secure  accuracy,  uniformity,  and 
justice  in  all  their  proceedings. 

The  fifth  section  defines  the  offenses  which 
are  calculated  to  defeat  the  just  enforcement  of 
the  act,  and  declares  the  penalties. 

The  sixth  section  requires  the  heads  of  the 
different  Departments  to  make  a  more  perfect 
classification  of  clerks  and  employfis,  both  in 
the  Departments  in  the  various  offices  under 
their  charge,  in  conformity  with  the  one  hun- 
dred and  eixty-third  section  of  the  Revised 
Statutes,  and  to  extend  and  revise  such  classifi- 
cation at  the  request  of  the  President. 

The  seventh  section  is  in  these  words : 

Sec.  7.  After  the  expiration  of  four  months 
from  the  passage  of  this  act  no  officer  or  clerk 
shall  be  appointed,  and  no  person  shall  be  em- 
ployed to  enter  or  be  promoted  in  either  of  the 
said  classes  now  existing,  or  that  may  be  ar- 
ransred  hereunder,  pursuant  to  said  ndes,  until 
he  has  passed  an  examination,  or  is  shown  to  l)e 
specially  exempted  from  such  examination  in 
conformity  herewith. 

But  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  con- 
strued to  take  from  those  honorably  discharged 
from  the  military  or  naval  service  any  prefer- 
ence conferred  by  the  seventeen  hundred  and 
fifty-fourth  section  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  nor 
to  take  from  the  President  any  authority  not  \n- 
consistent  with  this  act  conferred  by  the  sevvn- 
teen  hundred  and  fifty-third  section  of  said 


260 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


statutes :  nor  shall  tny  officer  not  in  the  execu- 
tive branch  of  the  Government,  or  any  person 
merely  employetl  as  a  laborer  or  workman,  be 
required  to  be'classified  hereunder;  nor,  unless 
by  direction  of  the  Senate,  shall  any  person  who 
has  been  nominated  for  confirmation  by  the 
Senate  be  required  to  be  classified  or  pass  an 
examination. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  recurring  to  what  I 
have  said  as  to  ecope  of  this  bill,  to  the 
officers  who  are  emoraced  in  it,  to  the 
avoidance  of  the  question  of  removal  and 
tenure,  I  have  only  to  say  that  the  machi- 
nery of  the  bill  is  that  the  President  shall 
call  to  his  aid  the  very  best  assistance, 
with  or  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
Senate — for  that  is  a  matter  about  which 
gentlemen  would  differ  and  upon  it  I  have 
no  very  fixed  opinion — that  the  President 
shall  with  the  concurrence  of  the  best  ad- 
vice which  he  can  obtain,  form  a  plan,  a 
scheme  of  examination  free  for  all,  open  to 
all,  which  shall  secure  the  very  best  talent 
and  the  very  best  capacity  attainable  for  the 
civil  offices  of  the  Government.  The 
method  adopted  in  the  bill  is  by  competitive 
examination.    That  method  has  been  im- 

Eerfectly  tried  throughout  the  country.  I 
ave  here  the  statement  of  the  postmaster 
of  New  York  who  has  given  much  atten- 
tion and  has  had  great  experience  in  this 
matter.  I  have  here  his  statement  that 
the  business  of  his  office  increased  150  per 
cent,  within  a  certain  number  of  years,  and 
the  expenses  increased  only  2  per  cent. 

To  be  specific — 

Says  Mr.  Pearson — 
while  the  increase  in  the  volume  of  matter  has 
been  from  150  to  300  per  cent,  the  increase  in 
cost  has  only  been  about  2  per  cent. 

Mr.  Graves,  whose  testimony  I  read  be- 
fore, has  stated  as  the  result  of  the  efforts 
which  were  made  by  General  Grant  during 
the  period  that  he  was  allowed  any  funds 
for  the  purpose  of  putting  this  scheme  into 
operation,  that  the  expenses  of  the  De- 
partments here  can  be  reduced  at  least 
one-third. 

I  have  heard  it  said  that  this  system  of 
examination  proposes  to  present  only  a 
scholastic  test;   that  it  proposes  only  to 

five  advantage  to  those  who  are  college- 
red,  and  have  had  the  advantage  in  early 
life  of  superior  education.  The  committee 
investigated  that  subject  to  some  extent, 
and  I  have  here  the  result  in  the  city  of 
New  York.    Says  Mr.  Burt: 

Taking  seven  hundred  and  thirty-one  persons 
examined,  60  per  cent,  of  the  appointees  select- 
ed from  them  nad  been  educated  simply  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  country ;  33J  per  cent, 
had  received  what  they  call  academic  or  high- 
•chool  e<Iucation ;  and  6}  per  cent,  a  collegiate 
education.  In  all  the  statistics  in  regard  to  com- 
mon school  education  there  is  one  little  weak- 
ness resulting  firom  the  fact  that  we  have  to 


throw  in  that  class  men  who  have  had  hardly 
any  education,  men  who  will  say,  "  I  went  to 
school  until  I  was  11  years  old,"  or  "  I  went  to 
school  in  the  winter."  or  something  of  that  kind. 
We  have  to  throw  tnem  in  that  class — 

That  is  the  class  who  have  received  a 
common-school  education — 

and  it  rather  reduces  the  average  standing  in 
that  category.  As  to  the  matter  of  age  we  have 
very  thoroughly  exploded  that  objection.  There 
have  been  some  young  men  of  21  and  2?  who 
have  come  in,  but  the  average  has  been  above 
30,  and  it  is  astonishing  that  it  is  themen  above 
30  who  make  the  best  time  on  examination,  who 
show  a  facility  to  get  through  work  quickly. 

He  goes  on  to  say: 

Yet  about  two-thirds  of  the  appointees  had  a 
common-school  education;  had  not  even  an 
academic  education. 

Thereupon  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee asked : 

Is  it  from  that  you  get  the  value  of  the  ele. 
ment  of  experience  and  natural  force  that  I 
spoke  of  ? 

"Mr.  Burt.  Yes, sir;  it  shows  itself  there 
apart  from  the  question  of  elaborate  education. 

Of  course  these  examinations  must  be 
proper;  of  course  they  must  be  regulated 
upon  common-sense  principles;  of  course 
they  must  be  conducted  to  test  the  fitness 
of  the  men  who  are  to  be  appointed  to 
particular  offices.  You  have  tests  every- 
where. To-day  the  law  retjuires  that  there 
shall  be  a  test  of  examination  in  the  vari- 
ous Departments  here  in  Washington. 
They  are  pass  examinations;  they  are 
imperfect ;  they  are  insufficient ;  the^  are 
not  thorough.  Mr.  Graves  himself  says 
that  the  only  examination  in  his  case  was 
that  the  superior  in  the  Department  look- 
ed over  his  shoulder  while  he  was  writing 
and  said,  "  I  think  you  will  pass."  That 
was  when  he  entered  the  service  twenty- 
odd  years  ago. 

If  you  have  examinations  why  not  have 
competitive  examinations  ?  If  you  have 
private  pass  examinations,  why  not  have 
open  examinations?  If  examinations  are 
made  in  the  Departments  by  subordinates 
of  the  Departments,  why  not  have  them 
made  by  responsible  examiners  amenable 
to  the  authority  of  the  President  under  a 
system  devised  by  the  best  intelligence 
that  can  be  supplied? 

I  hear  the  system  of  competitive  exam- 
ination spoken  of  as  if  it  were  something 
extraordinary.  Within  the  last  fifteen 
years  it  has  gotten  to  be  a  custom  that  I 
might  almost  say  is  universal  that  when  a 
member  of  Congress  has  the  right  to  ap- 
point a  cadet  to  West  Point  or  to  the  Na- 
val Academy  he  asks  his  constituents  to 
compete  for  it.  Formerly  it  was  never 
done;  it  was  looked  on  as  the  mere 
perquisite  of  a  member  of  Congress.     I 


BOOK  III.]     GEORGE  H.  PENDLETON  ON  THE  CIVIL  SEftVICE. 


261 


appointed  a  gentleman  to  West  Point  who 
grdauated  at  the  head  of  his  class,  and 
now  is  the  active  and  vigorous  spirit  of  the 
Military  Academy.  I  appointed  him  sim- 
ply upon  my  own  personal  examination 
and  knowledge.  It  would  not  be  done 
now ;  it  could  not  be  done  now  ;  the  pub- 
lic sentiment  is  against  it.  The  public 
sentiment  of  the  district  that  I  then  repre- 
sented would  not  permit  it ;  but  open  com- 
petitive examinations  are  demanded,  and 
everybody  having  the  requisite  qualifica- 
tions of  age  and  health  and  vigor  can 
compete  for  the  appointment. 

Why  not  apply  that  system  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive Departments  of  this  Government  ? 
What  earthly  reason  can  there  be  why 
when  you  desire  to  appoint  the  best  and 
fittest  man  for  the  place  that  is  vacant  he 
should  not  subject  himself  to  the  compe- 
tition of  other  people  who  desire  to  have 
that  place?  Of  course,  as  I  said  before, 
this  all  goes  upon  the  basis  that  there  shall 
be  reasonable  examinations  and  reasonable 
competition. 

Nor  are  there  any  aristocratical  tenden- 
cies about  this  system,  as  I  have  heard 
suggested ;  for  while  it  does  not  in  any 
wise  create  an  official  caste  it  does  in 
words  and  in  effect,  open  up  the  possibility 
of  the  public  service  to  the  poorest  and  the 
humblest  and  least  influential  in  the 
land. 

Mr.  President,  I  desire  to  say  only  one 
word  further.  I  have  spoken  to-day  under 
great  disadvantage,  and  perhaps  I  may 
have  omitted  things  that  I  shall  desire  in 
the  course  of  this  discussion  to  lay  before 
the  Senate. 

But  I  desire,  Mr.  President,  to  follow 
out  for  one  moment  the  line  of  thought 
which  I  indicated  when  I  said  that  I  be- 
lieved this  system  would  be  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  the  country,  and  that  to  me  it 
was  no  objection,  that  I  believed  it  would 
be  of  great  advantage  to  the  Democratic 
party.  The  suggestion  has  been  made  here 
that  it  might  be  better  to  lay  this  matter 
over  until  after  another  election,  and  that 
the  mutations  of  parties  might  fill,  under 
the  old  system,  the  various  Departments 
with  members  of  the  faith  to  which  I  be- 
long. Aye,  Mr.  President,  but  the  next 
Presidential  election  may  not  have  that 
result,  and  it  will  not  have  the  result,  in 
my  honest  conviction,  unless  we  do  two 
things:  First,  respond  to  the  demands 
'  which  the  people  make  upon  the  Demo- 
cratic party  now  in  its  condition  of  proba- 
tion ;  and,  second,  disarm  that  great  body 
of  officials  who  as  disciplined  armies  go 
forth  to  control  the  Presidential  elec- 
tions. 

I  believe,  and  I  am  only  excused  from 
making  this  remark  because  of  what  I 
have  heard  publicly  and  in  private  con- 


versation upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate — I 
believe  if  we  argue  this  question  upon  the 
lower  plane  of  mere  partisan  advantage  we 
Democrats  ou^ht  to  support  the  measure. 
It  has  been  said  that  this  abandonment  of 
the  spoils  system  will  retain  in  office  the 
appointees  of  the  Republican  party.  I 
conceal  nothing ;  I  state  it  in  my  place  in 
Senate,  and  before  my  fellow-Senators  who 
are  of  the  other  persuasion,  I  do  not  think 
it.  There  is  no  proposition  to  extend  the 
term  of  office  where  it  is  now  fixed,  nor  in 
any  wise  limit  the  constitutional  power  of 
removal  from  office.  The  proposition  is 
simply  and  only  that  where  a  new  appoint- 
ment shall  be  made  the  element  of  ntness 
shall  be  decisive-  Can  any  Democrat  ob- 
ject to  that? 

How  many  Democrats  are  there  in  office 
now  ?  How  many  will  there  ever  be  un- 
der the  spoils  system  ?  The  Republicans 
have  possession  of  the  Government  for  two 
years  and  more.  How  many  Democrats 
will  be  put  in  office  during  that  time,  ex- 
cept on  the  merit  system  ?  Not  one.  But  if 
this  system  be  fairly  inaugurated  and  ad- 
ministered within  one  year  there  will  be 
fifty  where  now  there  is  one. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  abandonment 
of  the  spoils  system  will  exclude  Demo- 
crats from  office  when  the  day  of  our  vic- 
tory shall  come.  I  do  not  think  it.  On  the 
contrary,  I  believe  that  the  adoption  of 
this  policy  as  our  party  creed  will  hasten 
the  day  of  the  victory  of  our  party  and  its 
adoption  as  a  law  will  under  any  adminis- 
tration fill  many  offices  with  Democrats. 
I  think  it  will  bring  to  our  aid  very  many 
men  not  hitherto  of  our  political  faith  who 
believe  this  reform  a  vital  cjuestion  in  our 
politics.  I  think  it  will  disarm  and  dis- 
organize and  neutralize  the  trained  bands 
of  office-holders  who  have  wrested  from  us, 
as  I  have  said,  at  least  two  Presidential 
elections.  And  finally,  repudiating  utter- 
ly, as  I  do,  that  the  animating  spirit  of  the 
Democratic  party  is  the  love  of  spoils,  and 
that  its  cohesive  principle  is  that  of  public 
plunder — repudiating,  I  say,  that  doctrine, 
I  think  the  Democrats  throughout  this 
land — I  know  that  in  my  own  State  they 
can — will  stand  the  test  of  any  examina- 
tion, and  in  a  fair  field  will  not  come  out 
second  best. 

Who  shall  do  them  the  discredit,  who 
shall  do  this  party,  now  numbering  at  least 
half  the  people  of  this  country,  the  discredit 
to  say  that  thejr  can  not  stand  the  test  of 
merit  for  official  position  and  promotion 
with  any  equal  number  of  men  in  any  par- 
ty of  the  country.  . 

I  have  detained  the  Senate  much  too 
long,  and  yet  I  must  add  that  the  very 
best  aid  to  any  system  of  reforming  the  ser- 
vice is  in  the  most  rigid  application  of  the 
democratic  theory  of  the  Federal  Consti- 


262 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


^BOOK  III. 


tution  and  Government;  that  its  powers 
are  all  granted ;  that  the  subjects  on  which 
ic  can  act  are  very  limited  ;  that  it  should 
refrain  from  enlarging  its  jurisdiction,  or 
even  exercising  admitted  but  unnecessary 
powers  ;  that  it  should  scrupulously  avoid 
"  undue  administration.''  Add  to  this  the 
election  by  the  people  to  local  Federal 
offices,  and  there  will  be  little  necessity 
and  little  room  for  other  methods. 
******* 

The  Presiding  Officer.  The  pend- 
ing question  is  on  the  amendment  of 
the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  |Mr. 
Hoar]  to  the  amendment  of  the  Senator 
from  Iowa  [Mr.  Allison]. 

Mr.  Pendleton.  The  Senator  from 
Iowa  is  not  in  his  place  at  this  moment, 
but  gave  me  authority  to  withdraw  his 
amendment. 

The  Presiding  Officer.  If  there 
be  no  objection,  it  will  be  considered  as 
withdrawn  for  the  time  being. 

Mr.  Pendleton.  I  now  move  to 
strike  out  lines  22  and  23  of  section  2,  as 
follows : 

Third.  That  original  entrance  to  the  public 
service  aforesaid  shall  be  at  the  grade,  and  ap- 
pointments thereto. 


And  to  insert  in  lieu  thereof  "  appoint- 
ments to  the  public  service  aforesaid ; "  so 
as  to  read  : 

Appointments  to  the  public  service  aforesaid 
in  the  Departments  at  Washington,  shall  be  ap- 
portiontrti,  as  nearly  as  practicable,  among  the 
several  States  and  Territories  and  the  District  of 
Columbia,  upon  the  basis  of  population  as  as- 
certained at  the  last  preceding  census. 

This  amendment  has  been  discussed, 
and'I  do  not  care  to  detain  the  Senate  in 
the  further  discussion  of  it.  It  opens  up 
the  public  service  in  all  its  grades  to  com- 
petition, not  only  from  those  within  but 
those  outside  of  the  Departments.  The 
objections  to  the  provision  that  entrance 
shall  be  at  the  lowest  grade,  and  higher 
places  shall  be  filled  by  promotions  only, 
are  so  strong  that  I  desire  to  perfect  the 
bill  by  striking  out  this  clause  at  this  time. 
At  the  proper  lime  1  shall  move  to  strike 
out  the  clause  in  relation  to  promotion,  if 
it  shall  seem  necessary  to  accomplish  my 
purpose.  I  wish  entrance  to  the  public 
service  to  be  open  at  all  grades  to  every 
one  whether  he  may  be  now  in  office  or 
not. 
The  amendment  was  adopted. 


eelatio:n's  between  the  senate  ai^d 
EXECUTIVE  departme:n^t. 


Speech  of  Son.  John  J.  IngaWi,  of  Kanmt,  in  the  Senate 
of  the  L'luua  StuUt,  Friday,  March  26,  18S6. 

The  Senate  having  under  consicjeration 
the  resolutions  reported  by  Mr.  Edmunds 
from  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary, 
relative  to  the  refusal  of  the  Attorney- 
Greneral  to  furnish  copies  of  certain  pa- 
purs — 

Mr.  Inqalls  said : 

Mr.  President  :  Contemporaneous  con- 
struction of  the  Con!*titution,  fortified  by 
long  usage  and  acquiescence,  undisturbed 
for  more  than  seventy-five  years,  has  to 
my  mind  incontestably  and  impregnably 
established  two  fundamental  propositions  : 
first,  that  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  the  power  to  appoint  in- 
cludes the  power  to  remove,  and  that  both 
these  powers  are  vested  in  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  subject  only  to  the 
power  of  tHe  Senate  to  negative  in  cases 
of  appointment ;  and.  second,  that  where 
the  tenure  of  an  office  is  not  fixed  by  the 
Constitution  it  is  held  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  Executive. 

1  therefore  take  up  this  argument  where 


the  opposition  leave  it :  I  begin  where  they 
close.  I  concede  all  that  they  demand  as 
to  the  constitutional  power  of  the  Execu- 
tive upon  the  subject  of  appointments  to 
office.  If  it  shall  appear  tnat  the  report 
of  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  is  in- 
consistent with  thej^e  declarations,  that  the 
report  and  the  resolutions  to  which  we  are 
now  asked  to  give  our  assent  in  any  manner 
impair  or  infringe  upon,  or  are  in  deroga- 
tion of  these  admitted  high  executive  pre- 
rogatives, then  I  shall  submit  to  condem- 
nation, for  my  signature  is  appended  to 
that  report. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  unravel 
and  disentangle  the  complicated  array  of 
argument  by  which  it  has  been  attempted 
to  destroy  the  force  and  effect  of  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  I 
understand  that  the  objections  are  practi- 
cally four : 

First,  that  by  the  action  of  the  majority 
of  the  Senate  an  attempt  is  made  to  invade 
the  prerogative  of  the  president  by  de- 
manding his  reasons  for  the  suspensions 
from  office  that  he  has  made.  To  that  I 
interpose  upon  the  threshold  and  in  the 


BOOK  III.]    SENATOR  INGALLS  AND  EXECUTIVE  DEPAETMENT. 


263 


vestibule  of  this  argument  an  absolute 
contradiction  and  denial. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  in 
the  message  that  he  voluntarily,  of  his  own 
motion,  sent  down  to  this  body,  starts  out 
with  an  absolutely  unfounded  imputation 
upon  the  position  of  the  majority.  He 
says  that  the  Senate  has  been  from  time  to 
time,  in  various  ways,  through  committees 
of  the  body  and  by  personal  importunity, 
appealing  to  the  Executive  to  give  his 
reasons  for  the  suspension  of  officials  that 
have  been  reported  to  this  body  with  the 
designation  of  others  to  fill  the  places  thus 
to  be  rendered  vacant. 

Sir,  I  deny  it,  and  I  now  challenge  from 
any  supporter  or  adherent  of  the  adminis- 
tration the  exhibition  of  a  word,  or  syllable, 
or  justifiable  inference  upon  which  that 
allegation,  so  often  repeated  with  so  much 
variety  of  iteration,  can  be  properly  or 
justly  founded. 

The  effort  has  been  ingeniously  made  to 
shift  the  issue,  to  darken  council  by  words 
without  wisdom,  and  to  make  it  appear 
that  there  has  been  a  deliberate  purpose 
and  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Senate  to 
interfere  with  the  recognized  prerogatives 
of  the  Executive  by  demanding  his  reasons 
for  suspension ;  and  unless  I  hear  some 
Senator  while  this  debate  is  now  proceed- 
ing and  while  I  invite  the  statement — un- 
less I  hear  something  said  in  support  of 
that  averment,  which  I  deny,  and  which  I 
affirm  has  been  made  for  the  purpose  of 
clouding  this  controversy  in  popular  esti- 
mation, I  shall  assume  that  my  denial  is 
not  to  be  met. 

Again,  sir,  it  has  been  alleged  in  debate, 
in  the  public  press,  by  intimation  and  de- 
claration, and  It  has  been  the  basis  of  many 
studied  arguments  in  this  Chamber  that 
there  had  been  demands  by  the  Senate 
upon  the  executive  for  private  papers  in 
the  cases  sent  down  for  consideration.  I 
deny  it.  I  contradict  that  statement  by 
an  appeal  to  the  record ;  and  before  that 
great  tribunal  by  whom  this  issue  is  to  be 
tried  and  determined,  I  allege  that  that 
averment  is  without  foundation.  There 
has  never  been  in  form  or  in  substance, 
directly  or  indirectly,  expressly  or  remotely, 
any  demand  made  by  any  committee  of 
this  body  upon  the  Executive  or  upon  the 
head  of  any  Department  for  the  produc- 
tion of  private  papers ;  and  I  shall  De  glad 
in  the  front  of  my  explicit  denial  and  con- 
tradiction if  .some  one  of  the  advocates, 
some  one  of  the  champions  of  the  admin- 
istration, will  point  out,  before  this  contro- 
versy is  concluded,  when,  where,  and  how 
there  has  been  any  demand  made  by  the 
Senate  upon  the  President  of  the  United 
States  or  upon  any  head  of  a  Department 
for  the  production  of  private  papers. 

That  issue  was  brought  in  here  by  the 
administration.     It  is  said  that  a  guilty 


conscience  needs  no  accuser.  We  have 
been  told  of  those  who  "fear  in  every  bush 
an  officer. ' '  Sir,  it  was  the  interior  con- 
sciousness of  the  administration  out  of 
which  was  evolved  this  phantasy,  this  far- 
cical allegation,  that  there  was  an  attempt 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate  to  compel  the 
production  of  private  unofficial  papers  and 
communications  in  the  po-ssession  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  No  Sen- 
ator doubts  that  the  President  occupies  an 
absolutely  independent  position,  and  none 
would  desire  under  any  circumstances  to 
interfere  with  his  admitted  prerogatives. 

I  shall  strip  this  controversy  of  its  falla- 
cious incidents.  I  shall  clear  away  the  un- 
dergrowth of  misrepresentation,  sophistry, 
and  false  pretenses,  that  has  hitherto  OD- 
structed  the  pathway  of  our  consideration 
of  the  real  issues  that  are  involved  in  this 
contention.  With  my  consent  it  shall  not 
hereafter  be  averred  before  the  popular 
tribunal  that  is  ultimately  to  decide  this 
q^uestion  that  there  has  been  an  indefen- 
sible and  insolent  attempt  to  impair  the 
constitutional  prerogatives  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

Another  allegation  has  been  that  while 
this  controversy  has  proceeded  the  Senate 
has  been  inactive,  interposing  partisan  ob- 
iections  to  the  transaction  of  executive 
Dusiness,  to  prevent  the  execution  of  his 
high  trusts  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  I  yesterday  had  compiled  from 
the  records  of  the  executive  office,  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  what  has  been  done 
m  this  particular,  a  statement,  public  under 
our  rules,  which  shows  that  from  the  25th 
of  January,  1886,  to  the  date  of  the  last 
executive  session  there  had  been  confirmed 
by  the  Senate  four  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  nominations  of  officers  sent  down  by 
the  President.  Never  in  any  single  in- 
stance where  there  has  been  a  vacancy, 
occurring  by  resignation,  expiration  of 
term  or  proper  removal  upon  which  we 
could  properly  act,  has  there  been  an  in- 
stant of  delay.  The  Senate  has  not  in- 
quired whether  the  nominee  was  a  Demo- 
crat or  Republican,  but  has  proceeded 
vigorously,  industriously  and  steadfastly  in 
the  performance  of  its  constitutional  duties, 
and  if  there  has  been  inaction  or  non-action 
upon  nominations,  I  shall  show  before  I 
conclude  my  remarks  that  it  has  been  in- 
vited by  the  administration. 

Again,  it  has  been  alleged  that  the  action 
of  the  majority  of  the  Senate  is  instigated 
by  the  purpose  of  keeping  Republicans  in 
office  ;  that  we  are  moved  by  partisan  con- 
siderations to  thwart  by  all  means  in  our 
power  the  efforts  of  the  Executive  to 
transfer  the  official  patronage  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  the  party  that  was  placed  in 
power  by  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the 
people.  I  am  not  authorized  to  speak  for 
others,  but  for  myself  and  for  those  who 


264 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


have  accredited  me  here,  I  cannot  submit 
with  patience  to  such  an  intolerable  accu- 
sation. 

Mr.  President,  the  Republicans  of  Kan- 
sas are  Republicans.  They  are  neither 
afraid  to  be  so  classified  nor  ashamed  to  be 
thus  described.  Tliey  do  not  covet  any 
qualifying  or  palliative  epithets.  Their 
attitude  is  neither  apologetic  nor  defensive. 
They  have  an  unconquerable  pride  in  their 

Eolitical  achievements,  in  the  history  they 
ave  made,  in  the  triumphs  they  have  won. 
For  twenty-five  years  they  have  stood  upon 
the  skirmish  hue,  neither  asking  nor  giving 
quarter.  They  are  Republicans  not  Dy  in- 
heritance, not  by  tradition,  not  by  accident, 
but  from  conviction ;  and  they  are  as  stead- 
fast in  defeat  as  in  victory.  They  are  par- 
tizans,  intrepid,  undaunted,  uncompromis- 
ing, and  they  can  give  reasons  for  the  faith 
that  is  in  them. 

They  belies  and  I  believe  that  for  the 
past  quarter  of  a  century  upon  every  vital 
issue  before  the  American  people,  seces- 
sion, slavery,  coercion,  the  public  credit, 
honest  elections,  universal  lireedom,  and 
the  protection  of  American  labor,  they 
have  always  been  right  and  that  their  op- 
ponents have  always  been  wrong ;  and, 
while  they  concede  unreservedly  patriotism 
and  sincerity  to  their  adversaries,  tempo- 
rary repulse  has  not  convinced  them  that 
they  were  in  error.  There  is  neither  de- 
fection nor  dismay  in  their  columns.  They 
are  ready,  they  are  impatient  to  renew  the 
battle.  Animated  by  such  impulses,  it  is 
not  singular  that  they  should  feel  that  no 
Republican  can  hold  an  appointive  office 
under  a  Democratic  administration  without 
either  sacrificing  his  convictions  or  forfeit- 
ing his  self-respect. 

Accordingly,  sir,  when  a  little  more  than 
a  year  ago  a  Democratic  administration 
was  inaugurated,  those  who  were  in  public 
station  began  with  one  consent  to  make 
excuse  to  retire  to  private  life.  They  did 
not  stand  upon  the  order  of  their  going ; 
they  trampled  upon  each  other  in  a  tumul 
tuous  and  somewhat  indecent  haste  to  get 
out  of  ofiBce.  There  was  no  craven  cry  for 
mercy;  no  mercenary  camp-follower  fled 
for  shelter  to  the  bumb-proofs  of  the  tenure- 
of-office  act ;  no  sutler  crawled  behind  the 
fragile  brea.«twork8  of  civil-service  reform 
for  protection.  They  lost  their  baggage, 
but  they  retained  their  colors,  their  arms, 
their  ammunition,  and  their  camp  equip- 
age, and  marched  oif  the  field  with  the 
honors  of  war.  If  at  the  expiration  of 
one  year  a  few  yet  remain  in  office,  rari 
nantes  in  gurqite  vasto,  it  is  because  the 
victors  have  been  unable  to  agree  among 
themselves  or  been  unable  to  discover 
among  their  own  numbers  competent  and 
qualified  successors. 

Mr.  President,  candor  compels  me  to 
say  that   the  Democracy  of  that   State 


share  the  same  temper  and  spirit.  From 
1854,  when  the  Territory  was  organized, 
down  to  the  29th  of  January,  1861,  when 
the  State  was  admitted,  if  there  was  a 
Republican  holding  any  appointive  office 
it  was  an  inadvertence;  and  if  from  1861 
down  to  1885  there  was  a  Democrat  hold- 
ing an  official  position  requiring  confirma- 
tion by  the  Senate,  it  was  an  oversight ;  it 
escaped  the  somewhat  vigilant  scrutiny  of 
my  colleague  and  myself  and  those  who 
preceded  us  here. 

Therefore,  Mr.  President,  I  am  not  of 
those  who  beheve  in  non-partisanship  in 

Eolitics ;  and  I  should  be  recreant  to  the 
igh  trust  confided  in  me  were  I  to  refrain 
from  declaring  my  conviction  that  political 
parties,  energetic,  vigorous,  and  well-de- 
nned, are  indispensable  to  the  success  of 
free  popular  governmeuts.  Wherever  the 
life  of  States  is  freest  and  most  irrepres- 
sible, there  party  spirit  is  most  active  and 
aggressive.  It  is  by  the  conflict  and  colli- 
sion of  political  parties  that  the  latent  and 
richest  powers  of  the  State  are  made  mani- 
fest ;  and  those  whom  I  represent  have  no 
sympathy  with  the  dogma  that  it  reflects 
glory  upon  a  statesman  to  aff'ect  indepen- 
dence of  his  party,  or  that  it  is  an  indica- 
tion of  virtue  in  a  citizen  to  belong  to  no 
political  organization. 

Political  parties  are  social  groups  in  the 
nation,  allied  by  common  purposes  and 
kindred  aspirations  for  the  accomplishment 
of  beneficial  results.  When  parties  perish 
this  Government  will  expire,  for  we  all 
understand  that  in  this  country  the  only 
government  is  the  party  in  power.  Here 
is  no  dynasty,  no  ruling  family,  nothing 
corresponding  to  the  functions  of  govern- 
ment under  other  systems  except  the  party 
that  is  for  the  time  being  intrusted  by  the 
votes  of  a  majority  of  the  people  with  the 
execution  of  their  will.  And,  sir,  when  a 
majority  of  the  people  declare  that  there 
shall  be  a  change  of  administration,  it  is 
necessarily  implied  that  there  shall  be  a 
change  of  those  agencies  through  which 
alone  political  administration  can  be  made 
effectual.  It  is  useless  to  juggle  and  palter 
about  this  matter.  A  change  of  adminis- 
tration is  a  change  of  policies  and  methods, 
and  the  Chief  Magistrate  is  entitled  to  the 
cooperation  of  agents  and  ministers  who 
are  in  sympathy  with  his  opinions  and  the 
doctrines  which  he  is  chosen  to  enforce 
and  maintain. 

Sir,  unless  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  to  be  a  mummy  swathed  in  the 
cerements  of  the  grave,  he  must  have 
powers  commensurate  with  his  duties.  He 
IS  chartred  to  "take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed,"  and  unless  he  has  the 
power  to  select  the  agencies  through  which 
the  laws  are  administered,  through  which 
the  revenues  are  collected  and  disbursed, 
the  post-offices  conducted,  the  Indians  sup- 


BOOK  III.]    SENATOR  INGALLS  AND  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 


265 


ported  and  controlled,  the  glory  and  honor 
of  the  nation  maintained,  that  duty  im- 
posed upon  him  by  the  Constitution  is  an 
idle  phrase;  it  means  nothing;  it  is  an 
empty  formula.  Charaed  with  these  great 
duties,  liable  to  impeachment  if  they  are 
not  properly  performed,  how  can  it  be 
claimed  with  justice  that  there  shall  be  an 
interpolation  of  novel  doctrines  of  reform, 
under  which  while  the  chief  is  still  to  be 
held  responsible,  he  shall  be  deprived  of 
all  the  agencies  and  ministrations  under 
the  Constitution  by  which  they  can  alone 
be  so  administered,  in  sympathy  with  him 
and  the  policy  that  he  represents. 

Therefore,  sir,  I  am  confident  that  when 
it  was  ascertained  in  November,  1884,  that 
a  change  of  the  political  majority  in  this 
country  had  been  registered,  there  was  a 
general  faith  and  conviction  that  a  change 
of  offi/ial  holdings  would  follow.  The 
Democratic  party  desired  it ;  the  Repub- 
lican party  expected  it,  and  would  hae 
been  content ;  and  had  it  been  done  the 
people  at  large  would  have  said  with  one 
accord,  amen.  But  this  generation  has 
witnessed  the  genesis  of  a  new  political 
gospel ;  a  novel  organization  has  appeared 
upon  earth ;  a  new  school  of  political 
philosophers  who  announce  that  non-parti- 
sanship is  the  panacea  for  all  the  evils  that 
afflict  the  Republic.  Having  no  avowed 
opinions  upon  the  great  topics  of  the  hour, 
they  feebly  decry  the  corruptions  of  the 
American  system,  and  peevishly  and  irrita- 
bly declare  that  the  Government  is  degene- 
rate and  degraded,  and  that  the  true  pre- 
scription to  elevate,  reform,  and  purify  the 
public  service  is  to  prevent  the  clerks  from 
being  removed  out  of  their  places  in  the 
Departments.  This  brotherhood  has  not 
been  hitherto  very  largely  re-enforced  from 
the  Democracy.  If  there  has  been  an 
original  civil-service  reformer  who  has  de- 
serted from  the  ranks  of  the  Democracy, 
history  does  not  record  his  name.  It  has 
been  left  to  the  party  to  which  I  belong  to 
afford  conspicuous  and  shining  illustrations 
of  that  class  of  political  thinkers  who  are 
never  quite  sure  that  they  are  supporting 
a  party  unless  they  are  reviling  the  candi- 
dates and  denouncing  its  platform,  who  are 
not  positive  that  they  are  standing  erect 
unless  they  are  leaning  over  backward, 
and  whose  idea  of  reforming  the  organiza- 
tion in  which  they  profess  to  be  classified 
is  to  combine  with  its  adversaries  and  vote 
for  candidates  who  openly  spurn  their  pro- 
fessions and  depreciate  the  stock  in  t'  ade 
which  they  denominate  their  principles. 
Standing  on  the  corners  of  the  streets,  en- 
larging the  borders  of  their  phylacteries, 
they  loudly  advertise  their  perfections, 
thanking  God  that  they  are  not  as  other 
men,  even  these  Reptiblicans  and  Demo- 
crats ;  they  traffic  with  both  to  ascertain 
which  they  can  most  profitably  betray. 


Mr.  Prei-ident,  the  neuter  gender  is  not 
popular  either  in  nature  or  society.  "Male 
and  lemale  created  He  them. ' '  But  there 
is  a  third  sex,  if  that  can  sex  be  called 
which  sex  has  none,  resulting  sometimes 
from  a  cruel  caprice  of  nature,  at  others 
from  accident  or  malevolent  design,  pos- 
sessing the  vices  of  both  and  the  virtues 
of  neither ;  effeminate  without  being  mas- 
culine or  feminine ;  unable  either  to  be^et 
or  to  bear;  possessing  neither  fecundity 
nor  virility ;  endowed  with  the  contempt 
of  men  and  the  derision  of  women,  and 
doomed  to  sterility,  isolation,  and  extinc- 
tion. But  they  have  two  recognized 
functions.  They  sing  falsetto,  and  they 
are  usually  selected  as  the  guardians  of  the 
seraglios  of  Oriental  despots. 

And  thus  to  pass  from  the  illustration 
to  the  fact,  these  political  epicenes,  with- 
out pride  of  ancestry  or  hope  of  posterity, 
chant  in  shrill  falsetto  their  songs  of  praise 
of  non-partisanship  and  civil-service  re- 
form, and  apparently  have  been  selected 
as  the  harmless  custodians  of  the  con- 
science of  the  national  Executive. 

Sir,  I  am  not  disposed  to  impugn  the 
good  faith,  the  patriotism,  the  sincerity, 
the  many  unusual  traits  and  faculties  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
is  the  sphinx  of  American  politics.  It  is 
said  that  he  is  a  fatalist ;  that  he  regards 
himself  as  the  child  of  fate — the  man  of 
destiny;  and  that  he  places  devout  and 
implicit  reliance  upon  the  guiding  influence 
of  his  star.  Certainly,  whether  he  be  a 
very  great  man  or  a  very  small  man,  he  is 
a  very  extraordinary  man.  His  career  for- 
bids any  other  conclusion. 

The  Democratic  party  was  not  wanting 
when  its  convention  assembled  at  Chicago 
in  many  renowned  and  illustrious  charac- 
ters ;  men  who  had  led  the  forlorn  hope  in 
its  darkest  and  most  desperate  days ;  men 
for  whose  character  and  achievements,  for 
whose  fame  and  history,  not  only  that  or- 
ganization but  the  country  had  the  pro- 
loundest  admiration  and  respect.  There 
was  Thurman,  and  Bayard,  and  Hendricks, 
and  Tilden,  and  McDonald,  and  others 
perhaps  not  less  worthy  and  hardly  less 
illustrious,  upon  whom  the  mantle  of  that 
great  distinction  might  have  fallen ;  but 
the  man  at  the  mature  age  of  thirty-five 
abandoned  a  liberal  and  honored  profession 
to  become  the  sheriff  of  Erie,  without 
known  opinions  and  destitute  of  experience 
or  training  in  public  affairs,  outstripped 
them  all  in  the  race  of  ambition ;  and  wnen 
but  little  more  than  a  year  ago  he  entered 
this  Chamber  as  the  President  elect  of  the 
United  States,  he  encountered  the  curious 
scrutiny  of  an  audience  to  whom  he  was  a 
stranger  in  feature  as  in  fame;  a  stranger 
to  the  leaders  of  his  own  party  as  well  as 
to  the  representatives  of  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  who  had  assembled  to  witoess 


266 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


the  gorgeous  pageant  of  his  inaugura- 
tion. 

Sir,  the  career  of  Napoleon  was  sudden, 
startling,  and  dramatic.  There  have  heen 
many  soldiers  of  fortune  who  have  sprung 
at  one  bound  from  obscurity  to  fame,  but 
no  illustration  of  the  caprices  of  destiny  so 
brilliant  and  bewildering  is  recorded  in  his- 
tory as  the  elevation  of  G-rover  Cleveland 
to  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  sixty  millions 
of  people. 

If  when  he  was  inaugurated  he  had  de- 
termined that  the  functions  of  Government 
should  be  exercised  by  officers  selected 
from  his  own  party  the  nation  would  have 
been  content ;  but  he  did  not  so  determine, 
and  herein  and  hereon  is  founded  the  justi- 
fication that  the  majority  of  the  Senate  can 
satisfactorily  use  and  employ  in  demanding 
that  no  action  shall  be  had  in  connection 
with  these  suspensions  from  office  until 
there  has  been  satisfactory  assurances  that 
injustice  has  not  been -done.  If  it  were 
understood  that  these  suspensions  and  re- 
movals were  made  for  political  reasons  the 
country  would  be  content,  the  Kepublican 
majority  in  the  Senate  would  be  content. 
But  what  is  the  attitude?  Ever  since  his 
inauguration  and  for  many  months  before, 
by  many  utterances,  official  and  private,  in 
repeated  declarations  never  challenged, 
Mr.  Cleveland  announced  that  he  would 
not  so  administer  this  Government.  At 
the  very  outset,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance, 
he  denounced  the  doctrine  of  partisan 
changes  in  the  patronage,  and  through  all 
of  his  political  manifestoes  down  to  the 
present  time  he  has  repeated  these  assur- 
ances with  emphatic  and  unchanging  mo- 
notony. 

He  has  declared  that  there  should  be  no 
changes  in  office,  where  the  incumbents 
were  competent  and  qualified,  for  political 
reasons,  but  that  they  should  be  permitted 
to  serve  their  terms.  Like  those  who  were 
grinding  at  the  mill,  one  has  been  taken 
and  another  has  been  left.  Some  Repub- 
licans have  been  suspended  and  others 
have  been  retained.  What  is  the  irresist- 
tible  inference  ?  What  is  the  logic  of  the 
events,  except  that,  in  view  of  what  the 
President  has  declared,  every  man  who  is 
suspended  is  suspended  for  cause,  and  not 
for  political  reasons?  It  is  not  possible  to 
suspect  the  President  of  duplicity  and 
treacherous  deception. 

For  the  purpose  of  illustration,  let  me 
call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  and  through 
the  Senate  the  attention  of  the  country, 
which  is  to  judge  of  this  matter,  to  the 
basis  on  which  this  inmiiry  proceeds.  1 
read  from  the  letter  of  Grover  Cleveland, 
dateif  Albany,  August  19,  1884.  accepting 
the  nomination  for  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States.     He  says : 

The  people  pay  the  wages  of  the  public 
employes,  and  they  are  entitled  to  the  fair 


and  honest  work  which  the  money  thus 
paid  should  command.  It  is  the  duty  of 
those  intrusted  with  the  management  of 
their  affairs  to  see  that  such  public  service  is 
forthcoming.  The  selection  and  retention  of 
subordinates  in  Government  employment 
should  depend  upon  their  ascertained  fit- 
ness and  the  value  of  their  work,  and  they 
should  be  neither  expected  nor  allowed  to 
do  questionable  party  service. 

There  is  another  utterance  in  this  docu- 
ment to  which  I  might  properly  allude 
further  on,  but  which  appears  to  me  to  be 
so  significant  that  I  will  read  it  now.  It 
has  a  singular  fitness  in  connection  with 
this  subject  that  we  have  been  discussing. ' 
Speaking  of  honest  administration,  he 
says, 

I  believe  that  the  public  temper  is  such 
that  the  voters  of  the  land  are  prepared  to 
support  the  party  which  gives  the  best  prom- 
ise of  administering  the  Government  in  the 
honest,  simple,  and  plain  manner  which  is 
consistent  with  its  character  and  purposes. 

And  now : 

They  have  learned  that  mystery  and  con- 
cealment in  the  management  of  their  affairs 
cover  tricks  and  betrayal. 

Yes,  they  have  learned  that  mystery  in 
the  administration  of  the  patronage  of  the 
Government,  by  the  concealment  from  the 
people  of  the  documents  and  papers  that 
bear  upon  the  character  and  conduct  of 
officials  suspended  and  those  that  are  ap- 
pointed, cover  tricks  and  betrayal.  "I 
thank  thee  for  that  word. "  A  "  Daniel ' ' 
has  "come  to  judgment."  No  more  per- 
tinent and  pungent  commentary  upon  the 
facts  of  the  present  situation  could  be  for- 
mulated than  that  which  Grover  Cleveland 
uttered  before  his  foot  was  upon  the  thresh- 
old, that  mystery  and  concealment  in  the 
management  of  the  afiairs  of  the  people 
covered  tricks  and  betrayal.  There  are 
tricks  and  somebody  has  been  betrayed. 

Again,  on  the  20th  day  of  December, 
1884,  after  the  election,  some  of  the  con- 
tingent of  Republican  deserters  who  elected 
Mr.  Clevelana  to  the  Presidency,  becoming 
apprehensive  that  there  miirht  be  trouble 
about  their  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  formu- 
lated their  un 'asiness  in  words  and  ad- 
dressed him  a  letter  calling  his  attention  to 
the  profess  ons  upon  which  he  had  been 
elected  and  demanding  further  guarantee. 
To  that  letter,  on  the  25th  day  of  De- 
cember, 1884,  Mr.  Cleveland  replied,  and 
from  that  reply  I  select  certain  paragraphs, 
not  being  willing  to  tax  the  patience  of  the 
Senate  or  waste  my  own  strength  in  read- 
ing what  is  not  strictly  material. 

I  regard  myself  pledged  to  this — 

That  is,  to  this  practical  reform  in  the 
civil  service,  thia  refusal  to  turn  out  com- 


BOOK  III.]    SENATOR  INGALLS  AND  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 


261 


Eetent  and  qualified  oflBcials  and  put  in 
►emocrata — 

because  my  conception  of  true  Democratic 
faith  and  public  duty  requires  that  this  and 
all  other  statutes  should  be  in  good  faith  and 
without  evasion  enforced,  and  because,  in 
many  utterances  made  prior  to  my  election 
as  President,  approved  by  the  party  to  which 
I  belong  and  which  I  have  no  disposition  to 
disclaim,  I  have  in  effect  promised  the  peo- 
ple that  this  should  be  done. 

Not  his  party,  but  the  people,  Repub- 
lican as  well  as  Democrats.  Then  he  pro- 
ceeds to  castigate  the  Democratic  party : 

I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  to  which 
you  refer  that  many  of  our  citizens  fear  that 
the  recent  party  change  in  the  national  Ex- 
ecutive may  demonstrate  that  the  abuses 
which  have  grown  up  in  the  civil  service 
are  ineradicable.  I  know  that  they  are 
deeply  rooted,  and  that  the  spoils  system 
has  been  supposed  to  be  intimately  related 
to  success  in  the  maintenance  of  party  or- 
ganization, and  [  am  not  sure  that  all  those 
who  profess  to  be  the  friends  of  this  reform 
will  stand  firmly  among  its  advocates  when 
they  find  it  obstructing  their  way  to  patron- 
age and  place. 

He  goes  on  thus,  and  this  is  a  most  sig- 
nificant promise  and  pledge : 

There  is  a  class  of  Government  positions 
which  are  not  within  the  letter  of  the  civil- 
service  statute  but  which  are  so  disconnected 
with  the  policy  of  an  administration  that  the 
removal  therefrom  of  present  incumbents, 
in  my  opinion,  should  not  be  made  during 
the  terras  for  which  they  were  appointed 
solely  on  partisan  grounds,  and  for  the  pur- 
■  pose  of  putting  in  their  places  those  who  are 
in  political  accord  with  the  appointing 
power — 

^  And  then  follows  that  celebrated  defini- 
tion which  lifted  the  Ud  from  the  box  of 
Pandora — 

but  many  men  holding  such  positions  have 
forfeited  all  just  claim  to  retention  because 
they  have  used  their  places  for  party  pur- 
poses in  disregard  of  their  duty  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  because,  instead  of  being  decent 
public  servants,  they  have  proved  them- 
selves offensive  partisans  and  unscrupulous 
manipulators  of  local  party  management. 

The  letter  closes  with  this  somewhat 
frigid  assurance  of  consolation  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party. 

If  I  were  addressing  none  but  party 
friends,  I  should  deem  it  entirely  proper  to 
remind  them — 

That  is,  party  friends — 

that  though  the  coming  administration  is  to 
be  Democratic — 


Strictly  Democratic — 

a  due  regard  for  the  people's  interest  does 
not  permit  faithful  party  work  to  be  always 
rewarded  by  appointment  to  ofSce,  and  to 
say  to  them  that  while  Democrats  may  ex- 
pect a  proper  consideration,  selections  for 
oflBce  not  embraced  within  the  civil-service 
rules  will  be  based  upon  sutBcient  inquiry 
as  to  fitness,  instituted  by  those  charged 
with  that  duty,  rather  than  upon  persistent 
importunity  or  self-solicited  recommenda- 
tions on  behalf  of  candidates  for  appoint- 
ment. 

"  Here  endeth  the  first  lesson  !"  This 
was  in  the  year  1884.  I  now  come  to  the 
declaration  of  1885.  Just  as  the  Demo- 
cratic State  convention  which  nominated 
the  present  governor  of  New  York  for  the 
position  that  he  now  holds,  was  about  to 
assemble  at  Saratoga  on  the  24th,  I  think, 
of  September,  the  President  gave  out  for 
pubHcation  the  letter  of  resignation  of 
Dorman  B.  Eaton,  a  civil-service  commis- 
sioner, which  was  dated  July  28,  1885,  and 
accompanied  it  with  a  letter  of  his  own  ac- 
cepting that  resignation  which  was  dated 
September  11,  1885.  It  was  alleged  in 
Democratic  newspapers  that  the  President 
held  back  these  letters  in  order  to  give 
publicity  to  his  reply  at  that  time  for  ef- 
fect upon  the  convention,  and  it  was  re- 
marked that  it  had  caused  a  panic  among 
the  Democracy.  His  letter  is  dated,  as  I 
said,  September  11,  1885,  and  I  will  read 
a  few  paragraphs  showing  his  opinion  of 
the  Democratic  party  and  the  course  that 
they  had  pursued  in  attempting  to  force 
him  off  the  civil-service  reform  platform. 
After  some  rather  glittering  platitudes  in 
regard  to  the  work  accomplished  by  Mr. 
Eaton,  he  proceeds : 

A  reasonable  toleration  for  old  prejudices, 
a  graceful  recognition  of  every  aid,  a  sen- 
sible utilization  of  every  instrumentality 
that  promises  assistance  and  a  constant  effort 
to  demonstrate  the  advantages  of  the  new 
order  of  things,  are  the  means  by  which 
this  reform  movement  will  in  the  future  be 
further  advanced,  the  opposition. 

Now,  this  is  an  epithet  to  which  I  de- 
sire to  call  particular  attention — 

The  opposition  of  incorrigible  spoilsmen 
rendered  ineffectual  and  the  cause  placed 
upon  a  sure  foundation. 

But  not  content  with  applying  his  scourge 
to  the  "incorrigible  spoilsmen"  of  the 
Democratic  party,  the  President  took  oc- 
casion to  express  his  opinion  in  rather  pic- 
turesque language  of  another  class  of  poli- 
ticians that  nad  somewhat  afflicted  him,\ 
and  to  whom  he  was  under  bonds  : 

It  is  a  source  of  congratulation  that  there 
are  so  many  friends  of  civil-service  reform 
marshaled  on  the  practical  side  of  the  ques- 
tion; and  that  the  number  is  not  greater  of 


s:68 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  III 


those  who  profess  friendliness  fur  the  cause, 
and  yet,  mischievously  and  with  supercilious 
self-righteousness,  discredit  every  effort  not 
in  exact  accord  with  their  attenuated  ideas, 
decry  with  carping  criticism  the  labor  of 
those  actually  in  the  field  of  reform,  and 
ignoring  the  conditions  which  bound  and 
qualify  every  struggle  for  a  radical  improve- 
ment in  the  affairs  of  government,  demand 
complete  and  immediate  perfection. 

"  Supercilious  self- righteousness,  attenu- 
ated ideas,  and  carping  critisism,"  can  not 
be  regarded  as  complimentarv  phrases 
when  applied  to  the  apostles  or  this  new 
evangel  of  political  reformation. 

He  continues — 

I  believe  in  civil-service  reform  and  its 
application  in  the  most  practicable  form  at- 
tainable, among  other  reasons,  because  it 
opens  the  door  for  the  rich  and  the  poor 
alike  to  a  participation  in  public  place-hold- 
ing. And  I  hope  the  time  is  at  hand  when 
all  our  people  will  see  the  advantage  of  a 
reliance  for  such  an  opportunity  upon  merit 
and  fitness,  instead  of  a  dependence  upon 
the  caprice  or  selfish  interest  of  those  who 
impudently — 

To  whom  does  he  refer? — 

who  impudently  stand  between  the  people 
and  the  machinery  of  the  Government. 

You  will  agree  with  me,  I  think,  that  the 
support  which  has  been  given  to  the  present 
administration  in  its  efforts  to  preserve  and 
advance  this  reform  by  a  party  restored  to 
power  after  an  exclusion  for  many  years 
from  participation  in  the  places  attached  to 
the  public  service,  confronted  with  a  new 
system  precluding  the  redistribution  of  such 
places  in  its  interest,  called  upon  to  surrender 
advantages  which  a  perverted  partisanship 
had  tatight  the  American  people  belonged 
to  success,  and  perturbed  with  the  suspicion, 
always  raised  in  such  an  emergency,  that 
their  rights  in  the  conduct  of  this  reform 
liad  not  been  scrupulously  regarded,  should 
receive  due  acknowledgment  and  should  con- 
firm our  belief  that  there  is  a  sentiment 
among  the  people  better  than  a  desire  to 
bold  office,  and  a  patriotic  impulse  upon 
which  may  safely  rest  the  integrity  of  our 
institutions  and  the  strength  and  perpetuity 
of  our  Government. 

The  first  official  utterances  of  Presi- 
dent Cleveland  upon  the  4th  of  March, 
18H5,  renewed  the  assurance  that  had  been 
given.     He  declared : 

The  people  demand  reform  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Government  and  the  appli- 
cation of  business  principles  to  business  af- 
fairs. Asa  means  to  this  end  civil-service 
reform  should  be  in  good  faith  enforced. 
Our  citizens  have  the  right  to  protection 
from  the  incompetency  of  public  employfis 
who  hold  their  places  solely  as  the  reward 
of  partisan  service,  and  from  the  corrupting 
influences  of  those  who  promise  and  the 


vicious  -who  expect  such  rewards.  And 
those  who  worthily  seek  public  employment 
have  the  right  to  insist  that  merit  and  com- 
petency shall  be  recognized  instead  of  party 
subserviency  or  the  surrender  of  honest  poli- 
tical belief. 

How  this  system,  thus  inaugurated,  this 
amphibious  plan  of  distributing  the  patron- 
age of  the  country  among  his  own  parti- 
sans and  at  the  same  time  insisting  upon 
the  enforcement  of  civil- service  reform 
doctrines  practically  resulted  finds  its  first 
illustration  in  the  celebrated  circular  of  the 
Postmaster  General  that  was  issued  on  the 
29th  of  April,  1885.  I  do  not  propose  to 
defile  my  observations  by  reading  that 
document.  I  allude  to  it  for  the  purpose 
of  saying  that  a  more  thoroughly  degraded, 
loathsome,  execrable  and  detestable  utter- 
ance never  was  made  by  any  public  official 
of  any  political  persuasion  in  any  country, 
or  in  any  age.  It  was  an  invitation  to  every 
libeller,  every  anonymous  slanderer,  every 
scurrilous  defamer,  to  sluce  the  feculent 
sewage  of  communities  through  the  Post- 
Office  Department,  with  the  assurance 
that,  without  any  intimation  or  information 
to  the  person  aspersed,  incumbents  should 
be  removed  and  Democratic  partisans  ap- 
pointed. I  oficred  a  resolution  on  the  4th 
of  this  month  calling  on  the  Postmaster- 
General  for  information  as  to  the  number 
of  removals  of  fourth-class  postmasters, 
not  requiring  confirmation  by  the  Senate, 
between  the  4th  day  of  March,  1885,  and 
that  date.  It  was  a  simple  proposition. 
It  required  nothing  but  an  inspection  of 
the  official  register  and  a  computation  of 
numbers.  No  names  were  required  and 
no  dates.  There  was  a  simple  question  of 
arithmetic  to  ascertain  the  number  of  re- 
movals of  fourth-class  postmasters  not  in- 
cluded in  the  list  sent  to  the  Senate  by  the 
President,  the  salary  being  less  than  $1 ,000. 
Eighteen  daj-s  elapsed.  There  seemed  to 
be  some  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  De- 
partment to  comi)ly  with  that  request,  and 
I  thereupon  off'ered  a  supplemental  resolu- 
tion, which  was  adopted  by  the  Senate, 
asking  the  Postmaster- General  to  advise 
us  whether  that  first  resolution  had  been 
received,  and,  if  so,  why  it  was  not  an- 
swered, and  when  a  reply  might  be  ex- 
pected. 

On  the  second  day  following  an  answer 
came  down.  It  does  not  include  the  num- 
ber of  places  that  were  filled  where  there 
had  been  resignations.  It  does  not  include 
the  list  of  those  appointed  where  there  had 
been  vacancies  from  death  or  any  other 
cause;  but  simply  those  who  had  been 
removed  without  cause  and  without  hear- 
ing in  the  space  of  the  first  twelve 
months  of  this  administration  pledged  to 
non- partisanship  and  civil- service  reform. 
The  number  foots  up  8,635.    Eighty-six 


BOOK  III.]    SENATOR  INGALLS  AND  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 


269 


hundred  and  thirty-five  removals  of  fourth- 
cla>-s  postmasters  under  an  administration 
pledged  by  repeated  utterances  not  to  re- 
move except  for  cause,  making  an  average, 
counting  three  hundred  and  thirteen  work- 
ing days  in  that  year,  of  twenty-eight  every 
day ;  and,  counting  seven  hours  as  a  day's 
work,  four  removals  every  hour,  or  at  the 
rate  of  one  for  every  fifteen  minutes  of 
time  from  the  4th  day  of  March,  1885,  un- 
til the  4th  of  March,  1886.  And  that  is 
civil-service  reform  !  That  is  non-partisan- 
ship in  the  administration  of  this  Govern- 
ment! That  is  exercising  public  office  as 
a  public  trust ! 

Mr.  CocKRELL.  How  many  of  these 
fourth-class  postmasters  are  there  ? 

Mr.  Inqalls.     I  do  not  know. 

Mr.  CocKRELL.  About  fifty-one  thous- 
and, are  there  not? 

Mr.  Ingalls.  It  makes  no  difference 
how  many ;  they  did  the  best  they  could, 
and  angels  could  do  more.  I  see  that  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  is  impatient ;  he  is 
anxious  that  the  axe  should  fall  more 
rapidly. 

The  President  pro  tempore.  The  Sena- 
tor from  Kansas  will  pause  a  moment.  It 
is  the  duty  of  the  Chair  to  inform  the  oc- 
cupants of  the  galleries  that  the  rules  of 
the  Senate  forbid  any  expression  of  appro- 
bation or  disapprobation.  It  will  be  the 
painful  duty  of  the  Chair  to  enforce  that 
rule,  if  it  is  insisted  upon. 

Mr.  Ingalls.  I  hope  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  will  curb  his  inopatience  and  re- 
strain his  impetuosity.  The  Postmaster- 
General  will  get  through  if  you  only  give 
him  time. 

3Ir.  CocKRELL.  He  will  get  through  in 
four  years  at  this  rate. 

Mr.  Ingalls.  One  every  fifteen  min- 
utes ! 

Mr.  CocKRELL.  Fifty-one  thousand  is 
the  number  of  fourth-class  postmasters,  I 
believe,  and  only  eight  thousand  in  a  year 
have  been  removed. 

Mr.  Ingalls.  Only  one  every  fifteen 
minutes !  How  often  do  you  expect  them 
to  be  removed?  He  has  done  the  best  he 
could.  And  this  does  not  include  the 
number  of  those  who  resigned;  this  does 
not  include  any  except  those  who  have 
been  removed.  To  the  Senator  from  Mis- 
souri rising  in  his  seat,  impatient  at  the 
dilitary  procrastination  of  the  Post-Ofllice 
Department  in  not  casting  out  more  Re- 
publican po.'stmasters,  I  say  this  does  not 
mclude  all.  Undoubtedly  many  more  than 
eighty-six  hundred  and  thirty-five  have 
fallen  beneath  the  axe  of  the  Department 
or  have  been  filled  by  partisans  of  the  party 
in  power  as  a  reward  for  efficient  and  faith- 
ful party  service  in  consequence  of  the 
retirement  of  thousands  of  patriotic  Re- 
publicans:   and  when  the  Senator  from 


Missouri  attempts  to  convey  the  impres- 
sion here  that  out  of  fifty-one  thousand 
fourth-class  postmasters  only  eighty-six 
hundred  and  thirty-five  have  been  changed 
during  this  pa.st  year  he  is  entirely  outside 
the  record.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  this 
is  but  a  single  Department.  How  many 
have  gone  out  of  the  State  department, 
how  many  have  gone  out  of  the  Interior 
department,  how  many  out  of  the  Army 
and  Navy  departments,  and  out  of  that 
illuminated  Department  of  Justice,  and 
out  of  the  Treasury,  of  course  is  entirely 
unknown,  and  probably  will  alwa5's  remain 
unknown  till  the  secrets  of  earth  are  re- 
vealed at  the  last  day.  They  are  carefully 
concealed  ;  there  are  no  lists  furnished  to 
the  press  for  publication.  Therefore  I 
trust  that  the  friends  of  the  administra- 
tion will  be  consoled,  that  the  .complaints 
which  have  been  so  frequent  hitherto  of 
the  want  of  activity  on  the  part  of  the  ad- 
ministration in  finding  places  for  their 
friends  will  be  tempered  by  the  considera- 
tion that  they  have  done  the  best  they 
could  in  the  time  at  their  disposal. 

Mr.  President,  the  list  of  official  utter- 
ances is  not  yet  complete.  On  the  first 
day  of  this  session  President  Cleveland 
again  repeated  his  declaration  that  the  civil 
service  was  to  be  divorced  from  partisan- 
ship, and  he  took  occasion  to  inflict  some 
more  castigation  upon  those  who  were  en- 
deavoring to  force  him  off  the  civil-service 
platform  which  he  had  declared  he  intended 
to  occupy.    This  was  his  language : 

Lay  siege  to  the  patronage  of  Govern- 
ment, engrossing  the  time  of  public  oflScers 
with  their  importunities,  spreading  abroad 
the  contagion  of  their  disappointment,  and 
filling  the  air  with  the  tumult  of  their  dis- 
content. 

Rather  florid,  rather  oriental  phrase  but 
in  its  exactness  mathematical ;  a  demon- 
stration in  geometry  could  not  be  more  ex- 
plicit and  satisfactoiy  than  that  description 
by  President  Cleveland  of  the  occupation 
and  the  lamentations  of  the  Democratic 
party.     It  will  bear  repetition. 

Lay  siege  to  the  patronage  of  Govern- 
ment, engrossing  the  time  of  public  officers 
with  their  importunities,  sprehding  abroad 
the  contagion  of  their  di.sappointment,  and 
filling  the  air  with  the  tumult  of  their  dis- 
content. 

A  besieging,  importunate,  contagious, 
tumultuous,  discontented  organization. 

There  is  more  to  the  same  eflfect  in  this 
document  that  I  should  like  to  read,  but 
time  does  not  serve,  nor  is  it  material,  be- 
cause there  are  other  independent  utter- 
ances to  which  I  must  pass ;  and  I  do  this 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  wnsistent 
and  persistent  adhesion  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  the  declarationa 


270 


AMEEICAN    POLITICS, 


[book  III. 


with  which  he  started  out  when  he  com- 
menced to  administer  the  Government. 

On  the  30th  day  of  Januaiy,  1886,  the 
ordinary  avenues  of  communication  with 
the  pubUc  being  inaccessible,  President 
Cleveland  availed  himself  of  the  inter- 
viewer, and  in  the  Boston  Herald  was 
printed  a  long  letter  detailing  in  quotations 
a  conversation  with  President  Cleveland, 
"  the  many  points  of  which  will  be  found 
below.  This  was  after  this  controversy,  if 
you  call  it  so,  between  the  President  and 
Senate,  had  begun  to  develop  and  there 
were  some  indications  of  approaching  mis- 
understanding or  disagreement : 

Ho  next  spoke  of  his  position  toward  the 
Senate  in  the  matter  of  confirmations  to 
office.  He  said  it  gave  him  some  anxiety, 
for  the  Senate  had  been  a  good  while  in  dis- 
ch>8ing  what  it  meant  to  do.   "  They  seem" — 

He  says  plaintively — 

"  to  distrust  me,"  said  he,  "  if  I  am  to  accept 
what  I  hear  from  others.  But  I  hear  noth- 
ing from  them.  They  have  not  called  upon 
me  for  information  or  for  documents." 

That  complaint  no  longer  exists. 

"  I  have  tried  " — 

He  says — 

"  to  deal  honorably  and  favorably  by  them. 
My  purpose  was  announced  at  the  beginning 
of  my  administration.  I  meant  then  to  adhere 
to  it.  I  have  never  changed  it.  I  do  not 
mean  to  change  it  in  the  future.  It  seems 
to  me  unjust  and  ungenerous  in  them  " — 

That  is,  in  the  Senate — 

"  unjust  and  ungenerous  in  them  to  suspect 
that  I  do.  If  I  had  not  meant  to  adhere  to 
my  policy  it  would  h»\e  been  foolish  in  me 
to  begin  it.  I  should  have  escaped  much  in 
refusing  to  begin  it.  It  is  not  at  all  pleas- 
ant for  me  to  di8app>Mnt,  and  I  fear  some- 
times to  offend,  my  party  friends.  Nothing 
but  a  sense  of  duty  has  brought  me  to  this 
step.  Why  run  al*  this  risk  and  incur  this 
hard  feeling  only  in  the  end  to  retreat?  It 
seems  to  me  it  woidd  have  been  as  impolitic 
a-t  it  is  wrong.  No ;  I  have  tried  to  be  true 
to  my  own  pledges  and  the  pledges  of  my 
party.  We  both  promised  to  divorce  the 
offices  of  the  country  from  being  used  for 
party  service.  I  have  held  to  my  promise, 
a  id  I  mean  to  hold  to  it." 

Then  there  was  an  answer  to  a  question 

Eropounded  by  the  interviewer,  in  which 
e  defines  his  relation   toward  offensive 
partisanship  in  the  Democratic  party: 

"  I  did  not  propose  to  hold  party  service 
in  the  past  in  the  Democratic  ranks  as 
against  a  man.  On  the  contrary,  it  gave 
him  a  strong,  equitable  claim  to  (iffice.  He 
had  been  excluded  for  twenty-four  years  be- 
cause he  was  a  Democrat.  He  should  be  re- 
membered for  the  same  reason  when  a  Demo- 


cratic administration  came  into  power,  pro- 
vided he  was  a  competent  man  for  the  posi- 
tion to  be  filled.  What  I  understand  by 
civil-service  reform,  as  I  am  carrying  it  out, 
is  that  the  office-holders  shall  be  divorced 
from  politics  while  they  fill  their  positions 
under  this  government.  That  rule  I  have 
meant  to  stand  by."  I  asked  him  if  he  was 
aware  of  any  deviation  from  it  among  his 
appointees.  "  If  there  has  been  any,"  said 
he,  "  it  has  not  been  called  to  my  attention." 
I  suggested  that  some  such  charge  had  been 
made  in  New  York.  He  said  he  did  not  be- 
lieve that  there  was  any  foundation  for  it,  and 
that  it  was  well  known  there  that  his  wishes 
were  that  the  office-holders  should  attend  to 
the  duties  of  their  positions,  and  interfere 
neither  with  candidates  nor  election  con- 
tests. 

And  here  comes  in  the  significant  state- 
ment bearing  upon  the  duty  of  Repub- 
licans in  connection  with  these  suspensions 
and  removals  from  office  : 

"  My  removals  from  office,  such  as  are 
made,"  said  he,  "  are  made  for  cause.  It 
would  be  absurd  for  me  to  undertake  to  give 
the  country  ray  reasons  in  all  cases,  because 
it  would  be  impracticable.  When  I  have 
removed  a  Republican  for  political  reasons 
or  for  any  other  reasons,  I  would  apply  the 
same  rule  to  my  own  party.  I  think  the 
Republican  Senators  should  be  just  enough 
to  oelieve  this  of  me.  They  ought  to  appre- 
ciate that  I  am  trying  to  do  my  duty.  Why 
they  should  continue  to  distrust  me  I  do  not 
see.  They  do  not  come  to  me  either  person- 
ally or  by  committee  to  get  an  understand- 
ing of  my  attitude,  or  to  obtain  explanations 
on  points  of  action  to  which  they  object. 
They  stand  off  and  question  the  sincerity  of 
my  purposes." 

The  eight  thousand  six  hundred  and 
thirty-five  fourth  class  postmasters  and  the 
six  hundred  and  forty-three  suspensions  be- 
fore the  Senate  and  the  thousands  of  changes 
in  other  departments  "  are  made  forcause," 
not  for  political  reasons  merely ;  but  to  give 
those  who  have  been  so  removed  the  op- 
portunity to  ■  explain  or  defend  themselves 
would  be  "  absurd  "  and  '*  impracticable." 

But  this  is  not  all.  Later  in  the  winter 
the  Civil  Service  Commission  was  reorgan- 
ized, and  in  a  newspaper  printed  in  this 
city  appeared  a  statement  alleged  to  be 
"personal"  and  included  in  quotation 
marks,  and  which  it  is  commonly  reported 
was  in  the  handwriting  of  the  President. 

I  cannot  rid  myself — 

He  said,  after  speaking  about  the  per- 
sonnd  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission — 

I  cannot  rid  myself  of  the  idea  that  this 
civil-service  reform  is  something  intended 
to  do  practical  good  and  not  a  mere  senti- 
ment invented  for  the  purpose  of  affording 
opportunity  to  ventilate  high-sounding  no- 
tions and  fine  phrases. 


BOOK  III.]     SENATOR  INGALLS  AND  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  271 


He  alludes  to  the  action  of  the  Civil- 
Service  Commission  about  a  weigher  in  the 
city  of  Brooklyn,  and  says : 

When  the  Civil  Service  Commission  con- 
sulted with  me  as  to  the  status  of  Mr.  Ster- 
ling and  the  true  construction  of  the  rule 
bearing  upon  that  subject,  I  agreed  with 
them  in  their  second  opinion  that  the  posi- 
tion of  weigher  was  subject  to  an  examina- 
tion, and  that  it  should  be  filled  by  one  who 
by  means  of  a  proper  examination  under  the 
law  proved  himself  competent  and  eligible. 
But  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  good  of  the 
service  required  that  the  person  to  be  ap- 
pointed should  be  possessed  of  certain  traits 
and  qualifications  which  no  theoretical  ex- 
amination would  develop.  One  having  in 
charge  two  or  three  hundred  men  of  the  class 
with  which  a  weigher  has  to  deal  should  pos- 
sess personal  courage,  energy,  decision  and 
firmness  of  character.  It  is  entirely  certain 
that  the  possession  of  Fuch  qualifications  could 
not  in  the  least  be  determined  by  the  result 
of  an  examination  organized  for  the  purpose 
of  testing  an  applicant's  knowledge  and  edu- 
cation. 

And  he  closes : 

No  cause  can  gain  by  injustice  or  by  a 
twisting  of  its  purposes  to  suit  particular 
tastes.  And  when  a  result  is  fairly  reached 
through  the  proper  operation  of  methods 
adopted  to  further  a  reform,  it  should  be 
accepted — especially  by  the  friends  of  the 
movement.  They  should  not  permit  those 
of  whom  they  require  submission  to  say, 
with  any  semblance  of  truth,  that  they 
themselves  submit  only  when  the  result  ac- 
cords with  their  views. 

This  closes  the  public  declarations  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  upon  the 
views  which  he  entertains  as  to  the  method 
and  plans  and  system  upon  which  the 
public  service  is  to  be  conducted  under  his 
administration.  There  are  some  interest- 
ing details  as  to  the  practical  effects  and 
results  of  the  effort  of  the  administration 
to  purify  the  public  service,  which  I  would 
be  glad  if  I  had  time  to  refer  to,  but  I  be- 
lieve I  will  forbear.  I  can  only  say  that  it 
seems  from  an  inspection  of  the  record  as 
if  the  cry  ' '  put  the  rascals  out ' '  had  been 
changed  in  effect  to  '"put  the  rascals  in." 
Of  course  Mr.  President,  no  party  is  ex- 
empt from  accidents,  no  organization  has 
a  monopoly  either  of  good  men  or  of  bad 
men,  and  in  calling  attention  to  the  results 
of  civil-service  reform  as  applied  to  this 
administration,  I  should  be  insincere  if  I 
were  to  assume  that  such  results  had  fol- 
lowed from  any  predetermined  purpose  to 
put  bad  men  into  oflSce. 

We  heard  a  great  deal  during  the  cam- 
paign about  the  corruptions,  _  profligacy, 
misdeeds,  and  maladmmistration  of  Re- 
publican officials.  I  can  only  say  that  in 
view  of  what  has  occurred  under  this  ad- 
ministration, if  I  were  inclined  to  be  un- 


charitable I  could  with  entire  propriety 
say  that  while  the  Republican  party  was 
in  power  it  endeavored  whenever  it  de- 
tected crime  anywhere  to  punish  it;  but 
one  of  the  practical  results  of  Democratic 
administration  has  been  the  reverse,  and 
that  is  to  place  in  office  a  very  large  num- 
ber of  admitted  and  convicted  felons.  I 
have  before  me  a  selection  from  which  I 
will,  I  believe,  in  support  of  this  view  of 
the  case,  give  a  law  extract,  stating  in 
advance  that  these  compilations  are  made 
from  Democratic  newspapers  which,  of 
course,  is  a  mitigation  of  the  slander, 
though  it  does  not  necessarily  destroy  its 
credibility. 

Mr.  I ,  of  Baltimore,  who  was  made 

an  Indian  inspector  in  1885,  had  been  in- 
volved in  notorious  election  frauds  and 
was  condemned  by  the  civil-service  reform 
Independents  of  Maryland  as  a  companion 
of  Higgins,  as  a  baUot-bo::  bluffer,  and  a 
professional  gambler. 

The  postmaster  at  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  was 
convicted  and  sentenced  in  Dakota  for  vio- 
lation of  the  pension  laws  The  man  who 
was  removed  to  make  a  place  for  this  emi- 
nent civil-service  reformer  had  eight  months 
yet  to  serve,  and  there  was  no  complaint 
against  him  even  to  the  extent  that  he  was 
an  offensive  partisan. 

Mr.  Holmes,  a  postmaster  in  Mississippi, 
had  been  involved  in  notorious  election- 
fraud  scandals. 

Mr.  Shannon,  appointed  postmaster  at 
Meriden,  Miss.,  was  the  editor  of  the 
Mercury  newspaper,  which  after  President 
Grant's  death  contained  a  rabid  editorial 
attacking  the  General's  character;  and  he 
had  been  indicted  in  the  United  States 
court  for  "unlawfully  and  criminally  con- 
spiring with  many  others  for  the  evasion 
of  the  civil-rights  law." 

In  Rhode  Island  a  Democratic  post- 
master was  appointed  who  had  been  in  the 
preceding  three  months  arrested  nine  times 
for  violation  of  the  liquor  law. 

In  Pennsylvania  a  man  was  appointed 
in  the  Philadelphia  Mint  who  openly  con- 
fessed to  writing  a  forged  letter  from  Neal 
Dow  to  be  used  in  influencing  the  German 
vote  in  the  State  of  Ohio  the  preceding 
year. 

There  have  been  some  strange  things 
done  in  Maine.  I  almost  hesitate  to  quote 
this,  but  if  I  am  wrong  the  Senators  from 
that  State  will  undoubtedly  correct  me.  It 
is  alleged  that  the  postmaster  in  the  town 
of  Lincolnville  was  at  the  time  of  his  ap- 
pointment actually  in  the  Portland  jail, 
where  he  was  serving  a  term  for  a  misde- 
meanor. 

An  agent  by  the  name  of  Judd,  who  was 
appointed  in  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statis- 
tics, was,  upon  inquiry  as  to  the  fact 
whether  he  had  been  a  horse-thief  and 
served  in  the  penitentiary,  suspended  from 


272 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book   III. 


office.      The  writer  states  that  the  only 

f round  for  supposing  that  he  was  not  a 
orse  thief  arose  from  the  fact  that  they 
do  not  put  men  in  the  penitentiary  for 
steaUng  horses  out  West :  that  if  he  was 
alive  it  was  a  reasonable,  natural  conclu- 
sion that  he  had  not  stolen  any  horses. 
Nobody  denied  the  penitentiary. 

A  gentleman  named  Richard  Board,  of 
Kentucky,  was  appointed  in  July,  on  the 
recommendation  of  Comptroller  Durham, 
clerk  in  the  railway  mail  service  and  as- 
signed to  duty  in  New  Mexico  This  is 
under  the  Postmaster-Greneral,  who  found 
leisure  between  removins?  postmasters  every 
fifteen  minutes  to  appoint  this  man  in  an- 
other branch  of  the  service  where  he  in- 
cautiously mentioned  to  his  friends  some- 
thing about  his  previous  history,  and  it 
appeared  that  he  had  been  three  times 
arrested  in  Cincinnati  for  obtaining  money 
under  false  pretenses,  that  he  had  been 
twice  arrested  for  stealing  in  Kentucky,  and 
once  in  Texas — a  variegated  and  diversified 
career.  "No  pent  up  Utica"  contracted 
his  powers.  He  had  stolen  in  three  states. 
His  father  was  a  very  wealthy  man  in  high 
standing  who  had  spent  a  great  deal  of 
money  to  protect  his  son,  and  through  him 
he  secured  the  indorsement  of  Comptroller 
Durham,  and  after  he  had  been  in  service 
for  a  few  weeks  he  committed  a  number 
of  robberies,  stole  $163  from  the  money- 
order  service,  and  at  the  date  of  this  com 
munication  was  lying  in  jail  at  Santa  F6 
awaitin»  trial. 

The  benator  from  Indiana  [Mr.  VooR- 
HEESj  yesterday  took  occasion  to  advert 
with  somewhat  of  animated  hilarity  to  the 
suggestion  of  the  Senator  from  Iowa  about 
the  evolutionary  condition  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  dwelt  with  considerable 
unction  upon  a  terra  that  the  Senator  from 
Iowa  had  applied  to  the  Democracy  in  his 
very  able  and  interesting  speech :  "a  pro- 
toplasmic" cell,  and  the  Senator  then  pro- 
ceeded to  give  us  the  definition  of  the 
term  as  it  appears  in  the  dictionaries,  and 
suggested  that  if  those  facts  had  been 
kn  >wn  at  the  time  when  the  canvass  was 

Sending  Mr.  Cleveland  would  undoubtedly 
ave  been  counted  out  in  New  York. 
The  Senator  from  Iowa  miarht  have  gone 
further  in  his  application  of  the  doctrine 
of  evolution  with  much  propriety.  Q-eol- 
oiry  caches  us  that  in  the  process  of  being 
upw.ird  from  the  protopbismic  cell,  through 
one  form  of  existence  to  another  there  are 
intermediary  and  connecting  stages,  in 
which  the  creature  bears  some  resemblance 
to  the  state  from  which  it  has  emerged  and 
some  to  the  state  to  which  it  is  proceeding. 
Hi-»tory  is  stratified  politics;  eveiy  stratum 
is  fossilliferous;  and  I  am  inclined  to  think 
th-it  th<i  poHtical  geologist  of  the  future  in 
hi^  aitiquarian  researches  between  the  tri- 


assic  series  of  1880  and  the  cretaceous 
series  of  1888  as  he  inspects  the  Jurassic 
Democratic  strata  of  1884  will  find  some 
curious  illustrations  of  the  doctrine  of  poli- 
tical evolution. 

In  the  transition  from  the  fish  to  the 
bird  there  is  an  anomalous  animal,  long 
since  extinct,  named  by  the  geologists  the 
pterodactyl,  or  the  winged  reptile,  a  lizard 
with  feathers  upon  its  paws  and  plumes 
upon  its  tail.  A  pohtical  system  which 
illustrates  in  its  practical  operations  the 
appointment  by  the  same  administration 
of  Eugene  Higgins  and  Dorman  B.  Eaton 
can  properly  be  regarded  as  in  the  transi- 
tion epoch  and  characterized  as  the  ptero- 
dactyl of  politics.  It  is.  like  that  animal, 
equally  adapted  to  waddling  and  dabbling 
in  the  slime  and  mud  of  partisan  politics 
and  soaring  aloft  with  discordant  cnes  into 
the  glittering  and  opalescent  empyrean  of 
civil-service  reform. 

The  President  closes  his  recent  message 
to  the  Senate  in  this  language  : 

The  pledges  I  have  made  were  made  to 
the  peo{)le,  and  to  them  I  am  responsible  for 
the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  re- 
deemed. I  am  not  responsible  to  the  Senate 
and  I  am  unwilling  to  submit  my  actions 
and  official  conduct  to  them  fw  judgment. 

There  are  no  grounds  for  an  allegation 
that  the  fear  of  being  found  false  to  my  pro- 
fessions influences  me  in  declining  to  submit 
to  the  demands  of  the  Senate.  I  have  not 
constantly  refused  to  suspend  officials,  and 
thus  incurred  the  displeasure  of  political 
friends,  and  yet  willfully  broken  faith  with 
the  people  for  the  sake  of  being  false  to 
them. 

Neither  the  discontent  of  party  friends 
nor  the  allurements  constantly  offered  of 
confirmation  of  appointees  conditioned  upon 
the  avowal  that  suspensions  have  been  made 
on  party  grounds  alone,  nor  the  threat  pro- 
posed in  the  resolution  now  before  the  Sen- 
ate that  no  confirmations  will  be  made  unless 
the  demands  of  that  body  be  complied  with, 
are  sufficient  to  discourage  or  deter  me  from 
following  in  the  way  which  I  am  convinced 
leads  to  better  government  for  the  people. 

lie  is  not  responsible  to  the  Senate,  nor 
is  the  Senate  responsible  to  him  ;  both  are 
alike  responsible  to  the  people.  But  in  the 
cases  at  bar  we  are  compelled  to  inquire,  in 
justice  to  the  people,  whether  those  p!e  Iges 
have  been  reaeerned,  or  whether  they  have 
been  broken,  violated,  and  disregarded. 
Had  the  patronage  of  the  Government, 
within  proper  limits,  been  turned  over  for 
its  exercise  to  the  party  intrusted  with 
power  by  a  majority  of  the  people  there 
could  have  been  no  complaint,  but  upon 
the  assurances  that  I  have  read,  the  decla- 
ration was  made  that  in  every  case  where 
an  incumbent  was  competent  and  qualified 
he  should  remain  in  office  till  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term. 


BOOK  III.]    SENATOR  INGALLS  AND  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 


273 


When,  therefore,  some  were  suspended 
and  others  were  left,  what  is  the  irresistible 
inference,  after  the  declarations  of  the 
President,  except  that  these  persons  were 
suspended  for  cause  either  affecting  their 
personal  integrity  or  their  official  adminis- 
tration? Upon  the  ground,  then,  of  per- 
sonal justice,  if  no  other,  we  are  entitled 
to  know  whether  wrong  has  been  done  by 
the  accusations  that  have  been  filed  in  the 
Departments,  so  that  we  may  protect 
those  who  are  unable  to  defend  themselves 
from  injustice  and  defamation. 

But  there  is  another  reason,  and  to  me 
a  still  more  convincing  reason,  why  we 
should  be  advised  in  the  case  of  these  sus- 

Sensions  what  are  the  papers,  the  official 
ocuments,  and  the  reports  on  the  files  of 
the  departments  affecting  the  administra- 
tion of  these  offices,  and  that  is  this : 
under  the  tenure- of- office  act,  every  offi- 
cial suspended  is  reinstated  by  the  provi- 
sions of  section  1768  of  the  Revised  Stat- 
utes, if  the  Senate  adjourns  without  con- 
firming the  designated  person, and  continues 
to  exercise  and  discharge  the  duties  of  that 
office,  until  he  is  again  suspended  by  the 
President.  Therefore,  in  acting  upon 
these  cases  we  have  a  double  duty  to  per- 
form ;  in  the  first  place,  to  decide  whether 
the  person  suspended  was  properly  sus- 
liended,  and  in  the  next  place,  whether  he 
is  a  competent  person  to  be  restored  to 
office  under  and  by  virtue  of  the  ope'-ation 
of  the  statute  under  which  he  was  sus- 
pended. If  he  is  not  a  competent  person 
then  he  ought  not  to  be  restored,  and  we 
cannot  determine  whether  he  is  competent 
and  qualified  and  fit  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  that  office  until  we  have  the  official 
declarations  and  statements  upon  which 
the  action  of  the  President  was  based. 

Since  this  debate  began,  there  are  indi- 
cations that  the  President  has  become  con- 
vinced that  his  position  is  untenable,  and 
that  he  has  concluded  to  yield  to  the  rea- 
sonable requests  of  the  Senate  and  relieve 
suspended  officials  from  the  otherwise  in- 
evitable imputations  upon  their  conduct 
and  character.  I  find  the  following  corre- 
spondence in  one  of  the  metropolitan  jour- 
nals, which  if  authentic  relieves  the  rela- 
tion between  the  President  and  the  Senate 
of  the  principal  restraint : 

COMMITTKB  ON  FINANCE,  UNITED  STATES 

Senate,  March,  17,  1886. 
Dear  Sib:  Will  you  please  advise  the 
Committee  on  Finance  whether  or  not  there 
are  any  papers  or  charges  on  file  reflectiog 


against  the  official  or  moral  character  of 

late   collector   of  internal   revenue   for  the 

first  district  of ,  suspended  ? 

If  there  are  any  such   papers  or  charges 
will  you  please  communicHte  their  nature 
and  character  to  the  committe? 
Very  truly,  yours, 

JUSTIN  S.  MORRILL. 
Hon.  Daniel  Manning, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


March  19, 1886. 

Sir  :    Your  communication  on  behalf  of 
the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Senate,  dated  ^ 
March  17,  1886,  asking  whether  or  not  there 
are  any  papers  or  charges  on  file  reflecting 

against  the  official  or  moral  character  of , 

late  collector  of  internal  revenue  for  the  first 
district  of ,  suspended,  is  received. 

In  reply  thereto  I  have  the  honor  to  state 
that,  so  far  as  this  inquiry  relates  to  a  sus- 
pension from  ofBce,  I  feel  bound  by  the 
rules  laid  down  in  the  President's  recent 
message  to  the  Senate  upon  the  general  sub- 
ject of  such  suspensions. 

But  in  order  that  I  may  surely  act  within 
the  requirements  of  the  statute  relaling  to 
the  furnishing  by  this  Department  of  infor- 
mation to  the  Senate,  I  beg  leave  to  remind 
the  committee  that  the  office  referred  to  has 
no  fixed  term  attached  to  it,  and  to  further 
state  that  the  President  is  satisfied  that  a 
change  in  the  incumbency  of  said  office  will 
result  in  an  improvement  of  the  public  ser- 
vice, and  that  the  policy  of  the  present  ad- 
ministration will  be  better  carried  out  by 
such  change. 

Except  as  the  same  may  be  involved  in 
these  considerations,  no  papers  containing 
charges  reflecting  upon  the  official  or  moral 
character  of  the  suspended  officer  mentioned 
in  your  communication  are  in  the  custody 
of  this  Department. 
Respectfully,  yours, 

.  D.  MANNING,  Secretary. 
Hon.  Justin  S.  Morrill, 
Chairman  of  the  Senate  Com.  on  Finance. 

But  whether  this  be  true  or  not,  this  is 
not  the  forum  in  which  this  controversy  is 
to  be  ultimately  decided.  The  Executive 
is  not  on  trial  before  the  Senate ;  the  Sen- 
ate is  not  on  trial  before  the  Executive ; 
but  both,  as  to  the  sincerity  of  their  pro- 
fessions and  the  consistency  of  their  ac- 
tions, are  on  trial  before  that  greater, 
wiser,  and  more  powerful  tribunal — the 
enlightened  conscience  of  the  people,  from 
whose  verdict  there  is  neither  excuJpiption 
nor  appeal. 


46 


274 


AMEKICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  III 


THE  GREAT  TARIFF  CAMPAIGN  OF  1888. 


The  views  which  point  to  the  tendency  of 
the  Democratic  party  in  the  direction  of 
Free  Trade,  at  least  to  their  antagonism  to 
the  theory  of  Protection  for  protection's 
sake,  are  well  given  in  the  special  message 
of  President  Cleveland,  given  elsewhere  in 
this  work.  A  wing  of  the  Democratic  party, 
headed  by  Samuel  J.  Randall,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, dissented  from  this  view,  and  op- 
posed both  the  Morrison  and  the  Mills  bills. 
For  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  views  of 
this  class  oi  Democrats,  as  well  as  because 
of  the  distinction  of  the  speaker,  we  append 

Tlie  Tariff  Speech  of  Samuel  J.  Randall. 

Delivered  in  the  Houae  of  Bepretenlatives,  Map  18, 1888. 

He  opened  by  referring  to  the  President's 
recent  message,  in  which  the  Executive  ad- 
vised Cougress  that  the  surplus  in  the 
Treasury  by  the  30th  of  June,  at  the  end  of 
the  current  fiscal  year,  would  be  expected  to 
reach  the  sum  of  $140,000,000,  including 
prior  accumulations ;  or  more  closely  stated, 
the  sum  of  $113,000,000,  apart  from  prior 
accumulations,  over  and  above  all  authorized 
expenditures,  including  the  sinking  fund  for 
the  current  year. 

He  then  quoted  from  the  President's 
message  defining  his  position  on  the  tariff 
and  internal  revenue  questions,  and  said 
that,  from  the  utterances  of  the  President, 
he  understands  the  Executive  to  be  adverse 
to  any  reduction  of  the  internal  taxes,  as 
that  mode  of  taxation  afforded,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  President,  "no  just  com- 
plaint, and  that  nothing  is  so  well  able  to 
Dear  the  burden  without  hardship  to  any 
portion  of  the  people." 

The  President  further  said  that  the  tariff 
law  was  a  vicious  and  illegal  source  of  in- 
equitable tax,  and  ought  to  be  revised  and 
modified,  and  the  President  had  urged  upon 
Congress  the  immediate^  consideration  of 
this  matter  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others. 
The  President  had  asserted  in  substance 
that  the  reduction  necessary  should  be  made 
by  additions  to  the  free  list,  and  by  the 
lowering  of  the  rates  of  duty. 

In  the  presence  of  such  language,  ema- 
nating from  the  Executive,  authorized  by  the 
direction  of  the  Constitution  to  communi- 
cate and  from  time  to  time  give  to  Congress 
information  on  the  state  of  the  Union,  and 
recommend  such  measures  as  he  should 
judge  necessary,  it  was  imperatively  required 
of  tne  representatives  of  the  people  to  give 
fair,  intelligent,  and  prompt  attention  to  the 
suggestions  made.     He  had  done  so. 

He  had  introduced  and  had  referred  to 


the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means  a  bill 
to  reduce  and  equalize  duties  on  imports 
and  to  reduce  the  internal  revenue  taxes, 
and  some  provisions  of  that  bill  showed 
that  the  remedies  he  would  apply  were  at 
variance  with  those  recommended  by  the 
President.  The  President  sought  to  prevent 
the  continuation  of  the  surplus  revenue  by 
resorting  to  changes  in  the  customs  duties 
only. 

The  remedy  he  (Randall)  proposed  was 
through  the  repeal  of  internal  revenue  taxes 
as  well  as  by  a  full  revision  of  the  tariff,  as 
promised  to  the  people  by  the  Democratic 
Convention  of  1884.  The  reduction  pro- 
vided for  in  his  bill  aggregated  $77,000,000 
on  internal  taxes. 

Those  taxes  had  always  been  the  last  to 
be  levied,  and  the  first  to  be  repealed  when 
no  longer  necessary. 

Jefferson  had  given  the  death-blow  to 
excise  taxes,  that  most  vicious  of  all  taxes, 
and  among  the  things  he  received  the 
thanks  of  the  Legislature  of  his  native 
State  for  doing,  was  for  having  the  internal 
taxes  aboUshed.  The  first  tax  also  to  be 
repealed  after  the  War  of  1812  had  been 
the  excise  tax,  which  was  recommended  by 
Madison,  and  was  the  first  law  enacted  under 
the  administration  of  Monroe.  The  Demo- 
cratic Convention  of  1884  declared  that  in- 
ternal revenue  was  a  war- tax,  and  this 
declaration,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
other  declarations  of  the  platform,  clearly 
established  the  fact  that  the  opinion  of  the 
Convention  was  that  some  of  the  internal 
revenue  taxes  should  first  go.  and  that  they 
should  all  go  whenever  a  sufficient  sum  was 
realized  from  custom-house  taxes  to  meet 
the  expenses  of  the  Government  economi- 
callv  administered. 

The  country  was  practically  in  such  a 
condition  now,  and  the  true  response  to 
those  declarations  warranted  the  repeal  of 
the  internal  revenue  taxes  to  the  extent 

E reposed  by  his  bill.  He  favored  now,  as 
e  had  always  done,  a  total  repeal  of  the 
internal  revenue  taxes. 

In  the  bill  which  he  introduced  he  pro- 
posed to  sweep  all  these  taxes  from  the 
statute-books,  except  a  tax  of  fifty  cents  on 
whiskey,  and  he  would  transfer  the  collection 
of  that  tax  to  the  customs  officials  if  that 
was  found  to  be  practicable. 

With  Albert  (xallatin,  he  regarded  excise 
taxes  as  offensive  to  the  genius  of  the 
people,  tolerated  only  as  a  measure  of 
emergency,  and  as  soon  as  the  occasion  for 
them  had  passed  away  they  should  cease  to 
exist- 


BOOK  III.]      SAMUEL  J.  EANDALL'S  TARIFF   SPEECH. 


275 


Gallatin  and  Jejfferson  had  secured  the 
repeal  of  the  internal  taxes,  and  relieved 
the  people  from  their  annoyances  and  the 
hordes  of  officials  clothed  with  dangerous 
power.  If  this  internal  revenue  system  was 
abolished  to-day  we  would  have  no  surplus 
revenue  to  scare  the  country,  while  the 
administration  of  public  affairs  would  be 
rendered  purer  ana  better.  His  bill  pro- 
posed a  revision  of  the  tariff  on  the  prin- 
ciple believed  to  be  in  harmony  with  the 
authorized  declarations  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  their  last  convention. 

Those  declarations  clearly  recognized  the 
fact  that  a  difference  existed  in  the  cost  of 
production  of  commodities  in  this  and  other 
countries  on  account  of  a  higher  rate  of 
wages  in  the  United  States,  and  declared 
for  a  duty  ample  to  cover  that  difference. 
There  was  a  cardinal  principle  which  must 
cover  every  intelligent  revision  of  the  tariff. 
Labor  in  this  country  received  a  much 
larger  share  of  what  was  annually  produced 
than  in  any  other  country,  and  this  advan- 
tage to  labor  could  only  be  maintained  by 
giving  to  the  industries  protection  equal  to 
that  difference. 

He  quoted  from  Edward  Atkinson  that 
since  the  end  of  the  Civil  War,  and  yet 
more  since  the  so-called  panic  of  1873,  there 
had  been  greater  progress  in  the  common 
welfare  among  the  people  of  the  United 
States  than  ever  before.  The  statements 
of  Mr.  Atkinson  would  seem  to  settle  the 
question  as  to  whether  we  should  adhere  to 
the  benevolent  policy  of  protecting  home 
manufactures.  It  demonstrated  unmistak- 
ably the  truth  that,  to  increase  wages,  pro- 
ducts must  be  increased,  for  in  the  end 
wages  were  but  the  laborer's  share  of  pro- 
ducts. 

While  a  dollar  might  buy  more  in  another 
country  than  here,  a  day's  labor  here  would 
obtain  more  of  the  comforts  of  life  than 
anywhere  else.  Under  free  trade  this  ad- 
vantage to  labor  disappeared.  It  was  impos- 
sible it  should  be  otherwise.  If  the  tariff 
itself  did  not  give  higher  wages  to  the 
laborer,  it  did  preserve  from  foreign  compe- 
tition the  industries  from  which  the  laborer 
received  his  wages.  He  wished  to  refer  to 
a  few  fundamental  propositions  which  had 
been  maintained  throughout  this  debate, 
and  which  appeared  to  exercise  and  control 
influence  over  the  opinion  of  men. 

First.  That  the  duties  were  always  added 
to  the  price  to  the  consumer. 

On  articles  not  produced  in  this  country, 
this  doubtless  was  true  as  a  general  rule, 
and  measurably  true  on  articles  in  part  pro- 
duced in  this  country,  but  not  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  supply  the  home  market.  But 
on  all  commodities  produced  in  sufficient 

Juantities  to  supply  the  home  market,  a 
ifferent   principle  controlled.     In    these 
things  competition  determined  the  price, 


and  the  foreign  producer  came  into  this 
market,  where  the  prices  were  fixed,  and 
the  duties  were  what  he  paid  for  the  privi- 
lege of  coming  into  the  market.  Another 
erroneous  proposition  was  that  duties  on 
articles  produced  in  this  country  were  a  tax 
or  bounty  which  the  consumer  paid  to  the 
manufacturer,  by  means  of  which  the  manu- 
facturer derived  large  profits.  If  this  were 
true,  it  was  not  easy  to  see  what  justification 
there  was  for  the  committee  bill  any  more 
than  for  the  present  tariff  law.  But  that  it 
was  eiToneous  seemed  apparent  on  a  closer 
examination  of  the  laws  of  trade.  Adam 
Smith  long  ago  had  laid  down  the  proposi- 
tion that  larger  profits  in  one  industry  than 
in  another  could  not  long  prevail  in  the 
same  country.  The  United  States  formed 
a  world  of  its  own.  Would  it  be  possible 
that  one  class  of  consumers  would  pay  a 
perpetual  tax  to  another? 

Duppose  last  year  we  had  manufactured 
$1,000,000,000  worth  of  products  less  than 
we  actually  did,  and  had  gone  abroad  to 
supply  our  deficiency,  expecting  to  pay  fur 
the  goods  with  our  agricultural  products — 
we  had  sold  Europe  last  year  all  ot  the 
wheat  and  corn  the  continent  could  take — 
who  could  tell  what  prices  Europe  woul  1 
have  paid  if  we  had  thrown  upon  her 
markets  $1,000,000,000  worth  of  agricul- 
tural products  in  excess  of  the  quantity  we 
had  sold.  The  farmer  and  manufacturer  in 
this  country  must  depend  almost  exclusively 
upon  our  home  market. 

Any  other  policy  would  mean  ruin  and 
bankruptcy  to  the  country.  The  greater 
the  producing  power  of  the  people  the  more 
independent  and  wealthy  would  the  country 
be. 

Mr.  Randall  next  entered  into  an  explana- 
tion of  the  principles  upon  which  his  bill 
had  been  constructed.  He  said  that  in  fix- 
ing the  duties  the  rates  had  been  adjusted 
as  nearly  as  possible  to  cover  the  difference 
in  the  margin  of  cost  of  production  here  and 
abroad.  In  working  out  the  details  of  the 
bill  it  had  been  his  purpose  to  lower  duties 
wherever  possible. 

Between  the  extreme  free  trader  on  one 
hand  and  a  prohibitory  tariff  on  the  other 
there  were  intermediate  positions.  One  of 
them  was  to  fix  a  revenue  line  on  imports 
just  high  enough  to  realize  a  sufficient 
revenue  for  the  needs  of  the  Governnient. 
Another  was  to  make  the  tariff  sufficiently 
high  to  cover  the  difference  of  cost  of  pro- 
duction in  this  country  and  other  countries. 
To  lower  the  rate  of  duty  when  that  line 
was  passed  must  be  to  increase  the  revenue. 
To  raise  the  rate  of  duty  when  the  line  of 
maximum  revenue  was  reached  would  re- 
sult in  a  decrease  of  duty. 

Any  computation  that  did  not  take  these 
facts  into  account  would  be  utterly  worth- 
less.  It  might  safely  be  assumed  that  when 


276 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


the  importation  of  any  line  of  merchandise  ' 
steadily  increased  from  year  to  year,  and 
there  was  no  good  reason  why  those  goods 
Could  not  be  produced  in  this  country,  and 
the  result  of  the  increased  importations  had 
been  to  suppress  our  manufactures,  it  was 
proof  positive  that  the  duty  should  be  in- 
creased. 

Otherwise  it  might  be  assumed  that  the 
duties  were  quite  high  enough.  And  when 
the  duties  were  high  enough  to  permit  the 
existence  of  tiiists  to  raise  the  prices  of  the 
commodity,  the  duty  should  be  reduced  as 
closely  as  possible  to  the  line.  He  stated 
distinctly  that  if  it  could  be  made  to  appear 
in  any  case  that  the  measure  he  proposed 
conferred  more  protection  than  was  needed 
to  cover  the  cost  of  production,  he  was 
ready  to  lower  it.  If  in  any  instance  the 
rate  was  too.  low  to  cover  that  cost,  he  was 
ready  to  raise  it.  _ 

Monopolies  existed  without  the  tariff. 
The  standard  oil  trust,  the  whiskey  trust, 
and  the  cotton-seed  oil  trust,  and  others  that 
he  could  mention — the  greatest  trusts  in  the 
whole  country — were  not  protected  by  the 
tariff.  He  was  for  the  protection  of  labor, 
not  in  one  State  merely,  but  in  all  States. 

He  was  for  the  protection  and  mainte- 
nance of  that  system  that  allows  to  labor  a 
larger  proportionate  share  of  its  products 
than  was  realized  in  any  other  country  or 
under  any  other  system. 

The  late  Secretary  Manning  had  signalized 
his  accession  to  the  control  of  the  Treasury 
Department  by  a  more  thorough  examina- 
tion of  the  economic  questions  of  the  day 
than  had  been  made  by  any  of  his  predeces- 
sors. His  reports  and  public  utterances  were 
marvels  of  honest,  conscientious,  and  effec- 
tive labor. 

He  had  strongly  uged  the  necessity  for 
the  substitution  of  specific  for  ad  valorem 
duties  The  Custom  House  officers  charged 
with  the  collection  of  the  revenues  had  given 
valuable  and  emphatic  testimony  in  favor  of 
the  change.  The  present  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  had  taken  the  same  grounds.  (At 
this  point  Mr.  Randall  quoted  extensively 
from  Secretary  Fairchild's  utterances  on  the 
subject.  He  then  proceeded  with  his  de- 
scription of  the  objects  of  his  own  bill.) 
Certain  provisions  of  the  metal  schedules, 
he  said,  had  been  very  sharply  assailed,  and 
he  devoted  some  time  to  answering  the 
speakers  who  had  attacked  his  measure. 

He  took  up  the  schedules  relating  to 
steel  rails,  ana  quoted  figures  at  length  to 
sustain  his  action  in  fixing  the  duties  at  the 
rates  he  proposed  in  his  bill.  Tlie  duty  on 
cotton  ties,  he  said,  was  one  of  the  incon- 
sistencies of  the  present  tariff.  It  was  only 
fair  that  they  snould  pay  a  duty  as  hoop 
iron  and  as  an  article  or  manufacture.  The 
present  law  was  a  positive  discrimination 
against  the  home  manufacturer  and  in  favor 


of  the  foreign  producer.  The  rate  of  wages 
in  England  m  cotton  tie  manufactories  was 
hardly  one-half  of  the  wages  paid  in  such 
manufactories  in  Pittsburg. 

He  then  proceeded  to  a  criticism  of  the 
committee  bill  as  follows  : 

A  declared  purpose  of  this  bill  is  to  secure 
"  free  raw  materials  to  stimulate  manufac- 
tories." 

In  execution  of  this  idea,  the  bill  places  on 
the  free  list  a  large  numberof  articles  which 
are  really  manufactured  articles,  such  as 
salt,  sawed  and  dressed  lumber,  glue,  various 
oils  and  chemicals,  china,  clay,  etc.  These 
constitute  the  products  of  large  and  useful 
industries  throughout  the  United  States  in 
which  man;^  millions  of  capital  are  invested, 
and  employing  many  thousands  of  working 
people.  At  the  same  time  the  bill  leaves  or 
puts  upon  the  dutiable  list,  lead,  iron,  zino 
and  nickel  ores,  and  coal,  which  might  be 
called  raw  materials.  Further  than  this, 
the  bill  not  only  makes  so-called  "raw 
materials ' '  free,  but  places  on  the  free  list 
the  manufactured  products  of  these  mate- 
rials. Thus  the  manufacture  of  such  articles 
is  made  impossible  in  this  country,  except 
by  reducing  American  labor  to  a  worse  con- 
dition than  that  of  labor  in  Europe.  It  goes 
even  further,  and  places  or  leaves  dutiable 
certain  so-called  raw  materials,  such  as  iron 
ore,  lead,  coal,  paper,  paints,  etc.,  while 
placing  on  the  free  list  articles  made  from 
these  materials,  such  as  hoop  iron  and 
cotton  ties,  tin  plates,  machinery,  books  and 
pamphlets,  etc. 

In  other  words,  the  bill  leaves  or  makes 
dutiable  the  raw  material  and  puts  on  the 
free  list  the  articles  manufactured  from  it; 
thus  not  only  placing  an  insurmountable 
barrier  in  the  way  of  making  such  articles 
here,  but  actually  protecting  the  foreign 
manufacturer  and  laborer  against  our  own, 
and  imposing  for  their  benefit  a  burden 
upon  the  consumer  in  this  country.  Again, 
the  bill  places  lower  rates  on  some  manu- 
factured articles  than  on  the  raw  materials 
used  in  making  them.  For  instance,  type 
metal,  15  per  cent. ;  pig  lead,  44  per  cent. ; 
carpets,  30  per  cent. ;  yams  used  in  their 
manufacture,  40  per  cent. 

It  leaves  an  internal  revenue  tax  of  more 
than  100  per  cent,  on  alcohol  used  in  the 
arts,  amounting  to  as  much  as  the  entire 
amount  of  duty  collected  on  raw  wool. 
This  article  enters  as  a  material  into  a  vast 
number  of  important  and  needful  articles 
which  the  committee  have  either  made  free 
or  have  so  reduced  the  rates  thereon  that 
the  duty  would  be  less  than  the  tax  on  the 
alcohol  consumed  in  their  maufacture. 

In  some  cases,  the  difference  between  the 
duty  imposed  by  the  bill  on  the  so  called 
raw  materials  and  the  articles  made  from 
them  is  so  small  as  to  destroy  these  indus- 
tries, except  upon  the  condition  of  leveUing 


BOOK  III]     TAKIFF  SPEECH  OP  WILLIAM  J.  McKINLEY,  Jr.  277 


the  wages  of  home  labor  to  that  of  Europe. 
This  was  f<o  in  the  case  of  pig  lead  and  red 
lead,  which  is  made  from  it,  and  of  pig  iron 
and  steel  blooms  and  steel  rails. 

Such  legislation  would  leave  the  ore  in 
the  mines,  or  the  pig  lead  in  the  smelting 
works,  or  the  pig  iron  to  rust  at  the 
furnaces,  while  foreigners  would  supply  our 
markets  with  these  manufactured  proaucts. 
In  a  large  number  of  articles  throughout 
the  schedules  the  reductions  proposed  by 
the  bill  are  so  large  that  the  eflfect  must  be 
to  destroy  or  restrict  home  production  and 
increase  enormously  foreign  importations, 
thus  largely  increasing  customs  revenue  in- 
stead of  reducing  it,  as  claimed  by  the  advo- 
cates of  the  bill.  Particular  mention  in 
this  connection  is  made  of  earthen  and  china- 
ware,  glass,  leaf  tobacco,  manufactures  of 
cotton,  flax,  hemp,  and  jute,  carpets, 
brushes,  leather,  gloves,  manufactures  of 
India  rubber,  and  pipes. 

Mr.  Randall  asserted  that  instead  of  the 
bill  reducing  customs  revenues  $64,000,000, 
as  was  claimed,  it  would  be  fair  to  estimate 
that  its  effect  would  be  to  largely  increase 
the  revenue,  instead  of  reducing  it,  while 
the  amount  of  material  wealth  it  would 
destroy  is  incalculable. 

Those  supporting  the  bill,  he  said,  hold 
themselves  out  as  the  champions  of  the 
farmer,  while  they  take  from  him  the  pro- 
tection duties  on  his  wool,  hemp,  flax, 
meats,  vegetables,  etc.  And  what  do  they 
give  him  in  return.  They  profess  to  give 
the  manufacturer  better  rates  than  he  now 
has.  If  this  be  so,  how  is  the  farmer  to  be 
benefited,  or  where  does  he  get  compensa- 
tion for  the  loss  of  his  protective  duties? 

Much  has  been  said  about  removing  taxes 
on  necessaries  and  imposing  them  upon 
luxuries.  What  does  this  bill  propose  ?  It 
gives  olive  oil  to  the  epicure  and  taxes 
castor  oil  95  per  cent. ;  it  gives  free  tin 
plates  to  the  Standard  Oil  Company  and  to 
the  great  meat-canning  monopolies,  and  im- 
poses a  duty  of  100  per  cent,  on  rice ;  it 
gives  the  sugar  trust  free  bone-black  and 
proposes  prohibitory  duties  on  grocery 
grades  of  sugar ;  it  imposes  a  duty  of  40 
per  cent,  on  the  "poor  man's"  blanket 
and  only  30  per  cent,  on  the  Axminster 
carpet  of  the  rich ;  it  admits  free  of  duty 
the  fine  animals  imported  by  the  gentlemen 
of  the  turf,  makes  free  the  paintings  and 
statuary  of  the  railway  millionaire  and  coal 
baron. 

Mr.  Randall  said  he  yielded  to  no  man  on 
his  side  of  the  House  in  his  desire  for  con- 
tinued Democratic  control  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Federal  Government.  He 
did  not  believe  the  adoption  of  the  copa- 
mittee's  bill  would  make  such  result  certain, 
and  added : 

"  I  cannot  be  coerced  into  any  particular 
action  upon  economic  questions  by  the  direc- 


tion of  party  caucus.  The  period  of  the 
political  caucus  has  departed  never  to 
return,  and  yet  we  should  confer  and  have 
unity,  if  it  is  possible. 

"In  these  matters  I  speak  only  for  my- 
self. My  convictions  on  the  tarifi"  are 
strong,  and  founded,  as  I  think,  upon  prin- 
ciple, and  upon  information  and  intelligent 
comprehension  of  the  subject.  When  any 
one  here  enters  upon  the  task  of  invoking 
caucus  power  or  other  modes  of  coercion,  1 
can  only  say  to  him,  if  he  acts  with  good 
purpose,  that  it  will  prove  a  fruitless  under- 
taking ;  or  if  with  ill  motive,  then  I  consign 
him  to  all  the  natural  contempt  which  such 
self-constituted  superciliousness  deserves." 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  Randall  quoted  from 
the  earliest  statesmen  in  support  of  his 
views  upon  the  tariff^,  and  said: 

"If  Jackson  could  saj^  he  was  confirmed 
in  his  opinions  by  the  opinions  of  Jeflerson, 
Madison,  and  Monroe,  how  much  more  am 
I  confirmed  in  my  opinions  bv  his  great 
authority  added  to  that  of  the  founders  and 
builders  of  the  Democratic  party  ?  I  warn 
the  party  that  it  is  not  safe  to  abandon 
principles  so  fundamental  to  our  institutions 
and  so  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  our 
industrial  system ;  principles  which  attest 
the  wisdom  of  those  who  established  them 
by  the  fruits  they  have  borne,  the  full 
fruition  of  which,  however,  can  only  be 
realized  in  the  extension  of  diversified  in- 
dustries to  all  parts  of  the  country,  not  in 
the  North  and  East  alone,  but  in  the  South 
and  West  as  well.  A  new  era  of  industrial 
enterprise  has  already  dawned  upon  the 
South  ;  no  section  of  the  country  possesses 
greater  natural  advantages  than  the  South, 
with  her  genial  climate,  her  limitless  raw 
materials,  her  mines  of  coal  and  iron,  with 
abundant  labor  ready  to  develop  them. 
Considering  what  has  been  there  achieved 
in  a  single  decade,  what  may  not  a  century 
bring  forth  from  her  under  a  sj'stem  calcu- 
lated to  favor  the  highest  industrial  develop- 
ment? When  I  read  the  history  of  my 
country  and  consider  the  past  and  present, 
and  reflect  on  what  is  before  us,  I  cannot 
believe  that  the  idea  that  went  down  in  the 
convulsions  of  1 861  will  ever  again  dominate 
the  destinies  of  the  Republic." 

TarlflT  Speech  of  Major  Wm.  McKlnley,  Jr., 

Member  of  Cotujrees  from  Ohio. 

In  the  great  tariff  campaign  of  1888  the 
two  most  distinguished  Republican  speakers 
were  Mr.  Blaine  and  Major  McKinley.  The 
latter  was  invited  by  the  Chautauqua  Society 
of  Georgia  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  Pro- 
tection, and  did  so  in  the  following  compre- 
hensive speech : 

Fellow-citizens  :  I  make  my  acknowl- 
edgments to  the  Piedmont  Society  for  the 
courtesy  and  cordiality  of  its  invitation, 


278 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


which  has  given  me  the  opportunity  to  meet, 
for  the  first  time,  an  assemblage  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Georgia. 

I  have  come,  upon  the  suggestion  of  the 
committee,  to  address  you  upon  a  public 
question  of  great  national  import,  which 
concerns  not  only  the  prosperity  of  one  sec- 
tion, but  of  all  sections  of  our  common 
country,  and  which  is  of  commanding  in- 
terest to  our  sixty  millions  of  people.  It  i.s 
no  new  subject  which  1  propose  to  consider. 
It  is  as  old  as  government  by  men.  Taxa- 
tion, with  few  exceptions,  has  been  the  chief 
and  absorbing  issue  for  more  than  a  century 
of  the  republic. 

A  revenue  tariff  is  such  a  one  as  will  pro- 
duce the  largest  revenue  from  the  lowest 
duty.  The  lowest  rate  of  duty  will  encourage 
importations,  diminish  home  production, 
and  inevitably  increase  the  revenue.  It  will, 
of  necessity,  check  competition  at  home, 
and  send  our  merchants  abroad  to  buj^ ;  it 
affords  no  protection,  not  even  incidental, 
for  the  very  instant  that  j'ou  discover  that 
such  duty  favors  the  home  producer,  that 
instant  you  discover  that  importations  and 
revenue  are  checked,  and  that  our  own  pro- 
ducers are  able  to  control  the  home  market 
or  a  part  of  it.  Then  at  once  the  advocate 
of  a  revenue  tariff  reduces  the  duty,  brings 
it  down  to  the  true  revenue  standard,  for  it 
must  not  be  overlooked,  according  to  the 
free  trade  maxim,  "  where  protection  begins, 
revenue  ends,"  and  the  question  of  revenue 
is  always  controlling.  A  revenue  tariff  is  in- 
consistent with  protection ;  it  is  intended  for 
a  wholly  different  purpose.  It  loses  its  force 
and  character  as  a  genuine  revenue  tariff 
when  it  becomes  to  any  extent  protective. 
It  has  but  one  object.  It  can  have  but  one 
effect— that  of  opening  up  our  markets  to 
the  foreign  producer— impoverishing  the 
home  producer  and  enriching  his  foreign 
rival. 

England  is  more  nearly  a  free  trade 
country  than  any  other,  and  her  system  of 
taxation  furnishes  an  unmistakable  example 
of  the  practice  and  principle  of  a  revenue 
tariff.  Her  import  duties  are  imposed  almost 
exclusively  upon  articles  which  cannot  be 
produced  by  her  own  people  upon  her  own 
soil.  Tobacco,  snuff,  cigars,  chicory,  cocoa, 
currants,  figs,  raisins,  rum,  brandy,  wine, 
tea,  and  coffee — these  are  the  articles  from 
which  her  customs  revenue  is  derived — 
articles,  in  the  main,  not  produced  in  Eng- 
land, but  which  must  be  supplied  from 
abroad;  while,  practically,  all  competing 
products  of  foreign  make  and  production 
are  admitted  through  her  custom  house  free 
of  duty. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  dutiable  imports 
of  Great  Britain  will  not  be  without  interest. 

It  will  be  observed  that  her  duties  are 
more  largely  imposed  upon  the  peculiar 
American  products  than  upon  any  others. 


The  duty  upon  tobacco  is,  according  to 
moisture,  from  84  to  92  cent^  per  pound  fur 
the  raw  or  unmanufactured  article ;  and,  if 
manufactured,  it  pays  a  duty  of  from  $104 
to  $1.16  per  pound.  The  manufactured 
article  is  made  dutiable  at  20  cents  a  pound 
greater  than  the  raw  product,  which,  with 
all  of  England's  boasted  free  trade,  is  in- 
tended as  a  protection  to  those  engaged  in 
the  manipulation  of  tobacco.  It  is  almost 
prohibitive  to  Americans  who  would  export 
manufactured  tobacco.  The  ad  valorem 
equivalent  of  the  duty  on  tobacco  is  nearly 
2000  per  cent.  Cigars  pay  a  duty  of  $1. 32 
per  pound,  and  from  tobacco  and  snuff  over 
$43,000,000  of  duties  are  collected  annually. 
The  duty  on  tea  is  12  cents  a  pound.  How 
would  the  Americans  enjoy  paying  such  a 
duty  upon  this  article  of  everyday  use? 
The  duty  collected  from  this  source  is  over 
$18,000,000  annually.  Coffee  pays  a  duty 
of  3  cents  a  pound ;  but,  if  ground,  pre- 
pared, or  in  any  way  manufactured,  it  must 
pay  a  duty  of  4  cents  a  pound — another  ex- 
ample of  where  England  protects  those 
engaged  in  manufacture.  Cocoa  ijays  a 
duty  of  2  cents  a  pound,  but  if  it  is  in  any 
form  subjected  to  manufacture  it  pays  4 
cents  a  pound,  the  dutv  on  the  manufact- 
ured article  being  double  that  on  the  raw 
material. 

Besides  the  articles  named,  there  are 
about  ninety  or  a  hundred  others,  chiefly  of 
American  production,  patented  and  other 
medicines,  which  are  dutiable  at  $3. 36  per 
gallon.  More  than  $96,000,000,  or  nearly 
one-fourth  of  the  British  revenues,  are 
raided  from  customs  duties. 

You  will  note  the  character  of  taxation  to 
which  the   revenue  reformer  invites  the 

Eeople  of  the  United  States.  Both  the 
reakfast  table  and  the  sick  room  are  made 
to  bear  a  large  part  of  the  burden  under  the 
British  system  of  taxation.  It  is  not  without 
significance  that  the  nearer  we  approach 
this  system  the  more  generous  the  bestowal 
of  British  commendation.  Every  step  we 
take  in  that  direction,  every  enlargement  of 
the  free  list  of  competing  foreign  products, 
every  reduction  of  dutjr  upon  such  products 
is  hailed  as  a  vindication  of  Cobden  and  a 
beneficence  to  British  interests.  It  is  in 
vain  for  the  British  statesman  to  assure  us 
that  their  system  is  best  for  us.  We  are 
not  accustomed  to  look  to  our  commercial 
rivals  for  disinterested  favors.  "  It  is  folly, ' ' 
said  Washington  in  his  farewell  address, 
' '  for  one  nation  to  look  for  disinterested 
favors  from  another ;  that  it  must  pay,  with 
a  portion  of  its  independence,  for  whatever 
it  may  accept  under  that  character.  There 
can  be  no  greater  error  than  to  expect  or 
calculate  upon  real  favors  from  nation  to 
nation.  It  is  an  illusion  which  experience 
must  cure,  and  which  a  just  pride  ought  to 
discard."     We  are  not  insensible  to  the 


BOOK  III.]    TARIFF  SPEECH  OF  WLLLIAM  J.  McKINLEY,  Jb.  279 


good  opinion  of  mankind  and  of  the  English- 
speaking  race,  but  when  it  is  to  be  had  only 
at  the  expense  of  our  industrial  independ- 
ence, at  the  sacrifice  of  the  dignity  and 
independence  of  labor  and  the  destruction 
of  national  prosperity,  we  must  regard  it 
with  supreme  suspicion,  and  turn  from  it  as 
the  eulogy  of  selfish  interest  and  the  com- 
mendation of  interested  greed. 

The  other  theory  of  taxation,  and  the  one 
which  I  believe  to  be  essential  to  American 
development  and  national  prosperity,  is 
based  upon  an  exactly  opposite  principle. 
It  permits  all  articles  of  foreign  production, 
whether  of  the  field,  the  factory,  or  the  mine, 
except  luxuries  only,  which  we  cannot  pro- 
duce in  the  United  States,  to  enter  our  ports 
free  and  unburdened  by  custom  house  exac- 
tions. The  duty  is  to  be  imposed  ujjon  the 
foreign  competing  product ;  that  is,  the 
product  which,  if  brought  into  this  country, 
would  contend  with  the  products  of  our  own 
soil,  our  own  labor,  and  our  own  factories, 
in  our  own  markets.  Under  this  system,  if 
the  foreign  producer  would  enter  our  market 
with  a  competing  product,  he  must  con- 
tribute something  for  the  privilege  which 
he  is  to  enjoy,  and  this  something,  in  the 
form  of  duties,  goes  into  the  Treasury, 
furnishing  revenue  to  the  Government ;  and 
these  duties  operate  to  protect  the  joint 
product  of  labor  and  capital  against  a  like 
foreign  product. 

This  mode  of  levying  duties  answers  a 
double  purpose.  It  produces  revenue  to 
the  Grovernment,  and  at  the  same  time 
fosters  and  encourages  the  occupations  of 
our  own  people,  promotes  industrial  devel- 
opment, opens  up  new  mines,  builds  new 
factories,  and  sustains  those  already  estab- 
lished, which  in  turn  furnish  employment 
to  labor  at  fair  and  remunerative  wages.  A 
revenue  tariff  accomplishes  but.  a  single 
purpose — that  of  raising  revenue  ;  it  has  no 
other  mission  ;  while  a  protective  tariflF  ac- 
complishes this  and  more — it  brings  revenue 
to  the  American  treasury  and  discriminates 
in  favor  of  the  American  citizen.  A  revenue 
tariff  invites  the  product  of  foreign  labor 
and  foreign  capital  to  occupy  our  markets 
free  and  unrestrained  in  competition  with 
the  product  of  our  own  labor  and  capital. 
A  protective  tariff  invites  the  product  of 
foreign  labor  and  foreign  capital  which  are 
necessary  to  the  wants  of  our  people  (which 
we  cannot  produce  in  the  United  States)  to 
occupy  our  markets  and  go  untaxed  to  the 
people,  but  insists  that  every  foreign  product 
which  is  i)roduced  at  home,  or  can  be,  suc- 
cessfully, in  quantities  capable  of  supplying 
the  domestic  consumption,  shall,  whenever 
necessary  to  maintain  suitable  rewards  to 
our  labor,  bear  a  duty  which  shall  not  be  so 
high  as  to  prohibit  importaitions,  but  at  such 
a  rate  as  will  produce  the  necessary  revenues 
and,  at  the  same  time,  not  destroy  but  en- 


courage American  production.  It  says  to 
the  world  of  producers:  "If  you  want  to 
share  with  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
their  home  market,  you  must  pay  for  the 
privilege  of  doing  it.  Your  product  shall 
not  enter  into  free  and  unrestrained  compe- 
tition with  the  product  of  our  own  people, 
but  shall  be  discriminated  against  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  fully  protect  and  defend  our 
own." 

It  is  alleged  as  a  serious  obiection  to  pro- 
tective duties  that  the  tax,  whatever  it  may 
be,  increases  the  cost  of  the  foreign  as  well 
as  the  domestic  product  to  the  extent  of 
such  tax  or  duty,  and  that  it  is  wholly  paid 
by  the  consumer.  This  objection  would  be 
worthy  of  serious  consideration  if  it  were 
true ;  but,  as  has  been  demonstrated  over 
and  over  again,  it  is  without  foundation  in 
fact.  Wherever  the  foreign  product  has 
successful  competition  at  home,  the  duty  is 
rarely  paid  by  the  consumer.  It  is  paid 
from  the  profits  of  the  manufacturer,  or 
divided  between  him  and  the  merchant  or 
the  importer,  and  diminishes  their  profit  to 
that  extent.  Duty  or  no  duty,  without  home 
competition  the  consumer  would  fare  worse 
than  he  fares  now.  There  is  not  in  the  long 
line  of  staple  products  consumed  by  the 
people  a  single  one  which  has  not  been 
cheapened  by  competition  at  home,  made 
possible  by  protective  duties.  There  is  not 
an  article  that  enters  into  the  eveiyday  uses 
of  the  family,  which  is  produced  in  the 
United  States,  that  has  not  been  made 
cheaper  and  more  accessible  as  the  result  of 
home  production  and  development,  which 
was  to  be  secured  only  by  the  sturdy  main- 
tenance of  the  protective  system.  While 
this  is  true  of  protective  tariffs,  exactly  the 
opposite  is  true  of  revenue  tariffs.  They 
are  always  paid  by  the  consumer.  When  a 
duty  is  put  on  a  foreign  product  the  like  of 
which  is  not  produced  at  home,  and  which 
enters  our  markets  free  from  home  compe- 
tition, the  cost  to  the  American  consumer 
is  exactly  the  foreign  cost  with  the  duty 
added,  whatever  that  may  be,  much  or 
little.  Supposing,  for  example,  there  was 
a  tax  upon  tea  and  coffee.     There  being  no 

§  reduction  of  these  articles  in  the  United 
tates,  and  therefore  no  competition  here, 
the  cost  to  the  American  public  would  be 
the  cost  abroad  and  the  duty  added.  We 
imported  last  year  526,489,000  pounds  of 
coffee.  A  duty  of  10  cents  a  pound  would 
have  produced  to  the  Government  over 
$52,000,000,  which  would  have  been  paid 
by  the  12,0i(X),000  families  of  this  country, 
consumers  of  this  article;  87,584,000  pounds 
of  tea  were  imported  last  year ;  at  10  cents 
a  pound,  $8,000,000  and  upward  would 
have  gone  into  the  Treasury,  every  dollar 
of  which  would  have  been  paid  by  our  own 
people.  Take  sugar  as  another  example. 
We  produced  last  year  in  this  country  about 


280 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  m. 


eight  per  cent,  of  what  our  people  con- 
sumed. The  duty  collected  from  imported 
sugar  amounted  to  $58,000,000.  The  do- 
mestic production  was  so  inconsiderable  as 
compared  with  the  domestic  consumption 
as  to  have  had  little,  if  any,  appreciable 
effect  upon  the  price  to  the  consumer,  and 
therefore  this  sum  was  almost  wholly  paid 
by  our  own  citizens,  and  the  cost  of  sugar 
to  the  American  consumer,  because  of  the 
inadequate  home  supply,  is  practically  the 
foreign  price,  duty  added,  the  domestic 
production  being  so  small  contrasted  with 
the  domestic  demand  that  it  in  no  wise 
controlled  or  influenced  the  price. 

The  revenue  tariff  periods  of  our  history 
have  been  periods  oi  greatest  financial  re- 
vulsions ana  industrial  decadence,  want,  and 
poverty  among  the  people,  private  enter- 
prises checked  and  public  works  retarded. 
From  1833  to  1842,  under  the  low  tariff 
legislation  then  prevailing,  business  was  at 
a  standstill,  and  our  merchants  and  traders 
were  bankrupted  ;  our  industries  were  para- 
lyzed, our  labor  remained  idle,  and  our 
capital  was  unemployed.  Foreign  products 
crowded  our  markets,  destroyed  domestic 
competition,  and,  as  invariably  follows,  the 
prices  of  commodities  to  consumers  were 
appreciably  raised.  It  is  an  instructive  fact 
that  every  panic  this  country  has  ever  expe- 
rienced has  been  preceded  by  enormous 
importations.  From  1 8-46  to  1 861  a  similar 
situation  was  presented  under  the  low  tariff 
of  that  period. 

Contrast  this  period  with  the  period  from 
1860  to  1880,  the  former  under  a  revenue 
tari'ff,  the  latter  under  a  protective  tariff. 
In  1860  we  had  163,000,000  acres  of  im- 
proved land,  while  in  1880  we  had  287,000,- 
000,  an  increase  of  75  per  cent.  In  1860  our 
farms  were  valued  at  $3,200,000,000 ;  in 
1880  the  value  had  leaped  to  $10,197,000,000, 
an  increase  of  over  300  percent.  In  1860 
we  raised  173,000,000  bushels  of  wheat :  in 
1880,  498,000,000.  In  1860  we  raised 
838,000,000  bushels  of  corn  ;  in  1880,1,717,- 
000.000  bushels.  In  1860  we  produced 
6,000,000  bales  of  cotton ;  in  1880, 7,600,000 
bales,  an  increase  of  40  per  cent.  In  1860 
we  manufactured  cotton  goods  to  the  value 
of  $115,681,774  ;  in  1880  the  value  reached 
$211,000,000,  an  increase  of  upward  of  80 
per  cent.  In  1860  we  manufactured  of 
woollen  goods  $61,000,000;  in  1880,  $267,- 
000,000,  an  increase  of  333  per  cent.  In 
1860  we  produced  60,000,000  pounds  of  wool ; 
in  1880,  240,0(X),000  pounds,  an  increase  of 
nearly  300  per  cent.  In  1860  we  mined 
15,000,000  tons  of  coal ;  in  1880,  79,000,000 
tons,  an  increase  of  over  400  per  cent.  In 
1860  we  made  987,000  tons  oi  pig  iron  ;  in 
1880,  3.835,000  tons.  In  1860  we  manu- 
factured 235,000  tons  of  railroad  iron,  and 
in  1880,  1,208,000  tons.    In  1860  our  aggre- 


gate of  national  wealth  was  $16, 159, 000, 000; 
m  1880  it  was  $43,000,000,000. 

From  1848  to  1860,  during  the  low  tariff 
period,  there  was  but  a  single  year  in  which 
we  exported  in  excess  of  what  we  imported. 
The  balance  of  trade  during  twelve  of 
the  thirteen  years  was  against  us.  Our 
people  were  drained  of  their  money  to  pay 
for  foreign  purchases.  We  sent  abroad, 
over  anof  above  our  sales,  $396,216,161. 
This  vast  sum  was  drawn  from  the  United 
States,  from  its  business,  from  the  channels 
of  trade,  which  would  have  been  better  em- 
ployed in  productive  enterprises,  and  thus 
supplied  our  wants  for  which  we  were  com- 
pelled to  go  abroad.  During  the  last  thirteen 
vears,  under  a  protective  tariff,  there  was 
but  one  year  that  the  balance  of  trade  was 
against  us.  For  twelve  years  we  sold  to  our 
foreign  customers  in  excess  of  what  we 
bought  from  them  $1 ,612, 659,755. 

This  contrast  makes  an  interesting  ex- 
hibit of  the  work  under  the  two  systems. 
You  need  not  be  told  that  the  government 
and  the  people  are  most  prosperous  whose 
balance  of  trade  is  in  their  favor.  The 
government  is  like  the  citizen ;  indeed,  it  is 
but  an  aggregation  of  citizens ;  and  when 
the  citizen  buys  more  than  he  sells,  he  is 
soon  conscious  that  his  year's  business  has 
Bot  been  a  success. 

Our  wealth  increases  $875,000,000  every 
year,  while  the  increase  of  France  is  $375,- 
000,000,  Great  Britain  $325,000,000,  and 
Germany  $200,000,000.  The  total  carrying 
capacity  of  all  the  vessels  entered  and  cleared 
from  American  ports  during  the  year  1886-7 
in  the  foreign  trade  was  28,000,000  tons. 
The  amount  of  freight  transported  by  the 
railroads  of  the  United  States  was  alone 
482,000,000  tons  during  the  same  period. 

The  sum  of  our  industries  exceeds  that  of 
any  other  people,  or  tribe,  or  nationality. 
Mulhall,  the  English  statistician,  places  the 
industries  of  the  United  States  at  $11,405,- 
000,000  annually,  which  is  $2,205,000,000 
greater  than  those  of  the  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain,  nearly  twice  those  of 
France  or  Germany,  nearly  three  times 
those  of  Kussia,  and  almost  equal  to  the 
aggregated  industries  of  Austria,  Italy, 
Spain,  Belgium,  Holland,  Australia,  Can- 
ada, and  Sweden  and  Norway. 

This  advancement  is  the  world's  wonder. 
The  nations  of  the  earth  cannot  furnish 
such  a  splendid  exhibition  of  progress  in 
any  age  or  period.  We  defy  a  revenue 
tariff  policy  to  present  such  an  exhibition  of 
material  prosperity  and  industrial  develop- 
ment. Art,  science,  and  literature  have 
held  their  own  in  this  wonderful  march. 
We  are  prosperous  to-day  beyond  any  other 
people.  The  masses  are  better  cared  for, 
betteV  provided  for,  more  self-respectinj?, 
and  more  independent  than  ever  before  m 


BOOKiir.]     TAEIFF  SPEECH  OF  WILLIAM  J.  McKINLEY,  Jr.   281 


our  history,  which  cannot  be  said  of  the 
masses  of  other  countries. 

One  of  the  striking  differences  between  a 
revenue  tariff  and  a  protective  tariff  is  that 
the  former  sends  the  money  of  its  people 
abroad  for  foreign  supplies  and  seeks  out  a 
foreign  market.  The  latter  keeps  the  money 
at  home  among  our  own  people,  circulating 
through  the  arteries  of  trade,  and  creates  a 
I)  arket  at  home,  which  is  always  the  best, 
because  the  most  reliable. 

Surely  a  new  era  of  industrial  development 
has  come  to  the  South.  Nothing  should  be 
permitted  to  check  or  retard  it.  To  her 
nature  has  been  most  prodigal  with  her  gifts. 
Her  hills  and  valleys  have  been  made  the 
storehouses  of  richest  treasure.  Coal  and 
iron  mines  wait  impatiently  the  touch  of 
labor  and  capital,  and  tempt  both  with  the 
promise  of  lavish  profit. 

Raw  materials  are  found  at  every  turn  to 
invite  the  skilled  artizan  to  transfonn  them 
into  the  finished  product  for  the  highest 
uses  of  man.  She  possesses  the  fibres  in 
rich  abundance ;  her  skilled  labor  should 
weave  the  fabric. 

It  is  said  that  there  is  nothing  grown  in 
any  of  the  States,  except  Florida,  that 
Georgia  cannot  profitably  produce.  She  has 
coal,  iron  deposits,  marble  and  building 
stone,  cotton  and  the  cereals.  Nothing  but 
her  own  folly,  nothing  but  blindness  to  her 
highest  and  best  interests  can  keep  her  from 
the  front  rank  of  the  industrial  States  of  the 
Union. 

Whether  we  discuss  this  question  from 
principle,  from  statistics,  or  experience,  we 
must  reach  the  same  conclusion  ;  all  lead  to 
the  same  conviction. 

One  of  the  chief  complaints  against  the 
protective  system  is  its  alleged  hindrance  to 
foreign  trade  and  a  foreign  market  for  our 
own  products.  It  is  argued  that  if  we  could 
import  raw  material  from  other  countries 
free,  and  manufacture  such  raw  material 
into  products  for  use,  we  could  export  them 
at  great  profit,  and  thus  secure  a  standing 
in  the  markets  of  the  world.  This  theory 
is  wholly,  as  I  believe,  illusory.  It  is  with- 
out substance.  We  have  an  example  of 
free  raw  material  in  a  certain  line  of  manu- 
factures— that  of  leather  for  boots,  shoes, 
etc.  In  1872  hides  and  skins  were  made 
free,  so  that  our  manufacturers  could  import 
them  without  custom-house  burdens.  They 
have  had  "  free  trade ' '  in  their  raw  material 
now  for  sixteen  years.  This  industry  has 
been  an  exceptionally  successful  one,  and  yet 
you  cannot  avoid  being  surprised  when  I 
say  to  you  that  in  these  sixteen  years  we 
have  been  able  to  export  but  two  per  cent., 
of  the  leather  production  of  this  country. 

But  if  free  raw  material  be  necessary  tq 
secure  an  export  trade  and  the  foreign 
markets,  then  I  answer  that  our  manu- 
facturers to  day  have  substantial  free  trade 


in  foreign  raw  materials  which  they  make 
into  the  finished  product  in  the  United 
States,  provided  they  export  it.  Sections 
3019,  3020,  3021,  and  3022  of  the  United 
States  Statutes  provide  for  the  remission  of 
duties  on  all  foreign  materials  used  in  manu- 
facturing for  the  export  trade.  The  law  is 
positive  that  all  articles  manufactured  for 
export  from  imported  materials  upon  which 
duties  have  been  paid,  shall,  when  exported, 
be  entitled  to  a  drawback  of  90  per  cent,  of 
the  duties  paid  on  such  raw  materials. 
Some  use  has  been  made  of  these  laws. 
The  remission  of  duties  in  1884  paid  upon 
imported  material  manufactured  for  foreign 
markets  amounted  to  $2,256,638.  On  some 
articles  the  drawback  is  equal  to  the  duty 
paid,  but  in  no  instance  where  articles  are 
imported  to  be  manufactured  here  and  sent 
abroad  is  the  duty  to  exceed  10  per  cent. 

And  yet  we  are  gravely  told  by  the  tariflF 
reformers  that  we  cannot  reach  foreign 
markets  on  account  of  the  high  tariff  on  the 
raw  material,  when,  in  fact,  for  foreign  trade 
foreign  raw  materials  are  practically  free. 
This  principle  was  recognized  as  early  as  the 
administration  of  Greorge  Washington,  and 
has  been  enlarged  and  nlade  applicable  to 
all  imported  materials,  the  drawbacks  vary- 
ing from  60  to  100  per  cent.  What  becomes, 
then,  of  the  cry  for  free  raw  materials  in  the 
presence  of  this  fact  ?  The  truth  is,  we  are 
not  so  much  concerned  about  the  foreign 
market  as  we  are  about  the  home  market. 
The  latter  is  the  best,  and  we  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  control  it,  and,  until  we  do,  that 
should  be  our  chief  concern.  But  if  any  of 
our  people  are  sighing  for  a  foreign  market, 
and  value  it  more  highly  than  our  own,  they 
can  import  foreign  raw  material  practically 
free  of  duty,  and  after  advancing  it  into  the 
higher  forms  of  manufacture,  can  go  out  and 
possess  the  world's  markets.  Taxed  raw 
materials  do  not  stand  in  their  way,  and  it 
is  hypocrisy  to  claim  otherwise. 

"The  markets  of  the  world,"  in  our 
present  condition,  are  a  snare  and  a  delusion. 
We  will  reach  them  whenever  we  can  under- 
sell competing  nations,  and  not  sooner. 
Tariffs  do  not  keep  us  out,  and  free  trade 
will  not  make  it  easier  to  enter  them. 

Upon  what  terms  can  we  adopt  a  revenue 
tariff  system  in  this  country?  In  one  way 
only ;  by  accepting  European  conditions,  and 
submitting  to  all  the  discomforts  and  disad- 
vantages of  our  commercial  rivals.  The 
chief  obstruction  in  the  way  of  a  revenue 
tariff  are  the  wages  paid  American  working- 
men,  and  any  return  to  that  policy  involves 
a  reduction  of  the  cost  of  labor.  We  cannot 
afford  to  have  cheap  labor  in  the  United 
States.  Cheap  labor  means  cheap  men  and 
dear  money.  I  would  rather  elevate  and 
improve  the  condition  of  my  fellow-citizens 
than  increase  the  value  of  money  and  the 
power  of ' '  money-bags.' '  This  is  a  republic 


282 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK  III. 


of  free  and  equal  citizenship.  The  govern- 
ment is  in  the  hands  of  the  masses,  and  not 
of  the  few.  This  is  our  boast,  and  it  is  a 
proud  one.  The  condition  of  the  masses, 
their  well-being,  their  intelligence,  their 
preparation  for  the  civil  duties  which  rest 
upon  them,  depend  largely  uponthe  scale 
of  industrial  wages.  It  is  essential,  there- 
fore, that  the  best  possible  wages  attainable 
shall  be  secured  and  maintained.  This  is 
vital  and  fundamental.  We  cannot,  without 
grave  danger  and  serious  disturbance — we 
ought  not  under  any  circumstances — adopt 
a  policy  which  would  scale  down  the  wages 
and  diminish  the  comforts  of  the  American 
workingmen.  Their  welfare  and  independ- 
ence, their  progress  and  elevation  are  closely 
related  to  the  welfare  and  independence  and 
progress  of  the  republic.  We  have  got  no 
pampered  class  in  this  country,  and  we  want 
none.  We  want  the  field  kept  open.  No 
narrowing  of  the  avenues,  no  lowering  of 
our  standard.  We  want  no  barriers  raised 
against  a  higher  and  better  civilization. 
The  gateway  of  opportunity  must  be  open 
to  all,  to  the  end  that  they  may  be  first  who 
deserve  to  be  first,  whether  born  in  poverty 
or  reared  in  luxury.  We  do  not  want  the 
masses  excluded  from  competing  for  the 
first  rank  among  their  countrymen  and  for 
the  nation's  greatest  honors,  and  we  do  not 
mean  they  shall  be. 

Free  trade,  or  a  revenue  tariff,  will,  of 
necessity,  shut  them  out.  It  has  no  respect 
for  labor.  It  holds  it  as  the  mere  machinery 
of  capital.  It  would  have  cheap  men  that 
it  might  have  cheap  merchandise.^  With 
all  of  its  boasted  love  for  the  struggling  mil- 
lions, it  is  infinitely  more  interested  in  cut- 
ting down  the  wages  of  labor  than  in  saving 
twenty-five  cents  on  a  blanket ;  more  intent 
in  reducing  the  purchasing  power  of  a  man's 
labor  than  the  cost  of  his  coat.  Things  are 
not  always  dearest  when  their  price  is  nomi- 
nally the  highest.  The  price  is  not  the  only 
measure,  but  the  wherewith  to  buy  it  is  an 
essential  factor.  Few  men  before  me  but 
have  found  in  the  course  of  their  lives  more 
than  once  that  that  which  was  cheapest 
when  measured  by  mere  price  was  the  dearest 
when  they  were  without  money  and  employ- 
ment, or  when  their  products  could  find  no 
market,  and,  finding  it,  commanded  no  price 
at  all  commensurate  with  the  labor  required 


to  produce  them.  Primarily,  it  is  labor 
which  is  interested  most  in  this  question  of 
protection.  The  man  with  money  can  seek 
other  avenues  of  profit  and  investment,  or 
can  wait  for  his  dividends,  but  the  laborer 
cannot  wait  for  his  dinner,  and  the  United 
States  do  not  want  citizens  who  make  presi- 
dents,_and  senates,  and  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, to  be  in  a  condition  of  dependence 
and  destitution.  That  is  not  the  sort  of 
citizenship  we  want. 

We  are  different  from  any  other  nation, 
and  it  is  that  difference  which  makes  us  the 
best.    Our  political  system  rests  upon  a 

Jrinciple  different  from  that  of  any  other. 
t  is  founded  upon  the  consent  of  the  people. 
If  we  had  wanted  it  otherwise  we  would  not 
have  left  home,  but  would  have  remained 
the  obedient  child  of  an  imperious  parent. 
W^e  would  not  have  turned  away  from  the 
mother  country.  W^e  would  have  remained 
one  of  her  dependencies.  We  would  not 
have  fought  our  way  through  blood  and 
sacrifice  to  independence.  We  separated  to 
set  up  for  ourselves  a  free  and  independent 
political  society,  and  that  policy  is  the  best  for 
us  which  best  subserves  the  purposes  of  our 
organization,  our  citizenship  and  civilization. 
It  is  ours  to  work  out  our  own  destiny,  and. 
in  doing  so,  furnish  an  example  of  a  free  and 
progressive  people,  whose  industrial  policy 
has  made  it  possible  to  satisfy  the  best  and 
highest  aspirations  of  men,  and  which  closes 
no  field  to  human  endeavor.  We  would 
wish  for  all  mankind  the  beneficence  of  our 
system  and  the  opportunities  which  it  pre- 
sents. We  bid  them  level  their  condition 
up  to  ours  ;  we  will  not  level  ours  down  to 
theirs.  We  will  remove  all  restrictions  from 
international  trade,  as  we  have  removed  all 
restrictions  from  inter  State  trade,  whenever 
they  will  raise  their  labor  and  their  condi- 
tions to  our  standard. 

Men  of  Georgia,  upon  this  great  industrial 
question  there  should  be  no  North  nor 
South.  To  us  of  every  section  have  been 
entrusted  the  interests  of  our  country — our 
whole  country.  To  others  have  been  con- 
fided the  care  of  other  nations  and  other 
people.  We  will  not  interfere  with  them ; 
we  Did  them  not  interfere  with  us.  My 
fellow-citizens,  in  this  conflict,  influenced  by 
patriotism,  national  interest,  and  national 
pride,  let  u^  be  Ame"icans. 


BOOK  III.]       SPEECH   OF   HON.  CHAUNCEY   M.  DEPEW. 


283 


Speech  of  Son.  Ctaanncey  11.  Depew. 

PieseiUing  PresidetU  Harrison  for  RenomincUian  ai  the 
Minneapolia  Convmtinn,  June  9, 1892. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the 
Convention.— It  is  the  peculiarity  of  Re- 
publican National  Conventions  that  each 
one  of  them  Tias  a  distinct  and  interesting 
history.  We  are  here  to  meet  conditions 
and  solve  problems  which  make  this  gather- 
ing not  only  no  exception  to  the  rule  but 
substantially  a  new  departure.  That  there 
should  be  strong  convictions  and  their 
earnest  expression  as  to  preferences  and 
politics  is  characteristic  of  the  right  of  in- 
dividual judgment  which  is  the  fundamen- 
tal principle  of  Republicanism,  There 
have  been  occasions  when  the  result  was  so 
sure  that  the  delegates  could  freely  indulge 
in  the  charming  privilege  of  favoritism  and 
of  friendship.  Rut  the  situation  which 
now  confronts  us  demands  the  exercise  of 
dispassionate  judgment  and  our  best 
thought  and  experience.  We  cannot  ven- 
ture on  uncertain  ground  or  encounter 
obstacles  placed  in  the  pathway  of  success 
by  ourselves.  The  Democratic  party  is 
now  divided,  but  the  hope  of  the  posses 
sion  of  power  once  more  will  make  it  in 
the  final  battle  more  aggressive,  determined 
and  unscrupulous  than  ever.  It  starts 
with  fifteen  States  secure  without  an  effort 
by  processes  which  are  a  travesty  upon 

{)opular  government,  and,  if  continued 
ong  enough,  will  paralyze  institutions 
founded  upon  popular  suffrage.  It  has  to 
win  four  more  States  in  a  fair  fight,  States 
which,  in  the  vocabulary  of  politics,  are 
denominated  doubtful.  The  Republican 
party  must  appeal  to  the  conscience  and 
the  judgment  of  the  individual  voter  in 
every  State  in  the  Union.  This  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principles  upon  which  it 
was  founded  and  the  objects  for  which  it 
contends.  It  has  accepted  this  issue  before 
and  fought  it  out  with  an  extraordinary 
continuance  of  success.  The  conditions  of 
Republican  victory  from  1860  to  1880  were 
created  W  Abraham  Lincoln  and  U.  S. 
Grant.  They  were  that  the  saved  republic 
should  be  run  by  its  saviours,  the  emanci- 

Sation  of  slaves,  the  reconstruction  of  the 
.,tate3,  the  reception  of  those  who  had 
fought  to  destroy  the  republic  back  into 
the  fold,  without  the  penalties  or  punish- 
ments, and  to  an  equal  share  with  those 
who  had  fought^  and  saved  the  nation,  in 
the  solemn  obligation  and  inestimable 
privilege  of  American  citizenship.  They 
were  the  embodiment  into  the  Constitution 
of  the  principles  for  which  2,000,000  of 
men  had  fought  and  500,000  had  died. 
They  were  the  restoration  of  public  credit, 
the  resumption  of  specie  payments  and  the 
prosperous  condition  of  solvent  business 
for  twentv-five  years.  They  were  names 
with  which  to  conjure  and  events  fresh  in 


the  public  mind  which  were  eloquent  with 
popular  enthusiasm.  It  needed  little  else 
than  a  recital  of  the  glorious  story  of  ita 
heroes  and  a  statement  of  the  achievements 
of  the  Republican  party  to  retain  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people.  But  from  the  de- 
sire for  a  change,  which  is  characteristic 
of  free  governments,  there  came  a  reversal, 
there  came  a  check  to  the  progress  of  the 
Republican  party  and  four  years  of  Demo- 
cratic administration.  Those  four  years 
largely  relegated  to  the  realm  of  history 
past  issues  and  brought  us  face  to  face 
with  what  Democracy,  ita  professions  and 
its  practices  mean  to-day.  The  great 
names  which  have  adorned  the  roll  of  the 
Republican  statesman  and  soldiers  are 
potent  and  popular.  The  great  measures 
of  the  Republican  party  are  still  the  best 
part  of  the  history  of  the  country.  The 
unequalled  and  unexampled  story  of  Re- 
publicanism in  its  progress  and  its  achieve- 
ments stands  unique  in  the  record  of  par- 
ties in  governments  which  are  free,  cut 
we  live  in  practical  times,  facing  practical 
issues  whicn  affect  the  business,  the  wages, 
the  labor  and  the  prosperity  of  to-day. 

' '  It  will  be  won  or  lost  upon  the  policy, 
foreign  and  domestic,  the  industrial  meas- 
ures and  the  administrative  acts  of  the 
administration  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 
Whoever  receives  the  nomination  of  this 
convention  will  run  upon  the  judgment  of 
the  people  as  to  whether  they  have  been 
more  prosperous  and  more  happy,  whether 
the  country  has  been  in  a  better  condition 
at  home  and  stood  more  honorable  abroad 
under  these  last  four  years  of  Harrison  and 
Republican  administration  than  during  the 
preceding  four  years  of  Cleveland  and 
Democratic  government.  Not  since  Thomas 
Jefferson  has  any  administration  been 
called  upon  to  face  and  solve  so  many  or 
such  difiicult  problems  as  those  which  have 
been  exigent  in  our  conditions.^  No  ad- 
ministration since  the  organization  of  the 
government  has  ever  met  difficulties  better 
or  more  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  American 
people.  Chile  has  been  taught  that,  no 
matter  how  small  the  antagonist,  no  com- 
munity can  with  safety  insult  the  flag  or 
murder  American  sailors.  Germany  and 
England  have  learned  in  Samoa  that  the 
United  States  has  become  one  of  the  powers 
of  the  world,  and  no  matter  how  mijrhty 
the  adversary,  at  every  sacrifice  American 
honor  will  be  maintained.  The  Bering 
Sea  question,  which  was  the  insurmount- 
able obstacle  in  the  diplomacy  of  Cleveland 
and  of  Bavard,  has  oeen  settled  upon  a 
basis  which  sustains  the  American  people 
until  arbitration  shall  have  determined  our 
right.  The  dollar  of  the  country  has  been 
placed  and  kept  on  the  standard  of  com- 
mercial nations,  and  a  convention  has  been 
agreed  upon  with  foreign  governments, 


284 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


which,  by  making  bi-metallism  the  policy 
of  all  nations,  may  successfully  solve^  all 
our  financial  problems.  The  tariff,  tink- 
ered with  and  trifled  with  to  the  serious 
disturbance  of  trade  and  disaster  to  busi- 
ness since  the  days  of  Washington,  has  been 
courageously  embodied  into  a  code  which 
has  preserved  the  principle  of  the  protec- 
tion of  American  industries.  To  it  has 
been    added    a    beneficient   policy,    sup- 

Slemented  by  beneficial  treaties  and  wise 
iplomacy,  which  has  opened  to  our 
farmers  and  manufacturers  the  markets  of 
other  countries.  The  navy  has  been 
builded  upon  lines  which  will  protect 
American  citizens  and  American  interests 
and  the  American  flag  all  over  the  world. 
The  public  debt  has  been  reduced.  The 
maturing  bonds  have  been  paid  off.  The 
public  credit  has  been  maintained.  The 
Durdens  of  taxation  have  been  lightened. 
Two  hundred  millions  of  currency  have 
been  added  to  the  people's  money  without 
disturbances  of  the  exchanges. 

"  Unexampled  prosperity  has  crowned 
wise  laws  and  their  wise  administration 


Leonidas  among  the  Greeks,  except  that 
he  succeeded  where  Leonidas  failed.  The 
fight  of  Joe  Hooker  above  the  clouds  was 
the  poetry  of  battle.  The  resistless  rush 
of  Sheridan  and  his  steed  down  the  valley 
of  the  Shenandoah  is  the  epic  of  our  civil 
war.  The  march  of  ShermJm  from  At- 
lanta to  the  sea  is  the  supreme  triumph  of 
gallantry  and  strategy.  It  detracts  noth- 
mg  from  the  splendor  or  the  merits  of  the 
deeds  of  his  lieutenants  to  say  that  having 
selected  them  with  marvellous  sagacity  and 
discretion  Grant  still  remained  the  supreme 
commander  of  the  national  army.  All  the 
proposed  acts  of  any  administration  before 
they  are  formulated  are  passed  upon  in 
Cabinet  council,  and  the  measures  and  sug- 
gestions of  the  ablest  Secretaries  would 
nave  failed  with  a  lesser  President,  but  for 
the  great  good  of  the  country  and  the 
benefit  of  the  Republican  party  they  have 
succeeded  because  of  the  suggestive  mind, 
the  indomitable  courage,  the  intelligent 
appreciation  of  situation  and  the  grand 
magnanimity  of  Benjamin  Harrison.  It 
is  an  undisputed  fact  that  during  the  few 


The  main  question  which  divides  us  is  to  i  months  when  both  the  Secretary  of  State 


whom  does  the  credit  of  all  this  belong? 
Orators  may  stand  upon  this  platform 
more  able  and  more  eloquent  than  I  who  will 
paint  in  more  brilliant  colors,  but  they  can- 
not put  in  more  earnest  thought  the  affec- 
tion and  admiration  of  Republicans  for  our 
distinguished  Secretary  oi  State.  I  yield 
to  no  Republican,  no  matter  from  what 
State  he  hails,  in  admiration  and  respect 
for  John  Sherman,  for  Governor  McKin- 
ley,  for  Thomas  B.  Reed,  for  Iowa's  great 
Senator,  for  the  favorites  of  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin,  but  when  I  am  told  that  the 
credit  for  the  brilliant  diplomacy  of  this 
administration  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  for  the  administration 
of  its  finances  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  for  the  construction  of  its  ships 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  for  the  in- 
troduction of  American  pork  in  Europe  to 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  for  the  set- 
tlement, so  far  as  it  is  settled,  of  the  cur- 
rency question,  to  Senator  John  Sherman, 
for  the  formulation  of  the  tariff  laws  to 
Governor  McKinley,  for  the  removal  of 
the  restrictions  placed  by  foreign  nations 
upon  the  introduction  of  American  pork 
to  our  ministers  at  Paris  and  Berlin,  I  am 
tempted  to  seriously  inquire  who,  during 
the  last  four  years,  has  been  President  of 
the  United  States  anyhow?  Caesar,  when 
he  wrote  those  commentaries,  which  were 
the  history  of  the  conquests  of  Europe 
under  his  leadership,  modestly  took  tne 
position  of  Eneas  when  he  said:  'They 
are  the  narrative  of  events,  the  whole  or 
which  I  saw  and  the  part  of  which  I  was.' 
General  Thoma.«»,  as  the  rock  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  occupies  a  place  in  our  hi.story  with 


and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  were  ill 
the  President  personally  assumed  the  duties 
of  the  State  Department  and  of  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  and  both  with  equal  suc- 
cess. The  Secretary  of  State  in  accepting 
his  portfolio  under  President  Garfield 
wrote :  '  Yonr  administration  must  be 
made  brilliant,  successful  and  strong  in  the 
confidence  and  pride  of  the  people,  not  at 
all  diverting  its  energies  for  re-election, 
and  yet  compelling  that  result  by  the  logic 
of  events  and  by  the  imperious  necessities 
of  the  situation.'  Garfield  fell  before  the 
bullet  of  the  assassin  and  Mr.  Blaine  re- 
tired to  private  life.  General  Harrison 
invited  him  to  take  up  that  unfinished 
diplomatic  career  where  its  threads  had 
been  so  tragically  broken.  He  entered  the 
Cabinet.  He  resumed  his  work  and  has  won 
a  higher  place  in  our  history.  The  prophecy 
he  made  for  Garfield  has  been  superbly 
fulfilled  by  Harrison.  In  the  language  of 
Mr.  Blaine :  '  The  President  has  compelled 
a  re-election  by  the  logic  of  events  and  the 
imperious  necessities  of  the  situation.' 

The  man  who  is  nominated  here  to-day 
to  win  must  carry  a  certain  well-known 
number  of  the  doubtful  States.  Patrick 
Henry,  in  the  convention  which  started 
rolling  the  ball  of  the  independence  of  the 
Colonies  from  Great  Britain,  said  :  '  I  have 
but  one  lamp  by  which  mv  feet  are  guided, 
and  that  is  the  lamp  of  experience,  I 
I  know  of  no  way  of  judging  of  the  future 
but  by  the  past. '  New  York  was  carried 
in  1880  by  General  Garfield,  and  in  every 
important  election  since  then  we  have  done 
our  best.  We  have  put  forward  our  ablest, 
our  most  popular,  our  moat  brilliant  leaders 


BOOK  m.] 


SPEECH    OF    HON.    LEON    ABBETT. 


285 


for  Governor  and  State  officers  to  suflFerjof  the  Democracy  of  New  Jersey  is  the 
constant  defeat.      The  only  light  which  success  of   the  Democratic  party  and  its 


illumines  with  the  sun  of  hope  the  dark 
record  of  those  twelve  years  is  the  fact 
that  in  1888  the  State  of  New  York  was 
triumphantly  carried  by  President  Harri- 
son. He  carried  it  then  as  a  gallant  sol- 
dier, a  wise  Senator,  statesman,  who  in- 
spired confidence  by  his  public  utterances 
in  daily  speech  from  the  commencement 
of  the  canvass  to  its  close.  He  still  has 
all  these  claims,  and  in  addition  an  admin- 
istration beyond  criticism  and  rich  with 
elements  of  popularity  with  which  to  carry 
New  York.  Ancestry  helps  in  the  old 
world  and  handicaps  in  the  new.  There  is 
but  one  distinguished  example  of  a  son 
first  overcoming  the  limitations  imposed 
by  the  pre-eminent  fame  of  his  father,  and 
then  rising  above  it,  and  that  was  when 
the  younger  Pitt  became  greater  than 
Chatham.  With  an  ancestor  a  signer  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
another  who  saved  the  Northwest  from 
savagery  and  gave  it  to  civilization  an 
empire,  who  was  also  President  of  the 
United  States,  a  poor  and  unknown  lawyer 
of  Indiana  has  risen  by  his  unaided  efibrts 
to  such  distinction  as  lawyer,  orator,  sol- 
dier, statesman  and  President,  that  he 
reflects  more  credit  on  his  ancestors  than 
they  have  devolved  upon  him  and  pre- 
sents in  American  history  the  parallel 
of  the  younger  Pitt.  By  the  grand  record 
of  a  wise  administration,  by  the  strength 
in  frequent  contact  of  the  people,  in  won- 
derfully versatile  and  felicitious  speech,  by 
the  claims  of  a  pure  life  in  public  and  in 
the  simplicity  of  a  typical  American  home, 
I  nominate  Benjamin  Harrison." 


Rpeecb  of  Hon.  lieon  Abbett. 

Presenting   Grover  Cleveland  for  Nomination  at  the 
Chicago  Convention,  June  22, 1S92. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of 
THE  Convention. — In  presenting  the 
name  to  this  Convention,  1  speak  for  the 
united  Democracy  !of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  whose  loyalty  to  Democratic  princi- 
ples, faithful  services  to  the  party,  and 
whose  contributions  to  its  success  entitle  it 
to  the  respectful  consideration  of  the  Dem 
ocracy  of  the  United  States.  Its  electoral 
vote  has  always  been  cast  in  support  of 
Democratic  principles  and  Democratic  can- 
didates. ^ 

In  voicing  the  unanimous  wish  of  the 
delegation  from  New  Jersey,  I  present  as 
their  candidate  for  the  suiFrages  of  this 
Convention  the  name  of  a  distinguished 
Democratic  statesman,  born  upon  its  soil, 
for  whom  in  the  two  great  Presidential 
contests  the  State  of  New  Jersey  has  given 
its  electoral  vote. 

The  supreme  consideration  in  the  mind 


principles.  We  have  been  in  the  past,  and 
will  be  in  the  future,  ready  to  sacrifice  per- 
sonal preferences  in  deference  to  the  clear 
expression  of  the  will  of  the  Democracy  of 
the  Union.  It  is  because  of  that  that  this 
name  will  awaken  throughout  our  State  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  Democracy  and  insure 
success.  It  is  because  he  represents  the 
great  Democratic  principles  and  policy  upon 
which  this  entire  convention  is  a  unit;  it  is 
because  we  believe  that  with  him  as  a  can- 
didate the  Democrats  of  the  Union  will 
sweep  the  country  and  establiBh  its  prin- 
ciples throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land,  that  we  offer  to  the  Conven- 
tion as  a  nominee  the  choice  of  New  Jer- 
sey, Grover  Cleveland. 

If  any  doubt  existed  in  the  minds  of  the 
Democrats  of  New  Jersey  of  his  ability  to 
lead  the  great  Democratic  hosts  to  victory 
they  would  not  present  his  name  to-day. 
With  them  success  of  the  party  and  the 
establishment  of  its  principles  are  beyond 
their  love  and  admiration  for  any  man. 
We  feel  certain  that  every  Democratic  State 
though  its  preferences  may  be  for  some 
other  distinguished  Democrat,  will  give  its 
warm,  enthusiastic  and  earnest  support  to 
the  nominee  of  this  Convention. 

The  man  whom  we  present  will  rally  to 
his  party  thousands  of  independent  voters, 
whose  choice  is  determined  by  their  per- 
sonal conviction  that  the  candidate  will 
represent  principles  dear  to  them,  and 
whose  public  life  and  policy  gives  assurance 
that  if  chosen  by  the  people  they  will  secure 
an  honest,  pure  and  conservative  adminis- 
tration and  the  great  interests  of  the 
country  will  bo  encouraged  and  protected. 

The  time  will  come  when  otner  distin- 
guished Democrats  who  have  been  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  this  nomination 
will  receive  that  consideration  to  which  the 
great  services  they  have  rendered  their 
party  entitle  them,  but  we  stand  to-day  in 
the  presence  of  the  fact  that  the  majority 
of  the  Democratic  masses  throughout  the 
county,  the  rank  and  file,  the  millions  of  its 
voters,  demand  the  nomination  of  Grover 
Cleveland. 

This  sentiment  is  so  strong  and  overpow- 
ering that  it  has  affected  andcontrollea  the 
actions  of  delegates  who  would  otherwise 

{)resent  the  name  of  some  distinguished 
eader  of  their  own  State  with  whom  they 
feel  victory  would  be  assured  and  in  whom 
the  entire  country  would  feel  confidence, 
but  the  people  have  spoken  and  favorite 
sons  and  leaders  are  standing  aside  in  obe- 
dience to  their  will. 

Shall  we  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  De- 
mocracy of  the  Union  ?  Shallwe  place  on 
our  banner  the  man  of  our  choice,  the  man 
in  whom  they  believe,  or  shall  we,  for  any 


286 


AMEBICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  III. 


consideration  of  policy  or  expediency,  hesi- 
tate to  obey  their  will  ? 

I  have  sublime  faith  in  the  expression  of 
the  people  when  it  is  clear  and  decisive. 
When  the  question  before  them  is  one  that 
has  excited  discussion  and  debate ;  when 
it  appeals  to  their  interests  and  their  feel- 
ings and  calls  for  the  exercise  of  their 
judgment  and  they  then  say  we  want  this 
man  and  we  can  elect  him,  we,  their  rep- 
resentatives, must  not  disobey  nor  disap- 
point them. 

It  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  obey  their 
wishes  and  concur  in  their  judgment ;  then, 
having  given  them  the  candidate  of  their 
choice,  they  will  give  us  their  best,  their 
most  energetic  efforts  to  secure  success. 

We  confidently  rely  upon  the  loyal  and 
successful  work  of  the  Democratic  leaders 
who  have  advocated  other  candidates.  We 
know  that  in  the  great  States  across  the 
river  from  New  Jersey,  now  controlled  by 
the  Democratic  party,  there  is  no  Democrat 
who  will  shirk  the  duty  of  making  every 
effort  to  secure  the  success  of  the  candidate 
of  this  Convention,  notwithstanding  his 
judgment  may  differ  from  that  of  the  ma 
jority. 

The  Democracy  of  New  York  and  its 
great  leaders  whose  efforts  and  splendid 
generalship  have  given  to  us  a  Democratic 
Senator  and  Grovernor  will  always  be  true  to 
the  great  party  they  represent ;  they  will 
not  waver,  nor  will  they  rest  in  the  com- 
ing canvass  until  they  have  achieved  suc- 
cess. 

Their  grand  victories  of  the  past,  their 
natural  _  and  honorable  ambition,  their 
unquestioned  Democracy  will  make  them 
arise  and  fight  as  never  before,  and  with 
those  that  they  represent  and  lead  they  will 
march  in  the  great  independent  vote  and 
will  again  secure  for  us  the  Democratic 
victory  in  New  York.  The  grand  Demo- 
crats under  whose  leadership  the  city  and 
State  of  New  York  are  now  governed  will 
give  to  the  cause  the  great  weight  of  their 
organizations. 

The  thundering  echoes  of  this  Conven- 
tion announcing  the  nomination  of  Grover 
Cleveland  will  not  have  died  out  over  the 
hills  and  through  the  valleys  of  this  land 
before  you  will  hear  and  see  all  our  leaders 
rallying  to  the  support  of  our  candidate. 

They  will  begin  their  efforts  for  organi- 
zation and  success  and  continue  their  work 
until  victory  crowns  their  efforts.  All 
Democrats  will  fight  for  victory,  and  they 
will  succeed  because  the  principles  of  the 
party  enunciated  here  are  for  tne  best  in- 
terests of  the  country  at  large  and  because 
the  people  of  this  land  have  unquestioning 
faith  that  Grover  Cleveland  will  give  the 
country  a  pure,  honest  and  stable  govern- 
ment and  an  administration  from  which  the 
great  business  interests  of  the  country  and 


the  agricultural  and  laboring  interests  of 
the  masses  will  receive  proper  and  due 
consideration. 

The  question  has  been  asked,  Why  is  it 
that  the  masses  of  the  party  demand  the 
nomination  of  Grover  Cleveland?  Why 
is  it  that  this  man  who  has  no  offices  to 
distribute,  no  wealth  to  command,  should 
have  stirred  the  spontaneous  support  of  the 
great  body  of  Democracy?  Why  is  it  that 
with  all  that  has  been  urged  against  him 
the  people  still  cry '"  Give  us  Cleveland  ?  " 
Why  is  it,  though  he  has  pronounced  in 
honest,  clear  and  able  language  his  views 
upon  questions  upon  which  some  of  his 
party  may  differ  with  him,  that  he  is  still 
near  and  dear  to  the  masses  ? 

It  is  because  he  has  crystallized  into  a 
living  issue  the  great  principle  upon  which 
this  battle  is  to  be  fought  out.  If  he  did 
not  create  tariff  reform  he  made  it  a  Presi- 
dential issue  ;  he  vitalized  it  and  presented 
it  to  our  party  as  the  issue  for  which  we 
could  fight  and  continue  to  battle  until  upon 
it  victory  is  now  assured. 

There  are  few  men  in  his  position  who 
would  have  the  courage  to  boldly  make  the 
issue  and  present  it  so  clearly  and  forcibly 
as  he  did  in  his  great  message  of  1887.  I 
believe  that  his  policy  then  was  to  force  a 
national  issue  wnich  would  appeal  to  the 
judgment  of  the  people. 

We  must  honor  a  man  who  is  honest 
enough  and  bold  enough  under  such  circum- 
stances to  proclaim  that  the  success  of  the 
party  upon  principle  is  better  than  evasion 
or  shirking  of  true  national  issues  for  tem- 
porary success.  When  victory  is  obtained 
upon  a  principle,  it  forms  the  solid  founda- 
tion of  party  success  in  the  future. 

It  is  no  longer  the  question  of  a  battle  to 
be  won  on  the  mistakes  of  our  foes,  but  it 
is  a  victory  to  bo  accomplished  by  a  charge 
along  the  whole  line  under  the  banner  of 
principle. 

There  is  another  reason  why  the  people 
demand  his  nomination.  They  feel  that 
the  tariff  reform  views  of  ex-President 
Cleveland  and  the  principles  laid  down  in 
his  great  message,  whatever  its  temporary 
effect  may  have  been,  give  us  a  live  and  a 
vital  issue  to  fight  for,  which  has  made  the 
great  victories  since  1888  possible.  It  con- 
solidated in  one  solid  phalanx  the  Democ- 
rat of  the  nation. 

in  every  State  of  this  union  that  policy 
has  been  placed  in  Democratic  platforms 
and  our  battles  have  been  fought  upon  it, 
and  this  great  body  of  representative 
Democrats  have  seen  its  good  results. 

Every  man  in  this  Convention  recognizes 
the  policy  of  the  party.  In  Massachusetts 
it  gave  us  a  Russell.  In  Iowa  it  gave  us  a 
Boies.  In  Wisconsin  it  gave  us  a  Peck  for 
Governor  and  Vilas  for  Senator.  In  Michi- 
gan it  gave  us  Winans  for  Governor  and 


BOOK  in.] 


SPEECH  OF   HON.   LEON   ABBETT. 


287 


gave  us  a  Democratic  Legislature,  and  will 
give  us  eight  electoral  votes  for  President. 

In  1889  in  Ohio  it  gave  us  James  Camp- 
bell for  Governor,  and  in  1891,  to  defeat 
him  it  required  the  power,  the  wealth  and 
the  machinery  of  the  entire  republican 
party.  In  Pennsylvania  it  g£tve  us  Robert 
E.  Pattiaon.  In  Connecticut  it  gave  us  a 
Democratic  Governor,  who  was  kept  out  of 
office  by  the  infamous  conduct  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  In  New  Hampshire  it 
gave  us  a  Legislature,  of  which  we  were 
defi-auded.  In  Illinois  it  gave  us  a  Palmer 
for  Senator  and  in  Nebraska  it  gave  us 
B(wd  for  Governor. 

In  the  great  Southern  States  it  has  con- 
tinued in  power  Democratic  Governors  and 
Democratic  Legislatures.  In  New  Jersey 
the  power  of  the  Democracy  has  been 
strengthened,  and  the  Legislature  and 
executive  are  now  both  democratic.  _ 

In.  the  great  State  of  New  York  it  gave 
US  David  B.  Hill  for  Senator  and  Roswell 
P.  Flower  for  Governor. 

With  all  these  glorious  achievements  it 
is  the  wisest  and  best  party  policy  to  nomi- 
nate again  the  man  whose  policy  made  these 
successes  possible.^  The  people  believe 
that   these   victories,  which   gave   us   a 


Democratic  House  of  Representatives  in 
1890  and  Democratic  Governors  and  Sena- 
tors in  Republican  and  doubtful  states,  are 
due  to  the  courage  and  wisdom  of  Grover 
Cleveland.  And  so  believing,  they  recog- 
nize him  as  their  great  leader. 

Inpresenting  his  name  to  the  Conven- 
tion it  is  no  reflection  upon  any  of  them  as 
the  leaders  of  the  party.  The  victories 
which  have  been  obtained  are  not  alone 
the  heritage  of  those  States  ;  they  belong 
to  the  whole  party.  I  feel  that  every 
Democratic  State  and  that  every  individual 
Democrat  has  reason  to  rejoice  and  be 
proud  and  applaud  these  splendid  succes- 
ses. 

The  candidacy  of  Grover  Cleveland  is 
not  a  reflection  upon  others ;  it  is  not  an- 
tagonistic to  any  great  Democratic  leader. 
He  comes  before  this  Convention  not  as  the 
candidate  of  any  one  State.  He  is  the 
choice  of  the  great  majority  of  Democratic 
voters. 

The  Democracy  of  New  Jersey  therefore 
presents  to  this  Convention,  in  this  the 
people's  year,  the  nominee  of  the  people, 
the  plain,  blunt,  honest  citizen,  tne  idol 
of  the  Democratic  masses,  Grover  Cleve- 
land. 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


BOOK  IV. 


PAELIAMENTAET   PEAOTIOE. 


47 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK  IV. 


PAELIAMENTART   PEACTIOE. 


Declaration  of  Independence. 

A  De<iaration  by  the  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Congress  assembled.     Jvlg  4,  1776. 

When  in  the  Course  of  human  events, 
it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dis- 
solve the  political  bands  which  have  con- 
nected them  with  another,  and  to  assume 
among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the  sepa- 
rate and  equal  station  to  which  the  Laws 
of  Nature  and  of  Nature's  God  entitle 
them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of 
mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare 
the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the  sepa- 
ration. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident, 
that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they 
are  endowed  hy  their  Creator  with  certain 
unalienable  Rights ;  that  among  these  are 
Life,  Liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  Happi- 
ness. That  to  secure  these  rights.  Gov- 
ernments are  instituted  among  Men,  de- 
riving their  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed;  That  whenever  any 
Form  of  Government  becomes  destructive 
of  these  ends,  it  is  the  Right  of  the  People 
to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute 
new  Government,  laying  its  foundation  on 
such  principles  and  organizing  its  powers 
in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most 
likely  to  eiFect  their  Safety  and  Happiness. 
Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  Gov- 
ernments long  established  should  not  be 
changed  for  light  and  transient  causes; 
and  accordingly  all  experience  hath  shown, 
that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer, 
while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right 
themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to 
which  they  are  accustomed.  But  when  a 
long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pur- 
suing invariably  the  same  Object,  evinces  a 
design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute 
Despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty, 
to  throw  off  such  Government,  and  to  pro- 
vide new  Guards  for  their  fiiture  security. 
Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of 
these    Colonies;    and   such   ia  now    the 


necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter 
their  former  Systems  of  Government.  The 
historj^of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain 
is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usur- 
pations, all  having  in  direct  object  the 
establishment  of  an  absolute  Tj'ranny 
over  these  States.  To  prove  this,  let  Facts 
be  submitted  to  a  candid  world. 

He  has  refused  his  Assent  to  Laws,  the 
most  wholesome  and  necessary  for  the 
public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  Governors  to  pass 
Laws  of  immediate  and  pressing  import- 
ance, unless  suspended  in  their  operation 
till  his  Assent  should  be  obtained;  and 
when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected 
to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  Laws  for 
the  accommodation  of  large  districts  of 
people,  unless  those  people  would  relin- 
quish the  right  of  Representation  in  the 
Legislature,  a  right  inestimable  to  them 
and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies 
at  places  unusual,  uncomfortable,  and  dis- 
tant from  the  Depository  of  their  public 
Records,  for  the  sole  purt)ose  of  fatiguing 
them  into  compliance  witn  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  Representative  Houses 
repeatedly,  for  opposing  with  manly  firm- 
ness his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the 
people. 

He  has  refused  for  a  Icng  time,  after 
such  dissolutions,  to  cause  others  to  be 
elected ;  whereby  the  Legislative  Powers, 
incapable  of  Annihilation,  have  returned 
to  the  People  at  large  for  their  exercise ; 
the  State  remaining  in  the  meantime  ex- 
posed to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from 
without,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  Pop- 
ulation of  these  States ;  for  that  purpose 
obstructing  the  Laws  for  Naturalization  of 
Foreigners ;  refusing  to  pass  others  to  en« 
courage  their  migrations  hither,  and  rai»- 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it 


ing  the  conditions  of  new  Appropriations 
of  Lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  Administration 
of  Justice,  by  refusing  his  Assent  to  laws 
for  establishing  Judiciary  Powers. 

He  has  made  Judges  dependent  on  his 
Will  alone,  for  the  tenure  of  their  offices, 
and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  sal- 
aries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  New  Offi- 
ces, and  sent  hither  swarms  of  Officers  to 
harass  our  People,  and  eat  out  their  sub- 
stance. 

He  has  kept  amon^  us,  in  times  of  peace. 
Standing  Armies  without  the  Consent  of 
our  Legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  Militaiy  in- 
dependent of  and  superior  to  the  Civil 
Power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject 
us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  constitu- 
tion, and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws ; 
giving  his  Assent  to  their  Acts  of  pre- 
tended Legislation : 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed 
troops  among  us : 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  Trial, 
from  punishment  for  any  Murders  which 
they  snould  commit  on  the  Inhabitants  of 
these  States : 

For  cutting  off  our  Trade  with  all  parts 
of  the  world : 

For  Imposing  Taxes  on  us  without  our 
Consent : 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the 
benefits  of  Trial  by  Jury : 

For  transporting  us  beyond  Seas  to  be 
tried  for  pretended  offenses  : 

For  abolishing  the  free  System  of  Eng- 
lish Laws  in  a  neighboring  Province,  es- 
tablishing therein  an  Arbitrary  govern- 
ment, and  enlarging  its  Boundaries  so  as 
to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  in- 
strument for  introducing  the  same  abso- 
lute rule  into  these  Colonies : 

For  taking  away  our  Charters,  abolish- 
ing our  most  valuable  Laws,  and  altering 
fundamentally  the  Forms  of  our  Govern- 
ments: 

For  suspending  our  own  Legislatures, 
and  declaring  themselves  invested  with 
power  to  legislate  for  ua  in  all  cases  what- 
soever. 

He  has  abdicated  Government  here,  by 
declaring  us  out  of  his  Protection  and 
waging  War  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our 
Coasts,  burnt  our  towns,  and  destroyed 
the  Lives  of  our  People. 

He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large 
Armies  of  foreign  Mercenaries  to  com- 
plete the  works  of  death,  desolation  and 
tyranny,  already  begun  with  circumstances 
of  Cruelty  and  Perfidy  scarcely  paralleled 
in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally  un- 
worthy the  Head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens 


taken  Captive  on  the  high  Seas  to  bear 
Arms  against  their  Country,  to  become  the 
executioners  of  their  friends  and  Breth- 
ren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by  their  Hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections 
amongst  us,  and  has  endeavored  to  bring 
on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers,  the 
merciless  Indian  Savages,  whose  known 
rule  of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  de- 
struction of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  Oppressions  We 
have  Petitioned  for  Redress  in  the  most 
humble  terms ;  our  repeated  Petitions  have 
been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury. 
A  Prince,whose  character  is  thus  marked 
by  every  act  which  may  define  a  Tyrant, 
is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  People. 

Nor  have  We  been  wanting  in  attentions 
to  our  British  brethren.  We  have  warned 
them,  from  time  to  time,  of  attempts  by 
their  legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrant- 
able jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  re- 
minded them  of  the  circumstances  of  our 
emigration  and  settlement  here.  We  have 
appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  mag- 
nanimity, and  we  have  Qonjured  them  by 
the  ties  of  our  common  kindred  to  disavow 
these  usurpations,  which  would  inevitably 
interrupt  our  connections  and  correspon- 
dence. They,  too,  have  been  deaf  to  the 
voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity.  We 
must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity 
which  denounces  our  Separation,  and  hold 
them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  En- 
emies in  War,  in  Peace,  Friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  Represeni'ATIVES 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
GENERAL  CONGRESS  assembled,  appealing 
to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  World  for 
the  rectitude  of  our  intentions,  do,  in  the 
Name,  and  by  Authority  of  the  good  Peo- 
ple of  these  Colonies,  solemnly  publish 
and  DECLARE,  That  these  United  Colo- 
nies are,  and  of  Right  ought  to  be,  free 
AND  INDEPENDENT  States;  that  they  are 
Absolved  from  all  Allegiance  to  the  Brit- 
ish Crown,  and  that  allpolitical  connection 
between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Brit- 
ain is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved  ; 
and  that  as  free  and  independent 
States,  they  have  full  Power  to  levy  War, 
conclude  Peace,  contract  Alliances,  estab- 
lish Commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  Acta 
and  things  which  independent  States 
may  of  right  do.  And  for  the  support  of 
this  Declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on 
the  Protection  of  Divine  Providence,  We 
mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  Lives, 
our  Fortunes,  and  our  sacred  Honor. 

The  foregoing  declaration  was,  by  order 
of  Congress,  engrossed,  and  signed  by  the 
following  members : 

JOHN  HANCOCK. 

IJosiah  Bartlett, 
WiWam  Whipple. 
Matthew  Thornton. 


BOOK  IV.] 


ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDERATION. 


{Samuel  Adams, 
John  Adams, 
Robert  Treat  Paine, 
Elbridge  Grerry. 

Rhode  Island,    f  Stephen  Hopkins, 


etc. 


Connecticut. 


New  York. 


New  Jersey. 


\  William  Ellery. 

{Roger  Sherman, 
Samuel  Huntington, 
William  Williams, 
Oliver  Wolcott. 

(William  Floyd, 
Philip  Livingston, 
Francis  Lewis, 
Lewis  Morris. 

'  Richard  Stockton, 
John  Witherspoon, 
Francis  Hopkinson, 
John  Hart, 
Abraham  Clark. 

'  Robert  Morris, 
Benjamin  Rush, 
Benjamin  Franklin, 
John  Morton, 
George  Clymer, 
James  Smith, 
George  Taylor, 
James  Wilson, 

^  George  Rosa. 

!  Cesar  Rodney, 
George  Read, 
Thomes  McKean. 

Samuel  Chase, 
William  Paca, 
Thomas  Stone, 
Charles  Carroll,  of 
Carrollton. 

'  George  Wythe, 
Richard  Henry  Lee, 
Thomas  Jefferson, 
Benjamin  Harrison, 
Thomas  Nelson,  jr., 
Francis  Lightfoot  Lee, 
Carter  Braxton. 

i  William  Hooper, 
Joseph  Hewes, 
John  Penn. 

(Edward  Rutledge, 
Thomas  Hey  ward,  jr., 
Thomas  Lynch,  jr.,'' 
Arthur  Middleton. 

(Button  Gwinnett, 
Lyman  Hall, 
George  Walton. 
Resolved,  That  copies  of  the  Declaration 
be  sent  to  the  several  assemblies,  conven- 
tions, and  committees  or  councils  of  safety, 
and  to  the  several  commanding  officers  of 
the  Continental  Troops :   That  it  be  pro- 
claimed in  each  of  the  United  States, 
and   at  the  Head  of  the  Army.— [/our, 
Cong.,  vol.  1,  p.  396.] 


Pennsylvania. 


Delaware. 


Maryland. 


Virginia. 


Ajrtlcles  of  Confcdenttlon. 

Done  at  Philadelphia  on  the  0th  day  of  July,  1778. 

[While  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  under  consideration  in  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  before  it  was  finally  agreed 
upon,  measures  were  taken  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  constitutional  form  of  gov- 
ernment ;  and  on  the  11th  of  June,  1776, 
it  was  *'  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  and  digest  the  form  of 
a  confederation  to  be  entered  into  between 
these  Colonies ; "  which  committee  was 
appointed  the  next  day,  June  12,  and  con- 
sisted of  a  member  from  each  Colony, 
namely :  Mr.  Bartlett.  Mr.  S.  Adams,  Mr. 
Hopkins,  Mr.  Sherman,  Mr.  R.  R.  Livings- 
ton, Mr.  Dickinson,  Mr.  McKean,  Mr. 
Stone,  Mr.  Nelson,  Mr.  Hewes,  Mr.  E. 
Rutledge,  and  Mr.  Gwinnett.  On  the 
12th  of  July,  1776,  the  committee  reported 
a  draught  of  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion, which  was  printed  for  the  use  of  the 
members  under  the  strictest  injunctions  of 
secrecy. 

This  report  underwent  a  thorough  dis- 
cussion in  Congress,  from  time  to  time,' 
until  the  15th  of  November,  1777 ;  on 
which  day,  "  Articles  of  Confederation 
and  Perpetual  Union  "  were  finally  agreed 
to  in  form,  and  they  were  directed  to  be 
proposed  to  the  Legislatures  of  all  the 
United  States,  and  if  approved  by  them, 
they  were  advised  to  authorize  their  dele- 
gates to  ratify  the  same  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States ;  and  in  that  event  thev 
were  to  become  conclusive.  On  the  17tn 
of  November,  1777,  the  Congress  agreed 
upon  the  form  of  a  circular  letter  to  ac- 
company the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
which  concluded  with  a  recommendation 
to  each  of  the  several  Legislatures  "to 
invest  its  delegates  with  competent  pow- 
ers, ultimately,  and  in  the  name  and  be- 
half of  the  State,  to  subscribe  articles  of 
confederation  and  perpetual  union  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  attend  Congress  for 
that  purpose  on  or  before  the  lOtn  day  of 
March  next."  This  letter  was  signed  bv 
the  President  of  Congress  and  sent,  witn 
a  copy  of  the  articles,  to  each  State  Legis- 
lature. 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1778,  Congre^w 
agreed  upon  the  form  of  a  ratification  of 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  di- 
rected a  copy  of  the  articles  and  the  ratifi- 
cation to  DC  engrossed  on  parchment; 
which,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1778,  having 
been  examined  and  the  blanks  filled,  was 
signed  by  the  delegates  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut, 
New  York,  Pennsvlvania,  Virginia,  and 
South  Carolina.  Congress  then  directed 
that  a  circular  letter  be  addressed  to  the 
States  whose  delegates  were  not  present, 
or  being  present,  conceived  they  were  not 


6 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ir. 


authorized  to  sign'the  ratification,  inform- 1 
ing  them  how  many  and  what  States  had  | 
ratified  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  | 
desiring  them,  with  all  convenient  dis-  j 
paix;h,  to  authorize  their  delegates  to  ratify  , 
the  same.  Of  these  States,  North  Caro-  | 
Una  ratified  on  the  2l3t  and  Georgia  on ; 
the  24th  of  July,  1778 ;  New  Jersey  on  the 
26th  of  November  following ;  Delaware  on  ; 
the  5th  of  May,  1779;  Maryland  on  the  1st  \ 
of  March,  1781 ;  and  on  the  2d  of  March, ' 
1781,  Congress  assembled  under  the  new 
form  of  government.] 

AKTICLES   OF   CONFEDERATION. 

To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come, 

We,  the  undersigned,  delegates  of  the 
States  affixed  to  our  names,  send  greeting: 

Whereas  the  delegates  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled 
did,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  November,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven,  and  in  the  second 
year  of  the  independence  of  America,  a^ee 
to  certain  Articles  of  Confederation  and  Per- 
petual Union  between  the  States  of  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Greor- 
gia,  in  the  words  following,  viz : 

Articles  of  Confederation  and  Perpetual 
Union  between  the  States  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecti- 
cut, New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia, 

Abticle  I.  The  style  of  this  Confederacy 
shall  be,  "  The  United  States  of  America." 

Article  II.  Each  State  retains  its  sov- 
ereignty, freedom,  and  independence,  and 
every  power,  jurisdiction,  and  right,  which 
is  not  by  this  confederation  expressly  dele- 
gated to  the  United  States  in  Congress  as- 
sembled. 

Article  III.  The  said  States  hereby 
severally  enter  into  a  firm  league  of  friend- 
ship with  each  other  for  their  common  de- 
fense, the  security  of  their  liberties,  and 
their  mutual  and  general  welfare ;  binding 
themselves  to  assist  each  other  against  all 
force  offered  to,  or  attacks  made  upon 
them,  or  an^  of  them,  on  account  of  reli- 
gion, sovereignty,  trade,  or  any  other  pre- 
tense whatever. 

Article  IV.  The  better  to  secure  and 
perpetuate  mutual  friendship  and  inter- 
course among  the  people  of  the  different 
States  in  this  Union,  tlie  free  inhabitants 
of  each  of  these  States,  paupers,  vagabonds, 
aad  fugitives  from  justice  excepted,  shall 


be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immunities 
of  free  citizens  in  the  several  States ;  and 
the  people  of  each  State  shall  have  free  in- 
gress and  regress  to  and  from  any  other 
State,  and  shall  enjoy  therein  all  the  priv- 
ileges of  trade  and  commerce,  subject  to 
the  same  duties,  impositions,  and  restric- 
tions, as  the  inhabitants  thereof  respective- 
ly :  Provided,  That  such  restrictions,  shall 
not  extend  so  far  as  to  prevent  the  removal 
of  property  imported  into  any  State  to  any 
other  State,  of  which  the  owner  is  an  in- 
habitant :  Provided,  also,  That  no  imposi- 
tion, duties,  or  restriction  shall  be  laid  by 
any  State  on  the  property  of  the  United 
States  or  either  of  them. 

If  any  person  guilty  of  or  charged  with 
treason,  felony,  or  other  high  misdemeanor, 
in  any  State,  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be 
found  in  any  of  the  United  States,  he  shall, 
upon  demand  of  the  governor  or  executive 
power  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled,  be 
delivered  up,  and  removed  to  the  State 
having  jurisdiction  of  his  offense. 

Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in 
each  of  these  States  to  the  records,  acts, 
and  judicial  proceedings  of  the  courts  and 
magistrates  of  every  other  State. 

Article  V.  For  the  more  convenient 
management  of  the  general  interests  of  the 
United  States,  delegates  shall  be  annually 
appointed  in  such  manner  as  the  Legisla- 
ture of  each  State  shall  direct,  to  meet  in 
Congress  on  the  first  Monday  in  Novem- 
ber, in  every  year,  with  a  power  reserved 
to  each  State  to  recall  its  delegates  or  any 
of  them,  at  any  time  within  the  year,  and 
to  send  others  in  their  stead  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  year. 

No  State  shall  be  represented  in  Con- 
gress by  less  than  two  nor  by  more  than 
seven  members;  and  no  person  shall  be 
capable  of  being  a  delegate  for  more  than 
three  years  in  any  term  of  six  years ;  nor 
shall  any  person,  being  a  delegate,  be  ca- 
pable of  nolding  any  office  under  the 
United  States,  for  which  he,  or  another  for 
his  benefit,  receives  any  salary,  fees  or 
emolument  of  any  kind. 

Each  State  shall  maintain  its  own  dele- 
gates in  a  meeting  of  the  States,  and  while 
they  act  as  members  of  the  committee  of 
these  States. 

In  determining  questions  in  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled,  each  State 
shall  have  one  vote. 

Freedom  of  speech  and  debate  in  Con- 
gress shall  not  be  impeached  or  questioned 
in  any  court  or  place  out  of  Congress ;  and 
the  members  of  Congress  shall  be  protected 
in  their  persons  from  arrests  and  imprison- 
ments dxiring  the  time  of  their  going  to 
and  from,  and  attendance  on,  Congress,  ex- 
cept for  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the 
peace. 

Article  VI.  No  State,  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  United  States  in  Congress  aa- 


BOOK  IT. J 


ARTICLES    OF   CONFEDERATION. 


sembled,  shall  send  any  embassy  to,  or  re- 
ceive any  embassy  from,  or  enter  into  any 
conference,  agreement,  alliance,  or  treaty 
with  any  King,  prince,  or  state ;  nor  shall 
any  person  holding  any  oflSce  of  profit  or 
trust  under  the  United  States,  or  any  of 
them,  accept  of  any  present,  emolument, 
office  or  title  of  any  kind  whatever  from 
any  King,  prince,  or  foreign  state;  nor 
shall  the  United  States  in  Congress  as- 
sembled, or  any  of  them,  grant  any  title  of 
nobility. 

No  two  or  more  States  shall  enter  into 
any  treaty,  confederation,  or  alliance  what- 
ever between  them  without  the  consent  of 
the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled, 
specifying  accurately  the  purposes  for 
which  the  same  is  to  be  entered  into,  and 
how  long  it  shall  continue. 

No  State  shall  lay  any  imposts  or  duties, 
which  may  interfere  with  any  stipulations 
in  treaties  entered  into  by  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled  with  any 
King,  prince,  or  state,  in  pursuance  of  any 
treaties  already  proposed  by  Congress  to 
the  Courts  of  France  and  Spain. 

No  vessels  of  war  shall  be  kept  up  in 
time  of  peace  by  any  State,  except  such 
number  only  as  shall  be  deemed  necessary 
by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assem- 
bled, for  the  defense  of  such  State,  or  its 
trade ;  nor  shall  any  body  of  forces  be  kept 
up  by  any  State  in  time  of  peace,  except 
such  number  only,  as,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled, 
shall  be  deemed  requisite  to  garrison  the 
forts  necessary  for  the  defense  of  such 
State ;  but  every  State  shall  always  keep 
up  a  well  regulated  and  disciplined  militia, 
sufficiently  armed  and  accoutered,  and 
shall  provide  and  constantly  have  ready 
for  use,  in  public  stores,  a  due  number  of 
field-pieces  and  tents,  and  a  proper  quan- 
tity of  arms,  ammunition,  and  camp  equip- 
age. 

No  State  shall  engage  in  any  war  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  United  States  in 
Congress  assembled,  unless  such  State  be 
actually  invaded  by  enemies,  or  shall  have 
received  certain  advice  of  a  resolution  be- 
ing formed  by  some  nation  of  Indians  to 
invade  such  State,  and  the  danger  is  so 
imminent  as  not  to  admit  of  a  delay  till 
the  United  Statea  in  Congress  assembled 
can  be  consulted ;  nor  shall  any  State  grant 
commissions  to  any  ships  or  vessels  of  war, 
nor  letters  of  marque  or  reprisal,  except  it 
be  after  a  declaration  of  war  by  the  United 
States  in  Congress  a-ssembled;  and  then 
only  against  the  kingdom  or  state,  and  the 
subjects  thereof,  against  which  war  has 
been  so  declared,  and  under  such  regulations 
as  shall  be  established  by  the  United  States 
in  Congress  assembled,  unless  such  State 
be  infested  by  pirates,  in  which  case  ves- 
sels of  war  may  be  fitted  out  for  that  occa- 
sion, and  kept  so  long  as  the  danger  shall 


continue,  or  until  the  United  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled  shall  determine  otherwise. 

Article  VII.  When  land  forces  are 
raised  by  any  State  for  the  common  defense, 
all  officers  of,  or  under  the  rank  of  colonel, 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  Legislature  of 
each  State  respectively  by  whom  such 
forces  shall  be  raised,  or  in  such  manner 
aa  such  State  shall  direct ;  and  all  vacan- 
cies shall  be  filled  up  by  the  State  which 
first  made  the  appointment. 

Article  VIIL  All  charges  of  war,  and 
all  other  expenses  that  shall  be  incurred 
for  the  common  defense  or  general  welfare 
and  allowed  by  the  United  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled,  shall  be  defrayed  out  of  a 
common  treasury,  which  shall  be  supplied 
by  the  several  States,  in  proportion  to  the 
value  of  all  land  within  each  State,  granted 
to,  or  surveyed  for,  any  person,  as  such 
land  and  the  buildings  and  improvements 
thereon  shall  be  estimated,  according  to 
such  mode  as  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled  shall,  from  time  to  time,  direct 
and  appoint. 

The  taxes  for  paying  that  proportion 
shall  be  laid  and  levied  by  the  authority 
and  direction  of  the  Legislatures  of  the 
several  States,  within  the  time  agreed  upon 
by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assem- 
bled. 

Article  IX.  The  United  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled  shall  have  the  sole  and  ex- 
clusive right  and  power  of  determining  on 
peace  and  war,  except  in  the  cases  men- 
tioned in  the  sixth  article ;  of  sending  and 
receiving  embassadors ;  entering  into  trea- 
ties and  alliances :  Provided,  That  no 
treaty  of  commerce  shall  be  made  whereby 
the  legislative  power  of  the  respective 
States  shall  be  restrained  from  imposing 
such  imposts  and  duties  on  foreigners  as 
their  own  people  are  subjected  to,  or  from 
prohibiting  the  exportation  or  importation 
of  any  species  of  goods  or  commodities 
whatsoever ;  of  establishing  rules  for  de- 
ciding, in  all  cases,  what  captures  on  land 
or  water  shall  be  legal,  and  in  what  man- 
ner prizes  taken  by  land  or  naval  forces  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
divided  or  appropriated  ;  of  granting  let- 
ters of  marque  and  reprisal  in  times  of 
peace ;  appointing  courts  for  the  trial  of 
piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high 
seas,  and  establishing  courts  for  receiving 
and  determining  finally,  appeals  in  all  cases 
of  captures :  Provided,  Tnat  no  member 
of  Congress  shall  be  appointed  a  judge  of 
any  of  the  said  courts. 

The  United  States  in  Congress  assem- 
bled shall  also  be  the  last  resort  on  appeal 
in  all  disputes  and  differences  now  subsist- 
ing, or  that  hereafter  may  arise  between 
two  or  more  States  concerning  boundary, 
jurisdiction,  or  any  other  cause  whatever ; 
which  authority  shall  always  be  exercised 
in  the  manner  following :    Whenever  tha 


8 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ly 


legislative  or  executive  authority  or 
lawful  agent  of  any  State  in  controversy 
with  another,  shall  present  a  petition 
to  Congress,  stating  the  matter  in  ques- 
tion, and  praying  for  a  hearing,  notice 
thereof  shall  be  given  by  order  of  Congress 
to  the  legislative  or  executive  authority  of 
the  other  State  in  controversy,  and  a  day 
assigned  for  the  appearance  of  the  parties 
hj  tneir  lawful  agents,  who  shall  then  be 
directed  to  appoint,  by  joint  consent,  com- 
missioners or  judges  to  constitute  a  court 
for  hearing  and  determining  the  matter  in 
question ;  but  if  they  cannot  agree,  Con- 
gress shall  name  three  persons  out  of  each 
of  the  United  States,  and  from  the  list  of 
such  persons  each  party  shall  alternately 
strike  out  one,  the  petitioners  beginning, 
until  the  number  shall  be  reduced  to  thir- 
teen ;  and  from  that  number  not  less  than 
seven  nor  more  than  nine  names,  as  Con- 
gress shall  direct,  shall,  in  the  presence  of 
Congress,  be  drawn  out  by  lot ;  and  the 
persons  whose  names  shall  be  so  drawn,  or 
any  five  of  them,  shall  be  commissioners  or 
judges,  to  hear  and  finally  determine  the 
controversy,  so  always  as  a  major  part  of 
the  judges  who  shall  hear  the  cause,  shall 
agree  in  the  determination ;  and  if  either 
party  shall  neglect  to  attend  at  the  day  ap- 
pointed, without  showing  reasons  which 
Congress  shall  judge  sufficient,  or,  being 
present,  shall  refuse  to  strike,  the  Congress 
shall  proceed  to  nominate  three  persons 
out  01  each  State,  and  the  Secretary  of 
Congress  shall  strike  in  behalf  of  such 
party  absent  or  refusing;  and  the  judg- 
ment and  sentence  of  the  court  to  be  ap- 
pointed in  the  manner  before  prescribed 
shall  be  final  and  conclusive ;  and  if  any 
of  the  parties  shall  refuse  to  submit  to  the 
authority  of  such  court  or  to  appear  or  de- 
fend their  claim  or  cause,  the  court  shall, 
nevertheless,  proceed  to  pronounce  sen- 
tence or  judgment,  which  shall,  in  like 
manner,  be  final  and  decisive ;  the  judg- 
ment or  sentence,  and  other  proceedings, 
being  in  either  case  transmitted  to  Con- 
gress, and  lodged  among  the  acts  of  Con- 
gress for  the  security  of  the  parties  con- 
cerned: Provided,  That  every  commis- 
sioner, before  he  sits  in  judgment,  shall 
take  an  oath,  to  be  administered  by  one  of 
the  judges  of  the  supreme  or  superior  court 
of  the  State,  where  the  cause  shall  be  tried, 
"  well  and  truly  to  hear  and  determine  the 
matter  in  question,  according  to  the  best  of 
his  judgment  without  favor,  affection,  or  hope 
of  reheard:"  Provided,  also,  That  no  State 
shall  be  deprived  of  territory  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  United  States, 

All  controversies  concerning  the  private 
right  of  soil  claimed  under  different  grants 
of  two  or  more  States,  whose  jurisdictions, 
as  they  may  respect  such  lands,  and  the 
States  which  passed  such  grants,  are  ad- 
justed, the  said  grants  or  either  of  them 


being  at  the  same  time  claimed  to  have 
originated  antecedent  to  such  settlement 
of  jurisdiction,  shall,  on  the  petition  of 
either  party  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  be  finally  determined,  as  near  as 
may  be,  in  the  same  manner  as  is  before 
prescribed  for  deciding  disputes  respecting 
territorial  jurisdiction  between  different 
States, 

The  United  States  in  Congress  assembled 
shall  also  have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right 
and  power  of  regulating  the  alloy  and 
value  of  coin  struck  by  their  own  author- 
ity, or  by  that  of  the  respective  States; 
fixing  the  standard  of  weights  and  mea- 
sures throughout  the  United  States ;  regu- 
lating the  trade  and  managing  all  affairs 
with  the  Indians,  not  members  of  any  of 
the  States :  Provided,  That  the  legislative 
right  of  any  State  within  its  own  limits,  be 
not  infringed  or  violated ;  establishing  and 
regulating  post-offices  from  one  State  to 
another,  throughout  all  the  United  States, 
and  exacting  such  postage  on  the  papers 
passing  through  the  same,  as  may  he  re- 
quisite to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  said  of- 
fice ;  appointing  all  officers  of  the  land  forces 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  excepting 
regimental  officers ;  appointing  all  the  offi- 
cers of  the  naval  forces,  and  commissioning 
all  officers  whatever  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States;  making  rules  for  the  gov- 
ernment and  regulation  of  the  said  land 
and  naval  forces,  and  directing  their  ope- 
rations. 

The  United  States  in  Congress  assembled 
shall  have  authority  to  appoint  a  commit- 
tee to  sit  in  the  recess  of  Congress,  to  be 
denominated  "  a  Committee  of  the  States," 
and  to  consist  of  one  delegate  from  each 
State,  and  to  appoint  such  other  commit- 
tees and  civil  officers  as  may  be  necessary 
for  managing  the  general  affairs  of  the 
United  States,  under  their  direction ;  to  ap- 
point one  of  their  number  to  preside ;  pro- 
vided that  no  person  be  allowed  to  serve  in 
the  office  of  president  more  than  one  year 
in  any  term  of  three  years ;  to  ascertain  the 
necessary  sums  of  money  to  be  raised  for 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
appropriate  and  apply  the  same  for  defray- 
ing the  public  expenses;  to  borrow  money 
or  emit  bills  on  the  credit  of  the  United 
States,  transmitting  every  half  year  to  the 
respective  States,  an  account  oi  the  sums 
of  money  so  borrowed  or  emitted ;  to  build 
and  eauip  a  navy;  to  agree  upon  the  num- 
ber of  land  forces,  and  to  make  requisitions 
from  each  State  for  its  ^uota,  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  white  inhabitants  m  such 
State,  which  requisitions  shall  be  binding; 
and  thereupon  the  Legislature  of  each 
State  shall  appoint  the  regimental  officers, 
raise  the  men,  and  clothe,  arm,  and  equip 
them  in  a  soldier-like  manner,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  United  States ;  and  the  offi- 
cers   and   men   so    clothed,  armed,  and 


BOOK  IV.] 


ARTICLES    OF    CONFEDERATION. 


9 


equipped,  shall  march  to  the  place  ap- 
pointed, and  within  the  time  agreed  on  by 
the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  ; 
but  if  the  United  States  in  Congress  as- 
sembled shall,  on  consideration  of  circum- 
stances, judge  proper  that  any  State  should 
not  raise  men,  or  should  raise  a  smaller 
number  than  its  quota,  and  that  any  other 
State  should  raise  a  greater  number  of  men 
than  the  quota  thereof,  such  extra  number 
shall  be  raised,  officered,  clothed,  armed, 
and  equipped  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
quota  of  each  State,  unless  the  Legislature 
of  such  State  shall  judge  that  such  extra 
number  cannot  be  safely  spared  out  of  the 
same ;  in  which  case  they  shall  raise,  offi- 
cer, clothe,  arm,  and  equip  as  many  of  such 
extra  number  as  they  judge  can  be  safely 
spared.  And  the  officers  and  men  so 
clothed,  armed,  and  equipped  shall  march 
to  the  place  appointed,  and  within  the 
time  agreed  on  by  the  United  States  in 
Congress  assembled. 

The  United  States  in  Congress  assembled 
shall  never  engage  in  a  war,  nor  grant  let- 
ters of  marque  and  reprisal  in  time  of 
peace,  nor  enter  into  any  treaties  or  alli- 
ances, nor  coin  money,  nor  regulate  the 
value  thereof,  nor  ascertain  the  sums  and 
expenses  necessary  for  the  defense  and 
welfare  of  the  United  States  or  any  of 
them,  nor  emit  bills,  nor  borrow  money  on 
the  credit  of  the  United  States,  nor  appro- 
priate money,  nor  agree  upon  the  number 
of  vessels  of  war  to  be  built  or  purchased, 
or  the  number  of  land  or  sea  forces  to  be 
raised,  nor  appoint  a  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Army  or  Navy,  unless  nine  States 
assent  to  the  same ;  nor  shall  a  question 
on  any  other  point,  except  for  adjourning 
from  day  to  day,  be  determined,  unless  by 
the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  shall 
have  power  to  adjourn  to  any  time  within 
the  year,  and  to  any  place  within  the 
United  States,  so  that  no  period  of  adjourn- 
ment be  for  a  longer  duration  than  the 
space  of  six  months ;  and  shall  publish  the 
journal  of  their  proceedings  monthly,  ex- 
cept such  parts  thereof  relating  to  treaties, 
alliances,  or  military  operations,  as  in  their 
judgment  require  secrecy;  and  the  yeas 
and  nays  of  the  delegates  of  each  State  on 
any  question,  shall  be  entered  on  the  jour- 
nal, when  it  is  desired  by  any  delegate; 
and  the  delegates  of  a  State,  or  any  of 
them,  at  his  or  their  request,  shall  be  fur- 
nished with  a  transcript  of  the  said  jour- 
nal, except  such  parts  as  are  above  ex- 
cepted, to  lay  before  the  Legislature  of  the 
several  States. 

Article  X.  The  committee  of  the  States, 
or  any  nine  of  them,  shall  be  authorized 
to  execute,  in  the  recess  of  Congress,  such 
of  the  powers  of  Congress  as  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled,  by  the  con- 


sent of  nine  States,  shall,  from  time  to 
time,  think  expedient  to  vest  them  with  : 
Provided,  That  no  power  be  delegated  to 
the  said  committee,  for  the  exercise  of 
which,  by  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
the  voice  of  nine  States  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  assembled  is  requisite. 

Article  XI.  Canada,  acceding  to  this 
confederation,  and  joining  in  the  measures 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  admitted 
into,  and  entitled  to,  all  the  advantages  of 
this  Union ;  but  no  other  colony  shall  be 
admitted  into  the  same,  unless  such  admis- 
sion be  agreed  to  by  nine  States. 

Article  XII.  All  bills  of  credit  emitted, 
moneys  borrowed,  and  debts  contracted, 
by  or  under  the  authority  of  Congress,  be- 
fore the  assembling  of  the  United  States, 
in  pursuance  of  the  present  confederation, 
shall  be  deemed  and  considered  as  a  charge 
against  the  United  States,  for  payment  and 
satisfaction  whereof  the  said  United  States 
and  the  public  faith  are  hereby  solemnly 
pledged. 

Article  XIII.  Every  State  shall  abide 
by  the  determinations  of  the  United  States 
in  Congress  assembled,  on  all  questions 
which  by  this  confederation  are  submitted 
to  them.  And  the  articles  of  this  confed- 
eration shall  be  inviolably  observed  by 
every  State,  and  the  union  shall  be  per- 
petual; nor  shall  any  alteration  at  any 
time  hereafter  be  made  in  any  of  them, 
unless  such  alteration  be  agreed  to  in  a 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  be  after- 
wards confirmed  by  the  Legislatures  of  every 
State. 

And  whereas  it  has  pleased  the  Great 
Governor  of  the  world  to  incline  the  hearts 
of  the  Legislatures  we  respectively  repre- 
sent in  Congress,  to  approve  of,  and  to 
authorize  us  to  ratify  the  said  articles  of 
confederation  and  perpetual  union :  Know 
ye,  That  we,  the  undersigned  delegates,  by 
virtue  of  the  power  and  authority  to  us 
given  for  that  purpose,  do,  by  these  pres- 
ents, in  the  name  and  in  behalf  of  our  re- 
spective constituents,  fully  and  entirely 
ratify  and  confirm  each  and  every  gf  the 
said  Articles  of  Confederation  and  Per- 
petual Union,  and  all  and  singular  the 
matters  and  things  therein  contained.  And 
we  do  further  solemnly  plight  and  engage 
the  faith  of  our  respective  constituents, 
that  they  shall  abide  by  the  determina- 
tions of  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  on  all  questions  which,  by  the 
said  confederation,  are  submitted  to  them ; 
and  that  the  articles  thereof  shall  be  in- 
violably observed  by  the  States  we  respect- 
ively represent ;  and  that  the  union  shall 
be  perpetual. 

In  witness  whereof  we  have  here- 
unto set  our  hands,  in  Congress.  Done 
AT  Philadelphia,  in  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, the  ninth  day  of  July,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hun* 


10 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


dred  and  seventy-eight,  and  in  the  third 
year  of  the  Independence  of  America. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State 
of  New  Hampshire. — Josiah  Bartlett,  John 
Wentworth,  jr.,  August  8,  1778. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  Bay. — John  Hancock,  Sam- 
uel Adams,  Elbridge  Gerry,  Francis  Dana, 
James  Lovell,  Samuel  Holten. 

On  the  part  and  in  behalf  of  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations. 
— William  Ellery,  Henry  Marchant,  John 
Col  lius. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut.  —  Roger  Sherman,  Samuel 
Huntington,  Oliver  Wolcott,  Titus  Hos- 
mer,  Andrew  Adams. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of  New 
York. — Jas.  Duane,  Fra.  Lewis,  Wm.  Duer, 
Gouv.  Morris. 

On  the  part  and  in  behalf  of  the  State  of 
New    Jersey.  —  Jno.   Witherspoon,    Nath 
Scudder,  Nov.  26,  1778. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania. — Robt.Morris,Daniel  Rober- 
deau,  Jona.  Bayard  Smith,  William  Clin- 
gan,  Joseph  Reed,  July  22d,  1778. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of  Del- 
aware.—Thos.  McKean,  Feb.  13,  1779, 
John  Dickinson,  May  5,  1779,  Nicholas 
Van  Dyke. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of 
Maryland. — John  Hanson,  March  1,  1781, 
Daniel  Carroll,  March  1,  1781. 

On  the  part  and  behalf^  the  State  of 
Virginia. — Richard  Henry  Lee,  John  Ban- 
ister, Thomas  Adams,  Jno.  Harvie,  Fran- 
cis Lightfoot  Lee. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of 
North  Carolina. —  John  Penn,  July  21, 
1778,  Corns.  Harnett,  Jno.  Williams. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of 
South  Carolina. — Henry  Laurens,  William 
Henry  Dra}'ton,  Jno.  Mathews,  Richard 
Hutson,  Thomas  Heyward,  Jr. 

On  the  part  and  behalf  of  the  State  of 
Georgia.— Jno.  Walton,  July  24,  1778, 
Edw.  Telfair,  Edw.  Langworthy. 


Ordinance  ot  178T. 

Jm  Ordiruinre  for  the  Oovemment  of  the  Terrttorv  of  lh« 
United  SUUe*  Xnrthwefl  of  the  Ohio  River.  [In  Cong- 
rem,  July  1:J,  1787.J 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  United  States  in 
Congress  assembled,  That  the  said  Terri- 
tory, for  the  purposes  of  temporary  govern- 
ment, be  one  district ;  subject,  however  to 
be  divided  into  two  districts,  as  future  cir- 
cumstances may,  in  the  opinion  of  Cong- 
ress, make  it  expedient. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
That  the  estates  both  of  resident  and  non- 
resident proprietors  in  the  said  Territory, 
dving  intestate,  shall  descend  to  and  be 
distributed  among  their  children,  and  the 


descendants  of  a  deceased  child,  in  equal 
parts ;  the  descendants  of  a  deceased  child 
or  grandchild  to  take  the  share  of  their 
deceased  parent  in  equal  parts  among 
them ;  and  where  there  shall  be  no  chil- 
dren or  descendants^  then  in  equal  parts 
to  the  next  of  kin,  in  equal  degree ;  and 
among  collaterals,  the  children  of  a  de- 
ceased brother  or  sister  of  the  intestate 
shall  have,  in  equal  parts  among  them, 
their  deceased  parents'  share ;  and  there 
shall,  in  no  case,  be  a  distinction  between 
kindred  of  the  whole  and  half  blood; 
saving  in  all  cases  to  the  widow  of  the 
intestate,  her  third  part  of  the  real  estate 
for  life,  and  one-third  part  of  the  personal 
estate;  and  this  law  relative  to  descents 
and  dower  shall  remain  in  full  force  until 
altered  by  the  Legislature  of  the  district. 
And  until  the  governor  and  judges  shall 
adopt  laws  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  es- 
tates in  the  said  Territory  may  be  devised 
or  bequeathed  by  wills  in  writing,  signed 
and  sealed  by  him  or  her,  in  whom  the 
estate  may  be,  (being  of  full  age,)  and 
attested  by  three  witnesses ;  and  real  estates 
may  be  conveyed  by  lease  and  release,  or 
bargain  and  sale,  signed,  sealed,  and  de- 
livered by  the  person,  being  of  full  age,  in 
whom  the  estate  may  be  and  attested  by 
two  witnesses,  provided  such  wills  be  duly 

f)roved,  and  such  conveyances  be  acknow- 
edged,  or  the  execution  thereof  duly  proved 
and  be  recorded  within  one  year,  after 
proper  magistrates,  courts,  and  registers 
shall  be  appointed  for  that  purpose  ;  and 
personal  property  may  be  transferred  by 
delivery,  saving,  however,  to  the  French 
and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  other  set- 
tlers of  the  Kaskaskies,  Saint  Vincent's, 
and  the  neighboring  villages,  who  have 
heretofore  professed  themselves  citizens  of 
Virginia,  their  laws  and  customs  now  in 
force  among  them,  relative  to  the  descent 
and  conveyance  of  property. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
That  there  shall  be  appointed,  fiom  time 
to  time,  by  Congress,  a  governor,  whose 
commission  shall  continue  in  force  for  the 
term  of  three  years,  unless  sooner  revoked 
by  Congress;  he  shall  reside  in  the  dis- 
trict, and  have  a  freehold  estate  therein,  in 
one  thousand  acres  of  land,  while  in  the 
exercise  of  his  office.  ^ 

There  shall  be  appointed,  from  time  to 
time,  by  Congress,  a  secretary,  whose  com- 
mission shall  continue  in  force  for  four 
years,  unless  sooner  revoked ;  he  shall  re- 
side in  the  district,  and  have  a  freehold 
estate  therein,  in  five  hundred  acres  of 
land,  while  in  the  exercise  of  his  office;  it 
shall  be  his  duty  to  keep  and  preserve  the 
acta  and  laws  passed  by  the  Legislature, 
and  the  public  records  of  the  district,  and 
the  proceedings  of  the  governor  in  hia 
executive  department ;  and  transmit  au- 
thentic copies  of  such  acts  and  proceed- 


B{  OX  IV. J 


ORDINANCE    OF    1787. 


11 


ings  every  six  months  to  the  secretary  of 
Congress.  There  shall  also  be  appointed 
a  court,  to  consist  of  three  judges,  any  two 
of  whom  to  form  a  court,  who  shall  have 
a  common  law  jurisdiction,  and  reside  in 
the  district,  and  have  each  therein  a  free- 
hold estate,  in  five  hundred  acres  of  land, 
while  in  the  exercise  of  their  offices,  and 
their  commissions  shall  continue  in  force 
during  good  behavior. 

The  governor  and  judges,  or  a  majority 
of  them,  shall  adopt  and  publish  in  the 
district  such  laws  of  the  original  States, 
criminal  and  civil,  as  may  be  necessary, 
and  best  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
district,  and  report  them  to  Congress,  from 
time  to  time,  which  laws  shall  be  in  force 
in  the  district  until  the  organization  of  the 
general  assembly   therein,   unless  disap- 

E roved  of  by  Congress ;  but  afterwards  the 
legislature  shall  have  authority  to  alter 
them  as  they  shall  think  fit. 

The  governor  for  the  time  being  shall 
be  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia ;  ap- 
point and  commission  all  officers  in  the 
same  below  the  rank  of  general  officers. 
All  general  officers  shall  be  appointed  and 
commissioned  by  Congress. 

Previous  to  the  organization  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  the  governor  shall  appoint 
such  magistrates  and  other  civil  officers  in 
each  county  or  township  as  he  shall  find 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace 
and  good  order  in  the  same.  After  the 
Greneral  Assembly  shall  be  organized,  the 
powers  and  duties  of  magistrates  and  other 
civil  officers  shall  be  regulated  and  defined 
by  the  said  assembly  ;  but  all  magistrates 
and  other  civil  officers,  not  herein  other- 
wise directed,  shall,  during  the  continu- 
ance of  this  temporary  government,  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  governor. 

For  the  prevention  of  crimes  and  in- 
juries, the  laws  to  be  adopted  or  made  shall 
have  force  in  all  parts  of  the  district,  and 
for  the  execution  of  process,  criminal  and 
civil,  the  governor  shall  make  proper  di- 
visions thereof;  and  he  shall  proceed  fi-om 
time  to  time,  as  circumstances  may  re- 
quire, to  lay  out  the  parts  of  the  district 
in  which  the  Indian  titles  shall  have  been 
extinguished,  into  counties  and  townships, 
subject,  however,  to  such  alterations  as 
may  thereafter  be  made  bv  the  Legislature. 

So  soon  as  there  shall  be  five  thousand 
free  male  inhabitants  of  full  age  in  the 
district,  upon  giving  proof  thereof  to  the 
governor,  they  shall  receive  authority,  with 
time  and  place,  to  elect  representatives 
from  their  counties  or  townships,  to  repre- 
sent them  in  the  General  Assembly ;  Pro- 
vided, That  for  every  five  hundred  free 
male  inhabitants,  there  shall  be  one  rep- 
resentative; and  so  on,  progressively,  with 
the  number  of  free  male  inhabitants,  shall 
the  risfht  of  representation  increase,  until 
the  number  of  representatives  shall  amount 


'  to  twenty-five ;  after  which  the  number 
and  proportion  of  representatives  shall  be 
regulated  by  the  Legislature:  Provided. 
That  no  Person  be  eligible  or  qualified  to 
act  as  a  representative  unless  he  shall 
have  been  a  citizen  of  one  of  the  United 
States  three  years,  and  be  a  resident  in  the 
district,  or  unless  he  shall  have  resided  in 
the  district  three  years ;  and  in  either  case, 
shall  likewise  hold  in  his  own  right,  in  fe« 
simple,  two  hundred  acres  of  land  within 
the  same :  Provided,  also,  That  a  freehold 
in  fifty  acres  of  land  in  the  district,  having 
been  a  citizen  of  one  of  the  States,  and  be- 
ing resident  in  the  district,  or  the  like  free 
hold  and  two  years'  residence  in  the  dis- 
trict, shall  be  necessary  to  (jualify  a  man 
as  an  elector  of  a  representative. 

The  representatives  thus  elected  shall 
serve  for  the  term  of  two  years ;  and  in 
case  of  the  death  of  a  representative,  or 
removal  from  office,  the  governor  shall  issue 
a  writ  to  the  county  or  township  for  which 
he  was  a  member  to  elect  another  in  his 
stead,  to  serve  for  the  residue  of  the  term. 

The  General  Assembly,  or  Legislature, 
shall  consist  of  the  governor,  legislative 
council,  and  a  house  of  representatives. 
The  legislative  council  shall  consist  of  five 
members,  to  continue  in  office  five  years, 
unless  sooner  removed  by  Congress,  any 
three  of  whom  to  be  a  quorum ;  and  the 
members  of  the  council  shall  be  nominated 
and  appointed  in  the  following  manner, 
to  wit :  As  soon  as  representatives  shall  be 
elected,  the  governor  shall  appoint  a  time 
and  place  for  them  to  meet  together,  and 
when  met,  they  shall  nominate  ten  per- 
sons, residents  in  the  district,  and  each 
possessed  of  a  freehold  in  five  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  return  their  names  to 
Congress ;  five  of  whom  Congress  shall  ap- 
point and  commission  to  serve  as  aforesaid ; 
and  whenever  a  vacancy  shall  happen  in  the 
council,  by  death  or  removal  from  office,the 
house  of  representatives  shall  nominate 
two  persons,  qualified  as  aforesaid,  for  each 
vacancy,  and  return  their  names  to  Con- 
gress;  one  of  whom  Congress  shall  ap- 
point and  commission  for  the  residue  of 
the  term.  And  every  five  years,  foui 
months  at  least  before  the  expiration  of 
the  time  of  service  of  the  members  of  the 
council,  the  said  house  shall  nominate  ten  . 
persons,  qualified  as  aforesaid,  and  return 
their  names  to  Congress ;  five  of  whom 
Congress  shall  appoint  and  commission  to 
serve  as  members  of  the  council  five  years, 
unlesssooncr  removed.  And  the  governor, 
legislative  council,  and  house  of  represen- 
tatives, shall  have  authority  to  make  laws 
in  all  cases  for  the  good  government 
of  the  district,  not  repugnant  to  the 
principles  and  articles  in  this  ordinance 
established  and  declared,  and  all  bills 
having  passed  by  a  majority  in  the 
house,  and  by  a  majority  in  the  cou?i- 


12 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


cil,  shall  be  referred  to  the  governor  for 
his  assent ;  but  no  bill  or  legislative  act 
whatever  shall  be  of  any  force  without  his 
assent.  The  governor  shall  have  power 
to  convene,  prorogue,  and  dissolve  the 
General  Assembly  when  in  his  opinion  it 
shall  be  expedient. 

The  governor,  judges,  legislative  council, 
secretary,  and  such  other  officers  as  Con- 
gress shall  appoint  in  the  district,  shall 
take  an  oath  or  affirmation  of  fidelity  and 
of  office,  the  governor  before  the  President 
of  Congress,  and  all  other  officers  before 
the  governor.  As  soon  as  a  Legislature 
shall  be  formed  in  the  district,  the  council 
and  house  assemble,  in  one  room,  shall 
have  authority,  by  joint  ballot,  to  elect  a 
delegate  to  Congress,  who  shall  have  a  seat 
in  Congress,  with  a  right  of  debating,  but 
not  of  voting  during  this  temporary  gov- 
ernment. 

And  for  extending  the  fundamental 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
which  form  the  basis  whereon  these  re- 
publics, their  laws  and  constitutions,  are 
erected ;  to  fix  and  establish  those  princi- 
ples as  the  basis  of  all  laws,  constitutions, 
and  governments,  which  forever  hereafter 
shall  be  formed  in  the  said  Territory ;  to  pro- 
vide, also,  for  the  establishment  of  States, 
and  permanent  government  therein,  and 
for  their  admission  to  a  share  in  the  Fed- 
eral councils  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  States,  at  as  early  periods  as  may 
be  consistent  with  the  general  interest : 

It  is  hereby  ordained  and  declared,  hy  the 
authority  aforesaid,  That  the  following  ar- 
ticles shall  be  considered  as  articles  of 
compact,  between  the  original  States  and 
the  people  and  States  in  the  said  Territory, 
and  forever  remain  unalterable,  unless  by 
common  consent,  to  wit : 

Article  i.  No  person,  demeaning  him- 
self in  a  peaceable  and  orderly  manner, 
shall  ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his 
mode  of  worship  or  religious  sentiments, 
in  the  said  Territory. 

Art.  2.  The  inhabitants  of  the  said  Ter- 
ritory shall  always  be  entitled  to  the  bene- 
uts  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  of  the 
trial  by  jury ;  of  a  proportionate  represen- 
tation of  the  people  in  the  Legislature, 
and  of  judicial  proceedings  according  to 
the  course  of  the  common  law.  All  per- 
sons shall  be  bailable,  unless  for  capital 
offijnses,  where  the  proof  shall  be  evident 
or  the  presuhiption  great.  All  fines  shall 
be  moderate ;  and  no  cruel  or  unusual 
punishments  ijhall  be  inflicted.  No  man 
shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  or  property 
but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the 
law  of  the  land ;  and  should  tne  public  ex- 
igencies malce  it  necessary  for  the  com- 
mon preservation  to  take  any  person's 
property,  or  to  demand  his  particular  ser- 
vices, full  compon«<:ition  shall  be  made  for 
the  same.    And,  iq  the  just  preservation 


of  rights  and  property,  it  is  understood  and 
declared  that  no  law  ought  ever  to  be 
made,  or  have  force  in  the  said  Territory, 
that  shall,  in  any  manner  whatever,  inter- 
fere with,  or  affect,  private  contracts  or 
engagements,  bonaJUde  and  without  fraud, 
previously  formed. 

Art.  3.  Religion,  morality,  and  know- 
ledge, being  necessary  to  good  government 
and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and 
the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be 
encouraged.  The  utmost  good  faith  shall 
always  be  observed  toward  the  Indians; 
their  lands  and  property  shall  never  be 
taken  from  them  without  their  consent; 
and  in  their  property,  rights,  and  libertv 
they  shall  never  be  invaded  or  disturbed, 
unless  in  just  and  unlawful  wars  authorized 
by  Congress ;  but  laws  founded  in  justice 
and  humanity  shall,  from  time  to  time,  be 
made  for  preventing  wrongs  being  done  to 
them,  and  for  preserving  peace  and  friend- 
ship with  them. 

Art.  4.  The  said  Territory,  and  the 
States  which  may  be  formed  therein,  shall 
evere  remain  a  part  of  this  confederacy  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  subject  to 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  to  such 
alterations  therein  as  shall  be  constitution- 
ally made ;  and  to  all  the  acts  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  conformable  thereto.  The  in- 
habitants and  settlers  in  the  Territory 
shall  be  subject  to  pay  apart  of  the  Feder- 
al debts,  contracted  or  to  be  contracted,  and 
a  proportional  part  of  the  expenses  of 
Government,  to  be  apportioned  on  them 
by  Congress,  according  to  the  same  com- 
mon rule  and  measure  by  which  apportion- 
ments thereof  shall  be  made  on  the  other 
States ;  and  the  taxes  for  paying  their  pro- 
portion shall  be  laid  and  levied  by  the 
authority  and  direction  of  Legislatures 
of  the  district  or  districts,  or  new  States,  as 
in  the  original  States,  within  the  time 
agreed  upon  by  the  United  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled.  The  Legislatures  of  those 
districts,  or  new  States  shall  never  interfere 
with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil  by 
the  United  States  in  Congress  assemblea, 
nor  with  any  regulations  Congress  may 
find  necessary  for  securing  the  title  in  such 
soil  to  the  bona  fide  purchasers.  No  tax 
shall  be  imposed  on  lands  the  property  of 
the  United  States ;  and  in  no  case  shall 
non-resident  proprietors  be  taxed  higher 
than  residents.  The  navigable  waters  lead- 
ing into  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence, 
and  the  carrying  places  between  the  same, 
shall  be  common  highways,  and  forever 
free,  as  well  to  the  innabitants  of  the  said 
Territory  as  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  those  of  any  other  States  that 
mav  be  admitted  into  the  confederacy, 
without  any  tax,  impost,  or  duty  therefor. 

Art.  5.  There  shall  be  formed  in  the 
said   Territory  not  lesa  than   three,  noi 


BOOKiT.]       CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


13 


more  than  nve  States ;  and  the  boundaries 
of  the  States,  as  soon  as  Virginia  shall  alter 
her  act  of  cession,  and  consent  to  the 
same,  shall  become  fixed  and  established 
as  follovTs,  to  wit:  The  western  State  in 
the  said  territory  shall  be  bounded  by  the 
Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  and  Wabash  Rivers ; 
a  direct  line  drawn  from  the  Wabash  and 
Post  Vincents,  due  north,  to  the  territorial 
line  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada ;  and  by  the  said  territorial  line  to 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  Mississippi. 
The  middle  States  shall  be  bounded  oy 
the  said  direct  line,  the  Wabash,  from  Post 
Vincents  to  the  Ohio,  by  the  Ohio,  by  a 
direct  line  drawn  due  north  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  to  the  said  ter- 
ritorial line,  and  by  the  said  territorial 
line.  The  eastern  State  shall  be  bounded 
by  the  last  mentioned  direct  line,  the 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  said  terri- 
torial line:  Provided,  however,  And  it. is 
further  understood  and  declared  that  the 
boundaries  of  these  three  States  shall  be 
subject  so  far  to  be  altered,  that,  if  Con- 
gress shall  hereafter  find  it  expedient,  they 
shall  have  authority  to  form  one  or  two 
States  in  that  part  of  the  said  Territory 
which  lies  nortn  of  an  east  and  west  line 
drawn  through  the  southerly  bend  or  ex- 
treme of  Lake  Michigan.  And  whenever 
any  of  the  said  States  shall  have  sixty 
thousand  free  inhabitants  therein,  such 
State  shall  be  admitted,  by  its  delegates, 
into  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States 
in  all  respects  whatever;  and  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  form  a  permanent  constitution 
and  State  government :  Provided,  The  con- 
stitution and  government  so  to  be  formed 
shall  be  republican,  and  in  conformity  to 
the  principles  contained  in  these  articles  ; 
and,  so  far  as  it  can  be  consistent  with  the 
general  interest  of  the  confederacy,  such 
admission  shall  be  allowed  at  an  earlier 

Eeriod,  and  when  there  may  be  a  less  num- 
er  of  free  inhabitants  in  the  State  than 
sixty  thousand. 

Art.  6.  There  shall  be  neither  slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said  Ter- 
ritory, otherwise  than  in  the  punishment 
of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted:  Provided  always, 
That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same, 
from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully 
claimed  in  any  one  of  the  original  States, 
such  fugitive  may  be  lawfiiUy  reclaimed, 
and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his 
or  her  labor  or  service  as  aforesaid. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
That  the  resolutions  of  the  23d  of  April, 
1784,  relative  to  the  subject  of  this  ordi- 
nance, be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  re- 
pealed and  declared  null  and  void. 

Done  by  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assemblea  the  thirteenth  day  of  July,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 


hundred  and  eighty-seven,  and  of  their 
sovereignty  and  independence  the  twelfth. 

Chaeles  Thompson, 

Secretary. 


Constitution   of  the  United   States 
ot  America, 

With  amendmetUM  and  date*  of  ratificaHoH. 

We  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in 
order  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  estab- 
lish Justice,  insure  domestic  Tranquility, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  Welfare,  and  secure  the  Bless- 
ings of  Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
Posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this 
CONSTITUTION  for  the  United  States 
of  America. 

ARTICLE   I. 

Section  1.  All  legislative  Powers  herein 
granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

Section  2,  The  House  of  Representa- 
tives shall  be  composed  of  Members  chosen 
every  second  Year  by  the  People  of  the 
several  States,  and  the  Electors  in  each 
State  shall  have  the  Qualifications  requisite 
for  Electors  of  the  most  numerous  Branch 
of  the  State  Legislature. 

No  Person  snail  be  a  Representative 
who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  Age  of 
twenty-five  Years,  and  been  seven  Years  a 
Citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall 
not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of  that 
State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  Taxes  shall 
be  apportioned  among  the  several  States 
which  may  be  included  within  this  Union, 
according  to  their  respective  Numbers, 
[which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to 
the  whole  Number  of  free  Persons,  inclu- 
ding those  bound  to  Service  for  a  Term  of 
Years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed, 
three-fifths  of  all  other  Persons.*]  The 
actual  Enumeration  shall  be  made  within 
three  Years  after  the  first  Meeting  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within 
every  subsequent  Term  of  ten  Years,  in 
such  Manner  as  they  shall  by  Law  direct. 
The  Number  of  Representatives  shall  not 
exceed  one  for  every  thirty  Thousand,  but 
each  State  shall  have  at  Least  one  Repre- 
sentative ;  and  until  such  enumeration 
shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire shall  bq  entitled  to  chuse  three, 
Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode  Island  and 
Providence  Plantations  one,  Connecticut 
five.  New  York  six,  N^ew  Jersey  four,  Penn- 
sylvania eight,  Delaware  one,  Maryland 
SIX,  Virginia  ten.  North  Carolina  five, 
South  Carolina  five,  and  Georgia  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  Repre- 
sentation from  any  State,  the  Executive 

*  Tho  portion  of  tliU  clause  within  bracketo  haa  bse* 
amended  b^  the  14th  amendment,  2nd  aection. 


14 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


Authority  thereof  shall  issue   Writs   of 
Election  to  fill  such  Vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose 
their  Speaker  and  other  Officers ;  and  shall 
have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 

Section  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators 
from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature 
thereof,  for  six  Years ;  and  each  Senator 
shall  have  one  Vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assem- 
bled in  Consequence  of  the  first  Election, 
they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be 
into  three  Classes.  The  Seats  of  the  Sen- 
ators of  the  first  Class  shall  be  vacated  at 
the  Expiration  of  the  second  Year  of  the 
second  Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the  fourth 
Year,  and  of  the  third  Class  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  sixth  Year,  so  that  one-thiid 
may  be  chosen  every  second  Year ;  and  if 
Vacancies  happen  by  Resignation,  or  other- 
wise, during  the  Recess  of  the  Legislature 
of  any  State,  the  Executive  thereof  may 
make  temporary  Appointments  until  the 
next  Meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which 
shall  then  fill  such  Vacancies. 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall 
not  have  attained  to  the  Age  of  thirty  Years, 
and  been  nine  Years  a  Citizen  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected, 
be  an  Inhabitant  of  that  State  for  which 
he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice  President  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  President  of  the  Senate,  but  shall 
have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally  di- 
vided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  Offi- 
cers, and  also  a  President  pro  tempore,  in 
the  Absence  of  the  Vice  President,  or 
when  he  shall  exercise  the  Office  of  Pre- 
sident of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to 
try  all  Impeachments.  When  sitting  for 
that  Purpose,  they  shall  be  on  Oath  or  Af- 
firmation. When  the  President  of  the 
United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice 
shall  preside :  And  no  person  shall  be  con- 
victed without  the  Concurrence  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  Members  present. 

Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment 
shall  not  extend  further  than  to  removal 
from  Office,  and  Disqualification  to  hold 
and  enjoy  any  Office  of  Honour,  Trust  or 
Profit  under  the  United  States:  but  the 
Party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  lia- 
ble and  subject  to  Indictment,  Trial,  Judg- 
ment and  Punishment,  according  to  Law. 

Section  IV. — The  Times,  Places  and 
Manner  of  holding  Elections  for  Senators 
and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed 
in  each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof ; 
but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law 
make  or  alter  such  Regulations,  except  as 
to  the  places  of  chusing  Senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least 
once  in  every  Year,  and  such  Meeting  shall 
be  on  the  &ist  Monday  in  December,  un- 


less they  shall  by  Law  appoint  a  diflferent 
Day. 

Section  V. — Each  House  shall  be  the 
Judge  of  the  Elections,  Returns,  and 
Qualifications  of  its  own  Members,  and  a 
Majority  of  each  shall  constitute  a  Quo- 
rum to  do  Business  ;  but  a  smaller  Num- 
ber may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and 
may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  Attend- 
ance of  Absent  Members,  in  such  Manner, 
and  under  such  Penalties  as  each  House 
may  provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  Rules 
of  its  Proceedings,  punish  its  Members  for 
disorderly  Behaviour,  and,  with  the  Con- 
currence of  two-thirds,  expel  a  Member. 

Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its 
Proceedings,  and  from  time  to  time  pub- 
lish the  same,  excepting  such  Parts  as 
may  in  their  Judgment  require  Secrecy; 
and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the  Members 
of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the 
Desire  of  one-fifth  of  those  Present,  be  en- 
tered on  the  Journal. 

Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of 
Congress,  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the 
other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days, 
nor  to  any  other  Place  than  that  in  which 
the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Section  VI. — The  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives shall  receive  a  Compensation 
for  their  Services,  to  be  ascertained  by  Law, 
and  paid  ont  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States.  They  shall  in  all  Cases,  except 
Treason,  Felony  and  Breach  of  the  Peace, 
be  privileged  from  Arrest  during  their  At- 
tendance at  the  Session  of  their  respective 
Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning 
from  the  same;  and  for  any  Speech  or 
Debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be 
questioned  in  any  other  Place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  dur- 
ing the  Time  for  which  he  was  elected, 
be  appointed  to  any  civil  Office  under  the 
Authority  of  the  United  States,  which 
shall  have  been  created,  or  the  Emolu- 
ments whereof  shall  have  been  increased 
during  such  time ;  and  no  Person  holding 
any  Office'  under  the  United  States,  shall 
be  a  Member  of  either  House  during  his 
Continuance  in  Office. 

Section  VII. — All  bills  for  raising  Reve- 
nue shall  originate  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or 
concur  with  Amendments  as  on  other  Bills. 

Every  Bill  which  shall  have  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate, 
shall,  before  it  becomes  a  Law,  be  pre- 
sented to  the  President  of  the  United 
States ;  If  he  approve  he  shall  sign  it,  but 
if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  Objec- 
tions to  that  House  in  which  it  shall  have 
originated,  who  shall  enter  the  Objections 
at  large  on  their  Journal,  and  proceed  to 
reconsider  it.  If  after  such  Reconsidera- 
tion two-thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree 
to  pass  the  Bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together 


BooKiv.J        CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


15 


with  the  Objections,  to  the  other  House, 
by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered, 
and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that 
House,  it  shall  become  a  Law.  But  in  all 
such  cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses  shall 
be  determined  by  Yeas  and  Nays,  and  the 
Names  of  the  Persons  voting  for  and  against 
the  Bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of 
each  House  respectively.  If  any  Bill  shall 
not  be  returnea  by  the  President  within 
ten  Days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall 
have  been  presented  to  him,  the  Same 
shall  be  a  Law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he 
had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their 
Adjournment  prevent  its  B.eturn,  in  which 
Case  it  shall  not  be  a  Law. 

Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote  to 
which  the  Concurrence  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representaiives  may  be  neces- 
sary (except  on  a  question  of  Adjourn- 
ment) shall  be  presented  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States ;  and  before  the  Same 
shall  take  Effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him, 
or  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  re- 
passed by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  according  to  the 
Rules  and  Limitations  prescribed  in  the 
Case  of  a  Bill. 

Section  VIII. — The  Congress  shall  have 
Power  To  lay  and  collect  Taxes,  Duties 
Imposts  and  Excises,  to  pay  the  Debts  and 
provide  for  the  common  Defence  and  gen- 
eral Welfare  of  the  United  States ;  but  all 
Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises  shall  be  uni- 
form throughout  the  United  States ; 

To  borrow  Money  on  the  credit  of  the 
United  States ; 

To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Na- 
tions, and  among  the  several  States,  and 
with  the  Indian  Tribes ; 

To  establish  an  uniform  Rule  of  Natural- 
ization, and  uniform  Laws  on  the  subject  of 
Bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States; 

To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value 
thereof,  and  of  foreign  Coin,  and  fix  the 
Standard  of  Weights  and  Measures ; 

To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  coun- 
terfeiting the  Securities  and  current  Coin 
of  the  United  States ; 

To  establish  Post  Offices  and  post  Roads ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  Science  and 
useful  Arts,  by  securing  for  limited  Times 
to  Authors  and  Inventors  the  exclusive 
Right  to  their  respective  Writings  ana 
Discoveries ; 

To  constitute  Tribunals  inferior  to  the 
Supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  punish  Piracies  and  Fel- 
onies committed  on  the  high  Seas,  and 
Offences  against  the  Law  of  Nations ; 

To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque 
and  Reprisal,  and  make  Rules  concerning 
Captures  on  Land  and  Water ; 

To  raise  and  support  Armies,  but  no  Ap- 
propriation of  Money  to  that  Use  shall  be 
for  a  longer  Term  than  two  Years ; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy ; 


To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and 
Regulation  of  the  land  and  naval  Forces ; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia 
to  execute  the  Laws  of  the  Union,  sup- 
press Insurrections  and  repel  Invasions ; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and 
disciplining,  the  Militia,  and  for  governing 
such  Part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in 
the  Service  of  the  United  States,  reserving 
to  the  States  respectively,  the  Appoint- 
ment of  the  Officers,  and  the  Authority  of 
training  the  Militia  according  to  the  Dis- 
cipline prescribed  by  Congress ; 

To  exercise  exclusive  Legislation  in  all 
Cases  whatsoever,  over  such  District  (not 
exceeding  ten  Miles  square)  as  may,  by 
Cession  of  particular  States,  and  the 
Acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  Seat 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  exercise  like  Authority  over  all 
Places  purchased  by  the  Consent  of  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the  Same 
shall  be,  for  the  Erection  of  Forts,  Maga- 
zines, Arsenals,  Dock-Yards,  and  other 
needful  Buildings ; — And 

To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  neces- 
sary and  proper  for  carrying  into  Execu- 
tion the  foregoing  Powers,  and  all  other 
Powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
Department  or  Officer  thereof. 

Section  IX.  The  Migration  or  Importa- 
tion of  such  Persons  as  any  of  the  States 
now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit, 
shall  not  be  prohibited  oy  the  Congress 
prior  to  the  Year  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  eight,  but  a  Tax  or  duty  may  be 
imposed  on  such  Importation,  not  exceed- 
ing ten  dollars  for  each  Person. 

The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas 
Corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when 
in  Cases  of  Rebellion  or  Invasion  the  pub- 
lic Safety  may  require  it. 

No  Bill  of  Attainder  or  ex  post  facto 
Law  shall  be  passed. 

No  Capitation,  or  other  direct.  Tax  shall 
be  laid,  unless  in  Proportion  to  the  Census 
or  Enumeration  hereinbefore  directed  to  be 
taken. 

No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  Articles 
exported  from  any  State. 

No  Preference  shall  be  given  by  any 
Regulation  of  Commerce  or  Revenue  to 
the  Ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another: 
nor  shall  Vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one 
State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay 
Duties  in  another. 

No  Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the 
Treasury,  but  in  Consequence  of  Appropri- 
ations made  by  Law ;  and  a  regular  State- 
ment and  Account  of  the  Receipts  and 
Expenditures  of  all  public  Money  shall  be 
published  from  time  to  time. 

No  Title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by 
the  United  States :  And  no  Person  holding 
any  office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them, 
shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress, 


16 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


accept  of  any  present,  Emolument,  Office, 
or  Title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any 
King,  Prince,  or  foreign  State. 

Section  X. — No  State  shall  enter  into  any 
Treaty,  Alliance,  or  Confederation ;  grant 
Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal ;  coin 
Money;  emit  Bills  of  Credit;  make  any 
Thing  but  gold  and  silver  Coin  a  Tender 
in  Payment  of  Debts ;  pass  anv  Bill  of  At- 
tainder, ex  post  facto  Law,  or  Law  impair- 
ing the  Obligation  of  Contracts,  or  grant 
any  Title  of  Nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of 
the  Congress,  lay  any  Imposts  or  Duties  on 
Imports  or  Exports,  except  what  may  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  in- 
spection Laws :  and  the  net  Produce  of  all 
Duties  and  Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on 
Imports  or  Exports,  shall  be  for  the  Use  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States ;  and  all 
such  Laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  Revision 
and   Control  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of 
Congress,  lay  any  Duty  on  Tonnage,  keep 
Troops,  or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace, 
enter  into  any  Agreement  or  Compact  with 
another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  Power,  or 
engage  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or 
in  such  imminent  Danger  as  will  not  admit 
of  Delay. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Section  I. — The  executive  Power  shall 
be  vested  in  a  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  Of- 
fice during  the  Term  of  four  Years,  and, 
together  with  the  Vice  President,  chosen 
for  the  same  Term,  be  elected  as  follows  : 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  man- 
ner as  the  Legislature  thereof  may  direct, 
a  Number  of  Electors,  equal  to  the  whole 
Number  of  Senators  ana  Representatives 
to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the 
Congress :  but  no  Senator  or  Representa- 
tive, or  Person  holding  an  Office  of  Trust 
or  Profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be 
appointed  an  Elector. 

*  [The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  re- 
spective States,  and  vote  by  Ballot  for  two 
Persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be 
an  Inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  them- 
selves. And  they  shall  make  a  List  of 
all  the  Persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  Num- 
ber of  Votes  for  each;  which  List  they 
shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed 
to  the  Seat  of  the  (Government  of  the 
United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of 
the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate 
shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the 
Certificates,  and  the  Votes  shall  then  be 
counted.  The  Person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  Votes  shall  be  the  President,  if 
such  Number  be  a  Majority  of  the  whole 
Number  of  Electors   appointed;  and    if 

*  This  clause  haa  been  rapeneded  and  auiaUed  by  the 
12t  h  MMDdmeBt. 


there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such 
Majority,  and  have  an  equal  Number  of. 
Votes,  then  the  House  of  Representatives 
shall  immediately  choose  by  Ballot  one  of 
them  for  President;  and  if  no  Person  have 
a  Majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on 
the  List  the  said  House  shall  in  lite  man- 
ner choose  the  President.  But  in  choosing 
the  President,  the  Votes  shall  be  taken  by 
States,  the  Representation  from  each  State 
having  one  Vote ;  A  Quorum  for  this  pur- 
pose shall  consist  of  a  Member  or  Members 
from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  Major 
ity  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
Choice.  In  every  case,  after  the  Choice  of 
the  President,  the  Person  having  the  great- 
est Number  of  Votes  of  the  Electors  shall 
be  the  Vice  President.  But  if  there  should 
remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal  Votes, 
the  Senate  shall  choose  from  them  by  Ballot 
the  Vice  President.] 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time 
of  chusing  the  Electors,  and  the  Day  on 
which  they  shall  give  their  Votes ;  which 
Day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the 
United  States. 

No  person  except  a  natural-bom  Citizen, 
or  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States,  at  the 
time  of  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  Office  of  President ; 
neither  shall  any  Person  be*  eligible  to 
that  Office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  Age  of  thirty-five  Years,  and  been 
fourteen  Years  a  Resident  within  the 
United  States. 

In  case  of  the  Removal  of  the  President 
from  Office,  or  of  his  Death,  Resignation, 
or  Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers  and 
Duties  of  the  said  Office,  the  same  shall 
devolve  on  the  Vice  President,  and  the 
Congress  may  by  Law  provide  for  the 
Case  of  Removal,  Death,  Resignation,  or 
Inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice 
President,  declaring  what  Officer  shall  then 
act  as  President,  and  such  Officer  shall  act 
accordingly,  until  the  Disability  be  re- 
moved, or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  re- 
ceive for  his  Services,  a  Compensation, 
which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor 
diminished  during  the  Period  for  which  he 
shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall  not 
receive  within  that  Period  any  other 
Emolument  from  the  United  States,  or  any 
of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his 
Office  he  shall  take  the  following  Oath  or 
Affirmation : — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I 
will  faithfully  execute  the  Office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  will  to  the 
best  of  my  Abilityj  preserve,  protect  and  de- 
fend the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Section  II.  The  President  shall  be  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of 
the  several  States^  when  called  into  the 


BooKir.]        CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


ir 


actual  Service  of  the  United  States;  he 
may  require  the  Opinion,  in  writing,  of 
the  principal  Officer  in  each  of  the  execu- 
tive Departments,  upon  any  Subject  relat- 
ing to  the  Duties  of  their  respective 
Offices,  and  he  shall  have  Power  to  grant 
Reprieves  and  Pardons  for  Olfences  against 
the  United  States,  except  in  Cases  of  Im- 
peachment. 

He  shall  have  Power,  by  and  with  the 
Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make 
Treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Senators 
present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and 
by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of 
the  Senate,  shall  appoint  Ambassadors, 
other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other 
Officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  Ap- 
pointments are  not  herein  otherwise  pro- 
vided for,  and  which  shall  be  established 
by  Law ;  but  the  Congress  may  by  Law 
vest  the  Appointment  of  such  inferior 
Officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the 
President  alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law,  or 
in  the  Heads  of  Departments. 

The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill 
up  all  Vacancies  that  may  happen  during 
the  Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  Com- 
missions which  shall  expire  at  the  End  of 
their  next  Session. 

Section  III.  He  shall  from  time  to  time 
give  to  the  Congress  Information  of  the 
State  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to 
their  Consideration  such  Measures  as  he 
shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient;  he 
may,  on  extraordinary  Occasions,  convene 
both  Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in 
Case  of  Disagreement  between  them,  with 
Respect  to  the  Time  of  Adjournment,  he 
may  adjourn  them  to  such  Time  as  he 
shall  think  proper ;  he  shall  receive  Am- 
bassadors and  other  public  Ministers  ;  he 
shall  take  Care  that  the  Laws  be  faithfully 
executed,  and  shall  Commission  all  the 
officers  of  the  United  States. 

Section  IV. — The  President,  Vice  Presi- 
dent and  all  civil  Officers  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  removed  from  Office  on 
Impeachment  for,  and  Conviction  of.  Trea- 
son, Bribery,  or  other  high  Crimes  and 
Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE  III. 

Section  I. — The  judicial  Power  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  vested  in  one  Su- 
preme Court,  and  in  such  inferior  Courts 
as  the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time 
ordain  and  establish.  The  Judges,  both  of 
the  supreme  and  inferior  Courts,  shall  hold 
their  Offices  during  good  Behaviour,  and 
shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  their 
Services  a  Compensation,  which  shall  not 
be  diminished  during  their  Continuance  in 
Office. 

Section  II. — ^The  judicial  Power  shall 
extend  to  all  Cases,  in  Tvaw  and  Equity, 
arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  Laws 

48 


of  the  United  States,  and  Treaties  made, 
or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their  Au- 
thority;— to  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassa- 
dors, or  other  public  Ministers,  and  Con- 
suls ; — to  all  Cases  of  admiralty  and  mari- 
time Jurisdiction  ; — to  Controversies  to 
which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  Party ; 
— ^to  Controversies  between  two  or  more 
States ; — between  a  State  and  Citizens  of 
another  State ; — between  Citizens  of  differ- 
ent States, — between  Citizens  of  the  same 
State  claiming  Lands  under  Grants  of 
different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or 
the  Citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States, 
Citizens  or  Subjects, 

In  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other 
public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  and  those  in 
which  a  State  shall  be  Party,  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  have  original  Jurisdiction.  In 
all  the  other  Cases  before  mentioned,  the 
Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  Juris- 
diction, both  as  to  Law  and  Fact,  with  such 
Exceptions,  and  under  such  Regulations 
as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases 
of  Impeachment,  shall  be  by  Jury;  and 
such  Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where 
the  said  Crime  shall  have  been  committed ; 
but  when  not  committed  within  any  State, 
the  Trial  shall  be  at  such  Place  or  Places 
as  the  Congress  may  by  Law  have  directed. 

Section  III. — Treasou  against  the  United 
States,  shall  Consist  only  in  lievying  War 
against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  Ene- 
mies, giving  them  Aid  and  Comfort.  No 
Person  shall  be  convicted  of  Treason  unless 
on  the  Testimony  of  two  Witnesses  to  the 
same  overt  Act,  or  on  Confession  in  open 
Court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declaie 
the  Punishment  of  Treason,  but  no  Attain- 
der of  Treason  shall  work  Corruption  of 
Blood,  or  Forfeiture  except  during  the  Life 
of  the  Person  attainted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Section  I. — Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall 
be  given  in  each  State  to  the  public  Acts, 
Records,  and  judicial  Proceedings  of  every 
other  State.  And  the  Congress  may  by 
general  Laws  prescribe  the  Manner  in 
which  such  Acts,  Records  and  Proceedings 
shall  be  proved,  and  the  Effect  thereof 

Section  II. — The  Citizens  of  each  State 
shall  be  entitled  to  all  Privileges  and  Im- 
munities of  Citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  Person  charged  in  any  State  with 
Treason,  Felony,  or  other  Crime,  who  shall 
flee  from  Justice,  and  be  found  in  another 
State,  shall  on  Demand  of  the  executive 
Authority  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled, 
be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  th» 
State  having  Jurisdiction  of  the  Crime. 

No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in 
one  State,  under  the  Laws  thereof,  escap- 
ing into  another,  shall,  in  Consequence  of 
any  Law  or  Regulation  therein,  be  dia- 


IS 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IV 


charged  from  such  Service  or  Labour,  but 
shall  be  delivered  up  on  Claim  of  the 
Party  to  whom  such  Service  or  Labour 
may  be  due. 

Section  hi.  New  States  may  be  ad- 
mitted by  the  Congress  into  this  Union ; 
but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erect- 
ed within  the  Jurisdiction  of  any  other 
State;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the 
Junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  Parts  of 
States,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Legis- 
latures of  the  States  concerned  as  well  as 
of  the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dis- 
pose of  and  make  all  needful  Rules  and 
Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  or 
other  Property  belonging  to  the  United 
States;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  Prejudice  any 
Claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  par- 
ticular State. 

Sectiox  IV.  The  United  States  shall 
guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a 
Republican  Form  of  Government,  and 
shall  protect  each  of  them  against  Inva- 
sion, and  on  Application  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legis- 
lature cannot  be  convened)  against  domes- 
tic Violence. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of 
both  Houses  shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall 
propose  Amendments  to  this  Constitution, 
or,  on  the  Application  of  the  Legislatures 
of  two-thirds  of  the  several  States,  shall 
call  a  Convention  for  proposing  Amend- 
ments, which,  in  either  Case,  shall  be  valid 
to  all  Intents  and  Purposes,  as  part  of  this 
Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legisla- 
tures of  three-fourths  of  the  several  States, 
or  by  Conventions  in  three-fourths  thereof, 
as  the  one  or  the  other  Mode  of  Ratification 
may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress;  Pro- 
vided that  no  Amendment  which  may  be 
made  prior  to  the  Year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  Manner 
affect  the  first  and  fourth  Clauses  in  the 
Ninth  Section  of  the  first  Article;  and 
thAt  no  State,  without  its  Consent,  shall  be 
deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

Article  vi. 

All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements 
entered  into,  before  the  Adoption  of  this 
Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the 
United  States  under  this  Constitution, 
as  under  the  Confederation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the 
United  States  which  shall  be  made  in 
Pursuance  thereof;  and  all  Treaties  made, 
or  which  shall  be  made  under  the  Au- 
thority of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the 
supreme  Law  of  the  Land ;  and  the  Judges 
in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any 
Thing  in  the  Constitution  or  Laws  of  any 
State  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before 


mentioned,  and  the  Members  of  the  sev- 
eral State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive 
and  judicial  Officers,  both  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be 
bound  by  Oath  or  Affirmation,  to  support 
this  Constitution;  but  no  religious  Test 
shall  ever  be  required  as  a  Qualification  to 
any  Office  or  public  Trust  under  the 
United  States. 

Article  vii. 
The  Ratification  of  the  Convention  of 
nine  States,  shall  be  suflJcient  for  the  Es- 
tablishment of  this  Constitution  between 
the  States  so  ratifying  the  Same. 
Done  in  Convention  by  the    Unanimous 
Consent  of  the  States  present  the  Sev- 
enteenth Day  of  September  in  the  Year 
of  our  Lord  one  tnousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  Eighty-seven  and  of  the  Inde- 
pendence   of  the     United    States    of 
America    the    Twelfth.      In    witness 
whereof  We  have  hereunto  subscribed 
our  Names. 

Geo.  Washington — 
Presidt.  and  deputy  from  Virginia. 
John  Langdon, 
Nicholas  Oilman. 
Nathaniel  Gorham, 
Rufus  King. 
Wm.  Saml.  Johnson, 
Roger  Sherman. 
-J  Alexander  Hamilton. 
'  Wil:  Livingston, 
Wm.  Paterson, 
David  Brearley, 
Jona.  Dayton. 
B.  Franklin, 
Robt.  Morris, 
Tho:  Fitzsimons, 
James  Wilson, 
Thomas  Mifiiin, 
Geo:  Clymer, 
Jared  IngersoU, 
Gouv:  Morris. 
Geo :  Read, 
John  Dickinson, 
Jaco:  Broom, 
Gunning  Bedford,  Jr., 
.Richard  Bassett. 
'James  M'Henry, 
Danl.  Carroll, 
Dan:    of    St.    Thos: 

Jenifer. 
John  Blair, 
James  Madison,  Jr. 
f  Wm.  Blount, 
Hu.  Williamson, 
Rich'd  Dobbs  Spaight 
J.  Rutled^e, 
Charles  Pinckney, 
Charles  Cotesworth 

Pinckney, 

Pierce  Butler, 

'  William  Few, 

Abr.  Baldwin. 


New  Hampshire. 

Massachusetts. 

Connecticut.  , 
New  York. 

New  Jersey. 


Pennsylvania. 


Delaware. 


Maryland. 


Virginia. 


North  Carolina. 


South  Carolina. 


Georgia. 


Attest:      William  Jackson,  Secretary 


BOOK  IV.]  AMENDMENTS    TO    THE    CONSTITUTION. 


19 


Articles  In  Addition  to,  and  Amendment  of, 

tlie  Ccnstltution  of  the  United  States 

ot  America^ 

Propoted  by  Oongreit  and  Ratified  hy  the  Legiilnture*  of 

the  teveral  SUUes,  pursuant  to  Ike  Fifth  Article  of  the 

Original  Constitution. 

Article  I.  Congress  shall  make  no  law 
respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or 
prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or 
abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the 
press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably 
to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  Grovern- 
ment  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 

Article  II.  A  well  regulated  Militia, 
being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free 
State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and 
bear  Arms,  shall  not  be  infringed. 

Article  III.  No  Soldier  shall,  in  time 
of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house,  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  Owner,  nor  in  time 
of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed 
by  law. 

Article  IV.  The  right  of  the  people 
to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable 
searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated, 
and  no  Warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon  pro- 
bable cause,  supported  by  Oath  or  affirma- 
tion, and  particularly  describing  the  place 
to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things 
to  be  seized. 

Article  V. — No  person  shall  be  held 
to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  infa- 
mous crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or 
indictment  of  a  Grand  Jury,  except  in 
cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces, 
or  in  the  Militia,  when  in  actual  service  in 
time  of  War  or  public  danger;  nor  shall 
any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence 
to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ; 
nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  Criminal 
Case  to  be  a  -"rHness  against  himself,  nor 
be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  du,0  process  of  law;  nor  shall 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use, 
without  just  compensation. 

Article  VI. — In  all  criminal  prosecu- 
tions, the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial 
jury  of  the  Si-ate  and  district  wherein  the 
crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which 
district  shall  have  been  previously  ascer- 
tained by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be 
confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him ; 
to  have  Compulsory  process  for  obtaining 
Witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the 
assistance  of  Counsel  for  his  defence. 

Article  VII. — In  Suits  at  common  law, 
where  the  value  in  controversy  shall  ex- 
ceed twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by 
i'ury  shall  be  preserved,  and  no  fact  tried 
)y  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined 
in  any  Court  of  the  United  States,  than 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law. 

Article  VIII. — Excessive  bail  shall 
not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  im- 


posed, nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishment 
inflicted. 

Article  IX. — The  enumeration  in  the 
Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not  be 
construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  re- 
tained by  the  people. 

Article  X. — The  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  United  States  oy  the  Constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  re- 
served to  the  States  respectively  or  to  the 
people. 

Article  XI. — The  Judicial  power  of 
the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed 
to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  and  equity, 
commenced  and  prosecuted  against  one  or 
the  United  States  by  Citizens  of  another 
State,  or  by  Citizens  or  Subjects  of  any 
Foreign  State. 

Article  XII. — The  Electors  shall  meet 
in  their  respecti'-e  States,  and  vote  by  bal- 
lot for  President  and  Vice-President,  one 
of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabi- 
tant of  the  same  State  with  themselves; 
they  shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person 
voted  for  as  President,  and  in  distinct  bal- 
lots the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President, 
and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all 
persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of  all 
persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of 
the  number  of  votes  for  each,  which  lists 
they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit 
sealed  to  the  seat  of  tUe  government  of 
the  United  States,  directed  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the 
Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the 
certificates  and  the  votes  shall  then  be 
counted.  The  person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  the 
President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed ; 
and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then 
from  the  persons  having  the  highest  num- 
bers not  exceeding  three  on  the  list  of 
those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of 
Representatives  shall  choose  immediately, 
by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing 
the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by 
States,  the  representation  from  each  State 
having  one  vote ;  a  quorum  for  this  pur- 

f>ose  snail  consist  of  a  member  or  members 
rom  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  major- 
ity of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to 
a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of  ReprC' 
sentatives  shall  not  choose  a  President 
whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve 
upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of  March 
next  following,  then  the  Vice-President 
shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of 
the  President.  The  person  having  the 
greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice-President 
shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  num- 
ber be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of 
Electors  appointed,  and  if  no  person  have 
a  majority,  then  from  the  two  highest 
numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose 


20 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


the  Vice-President;  a  quorum  for  the  pur- 
pose shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  wnole 
number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 
But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to 
the  office  of  President  shall  be  eligible  to 
that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

Article  xiii.  Section  I.  Neither  slav- 
ery nor  involuntary^  servitude,  except  as  a 
punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  ex- 
ist within  the  United  States,  or  any  place 
subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

Section  II.  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  leg- 
islation. 

Article  xiv.  Section  I.  All  persons 
born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall 
make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall 
abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States ;  nor  shall 
any  State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty, 
or  property,  without  due  process  of  law,  nor 
deny  to  any  person  within  its  Jurisdic- 
tion   the    equal    protection  of  the  laws. 

Section  If.  Representatives  shall  be 
apportioned  among  the  several  States  ac- 
cording to  their  respective  numbers,  count- 
ing the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each 
State,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed.  But 
when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for 
the  choice  of  electors  for  President  and 
Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  rep- 
resentatives in  Congress,  the  executive  and 
judicial  officers  of  a  State,  or  the  members 
of  the  legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any 
of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State, 
being  twentv-one  years  of  age,  and  citi- 
zens of  the  "United  States,  or  in  an^  way 
abridged,  except  for  participation  in  re- 
bellion, or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  rep- 
resentation therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the 
proportion  which  the  number  of  such  male 
citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of 
male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in 
such  State. 

Section  III.  No  person  shall  be  a  sen- 
ator or  representative  in  Congress,  or  elect- 
or of  President  and  Vice  President,  or 
hold  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under 
the  United  States,  or  under  any  State,  who, 
having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a 
member  of  Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of 
the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  anjr 
State  legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judi- 
cial officer  of  any  State,  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  shall  have  en- 
gaged in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against 
the  same,  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  ene- 
mies thereof.  But  Congress  may  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  each  house,  remove  such  dis- 
ability. 

Section  IV.  The  validity  of  the  public 
debt  of  the  United  States,  authorized  by 


law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment 
of  pensions  and  bounties  for  services  in 
suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall 
not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  Unit«d 
States  nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay 
any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aia  of 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emanci- 
pation of  any  slave ;  but  all  such  debts,  ob- 
ligations and  claims  shall  beheld  illegal 
and  void. 

Section  V. — ^The  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  enforce,  by  ajjpropriate  legisla- 
tion, the  provisions  of  this  article. 

Article  xv.  Section  I. — The  right  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall 
not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United 
States  or  by  any  State  on  account  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

Section  II. — The  Congress    shall    have 

f)Ower  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate 
egislation. 


Ratlflcatloua  of  the  Constitution.  * 

Of  the  thirteen  States  which  originally 
composed  the  Union  under  the  Confedera- 
tion, eleven  ratified  the  Constitution  prior 
to  the  4th  of  March,  1789,  the  time  fixed 
by  the  resolution  of  September  13,  1788, 
for  commencing  proceeaings  under  it,  viz : 

Delaware,  December  7, 1787. 
Pennsylvania,  December  12,  1787. 
New  Jersey,  December  18,  1787. 
Georgia,  January  2,  1788. 
Connecticut,  January  9,  1788. 
Massachusetts,  February  6,  1788. 
Maryland,  April  28, 1788. 
South  Carolina,  May  23,  1788. 
New  Hampshire,  June  21,  1788. 
Virginia,  June  26,  1788. 
New  York,  July  26,  1788. 

Of  the  other  two  States^  North  Corolina 
ratified  the  Constitution  on  the  21st  of 
November,  1789;  of  which,  information 
was  communicated  to  Congress  by  the 
President,  in  a  message  dated  January  28, 
1790. 

Rhode  Island  ratified  it  on  the  29th  of 
May,  1790;  of  which,  alsc,  information 
was  communicated  to  Congress'  by  the 
President,  in  a  message  dated  June  1, 
1790. 

The  State  of  Vermont,  by  convention, 
ratified  the  Constitution  on  the  10th  of 
January,  1791,  and  was,  by  an  act  of  Con- 
gress of  the  18th  of  February,  1791,  "  re- 
ceived and  admitted  into  this  Union  as  a 
new  and  entire  member  of  the  United 
States  of  America." 

•    From  W.  J.  McDonald's  "  Oonrtitntlon,  Bnlei   »Mi 
ManuaL" 


BOOKiv.]  RATIFICATION    OF    THE    AMENDMENTS. 


21 


Ratifications  ot  tHe  Amendment*   to   the 
Constitution. 

I^om  W.  J.  McDonald's  "  CoiistUulion,  Rules  and  Manual." 

The  first  ten  of  the  preceding  articles  of 
amendment,  (with  two  others  which  were 
not  ratified  by  the  requisite  number  of 
States,)  were  submitted  to  the  several 
State  Legislatures  by  a  resolution  of  Con- 
gress which  passed  on  the  25th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1789,  at  the  first  session  of  the  First 
Congress,  and  were  ratified  by  the  Legis- 
latures of  the  following  States : 

New  Jersey.  November  20,  1789. 

Maryland,  December  19,  1789. 

North  Carolina,  December  22,  1789. 

South  Carolina,  January  19, 1790. 

New  Hampshire,  January  25,  1790. 

Delaware,  January  28,  1790. 

Pennsylvania,  March  10,  1790. 

New  York,  March  27,  1790. 

Ehode  Island,  June  15,  1790. 

Vermont,  November  3,  1791. 

Virginia,  December  15, 1791. 

The  acts  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States 
ratifying  these  amendments  were  trans- 
mitted by  the  governors  to  the  President, 
and  by  him  communicated  to  Congress. 
The  Legislatures  of  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, and  Georgia,  do  not  appear  by 
the  record  to  have  ratified  them. 

The  11th  article  was  submitted  to  the 
Legislatures  of  the  several  States  by  a 
resolution  of  Congress  passed  on  the  5th  of 
March,  1794,  at  the  first  session  of  the 
Third  Congress ;  and  oh  the  8th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1798,  at  the  second  session  of  the 
Fifth  Congress,  it  was  declared  by  the 
President,  in  a  message  to  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress,  to  have  been  adopted  by  the 
Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  States, 
there  being  at  that  time  sixteen  States  in 
the  Union. 

The  twelfth  article  was  submitted  to  the 
Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  there 
being  then  seventeen  States,  by  a  resolu- 
tion of  Congress  passed  on  the  12th  of 
December,  1803,  at  the  first  session  of  the 
Eighth  Congress ;  and  was  ratified  by  the 
Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  States, 
in  1804,  according  to  a  proclamation  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  dated  the  25th  of 
September,  1804. 

The  thirteenth  article  was  submitted  to 
the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States, 
there  being  then  thirty-six  States,  by  a 
resolution  of  Congress  passed  on  the  1st  of 
February,  1865,  at  the  second  session  of 
the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  and  was  rati- 
fied, according  to  a  proclamation  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  dated  December  18, 
1865,  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  following 
States: 

Illinois,  February  1,  1865. 
Rhode  Island,  February  2, 1865. 
Michigan,  February  2,  1865. 
Maryland,  February  3, 1865. 


New  York,  February  3,  1865. 

West  Virginia,  February  3,  1865. 

Massachusetts,  February  3,  1865. 

Pennsylvania,  February  3,  1866. 

Maine,  February  7,  1865. 

Kansas,  Februarv  8,  1865. 

Ohio,  February  8,  -1865. 

Minnesota,  February  7, 1865. 

Virginia,  February  9,  1865. 

Indiana,  February  13,  1865. 

Nevada,  February  16,  1865. 

Louisiana,  February  17,  1865. 

Wisconsin,  February  21,  1865. 

Missouri,  February  24,  1865. 

Tennessee,  March  4, 1865. 

Vermont,  March  9,  1865. 

Arkansas,  April  14,  1865. 

Connecticut,  May  4,  1865. 

New  Hampshire,  June  30,  1865. 

South  Carolina,  November  13,  1865. 

North  Carolina,  December  1,  1865. 

Alabama,  December  2,  1865. 

Georgia,  December  6,  1865. 

The  following  States  not  enumerated  in 
the  proclamation  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
also  ratified  this  amendment : 

Oregon,  December  11,  1865. 

California,  December  20,  1865. 

Florida,  June  9,  1868. 

The  States  of  Delaware,  New  Jersey, 
and  Kentucky  rejected  the  amendment. 

The  fourte'entu  article  was  submitted  to 
the  Legislatures  of  the  different  States, 
there  being  then  thirty-seven  States,  by  a 
resolution  of  Congress  passed  on  the  16th 
of  June,  1866,  at  the  first  session  of  the 
Thirty-ninth  Congress;  and  was  ratified, 
according  to  a  proclamation  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  dated  July  28,  1868,  by  the 
Legislatures  of  the  following  States : 

Connecticut,  June  30,  1866. 

New  Hampshire,  Julv  7,  1866. 

Tennessee,  July  19,  1866. 

*  New  Jersey,  September  11,  1866. 
t  Oregon,  September  19, 1866. 
Vermont,  November  9, 1866. 
New  York,  January  10,  1867. 

t  Ohio,  January  11,  1867. 
Illinois,  January  15,  1867. 
West  Virginia,  January  16,  1867. 
Kansas,  January  18,  1867. 
Maine,  January  19,  1867. 
Nevada,  January  22,  1867. 
Missouri,  January  26,  1867. 
Indiana,  January  29,  1867. 
Minnesota,  February  1, 1867. 
Rhode  Island,  February  7,  1867. 
Wisconsin,  February  13, 1867. 
Pennsylvania,  February  13, 1867. 
Michigan,  February  15, 1867. 
Massachusetts,  March  20, 1867. 
Nebraska,  June  15,  1867. 

*  New  Jersey  withdrew  her  consent  to  the  wtiflcadoB 
April— ,1868.  ^        ..^    ^,      - 

t  Oregon  withdrew  her  consent  to  the  ratification  Oc- 
tober 16,  1S68.  ,«    .,      ,         _ 

I  Ohio  withdrew  her  consent  to  the  mtiflcatian  January 
— ,  1868. 


22 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


Iowa,  April  3,  1868. 
Arkansas,  April  6,  1868. 
Florida,  June  9,  1868. 

*  North  Carolina,  July  4,  1868. 
Louisiana,  July  9,  1868. 

*  South  Carolina,  July  9,  1868. 
Alabama,  July  13,  1868. 

*  Georgia,  July  21,  1868. 

*  The  State  of  Virginia  ratified  this 
amendment  on  the  8th  of  October,  1869, 
subsequent  to  the  date  of  the  proclamation 
of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  States  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  Ken- 
tucky, and  Texas  rejected  the  amendment. 

The  fifteenth  article  was  submitted  to 
the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  there 
being  then  thirty-seven  States,  by  a  reso- 
lution of  Congress  passed  on  the  27th  of 
February,  1869,  at  the  first  session  of  the 
Forty-first  Congress  ;  and  was  ratified,  ac- 
cording to  a  proclamation  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  dated  March  30, 1870,  by  the  Le- 
gislatures of  the  following  States : 

Nevada,  March  1,  1869. 

West  Virginia,  March  3,  1869. 

North  Carolina,  March  5,  1869. 

Louisiana,  March  5,  1869. 

Illinois,  March  5,  1869. 

Michigan,  March  8,  1869. 

Wisconsin,  March  9,  1869. 

Massachusetts,  March  12,  1869. 

Maine,  March  12,  1869. 

South  Carolina,  March  16,  1869. 

Pennsylvania,  March  26,  1869. 

Arkansas,  March  30,  1869. 

t  New  York,  April  14,  1869. 

Indiana,  Mav  14,  1869. 

Connecticut,'Mav  19, 1869. 

Florida,  June  15,  1869. 

New  Hampshire,  July  7,  1869. 

Virginia,  October  8,  1869. 

Vermont,  October  21,  1869. 

Alabama,  November  24,  1869. 

Missouri,  Januarj'  10,  1870. 

Mississippi,  January  17,  1870. 

Rhode  Island,  January  18,  1870. 

Kansas,  January  19,  1870. 

X  Ohio,  January  27,  1870. 

Greorgia,  February  2,  1870. 

Iowa,  February  3,  1870. 

Nebraska,  February  17,  1870. 

Texas,  February  18, 1870. 

Minnesota,  February  19,  1870. 

^  The  State  of  New  Jersey  ratified  this 
amendment  on  the  21st  of  February,  1871, 
8ub*iequent  to  the  date  of  the  proclamation 
of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  States  of  California,  Delaware,  Ken- 
tucky, Maryland,  Oregon,  and  Tennessee 
rejected  this  amendment. 


•  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Virginia 
iMd  previously  rejecte<l  the  amendment. 

t  New  York  withdrew  her  consent  to  the  ratification 
January  5,  1870. 

t  Ohio  had  prerlonaly  rejected  the  amendment  May  4, 
1869 

i  New  Jersey  had  previously  rejected  the  amendment 


JEFFERSON'S  MANUAL  OF  PARLIAMENTARY 
PRACTICE. 

Importance  of  Rules. 

SEC.    I. — IMPOBTANCE    OF    ADHERIKG    TO 
RULES. 

Mr.  Onslow,  the  ablest  among  the  Speak- 
ers of  the  House  of  Commons,  used  to  say, 
"It  was  a  maxim  he  had  often  heard  when 
he  was  a  young  man,  from  old  and  experi- 
enced members,  that  nothing  tended  more 
to  throw  power  into  the  hands  of  adminis- 
tration, and  those  who  acted  with  the  ma- 
jority of  the  House  of  Commons,  than  a 
neglect  of,  or  departure  from,  the  rules  of 

Proceeding ;  that  these  forms,  as  instituted 
y  our  ancestors,  operated  as  a  check  and 
control  on  the  actions  of  the  majority,  and 
that  they  were,  in  many  instances,  a  shel- 
ter and  protection  to  the  minority,  against 
the  attempts  of  power."  So  far  the  maxim 
is  certainly  true,  and  is  founded  in  good 
sense,  that  as  it  is  always  in  the  power  of 
the  majority,  by  their  numbers,  to  stop  any 
imj)roper  measures  proposed  on  the  part  of 
their  opponents,  the  only  weapons  by 
which  the  minority  can  defend  themselves 
against  similar  attempts  from  those  in 
power,  are  the  forms  and  rules  of  proceed- 
ing which  have  been  adopted  as  they  were 
found  necessary,  i'lom  time  to  time,  and 
are  become  the  law  of  the  House ;  by  a 
strict  adherence  to  which,  the  weaker 
party  can  only  be  protected  from  those  ir- 
regularities and  abuses  which  these  forms 
were  intended  to  check,  and  which  the 
wantonness  of  power  is  but  too  often  apt  to 
suggest  to  large  and  successful  majorities. 
2  Eats.,  171,  172. 

And  whether  these  forms  be  in  all  cases 
the  most  rational  or  not,  is  really  not  of  so 
great  importance.  It  is  much  more  ma- 
terial that  there  should  be  a  rule  to  go  by, 
than  what  that  rule  is ;  that  there  may  be 
a  uniformity  of  proceedings  in  business, 
not  subject  to  the  caprice  of  the  Speaker, 
or  captiousness  of  the  members.  It  is  very 
material  that  order,  decency,  and  regular- 
ity be  preserved  in  a  dignified  public  body. 
2  Hats.,  149. 

SEC.   II. — LEGISLATURE. 

[All  legislative  powers  herein  granted 
shall  be  ve'^ted  in  a  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives.  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  Art.  1,  Sec.  1.] 

[The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall 
receive  a  comperifation  for  their  services, 
to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and  paid  out  of 
the  Treasury  of  ths  United  States.  Con- 
stituti 
Sec.G 


stitution 


sury 


the    Un^tsd   States,    Art.    1, 


[For  the  powers  of  Cccg-ess,  see  the  fol- 
lowing Articles  and  Sections  of  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States;  I,  4  7  8,  9. 
II,  1,  2.  Ill  3.  IV,  1,  3,  5  qn4  all  the 
amendments.] 


BOOKir.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


23 


SEC.   III. — PRIVILEGE. 

The  privileges  of  members  of  Parliament, 
from  small  and  obscure  beginnings,  have 
been  advancing  for  centiiries  with  a  firm 
and  never-yielding  pace.  Claims  seem  to 
have  been  brought  forward  from  time  to 
time,  and  repeated,  till  some  example  of 
their  admission  enabled  them  to  build  law 
on  that  example.  We  can  only,  therefore, 
state  the  points  of  progression  at  which 
they  now  are.  It  is  now  acknowledged, 
1st.  That  they  are  at  all  times  exempted 
from  question  elsewhere,  for  anything  said 
in  their  own  House ;  that  during  the  time 
of  privilege,  2d.  Neither  a  member  him- 
self, his  wife,  nor  his  servants,  (familiares 
sui,)  for  any  matter  of  their  own,  may  be 
arrested  on  mesne  process,  in  any  civil 
suit :  3d.  Nor  be  detained  under  execu- 
tion, though  levied  before  time  of  privilege : 
4th.  Nor  impleaded,  cited,  or  subpoenaed 
in  any  court :  6th.  Nor  summoned  as  a 
witness  or  juror:  6th.  Nor  may  their 
lands  or  goods  be  distrained:  7th,  Nor 
their  persons  assaulted,  or  characters  tra- 
duced. And  the  period  of  time  covered  by 
privilege,  before  and  after  the  session,  with 
the  practice  of  short  prorogations  under 
the  connivance  of  the  Crown,  amounts  in 
fact  to  a  perpetual  protection  against  the 
course  of  justice.  In  one  instance,  indeed, 
it  has  been  relaxed  by  the  10  G.  3,  c.  50, 
which  permits  judiciary  proceedings  to  go 
on  against  them.  That  these  privileges 
must  be  continually  progressive,  seems  to 
result  from  their  rejecting  all  definition  of 
them ;  the  doctrine  being,  that  "  their  dig- 
nity and  independence  are  preserved  by 
keeping  their  privileges  indefinite;  and 
that  '  the  maxim  upon  which  they  proceed, 
together  with  the  method  of  proceeding, 
rest  entirely  in  their  own  breast,  and  are 
not  defined  and  ascertained  by  any  partic- 
ular stated  laws.'  "     1  Blackst,  163, 164. 

[It  was  probably  from  this  view  of  the 
encroaching  character  of  privilege  that  the 
framers  of  our  Constitution,  in  their  care 
to  provide  that  the  laws  shall  bind  equally 
on  all,  and  especially  that  those  who  make 
them  shall  not  exempt  themselves  from 
their  operation,  have  only  privileged  "Sen- 
ators and  Representatives"  themselves  from 
the  single  act  of  "  arrest  in  all  cases  except 
treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace, 
during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of 
their  respective  Houses,  and  in  going  to 
and  returning  from  the  same,  and  from 
being  questioned  In  any  other  place  for  any 
speech  or  debate  in  either  House."  Const. 
U.  S.,  Art.  1,  Sec.  6.  Under  the  general 
authority  "to  make  all  laws  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
powers  given  them,  Connt.  U.  S.,  Art.  2, 
Sec.  8,  they  may  provide  by  law  the  details 
which  may  be  necessary  for  giving  full 
effect  to  the  enjoyment  of  this  privilege. 
No  such  law  being  as  yet  made,  it  seems  to 


stand  at  present  on  the  following  ground : 
1.  The  act  of  arrest  is  void,  ab  initio.  2. 
The  member  arrested  may  be  discharged 
on  motion,  1  BL,  166 ;  2  Stra.,  990 ;  or  by 
habeas  corpus  under  the  Federal  or  State 
authority,  as  the  case  may  be ;  or  by  a  writ 
of  privilege  out  of  the  chancery,  2  Stra., 
989,  in  those  States  which  have  adopted 
that  part  of  the  laws  of  England.  Orders 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  1550,  February 
20.  3.  The  arrest  being  unlawful,  is  a 
trespass  for  which  the  officer  and  others  con- 
cerned are  liable  to  action  or  indictment  in 
the  ordinary  courts  of  justice,  as  in  other 
cases  of  unauthorized  arrest.  4.  The  court 
before  which  the  process  is  returnable  is 
bound  to  act  as  in  other  cases  of  unauthor- 
ized proceeding,  and  liable,  also,  as  in 
other  similar  cases,  to  have  their  proceed- 
ings stayed  or  corrected  by  the  superior 
courts.] 

[The  time  necessary  for  going  to,  and  re- 
turning from,  Congress,  not  being  defined, 
it  will,  of  course,  be  judged  of  in  every 
particular  case  by  those  who  will  have  to 
decide  the  case.]  While  privilege  was  un- 
derstood in  England  to  extend,  as  it  does 
here,  only  to  exemption  from  arrest,  eundo, 
morando,  et  redeundo,  tlie  House  of  Com- 
mons themselves  decided  that  "a  conve- 
nient time  was  to  be  understood."  (1580,) 
1  Hats.,  99,  100.  Nor  is  the  law  so  strict 
in  point  of  time  as  to  require  the  party  to  set 
out  immediately  on  his  return,  but  allows 
him  time  to  settle  his  private  affairs,  and  to 
prepare  for  his  journey ;  and  does  not  even 
scan  his  road  very  nicely,  nor  forfeit  his  pro- 
tection for  a  little  deviation  from  that  which 
is  most  direct ;  some  necessity  perhaps 
constraining  him  to  it.     2  Stra.,  986,  987. 

This  privilege  from  arrest,  privileges,  of 
course,  against  all  process  the  disobedience 
to  which  is  punishable  by  an  attachment 
of  the  person ;  as  a  subpoena  ad  responden- 
dum, or  testificandum,  or  a  summons  on  a 
jury  ;  and  with  reason,  because  a  member  . 
has  superior  duties  to  perform  in  another 
place.  [When  a  representative  is  with- 
drawn from  his  seat  by  summons,  the  40,- 
000  people  whom  he  represents  lose  their 
voice  in  debate  and  vote,  as  they  do  on  his 
voluntary  absence  ;  when  a  Senator  is  with- 
drawn by  summons,  his  State  loses  half  its 
voice  in  debate  and  vote,  as  it  does  on  his 
voluntary  absence.  The  enormous  dispari- 
ty of  evil  admits  no  comparison.] 

[So  far  there  will  proliably  be  no  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  the  privileges  of  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress ;  but  in  the  follow- 
ing cases  it  is  otherwise.  In  December, 
1795,  the  House  of  Representatives  com- 
mitted two  persons  of  the  name  of  Randall 
and  Whitney,  for  attempting  to  corrupt  the 
integrity  of  certain  members,  which  they 
considered  as  a  contempt  and  breach  of 
the  privileges  of  the  House  ;  and  the  facts 
being  proved,  Whitney  was  detained  in 


24 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IV. 


confinement  a  fortnight,  and  Randall  three 
weeks,  and  was  reprimanded  by  the  Speak- 
er. In  March,  1796,  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives voted  a  challenge  given  to  a 
member  of  their  House  to  be  a  breach  of 
the  privileges  of  the  House;  but  satisfac- 
tory apologies  and  acknowledgments  being 
ma!de,  no  further  proceeding  was  had. 
The  editor  of  the  Aurora  having,  in  his 
paper  of  February  19,  1800,  inserted  some 
paragraphs  defamatory  of  the  Senate,  and 
failed  in  his  appearance,  he  was  ordered  to 
be  committed. 

In  debating  the  legality  of  this  order,  it 
was  insisted,  in  support  of  it,  that  every 
man,  by  the  law  of  nature,  and  every  body 
of  men,  possesses  the  right  of  self-defense ; 
that  all  public  functionaries  are  essentially 
investea  with  the  powers  of  self-preserva- 
tion ;  that  they  have  an  inherent  right  to 
do  all  acts  necessary  to  keep  themselves  in 
a  condition  to  discharge  the  trusts  confided 
to  them ;  that  whenever  authorities  are 
given,  the  means  of  carrying  them  into 
execution  are  given  by  necessary  implica- 
tion ;  that  thus  we  see  the  British  Parlia- 
ment exercise  the  right  of  punishing  con- 
tempts ;  all  the  State  Legislatures  exercise 
the  same  power,  and  every  court  does  the 
same ;  that,  if  we  have  it  not,  we  sit  at  the 
mercy  of  every  intruder  who  may  enter 
our  doors  or  gallerj',  and,  by  noise  and 
tumult,  render  proceeding  in  business  im- 
practicable; that  if  our  tranquillity  is  to 
be  perpetually  disturbed  by  newspaper  de- 
famation, it  will  not  be  possible  to  exer- 
cise our  mnctions  with  the  requisite  cool- 
ness and  deliberation ;  and  that  we  must 
therefore  have  a  power  to  punish  these 
disturbers  of  our  peace  and  proceedings. 
To  this  it  was  answered,  that  the  Parlia- 
ment and  courts  of  England  have  cogni- 
zance of  contempts  by  the  express  provi- 
sions of  their  law ;  that  the  State  Legisla- 
tures have  equal  authority,  because  their 
powers  are  plenary ;  they  represent  their 
constituents  completely,  ancl  possess  all 
their  powers,  except  such  as  their  consti- 
tutions have  expressly  denied  them ;  that 
the  courts  of  the  several  States  have 
the  same  powers  by  the  laws  of  their 
States,  and  those  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment by  the  same  State  laws  adopted  in 
each  State,  by  a  law  of  Congress;  that 
none  of  these  bodies,  therefore,  derive 
those  powers  from  natural  or  necessary 
right,  but  from  express  law ;  that  Congress 
have  no  such  natural  or  necessary  power, 
nor  any  powers  but  such  as  are  given  them 
by  the  Constitution ;  that  that  has  given 
them,  directly,  exemption  from  personal 
arrest,  exemption  from  question  elsewhere 
for  what  is  said  in  their  House,  and  power 
over  their  own  members  and  proceedings ; 
for  these  no  further  law  is  necessary,  the 
Constitution  being  the  law ;  that,  more- 
over, by  that  article  of  the  Constitution 


which  authorizes  them  "  to  make  all  laws 
necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into 
execution  the  powers  vested  by  Constitu- 
tion in  them,  they  may  provide  by  law 
for  an  undisturbed  exercise  of  their  func- 
tions, e,  g.,  for  the  punishment  of  con- 
tempts, of  affirays  or  tumult  in  their  pre- 
sence, &c, ;  but,  till  the  law  be  made,  it 
does  not  exist;  and  does  not  exist,  from 
their  own  neglect;  that,  in  the  mean  time, 
however,  they  are  not  unprotected,  the 
ordinary  magistrates  and  courts  of  law 
being  open  and  competent  to  punish  all 
unjustifiable  disturbances  or  defamations, 
and  even  their  own  sergeant,  who  maj^  ap- 
point deputies  ad  libitum  to  aid  him,  3 
Grey,  59,  147,  256,  is  equal  to  small  dis- 
turbances ;  that  in  requiring  a  previous 
law,  the  Constitution  had  regard  to  the 
inviolability  of  the  citizen,  as  well  as  of 
the  member ;  as,  should  one  House,  in  the 
form  of  a  bill,  aim  at  too  broad  privileges, 
it  may  be  checked  by  the  other,  and  both 
by  the  President;  and  also  as,  the  law 
being  promulgated,  the  citizen  will  know 
how  to  avoid  offense.  But  if  one  branch 
may  assume  its  own  privileges  without 
control,  if  it  may  do  it  on  the  spur  of  the 
occasion,  conceal  the  law  in  its  own  breast, 
and,  after  the  fact  committed,  make  its 
sentence  both  the  law  and  the  judgment 
on  that  fact ;  if  the  offense  is  to  be  kept 
undefined,  and  to  be  declared  only  ex  re 
nata,  and  according  to  the  passions  of  the 
moment,  and  there  be  no  limitation  either 
in  the  manner  or  measure  of  the  punish- 
ment, the  condition  of  the  citizen  will  be 
perilous  indeed.  Which  of  these  doc- 
trines is  to  prevail,  time  will  decide. 
Where  there  is  no  fixed  law,  the  judgment 
on  any  particular  case  is  the  law  of  that 
single  case  only,  and  dies  with  it.  When 
a  new  and  even  a  similar  case  arises,  the 
judgment  which  is  to  make  and  at  the 
same  time  apply  the  law,  is  open  to  ques- 
tion and  consideration,  as  are  all  new 
laws.  Perhaps  Congress,  in  the  mean 
time,  in  their  care  for  the  safety  of  the 
citizen,  as  well  as  that  for  their  own  pro- 
tection, may  declare  by  law  what  is  neces- 
sary and  proper  to  enable  them  to  carry 
into  execution  the  powers  vested  in  them, 
and  thereby  hang  up  a  rule  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  all,  which  may  direct  the  conduct 
of  the  citizen,  and  at  the  same  time  test 
the  judgments  they  shall  themselves  pro- 
nounce in  their  own  case.] 

Privilege  from  arrest"  takes  place  by 
force  of  the  election ;  and  before  a  return 
be  made  a  member  elected  may  be  named 
of  a  committee,  and  is  to  every  extent  a 
member  except  that  he  cannot  vote  until 
he  is  sworn.  Memor.,  107,  108,  D'Ewes, 
643,  col.  2 ;  643,  col.  1.  Pet.  Miscel.  Pari., 
119.     Lex.  Pari,  c.  23.     2  Hats.,  22,  62. 

Every  man  must,  at  his  peril,  take  no- 
tice who  are  members  of  either   House 


BOOK  IT.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


25 


returned  of  record.  Lex.  Pari.,  23;  4 
Inst,  24. 

On  complaint  of  a  breach  of  privilege, 
the  party  may  either  be  summoned,  or 
sent  for  in  custody  of  the  sergeant.  1  Crrey, 
88,  95. 

The  privilege  of  a  member  is  the 
privilege  of  the  House.  If  the  member 
waive  it  without  leave,  it  is  a  ground  for 
punishing  him,  but  cannot  in  eflect  waive 
the  privilege  of  the  House.  3  Grey,  140, 
222. 

For  any  speech  or  debate  in  either 
House,  they  shall  not  be  questioned-  in  any 
other  place.  Const.  U.  S.,  I,  6 ;  S.  P.  pro- 
test of  the  Commons  to  James  I,  1621 ;  2 
Rapin,  No.  54,  pp.  211,  212.  But  this  is 
restrained  to  things  done  in  the  House  in 
a  parliamentary  course.  1  Rush.,  663. 
For  he  is  not  to  have  privilege  contra 
morem  parliamentarium,  to  exceed  the 
bounds  and  limits  of  his  place  and  duty. 
Com.  p. 

If  an  offence  be  committed  by  a  member 
in  the  House,  of  which  the  House  has 
cognizance,  it  is  an  infringement  of  their 
right  for  any  person  or  court  to  take  notice 
of  it,  till  the  House  has  punished  the 
offender,  or  referred  him  to  a  due  course. 
Lex.  Parl.,6S, 

Privilege  is  in  the  power  of  the  House, 
and  is  a  restraint  to  the  proceedings  of 
inferior  courts,  but  not  of  the  House  itself. 
2  Nalson,  450  ;  2  Grey,  399.  For  whatever 
is  spoken  in  the  House  is  subject  to  the 
censure  of  the  House ;  and  offenses  of  this 
kind  have  been  severely  punished  by  call- 
ing the  person  to  the  bar  to  make  submis- 
sion, commiting  him  to  the  tower,  ex- 
pelling the  House,  &c.  Scob.,  72 ;  L. 
Pari.,  c.  22. 

It  is  a  breach  of  order  for  the  Speaker 
to  refuse  to  put  a  question  which  is  in  or- 
der.    1  Hats.,  175-6 ;  5  Grey,  133. 

And  even  in  cases  of  treason,  felony, 
and  breach  of  the  peace,  to  which  privilege 
does  not  extend  as  to  substance,  yet  in 
Parliament  a  member  is  privileged  as  to 
the  mode  of  proceeding.  The  case  is  first 
to  be  laid  before  the  House,  that  it  may 
judge  of  the  fact  and  of  the  grounds  of 
the  accusation,  and  how  far  forth  the  man- 
ner of  the  trial  may  concern  their  privi- 
lege; otherwise  it  would  be  in  the  power 
of  other  branches  of  the  government,  and 
even  of  every  private  man,  under  pre- 
tenses of  treason,  &c.,  to  take  any  man 
from  his  services  in  the  House,  and  so,  as 
many,  one  after  another,  as  would  make 
the  House  what  he  pleaseth.  Dec.  of  the 
Com.  on  the  King's  declaring  Sir  John 
Hotham  a  traitor.  4  Rushw.,  586.  So, 
when  a  member  stood  indicted  for  felony, 
it  was  adjudged  that  he  ought  to  remain 
of  the  House  till  conviction  ;  for  it  may  be 
any  man's  case,  who  is  guiltless,  to  be 
accused  and  indicted  of  felony  or  tJtie  like 


crime.  23  El,  1580 ;  D'Ewes,  283,  col.  1 ; 
Lex  Pari.,  133. 

When  it  is  found  necessary  for  the  pub- 
lic service  to  put  a  member  under  arrest, 
or  when,  on  any  public  inquiry,  matter 
comes  out  which  may  lead  to  affect  the 
person  of  a  member,  it  is  the  practice  im- 
mediately to  acquaint  the  House,  that  they 
may  know  the  reason  for  such  a  proceed- 
ing, and  take  such  steps  as  they  think 
proper.  2  Hats.,  259.  Of  which  see  many 
examples,  lb.,  256,  257,  258.  But  the 
communication  is  subsequent  to  the  arrest. 
1  Blackst.,  167. 

It  is  highly  expedient,  says  Hatsel,  for 
the  due  preservation  of  the  privileges  of 
the  separate  branches  of  the  legislature, 
that  neither  should  encroach  on  the  other, 
or  interfere  in  any  matter  depending  be- 
fore them,  so  as  to  preclude,  or  even  in- 
fluence, that  freedom  of  debate  which  is 
essential  to  a  free  council.  They  are, 
therefore,  not  to  take  notice  of  any  bills  or 
other  matters  depending,  or  of  votes  that 
have  been  given,  or  of  speeches  which 
have  been  held,  by  the  members  of  either 
of  the  other  branches  of  the  legislature, 
until  the  same  have  been  communicated 
to  them  in  the  usual  parliamentary  man- 
ner. 2  Hats.,  252 ;  4  List.,  15 ;  Seld.  Jud., 
53.  Thus  the  King's  taking  notice  of  the 
bill  for  suppressing  soldiers,  depending 
before  the  House ;  his  proposing  a  pro- 
visional clause  for  a  bill  before  it  was 
presented  to  him  by  the  two  Houses ;  his 
expressing  displeasure  against  some  persons 
for  matters  moved  in  Parliament  dur- 
ing the  debate  and  preparation  of  a  bill, 
were  breaches  of  privilege ;  2  Nalson,  743 ; 
and  in  1783,  December  17,  it  was  declared 
a  breach  of  fundamental  privileges,  &c.,  to 
report  any  opinion  or  pretended  opinion 
of  the  King  on  any  bill  or  proceeding  de- 
pending in  either  House  of  Parliament, 
with  a  view  to  influence  the  votes  of  the 
members.    2  Hats.,  251,  6. 

SEC.  IV. — ELECTIONS. 

[The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  hold- 
ing elections  for  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by 
the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress 
may  at  any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such 
regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of 
choosing  Senators.     Const.,  1,  4. 

[Each  House  shall  be  the  judge  of  the 
elections,  returns,  and  qualifications  of  its 
own  members.     Const.,  I,  5.] 

SEC.  V. — QUALIFICATIONS. 

[The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall 
be  composed  of  two  Senators  from  each 
State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof 
for  six  years,  and  each  Senator  shall  have 
one  vote.] 

[Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assem- 
bled in  consequence  of  the  first  election, 


26 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ITr 


they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be 
into  three  classes.  The  seats  of  the  Sena- 
tors of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated  at 
the  end  of  the  second  year ;  of  the  second 
class  at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year  ; 
and  of  the  third  class  at  the  expiration  of 
the  sixth  year ;  so  that  one-third  may  be 
chosen  every  second  year;  and  if  vacan- 
cies happen,  by  resignation  or  otherwise, 
during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any 
State,  the  executive  thereof  may  make 
temporary  appointments  until  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which  shall 
then  fin  such  vacancies.     Const.,  1,  3.] 

[No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall 
not  have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty 
years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when 
elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  for 
which  he  shall  be  chosen.     Const.  I,  3.] 

[The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be 
composed  of  members  chosen  every  second 
year  by  the  people  of  the  several  States ; 
and  the  electors  in  each  State  shall  have 
the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of 
the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  Le- 
gislature.    Const.,  I,  2.] 

[No  person  shall  be  a  Representative 
who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years  and  been  seven  years  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  W'ho  shall 
not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that 
State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen.  Const., 
I,2.J 

[Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall 
be  apportioned  among  the  several  States 
which  may  be  included  within  this  Union, 
according  to  their  respective  numbers; 
which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to 
the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  includ- 
ing those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of 
years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed, 
three-fifths  of  all  other  persons.  The  ac- 
tual enumeration  shall  be  made  within 
three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within 
every  subsequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such 
manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The 
number  of  Representatives  shall  not  ex- 
exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but 
each  State  shall  have  at  least  one  Repre- 
sentative.    Const.,  I,  2?] 

[When  vacancies  happen  in  the  repre- 
sentation from  any  State,  the  executive 
authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  elec- 
tion to  fill  such  vacancies.     Const.,  I,  2.] 

[No  Senator  or  Representative  shall, 
during  the  time  for  which  he  was  elected, 
be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  which  shall 
have  been  created,  or  the  emoluments 
whereof  shall  have  been  increased,  during 
such  time;  and  no  person  holding  any 
oflSce  under  the  United  States  shall  be  a 
member  of  either  House  during  his  con- 
tinuance in  oflice.     Const.,  I,  6.J 


8EC.  VI. — QUORUM. 

[A  majority  of  each  House  shall  consti- 
tute a  quorum  to  do  business,  but  a 
smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to 
day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the 
attendance  of  absent  members  in  such 
manner  and  under  such  penalties  as  each 
House  may  provide.     Const.,  I,  5.  ] 

In  general  the  chair  is  not  to  be  taken 
till  a  quorum  for  business  is  present ;  un- 
less, after  due  waiting,  such  a  quorum  be 
despaired  of,  when  the  chair  may  be  taken 
and  the  House  adjourned.  And  whenever, 
during  business,  it  is  observed  that  a 
quorum  is  not  present,  any  member  may 
call  for  the  House  to  be  counted,  and  being 
found  deficient,  business  is  suspended.  2 
Hats.,  125,  126. 

[The  President  having  taken  the  chair, 
and  a  quorum  being  present,  the  journal 
of  the  preceding  day  shall  be  read,  to  the 
end  that  any  mistake  may  be  corrected 
that  shall  have  been  made  in  the  entries. 
Rules  of  the  Senate.^ 

SEC.  VII. — CALL  OF  THE  HOUSE. 

On  a  call  of  the  House,  each  person 
rises  up  as  he  is  called,  and  answereth; 
the  absentees  are  then  only  noted,  but  no 
excuse  to  be  made  till  the  House  be  fully 
called  over.  Then  the  absentees  are  called 
a  second  time,  and  if  still  absent,  excuses 
are  to  be  heard.  Ord.  House  of  Commons, 
92.  J  ' 

They  rise  that  their  persons  may  be 
recognized;  the  voice,  in  such  a  crowd, 
being  an  insufficient  verification  of  their 
presence.  But  in  so  small  a  body  as  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  trouble  of 
rising  cannot  be  necessary. 

Orders  for  calls  on  different  days  may 
subsist  at  the  same  time.    2  Hats.,  72. 

SEC.  VIII. — ABSENCE. 

[No  member  shall  absent  himself  from 
the  service  of  the  Senate  without  leave  of 
the  Senate  first  obtained.  And  in  case  a 
less  number  than  a  quorum  of  the  Senate 
shall  convene,  they  are  hereby  authorized 
to  send  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  or  any  other 
person  or  persons  by  them  authorized,  for 
any  or  all  absent  members,  as  the  majority 
of  such  members  present  shall  agree,  at 
the  expense  of  sucn  absent  members,  re- 
spectively, unless  such  excuse  for  non-at- 
tendance shall  be  made  as  the  Senate, 
when  a  quorum  is  convened,  shall  judge 
sufficient:  and  in  that  case  the  expense 
shall  be  paid  out  of  the  contingent  fund. 
And  this  rule  shall  apply  as  well  to  the 
first  convention  of  the  Senate,  at  the  legal 
time  of  meeting,  as  to  each  day  of  tne 
session,  after  the  hour  is  arrived  to  which 
the  Senate  stood  adjourned.     Rule  8.J 

SEC.   IX. — SPEAKEB. 

[The  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  President  of  the  Senate,  but 


BOOKiY.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


27 


shall  have  no  vote  unless  they  be  equally 
divided.     Constitution,  I,  3.J 

[The  Senate  shall  choose  their  officers, 
and  also  a  President  pro  tempore  in  the 
absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when  he 
shall  exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States.     lb.] 

[The  House  of  Representatives  shall 
choose  their  Speaker  and  other  officers. 
Const.,  I,  2.] 

When  but  one  person  is  proposed,  and 
no  objection  made,  it  has  not  been  usual 
in  Parliament  Jo  put  any  question  to  the 
House ;  but  without  a  question  the  mem- 
bers proposing  him  conduct  him  to  the 
chair.  But  if  there  be  objection,  or  another 
proposed,  a  question  is  put  by  the  Clerk. 
2  Hats.,  158.  As  are  also  questions  of  ad- 
journment, 6  Grey,  406.  Where  the  House 
debated  and  exchanged  messages  and  an- 
swers with  the  King  for  a  week  without  a 
Speaker,  till  they  were  prorogued.  They 
have  done  it  de  die  in  diem  for  fourteen 
days.     1  Chand.,  331,  335. 

[In  the  Senate,  a  President  pro  tempore, 
in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  is 
proposed  and  chosen  by  ballot.  His  office 
IS  understood  to  be  determined  on  the 
Vice-President's  appearing  and  taking  the 
chair,  or  at  the  meeting  of  the  Senate  after 
the  first  recessj 

Where  the  Speaker  has  been  ill,  other 
Speakers  pro  tempore  have  been  appointed. 
Instances  of  this  are  1  IT.,  4.  Sir  John 
Cheyney,  and  Sir  William  Sturton,  and  in 
15  K,  6.  Sir  John  Tvrrel,  in  1656,  Jan- 
uarv  27 ;  1658,  March  9 ;  1659,  January  13. 

Sir  Job  Charl- 
ton ill,  Seymour 
chosen,  16  7  3, 
February  18. 

Seymour  being 
ill,  Sir  Robert 
Sawyer  chosen, 
1678,  April  15. 

Sawyer  being 
ill,  Seymour  cho- 
sen. 

Thorpe  in  execution,  a  new  Speaker 
chosen,  31  H.  VI,  3  Grey,  11 ;  and  March 
14,  1694,  Sir  John  Trevor  chosen.  There 
have  been  no  later  instances.  2  Hats., 
161 ;  4  Inst.  8 ;  L.  Pari.,  263. 

A  Speaker  may  be  removed  at  the  will 
of  the  House,  and  a  Speaker  jyro  tempore 
appointed.     2  Grey,  186 ;  5  Grey,  134. 

SEC.    X. — ADDRESS. 

[The  President  shall,  from  time  to  time, 
give  to  the  Congress  information  of  the  state 
of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  con- 
sideration such  measures  as  he  shall  judge 
necessary  and  expedient.     Const,  II,  3.] 

A  joint  address  of  both  Houses  of  Par- 
liament is  read  by  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Lords.  It  may  be  attended  by 
both  Houses  in  a  body,  or  by  a  committee 


Not  merely />ro  tempore. 
1  CAand,  169, 276,  277. 


from  each  House,  or  by  the  two  Speakers 
only.  An  address  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons only  may  be  presented  by  the  whole 
House,  or  by  the  Speaker,  9  Grey,  473 ;  1 
Chandler,  298,  301 ;  or  by  such  particular 
members  as  are  of  the  privy  council.  2 
Hats.,  278. 

SEC.  XI. — COMMITTEES. 

Standing  committees,  as  of  Privileges 
and  Elections,  &c«,  are  asually  appointed 
at  the  first  meeting,  to  continufe  tnrough 
the  session.  The  person  first  named  \% 
generally  permitted  to  act  as  chairman. 
But  this  is  a  matter  of  courtesy ;  every 
committee  having  a  right  to  elect  their  own 
chairman,  who  presides  over  them,  puts 
questions,  and  reports  their  proceedings  to 
the  House.  4  Inst.,  11,  12;  Scoh.,  9;  1 
Grey,  122. 

At  these  committees  the  members  are  to 
speak  standing,  and  not  sitting;  though 
there  is  reason  to  conjecture  it  was  for- 
merlv  otherwise.  UEwes,  630,  col.  1 ;  4 
Pari.,  Hist.,  440 ;  2  Hats.,  77. 

Their  proceedings  are  not  to  be  pub- 
lished, as  they  are  of  no  force  till  confirmed 
by  the  House,  Eushw.,  part  3,  vol.  2,  74 ; 
3  G7-ey,  401 ;  Smb.,  39.  Nor  can  they  re- 
ceive a  petition  but  through  the  House.  9 
Greij,  412. 

When  a  committee  is  charged  with  an 
inquiry,  if  a  member  prove  to  be  involved, 
they  cannot  proceed  against  him,  but  must 
make  a  special  report  to  the  House ;  where- 
upon the  member  is  heard  in  his  place,  or 
at  the  bar,  or  a  special  authority  is  given 
to  the  committee  to  inquire  concerning 
him.     9  Grey,  523. 

So  soon  as  the  House  sits,  and  a  commit- 
tee is  notified  of  it,  the  chairman  is  in  duty 
bound  to  rise  instantly,  and  the  members 
to  attend  the  service  of  the  House.  2  Nals., 
319. 

It  appears  that  on  joint  committees  of 
the  Lords  an<H  Commons,  each  committee 
acted  integrally  in  the  following  instances  : 
7  Grey,  26%  '278,  285,  338  ;  1  Chandler,  357, 
462.  In  the  following  instances  it  does  not 
appear  whether  they  did  or  not ;  6  Grey, 
129;  7  Grey,  213,229,321. 

SEC.    XII. — COMMITTEE    OF    THE    WHOLE. 

The  speech,  messages,  and  other  matters 
of  great  concernment,  are  usually  referred 
to  a  committee  of  the  Whole  House,  (6 
Grey,  311,)  where  general  principles  are 
digested  in  the  form  of  resolutions,  which 
are  debated  and  amended  till  they  get  in- 
to a  shape  which  meets  the  approbation 
of  a  majority.  These  being  reported  and 
confirmed  by  the  House,  are  then  referred 
to  one  or  more  select  committees,  accord- 
ing as  the  subject  divides  itself  into  one  or 
more  bills.  Scob.,  36,  44.  Propositions 
for  any  charge  on  the  people  are  especial- 
ly to  be  first  made  in  a  Committee  of  the 


28 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IV. 


Whole.  3  Hats.,  127.  The  sense  of  the 
whole  is  better  taken  in  committee,  be- 
cause in  all  committees  every  one  speaks 
as  often  as  he  pleases.  Scob.,  49.  They 
generally  acquiesce  in  the  chairman  named 
by  the  Speaker ;  but,  as  well  as  all  other 
committees,  have  a  right  to  elect  one,  some 
member,  by  consent,  putting  the  question. 
Scob.,  36  ;  3  Grey,  301.  The  form  of  go- 
ing from  the  House  into  committee,  is  for 
the  Speaker,  on  motioh,  to  put  the  ques- 
tion tnat  the  House  do  now  resolve  itself 
into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  to  take  in- 
to consideration  such  a  matter,  naming  it. 
If  determined  in  the  affirmative,  he  leaves 
the  chair  and  takes  a  seat  elsewhere,  as 
any  other  member ;  and  the  person  ap- 
pointed chairman  seats  himself  at  the 
Clerk's  table.  Scob. 1 36.  Their  quorum  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  House ;  and  if  a 
defect  happens,  the  chairman,  on  a  motion 
and  question,  rises,  the  Speaker  resumes 
the  chair,  and  the  chairman  can  make  no 
other  report  than  to  inform  the  House  of 
the  cause  of  their  dissolution.  If  a  mes- 
sage is  announced  during  a  committee, 
the  Speaker  takes  the  chair  and  receives  it, 
because  the  committee  cannot.  2  Hats., 
125,  126. 

In  a  Committee  of  the  Whole,  the  tel- 
lers on  a  division  differing  as  to  numbers, 
great  heats  and  confusion  arose,  and  dan- 

§er  of  a  decision  by  the  sword.  The 
peaker  took  the  chair,  the  mace  was 
forcibly  laid  on  the  table ;  whereupon,  the 
members  retiring  to  their  places,  the 
Speaker  told  the  House  "he  had  taken 
the  chair  without  an  order,  to  bring  the 
House  into  order."  Some  excepted  against 
it ;  t)ut  it  was  generally  approved,  as  the 
only  expedient  to  suppress  the  disorder. 
And  every  member  was  required,  standing 
up  in  his  place,  to  engage  that  he  would 

Eroceed  no  further  in  consequence  of  what 
ad  happened  in  the  grand  committee, 
which  was  done.     3  Grey,  128. 

A  Committee  of  the  Whole  being  broken 
up  in  disorder,  and  the  chair  resumed  by 
the  Speaker  without  an  order,  the  House 
was  adjourned.  The  next  day  the  com- 
mittee was  considered  as  thereby  dis- 
solved, and  the  subject  again  before  the 
House ;  and  it  was  decided  in  the  House, 
without  returning  into  committee.  3  Grey, 
130. 

No  previous  question  can  be  put  in  a 
committee;  nor  can  this  committee  ad- 
journ as  others  may  j  but  if  their  business 
13  unfinished,  they  rise,  on  a  question,  the 
House  is  resumed,  and  the  chairman  re- 

Eorts  that  the  Committee  of  the  Whole 
ave,  according  to  order,  had  under  their 
consideration  such  a  matter,  and  have 
made  progress  therein ;  but  not  having 
had  time  to  go  through  the  same,  have 
directed  him  to  ask  leave  to  sit  again. 
Whereupon  a  question  is  put  on  their 


having  leave,  and  on  the  time  the  House 
will  again  resolve  itself  into  a  coihmittee. 
Scob.,  38.  But  if  they  have  gone  through 
the  matter  referred  to  them,  a  member 
moves  that  the  committee  may  rise,  and 
the  chairman  report  their  proceedings  to 
the  House;  which  being  resolved,  the 
chairman  rises,  the  Speaker  resumes  the 
chair,  the  chairman  informs  him  that  the 
committee  have  gone  through  the  business 
referred  to  them,  and  that  he  is  ready  to 
make  report  when  the  House  shall  think 
proper  to  receive  it.  If  the  House  have 
time  to  receive  it,  there  is  usually  a  cry  of 
"  now,  now,"  whereupon  he  makes  the  re- 
port ;  but  if  it  be  late,  the  cry  is  "  to-mor- 
row, to-morrow,"  or  "  Monday,"  &c.,  or  a 
motion  is  made  to  that  effect,  and  a  ques- 
tion put  that  it  be  received  to-morrow, 
&c.     Scob.,  38. 

In  other  things  the  rules  of  proceeding 
are  to  be  the  same  as  in  the  House.  Scob., 
39. 

SEC.  XIII. — EXAMIXATIOIT  OF  WITXESSES. 

Common  fame  is  a  good  ground  for  the 
House  to  proceed  by  inquiry,  and  even  to 
accusation.  Resolution  House  of  Commons, 
1  Car.  1,  1625;  Rush,  L.  Pari,,  115;  1 
Grey,  16-22,  92 ;  8  Grey,  21,  23,  27,  45. 

Witnesses  are  not  to  be  produced  but 
where  the  House  has  previously  instituted 
an  inquiry,  2  Hats.,  102,  nor  then  are 
orders  for  their  attendance  given  blank. 
3  Grey,  51. 

When  any  person  is  examined  before  a 
committee,  or  at  the  bar  of  the  House,  any 
member  wishing  to  ask  the  person  a  ques- 
tion, must  address  it  to  the  Speaker  or 
chairman,  who  repeats  the  question  to 
the  person,  or  says  to  him,  "  You  hear  the 
question — answer  it."  But  if  the  pro- 
prietv  of  the  question  be  objected  to,  the 
Speaker  directs  the  witness,  counsel,  and 
parties  to  withdraw ;  for  no  question  can 
be  moved  or  put  or  debated  while  they  are 
there.  2  Hats.,  108.  Sometimes  the  ques- 
tions are  previously  settled  in  writing  be- 
fore the  witness  enters.  lb.,  106,  107 ;  8 
Grey,  64.  The  questions  asked  must  be 
entered  in  the  journals.  3  G^rey,  81.  But 
the  testimony  given  in  answer  before  the 
House  is  never  written  down  ;  but  before 
a  committee,  it  must  be,  for  the  informa- 
tion of  the  House,  who  are  not  present  to 
hear  it.     7  Grey,  52,  834. 

If  either  House  have  occasion  for  the 
presence  of  a  person  in  custody  of  the 
other,  they  ask  the  other  their  leave  that 
he  may  be  brought  up  to  them  in  custody. 
3  Hats.,  52. 

A  member,  in  his  place,  gives  informa- 
tion to  the  House  of  what  he  knows  of 
any  matter  under  hearing  at  the  bar.  'Jour. 
H.  of  C,  Jan.  22,  1744^. 

Either  House  may  request,  but  not  com  • 
mand,  the  attendance  of  a  member  of  the 


BooKiT.J     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


29 


other.  They  are  to  make  the  reouest  by 
message  of  the  other  House,  and  to  ex- 
press clearly  the  purpose  of  attendance, 
that  no  improper  subject  of  examination 
may  be  tendered  to  him.  The  House  then 
gives  leave  to  the  member  to  attend,  if  he 
choose  it ;  waiting  first  to  know  from  the 
member  himself  whether  he  chooses  to 
attend,  till  which  they  do  not  take  the 
message  into  consideration.  But  when  the 
peers  are  sitting  as  a  court  of  criminal 
judicature,  they  may  order  attendance, 
unless  where  it  be  a  case  of  impeachment 
bv  the  Commons.  There,  it  is  to  be  a  re- 
quest. 3  Hats.,  17  ;  9  Grey,  306,  406 ;  10 
Grey,  133. 

Counsel  are  to  be  heard  only  on  private, 
not  on  public  bills,  and  on  such  points  of 
law  only  as  the  House  shall  direct.  10 
Chrey,  61. 

SEC,   XIV. — ARRANGEMEXl    OF  BUSINESS. 

The  Speaker  is  not  precisely  bound  to 
any  rules  as  to  what  bills  or  other  matter 
shall  be  first  taken  up ;  but  it  is  left  to  his 
own  discretion,  unless  the  House  on  a 
question  decide  to  take  up  a  particular 
subject.     Hakew.,  136. 

A  settled  order  of  business  is,  however, 
necessary  for  the  government  of  the  pre- 
siding person,  and  to  restrain  individual 
members  from  calling  up  favorite  measures, 
or  matters  under  their  special  patronage, 
out  of  their  just  turn.  It  is  useful  also  for 
directing  the  discretion  of  the  House,  when 
they  are  moved  to  take  up  a  particular 
matter,  to  the  prejudice  of  others,  having 
•priority  of  right  to  their  attention  in  the 
general  order  of  business. 

[In  the  Senate,  the  bills  and  other  papers 
which  are  in  possession  of  the  House,  and 
in  a  state  to  be  acted  on,  are  arranged 
every  morning  and  brought  on  in  the  fol- 
lowing order : j 

[1.  Bills  ready  for  a  second  reading  are 
read,  that  they  may  be  referred  to  commit- 
tees, and  80  be  put  under  way.  But  if,  on 
their  being  read,  no  motion  is  made  for 
commitment,  they  are  then  laid  on  the 
table  in  the  general  file,  to  be  taken  up  in 
their  just  turn,] 

[2,  After  12  o'clock,  bills  ready  for  it 
are  put  on  their  passage.] 

[3.  Reports  in  possession  of  the  House, 
which  offer  grounds  for  a  bill,  are  to  be 
taken  up,  that  the  bill  may  be  ordered  in.] 

[4.  Bills  or  other  matters  before  the 
House,  and  unfinished  on  the  preceding 
day,  whether  taken  up  in  turn  or  on  special 
order,  are  entitled  to  be  resumed  and  passed 
on  through  their  present  stage.] 

[5.  These  matters  being  dispatched,  for 
preparing  and  expediting  business,  the 
general  nle  of  bills  and  other  papers  is 
then  taken  up,  and  each  article  of  it  is 
brought  on  according  to  its  seniority,  reck- 
oned by  the  date  of  its  first  introduction 


to  the  House.  Reports  on  bills  belong  to 
the  dates  of  their  bills.] 

[The  arrangement  of  the  business  of  the 
Senate  is  now  as  follows:]* 

[1.  Motions  previously  submitted.] 

[2.  Reports  of  committees  previously 
made.] 

[3.  Bills  from  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  those  introduced  on  leave,  which 
have  been  read  the  first  time,  are  read  the 
second  time ;  and  if  not  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee, are  considered  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  and  proceeded  with  as  in  other 
cases.] 

[4.  After  twelve  o'clock,  engrossed  bills 
of  the  Senate,  and  bills  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  on  third  reading,  are  put 
on  their  passage.] 

[5.  If  the  above  are  finished  before  one 
o'clock,  the  general  file  of  bills,  consisting 
of  those  reported  from  committees  on  the 
second  reaaing,  and  those  reported  from 
committees  after  having  been  referred,  are 
taken  up  in  the  order  in  which  they  were 
reported  to  the  Senate  by  the  respective 
committees.] 

[6.  At  one  o'clock,  if  no  business  be 
pending,  or  if  no  motion  be  made  to  pro- 
ceed to  other  business,  the  special  orders 
are  called,  at  the  head  of  which  stands  the 
unfinished  business  of  the  preceding  day.] 

[In  this  way  we  do  not  waste  our  time 
in  debating  what  shall  be  taken  up.  We 
do  one  thing  at  a  time ;  follow  up  a  sub- 
ject while  it  is  fresh,  and  till  it  is  done 
with  ;  clear  the  House  of  business  grada- 
tim  as  it  is  brought  on,  and  prevent,  to  a 
certain  degree,  ite  immense  accumulation 
toward  the  close  of  the  session.] 

[Arrangement,  however,  can  only  take 
hold  of  matters  in  possession  of  the  House. 
New  matter  may  be  moved  at  any  time 
when  no  question  is  before  the  House. 
Such  are  original  motions  and  reports  on 
bills.  Such  are  bills  from  the  other  House, 
which  are  received  at  all  times,  and  receive 
their  first  reading  as  soon  as  the  question 
then  before  the  House  is  disposed  of;  and 
bills  brought  in  on  leave,  which  are  read 
first  whenever  presented.  So  messages 
from  the  other  House  respecting  amend- 
ments to  bills  are  taken  up  as  soon  as  the 
House  is  clear  of  a  question,  unless  they 
require  to  be  printed,  for  better  considera- 
tion. Orders  of  the  day  may  be  called  for 
even  when  another  question  is  before  the 
House.] 

SEC.    XV. — ORDER. 

[Each  House  may  determine  the  rules 
of  its  proceedings ;  punish  its  members  lor 
disorderly  behavior;  and,  with  the  con- 
currence of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 
Const,  I,  5,] 

In  Parliament,  "  instances  make  order," 

*  This  •nangement  la  changed  by  the  8th  mla. 


30 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ir. 


per  Speaker  Onslow.  2  Hats.,  141.  But 
what  18  done  only  by  one  Parliament,  can- 
not be  called  custom  of  Parliament,  by 
Prynne.     1  Grey,  52. 

SEC.  XVI. — ORDER  RESPECTING  PAPERS. 

The  Clerk  is  to  let  no  journals,  records, 
accounts,  or  papers  be  taken  from  the  table 
or  out  of  his  custody.     2  Hats.,  193,  194. 

Mr.  Prynne,  having  at  a  Committee  of 
the  Whole  amended  a  mistake  in  a  bill 
without  order  or  knowledge  of  the  com- 
mittee, was  reprimanded.     1  Chand.,  77. 

A  bill  being  missing,  the  House  resolved 
that  a  protestation  should  be  made  and 
subscribed  by  the  members  "before  Al- 
mighty God,  and  this  honorable  House, 
that  neither  myself,  nor  any  other  to  my 
knowledge,  have  taken  away,  or  do  at  this 
present  conceal  a  bill  entitled,"  &c.  5 
Grey,  202. 

After  a  bill  is  engrossed,  it  is  put  into 
the  Speaker's  hands,  and  he  is  not  to  let 
any  one  have  it  to  look  into.     Town,  col.,  209. 

SEC.   XVII. — ORDER  IN  DEBATE. 

When  the  Speaker  is  seated  in  his  chair, 
every  member  is  to  sit  in  his  place.  Scab., 
6 ;   Grey,  40.3. 

When  any  member  means  to  speak,  he 
is  to  stand  up  in  his  place,  uncovered,  and 
to  address  himself,  not  to  the  House,  or 
any  particular  member,  but  to  the  Speaker, 
who  calls  him  by  his  name,  that  the  House 
may  take  notice  who  it  is  that  speaks. 
Scab.,  6;  D'Ewes,  487,  col.  1 ;  2  Hats.,  77  ; 
4  Grey,  66;  8  Grey,  108.  ]3ut  members 
who  are  indisposed  may  be  indulged  to 
speak  sitting.    2  Hats.,  75,  77  ;  1  Grey,  143. 

[In  Senate,  every  member,  when  he 
speaks,  shall  address  the  Chair  standing  in 
his  place,  and,  when  he  has  finished,  shall 
sit  down.     BvZe  3.] 

When  a  member  stands  up  to  speak,  no 
question  is  to  be  put,  but  he  is  to  be  heard, 
unless  the  House  overrule  him.  4  Grey, 
390;  6  Grey,  6,  143. 

If  two  or  more  rise  to  speak  nearly  to- 
gether, the  Speaker  determines  who  was 
first  up,  and  calls  him  by  name,  whereupon 
he  proceeds,  unless  he  voluntarily  sits  down 
and  gives  way  to  the  other.  But  some- 
times the  House  does  not  acquiesce  in  the 
Speaker's  decision,  in  which  case  the  ques- 
tion is  put,  "  which  member  was  first  up  ?" 
2  Hats.,  76  ;  Scob.,  7  ;  D'Ewes,  434,  col.  1,  2. 

[In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the 
President's  decision  is  without  appeal. 
Their  rule  is :  When  two  members  rise  at  the 
same  tim^,  the  President  shall  nam^  the  per- 
son to  speak ;  but  in  all  cases  the  member 
who  shall  first  rise  and  address  the  Chair 
shall  speak  first     Rule  38. 1 

No  man  may  speak  more  than  once  on 
the  same  bill  on  tlie  same  day  ;  or  even  on 
another  day,  if  the  debate  be  adjourned. 


But  if  it  be  read  more  than  once  in  the 
same  day,  he  may  speak  once  at  every  read- 
ing. Co.,  12, 115 ;  Hakew.,  148 ;  Scob.,  58  ; 
2  Hats.,  75.  Even  a  change  of  opinion 
does  not  give  a  right  to  be  heard  a  second 
time.  Smyth'' s  Comw.  L.  2,  c.  3;  Arcan. 
Pari.,  17. 

[The  corresponding  rule  of  the  Senate  is 
in  these  words :  No  member  shall  speak 
more  than  twice,  in  any  one  debate,  on  the 
same  day,  without  leave  of  the  Senate. 
Rule  39.] 

But  he  may  be  permitted  to  speak  again 
to  clear  a  matter  of  fact,  3  Grey,  357,  416 ; 
or  merely  to  explain  himself  2  Hats.,  73,  in 
some  material  part  of  his  speech,  lb.,  75 ; 
or  to  the  manner  or  words  of  the  question, 
keeping  himself  to  that  only,  and  not 
traveling  into  the  merits  of  it.  Memorials 
in  Hakew.,  29 ;  or  to  the  orders  of  the 
House  if  they  be  transgressed,  keeping  with- 
in that  line,  and  not  falling  into  the  matter 
itself.     Mem.  Hakew.,  30,  31. 

But  if  the  Speaker  rise  to  speak,  the  mem- 
ber standing  up  ought  to  sit  down,  that  he 
may  be  first  heard.  Town.,  col.  205 ;  Hale 
Pari,  133 ;  Mem.  in  Hakew.,  30,  31.  Never- 
theless, though  the  Speaker  may  of  right 
speak  to  matters  of  order,  and  be  first 
heard,  he  is  restrained  from  speaking  on 
any  other  subject,  except  where  the  House 
have  occasion  for  facts  within  his  know- 
ledge ;  then  he  may,  with  their  leave,  state 
the  matter  of  fact.     3  Grey,  38. 

No  one  is  to  speak  impertinently  or  be- 
side the  question,  superfluous,  or  tediously. 
Scoh.,  31,  33 ;  2  Hats.,  166, 168 ;  Hale  Pari, 
133. 

No  person  is  to  use  indecent  language 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  House ;  no 

Srior  determination  of  which  is  to  be  re- 
ected  on  by  any  member,  unless  he  means 
to  conclude  with  a  motion  to  rescind  it  2 
Hats.,  169,  170;  Rushw.,p.  3,  v.  1,  fol.  42. 
But  while  a  proposition  under  considera- 
tion is  still  injieri,  thoueh  it  has  even 
been  reported  by  a  committee,  reflections 
on  it  are  no  reflections  on  the  House.  9 
Grey,  608. 

No  person,  in  speaking,  is  to  mention  a 
member  then  present  by  his  name,  but  to 
describe  him  by  his  seat  in  the  House,  or 
who  spoke  last,  or  on  the  other  side  of  the 
question,  &c.,  Mem,  in  Hakew.,  3;  Smyth's 
Vomw.,  L.  2,  c.  3;  nortodigress  from  the  mat- 
ter to  fall  upon  the  person  Scob.,  31 ;  Hale 
Parl.,lSS;  2  fia^*.,  166  by  speaking,  revil- 
ing, nipping,  or  unmannerly  words  against 
a  particular  member.  Smyth's  Comw.,  L. 
2,  c.  3.  The  consequences  of  a  meai-ure 
may  be  reprobated  in  strong  terms ;  but  to 
arraign  the  motives  of  those  who  propose 
to  advocate  it  is  a  personality,  and  against 
order.  Qui  diqreditur  a  materia  ad  perso- 
nam, Mr.  Speaker  ought  to  suppress.  Ord. 
Com.,  1604,  Apr.  19. 
[When  a  member  shall   be  called  to 


BOOKiv.]      JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


31 


order  by  the  President  or  a  Senator,  he 
shall  sit  down ;  and  every  question  of  order 
shall  be  decided  by  the  President,  without 
debate,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the  Senate  ; 
and  the  President  may  call  for  the  sense  of 
the  Senate  on  any  question  of  order.  Eule 
40.1 

[No  member  shall  speak  to  another  or 
otherwise  interrupt  the  business  of  the 
Senate,  or  read  any  newspapers  while  the 
journals  or  public  papers  are  being  read, 
or  when  any  member  is  speaking  in  any 
debate.    Eule  38.] 

No  one  is  to  disturb  another  in  his 
speech  by  hissing,  coughing,  spitting,  6 
Grey,  382;  Scob.,  8;  D'Ewes,  332,  col.  1, 
640,  col,  2,  speaking  or  whispering  to  an- 
other, Scob.,  6;  D'Ewes,  487,  col.  1;  nor 
stand  up  to  interrupt  him,  Town.,  col.  205 ; 
Mem.  in  Hakew.,  31;  nor  to  pass  between 
the  Speaker  and  the  speaking  member,  nor 
to  go  across  the  House,  Scob.,  6,  to  walk 
up  and  down  it,  or  to  take  books  or  papers 
from  the  table  or  write  there,  2  Hats., 
171. 

Nevertheless,  if  a  member  finds  that  it  is 
not  the  inclination  of  the  House  to  hear 
him,  and  that  by  conversation  or  any  other 
noise  they  endeavor  to  drown  his  voice,  it 
is  his  most  prudent  way  to  submit  to  the 
pleasure  of  the  House,  and  sit  down ;  for  it 
scarcely  ever  happens  that  they  are  guilty 
of  this  piece  of  ill-manners  without  suffi- 
cient reason,  or  inattentive  to  a  member 
who  says  anything  worth  their  hearing.  2 
Hats.,  77,  78. 

If  repeated  calls  do  not  produce  order, 
the  Speaker  may  call  by  nis  name  any 
member  obstinately  persisting  in  irregu- 
larity ;  whereupon  the  House  may  require 
the  member  to  withdraw.  He  is  then  to 
be  heard  in  exculpation,  and  to  withdraw. 
Then  the  Speaker  states  the  oifense  com- 
mitted ;  and  the  House  considers  the  de- 
gree of  punishment  they  will  inflict.  2 
Hats.,  167,  7,  8,  172. 

For  instances  of  assaults  and  affrays  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  proceed- 
ings thereon,  see  1  Pet.  Misc.,  82 ;  3  Grey, 
128;  4  Grey,  328 ;  5  Grey,  382 ;  6  Grey,  254  ; 
10  Grey,  8.  Whenever  warm  words  or  an 
assault  have  passed  between  members,  the 
House,  for  the  protection  of  their  njembers, 
requires  them  to  declare  in  their  places  not 
to  prosecute  any  quarrel,  3  Grey,  128,  293  ; 
5  Grey,  280  ;  or  orders  them  to  attend  the 
Speaker,  who  is  to  accommodate  their  dif- 
ferences, and  report  to  the  House,  3  Grey, 
419 ;  and  they  are  put  under  restraint  if 
they  refuse,  or  until  they  do.  9  Grey,  234, 
312. 

Disorderly  works  are  not  to  be  noticed 
till  the  member  has  finished  his  speech.  5 
Grey,  356 ;  6  Grey,  60.  Then  the  person 
objecting  to  them,  and  desiring  them  to  be 
taten  down  by  the  Clerk  at  the  table,  must 
repeat  them.    The  Speaker  then  may  di- 


rect the  Clerk  to  take  them  down  in  his 
minutes ;  but  if  he  thinks  them  not  disor- 
derly, he  delays  the  direction.  If  the  call 
becomes  jpretty  general,  he  orders  the  Clerk 
to  take  them  down,  as  stated  by  the  object- 
ing member.  They  are  then  a  part  of  his 
minutes,  and  when  read  to  the  offending 
member,  he  may  deny  they  were  his  words, 
and  the  House  must  then  decide  by  a  ques- 
tion whether  they  are  his  words  or  not. 
Then  the  member  may  justify  them,  or  ex- 
plain the  sense  in  which  he  used  them,  or 
apologize.  If  the  House  is  satisfied,  no 
further  proceeding  is  necessary.  But  if 
two  members  still  insist  to  take  the  sense  of 
the  House,  the  member  must  withdraw  be- 
fore that  question  is  stated,  and  then  the 
sense  of  the  House  is  to  be  taken.  2  Hats., 
199 ;  4  Grey,  170  ;  6  Grey,  69.  When  any 
member  has  spoken,  or  other  business  in- 
tervened, after  offensive  words  spoken, 
they  cannot  be  taken  notice  of  for  censure. 
And  this  is  for  the  common  security  of  all, 
and  to  prevent  mistakes  which  must  hap- 
pen if  words  are  not  taken  down  immedi- 
ately. Formerly  they  might  be  taken  down 
at  any  time  the  same  day.  2  Hats,  196 ; 
Mem.  in  Hakew.,  71 ;  3  Grey,  48 ;  9  Grey, 
514. 

Disorderly  words  spoken  in  a  committee 
must  be  written  down  as  in  the  House ; 
but  the  committee  can  only  report  them  to 
the  House  for  animadversion.    6  Grey,  46. 

[The  rule  of  the  Senate  says :  If  the 
member  be  called  to  order  by  a  Senator 
for  words  spoken,  the  exceptionable  words 
shall  immediately  be  taken  down  in  writ- 
ing, that  the  President  may  be  better  able 
to  judge  of  the  matter.     Rule  37.] 

In  Parliament,  to  speak  irreverently  or 
seditiously  against  the  King,  is  against 
order.  Smyth's  Comw.,  L.  2,  c.S;  2  Hats., 
170. 

It  is  a  breach  of  order  in  debate  to  no- 
tice what  has  been  said  on  the  same  sub- 
ject in  the  other  House,  or  the  particular 
votes  or  majorities  on  it  there;  because  the 
opinion  of  each  House  should  be  left  to  its 
own  independency,  not  to  be  influenced  by 
the  proceedings  of  the  other;  and  the 
quoting  them  might  beget  reflections  lead- 
ing to  a  misunderstanding  between  the  two 
Houses.     2  Grey,  22. 

Neither  House  can  exercise  any  author- 
ity over  a  member  or  officer  of  tne  other, 
but  should  complain  to  the  House  of  which 
he  is,  and  leave  the  punishment  to  them. 
Where  the  complaint  la  of  words  disrespect- 
fully spoken  by  a  member  of  another 
House,  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  punishment, 
because  of  the  rules  supposed  necessary  to 
be  observed  (as  to  the  immediate  noting 
down  of  words)  for  the  security  of  mem- 
bers. Therefore  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
House,  and  more  particularly  of  the 
Speaker,  to  interfere  immediately,  and  not 
to   permit  expressions   to   go  unnoticed 


32 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  iy. 


which  may  eive  a  ground  of  complaint  to 
the  other  House,  and  introduce  proceed- 
ings and  mutual  accusations  between  the 
two  Houses,  which  can  hardly  be  termi- 
nated without  diflSculty  and  disorder. 
3  Hats.,  61. 

No  member  may  be  present  when  a  bill 
or  any  business  concerning  himself  is  de- 
bating ;  nor  is  any  member  to  speak  to  the 
merits  of  it  till  he  withdraws.  2  Hats.,  219. 
The  rule  is,  that  if  a  charge  against  a  mem- 
ber arise  out  of  a  report  of  a  committee,  or 
examination  of  witnesses  in  the  House,  as 
the  member  knows  from  that  to  what 
points  he  is  to  direct  his  exculpation,  he 
may  be  heard  to  those  points  before  any 
question  is  moved  or  stated  against  him. 
He  is  then  to  be  heard,  and  withdraw  be- 
fore any  question  is  moved.  But  if  the 
question  itself  is  the  charge,  as  for  breach 
of  order  or  matter  arising  in  the  debate, 
then  the  charge  must  be  stated,  (that  is, 
the  question  must  be  moved,)  himself 
heard,  and  then  to  withdraw.  2  Hats., 
121,  122. 

Where  the  private  interests  of  a  member 
are  concerned  in  a  bill  or  question  he  is  to 
withdraw.  And  where  such  an  interest 
has  appeared,  his  voice  has  been  disal- 
lowed, even  after  a  division.  In  a  case  so 
contrary,  not  only  to  the  laws  of  decency, 
but  to  the  fundamental  principle  of  the 
social  compact,  which  denies  to  any  man 
to  be  a  judge  in  his  own  cause,  it  is  for 
the  honor  of  the  House  that  this  rule  of 
immemorial  observance  should  be  strictly 
adhered  to.    2  Hats.,  119,  121 ;  6  Grey,  368. 

No  member  is  to  come  into  the  House 
with  his  head  covered,  nor  to  remove  from 
one  place  to  another  with  his  hat  on,  nor 
is  he  to  put  on  his  hat  in  coming  in  or  re- 
moving, until  he  be  set  down  in  his  place. 
Scoh.,  6. 

A  question  of  order  may  be  adjourned  to 
give  time  to  look  into  precedents.  2 
Hats.,  118. 

In  Parliament,  all  decisions  of  the 
Speaker  may  be  controlled  by  the  House. 
3  Grey,  319. 

8EC.  XVIII. — ORDERS  OP  THE  HOUSE. 

Of  right,  the  door  of  the  House  ought 
not  to  be  shut,  but  to  be  kept  by  porters, 
or  Sergeants-at-Arms,  assigned  for  that 
purpose.     Mod.  ten.  Pari.,  23." 

[  By  the  rules  of  the  Senate,  on  motion 
made  and  sec^onded  to  shut  the  doors  of 
the  Senate  on  the  discussion  of  any  busi- 
ness which  may,  in  the  opinion  of  a  mem- 
ber, renuire  secrecy,  the  President  shall 
direct  tne  gallery  to  be  cleared ;  and  dur- 
ing the  discussion  of  such  motion  the 
doors  shall  remain  shut.     Rule  64.] 

[No  motion  shall  be  deemed  in  order  to 
admit  any  person  or  persona  whatsoever 
within  the  doors  of  the  Senate  chamber  to 


present  any  petition,  memorial,  or  address, 
or  to  hear  any  such  read.     Rule  19.] 

The  only  case  where  a  member  has  a 
right  to  insist  on  anything,  is  where  he 
calls  for  the  execution  of  a  subsisting 
order  of  the  House.  Here,  there  having 
been  already  a  resolution,  any  person  has 
a  right  to  insist  that  the  SpeaKer,  or  any 
other  whose  duty  it  is,  shall  carry  it  into 
execution ;  and  no  debate  or  delay  can  be 
had  on  it.  Thus  any  member  has  a  right 
to  have  the  House  or  gallery  cleared  of 
strangers,  an  order  existmg  for  that  pur- 
pose; or  to  have  the  House  told  when 
there  is  not  a  quorum  present.  2  Hats., 
87,  129.  How  far  an  order  of  the  House 
is  binding,  see  Hakew.,  392. 

But  where  an  order  is  made  ..hat  any 
particular  matter  be.  taken  up  on  a  par- 
ticular day,  there  a  question  is  to  be  put, 
when  it  is  called  for,  whether  the  House 
will  now  proceed  to  that  matter?  Where 
orders  of  the  day  are  on  important  or  in- 
teresting matter,  they  ought  not  to  be  pro- 
ceeded on  till  an  hour  at  which  the  House 
is  usually  ftill,  [which  in  Senateis  at  noon.] 

Orders  of  the  day  may  be  discharged  at 
any  time,  and  a  new  one  made  for  adiflfer- 
ent  day.     3  Gr^,  48,  313. 

When  a  session  is  drawing  to  a  close, 
and  the  important  bills  are  all  brought  in, 
the  House,  in  order  to  prevent  interrup- 
tion by  further  unimportant  bills,  some^ 
times  comes  to  a  resolution  that  no  new 
bill  be  brought  in,  except  it  be  sent  from 
the  other  House.     3  Grey,  156. 

All  orders  of  the  House  determine  with 
the  session ;  and  one  taken  under  such  an 
order  may,  after  the  session  is  ended,  be 
discharged  on  a  habeas  corpus.  Raym., 
120;  Jacob's  L.  D.  by  Ruff  head;  Parlia- 
ment, 1  Lev.,  165,  Pritchard's  case. 

[W^here  the  Constitution  authorizes  each 
House  to  determine  the  rules  of  its  pro- 
ceedings, it  must  mean  in  those  cases 
(legislative,  executive,  or  judiciary)  sub- 
mitted to  them  by  the  Constitution,  or  in 
something  relating  to  these,  and  necessary 
toward  their  execution.  But  orders  and 
resolutions  are  sometimes  entered  in  the 
journals  having  no  relation  to  these,  such 
as  acceptances  of  invitations  to  attend  ora- 
tions, t^  take  part  in  processions,  &c. 
These  must  be  understood  to  be  merely 
conventional  among  those  who  are  willing 
to  participate  in  the  ceremony,  and  are 
therefore,  perhaps,  improperly  placed 
among  the  records  of  the  House.] 

SEC.  XIX. — ^PETITION. 

A  petition  prays  something.  A  remon- 
strance has  no  prayer.     1  Grey,  58. 

Petitions  must  be  subscribed  by  the 
petitioners,  Scob.,  87;  L.  Pari,  c.  22;  9 
Grey,  362,  unless  they  are  attending,  1 
Grey,  401,  or  unable  to  sign,  and  averred 


BOOK  IV.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


33 


by.  a  member,  3  Grey,  418.    But  a  petition 
not  subscribed,   but  which  the  member 

E resenting  it  affirmed  to  be  all  in  the 
andwriting  of  the  petitioner,  and  his 
name  written  in  the  beginning,  was  on  the 
question  (March  14,  1800)  received  by  the 
Senate.  The  averment  of  a  member,  or 
of  somebody  without  doors,  that  they  know 
the  handwriting  of  the  petitioners,  is 
necessary,  if  it  be  questioned.  6  Grey,  36. 
It  must  be  presented  by  a  member — not 
by  the  petitioners,  and  must  be  opened  by 
him  holding  it  in  his  hand.  10  Grey,  57. 
[Before  any  petition  or  memorial  ad- 
dressed to  the  Senate  shall  be  received 
and  read  at  the  table,  whether  the  same 
shall  be  introduced  by  the  President  or  a 
member,  a  brief  statement  of  the  contents 
of  the  petition  or  memorial  shall  verbally 
be  made  by  the  introducer.     Rule  14.] 

Regularly  a  motion  for  receiving  it  must 
be  made  and  seconded,  and  a  question  put, 
whether  it  shall  be  received?  but  a  cry 
from  the  House  of  "  received,"  or  even  its 
silence,  dispenses  with  the  formality  of 
this  question.  It  is  then  to  be  read  at  the 
table  and  disposed  of. 

SEC.  XX. — MOTIONS. 

When  a  motion  has  been  made,  it  is  not 
to  be  put  to  the  question  or  debated  until  it 
is  seconded.    Scoh.,  21. 

[The  Senate  says :  No  motion  shall  be 
debated  until  the  same  shall  be  seconded. 
je«?e42.] 

It  is  then,  and  not  till  then,  in  possess- 
ion of  the  House,  and  cannot  be  withdrawn 
but  by  leave  of  the  House.  It  is  to  be  put 
into  writing,  if  the  House  or  Speaker  re- 
quire it,  and  must  be  read  to  the  House  by 
the  Speaker  as  often  as  any  member  de- 
sires it  for  his  information.    2  Hats.,  82. 

[The  rule  of  the  Senate  is,  when  a  mo- 
tion shall  be  made  -and  seconded,  it  shall 
be  reduced  to  writing,  if  desired  by  the 
President  or  any  member,  delivered  in  at 
the  table,  and  read  by  the  President,  be- 
fore the  same  shall  be  debated.    Rule  42.] 

It  might  be  asked  whether  a  motion  for 
adjournment  or  for  the  orders  of  the  day 
can  be  made  by  one  member  while  anoth- 
er is  speaking?  It  cannot.  When  two 
members  offer  to  speak,  he  who  rose  first 
is  to  be  heard,  and  it  is  a  breach  of  order 
in  another  to  interrupt  him,  unless  by 
calling  him  to  order  if  he  departs  from  it. 
And  the  question  of  order  being  decided, 
he  is  still  to  be  heard  through.  A  call  for 
adjournment,  or  for  the  order  of  the  day, 
or  for  the  fjuestion,  by  gentlemen  from 
their  seats,  is  not  a  motion.  No  motion 
can  be  made  without  rising  and  address- 
ing the  Chair.  Such  calls  are  themselves 
breaches  of  order,  which,  though  the  mem- 
ber who  has  risen  may  respect,  as  an  ex- 
pression of  impatience  of  the  House 
;     49 


against  further  debate,  yet,  if  he  chooses, 
he  has  a  right  to  go  on. 

SEC.  XXI. — RESOLUTIONS. 

When  the  House  commands,  it  is  by  an 
"order."  But  fact,  principles,  and  their 
own  opinions  and  purposes,  are  expressed 
in  the  form  of  resolutions. 

[A  resolution  for  an  allowance  of  money 
to  the  clerks  being  moved,  it  was  objected 
to  as  not  in  order,  and  so  ruled  by  the 
Chair ;  but  on  appeal  to  the  Senate,  [i.  e., 
a  call  for  their  sense  by  the  President,  on 
account  of  doubt  in  his  mind,  according  to 
Rule  6,)  the  decision  was  overruled.  Jour. 
Senate,  June  1,  1796.  I  presume  the  doubt 
was,  whether  an  allowance  of  money  could 
be  made  otherwise  than  by  bill.] 

SEC.  XXII. — BILLS. 

[Every  bill  shall  receive  three  readings 
previous  to  its  being  passed ;  and  the  Pres- 
ident shall  give  notice  at  each  whether  it 
be  first,  second,  or  third ;  which  readings 
shall  be  on  three  different  days,  unless  the 
Senate  unanimously  direct  otherwise. 
Rule  23.] 

SEC.  XXIII. — BILLS,  LEAVE  TO  BRING   IN, 

[One  day's  notice,  at  least,  shall  be  given 
of  an  intended  motion  for  leave  to  bring  in 
a  bill.    Rule  22.1 

When  a  member  desires  to  bring  in  a 
bill  on  any  subject,  he  states  to  the  House 
in  general  terms  the  causes  for  doing  it, 
and  concludes  by  moving  for  leave  to 
bring  in  a  bill,  entitled,  &c.  Leave  being 
given,  on  the  question,  a  committee  is  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  and  bring  in  the  bill. 
The  mover  and  seconder  are  always  ap- 
pointed of  this  committee,  and  one  or  more 
m  addition.     Hakew.,  132 ;  Scob.,  40. 

It  is  to  be  presented  fairly  written,  with- 
out any  erasure  or  interlineation,  or  the 
Speaker  may  refuse  it.  Scoh.,  41 ;  1  Qrey, 
82,  84. 

SEC.  XXrV. — BILLS,  FIRST   READING. 

When  a  bill  is  first  presented,  the  Clerk 
reads  it  at  the  table,  and  hands  it  to  the 
Speaker,  who,  rising,  states  to  the  House 
the  title  of  the  bill ;  that  this  is  the  first 
time  of  reading  it ;  and  the  question  will 
be,  whether  it  shall  be  read  a  second  time  ? 
then  sitting  down  to  give  an  opening  for 
objections.  If  none  oe  made,  he  rises 
again,  and  puts  the  question,  whether  it 
shall  be  read  a  second  time  ?  Hakew,  137, 
141.  A  bill  cannot  be  amended  on  the 
first  reading,  6  Orq/,  286 ;  nor  is  it  usual 
for  it  to  be  opposed  then,  but  it  may  be 
done,  and  rejected.  D^Ewes,  335,  col.  1 ;  8 
Hats.,  198. 

SEC.  XXV. — CHILLS,  SECOND  READING. 

The  second  reading  mustregularlybeon 
another  day     Hakew.,  143.    It  is  done  by 


"1 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IV. 


the  Clerk  at  the  table,  who  then  hands  it 
to  the  Speaker.  The  Speaker,  rising,  states 
to  the  House  the  title  of  the  bill ;  that  this 
is  the  second  time  of  reading  it ;  and  that 
the  question  will  be,  whether  it  shall  be 
committed,  or  engrossed  and  read  a  third 
time  ?  But  if  the  bill  came  from  the  other 
House,  as  it  always  comes  engrossed,  he 
states  that  the  question  will  oe  read  a 
third  time  ?  and  before  he  has  so  reported 
the  state  of  the  bill,  no  one  is  to  speak  to 
it.     Hakew.,  14S-146. 

[In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the 
President  reports  the  title  of  the  bill ;  that 
this  is  the  second  time  of  reading  it ;  that 
it  is  now  to  be  considered  as  in  a  Commit- 
tee of  the  Whole ;  and  the  question  will 
be,  whether  it  shall  be  read  a  third  time  ? 
or  that  it  may  be  referred  to  a  special 
committee  ?] 

SEC.  XXVI,— BILLS,  COMMITMENT. 

If  on  motion  and  question  it  be  decided 
that  the  bill  shall  be  committed,  it  may 
then  be  moved  to  be  referred  to  Commit- 
tee of  the  Whole  House,  or  to  a  special 
committee.  If  the  latter,  the  Speaker  pro- 
ceeds to  name  the  committee.  Any  mem- 
ber also  may  name  a  single  person,  and 
the  Clerk  is  to  write  him  down  as  of  the 
committee.  But  the  House  have  a  con- 
trolling power  over  the  names  and  num- 
ber, if  a  question  be  moved  against  any 
one ;  and  may  in  any  case  put  in  and  put 
out  whom  they  please. 

Those  who  take  exceptions  to  some  par- 
ticulars in  the  bill  are  to  be  of  the  com- 
mittee, but  none  who  speak  directly 
against  the  body  of  the  bill;  for  he  that  would 
totally  destroy  will  not  amend  it,  Hakew., 
146  ;  Town.,  col.  208  ;  jyEwes,  634,  col.  2  ; 
Scab.,  47,  or,  as  is  said,  6  Grey,  145,  the  child 
is  not  to  be  put  to  a  nurse  that  cares  not 
for  it,  6  Orey,  373.  It  is  therefore  a  con- 
stant rule  "  that  no  man  is  to  be  employed 
in  any  matter  who  has  declared  himself 
against  it."  And  when  any  member  who 
is  against  the  bill  hears  himself  named  of 
its  committee,  he  ought  to  ask  to  be  ex- 
cused. Thus,  March  7,  1606,  Mr.  Hadley 
was,  on  the  question  being  put,  excused 
from  being  of  a  committee,  declaring  him- 
self to  be  against  the  matter  itself. 
Scoh.,  46. 

[No  bill  shall  be  committed  or  amended 
until  it  shall  have  been  twice  read  ;  after 
which  it  may  be  referred  to  a  committee. 
Rule  24.] 

[In  the  appointment  of  the  standing 
committees,  the  Senate  will  proceed,  by 
ballot,  severally  to  appoint  the  chairman 
of  each  committee,  and  then,  by  one  ballot, 
the  other  members  necessary  to  complete 
the  "ame ;  and  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  votes  given  shall  be  necessary 
to  the  choice  of  a  chairman  of  a  standing 
committ€e.    All  other  committees  shall  be 


appointed  by  ballot,  and  a  plurality  of 
votes  shall  make  a  choice.  When  any 
subject  or  matter  shall  have  been  referred 
to  a  committee,  any  other  subject  or  matter 
of  a  similar  nature,  may,  on  motion,  be  re- 
ferred to  such  committee. 

The  Clerk  may  deliver  the  bill  to  any 
member  of  the  committee.  Town.,  col.  138  ; 
but  it  is  usual  to  deliver  it  to  him  who  is 
first  named. 

In  some  cases  the  House  has  ordered  a 
committee  to  withdraw  immediately  into 
the  committee  chamber,  and  act  on  and 
bring  back  the  bill,  sitting  the  House, 
Scoh.,  48.  A  committee  meet  when  and 
where  they  please,  if  the  House  has  not 
ordered  time  and  place  for  them,  6  Grey, 
370 ;  but  they  can  only  act  when  together, 
and  not  by  separate  consultation  and  con- 
sent— nothing  being  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee but  what  has  been  agreed  to  in 
committee  actually  assembled. 

A  majority  of  the  committee  constitutes 
a  quorum  for  business.  Elsynge's  Method 
of  Passing  Bills,  11. 

Any  member  of  the  House  may  be 
present  at  any  select  committee,  but  can- 
not vote,  and  must  give  place  to  all  of  the 
committee,  and  sit  below  them.  Elsynge, 
12;  Scoh.,4Q. 

The  committee  have  full  power  over  the 
bill  or  other  paper  committed  to  them,  ex- 
cept that  they  cannot  change  the  title  or 
suWect.     8  Grey,  228. 

The  paper  before  a  committee,  whether 
select  or  of  the  whole,  may  be  a  bill,  reso- 
lutions, draught  of  an  address,  &c.,  and  it 
may  either  originate  with  them  or  be  re- 
ferred to  them.  In  every  case  the  whole 
paper  is  read  first  by  the  Clerk,  and  then 
by  the  chairman,  by  paragraphs,  Scoh.,  49, 
pausing  at  the  end  of  each  paragraph,  and 
putting  questions  for  amending,  if  pro- 
posed. In  case  of  resolutions  on  distinct 
subjects,  originating  with  themselves,  a 
question  is  put  on  each  separately,  as 
amended  or  unamended,  and  no  final  ques- 
tion on  the  whole,  3  Hats.,  276 ;  but  if  they 
relate  to  .the  same  subject,  a  question  is 
put  on  the  whole.  If  it  be  a  bill,  draught 
of  an  address,  or  other  paper  originating 
with  them,  they  proceed  by  paragraphs, 
putting  questions  for  amending,  either  by 
insertion  or  striking  out,  if  proposed  ;  but 
no  question  on  agreeing  to  tne  paragraphs 
separately ;  this  is  reserved  to  the  close, 
when  a  question  is  put  on  the  whole,  for 
agreeing  to  it  as  amended  or  unamended. 
But  if  it  be  a  paper  referred  to  them,  the^v 
proceed  to  put  questions  of  amendment,  if 
proposed,  but  no  final  question  on  the 
whole ;  because  all  parts  of  the  paper,  hav- 
ing been  adopted  by  the  House,  stand,  of 
course,  unless  altered  or  struck  out  by  a 
vote.  Even  if  they  are  opposed  to  the 
whole  paper,  and  think  it  cannot  be  made 
good  by  amendments,  they  cannot  reject 


BOOK  IT.]      JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


35 


it,  but  must  report  it  back  to  the  House 
without'  amendments,  and  there  make 
their  opposition. 

The  natural  order  in  considering  and 
amending  any  paper  is,  to  begin  at  the  be- 
ginning, and  proceed  through  it  by  para- 
graphs; and  this  order  is  so  strictly  ad- 
hered to  in  Parliament,  that  when  a  latter 
Eart  has  been  amended,  you  cannot  recur 
ack  and  make  any  alteration  in  a  former 
Eart.  2  Hats.,  90.  In  numerous  assem- 
lies  this  restraint  is  doubtless  important. 
[But  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
though  in  the  main  we  consider  and  amend 
the  paragraphs  in  their  natural  order,  yet 
recurrences  are  indulged ;  and  they  seem, 
on  the  whole,  in  that  small  body,  to  pro- 
duce advantages  overweighing  their  incon- 
veniences.] 

To  this  natural  order  of  beginning  at 
the  beginning,  there  is  a  single  exception 
found  in  parliamentary  usage.  When  a 
bill  is  taken  up  in  committee,  or  on  its 
second  reading,  they  postpone  the  pream- 
ble till  the  other  parts  of  the  bill  are  gone 
through.  The  reason  is,  that  on  considera- 
tion of  the  body  of  the  bill  such  alterations 
may  therein  be  made  as  may  also  occasion 
the  alteration  of  the  preamble.  Scob.,  60  ; 
7  Grey,^Zl. 

On  this  head  the  following  case  occurred 
in  the  Senate,  March  6, 1800 :  A  resolution 
which  had  no  preamble  having  been  al- 
ready amended  by  the  House  so  that  a  few 
words  only  of  the  original  remained  in  it, 
a  motion  was  made  to  prefix  a  preamble, 
which  having  an  aspect  very  different  from 
the  resolution,  the  mover  intimated  that 
he  should  afterwards  propose  a  correspon- 
dent amendment  in  the  body  of  the  resolu- 
tion. It  was  objected  that  a  preamble 
could  not  be  taken  up  till  the  body  of  the 
resolution  is  done  with ;  but  the  preamble 
was  received,  because  we  are  in  fact  through 
the  body  of  the  resolution ;  we  have  amend- 
ed that  as  far  as  amendments  have  been 
offered,  and,  indeed,  till  little  of  the  ori- 
ginal is  left.  It  is  the  proper  time,  there- 
fore, to  consider  a  preamble  ;  and  whether 
the  one  offered  be  consistent  with  the  re- 
solution is  for  the  House  to  determine. 
The  mover,  indeed,  has  intimated  that  he 
shall  offer  a  subsequent  proposition  for  the 
body  of  the  resolution ;  but  the  House  is 
not  in  possession  of  it ;  it  remains  in  his 
breast,  and  may  be  withheld.  The  rules 
of  the  House  can  only  operate  on  what  is 
before  them.  [The  practice  of  the  Senate, 
too,  allows  recurrences  backward  and  for- 
ward for  the  purposes  of  amendment,  not 
permitting  amendments  in  a  subsequent, 
to  preclude  those  in  a  prior  part,  or  e  con- 
verso.  ] 

When  the  committee  is  through  the 
whole,  a  member  moves  that  the  commit- 
tee may  rise,  and  the  chairman  report  the 
paper  -to   the   House,  with    or  without 


amendments,  as  the  case  may  be.  2  Hats., 
289,  292  ;  Scab.,  53 ;  2  Hats.,  290  ;  8  Scoh., 
50. 

When  a  vote  is  once  passed  in  a  com- 
mittee, it  cannot  be  altered  but  by  the 
House,  their  votes  being  binding  on  them- 
selves.    1607j  June  4. 

The  committee  may  not  erase,  interline, 
or  blot  the  bill  itself;  but  must,  in  a  pa- 
per by  itself,  set  down  the  amendments, 
stating  the  words  which  are  to  be  inserted 
or  omitted,  Scob.,  50,  and  where,  by  refer- 
ences to  page,  line,  and  word  of  the  bill. 
Scob.,  50. 

SEC.  XXVII. — REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE. 

The  chairman  of  the  committee,  stand- 
ing in  his  place,  informs  the  House  that 
the  committee  to  whom  was  referred  such 
a  bill,  have,  according  to  order,  had  the 
same  under  consideration,  and  have  di- 
rected him  to  report  the  same  without  any 
amendment,  or  with  sundry  amendments 
(as  the  case  may  be),  which  he  is  ready  to 
do  when  the  House  pleases  to  receive  it. 
And  he  or  any  other  may  move  that  it  be 
now  received  ;  but  the  cry  of  "  now,  now," 
from  the  House,  generally  dispenses  with 
the  formality  of  a  motion  and  question. 
He  then  reads  the  amendments,  with  the 
coherence  in  the  bill,  and  opens  the  altera- 
tions and  the  reasons  of  the  committee  for 
such  amendments,  until  he  has  gone 
through  the  whole.  He  then  delivers  it 
at  the  Clerk's  table,  where  the  amend- 
ments reported  are  read  by  the  Clerk 
without  the  coherence ;  whereupon  the 
papers  lie  upon  the  table  till  the  House,  at 
its  convenience,  shall  take  up  the  report 
Scob.,  52 ;  Hakew.,  148. 

The  report  being  made,  the  committee 
is  dissolved,  and  can  act  no  more  without 
a  new  power.  Scob.,  51.  But  it  may  be 
revived  by  a  vote,  and  the  same  matter  re- 
committed to  them.     4  Grey,  361. 

SEC.  XXVIII. — BILL,  RECOMMITMENT. 

After  a  bill  has  been  committed  and  re- 
ported, it  ought  not,  in  an  ordinary  course, 
to  be  recommitted;  but  in  cases  of  im- 
portance, and  for  special  reasons,  it  is 
sometimes  recommitted,  and  usually  to 
the  same  committee.  Hakeic,  151.  If  a 
report  be  recommitted  before  agreed  to  in 
the  House,  what  has  passed  in  committee 
is  of  no  validity;  the  whole  question  is 
again  before  the  committee,  and  a  new 
resolution  must  be  again  moved,  as  if  noth- 
ing had  passed.    3  Hats.,  131 — note. 

In  Senate,  January,  1800,  the  salvace 
bill  was  recommitted  three  times  after  the 
commitment. 

A  jjarticular  clause  of  a  bill  may  be 
committed  without  the  whole  bill,  3  Hats., 
131 ;  or  so  much  of  a  paper  to  one  and  so 
much  to  another  committee. 


36 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


BEC.    XXIX. — BILL,   REPORTS    TAKEN    UP. 

When  the  report  of  a  paper  originating 
with  a  committee  is  taken  up  by  the 
House,  they  proceed  exactly  as  in  com- 
mittee. Here,  as  in  committee,  when  the 
paragraphs  have,  on  distinct  questions, 
been  agreed  to  seriatim,  5  G7'et/,  366 ;  6 
Grey,  368 ;  8  Grey,  47, 104, 360 ;  1  Torbuck's 
Deb.,  125 ;  3  Hats.,  348,  no  question  needs 
be  put  on  the  whole  report.    5  Grey,  381. 

On  taking  up  a  bill  reported  with 
amendments,  the  amendments  only  are 
read  by  the  Clerk.  The  Speaker  then 
reads  the  first,  and  puts  it  to  the  question, 
and  so  on  till  the  whole  are  adopted  or  re- 
jected, before  any  other  amendnient  be 
admitted,  except  it  be  an  amendment  to 
an  amendment.  Elsynge's  Mem.,  53.  When 
through  the  amendments  of  the  commit- 
tee, the  Speaker  pauses,  and  gives  time  for 
amendments  to  be  proposed  in  the  House 
to  the  body  of  the  bill ;  as  he  does  also  if 
it  has  been  reported  without  amendments  : 
putting  no  questions  but  on  amendments 

Eroposed;  and  when  through  the  whole, 
e  puts  the  question  whether  the  bill  shall 
be  read  a  third  time  ? 

SEC.  XXX. — QUASI-COMMITTEE. 

If  on  motion  and  question  the  bill  be 
not  committed,  or  if  no  proposition  for 
commitment  be  made,  then  tne  proceed- 
ings in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
and  in  Parliament  are  totally  different. 
The  former  shall  be  first  stated. 

[The  25th  rule  of  the  Senate  says :  "  All 
bills  on  a  second  reading  shall  first  be  con- 
sidered by  the  Senate  in  the  same  manner 
as  if  the  Senate  were  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole  before  they  shall  be  taken  up  and 
proceeded  on  by  the  Senate  agreeably  to 
the  standing  rules,  unless  otherwise  or- 
dered ;"  (that  is  to  say,  unless  ordered  to 
be  referred  to  a  special  committee.)  And 
when  the  Senate  shall  consider  a  treaty, 
bill,  or  resolution,  as  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  the  Vice-President  or  President 
pro  tempore  may  call  a  member  to  fill  the 
chair  during  the  time  the  Senate  shall  re- 
main in  Committee  of  the  Whole;  and  the 
'  chairman  (so  called)  shall,  during  such 
time,  have  the  powers  of  a  President  pro 
tempore.] 

■  [The  proceeding  of  the  Senate  as  in  a 
Committee  of  the  Whole,  or  in  quasi-com- 
mittee,  is  precisely  as  in  a  real  Committee 
of  the  Whole,  taking  no  questions  but  on 
amendments.  When  through  the  whole, 
they  consider  the  quasi-committee  as  risen, 
the  House  resumed  without  any  motion, 
question,  or  resolution  to  that  effect,  and 
tne  President  reports  that  "the  House, 
acting  as  in  a  Committee  of  the  Whole, 
have  had  under  their  consideration  the 
bill  entitled,  &c.,  and  have  made  sundry 
amendments,  which  he  will  now  report  to 
the  House."  The  bill  is  then  before  them, 


as  it  would  have  been  if  reported  from  a 
committee,  and  questions  are  regularly  to 
be  put  again  on  every  amendment ;  which 
bein^  gone  through,  the  President  pauses 
to  give  time  to  the  House  to  propose 
amendments  to  the  body  of  the  bul,  and, 
when  through,  puts  the  question  whether 
it  shall  be  read  a  third  time  ?] 

[After  progress  in  amending  the  bill  in 
quasi-committee,  a  motion  may  be  made  to 
refer  it  to  a  special  committee.  If  the 
motion  prevails,  it  is  equivalent  in  effect  to 
the  several  votes,  that  the  committee  rise, 
the  House  resume  itself,  discharge  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  refer  the 
bill  to  a  special  committee.  In  that  case, 
the  amendments  already  made  fall.  But 
if  the  motion  fails,  the  quasi-committee 
stands  in  statu  quo.] 

[How  far  does  this  25th  rule  subject  the 
House,  when  in  quasi-committee,  to  the 
laws  which  regulate  the  proceedings  of 
Committees  of  the  Whole  ?]  The  particu- 
lars in  which  these  differ  from  proceedings 
in  the  House  are  the  following  :  1.  In  a 
committee  every  member  may  speak  as  of- 
ten as  he  pleases.  2.  The  votes  of  a  com- 
mittee may  be  rejected  or  altered  wh<^^n  re- 
ported to  the  House.  8.  A  committee, 
even  of  the  whole,  cannot  refer  any  matter 
to  another  committee.  4.  In  a  committee 
no  previous  question  can  be  taken :  the 
only  means  to  avoid  an  improper  discus- 
sion is  to  move  that  the  committee  rise ; 
and  if  it  be  apprehended  that  the  same 
discussion  will  oe  attempted  on  returning 
into  committee,  the  House  can  discharge 
them,  and  proceed  itself  on  the  business, 
keeping  down  the  improper  discussion  by 
the  previous  question.  6.  A  committee 
cannot  punish  a  breach  of  order  in  the 
House  or  in  the  gallery.  9  Greu,  113.  It 
can  only  rise  and  report  it  to  the  House, 
who  may  proceed  to  punish.  [The  first 
and  second  of  these  peculiarities  attach  to 
the  quasi-committee  of  the  Senate,  as  every 
day's  practice  proves,  and  it  seems  to  be  the 
only  ones  to  wnich  the  25th  rule  meant  to 
subject  them ;  for  it  continues  to  be  a 
House,  and  therefore,  though  it  acts  in 
some  respects  as  a  committee,  in  others  it 
preserves  its  character  as  a  House.  Thus 
(3)  it  is  in  the  daily  habit  of  referring  its 
business  to  a  special  committee.  4.  It  ad- 
mits of  the  previous  question.  If  it  did 
not,  it  would  have  no  means  of  preventing 
an  improper  discussion :  not  bemg  able,  as 
a  committee  is,  to  avoid  it  by  retumine 
into  the  House,  for  the  moment  it  woula 
resume  the  same  subject  there,  the  25th 
rule  declares  it  again  a  quasi-committee. 
5.  It  would  doubtless  exercise  its  powers 
as  a  House  on  any  breach  of  order.  6. 
It  takes  a  question  by  yea  and  nay,  as  the 
House  does.  7.  It  receives  messages  from 
the  President  and  the  other  House.  8.  In 
the  midst  of  a  debate  it  receives  a  motion 


BOOKiv.]      JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


37 


to  adjourn,  and  adjourns  as  a  House,  not 
as  a  committee.] 

SEC.    XXXI. — BILL,   SECOND    BEADING    IN 
THE   HOUSE. 

In  Parliament,  after  the  bill  has  been 
read  a  second  time,  if  on  the  motion  and 
question  it  be  not  committed,  or  if  no  propo- 
sition for  commitment  be  made,  the  Speaker 
reads  it  by  paragraphs,  pausing  between 
each,  but  putting  no  question  but  on  amend- 
ments proposed;  and  when  through  the 
whole,  he  puts  the  question  whether  it  shall 
be  read  a  third  time  ?  if  it  came  from  the 
other  House ;  or,  if  originating  with  them- 
selves, whether  it  shall  be  engrossed  and 
read  a  third  time?  The  Speaker  reads 
sitting,  but  rises  to  put  questions.  The 
Clerk  stands  while  he  reads. 

[*  But  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  is 
so  much  in  the  habit  of  making  many  and 
material  amendments  at  the  third  reading, 
that  it  has  become  the  practice  not  to  en- 
gross a  bill  till  it  has  passed — an  irregu- 
lar and  dangerous  practice;  because  in 
this  way  the  paper  which  passes  the 
Senate  is  not  that  which  goes  to  the  other 
House,  and  that  which  goes  to  the  other 
House  as  the  act  of  the  Senate,  has  never 
been  seen  in  Senate.  In  reducing  nu- 
merous, difficult,  and  illegible  amend- 
ments into  the  text,  the  Secretary  may, 
with  the  most  innocent  intentions,  com- 
mit errors  which  can  never  again  be  cor- 
rected.] 

The  bill  being  now  as  perfect  as  its 
friends  can  make  it,  this  is  the  proper 
stage  for  those  fundamentally  opposed 
to  make  their  first  attack.  All  attempts 
at  earlier  periods  are  with  disjointed  ef- 
forts, because  many  who  do  not  expect  to 
be  in  favor  of  the  bill  ultimately,  are  wil- 
ling to  let  it  go  on  to  its  perfect  state,  to 
take  time  to  examine  it  themselves  and  to 
hear  what  can  be  said  for  it,  knowing  that 
aft^er  all  they  will  have  sufficient  opportu- 
nities of  giving  it  their  veto.  Its  two  last 
stages,  therefore,  are  reserved  for  this — 
that  is  to  say,  on  the  question  whether  it 
shall  be  engrossed  and  read  a  third  time  ? 
and,  lastly,  whether  it  shall  pass?  The 
first  of  these  is  usually  the  most  interesting 
contest ;  because  then  the  whole  subject  is 

♦  The  former  practice  of  the  Senate  referred  to  in  this 
paragraph  has  been  changed  by  the  following  rule : 

[The  final  queution  upon  the  second  reading  of  every 
bill,  rcHolution,  con.'ftitutiunal  amendment,  or  motion, 
originating  in  the  Senate  and  requiring  three  readings 
previous  to  being  passed,  shall  be,  '•  whether  it  shall  be 
engrossed  and  read  a  third  time  ?"  and  no  amendment 
shall  be  received  for  discussion  at  the  third  reading  of 
any  bill,  resolution,  amendment,  or  motion,  unless  by 
unanimous  consent  of  the  meml)eni  prt-sent ;  but  it  shall 
at  all  times  be  in  order  before  the  final  passage  of  any 
such  bill,  resolution,  constitutional  amendment,  or  mo- 
tion, to  move  its  commitment ;  and  should  such  commit- 
.rnent  take  place,  and  any  amendment  be  rejiorted  by  tiio 
committee,  the  said  bill,  resolutiim,  constitutional  amend- 
ment, or  motion,  shall  be  again  read  a  second  time,  and 
considered  as  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  and  then  the 
•foresaid  question  shall  be  again  put. — Bute  26.] 


new  and  engaging,  and  the  minds  of  the 
members  having  not  yet  been  declared  by 
any  trying  vote  the  issue  is  the  more 
doubtful.  In  this  stage,  therefore,  is  the 
main  trial  of  strength  between  its  friends 
and  opponents,  and  it  behooves  every  one 
to  make  up  his  mind  decisively  for  this 
question,  or  he  loses  the  main  battle ;  and 
accident  and  management  may,  and  often 
do,  prevent  a  successful  rallying  on  the 
next  and  last  question,  whether  it  shall 
pass? 

When  the  bill  is  engrossed,  the  title  is 
to  be  indorsed  on  the  back,  and  not  within 
the  hill— Hakew.,  250. 

SEC.  XXXII. — READING  PAPERS. 

Where  papers  are  laid  before  the  House 
or  referred  to  a  committee,  every  member 
has  a  right  to  have  them  once  read  at  the 
table  before  he  can  be  compelled  to  vote 
on  them ;  but  it  is  a  great  though  common 
error  to  suppose  that  he  has  a  right,  toties 
quoties,  to  have  acts,  journals,  accounts,  or 
papers  on  the  table,  read  independently  of 
the  will  of  the  House.  The  delay  and  in- 
terruption which  this  might  be  made  to 
produce  evince  the  impossibility  of  the  ex- 
istence of  such  a  right.  There  is,  indeed, 
so  manifest  a  propriety  of  permitting  every 
member  to  have  as  much  information  as 
possible  on  every  question  on  which  he  is 
to  vote,  that  when  he  desires  the  reading, 
if  it  be  seen  that  it  is  really  for  informa- 
tion and  not  for  delay,  the  Speaker  directs 
it  to  be  read  without  putting  a  question,  if 
no  one  objects ;  but  if  objected  to,  a  ques- 
tion must  be  put. — 2  Hats.,  117,  118. 

It  is  equally  an  error  to  suppose  that 
any  member  has  a  right,  without  a  ques- 
tion put,  to  lay  a  book  or  paper  on  the  table, 
and  have  it  read,  on  suggesting  that  it 
contains  matter  infringing  on  the  privi- 
leges of  the  House. — lb. 

For  the  same  reason,  a  member  has  not 
a  right  to  read  a  paper  in  his  place,  if  it 
be  objected  to,  witnout  leave  of  the  House. 
But  this  rigor  is  never  exercised  but  where 
there  is  an  intentional  or  gross  abuse  of 
the  time  and  patience  of  the  House. 

A  member  lias  not  a  right  even  to  read 
his  own  speech,  committed  to  writing, 
without  leave.  This  also  is  to  prevent  an 
abuse  of  time,  and  therefore  is  not  refused 
but  where  that  is  intended. — 2  Grey,  227. 
A  report  of  a  committee  of  the  Senate 
on  a  bill  from  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives being  under  consideration:  on  mo- 
tion that  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  same 
bill  be  read  in  the  Senate,  it  passed  in  the 
negative.— J'ei.  28,  1793. 

Formerly,  when  papers  were  referred  to 
a  committee,  they  used  to  be  first  read ; 
but  of  late  only  the  titles,  unless  a  mem- 
ber insists  they  shall  be  read,  and  then 
nobody  can  oppose  it. — 2  Hats.,  117. 


38 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  ir. 


SEC.  XXXIII. — PRIVILEGED  QUESTIONS. 

[*  While  a  question  is  before  the  Senate, 
no  motion  shall  be  received,  unless  for  an 
amendment,  for  the  previous  question,  or 
for  postponing  the  main  question,  or  to 
commit  it,  or  to  adjourn. — liule  8.1 

It  is  no  possession  of  a  bill  unless  it  be 
delivered  to  the  Clerk  to  read,  or  the 
J6i>eaker  reads  the  title. — Lex.  Pari.,  274 ; 
Elsynge  Mem.,  85;  Ord.  House  of  Com- 
mons, 64. 

It  is  a  general  rule  that  the  question 
first  moved  and  seconded  shall  be  first  put. 
Scoh.,  28,  22 ;  2  Hats.,  81.  But  this  rule 
gives  way  to  what  maj^  be  called  privileged 
questions ;  and  the  privileged  questions  are 
ot  different  grades  among  themselves. 

A  motion  to  adjourn  simply  takes  place 
of  all  others ;  for  otherwise  the  House 
might  be  kept  sitting  against  its  will,  and 
indefinitely.  Yet  this  motion  cannot  be 
received  after  another  question  is  actually 
put,  and  while  the  House  is  engaged  in 
voting. 

Orders  of  the  day  take  place  of  all  other 
questions,  except  for  adjournment — that  is 
to  say,  the  question  which  is  the  subject  of 
an  order  is  made  a  privileged  one,  pro  hac 
vice.  The  order  is  a  repeal  of  the  general 
rule  as  to  this  special  case.  When  any 
member  moves,  therefore,  for  the  order  of 
the  day  to  be  read,  no  further  debate  is 
permitted  on  the  question  which  was  be- 
fore the  House ;  for  if  the  debate  might 
proceed,  it  might  continue  through  the 
day  and  defeat  the  order.  This  motion,  to 
entitle  it  to  precedence,  must  be  for  the 
orders  generally,  and  not  for  any  particu- 
lar one ;  and  if  it  be  carried  on  the  ques- 
tion "  Whether  the  House  will  now  pro- 
ceed to  the  orders  of  the  day  ?  "  they  must 
be  read  and  proceeded  on  in  the  course  in 
which  they  stand,  2  Hats.,  83 ;  for  priority 
of  order  gives  priority  of  right,  which 
cannot  be  taken  away  but  by  another 
special  order. 

After  these  there  are  other  privileged 
questions,  which  will  require  considerable 
explanation. 

It  is  proper  that  every  parliamentary 
assembly  should  have  certain  forms  of 
Questions,  so  adapted  as  to  enable  them 
ntly  to  dispose  of  every  proposition  w^hich 
can  be  made  to  them.  Such  are,  1.  The 
previous  question.  2.  To  postpone  indefi- 
nitely.   3.  To  adjourn  a  question  to  a  defi- 

*Thl8  rule  hag  been  modifled  so  as  to  upeclfy  thp  quee- 
tloM  entitled  to  preference.    The  rule  is  now  as  follows: 

Bulk  43.  When  a  question  is  under  det>atc,  no  motion 
shall  be  received  but  to  a<1Journ,  to  attjuurn  to  a  day  cer- 
tain, or  that,  when  the  Senate  adjourn,  it  shall  be  to  a 
day  certain ;  to  take  a  recess,  to  pr  Kieed  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  executive  lifisiness,  to  lay  on  the  table,  to 
postpone  indefinitely,  to  pontpone  to  a  day  certain,  to 
commit,  or  to  amend:  which  several  motions  shall  have 
precedence  in  the  order  in  which  tboy  stand  arrangfed, 
and  the  motions  relating  to  adjournment,  to  proceed  to 
the  con.sideratioD  of  executive  business,  and  to  lay  on 
the  table,  shall  be  decided  without  debate. 


I  nite  day,  4.  To  lie  on  the  table.  5.  To 
I  commit.  6.  To  amend.  The  proper  oc- 
1  casion  for  each  of  these  questions  should 
j  be  understood. 

I  1.  When  a  proposition  is  moved  which 
it  is  useless  or  inexpedient  now  to  express 
or  discuss,  the  previous  question  has  been 
introduced  for  suppressing  for  that  time 
the  motion  and  its  discussion.  3  Hats., 
188,  189. 

2.  But  as  the  previous  question  gets  rid 
of  it  only  for  that  day,  and  the  same  pro- 
position may  recur  the  next  day,  if  they 
wish  to  suppress  it  for  the  whole  of  that 
session,  they  postpone  it  indefinitely.  3' 
Hats.,  183.  This  quashes  the  proposition 
for  that  session,  as  an  indefinite  adjourn- 
ment is  a  dissolution,  or  the  continuance 
of  a  suit  sine  die  is  a  discontinuance  of  it. 

3.  When  a  motion  is  made  which  it  will 
be  proper  to  act  on,  but  information  is 
wanted,  or  something  more  pressing  claims 
the  present  time,  the  question  or  debate  is 
adjourned  to  such  day  within  the  session 
as  will  answer  the  views  of  the  House.  2 
Hats.,  81.  And  those  who  have  spoken 
before  may  not  speak  again  when  the  ad- 
journed debate  is  resumed.  2  Hats.,  73. 
Sometimes,  however,  this  has  been  abu- 
sively used  by  adjourning  it  to  a  day  be- 
yond the  session,  to  get  rid  of  it  altogether, 
as  would  be  done  by  an  indefinite  post- 
ponement. 

4.  When  the  House  has  something  else 
which  claims  its  present  attention,  but 
would  be  willing  to  reserve  in  their  power 
to  take  up  a  proposition  whenever  it  shall 
suit  them,  they  order  it  to  lie  on  their 
table.  It  m'ay  then  be  called  for  at  any 
time. 

5.  If  the  proposition  will  want  more 
amendment  and  digestion  than  the  for- 
malities of  the  House  will  conveniently 
admit,  they  refer  it  to  a  committee. 

6.  But  if  the  proposition  be  well  di- 
gested, and  may  need  but  few  and  simple 
amendments,  and  especially  if  these  be  of 
leading  consequence,  they  then  proceed  to 
consider  and  amend  it  themselves. 

The  Senate,  in  their  practice,  vary  from 
this  regular  gradation   of   forms.    Their 

Eractice  comparatively  with  .that  of  Par- 
ament  stands  thus : 

FOR     THE    PARLIA-      THE   SENATE   USES: 
MENTARY: 

Postponement     in-    Postponement  to  a 
definite,  day  beyond  the. 

session. 
Adjournment,  Postponement  to  a 

day  within    the 

session. 

(Postponement    i n - 
definite. 
Lying  on  the  table. 
In  their  eighth  rule,  therefore,  which 
declares  that  while  a  question  is  before 


BOOKiv.J     JEFFERSONS    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


39 


the  Senate  no  motion  shall  be  received, 
unless  it  be  for  the  previous  question,  or 
to  postpone,  commit,  or  amend  the  main 
question,  the  term  postponement  must  be 
understood  according  to  their  broad  use 
of  it,  and  not  in  its  parliamentary  sense. 
Their  rule,  then  establishes  as  privileged 
questions,  the  previous  question,  postpone- 
ment, commitment,  and  amendment. 

But  it  may  be  asked :  Have  these  ques- 
tions any  privilege  among  themselves  ?  or 
are  they  so  equal  that  the  common  princi- 
ple of  the  "  first  moved  first  put "  takes 
place  among  them?  This  will  need  ex- 
planation. Their  competitions  may  be  as 
follows : 

1.  Previous  question  and" 

postpone 

commit  In  the  first,  se- 

amend  cond,  and  the 

2.  Postpone  and  previous  third  classes, 

question  and  the  first 

commit  member  of 

amend     I  the  fourth 

3.  Commit  and  previous  |  Class,  the  rule 

question  "first  moved 
postpone  first  put" 
amend  takes  place. 

4-  Amend  and  previous 
question 
postpone 
commit 

In  the  first  class,  where  the  previous 
q^uestion  is  first  moved,  the  effect  is  pecu- 
liar; for  it  not  only  prevents  the  after 
motion  to  postpone  or  commit  from  being 
put  to  question  before  it,  but  also  from 
being  put  after  it ;  for  if  the  previous  ques- 
tion be  decided  affirmatively,  to  wit,  that 
the  main  question  shall  now  be  put,  it 
would  of  course  be  against  the  decision  to 
postpone,  or  commit ;  and  if  it  be  decided 
negatively,  to  wit,  that  the  main  question 
shall  not  now  be  put,  this  puts  the  House 
out  of  possession  of  the  main  question, 
and  consequently  there  is  nothing  before 
them  to  postpone  or  commit.  So  that 
neither  voting  for  nor  against  the  previous 
question  will  enable  the  advocates  for  post- 
poning or  committing  to  get  at  their  object. 
Whether  it  may  be  amended  shall  be  ex- 
amined hereafter. 

Second  class.  If  postponement  be  de- 
cided affirmatively,  tlie  proposition  is  re- 
moved from  before  the  House,  and  conse- 
quently there  is  no  ground  for  the  previous 
question,  commitment,  or  amendment ;  but 
if  decided  negatively,  (that  it  shall  not  be 

Eostponed,)  the  mam  question  may  then 
e  suppressed  by  the  previous  question,  or 
may  be  committed,  or  amended. 

The  third  class  is  subject  to  the  pame 
observations  as  the  second. 

The  fourth  class.  Amendment  of  the 
main  question  first  moved,  and  afterwards 


the    previous  question,  the   question    of 
amendment  shall  be  first  put. 

Amendment  and  postponement  com- 
peting, postponement  is  first  put,  as  the 
equivalent  proposition  to  adjourn  the 
main  question  would  be  in  Parliament. 
The  reason  is  that  the  question  for  amend- 
ment is  not  suppressed  by  postponing  or 
adjourning  the  main  question,  but  remains 
before  the  House  whenever  the  main  ques- 
tion is  resumed  ;  and  it  might  be  that  the 
occasion  for  other  urgent  business  might 
go  by,  and  be  lost  by  length  of  debate  on 
the  amendment,  if  the  House  had  it  not 
in  their  power  to  postpone  the  whole  sub- 
ject. 

Amendment  and  commitment.  The 
question  for  committing,  though  last  moved 
shall  be  first  put ;  because,  in  truth,  it 
facilitates  and  befriends  the  motion  to 
amend.  Scobell  is  express:  "On  motion 
to  amend  a  bill,  any  one  may  notwith- 
standing move  to  commit  it,  and  the  ques- 
tion for  commitment  shall  be  first  put." 
Scoh.,  46. 

We  have  hitherto  considered  the  case  of 
two  or  more  of  the  privileged  questions 
contending  for  privilege  between  them- 
selves, when  both  are  moved  on  the  orig- 
inal or  main  question  ;  but  now  let  us  sup- 
pose one  of  them  to  be  moved,  not  on  the 
original  primary  question,  but  on  the 
secondary  one,  e.  g. : 

Suppose  a  motion  to  postpone,  commit, 
or  amend  the  main  question,  and  that  it 
be  moved  to  suppress  that  motion  by  put- 
ting a  previous  question  on  it.  This  is  not 
allowed :  because  it  would  embarrass  ques- 
tions too  much  to  allow  them  to  be  piled 
on  one  another  sever&l  stories  high ;  and 
the  same  result  may  be  had  in  a  more 
simple  way — ^by  deciding  against  the  post- 
ponement, commitment,  or  amendment. 
2  Eats.,  81,  2,  3,  4. 

Suppose  a  motion  for  the  previous  ques- 
tion, or  commitment  or  amendment  of  the 
main  question,  and  that  it  be  then  moved 
to  postpone  the  motion  for  the  previous 
question,  or  for  commitment  or  amend- 
ment of  the  main  question.  1.  It  would 
be  absurd  to  postpone  the  previous  ques- 
tion, commitment,  or  amendment,  alone, 
and  thus  separate  the  appendage  from  its 
principal ;  yet  it  must  be  postponed  sepa- 
rately from  its  original,  if  at  all ;  because 
the  eighth  rule  of  Senate  says  that  when 
a  main  question  is  before  the  House  no 
motion  shall  be  received  but  to  commit, 
amend,  or  pre-question  the  original^  ques- 
tion, which  is  the  parliamentary  doctrine 
also.  Therefore  the  motion  to  postpone 
the  secondary  motion  for  the  previous  ques- 
tion, or  for  committing  or  amending,  can- 
not be  received.  2.  This  is  a  piling  of 
questions  one  on  another ;  which,  to  avoid 
embarrassment,  is  not  allowed.  8.  The 
same  result  may  be  had  more  simply  by 


40 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


Toting  against  the  previous  question,  com- 
mitment, or  amendment. 

Suppose  a  commitment  moved  of  a  mo- 
tion for  the  previous  question,  or  to  post- 
pone or  amend.  The  first,  second,  and 
third  reasons,  before  stated,  all  hold  good 
against  this. 

Suppose  an  amendment  moved  to  a  mo- 
tion tor  the  previous  question.  Answer  : 
The  previous  question  cannot  be  amended. 
Parliamentary  usage,  as  well  as  the  ninth 
mle  of  the  Senate,  has  fixed  its  form  to  be, 
"Shall  the  main  question  be  now  put?" — 
t.  e.,  at  this  instant ;  and  as  the  present  in- 
stant is  but  one,  it  can  admit  of  no  modifi- 
cation. To  change  it  to  to-morrow,  or  any 
other  moment,  is  without  example  anS 
without  utility.  But  suppose  a  motion  to 
amend  a  motion  for  postponement,  as  to 
one  day  instead  of  another,  or  to  a  special 
instead  of  an  indefinite  time.  The  useful 
character  of  amendment  gives  it  a  privi- 
lege of  attaching  itself  to  a  secondary  and 
privileged  motion :  that  is,  we  may  amend 
a  postponement  of  a  main  question.  So, 
we  may  amend  a  commitment  of  a  main 
question,  as  by  adding,  for  example,  "  with 
instructions  to  inquire,"  &c.  In  like  man- 
ner, if  an  amendment  be  moved  to  an 
amendment,  it  is  admitted ;  but  it  would 
not  be  admitted  in  another  degree,  to  wit, 
to  amend  an  amendment  to  an  amendment 
of  a  main  question.  This  would  lead  to 
too  much  embarrassment.  The  line  must 
be  drawn  somewhere,  and  usage  has  drawn 
it  after  the  amendment  to  the  amendment. 
The  same  result  must  be  sought  by  decid- 
ing against  the  amendment  to  the  amend- 
ment, and  then  moving  it  again  as  it  was 
wished  to  be  amended.  In  this  form  it  be- 
comes only  an  amendment  to  an  amend- 
ment. 

[When  motions  are  made  for  reference 
of  the  same  subject  to  a  select  committee 
and  to  a  standing  committee,  the  question 
on  reference  to  the  standing  committee 
shall  be  first  put.    Rule  48.] 

[In  filling  a  blank  with  a  sum,  the  largest 
sum  shall  be  first  put  to  the  question,  by 
the  thirteenth  rule  of  the  Senate,*]  con- 
trary to  the  rule  of  Parliament,  which  pri- 
vileges the  smallest  sum  and  longest  time. 
6  Grey,  179  ;  2  Hats.,  8,  83  ;  3  Hats.,  132, 
183.1  And  this  is  considered  to  be  not  in 
the  form  of  an  amendment  to  the  question, 
but  as  alternative  or  successive  originals. 
In  all  cases  of  time  or  number,  we  must 
consider  whether  the  larger  comprehends 
the  lesser,  as  in  a  question  to  what  day  a 
postponement  shall  be,  the  number  of  a 
committee,  amount  of  a  fine,  term  of  an 
imprisonment,  term  of  irredeemability  of 
a  loan,  or  the  terminus  in  quem  in  any 
other  case ;  then  the  question  must  be- 
gin  a   maximo.      Or  whether  the  lesser 

*In  filling  up  blanks,  the  largeat  sum  and  longMt 
time  shall  be  first  put.    HuU  32. 


includes  the  greater,  as  in  questions  on  the 
limitation  of  the  rate  of  interest,  on  what 
day  the  session  shall  be  closed  by  adjourn- 
ment, on  what  day  the  next  shall  com- 
mence, when  an  act  shall  commence,  or 
the  terminus  a  quo  in  any  other  case  where 
the  question  must  begin  a  minimo  ;  the  ob- 
ject being  not  to  begin  at  that  extreme 
which,  and  more,  being  within  every 
man's  wish,  no  one  could  negative  it,  and 
yet,  if  he  should  vote  in  the  affirmative, 
every  question  for  more  would  be  preclud- 
ed ;  but  at  that  extreme  which  would  unite 
few,  and  then  to  advance  or  recede  till  you 
get  to  a  number  which  will  unite  a  bare 
majority.  3  Grey,  376,  384,  385.  "The 
fair  question  in  this  case  is  not  that  to 
which,  and  more,  all  will  agree,  but  whether 
there  shall  be  addition-  to  the  question."  1 
Grey,  366. 

Another  exception  to  the  rule  of  prior- 
ity is  when  a  motion  has  been  made  to 
strike  out,  or  agree  to,  a  paragraph.  Mo- 
tions to  amend  it  are  to  be  put  to  the  ques- 
tion before  a  vote  is  taken  on  striking  out 
or  agreeing  to  the  whole  paragraph. 

But  there  are  several  questions  which, 
being  incidental  to  every  one,  will  take 
place  of  every  one,  privileged  or  not ;  to 
wit,  a  question  of  order  arising  out  of  any 
other  question  must  be  decided  before  that 
question.     2  Hats.,  88. 

A  matter  of  privilege  arising  out  of  any 
question,  or  from  a  quarrel  between  two 
members,  or  any  other  cause,  supersedes 
the  consideration  of  the  original  question, 
and  must  be  first  disposed  of.     2  Hats.,  88. 

Reading  papers  relative  to  the  question 
before  the  House.  This  question  must  be 
put  before  the  principal  one.    2  Hats.  88. 

Leave  asked  to  withdraw  a  motion.  The 
rule  of  Parliament  being  that  a  motion 
made  and  seconded  is  in  the  possession  of 
the  House,  and  cannot  be  withdrawn  with- 
out leave,  the  very  terms  of  the  rule  im- 
ply that  leave  may  be  given,  and,  conse- 
quently, may  be  asked  and  put  to  the 
question. 

SEC.  XXXIV. — ^THE  PREVIOUS  QUESTION. 

When  any  question  is  before  the  House, 
any  member  may  move  a  previous  ques- 
tion, "  Whether  that  question  (called  the 
main  question)  shall  now  be  put?"  If  it 
pass  m  the  affirmative,  then  the  main 
question  is  to  be  put  immediatelv,  and  no 
man  may  speak  anything  further  to  it, 
either  to  add  or  alter.  Metnor.  in 
Hakew.,  28 ;  4  Grey,  27. 

The  previous  question  being  moved  and 
seconded,  the  question  from  the  Chair 
shall  be,  "  Shall  the  main  question  be  now 
put?''  and  if  the  nays  prevail,  the  main 
question  shall  not  then  be  put. 

This  kind  of  question  is  understood  by 
Mr.  Hatsell  to  nave  been  introduced  in 
1604.    2  Hats.,  80.    Sir  Henry  Vane  in- 


BooKiT.J     JEFFERSON'S   PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


41 


troduced  it.  2  Grey,  113,  114 ;  3  Grey,  384. 
When  the  question  was  put  in  this  form, 
"Shall  tlie  main  question  be  put?"  a  de- 
termination in  the  negative  suppressed  the 
main  question  during  the  session ;  but 
since  the  words  "  now  put "  are  used,  tliey 
exclude  it  for  the  present  only ;  formerly, 
indeed,  only  till  the  present  debate  was 
over,  4  Chrey,  43,  but  now  for  that  day  and 
no  longer.     2  Grey,  113, 114. 

Before  the  question  "  Whether  the  main 
question  shall  now  be  put?"  any  person 
might  formerly  have  spoken  to  the  main 
question,  because  otherwise  he  would  be 
precluded  from  speaking  to  it  at  all,  Mem. 
in  Hakew.,  28. 

The  proper  occasion  for  the  previous 
question  is  when  a  subject  is  brought  for- 
ward of  a  delicate  nature  as  to  high  per- 
sonages, &c.,  or  the  discussion  of  which 
may  call  forth  observations  which  might 
be  of  injurious  consequences.  Then  the 
previous  question  is  proposed ;  and  in  the 
modern  usage,  the  discussion  of  the  main 
question  is  suspended,  and  the  debate  con- 
fined to  the  previous  question.  The  use  of 
it  has  been  extended  abusively  to  other 
cases;  but  in  these  it  has  been  an -embar- 
rassing procedure ;  its  uses  would  be  as 
well  answered  by  other  more  simple  par- 
liamentary forms,  and  therefore  it  should 
not  be  favored,  but  restricted  within  as 
narrow  limits  as  possible. 

Whether  a  main  question  may  be 
amended  after  the  previous  question  on  it 
has  been  moved  and  seconded?  2  Hats., 
88,  says,  if  the  previous  question  has  been 
moved  and  seconded,  and  also  proposed 
from  the  Chair,  (by  which  he  means 
stated  by  the  Speaker  for  debate,)  it  has 
been  doubted  whether  an  amendment  can  be 
admitted  to  the  main  question.  He  thinks 
it  may,  after  the  previous  question  moved 
and  seconded  ;  but  not  after  it  has  been  pro- 
posed from  the  Chair.  In  this  case,  he 
thinks  the  friends  to  the  amendment  must 
vote  that  the  main  question  be  not  now 
put ;  and  then  move  tneir  amended  ques- 
tion, which  being  made  new  by  the  amend- 
ment, is  no  longer  the  same  which  has 
been  just  suppressed,  and  therefore  may  be 
proposed  as  a  new  one.  But  this  proceed- 
ing certainly  endangers  the  main  question, 
by  dividing  its  friends,  some  of  whom  may 
chose  it  unamended,  rather  than  lose  it 
altogether ;  while  others  of  them  may  vote, 
as  Hatsell  advises,  that  the  main  question 
be  not  now  put,  with  a  view  to  move  it 
again  in  an  amended  form.  The  enemies 
of  the  main  question,  by  this  maneuver  to 
the  previous  question,  get  the  enemies  to 
the  amendment  added  to  them  on  the 
first  vote,  and  throw  the  friends  of  the 
main  question  under  the  embarrassment  of 
rallying  again  as  they  can.  To  support 
this  opinion,  too,  he  makes  the  deciding 
circumstance,  whether  an  amendment  may 


or  may  not  be  made,  to  be,  that  the  pre- 
vious question  has  been  proposed  from  the 
Chair.  But,  as  the  rule  is  that  the  House 
is  in  possession  of  a  question  as  soon  as  it 
is  moved  and  seconded,  it  cannot  be  more 
than  possessed  of  it  by  its  being  also  pro- 
posed from  the  Chair.  It  may  be  said,  in- 
deed, that  the  object  of  the  previous  ques- 
tion being  to  get  rid  of  a  question,  wnich 
it  is  not  expedient  should  be  discussed, 
this  object  may  be  defeated  by  moving  to 
amend ;  and  in  the  discussion  of  that  mo- 
tion, involving  the  subject  of  the  main 
question.  But  so  may  the  object  of  the 
previous  auestion  be  defeated,  by  moving 
the  amenaed  question,  as  Mr.  Hatsell  pro- 
poses, after  the  decision  against  putting 
the  original  question.  He  acknowledges, 
too,  that  the  practice  has  been  to  admit 
previous  amendments,  and  only  cites  a 
few  late  instances  to  the  contrary.  On  the 
whole,  I  should  think  it  best  to  decide  it 
ab  inconvenienti,  to  wit :  Which  is  most 
inconvenient,  to  put  it  in  the  power  of  one 
side  of  the  House  to  defeat  a  proposition 
by  hastily  moving  the  previous  question, 
and  thus  forcing  the  main  question  to  be 
put  unamended ;  or  to  put  it  in  the  power 
of  the  other  side  to  force  on,  incidentally 
at  least,  a  discussion  which  would  be  bet- 
ter avoided  ?  Perhaps  the  last  is  the  least 
inconvenience ;  inasmuch  as  the  Speaker, 
by  confining  the  discussion  rigorously  to 
the  amendment  only,  may  prevent  their 
going  into  the  main  question;  and  inas- 
much also  as  so  great  a  proportion  of  the 
cases  in  which  the  previous  question  is 
called  for,  are  fair  and  proper  subjects  of 
public  discussion,  and  ought  not  to  be  ob- 
structed by  a  formality  introduced  for 
questions  of  a  peculiar  character. 

SEC.  XXXV. — AMENDMENTS. 

On  an  amendment  being  moved,  a  mem- 
ber who  has  spoken  to  the  main  question 
may  speak  again  to  the  amendment. 
Scoh.,  23. 

If  an  amendment  be  proposed  incon- 
sistent with  one  already  agreed  to,  it  is  a 
fit  ground  for  its  rejection  by  the  House, 
bat  not  within  the  competence  of  the 
Speaker  to  suppress  as  if  it  were  against 
order.  For  were  he  permitted  to  draw 
questions  of  consistence  within  the  vortex 
of  order,  he  might  usurp  a  negative  on 
important  modifications,  and  suppress,  in- 
stead of  subserving,  the  legislative  will. 

Amendments  may  be  made  so  as  totally 
to  alter  the  nature  of  the  proposition  ;  and 
it  is  a  way  of  getting  rid  of  a  proposition, 
by  making  it  oear  a  sense  different  from 
what  it  was  intended  by  the  movers,  so 
that  they  vote  against  it  themselves.  2 
Hats.,  79 ;  4,  82,  84.  A  new  bill  may  be 
ingrafted,  by  way  of  amendment,  on  the 
words  "  Be  it  enacted,"  «&c.  1  Grey,  190, 
192. 


42 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


If  it  be  proposed  to  amend  by  leaving 
out  certain  words,  it  may  be  moved,  as  an 
amendment  to  this  amendment,  to  leave 
out  a  part  of  the  words  of  the  amendment, 
which  is  equivalent  to  leaving  them  in  the 
bill.  2  Uats.,  80,  9.  The  parliamentary 
question  is,  always,  whether  the  words 
shall  stand  part  of  the  bill. 

When  it  is  proposed  to  amend  by  insert- 
ing a  paragraph,  or  part  of  one,  the  friends 
of  the  paragraph  may  make  it  as  perfect  as 
they  can  by  amendments  before  the  ques- 
tion is  put  for  inserting  it.  If  it  be  re- 
ceived, it  cannot  be  amended  afterward,  in 
the  same  stage,  because  the  House  has,  on 
a  vote,  agreed  to  it  in  that  form.  In  like 
manner,  if  it  is  proposed  to  amend  by 
striking  out  a  paragraph,  the  friends  of  the 
paragraph  are  first  to  make  it  as  perfect  as 
they  can  by  amendments,  before  the  ques- 
tion is  put  for  striking  it  out.  If  on  the 
question  it  be  retained,  it  cannot  be 
amended  afterward,  because  a  vote  against 
striking  out  is  equivalent  to  a  vote  agree- 
ing to  it  in  that  form. 

When  it  is  moved  to  amend  by  striking 
out  certain  words  and  inserting  others,  the 
manner  of  stating  the  question  is  first  to 
read  the  whole  passage  to  be  amended  as 
it  stands  at  present,  then  the  words  pro- 
posed to  be  struck  out,  next  those  to  be 
inserted,  and  lastly  the  whole  passage  as  it 
will  be  when  amended.  And  the  question, 
if  desired,  is  then  to  be  divided,  and  put 
first  on  striking  out.  If  carried,  it  is  next 
on  inserting  the  words  proposed.  If  that 
be  lost,  it  may  be  moved  to  insert  others. 
2  Hats.,  80,  7. 

A  motion  is  made  to  amend  by  striking 
out  certain  words  and  inserting  others  in 
their  place,  which  is  negatived.  Then  it 
is  moved  to  strike  out  the  same  words  and 
to  insert  others  of  a  tenor  entirely  different 
from  those  first  proposed.  It  is  negatived. 
Then  it  is  moved  to  strike  out  the  same 
words  and  insert  nothing,  which  is  agreed  to. 
All  this  is  admissible,  because  to  strike  out 
and  insert  A  is  one  proposition.  To  strike 
out  and  insert  B  is  a  different  proposition. 
And  to  strike  out  and  insert  nothing  is  still 
diflferent.  And  the  rejection  of  one  propo- 
sition does  not  preclude  the  offering  a  dif- 
ferent one.  Nor  would  it  change  the  case 
were  the  first  motion  divided  by  putting  the 
question  first  on  striking  out,  and  that  nega- 
tived ;  for,  as  putting  the  whole  motion  to 
the  question  at  once  would  not  have  pre- 
cluded, the  putting  the  half  of  it  cannot  ao  it. 

[The  practice  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate in  this  respect  is  now  fixed  by  the  31st 
rule,  as  follows :  If  the  question  in  debate 
contains  several  points,  any  Senator  may 
have  the  same  divided ;  but  on  a  motion 
to  strike  out  and  insert,  it  shall  not  be  in 
order  to  move  for  a  division  of  the  ques- 
tion ;  but  the  rejection  of  a  motion  to 
strike  out  and  insert  one  proposition  shall 


not  prevent  a  motion  to  strike  out  and  in- 
sert a  diffierent  proposition,  nor  prevent  a 
subsequent  motion  simply  to  strike  out ; 
nor  shall  the  rejection  of  a  motion  simply 
to  strike  out  prevent  a  subsequent  motion 
to  strike  out  and  insert.] 

But  if  it  had  been  carried  affirmatively 
to  strike  out  the  words  and  to  insert  A,  it 
could  not  afterward  be  permitted  to  strike 
out  A  and  insert  B.  The  mover  of  B 
should  have  notified,  while  the  insertion 
of  A  w^as  under  debate,  that  he  would 
move  to  insert  B ;  in  which  case  those 
who  preferred  it  would  join  in  rejecting  A. 

After  A  is  inserted,  however,  it  may  be 
moved  to  strike  out  a  portion  of  the  origi- 
nal paragraph,  comprehending  A,  provi- 
ded the  coherence  to  be  struck  out  be  so 
substantial  as  to  make  this  effectively  a 
different  proposition ;  for  then  it  is  resolved 
into  the  common  case  of  striking  out  a 
paragraph  after  amending  it.  Nor  does 
anything  forbid  a  new  insertion,  instead  of 
A  and  its  coherence. 

In  Seriate,  January  25,  1798  a  motion  to 
postpone  until  the  second  Tuesday  in  Feb- 
ruary some  amendments  proposed  to  the 
Constitution ;  the  words  "  until  the  second 
Tuesday  in  February,"  were  struck  out  by 
way  of  amendment.  Then  it  was  moved 
to  add,  "until  the  first  day  of  June."  Ob- 
jected that  it  was  not  in  order,  as  the 
question  should  be  first  put  on  the  longest 
time ;  therefore,  after  a  shorter  time  deci- 
ded against,  a  longer  cannot  be  put  to 
question.  It  was  answered  that  this  rule 
takes  place  only  in  filling  blanks  for  time. 
But  wnen  a  specific  time  stands  part  of  a 
motion,  that  may  be  struck  out  as  well  as 
any  other  part  of  the  motion  ;  and  when 
struck  out,  a  motion  may  be  received  to 
insert  any  other.  In  fact,  it  is  not  until 
they  are  struck  out,  and  a  blank  for  the 
time  thereby  produced,  that  the  rule  can 
begin  to  operate,  by  receiving  all  the  pro- 
positions for  different  times,  and  putting 
the  questions  successively  on  the  longest. 
Otherwise  it  would  be  in  the  power  of  the 
mover,  by  inserting  originally  a  short  time, 
to  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  longer ;  for 
till  the  short  time  is  struck  out,  you  can- 
not insert  a  longer ;  and  if,  aft«r  it  is  struck 
out,  you  cannot  do  it,  then  it  cannot  be 
done  at  all.  Suppose  the  first  motion  had 
been  made  to  amend  by  striking  out  "the 
second  Tuesday  in  February,"  and  insert- 
ing instead  thereof  "  the  first  of  June,"  it 
would  have  been  regular,  then,  to  divide 
the  question,  by  proposing  first  the  ques- 
tion to  strike  out  ana  then  that  to  insert. 
Now  this  is  precisely  the  effect  of  the  pres- 
ent proceeding ;  only,  instead  of  one  mo- 
tion and  two  questions,  there  are  two  mo- 
tions and  two  questions  to  effect  it — the 
motions  being  divided  as  well  as  the  ques- 
tion. 

When  the  matter  contained  in  two  bills 


^ooKiv.l   JEFFERSON'S  PARLIAMENTARY  PRACTICE. 


43 


might  be  better  put  into  one,  the  manner 
is  to  reject  the  one,  and  incorporate  its  mat- 
ter into  another  bill  by  way  of  amendment. 
So  if  the  matter  of  one  bill  would  be  bet- 
ter distributed  into  two,  any  part  may  be 
struck  out  by  way  of  amendment,  and  put 
into  a  new  bill.  If  a  section  is  to  be  trans- 
posed, a  question  must  be  put  on  striking 
It  out  where  it  stands  and  another  for  in- 
serting it  in  the  place  desired. 

A  bill  passed  by  the  one  House  with 
blanks.  These  may  be  filled  up  by  the 
other  by  way  of  amendments,  returned  to 
the  first  as  such,  and  passed.      3  Hats.,  83. 

The  number  prefixed  to  the  section  of  a 
bill,  being  merely  a  marginal  indication, 
and  no  part  of  the  text  of  the  bill,  the 
Clerk  regulates  that — the  House  or  com- 
mittee is  only  to  amend  the  text. 

SEC.    XXXVI. — DIVISION     OF     THE     QUES- 
TION. 

If  a  question  contains  more  parts  than 
one,  it  may  be  divided  into  two  or  more 
questions.  Mem.  in  Hakew.,  29.  But  not 
as  the  right  of  an  individual  member,  but 
with  the  consent  of  the  House.  For  who 
is  to  decide  whether  a  question  is  compli- 
cated or  not — where  it  is  complicated — 
into  how  many  propositions  it  may  be  di- 
vided ?  The  fact  is  that  the  only  mode  of 
separating  a  complicated  question  is  by 
moving  amendments  to  it ;  and  these  must 
be  decided  by  the  House,  on  a  question, 
unless  the  House  orders  it  to  be  divided ; 
as,  on  the  question,  December  2,  1640, 
making  void  the  election  of  the  knights 
for  Worcester,  on  a  motion  it  was  resolved 
to  make  two  questions  of  it,  to  wit,  one  on 
each  night.  2  Hats.,  85,  86.  So,  where- 
ever  there  are  several  names  in  a  question, 
they  may  be  divided  and  put  one  by  one. 

9  Grey,  444. .  So,  1729,  April  17,  on  an 
objection  thataquestion  was  complicated,  it 
was  separated  by  amendment.   2  Hats.,  79. 

The  soundness  of  these  observations  will 
be  evident  from  the  embarrassments  pro- 
duced by  the  twelfth  rule  of  the  Senate, 
which  says,  "  if  the  question  in  debate 
contains  several  points,  any  member  may 
have  the  same  divided." 

1798,  May  30,  the  alien  bill  in  quasi- 
committee.  To  a  section  and  proviso  in 
the  original,  had  been  added  two  new  pro- 
visos by  way  of  amendment.  On  a  motion 
to  strike  out  the  section  a.s  amended,  the 
question  was  desired  to  be  divided.  To  do 
tnis  it  must  be  put  first  on  striking  out 
either  the  former  proviso,  or  some  distinct 
member  of  the  section.  But  when  nothing 
remains  but  the  last  member  of  the  section 
and  the  provisos,  they  cannot  be  divided 
80  as  to  put  the  last  member  to  question  by 
itself;  for  the  provisos  might  thus  be  left 
standing  alone  as  exceptions  to  a  rule  when 
the  rule  is  taken  away ;  or  the  new  provi- 
sos might  be  left  to  a  second  question. 


after  having  been  decided  on  once  before 
at  the  same  reading,  which  is  contrary  to 
rule.  But  the  question  must  be  on  strik- 
ing out  the  last  member  of  the  section  as 
amended.  This  sweeps  away  the  excep- 
tions with  the  rule,  and  relieves  from  in- 
consistence. A  question  to  be  divisible 
must  comprehend  points  so  distinct  and 
entire  that  one  of  them  being  taken  away, 
the  other  may  stand  entire.  But  a  proviso 
or  exception,  without  an  enacting  clause, 
does  not  contain  an  entire  point  or  propo- 
sition. 

May  31. — ^The  same  bill  being  before  the 
Senate.  There  was  a  proviso  that  the  bill 
should  not  extend — 1.  To  any  foreign 
minister ;  nor,  2.  To  any  person  to  whom 
the  President  should  give  a  passport ;  nor, 
3.  To  any  alien  merchant  conforming 
himself  to  such  regulations  as  the  President 
shall  prescribe  ;  and  a  division  of  the  ques- 
tion into  its  simplest  elements  was  called 
for.  It  was  divided  into  four  parts,  the  4th 
taking  in  the  words  "  conforming  himself," 
&c.  It  was  objected  that  the  words  "  any 
alien  merchant,"  could  not  be  separated 
from  their  modifying  words, "  conforming," 
&c.,  because  these  words,  if  left  by  them- 
selves, contain  no  substantive  idea,  will 
make  no  sense.  But  admitting  that  the 
divisions  of  a  paragraph  into  separate 
questions  must  be  so  made  as  that  each 
part  may  stand  by  itself,  yet  the  House 
having,  on  the  question,  retained  the  two 
first  divisions,  the  words  "  any  alien  mer- 
chant "  may  be  struck  out,  and  their  modi- 
fying words  will  then  attach  themselves  to 
the  preceding  description  of  persons,  and 
become  a  modification  of  that  description. 

When  a  question  is  divided,  after  the 
question  on  the  1st  member,  the  2d  is  open 
to  debate  and  amendment ;  because  it  is  a 
known  rule  that  a  person  may  rise  and 
speak  at  any  time  before  the  question  has 
been  completely  decided,  by  putting  the 
negative  as  well  as  the  affirmative  side. 
But  the  question  is  not  completely  put 
when  the  vote  has  been  taken  on  the  first 
member  only.  One-half  of  the  question, 
both  affirmative  and  negative,  remains  still 
to  be  put.  See  Execut.  Jour.,  June  25, 1795. 
The  same  decision   by  President  Adams. 

SEC.  XXXVII. — COEXISTING  QUESTIONS. 

It  may  be  asked  whether  the  House  can 
be  in  possession  of  two  motions  or  proposi- 
tions at  the  same  time?  so  that,  one  of 
them  being  decided,  the  other  goes  to 
question  without  being  moved  anew?  The 
answer  must  be  special.  When  a  question 
is  interrupted  by  a  vote  of  adjournment,  it 
is  thereby  removed  from  before  the  House, 
and  does  not  stand  ipso  facto  before  them 
at  their  next  meeting,  but  must  come  for- 
ward ih  the  usual  way.  So,  when  it  is  in- 
terrupted by  the  order  of  the  day.  Such 
other  privileged  questions  also  as  dispose 


44 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IV. 


of  the  main  question,  (c.  g.,  the  previous 
question,  postponement,  or  commitment,) 
remove  it  from  before  the  House.  But  it 
is  only  suspended  by  a  motion  to  amend, 
to  withdraw,  to  read  papers,  or  by  a  ques- 
tion of  order  or  privilege,  and  stands  again 
before  the  House  when  these  are  decided. 
None  but  the  class  of  privileged  questions 
can  be  brought  forward  while  there  is  an- 
other question  before  the  House,  th"  rule 
being  that  when  a  motion  has  been  made 
and  seconded,  no  other  can  be  received  ex- 
cept it  be  a  privileged  one. 

SEC.   XXXVIII. — EQUIVALENT  QUESTIONS. 

If,  on  a  question  for  rejection,  a  bill  be 
retained,  it  passes,  of  course,  to  its  next 
reading.  Hakew.,  141 ;  Scob.,  42.  And  a 
question  for  a  second  reading  determined 
negatively,  is  a  rejection  without  further 
question.  4  Grey,  149.  And  see  Elsi/nge's 
Memor.,  42,  in  what  cases  questions  are  to 
be  taken  for  rejection. 

Where  questions  are  perfectly  equiva- 
lent, so  that  the  negative  of  the  one 
amounts  to  the  affirmative  of  the  other, 
and  leaves  no  other  alternative,  the  de- 
cision of  the  one  concludes  necessarily  the 
other.  4  Grey,  157.  Thus  the  negative  of 
striking  out  amounts  to  the  affirmative  of 
agreeing;  and  therefore  to  put  a  question  on 
agreeing  after  that  on  striking  out,  would 
be  to  put  the  same  question  in  effect  tvvice 
over.  Not  so  in  questions  of  amendments 
between  the  two  Houses.  A  motion  to  re- 
cede being  negatived,  does  not  amount  to 
a  positive  vote  to  insist,  because  there  is  an- 
otner  alternative,  to  wit,  to  adhere.  A  bill 
originating  in  one  House  is  passed  by  the 
other  with  an  amendment.  A  motion  in 
the  originating  House  to  agree  to  the 
amendment  is  negatived.  Does  there  re- 
sult from  this  vote  of  disagreement,  or  must 
the  question  on  disagreement  be  expressly 
votea?  The  question  respecting  amend- 
ments from  another  House  are — 1st,  to 
agree ;  2d,  disagree ;  3d,  recede ;  4th,  insist ; 
5th,  adhere, 

1st.  To  agree.  )  Either  of  these  con- 
2d.  To  disagree.  |  eludes  the  other  neces- 
sarily, for  the  positive 
of  either  is  exactly  the 
equivalent  of  the  nega- 
tive of  the  other,  and 
no  other  alternative  re- 
mains. On  either  mo- 
tion amendments  to  the 
amendment  may  be  pro- 
posed; e.  g.,  if  it  be 
moved  to  disagree,  those 
who  are  for  the  amend- 
ment have  a  right  to 
'  propose     amendments, 

ana  to  make  it  as  per- 
fect as  they  can,  before 
the  question  of  disagree- 
ing IS  put 


3d.    To  recede.   ]      You  may  then  either 
4th.  To  insist.      >  insist  or  adhere. 
5th.  To  adhere,  j      You  may  then  either 
recede  or  adhere. 

You  may  then  either 
recede  or  insist. 

Consequently  the  neg- 
ative of  these  is  not 
equivalent  to  a  positive 
vote,  the  other  way.  It 
does  not  raise  so  neces- 
sary an  implication  as 
may  authorize  the  Sec- 
retary by  inference  to 
enter  another  vote ;  for 
two  alternatives  still  re- 
main, either  of  which 
may  be  adopted  by  the 
House. 

SEC.  XXXIX. — THE.  QUESTION. 

The  question  is  to  be  put  first  on  the 
affirmative,  and  then  on  the  negative  side. 

After  the  Speaker  has  put  the  affirma- 
tive part  of  the  question,  any  liiember  who 
has  not  spoken  before  to  the  question  may 
rise  and  speak  before  the  negative  be  put ; 
because  it  is  no  fiill  question  till  the  nega- 
tive part  be  put,     Scob.,  23 ;  2  Hats.,  73. 

But  in  small  matters,  and  which  are  of 
course,  such  as  receiving  petitions,  reports, 
withdrawing  motions,  reading  papers,  &c., 
the  Speaker  most  commonly  supposes  the 
consent  of  the  House  where  no  objection 
is  expressed,  and  does  not  give  them  the 
trouble  of  putting  the  question  formallv. 
Scob.,  22;  2  Hats.,  87;  5  Grey,  129; '9 
Grey,  301. 

SEC.  XL. — BILLS,  THIRD  READING. 

To  prevent  bills  from  being  passed  by 
surprise,  the  House,  by  a  standing  order, 
directs  that  they  shall  not  be  put  on  their 
passage  before  a  fixed  hour,  naming  one 
at  which  the  House  is  commonly  full. 
Hakew.,  153. 

[The  usage  of  the  Senate  is,  not .  to  put 
bills  on  their  passage  till  noon.] 

A  bill  reported  and  passed  to  the  third 
reading,  cannot  on  that  day  be  read  the 
third  time  and  passed ;  because  this  would 
be  to  pass  on  two  readings  in  the  same 
day. 

At  the  third  reading  the  Clerk  reads  the 
bill  and  delivers  it  to  the  Speaker,  who 
states  the  title,  that  it  is  the  tnird  time  of 
reading  the  bill,  and  that  the  question  will 
be  whether  it  shall  pass.  Formerly  the 
Speaker,  or  those  who  prepared  a  bill,  pre- 
pared also  a  breviate  or  summary  state- 
ment of  its  contents,  which  the  Speaker 
read  when  he  declared  the  state  of  the 
bill,  at  the  several  readings.  Sometimes, 
however,  he  read  the  bill  itself,  especially 
on  its  passage.  Hakew.,  136,  137,  153; 
Coke,  22, 115.  Latterly,  instead  of  this,  he. 
,  at  the  third  reading,  states  the  whole  con- 


BOOK  IV.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


45 


tents  of  the  bill  verbatim,  only,  instead  of 
reading  the  formal  parts,  "  Beit  enacted," 
&c.,  he  states  that  "preamble  recites  so 
and  so — the  1st  section  enacts  that,  &c. ; 
the  2d  section  enacts,"  &c. 

[But  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
both  of  these  formalities  are  dispensed 
with ;  the  breviate  presenting  but  an  im- 
perfect view  of  the  bill,  and  being  capable 
of  being  made  to  present  a  false  one ;  and 
the  full  statement  being  a  useless  waste  of 
time,  immediately  after  a  full  reading  by 
the  C/lerk,  and  especialljr  as  every  member 
has  a  printed  copy  in  his  hand.] 

A  bill  on  the  third  reading  is  not  to  be 
committed  for  the  matter  or  body  thereof, 
but  to  receive  some  particular  clause  or 
proviso,  it  hath  been  sometimes  suffered, 
out  as  a  thing  very  unusual.  Hakew.,  166. 
Thus,  27  El.,  1584,  a  bill  was  committed 
on  the  third  reading,  having  been  former- 
ly committed  on  the  second,  but  is  de- 
clared not  usual.  D^Ewes,  337,  col.  2; 
414,  col.  2. 

When  an  essential  provision  has  been 
omitted,  rather  than  erase  the  bill  and 
render  it  suspicious,  they  add  a  clause  on 
a  separate  paper,  engrossed  and  called  a 
rider,  which  is  read  and  put  to  thf^  ques- 
tion three  times.  Elsynge's  Memo.^  59 ;  6 
Grey,  335 ;  1  Blackst.,  183.  For  examples 
of  riders,  see  3  Hats.,  121,  122,  124,  156. 
Every  one  is  at  liberty  to  bring  in  a  rider 
without  asking  leave.     10  Chrey,  52. 

It  is  laid  down  as  a  general  rule,  that 
amendments  proposed  at  the  second  read- 
ing shall  be  twice  read,  and  those  proposed 
^t  the  third  reading  thrice  read ;  as  also 
all  amendments  from  the  other  House. 
Town.,  col.  19,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27,  28. 

It  is  with  great  and  almost  invincible 
reluctance  that  amendments  are  admitted 
at  this  reading,  which  occasion  erasures  or 
interlineations.  Sometimes  a  proviso  has 
been  cut  off  from  a  bill ;  sometimes  erased. 
9  Grey,  513. 

This  is  the  proper  stage  for  filling  up 
blanks ;  for  if  filled  up  before,  and  now  al- 
tered by  erasure,  it  would  be  peculiarly  un- 
safe. 

At  this  reading  the  bill  is  debated  afresh, 
and  for  the  most  part  is  more  spoken  to  at 
this  time  than  on  any  of  the  former  read- 
ings.    Hakew.,  153. 

The  debate  on  the  question  whether  it 
should  be  read  a  third  time,  has  discovered 
to  its  friends  and  opponents  the  arguments 
on  which  each  side  relies,  and  which  of 
these  appear  to  have  influence  with  the 
House;  they  have  had  time  to  meet  them 
with  new  arguments,  and  to  put  their  old 
ones  into  new  shapes.  The  former  vote 
has  tried  the  strength  of  the  first  opinion, 
and  ftirnished  grounds  to  estimate  the  is- 
sue ;  and  the  question  now  offered  for  its 
passage  is  the  last  occasion  which  is  ever 
to  be  offered  for  carrying  or  rejecting  it. 


When  the  debate  is  ended,  the  Speaker, 
holding  the  bill  in  his  hand,  puts  the  ques- 
tion for  its  passage,  by  saying,  "  Gentlemen, 
all  you  who  are  of  opinion  that  this  bill 
shall  pass,  say  aye ;"  and  after  the  answer 
of  the  ayes,  "  AH  those  of  the  contrary 
opinion,  say  no."     Hakew.,  154. 

After  the  bill  is  passed,  there  can  be  no 
further  alteration  of  it  in  any  point. 
Hakew.,  159. 

SEC.   XLI.— DIVISION  OF  THE    HOUSE. 

The  affirmative  and  negative  of  the  ques- 
tion having  been  both  put  and  answered, 
the  Speaker  declares  whether  the  yeas  or 
nays  nave  it  by  the  sound,  if  he  be  himself 
satisfied,  and  it  stands  as  the  judgment  of 
the  House.  But  if  he  be  not  himself  satis- 
fied which  voice  is  the  greater,  or  if  before 
any  other  member  comes  into  the  House, 
or  before  any  new  motion  made,  (for  it  ie 
too  late  after  that,)  any  member  shall  rise 
and  declare  himself  dissatisfied  with  the 
Speaker's  decision,  then  the  Speaker  is  to 
divide  the  House.    Scob.,  24 ;  2  Hats.,  140. 

When  the  House  of  Commons  is  divided, 
the  one  party  goes  forth,  and  the  other  re- 
mains in  the  House.  This  has  made  it  im- 
portant which  go  forth  and  which  remain ; 
because  the  latter  gain  all  the  indolent,  the 
indifferent,  and  inattentive.  Their  general 
rule,  therefore,  is,  that  those  who  give  their 
vote  for  the  preservation  of  the  orders  of 
the  House  shall  stay  in ;  and  those  who  are 
for  introducing  any  new  matter  or  altera- 
tion, or  proceeding  contrary  to  the  estab- 
lished course,  are  to  go  but.  But  this  rule 
is  subject  to  many  exceptions  and  modifi- 
cations. 2Hats.,lSi',  IRush.,  p.  S,fol.  92; 
Scob.,  43,  52 ;  Co.,  12, 116 ;  D'Ewes,  505,  col. 
1 ;  Mem.  in  Hakew.,  25,  29 ;  as  will  appear 
by  the  following  statement  of  who  go  lorth ; 
Petition  that  it  b'e  received... )   »  „_ 

Read }^y^- 

Lie  on  the  table 1 

Rejected  after  refusal  to  lie  >■  Noes, 
on  table J 

Referred  to  a  committee,  for 
further  proceeding. . . 
Bill,  that  it  be  brout^ht  in ' 

Read  first  or  second  time... 

Engrossed  or  read  third  ti  me 

Proceeding  on  every  other 
stage 

Committed , 

To  Committee  of  the  whole...     Noes. 

To  a  select  committee Ayes. 

Report  of  bill  to  lie  on  table,.    Noes. 
Be  now  read ]  Ayes. 

Be  taken  into  consideration  V 

three  months  hence.. )  30,P.J.25L 
Amendments  to  be  read  a  se-  , 

cond  time Noes. 

Clause  offered  on  report  of  bill  1 

to  be  read  second  time  I  Ayes.  • 

For  receiving  a  clause [  334. 

With  amendm'ts  be  engrossed  j  396. 


Ayes. 


Ayes. 


46 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


.!} 


Noes.       398. 

260. 
Ayes.       259. 


^  Noes.      291. 


Ayes.       344. 


Ayes. 


Noes. 


Ayes. 


That  a  bill  be  now  read 

third  time 

Receive  a  rider 

Pass 

Be  printed 

Committees.    That  A  take 

the  chair 

To  agree  to  the  whole  or 

any  part  of  report 

That  the  House  do  now 
resolve  into  committee... 
Speaker.  That  he  now 
leave  the  chair,  after  or- 
der to  go  into  commit- 
tee  

That  he  issue  warrant  for 

a  new  writ 

Member.     That  none    be 

absent  without  leave 

Witness.     That  he  be  fur- 
ther examined...., 

Previous  question Noes. 

Blanks.    That  they  be  fill- ' 
ed  with  the  largest  sum. 
Amendments.    That  words 

stand  part  of. 

Lords.    That  their  amend- 
ment be  read  a  second 

time 

Messenger  be  received 

Orders  of  day  to  be  now 
read,  if  before  2  o'clock... 

If  after  2  o'clock Noes. 

Adjournment.        Till    the] 
next  sitting  day,  if  before  >■  Ayes. 

4  o'clock j 

If  after  4  o'clock Noes. 

Over  a  sitting  day,  (un- 
less a  previous  resolution. 
Over  the  30th  of  Janu- 
ary  

For  sitting  on  Sunday,  or 
any  other  day  not  being 

a  sitting  day 

The  one  party  being  gone  forth,  the 
Speaker  names  two  tellers  from  the  affirm- 
ative and  two  from  the  negative  side,  who 
first  count  those  sitting  in  the  House  and 
report  the  number  to  the  Speaker.  Then 
they  place  themselves  within  the  door,  two 
on  each  side,  and  count  those  who  went 
forth  as  they  come  in,  and  report  the  num 
ber  to  the  Speaker.     Mem.  in  Hafceto.,  26. 

A  mistake  in  the  report  of  the  tellers 
may  be  rectified  after  the  report  made.  2 
Hats.,  145,  note. 

[But  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  all 
these  intricacies  are  avoided.  The  ayes 
first  rise,  and  are  counted  standing  in  their 
places  by  the  President  or  Speaker.  Then 
they  sit,  and  the  noes  rise  and  are  counted 
in  like  manner.] 

[In  Senate,  if  they  be  equally  divided, 
the  Vice-President  announces  his  opinion, 
which  decides.] 

[The  Constitution,  however,  has  directed 
that  "  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members 


Ayes. 
Noes. 


Ayes. 


of  either  House  on  any  question,  shall  at 
the  desire  of  one-fifth  of  those  present,  be 
entered  on  the  journal."  And  again:  that 
in  all  cases  of  reconsidering  a  bill  disap- 
proved by  the  President,  and  returned  with 
his  objections,  "  the  votes  of  both  Houses 
shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and 
the  names  of  persons  voting  for  and  against 
the  bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journals  of 
each  House  respectively."] 

[By  the  16th  and  17th  rules  of  the  Sen- 
ate, when  the  yeas  and  nays  shall  be  called 
for  by  one-fifth  of  the  members  present, 
each  member  called  upon  shall,  unless  for 
special  reasons  he  be  excused  by  the  Sen- 
ate, declare  openly,  and  without  debate, 
his  assent  or  dissent  to  the  question.  In 
taking  the  yeas  and  nays,  and  upon  the 
call  of  the  House,  the  names  of  the  mem- 
bers shall  be  taken  alphabetically.] 

[  When  the  yeas  and  nays  shall  be  taken 
upon  any  question  in  pursuance  of  the 
above  rule,  no  member  shall  be  permitted, 
under  any  circumstances  whatever,  to  vote 
after  the  decision  is  announced  from  the 
Chair.] 

[  When  it  is  proposed  to  take  the  vote  by 
yeas  and  nays,  the  President  or  Speaker 
states  that  "  the  question  is  whether,  e.  g., 
the  bill  shall  pass — that  it  is  proposed  that 
the  yeas  and  nays  shall  be  entered  on  the 
journal.  Those,  therefore,  who  desire  it, 
will  rise."  If  he  finds  and  declares  that 
one-fifth  have  risen,  he  then  states  that 
"  those  who  are  of  opinion  that  the  bill 
shall  pass  are  to  answer  in  the  affirmative  ; 
those  of  the  contrary  opinion  in  the  nega- 
tive." The  Clerk  then  calls  over  the  names, 
alphabetically,  note  the  yea  or  nay  of  each, 
and  gives  the  list  to  the  President  or  Speak- 
er, wno  declares  the  result.  In  the  Senate, 
if  there  be  an  equal  division,  the  Secretary 
calls  on  the  Vice-President  and  notes  his 
affirmative  or  negative,  which  becomes  the 
decision  of  the  House.] 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  every  mem- 
ber must  give  his  vote  the  one  way  or  the 
other,  Scoh.,  24,  as  it  is  not  permitted  to 
any  one  to  withdraw  who  is  in  the  House 
when  the  question  is  put,  nor  is  any  one  to 
be  told  in  the  division  who  was  not  m  when 
the  question  was  put.     2  Hats.,  140. 

This  last  position  is  always  true  when 
the  vote  is  by  yeas  and  nays ;  where  the 
negative  as  well  as  affirmative  of  the  ques- 
tion is  stated  by  the  President  at  the  same 
time,  and  the  vote  of  both  sides  begins  and 
proceeds  pari  passu.  It  is  true  also  when 
the  question  is  put  in  the  usual  way,  if  the 
negative  has  also  been  put ;  but  if  it  has 
not,  the  member  entering,  or  any  other 
member,  may  speak,  and  even  propose 
amendments,  by  which  the  debate  may  be 
opened  again,  and  the  question  be  greatly 
deferred.  And  as  some  who  have  an- 
swered ay  may  have  been  changed  by  the 
new  arguments,  the  affirmative   must  be 


BOOK  IV.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


47 


put  over  again.  If,  then,  the  member  en- 
tering may,  by  speaking  a  few  words, 
occasion  a  repetition  of  a  question,  it 
would  be  useless  to  deny  it  on  his  simple 
call  for  it. 

While  the  House  is  telling,  no  member 
may  speak  or  move  out  of  his  place  ;  for  if 
any  mistake  be  suspected,  it  must  be 
told  again.  Mem.  in  Hakew.,  26 ;  2  Hats., 
143. 

If  any  difficulty  arises  in  point  of  order 
during  the  division,  the  speaker  is  to  de- 
cide peremptorily,  subject  to  the  future 
censure  of  the  House  if  irregular.  He 
sometimes  permits  old  experienced  mem- 
bers to  assist  him  with  their  advice,  which 
they  do  sitting  in  their  seats,  covered,  to 
avoid  the  appearance  of  debate ;  but  this 
can  only  be  with  the  Speaker's  leave,  else 
the  division  might  last  several  hours.  2 
Hats.,  143. 

The  voice  of  the  majority  decides ;  for 
the  lex  majoris  partis  is  the  law  of  all 
councils,  elections,  &c.,  where  not  other- 
wise expressly  provided.  Hakew.,  93.  But 
if  the  House  be  equally  divided,  semper 
presumatur pro  negante ;  that  is,  the  former 
law  is  not  to  be  changed  but  by  a  majority. 
Towns.,  col.  134. 

[But  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
the  Vice-President  decides  when  the 
House  is  divided.      Const.  U.  S.  I,  3.] 

When  from  counting  the  House  on  a 
division  it  appears  that  there  is  not  a 
quorum,  the  matter  continues  exactly  in 
the  state  in  which  it  was  before  the  divi- 
sion, and  must  be  resumed  at  that  point  on 
any  future  day.     2  Hats.,  126. 

1606,  May  1,  on  a  question  whether  a 
member  having  said  yea  may  afterwards 
sit  and  change  his  opinion,  a  precedent 
was  remembered  by  the  Speaker,  of  Mr. 
Morris,  attorney  of  the  wards,  in  39  Eliz., 
who  in  like  case  changed  his  opinion. 
Mem.  in  Hakew.,  27. 

SEC.  XLII. — TITLES. 

After  the  bill  has  passed,  and  not  before, 
the  title  may  be  amended,  and  is  to  be 
fixed  by  a  question ;  and  the  bill  is  then 
sent  to  the  other  House. 

SEC.  XLIII. — RECONSIDERATION. 

[When  a  (juestion  has  been  once  made 
and  carried  in  the  affirmative  or  negative, 
it  shall  be  in  order  for  any  member  of  the 
majority  to  move  for  the  reconsideration 
thereof;  but  no  motion  for  the  reconsidera- 
tion of  any  vote  shall  be  in  order  after  a 
bill,  resolution,  message,  report,  amend- 
ment, or  motion  upon  which  the  vote  was 
taken  shall  have  gone  out  of  the  possession 
of  the  Senate  announcing  their  decision  ; 
nor  shall  any  motion  for  reconsideration 
be  in  order  unless  made  on  the  same  day 
on  which  the  vote  was  taken,  or  within 
the  two  next  days  of  actual  session  of  the 
Senate  thereafter.    BuU  20.] 


[1798,  Jan.  A  bill  on  its  second  read- 
ing bein^  amended,  and  on  the  question 
whether  it  shall  be  read  a  third  time 
negatived,  was  restored  by  a  decision  to  re- 
consider that  question.  Here  the  votes 
of  negative  and  reconsideration,  like  posi- 
tive and  negative  quantities  in  equation, 
destroy  one  another,  and  are  as  if  they 
were  expunged  from  the  journals.  Con- 
sequently the  bill  is  open  for  amendment, 
just  so  far  as  it  was  the  moment  preced- 
ing the  question  for  the  third  reading; 
that  is  to  say,  all  parts  of  the  bill  are  open 
for  amendment  except  those  on  which 
votes  have  been  already  taken  in  its 
present  stage.  So,  also,  it  may  be  recom- 
mitted.] 

[*The  rule  permitting  a  reconsideration 
of  a  question  affixing  to  it  no  limitation  of 
time  or  circumstance,  it  may  be  asked 
whether  there  is  no  limitation  ?  If,  after 
the  vote,  the  paper  on  which  it  is  passed 
has  been  parted  with,  there  can  be  no  re- 
consideration ;  as  if  a  vote  has  been  for  the 
passage  of  a  bill,  and  the  bill  has  been 
sent  to  the  other  House.  But  where  the 
paper  remains,  as  on  a  bill  rejected ;  when, 
or  under  what  circumstances,  does  it  cease 
to  be  susceptible  of  reconsideration  ?  This 
remains  to  be  settled ;  unless  a  sense  that 
the  right  of  reconsideration  is  a  right  to 
waste  the  time  of  the  House  in  repeated 
agitations  of  the  same  question,  so  that  it 
shall  never  know  when  a  question  is  done 
with,  should  induce  them  to  reform  this 
anomalous  proceeding.] 

In  Parliament  a  question  once  carried 
cannot  be  questioned  again  at  the  same 
session,  but  must  stand  as  the  judgment  of 
the  House.  Towns.,  col.  67;  Mem.  in 
Hakew.,  33.  And  a  bill  once  rejected, 
another  of  the  same  substance  cannot  be 
brought  in  again  the  same  session.  Hakew:, 
158 ;  6  Orey,  392.  But  this  does  not  ex- 
tend to  prevent  putting  the  same  question 
in  diffijrent  stages  of  a  bill ;  because  every 
stage  of  a  bill  submits  the  whole  and 
every  part  of  it  to  the  opinion  of  the 
House,  as  open  for  amendment,  either  by 
insertion  or  omission,  though  the  same 
amendment  has  been  accepted  or  rdected 
in  a  former  stage.  So  in  reports  oi  com- 
mittees, e.  a.,  report  of  an  address,  the 
same  question  is  before  the  House,  and 
open  for  free  discussion.  Towns.,  col.  26 ; 
2  Hats.,  98,  100,  101.  So  orders  of  the 
House,  or  instructions  to  committees,  may 
be  discharged.  So  a  bill,  begun  in  one 
House,  and  sent  to  the  other,  and  there 
rejected,  may  be  renewed  again  in  that 
other,  passed  and  sent  back.  lb.,  92:  3 
Hats.,  161.  Or  if,  instead  of  being  re- 
jected, they  read  it  once  and  lay  it  aside 
or  amend  itj  and  put  it  off  a  month,  they 
may  order  la  another  to  the  same  eflfect, 

*  The  rule  now  fixe*  k  llaitotioa. 


48 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


with  the  same  or  a  diflferent  title.  Hakew., 
97,  98. 

Divers  expedients  are  used  to  correct 
the  eflfects  of  this  rule ;  as,  by  passing  an 
explanatory  act,  if  anything  has  been 
omitted  or  ill  expressed,  3  Hats.,  278,  or  an 
act  to  enforce,  and  make  more  effectual  an 
act,  «&c.,  or  to  rectify  mistakes  in  an  act, 
&c.,  or  a  committee  on  one  bill  may  be  in- 
structed to  receive  a  clause  to  rectify  the 
mistakes  of  another.  Thus,  June  24, 1685, 
a  clause  was  inserted  in  a  bill  for  rectify- 
ing a  mistake  committed  by  a  clerk  in  en- 
grossing a  bill  of  supply.  2  Hats.,  194,  6. 
Or  the  session  may  be  closed  for  one,  two, 
three  or  more  days,  and  a  new  one  com- 
menced. But  then  all  matters  depending 
must  be  finished,  or  they  fall,  and  are  to 
begin  de  novo.  2  Hats.,  94,  98.  Or  a 
part  of  the  subject  may  be  taken  up  by 
another  bill,  or  taken  up  in  a  different 
wav.    6  Gfrey,  304,  316. 

And  in  cases  of  the  last  magnitude,  this 
rule  has  not  been  so  strictly  and  verbally 
observed  as  to  stop  indispensable  proceed- 
ings altogether.  2  Hats.,  92,  98.  Thus 
when  the  address  on  the  preliminaries  of 
peace  in  1782  had  been  lost  by  a  majority 
of  one,  on  account  of  the  importance  of 
the  question,  and  smallness  of  the  majority, 
the  same  question  in  substance,  though 
with  some  words  not  in  the  first,  and 
which  might  change  the  opinion  of  some 
members,  was  brought  on  again  and  car- 
ried, as  the  motives  for  it  were  thought  to 
outweigh  the  objection  of  Torm.  2  Hats., 
99,  100. 

A  second  bill  may  be  passed  to  continue 
an  act  of  the  same  session,  or  to  enlarge 
the  time  limited  for  its  execution.  2 
Hats.,  95,  98.  This  is  not  in  contradiction 
to  the  first  act. 


SEC.  XLIV. — BILLS  SENT  TO  THE  OTHER 
HOUSE. 

[AH  bills  passed  in  the  Senate  shall, 
before  they  are  sent  to  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, be  examined  by  a  commit- 
tee, consisting  of  three  members,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  examine  all  bills, 
amendments,  resolutions,  or  motions,  be- 
fore they  go  out  of  the  possession  of  the 
Senate,  and  to  make  report  that  they  are 
correctly  engrossed  ;  which  report  shall  be 
entered  on  the  journal.     Rule  34.] 

A  bill  from  the  other  House  is  some- 
times ordered  to  lie  on  the  table.  2  Hats., 
97. 

When  bills,  passed  in  one  House  and 
sent  to  the  other,  are  grounded  on  special 
facts  requirinsT  i)rnof,  it  is  usual,  either  by 
message  or  at  a  conference,  to  ask  the 
grf)und^»  and  evi  lonce;  and  this  evidence, 
whether  arising  out  of  papers,  or  from  the 
examination  of  witnesses,  is  immediately 
communicated.    3  SaU.,  48. 


SEC.    XLV. — AMENDMENTS   BETWEEN  THJ8 
HOUSES. 

When  either  House,  e.  g.,  the  House  of 
Commons,  send  a  bill  to  the  other,  the 
other  may  pass  it  with  amendments.  The 
regular  progression  in  this  case  is,  that  the 
Commons  disagree  to  the  amendment ;  the 
Lords  insist  on  it;  the  Commons  insist 
on  their  disagreement ;  the  Lords  adhere 
to  their  amendment ;  the  Commons  adhere 
to  their  disagreement.  The  term  of  insist- 
ing may  be  repeated  as  often  as  they 
choose  to  keep  the  question  open.  But 
the  first  adherence  by  either  renders  it 
necessary  for  the  other  to  recede  or  adhere 
also;  when  the  matter  is  usually  suffered 
to  fall.  10  Grey,  148.  Latterly,  however, 
there  are  instances  of  their  having  gone  to 
a  second  adherence.  There  must  be  an 
absolute  conclusion  of  the  subject  some- 
where, or  otherwise  transactions  between 
the  Houses  would  become  endless.  3 
Hats.,  268,  270.  The  term  of  insisting,  we 
are  told  by  Sir  John  Trevor,  was  then  (1679) 
newly  introduced  into  parliamentary  usage, 
by  the  Lords.  7  Grei/,  94.  It  was  certainly  a 
happy  innovation,  as  it  multiplies  the  op- 
portunities of  trjing  modifications  which 
may  bring  the  Houses  to  a  concurrence. 
Either  House,  however,  is  free  to  pass  over 
the  term  of  insisting,  and  to  adhere  in  the 
first  instance  ;  10  Grey,  146 ;  but  it  is  not 
respectful  to  the  other.  In  the  ordinary 
parliamentary  course,  there  are  two  free 
conferences,  at  least,  before  an  adherence. 
10  Grey,U7. 

Either  House  may  recede  from  its 
amendment  and  agree  to  the  bill ;  or  re- 
cede from  their  disagreement  to  the  amend- 
ment, and  agree  to  the  same  absolutely,  or 
with  an  amendment ;  for  here  the  disagree- 
ment and  receding  destroy  one  another, 
and  the  subject  stands  as  before  the  agree- 
ment.    Elsynge,  23,  27 ;  9  Grey,  476. 

But  the  House  cannot  recede  from  or  in- 
sist on  its  own  amendment,  with  an  amend- 
ment ;  for  the  same  reason  that  it  cannot 
send  to  the  other  House  an  amendment  to 
its  own  act  after  it  has  passed  the  act.  They 
may  modify  an  amendment  from  the  other 
House  by  ingrafting  an  amendment  on  it, 
because  they  have  never  assented  to  it ; 
but  they  cannot  amend  their  own  amend- 
ment, because  they  have,  on  the  question, 
passed  it  in  that  form.  9  Grey,  363 ;  10 
Qrey,  240.  In  the  Senate,  March  29, 1798. 
Nor  where  one  House  has  adhered  to  their 
amendment,  and  the  other  agrees  with  an 
amendment,  can  the  first  House  depart 
from  the  form  which  they  have  fixea  by 
an  adherence. 

In  the  case  of  a  money  bilt,  the  Lords' 
proposed  amendments,  become,  by  declay, 
confessedly  necessary.  The  Commons, 
however,  refused  them,  as  infringing  on 
their  privilege  as  to  money  bills ;  but  they 
offered  themselves  to  add  to  the  bill  a  pro* 


BOOK  IV.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE, 


49 


vise  to  the  same  effect,  which  had  no  co- 
herence with  the  Lords'  amendments ;  and 
Urged  that  it  was  an  expedient  warranted 
by  precedent,  and  not  unparliamentary  in 
a  case  become  impracticable,  and  irremedi- 
able in  any  other  way.  3  Hats.,  256,  266, 
270,  271.  But  the  Lords  refused,  and  the 
bill  was  lost.  1  Chand.,  288.  A  like  case, 
1  Chand.,  311.  So  the  Commons  resolved 
that  it  is  unparliamentary  to  strike  out,  at  a 
conference,  anything  in  a  bill  which  hath 
been  agreed  and  passed  by  both  Houses. 
6  Grei/,  274;  1  Chand.,  312. 

A  motion  to  amend  an  amendment  from 
the  other  House  takes  precedence  of  a 
motion  to  agree  or  disagree. 

A  bill  originating  in  one  House  is  passed 
by  the  other  with  an  amendment. 

The  originating  House  agrees  to  their 
amendment  with  an  amendment.  The 
other  may  agree  to  their  amendment  with 
an  amendment,  that  being  only  in  the  2d 
and  not  the  3d  degree;  for,  as  to  the 
amending  House,  the  first  amendment  with 
which  they  passed  the  bill  is  a  part  of  its 
text;  it  is  the  only  text  they  have  agreed 
to.  The  amendment  to  that  text  by  the 
originating  House,  therefore,  is  only  in  the 
1st  degree,  and  the  amendment  to  that 
again  by  the  amending  House  is  only  in 
the  2d,  to  wit,  an  amendment  to  an  amend- 
ment, and  so  admissible.  Just  so,  when, 
on  a  bill  from  the  originating  House,  the 
other,  at  its  second  reading,  makes  an 
amendment;  on  the  third  reading  this 
amendment  is  become  the  text  of  the  bill, 
and  if  an  amendment  to  it  be  moved,  an 
amendment  to  that  amendment  may  also 
be  moved,  as  being  only  in  the  2d  degree. 

SEC.  XLVl. — CONFERENCES. 

It  is  on  the  occasion  of  amendments  be- 
tween the  Houses  that  conferences  are 
usually  asked ;  but  they  may  be  asked  in 
all  cases  of  difference  of  opinion  between 
the  two  Houses  on  matters  depending  be- 
tween them.  The  request  of  a  conference, 
however,  must  always  be  by  the  House 
which  is  possessed  of  the  papers.  3  Hats., 
31 ;  1  Grey,  425. 

Conferences  may  be  either  simple  or 
free.  At  a  conference  simply,  written  rea- 
sons are  prepared  by  the  House  asking  it, 
and  they  are  read  and  delivered,  without 
debate,  to  the  managers  of  the  other  House 
at  the  conference  ;  but  are  not  then  to  be 
answered.  4  Grey,  144.  The  other  House 
then,  if  satisfied,  vote  the  reasons  satisfac- 
tory, or  say  nothing;  if  not  satisfied,  they 
resolve  them  not  satisfactory  and  ask  a 
conference)  on  the  subject  of  the  last  con- 
ference, where  they  read  and  deliver,  in 
like  manner,  written  answers  to  those 
reasons.  3  Grey,  183.  They  are  meant 
chiefly  to  record  the  justification  of  each 
House  to  the  nation  at  large,  and  to  pos- 
terity, and  in  proof  that  the  miscarriage  of 
60 


a  necessary  measure  is  not  imputable  to 
them.  3  Grey,  255.  At  free  conferences, 
the  managers  discuss,  viva  voce  and  freely, 
aud  interchange  propositions  for  such 
modifications  as  may  be  made  in  a  parlia- 
mentary way,  and  may  bring  the  sense  of 
the  two  Houses  together.  And  each  party 
reports  in  writing  to  their  respective  Houses 
the  substance  oi  what  is  said  on  both  sides, 
and  it  is  entered  on  their  journals.  9  Grey, 
220 ;  3  Hats.,  280.  This  report  cannot  be 
amended  or  altered,  as  that  of  a  committee 
may  be.    Journal  Senate,  May  24,  1796. 

A  conference  may  be  asked,  before  the 
House  asking  it  has  come  to  a  resolution 
of  disagreement,  insisting  or  adhering.  3 
Hats.,  269,  341.  In  which  case  the  papers 
are  not  left  with  the  other  conferees,  but 
are  brought  back  to  be  the  foundation  of 
the  vote  to  be  given.  And  this  is  the  most 
reasonable  and  respectful  proceeding ;  for, 
as  was  urged  by  the  Lords  on  a  particular 
occasion,  "  it  is  held  vain,  and  below  the 
wisdom  of  Parliament,  to  reason  or  argue 
against  fixed  resolutions,  and  upon  terms 
of  impossibility  to  persuade."  3  Hats., 
226.  So  the  Commons  say,  "  an  adherence 
is  never,  delivered  at  a  free  conference, 
which  implies  debate."  10  Grey,  137.  And 
on  another  occasion  the  Lords  made  it  an 
objection  that  the  Commons  had  asked  a 
free  conference  after  they  had  made  reso- 
lutions of  adhering.  It  was  then  affirmed, 
however,  on  the  part  of  the  Commons,  that 
nothing  was  m(*e  parliamentary  than  to 
proceed  with  free  conferences  after  adher- 
ing, 3  Hats.,  269,  and  we  do  in  fact  see  in- 
stances of  conference,  or  of  free  confer- 
ence, asked  after  the  resolution  of  disa- 
greeing, 3  Hats.,  251,  253,  260,  286,  291, 
316,  349 ;  of  insisting,  ib.,  280,  296,  299, 
319,  322,  355 ;  of  adhering,  269,  270,  283, 
300  ;  and  even  of  a  second  or  final  adher- 
ence. 3  Hats.,  270.  And  in  all  cases  of 
conference  asked  after  a  vote  of  disagree- 
ment, &c.,  the  conferees  of  the  House  ask- 
ing it  are  to  leave  the  papers  with  the  con- 
ferees of  the  other ;  and  in  one  case  where 
they  refiised  to  receive  them,  they  were 
left  on  the  table  in  the  conference  cham- 
ber,   ib.,  271,  317,  323,  354  ;  10  Grey,  146. 

After  a  free  conference,  the  usage  is  to 
proceed  with  free  conferences,  and  not  to 
return  again  to  a  conference.  3  Hats.,  270 ; 
9  Grey,  229. 

After  a  conference  denied,  a  free  con- 
ference may  be  asked.     1  Grey,  45. 

When  a  conference  is  asked,  the  subject 
of  it  must  be  expressed,  or  the  conference 
not  agreed  to.  Ord.  H  Com.,  89 ;  Grey. 
425 ;  7  Grey,  31,  They  are  sometimes  asked 
to  inquire  concerning  an  offense  or  default 
of  a  member  of  the  other  House.  6  Grey, 
181 ;  1  Chand.,  304.  Or  the  failure  of  the 
other  House  to  preseui  to  the  King  a  bill 
passed  by  both  Houses,  8  Gi-ey,  302.  Or  on 
information  received,  and  relating  to  the 


50 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  IV. 


safety  of  the  nation.  10  Grey,  171.  Or 
when  the  methods  of  Parliament  are 
thought  by  the  one  House  to  have  been 
departed  from  by  the  other,  a  conference 
is  asked  to  come  to  a  right  understanding 
thereon.  10  Grey,  148.  So  when  an  un- 
parliamentary message  has  been  sent,  in- 
stead of  answering  it,  they  ask  a  confer- 
ence. 3  Grey,  155.  Formerly  an  address 
or  articles  of  imiieachment,  or  a  bill  with 
amendments,  or  a  vote  of  the  House,  or 
concurrence  in  a  vot€,  or  a  message  from 
the  King,  were  sometimes  communicated 
by  way  of  conference.  6  Grey,  128,  300, 
387  ;  7  Grey,  80 ;  8  Grey,  210,  255 ;  1  Tor- 
buck's  Deb.,  278  ;  10  Grey,  293  ;  1  Chandler, 
49,  287.  But  this  is  not  the  modern  prac- 
tice.    8  Grey,  255. 

A  conference  has  been  asked  after  the 
first  reading  of  a  bill.  1  Grey,  194.  This 
is  a  singular  instance. 

SEC.    XLVII. — MESSAGES. 

Messages  between  the  Houses  are  to  be 
sent  only  while  both  Houses  are  sitting. 
3  Hats.,  15.  They  are  received  during  a 
debate  without  adjourning  the  debate.  3 
Hats.,  22. 

[In  Senate  the  messengers  are  introduced 
in  any  state  of  business,  except,  1.  While 
a  question  is  being  put.  2.  Wnile  the  yeas 
and  nays  are  being  called.  3.  While  the 
ballots  are  being  counted.  Bide  51.  The 
first  case  is  short ;  the  second  and  third  are 
cases  where  any  interruption  might  oc- 
casion errors  difficult  to  be  corrected.  So 
arranged  June  15,  1798.] 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  as  in 
Parliament,  if  the  House  be  in  committee 
when  a  messenger  attends,  the  Speaker 
takes  the  chair  to  receive  the  message,  and 
then  quits  it  to  return  into  committee, 
without  any  question  or  interruption.  4 
Grey,  226. 

Messengers  are  not  saluted  by  the  mem- 
bers, but  by  the  Speaker  for  the  House.  2 
Grey,  253,  274. 

If  messengers  commit  an  error  in  deliv- 
ering their  message,  they  may  be  admitted 
or  called  in  to  correct  their  message.  4 
Grey,  41.  Accordingly,  March  13,  1800, 
the  Senate  having  made  two  amendments 
to  a  bill  from  the  House  of  Representatives, 
their  Secretary,  by  mistake,  delivered  one 
only ;  which  being  inadmissible  by  itself, 
that  House  disagreed,  and  notified  the 
Senate  of  their  disagreement.  This  pro- 
duced a  discovery  of  the  mistake.  The  Sec- 
retary was  sent  to  the  other  House  to  correct 
his  mistake,  the  correction  was  received, 
and  the  two  amendments  acted  on  de  novo. 

As  soon  as  the  messenger,  who  has 
brought  bills  firpm  the  other  House,  has 
retired,  the  Speaker  holds  the  bills  in  his 
hand,  and  acquaints  the  House  "  that  the 
other  House  have  by  their  messenger  sent 
certain  bills,"  and  tnen  reads  their  titles. 


and  delivers  them  to  the  Clerk,  to  be  safely 
kept  till  they  shall  be  called  for  to  be  reaa. 
Hakew.,  178. 

It  is  not  the  usage  for  one  House  to  in- 
form the  other  by  what  numbers  a  bill  is 
passed.  10  Chrey,  150.  Yet  they  have 
sometimes  recommended  a  bill,  as  of  great 
importance,  to  the  consideration  of  the 
House  to  which  it  is  sent.  3  Eats.,  25. 
Nor  when  they  have  rejected  a  bill  from 
the  other  House,  do  they  give  notice  of  it ; 
but  it  passes  sub  silentio,  to  prevent  unbe- 
coming altercations.     1  Blackst.,  183. 

[But  in  Congress  the  rejection  is  notified 
by  message  to  the  House  in  which  the  bill 
originated.] 

A  question  is  never  asked  by  the  one 
House  of  the  other  by  way  of  message,  but 
only  at  a  conference ;  for  this  is  an  inter- 
rogatory, not  a  message.     3  Grey,  151,  181. 

When  a  bill  is  sent  by  one  House  to  the 
other,  and  is  neglected,  they  may  send  a 
message  to  remind  them  of  it.  3  Hats., 
25 ;  5  Grey,  164.  But  if  it  be  mere  inat- 
tention, it  is  better  to  have  it  done  infsrm- 
ally  by  communications  between  the 
Speakers  or  members  of  the  two  Houses. 

Where  the  subject  of  a  message  is  of  a 
nature  that  it  can  properly  be  communi- 
cated to  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  it  is 
expected  that  this  communication  should 
be  made  to  both  on  the  same  day.  But 
where  a  message  was  accompanied  with  an 
original  declaration,  signed  by  the  party 
to  which  the  message  referred,  its  being 
sent  to  one  House  was  not  noticed  by  the 
other,  because  the  declaration,  being  origi- 
nal, could  not  possibly  be  sent  to  both 
Houses  at  the  same  time.  2  Hats.,  260, 
261,  262. 

The  King  having  sent  original  letters 
to  the  Commons,  afterward  desires  they 
may  be  returned,  that  he  may  communi- 
cate them  to  the  Lords.     1  Chandler,  303. 

SEC.   XLVIII. — ASSENT. 

The  House  which  has  received  a  bill  and 
passed  it  may  present  it  for  the  King's  as- 
sent, and  ought  to  do  it,  though  they  have 
not  by  message  notified  to  the  other  their 
passage  of  it.  Yet  the  notifying  by  mes- 
sage is  a  form  which  ought  to  be  observed 
between  the  two  Houses  from  motives  of 
respect  and  good  understanding.  2  Hats., 
242.  Were  the  bill  to  be  withheld  from 
being  presented  to  the  King,  it  would  be 
an  infringement  of  the  rules  of  Parlia- 
ment.    Ih. 

[When  a  bill  has  passed  both  Houses  of 
Congress,  the  House  last  acting  on  it  noti- 
fies its  passage  to  the  other,  and  delivers 
the  bill  to  the  Joint  Committee  of  En- 
rolment, who  see  that  it  is  truljr  enrolled 
in  parchment].  When  the  bill  is  en- 
rolled, it  is  not  to  be  written  in  para- 
graphs, but  solidly,  and  all  of  a  piece, 
that  the  blanks  between  the  paragraphs 


BooKiv.]     JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


51 


may  not  give  room  for  forgery.  9  Grey, 
143.  [It  is  then  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
have  it  signed  by  the  Speaker.  The  Clerk 
then  brings  it  by  way  of  message  to  the 
Senate  to  be  signed  by  their  President.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Senate  returns  it  to  the 
Committee  of  Enrolment,  who  present  it  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  If  he 
approve,  he  signs,  and  deposits  it  among 
the  rolls  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  and  notifies  by  message  the  House 
in  which  it  originated  that  he  has  ap- 
proved and  signed  it;  of  which  that 
House  informs  the  other  by  message.  If 
the  President  disapproves,  he  is  to  return 
it,  with  his  objections,  to  that  House  in 
which  it  shall  have  originated;  who  are 
to  enter  the  objections  at  large  on  their 
journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If, 
after  such  reconsideration,  two-thirds  of 
that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it 
shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  Presi- 
dent's objections,  to  the  other  House,  by 
which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered; 
and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that 
House,  it  shall  become  a  law.  If  any  bill 
shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President 
within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after 
it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the 
same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like  manner  after 
he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress,  by 
their  adjournment,  prevent  its  return ;  in 
which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law.  Const.,  1,7.] 
[Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  to 
■which  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  may  be  neces- 
sary, (except  on  a  question  of  adjourn- 
ment), shall  be  presented  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and,  before  the  same 
shall  take  effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him ; 
or,  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  re- 
passed by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  according  to  the 
rules  and  limitations  prescribed  in  the  case 
of  a  bill.     Const,  I,  7.] 

SEC.   XLIX. — JOURNALS. 

[Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its 
proceedings,  and  from  time  to  time  publish 
the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as  may,  in 
their  judgment,  require  secrecy.  Const., 
1,6.1 

[The  proceedings  of  the  Senate,  when 
not  acting  as  in  a  Committee  of  the  Whole, 
shall  be  entered  on  the  journals  as  con- 
cisely as  possible,  care  being  taken  to  de- 
tail a  true  account  of  the  proceedings. 
Every  vote  of  the  Senate  shall  be  entered 
on  the  journals,  and  a  brief  statement  of 
the  contents  of  each  petition,  memorial, 
or  paper  presented  to  the  Senate,  be  also 
inserted  on  the  journal.    Rule  5.] 

[The  titles  of  bills,  and  such  parts  there- 
of, only,  as  shall  be  affected  by  proposed 
amendments,  shall  be  inserted  on  the  jour- 
nals.    Ride  5.] 


If  a  question  is  interrupted  by  a  vote 
to  adjourn,  or  to  proceed  to  the  orders  of 
the  day,  the  original  question  is  never 
printed  in  the  journal,  it  never  having 
been  a  vote,  nor  introductory  to  any  vote ; 
but  when  suppressed  by  the  previous  ques- 
tion, the  first  Question  must  be  stated,  in 
order  to  introduce  and  make  intelligible 
the  second.     2  Hats.,  83. 

So  also  when  a  question  is  postponed, 
adjourned,  or  laid  on  the  table,  the  ori- 
ginal question,  though  not  yet  a  vote,  must 
be  expressed  in  the  journals ;  because  it 
makes  part  of  the  vote  of  postponement, 
adjourning,  or  laying  it  on  the  table. 

Where  amendments  are  made  to  a  ques- 
tion, those  amendments  are  not  printed  in 
the  journals,  separated  from  the  question ; 
but  only  the  question  as  finally  agreed  to 
by  the  House.  The  rule  of  entering  in  the 
journals  only  what  the  House  has  agreed 
to,  is  founded  in  great  prudence  and  good 
sense ;  as  there  may  be  many  questions 
proposed,  which  it  may  be  improper  to 
publish  to  the  world  in  the  form  in  which 
they  are  made.     2  Hats.,  85. 

[In  both  Houses  of  Congress,  all  ques- 
tions whereon  the  yeas  and  nays  are  de- 
sired by  one-fifth  of  the  members  present, 
whether  decided  affirmatively  or  nega- 
tively, must  be  entered  in  the  journals. 
Const.,  I,  6.] 

The  first  order  for  printing  the  votes  of 
the  House  of  Commons  was  October  30, 
1685.     1  Chandler,  387. 

Some  judges  have  been  of  opinion  that 
the  journals  of  the  House  of  Commons 
are  no  records,  but  only  remembrances. 
But  this  is  not  law.  Hob.,  110,  111 ;  Lex 
Pari,  114,  115;  Jour.  H.  C,  Mar.  17, 1592; 
Hale,  Pari.,  105.  For  the  Lords  in  their 
House  have  power  of  judicature,  the  Com- 
mons in  their  House  have  power  of  judi- 
cature, and  both  Houses  together  have 
power  of  judicature  ;  and  the  book  of  the 
Clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons  is  a 
record,  as  is  affirmed  by  act  of  Pari.,  6  H. 
8,  c.  16 ;  4  Inst.,  23,  24  ;  and  every  member 
of  the  House  of  Commons  hath  a  judicial 
place.  4  Inst.,  15.  As  records  they  are 
open  to  every  person,  and  a  printed  vote 
01  either  House  is  sufficient  ground  for  the 
other  to  notice  it.  Either  may  appoint  a 
committee  to  inspect  the  journals  of  the 
other,  and  report  what  has  been  done  by 
the  other  in  any  particular  case.  2  Hats., 
261 ;  3  Hats.,  27-30.  Every  member  has  a 
right  to  see  the  journals  and  to  take  and 
publish  votes  from  them.  Being  a  record, 
every  one  may  see  and  publish  them.  6 
Grey,  118,  119. 

On  information  of  a  mis-entry  or  omis- 
sion of  an  entr5'  in  the  journal,  a  committee 
may  be  appointed  to  examine  and  rectify 
it,  and  report  it  to  the  House.  2  Hats., 
194,1195. 


52 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[[book  it. 


SEC.  L. — ADJOURNMENT. 

The  two  Houses  of  Parliament  have  the 
sole,  separate,  and  independent  power  of 
adjourning  each  their  respective  Houses. 
The  King  has  no  authority  to  adjourn 
them ;  he  can  only  signify  his  desire,  and 
it  is  in  the  wisdom  and  prudence  of  either 
House  to  comply  with  his  requisition,  or 
not,  as  thev  see  fitting.  2  Hats.,  232 ;  1 
Blackst,  ISe.';   6  Grey,  122. 

[By  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
a  smaller  number  than  a  majority  may  ad- 
journ from  day  to  day.  I,  5.  But  "  neither 
House,  during  the  Session  of  Congress, 
shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  ad- 
journ for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any 
other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two 
Houses  shall  be  sitting."  I,  6.  And  in 
case  of  disagreement  between  them,  with 
respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  the 
President  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time 
as  he  shall  think  proper.  Const.,  II,  3.] 

A  motion  to  adjourn,  simply,  cannot  be 
amended,  as  by  adding  "  to  a  particular 
day ;"  but  must  be  put  simply  "  that  this 
House  do  now  adjourn ;"  and  if  carried  in 
the  affirmative,  it  is  adjourned  to  the  next 
sitting  day,  unless  it  has  come  to  a  pre- 
vious resolution,  "  that  at  its  rising  it  will 
adjourn  to  a  particular  day,"  and  then  the 
House  is  adjourned  to  that  day.  2  Hats.,  82. 

Where  it  is  convenient  that  the  business 
of  the  House  be  suspended  for  a  short 
time,  as  for  a  conference  presently  to  be 
held,  &c.,  it  adjourns  during  pleasure;  2 
Hats.,  305 ;  or  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  5 
Greij,  331. 

If  a  question  be  put  for  adjournment,  it 
is  no  adjournment  till  the  Speaker  pro- 
nounces it.  5  Grey,  137.  And  from  cour- 
tesy and  respect,  no  member  leaves  his 
place  tiU  the  Speaker  has  passed  on, 

SEC.  LI. — A  SESSION. 

Parliament  have  three  modes  of  separa- 
tion, to  wit :  by  adjournment,  by  proroga- 
tion or  dissolution  bv  the  King,  or  by  the 
efflux  of  the  term  ft>r  which  they  were 
elected.  Prorogation  or  dissolution  con- 
stitutes there  what  is  called  a  session  ;  pro- 
vided some  act  was  passed.  In  this  case 
all  matters  depending  before  them  are  dis- 
continued, and  at  their  next  meeting  are 
to  be  taken  up  de  novo,  if  taken  up  at  all. 
1  Blackst.,  186.  Adjournment,  which  is 
by  themselves,  is  no  more  than  a  continu- 
ance of  the  session  from  one  day  to  an- 
other, or  for  a  fortnight,  a  month,  «&c.,  ad 
libitum.  All  matters  depending  remain  in 
statu  quo,  and  when  they  meet  again,  be 
the  term  pver  so  distant,  are  resuraed,with- 
out  any  fresh  commencement,  at  the  point 
at  which  they  were  left.  1  Lev,,  165 ;  Lex. 
Pari.,  c.  2;  1  Eo.  Rep.,  29;  ^  Inst.,  7,  27, 
28 ;  Hutt.,  61 ;  1  Mod.,  252 ;  Ruffh.  Jac,  L. 
Diet.  Parliament;  1  Blackst.,  186.     Their 


whole  session  is  considered  in  law  but  as 
one  day,  and  has  relation  to  the  first  day 
thereof.     Bro.  Abr.  Parliament,  86. 

Committees  may  be  appointed  to  sit 
during  a  recess  by  adjournment,  but  not 
by  prorogation.  5  Grey,  374 ;  9  Grey,  360 ; 
1  Chandler,  50.  Neither  House  can  con- 
tinue any  portion  of  itself  in  any  parlia- 
mentary function  beyond  the  end  of  the 
session,  without  the  consent  of  the  other 
two  branches.  When  done,  it  is  by  a  bill 
constituting  them  commissioners  for  the 
particular  purpose. 

[Congress  separate  in  two  ways  only,  to 
wit :  by  adjournment,  or  dissolution  by  the 
efflux  of  their  time.  What,  then,  consti- 
tutes a  session  with  them  ?  A  dissolution 
certainly  closes  one  session,  and  the  meet- 
ing of  the  new  Congress  begins  another. 
The  Constitution  auuiorizes  the  President 
"on  extraordinary  occasions,  to  convene 
both  Houses,  or  either  of  them."  I,  3.  If 
convened  by  the  President's  proclamation, 
this  must  begin  a  new  session,  and  of 
course  determine  the  preceding  one  to 
have  been  a  session.  So  if  it  meets 
under  the  clause  of  the  Constitution, 
which  says,  "the  Congress  shall  assemble 
at  least  once  in  every  year,  and  such  meet- 
ing shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  De- 
cember, unless  they  shall  by  law  appoint 
a  different  day."  I,  4.  This  must  begin 
a  new  session  ;  for  even  if  the  last  adjourn- 
ment was  to  thja  day,  the  act  of  adjourn- 
ment is  merged  in  the  higher  authority  of 
the  Constitution,  and  the  meeting  will  bb 
under  that,  and  not  under  their  adjourn 
ment.  So  far  we  have  fixed  landmarks 
for  determining  sessions.  In  other  cases 
it  is  declared  by  the  joint  vote  authorizing 
the  President  of  the  Senate  and  the 
Speaker  to  close  the  session  on  a  fixed  day, 
which  is  usually  in  the  following  form : 
"  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives,  that  the  President  of  the 
Senate  and  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  be  authorized  to  close  the 
present  session  by  adjourning  their  re- 
spective Houses  on  the day  of ."] 

When  it  was  said  above  that  all  matters 
depending  before  Parliament  were  discon- 
tinued by  the  determination  of  the  session, 
it  was  hot  meant  for  judiciary  cases  de- 
pending before  the  House  of  Lords,  such 
as  impeachments,  appeals,  and  writs  of 
error.  These  stand  continued,  of  course, 
to  the  next  session.  Raym.,  120,  381 ; 
Biiffh.  Jac.,  L.  D.  Parliament. 

[Impeachments  stand,  in  like  manner, 
continued  before  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.] 

SEC.  LH. — ^TREATIES. 

[The  President  of  the  United  States  has 
power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  to  make  treaties,  pro- 
vided two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
concur.     Const.,  II,  2.] 


BOOK  IV.]      JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY   PRACTICE. 


53 


[Resolved,  that  all  confidential  commu- 
nications made  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  the  Senate  shall  be,  by 
the  members  thereof,  kept  secret ;  and  that 
all  treaties  which  may  hereafter  be  laid 
before  the  Senate  shall  also  be  kept  secret, 
until  the  Senate  shall,  by  their  resolution, 
take  off  the  injunction  of  secrecy.  Btde 
67.*] 

[Treaties  are  legislative  acts.  A  treaty 
is  .the  law  of  the  land.  It  differs  from 
other  laws  only  as  it  must  have  the  con- 
sent of  a  foreign  nation,  being  but  a  con- 
tract with  respect  to  that  nation.  In  all 
countries,  I  believe,  except  England,  trea- 
ties are  made  by  the  legislative  power; 
and  there,  also,  if  they  touch  the  laws  of 
the  land,  they  must  be  approved  by  Par- 
liament. Ware  v.  Hylton,  3  Dallas's  Rep., 
223.  It  is  acknowledged,  for  instance,  that 
the  King  of  Great  Britain  cannot  by  a 
treaty  make  a  citizen  of  an  alien.  Vattd, 
b.  1,  c.  19,  sec.  214.  An  act  of  Parliament 
was  necessary  to  validate  the  American 
treaty  of  1783.  And  abundant  examples 
of  such  acts  can  be  cited.  In  the  case  of 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1712,  the  com- 
mercial articles  required  the  concurrence 
of  Parliament;  but  a  bill  brought  in  for 
that  purpose  was  rejected.  France,  the 
other  contracting  party,  suffered  these  ar- 
ticles, in  practice,  to  be  not  insisted  on, 
and  adhered  to  the  rest  of  the  treaty.  4 
Russell's  Hist.  Mod.  Europe,  457  ;  2  Smol- 
let,  242,  246. 

[By  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  this  department  of  legislation  is 
confined  to  two  branches  only  of  the  or- 
dinary legislature — the  President  originat- 
ing and  the  Senate  having  a  negative.  To 
what  subjects  this  power  extends  has  not 
been  defined  in  detail  by  the  Constitution ; 
nor  are  we  entirely  agreed  among  our- 
selves. 1.  It  is  admitted  that  it  must 
concern  the  foreign  nation  party  to  the 
contract,  or  it  would  be  a  mere  nullity, 
res  inter  alias  acta,  2.  By  the  general 
power  to  make  treaties,  the  Constitution 
must  have  intended  to  comprehend  only 
those  subjects  which  are  usually  regulated 
by  treaty,  and  cannot  be  otherwise  regu- 
lated. 3.  It  must  have  meant  to  except 
out  of  these  the  rights  reserved  to  the 
States ;  for  surely  the  President  and  Sen- 
ate cannot  do  by  treaty  what  the  whole 
Government  is  interdicted  from  doin^  in 
any  way.  4.  And  also  to  except  those 
subjects  of  legislation  in  which  it  gave  a 
participation  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. This  last  exception  is  denied  by 
some  on  the  ground  that  it  would  leave 
very  little  matter  for  the  treaty  power  to 
work  on.    The  less  the  better,  say  others. 

•  This  rule  has  been  so  amended  as  to  except  Indian 
treaties ;  which  shall  bo  con»idorpd  and  awrted  upon  in 
cp  n  Senate,  unleiis  the  same  shnll  be  transmitted  by  the 
Fredideut  to  the  Senate  iu  confidence. 


The  Constitution  thought  it  wise  to  re- 
strain the  Executive  and  Senate  from  en- 
tangling and  embroiling  our  affairs  with 
those  of  Europe.  Besides,  as  the  negotia- 
tions are  carried  on  by  the  Executive  alone, 
the  subjecting  to  the  ratification  of  the 
Representatives  such  articles  are  within 
their  participation  is  no  more  inconvenient 
than  to  the  Senate.  But  the  ground  of  this 
exception  is  denied  as  unfounded.  For 
examine,  «.  a.,  the  treaty  of  commerce  with 
France,  and  it  will  be  found  that,  out  of 
thirty-one  articles,  there  are  not  more  than 
small  portions  or  two  or  three  of  them 
which  would  not  still  remain  as  subjects  of 
treaties,  untouched  by  these  exceptions.] 

[Treaties  being  declared,  equally  with 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  to  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  it  is  understood 
that  an  act  of  the  legislature  alone  can  de- 
clare them  infringed  and  rescinded.  This 
was  accordingly  the  process  adopted  in  the 
case  of  France  in  1798.] 

[It  has  been  the  usage  for  the  Execu- 
tive, when  it  communicates  a  treaty  to  the 
Senate  for  their  ratification,  to  communi- 
cate also  the  correspondence  of  the  ne- 
gotiators. This  having  been  omitted  in 
the  case  of  the  Prussian  treaty,  was  a^ked 
by  a  vote  of  the  House  of  February  12, 
1800,  and  was  obtained.  And  in  Decem- 
ber, 1800,  the  convention  that  year  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  France,  with 
the  report  of  the  negotiations  by  the  en- 
voys, but  not  their  instructions,  being  laid 
before  the  Senate,  the  instructions  were 
asked  for  and  communicated  by  the  Pres- 
ident'.] 

[The  mode  of  voting  on  questions  of  rat- 
ification is  by  nominal  call.] 

[Whenever  a  treaty  shall  be  laid  before 
the  Senate  for  ratification,  it  shall  be  read 
a  first  time  for  information  only ;  when  no 
motion  to  reject,  ratify,  or  modify  the 
whole  or  ahj^  part,  shall  be  received.  Its 
second  reading  shall  be  for  consideration, 
and  on  a  subsequent  day,  when  it  shall  be 
taken  up  as  in  a  Committee  of  the  Whole, 
and  every  one  shall  be  free  to  move  a  ques- 
tion on  any  particular  article  in  this  form : 
"  Will  the  Senate  advise  and  consent  to 
the  ratification  of  this  article?"  or  to  pro- 
pose amendments  thereto,  either  by  in- 
serting or  by  leaving  out  words,  in  which 
last  case  the  question  shall  be,  "Shall  the 
words  stand  part  of  the  article  ?  "  And  in 
every  of  the  said  cases  the  concurrence 
of  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present  shall 
be  requisite  to  decide  affirmatively.  And, 
when  through  the  whole,  the  proceedings 
shall  be  stated  to  the  House,  and  questions 
be  again  severally  put  thereon,  for  confir- 
mation, or  new  ones  proposed,  requiring 
in  like  manner  a  concurrence  of  two-thirds 
for  whatever  is  retained  or  inserted.] 

[The  votes  so  confirmed  shall,  by  the 
House,  or  a  committee  thereof,  be  reduced 


54 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


[book  it. 


into  the  form  of  a  ratification,  with  or  with- 
out modifications,  as  may  have  been  de- 
cided, and  shall  be  proposed  on  a  subse- 
?[uent  day,  when  every  one  shall  again  be 
ree  to  move  amendments,  either  by  insert- 
ing or  leaving  out  words ;  in  which  last 
case  the  question  shall  be,  "  Shall  the  words 
stand  part  of  the  resolution  ?"  And  in  both 
cases  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  shall 
be  requisite  to  carry  the  aflBrmative;  as 
well  as  on  the  final  cjuestion  to  advise  and 
consent  to  the  ratification  in  the  form 
agreed  to.     Rule  69.*] 

[When  any  question  may  have  been  de- 
cided by  the  Senate,  in  which  two-thirds 
of  the  members  present  are  necessary  to 
carry  the  aflirmative,  any  member  who 
voted  on  that  side  which  prevailed  in  the 
question,  may  be  at  liberty  to  move  for  a 
reconsideration ;  and  a  motion  for  a  recon- 
sideration shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of 
votes.    Rule  20.] 

SEC.   LIII. — IMPEACHMENT. 

[The  House  of  Representatives  shall  have 
thesole  power  of  impeachment.   Cons^.,1,3.] 

[The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to 
try  all  impeachments.  When  sitting  for  that 
purpose  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation. 
When  the  President  of  the  United  States 
is  tried  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside ;  and 
no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the 
concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
present.  Judgment  in  cases  of  impeach- 
ment shall  not  extend  further  than  to  re- 
moval from  office  and  disqualification  to 
hold  and  enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust, 
or'profit  under  the  United  States.  But  the 
party  convicted  shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable 
and  subject  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment, 
and  punishment  according  to  law.     Const., 

[The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all 
civil  officers  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for, 
and  conviction  of,  treason,  bribery,  or  other 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.     Const.,  II, 

[The  trial  of  crimes,  except  in  cases  of 
impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury.  Const., 
Ill  2.]  , 

These  are  the  provisions  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  on  the  subject  of 
impeachments.  The  following  is  a  sketch 
of  some  of  the  principles  and  practices  of 
England  on  the  same  subject : 

Jurisdiction.  The  Lords  cannot  impeach 
any  to  themselves,  nor  join  in  the  accusa- 
tion, because  they  are  the  judges.  Seld. 
Judic.  in  Pari.,  12,  63.  Nor  can  they  pro- 
ceed against  a  commoner  but  on  complaint 
of  the  Commons,  ib.,84.  The  Lords  may 
not,  by  the  law,  try  a  commoner  for  a  cap- 
ital offense,  on  the  information  of  the  King 
or  a  private  person,  because  the  accused  is 
entitled  to  a  trial  by  his  peers  generally ; 

*Tbia  rule  haa  einoe  been  modified  by  the  U.  S.  Senate. 


but  on  accusation  by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, they  may  proceed  against  the  delin- 
quent, of  whatsoever  degree,  and  whatso- 
ever be  the  nature  of  the  offense ;  for  there 
they  do  not  assume  to  themselves  trial  at 
common  law.  The  Commons  are  then  in- 
stead of  a  jury,  and  the  judgment  is  given 
on  their  demand,  which  is  instead  of  a  ver- 
dict. So  the  Lords  do  only  judge,  but  not 
try  the  delinquent.  lb.,  6,  7.  But  Woodde- 
son  denies  that  a  commoner  can  now  be 
charged  capitally  before  the  Lords,  even  by 
the  Commons  ;  and  cites  Fitzharris's  case, 
1681,  impeached  of  high  treason,  where 
the  Lords  remitted  the  prosecution  to 
the  inferior  court.  8  Grey^s  Deb.,  325-7 ; 
2  Wooddeson,  576,  601 ;  3  Seld.,  1604, 1610, 
1618,  1619,  1641;  4  Blackst.,  257;  9  Seld., 
1656. 

Accusation .  The  Commons,  as  the  grand 
inquest  of  the  nation,  become  suitors  for 
penal  justice.  2  Wood.,  597  ;  6  Grey,  356. 
The  general  course  is  to  pass  a  resolution 
containing  a  criminal  charge  against  the 
supposed  delinquent,  and  then  to  direct 
some  member  to  impeach  him  by  oral  accu- 
sation, at  the  bar  oi  the  House  of  Lords, 
in  the  name  of  the  Commons.  The  person 
signifies  that  the  articles  will  be  exhibited, 
and  desires  that  the  delinquent  may  be 
sequestered  from  his  seat,  or  oe  committed, 
or  that  the  peers  will  take  order  for  his  ap- 
pearance. Sachev.  Trial,  325;  2  Wood., 
602,  605;  Lords'  Journ.,  3  June,  1701;  1 
Wms.,  616 ;  6  Grey,  324. 

Process.  If  the  party  do  not  appear, 
proclamations  are  to  be  issued,  giving  him 
a  day  to  appear.  On  their  return  they  are 
strictly  examined.  If  any  error  be  found 
in  them,  a  new  proclamation  issues,  giving 
a  short  day.  If  he  appear  not,  his  goods 
may  be  arrested,  and  they  may  proceed. 
Seld.  Jud.,  98,  99. 

Articles.  The  accusation  (articles)  of 
the  Commons  is  substituted  in  place  of  an 
indictment.  Thus,  by  the  usage  of  Parlia- 
ment, in  impeachment  for  writing  or  speak- 
ing, the  particular  words  need  not  be 
specified.  Sack.  Tr.,  325;  2  Wood.,  602, 
605 ;  Lords'  Journ.,  3  June,  1701 ;  1  Wms., 
616. 

Appearance.  If  he  appear,  and  the  case 
be  capital,  he  answers  in  custody ;  though 
not  ii  the  accusations  be  general.  He  is 
not  to  be  committed  but  on  special  accusa- 
tions. If  it  be  for  a  misdemeanor  only, 
he  answers,  a  lord  in  his  place,  a  commoner 
at  the  bar,  and  not  in  custody,  unless,  on 
the  answer,  the  Lords  find  cause  to  com- 
mit him,  till  he  find  sureties  to  attend,  and 
lest  he  should  flv.  Seld.  Jud.,  98,  99.  A 
copy  of  the  articles  is  given  him  and  a  day 
fixed  for  his  answer.  T.  Ray. ;  1  Rushw., 
268;  Fost.,  232;  1  Clar.  Hist  of  the  Reb., 
379.  On  a  misdemeanor,  his  appearance 
may  be  in  person,  or  he  may  answer  in 
writing,  or  by  attorney.    Sdd.  Jud.,  100. 


BOOK  IV.]      JEFFERSON'S    PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE. 


55 


The  general  rule  on  accusation  for  a  mis- 
demeanor is,  that  in  such  a  state  of  liberty 
or  restraint  as  the  party  is  when  the  Com- 
mons complain  of  him,  in  such  he  is  to 
answer.  lb.,  101.  If  previously  committed 
by  the  Commons,  he  answers  as  a  prisoner. 
But  this  may  be  called  in  bome  sort  judi- 
cium parium  suorum.  lb.  In  misdemean- 
ors the  party  has  a  right  to  counsel  by  the 
common  law,  but  not  in  capital  cases. 
Seld.  Jud.,  102,  105. 

Answer.  The  answer  need  not  observe 
great  strictness  of  form.  He  may  plead 
guilty  as  to  part,  and  defend  as  to  the  resi- 
due ;  or,  saving  all  exceptions,  deny  the 
whole  or  give  a  particular  answer  to  each 
article  separately.  1  Bush.,  274;  2  Rush., 
1374 ;  12  Pari.  Hist,  442 ;  3  Lords'  Journ., 
13  Nov.,  1643 ;  2  Wood.,  607.  But  he  can- 
not plead  apardon  in  bar  to  the  impeach- 
ment.    2  Wood.,  615 ;  2  St.  Tr.,  735. 

Replication,  rejoinder,  &c.  There  may 
be  a  replication,  rejoinder,  &c.  Sel.  Jud., 
114;  8  Grey's  Deb.,  233;  Sach.  Tr.,  15; 
Journ.  H.  of  Commons,  6  March,  1640-1. 

Witnesses.  The  practice  is  to  swear  the 
witnesses  in  open  House,  and  then  examine 
them  there ;  or  a  committee  may  be  named 
Avho  shall  examine  them  in  committee, 
either  on  interrogatories  agreed  on  in  the 
House,  or  such  as  the  committee  in  their 
discretion  shall  demand.  Seld.  Jud.,  120, 
123. 

Jury.  In  the  case  of  Alice  Pierce,  1  R., 
2,  a  jury  was  impaneled  for  her  trial  before 
a  committee.  Seld.  Jud.,  123.  But  this 
was  on  a  complaint,  not  on  impeachment 
by  the  Commons.  Seld.  Jud.,  163.  It 
must  also  have  been  for  a  misdemeanor 
only,  as  the  Lords  spiritual  sat  in  the  case, 
which  they  do  on  misdemeanors,  but  not 
in  capital  ca^s.  Id.,  148.  The  judgment 
was  a  forfeiture  of  all  her  lands  and  goods. 
Id.,  188.  This,  Selden  says,  is  the  only 
jury  he  finds  recorded  in  Parliament  for 
misdemeanors  ;  but  he  makes  no  doubt,  if 
the  delinquent  doth  put  himself  on  the 
trial  of  his  country,  a  jury  ought  to  be  im- 
paneled, and  he  adds  that  it  is  not  so  on 
impeachment  by  the  Commons ;  for  they 
are  in  loco  proprio,  and  there  no  jury  ought 
to  be  impaneled.  Id.,  124.  The  Ld. 
Berkeley,  6  E.,  3,  was  arraigned  for  the 
murder  of  L.  2,  on  an  information  on  the 
part  of  the  King,  and  not  on  impeachment 
of  the  Commons ;  for  then  they  hid  been 
patria  sua.  He  waived  his  peerage  and 
was  tried  by  a  jury  of  Gloucestershire  and 
Warwickshire.  Id.,  125.  In  1  H.  7,  the 
Commons  protest  that  the^  are  not  to  be 
considered  as  parties  to  any  judgment  given 
or  hereafter  to  be  given  in  Parliament. 
Id.,  133.  They  have  been  generally  and 
more  justly  considered,  as  is  before  stated, 
as  the  grand  jury ;  for  the  conceit  of  Sel- 
den is  certainly  not  accurate,  that  they  are 
the  patria  sua  of  the  accused,  and  that  the 


Lords  do  only  judge,  but  not  try.  It  ia 
undeniable  that  they  do  try  ;  for  they  ex- 
amine witnesses  as  to  the  facts,  and  acauit 
or  condemn,  according  to  their  own  belief 
of  them.  And  Lord  Hale  says,  "  the  peers 
are  judges  of  law  as  well  as  of  fact ;  2 
Hale,  P.  C,  275 ;  consequently  of  fact  as 
well  as  of  law. 

Presence  of  Commons.  The  Commons 
are  to  be  present  at  the  examination  of 
witnesses.  Seld.  Jud.,  124.  Indeed,  they 
are  to  attend  throughout,  either  as  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  House,  or  otherwise,  at 
discretion,  appoint  managers  to  conduct 
the  proofs.  Rushw.  Tr.  of  Straff. ,  37 ; 
Com.  Journ.,  4  Feb.,  1709-10 ;  2  Wood.,  614. 
And  judgment  is  not  to  be  given  till  they 
demand  it.  Sdd.  Jud.,  124.  But  they  are 
not  to  be  present  on  impeachment  when 
the  Lords  consider  of  the  answer  or  proo6 
and  determine  of  their  judgment.  Their 
presence,  however,  is  necessary  at  the 
answer  and  judgment  in  cases  capital,  Id. 
58,  159  as  well  as  not  capital ;  162.  The 
Lords  debate  the  judgment  among  them- 
selves. Then  the  vote  is  first  taken  on  the 
question  of  guilty  or  not  guilty ;  and  if 
they  convict,  the  question,  or  particular 
sentence,  is  out  of  that  which  seemeth  to 
be  most  generally  agreed  on.  Seld.  Jud., 
167 ;  2  Wood.,  612. 

Judgment.  Judgments  in  Parliament, 
for  death,  have  been  strictly  guided  per 
legem  terrse,  which  they  cannot  alter ;  and 
not  at  all  according  to  their  discretion. 
They  can  neither  omit  any  part  of  the  legal 
judgment,  nor  add  to  it.  Their  sentence 
must  be  secundum,  non  ultra  legem. 
Seld.  Jud.,  168,  171.  This  trial,  though  it 
varies  in  external  ceremony,  yet  differs  not 
in  essentials  from  criminal  prosecutions 
before  inferior  courts.  The  same  rules  of 
evidence,  the  same  legal  notion  of  crimes 
and  punishments,  prevailed  ;  for  impeach- 
ments are  not  framed  to  alter  the  law,  but 
to  carry  it  into  more  effectual  execution 
against  too  powerfiil  delinquents.  The 
judgment,  therefore,  is  to  be  such  as  is 
warranted  by  legal  principles  or  precedents. 
6  Sta.  Tr.,  14  ;  2  Wood.,  611.  The  Chan- 
cellor gives  judgment  in  misdemeanors; 
the  Lord  High  Steward  formerly  in  cases 
of  life  and  death.  Seld.  Jud.,  180.  But 
now  the  Steward  is  deemed  not  necessary. 
Fost.,  144 ;  2  Wood.,  613.  In  misdemeanops 
the  greatest  corporal  punishment  hath  been 
imprisonment.  Seld.  Jud.,  184.  The  King's 
assent  is  necessary  in  capital  judgments, 
(but  2  Wood.,  614,  contra,)  but  not  in  mis- 
demeanors.   Seld.  Jud.,  136. 

Continuance.  An  impeachment  is  not 
discontinued  by  the  dissolution  of  Parlia- 
ment, but  may  be  resumed  by  the  new 
Parliament.  T.  Ray.,  383 ;  4  Com.  Journ., 
28  Dec,  1790;  Lorda'  Jour.,  May  15, 1791; 
2  Wood.,  618. 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


BOOK  V. 


TABULATED  HISTORY  OF  THE  GENERAL  GOVERNMENT. 


AMEEICAN    POLITICS. 


BOOK  Y. 


TABULATED  HISTORY  OF  THE  GENERAL  GOVERNMENT. 


ESmiA  TE  of  VALUES  of  FOREIOK  COIKS. 


Country.  \ 

Monetary  unit. 

Standard 

a  a 

Standard  coin 

Austria 

Florin 

Silver ^ 

Gold  and  silver.. 
Silver 

$0  40.6 

19.3 

82.3 

54.6 

1  00 

91.2 

93.2 
26.8 
82.3 
04.9 

19.3 
4  86. 6i 

19.3 

23.8 

96.6 

39 

19.3 

88.7 

1  00 

89.4 

40.2 
26.8 
82.3 

1  08 
65,8 

1  00 
19.3 

26.8 
19.3 
74.3 
01.4 

82.3 
19.3 

BelKium 

6, 10,  and  20  francs. 

Brazil 

Milreis  of  1,000  reis 

Dollar 

Gold 

do 

North  America. 
Chili 

Peso 

Gold  and  silver.. 
do 

Condor,  doubloon,  and  ee- 

cudo. 
A.  h  i.  1.  "md  1  doubloon. 

Cuba 

do 

Gold 

Ecuador 

Peso 

Silver 

PfSO 

Egypt 

Gold 

6, 10,  25,  60,  and  100  pias- 
ters. 

5, 10,  and  20  francs. 

1  sovereign  and  sover- 
eign. 

6, 10,  20,  60,  and  100  drach- 
mas. 

France 

Franc 

Gold  and  silver.. 
Gold 

Great  Britaia 

Greece 

Gold  and  silver.. 
Gold 

German  Empire 

Havti .'.  " 

Gourde 

Gold  and  silver.. 
Silver  

1,  2,  5,  and  10  gourdes. 

India 

Rupee  of  16  annas 

Lira 

Italy 

Gold  and  silver.. 
Silver 

5, 10,  20,  50,  and  100  lire. 

Japan 

Yen 

1,  2,  5,  10,  and  20  yen ;  gold 
and  silver  yen. 

Liberia 

Dollar 

Gold 

do 

Silver 

Peso  or  dollar  5,    10,   25 

Netherlands 

Florin 

Gold  and  silver.. 
Gold 

and  50  centavo. 

10  and  20  crowns. 

Peru 

Sol 

Silver 

Sol. 

Portugal 

Milreis  of  1,(KX)  reis 

Rouble  of  100  copecks. 
Dollar 

Gold 

2,  5,  and  10  milreis. 

Silver 

\,  \,  and  1  rouble. 

Sandwich  Islands 

Gold 

Spain... 

Peseta  of  100  centimes 

Gold  and  silver.. 
Gold 

6, 10, 20,  60,  and  100  peso. 

tas 
10  and  20  crowns. 

Sweden 

Switzerland 

Gold  and  silver- 
Silver 

6, 10,  and  20  francs. 

Tripoli 

Mahbub  of  20  piasters. 
Piaster 

Peso    

Turkey 

Gold 

Silver 

26,  60,  100,  250,  and  BQ1 

United  States  of  Colombia 

plasters. 
Peso. 

Venezuela 

Bolivar..... 

Gold  and  silver.. 

5, 10,  20,  60,  and  100  Bolt 
var. 

AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK  7. 


INTEREST  liAVVS  OF  ALIi  THE  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES. 


STATES  A  TEBBITOBIES. 


PENALTY   OF    XJSPBT. 


LEGAL.      8PECLA.L. 


Alabama Loss  of  interest 

Arizona No  penalty 

Arkansas Forfeiture  of  principal  and  interest ...... 

California No  penalty 

Colorado No  penalty 

Connecticut Forfeiture  of  all  interest 

Dakota Forfeiture  of  contract 

Delaware Forfeiture  of  contract 

District  of  Columbia  .   .  Forfeiture  of  all  interest 

Florida No  penalty 

Georgia Forfeiture  of  excess 

Idaho  *........  $300  fine,  or  imprisonment  six  months,  or  both . 

Illinois Forfeiture  of  all  interest 

Indiana Forfeiture  of  interest  and  costs 

Iowa '  .    .    .    ,  Forfeiture  of  interest  and  costs 

Kansas Forfeiture  of  excess  over  12j( 

Kentucky Forfeiture  of  all  interest 

Louisiana Forfeiture  of  interest 

Maine No  penalty 

Maryland Forfeiture  of  excess 

Massachusetts No  penalty  ;  6^  on  judgments 

Michigan Forfeiture  of  excess 

Minnesota    ......  Forfeiture  of  excess  over  7^ 

Mississippi No  penalty 

Missouri Forfeiture  of  all  interest 

Montana No  penalty 

Nebraska Forfeiture  of  all  interest  and  costs 

Nevada No  penalty 

New  Hampshire  ....  Forfeit  of  three  times  interest  received  .... 

New  Jersey Forfeit  of  all  interest 

New  Mexico No  penalty 

New  Yorkf Forfeiture  of  contract 

XT  _ii.ni'  f  Forfeiture  of  double  amount  of  principal,  and  1 

North  Carolina  .   .    .  |     ^j^OO  fine | 

Ohio Forfeiture  of  excess 

Oregon Forfeiture  of  principal,  interest  and  costs  .    .    . 

Pennsylvania  ....      Forfeiture  of  excess,  Act  of  1858 

Rhode  Island  J  .  .    .    .      Forfeiture,  unless  by  contract 

South  Carolina    ...      No  penalty 

Tennessee Forfeiture  of  over  6^,  and  $100  fine 

TexEis No  penalty 

Utah No  penalty 

Vermont Forfeit  of  excess  on  Railroad  Bonds  only  .    .    . 

Virginia Forfeit  of  excess.  No  corporation  can  plead  usury, 

Washington  Territory.     No  penalty 

West  Virginia  ....      Forfeit  of  excess 

Wisconsin Forfeit  of  all  interest 

Wyoming  Territory .  .      No  penalty 

•  Liable  to  arrest  for  misdemeanor. 

t  Also  puniibable  as  a  misdemeanor.    Banks  forfeit  interest  only,  or  double 
in  advance. 

t  Also  6)(  on  Judgments. 

AGGREGATE  ISSUES  OF  PAPER  MONEY  IN  WAR  TIMES. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  amount;)«r  capita  issued  of  the  Continental  money,  the  French  asiujnaU, 
the  Confederate  currency,  and  (he  legal-tender  greenbacks  and  National  bank-notes  of  the  United  States 


Oft 
10 

No  limit. 

6 

No  limit. 

10 

No  limit. 

10 

No  limit. 

6 

No  limit. 

7 

18^ 

6 

6 

6 

10 

8 

No  limit 

7 

12 

10 

24 

6 

8 

6 

10 

6 

10 

7 

12 

6 

8 

6 

8 

6 

No  limit. 

6 

6 

6 

No  limit. 

7 

10 

7 

12 

6 

No  limit. 

6 

10 

10 

10 

12 

10 

No  limit. 

6 

6 

6 

7 

6 

12 

7 

7 

6s< 

^ 

6 

8 

10 

12 

6 

6 

6 

No  limit. 

7 

No  limit. 

6 

10 

8 

12 

10 

7 

6 

6 

No  limit. 

10 

6 

6 

6 

7 

10 

10 

No  limit. 

the  interest  if  charged 


Continental  money - 

French  assigiiats 

Confodorate  currency 

Greenbacks  and  National  bank-note*.. 
Highest  amount  in  circulation,  Jan.  '6C 


POPULATIOW. 


3.000,000  in  1780. 
20,500,iK)0  (France  in  1790). 
9,int,:«2  (11  Confederate  Stales,  1860). 
31,443,321  (United  States  in  1860). 


AMOUNT  ISSUES. 


$359,.M6,825 
9,11 '1,600,000 
664,465,963 
750,820,228 
750,820,228 


AMOUNT 
PCB   HKAD. 


$lin.84 

343  93 

7189 

23.87 


BOOK  V.         TABULATED  HISTORY— ELECTORAL  VOTE. 


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AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


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BOOK  v.] 


AMERICAN    POLITICS. 


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10 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK  V. 


THB  CUSTOMS  TARIFF  OF   GREAT   BRITAIN. 

No  protective  duties  are  now  levied  on  goods  imported,  Customs  duties  being  charged  solely  for  the  safetf 
of  revenue.  Formerly  the  articles  subject  to  duty  numbered  nearly  a  thousand ;  now  they  are  only  twen- 
^-two,  the  chief  being  tobacco,  spirits,  tea,  and  wine.    The  following  is  a  complete  list: 


Articles.  Duty. 
£   8.  d. 
Ale  or  beer,  spec,  gravity  not  exceeding 

1065°,  per  hill 0    8    0 

Ale  or  beer,  spec,  gravity  not  exceeding 

1090°,  per  bbl 0  11    0 

Ale  or  beer,  spec,  gravity  exceeding  1090°, 

per  bbl 0  16    0 

Beer,  Mum,  per  bbl 110 

Beer,  spruce,  spec,  gravity  not  exceeding 

1190°,  per  bbl 110 

Beer,  spruce,  exceeding  1190°,  per  barreL  14    0 

Cards,  playing,  per  doz.  packs 0    3    9 

Chickory  (raw  or  kiln-dried),  cwt- 0  13    3 

Chicory  (roast«d  or  ground),  lb 0    0    2 

Cliloral  hydrate,  pound 0    13 

Chloroform,  pound 0    3    0 

Cocoa,  pound 0    0    1 

Cocoa,  cwt.,  husks  and  shells 0    2    0 

Cocoa  paste  and  chocolate,  pound 0    0    2 

Coffee,  raw,  cwt 014    0 

Coffee,  kiln-dried,  roasted  or  ground,  per 

pound 0    0    2 

Collodion,  gallon 0    14 

Essence  ofspruce,  10  per  cent,  ad  valorem 

Ethyl,  iodide  of,  gallon 0  13    0 

Ether,  gallon 0    15 

Fruit,  dried,  cwt ~ 0    7    0 


Abticlcs.  Duty. 

£  s.  s. 

Malt,  per  quarter .•. 14  9 

Naphtha,  purified,  gallon 0  10  6 

Pickles,  in  vinegar,  gallon 0    0  1 

Plate,  gold,  ounce 0  17  0 

Plate,  silver,  ounce 0    16 

Spirits,  brandy,  Geneva,  rum,  etc.,  gallon.  0  10  5 

Spirits,  rum,  from  British  Colonies,  gallon  0  10  2 

Spirits,  cologne  water,  gallon 0  16  6 

Tea,  pound 0    0  6 

Tobacco,  unmanufactured,  lb 0    3  1^ 

Tobacco,  containing  less  than  ten  per  ct. 

of  moisture,  lb 0    3  0 

Cavendish  or  Negro  head 0    4  6 

Other  manufactured  tobacco 0    4  0 

Snuff,  containing  more  than  13  percent. 

of  moisture,  lb 0    3  9 

Snuff,  less  than  13  per  cent,  of  moisture,  lb.  0    4  6 

Tobacco,  cigars,  pound 0    5  0 

Varnish,  containmg  alcohol,  gallon 0  12  0 

Vinegar,  gallon 0    0  3 

Wine,  containing  less  than  26°  proof  spi- 
rit, gallon 0    10 

Wine,  containing  more  than  26°  and  less 

than  42  spirit,  gallon 0    2  6 

Wine,    for    each    additional   degree    of 

strength  beyond  42°,  gallon 0    0  3 


PRESIDENTS   AND  VICE-PRESIDENTS. 


Terra 

•1 
2 
3 
4 
6 
6 
7 

8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
14a 

15 
16 
16a 
17 


18 

19 
20 
SOa 

21 
23 


24 
24* 


PRESIDENTS. 
Name. 


Qualified. 


VICE-PRESIDEETS. 
Name. 


Qualified. 


George  Washington April     30,1789 

•^              "            March  4, 1793 

John  Adams March  4,1797 

Thomas  Jefferson , March  4, 1801 

"              »          March  4,1806 

James  Madison March  4, 1809 

"             "      March  4, 1813 

James  Monroe —  March  4, 1817 

March  6, 1821 


John  Adams _ June 

_ Dec, 

Thomas  Jefferson March 

Aaron  Burr March 

George  Clinton March 

"         "         March 

Elbridge  Gerry _ March 

John  Gaillard Nov. 

Daniel  D.  Tompkins March 

"  "  March 

John  Q.  Adams March   4,1825    John  C.  Calhoun March 


Andrew  Jackson March    4, 1829 

March   4, 1833 


Martin  Van  Buren- March 

Wm.  H.  Harrison March 

John  Tyler April 


4,1837 
4,1841 
6,1841 


James  K.  Polk March   4, 1845 

Zachary  Taylor March   5, 1849 

Millard  Fillmore July     10, 1850 

Franklin  Pierce..^ March   4, 1853 


March 

Martin  Van  Bnren March 

Richard  M.Johnson March 

John  Tyler March 

•j-Samuel  L.  Southard April 

fWillie  P.  Mangum May 

George  M.  Dallas March 

Millard  Fillmore March 

tWilliam  R.  King July 

William  R.  King March 

tDavid  R.  Atchison -  April 

tJesse  D  Bright Dec. 

James  Buchanan « March   4,1857    John  C.  Breckinridge March 

Abraham  Lincoln March   4,1861    Hannibal  Hamlin -  March 

"  "        March   4,1865    Andrew  Johnson March 

Andrew  Johnson _    April    15, 1865    tl.afayette  8.  Fost«r April 

tBenjamin  F.  Wade March 

Ulysses  8.  Grant March   4,1869    Schuyler  Colfax March 

*♦  "      March    4,1873    Henry  Wilson March 

fThomas  W.  Ferry Nov. 

Rnth«rford  B.  Hayes March   5,1877 

James  A.  Garfield March  4, 1881 

Chester  A.  Arthur Oct.      20,1881 


William  A.  Wheeler , March 

Chester  A.  Arthur March 

tThomas  F.  Bayard Oct. 

tDavid  Davi8> „„ Oct. 

Grover  Cleveland March    4, 1889    Thomas  A.  Hendricks March 

fJuhn  Sherman Dec. 

Bet^amin  Harrison March    4, 1889    Iievi  P.  Morton March 

*  The  figures  ill  this  column  mark  the  terms  held  by  the  Presidents. 
t  Acting  Yice-PreBident  and  President  pro  lem.  of  the  Senate. 


3, 1789 
2, 1793 
4, 1797 
4, 1801 
4, 1805 
4,  1809 
4,  1813 

25, 1814 
4, 1817 
5, 1821 
4,1825 
4,1829 
4,1833 
4, 1837 
4,1841 
6,1841 

31,  1842 

4,  184.') 

5,  1849 
11, 1850 

4,1853 

18,  1853 

5, 18.54 

4, 1857 

4,  1861 

4,1865 

15, 1865 

2,  1867 

4, 1809 

4, 1873 

22. 1875 

5, 1877 

4*  1881 

12, 1881 

13,1881 

4,1885 

188S 

4,1880 


BOOK  V.        TABULATED  HISTORY— POPULAR  VOTE. 


11 


SUMMARY  OF  POPUIiAR  AND  EliECTORAL  VOTBS  IN  PRK8IDENTIAI< 
EL.KCTIONS,  1780-1888. 


Year. 

Party. 

Candidates. 

1 
J 

CO 

Popular  Vote, 

i 
> 

1 

1169 

lU 

15 

16 

16 

73 

135 
138 

138 

r4 

132 

** 

*"* ••••••• 

..... 

.•■••■••*.....••.•,..• 

•"..•.... 

••••" 

Samuel  Huntington 

John  Milton 

•■■■•••••*....... 

••••«•«••••..••.....,.. 

Edward  Telfair 

Vacancies 

1792 

Federalist „ 

Federalist 

George  Washington 

John  Adams 

George  Clinton 

77 
80 

Republican 

Republican 

4 

Republican 

Aaron  Burr 

1 

8 

71 

1796 

Federalist 

Republican 

John  Adams 

68 

Federalist 

Thomas  Pincltney 

SO 

Republican 

Samuel  Adams 

Oliver  Ellsworth  





15 
11 

fi 

1800 

Republican 

73 

Republican 

73 

•5 

Federalist 

64 

Federalist 

John  Jay 



"    """" 

1 

>< 

s 

Party. 

For  President. 

1 

03 

i's" 

2 

12 

Popular 

Vote. 

s 

o 

> 

o 
o 

i  -2 

> 

For  Vice-President.      -J 

e 

1804 

21 
17 

18 
19 

24 

24 

176 
176 

218 
221 

235 

261 

Thomas  Jefferson 

Chas.  C.  Pinckney 

Ifi? 

Iflf 

14 

122 

6 

14 

1808 

m 

J\ 

Federalist ,. 

Chas.  C  Pinckney 

5 

47 

'"i 

128 
89 
1 

183 
34 

Rufus  King 

4T 

9 

James  Monroe 

8 

1 

1812 

Republican 

Federalist 

11 

7 

Elbridge  Gerrv 

131 

De  Witt  Clinton 

Jared  fngersoll 

86 

1 

1816 

16 
3 

D.  D.  Tompkins 

John  E.  Howarl 

188 

Federalist 

n 

James  Ross 

A 

1 

John  Marshall   

4 

' 

Robt.  G.  Harper 

8 

4 

231 

1 

4 

1820 

24 

D.  D.  Tompkins — 

Rich.  Stockton 

218 

8 

Daniel  Rodney 

4 

Robt.  G.  Harper 

Richard  Rush 

1 

1 

3 

99 
84 
41 

8 

18?4 

1(» 
8 
8 
8 

166,872 
106.321 
t44,282 
46,687 

John  C.  Calhoun 

183 

Nathan  Sanford 

30 

Wm.  H  Crawford 

Nathaniel  Mnoon 

M 

Henry  Clay 

S7{  Andrew  Jackson -... 

jM.  Van  Buren 

13 

tf 

Henrv  Ctav _.i 

8 

1 

Vacancy 

""'.".'."."'.'." ' r.....».i -• 

12 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK  V. 


SUMMART  OF  POPITLAR  AND  SXECTORAI.  TOTES.— [Continaed.; 


1^ 


Party. 


For  President. 


Popular 
Vote. 


For  Vice-President 


1«2S 


U32 


]83G 


1840 


1844 


1848 


1852 


185G 


1864 


1868 


1872 


24 


24 


26 


31 


31 


33 


36 


37 


37 


M7C 


1880 


1884 


1888 


38 


38 


2G1 


28'< 


294 


29» 


Uemoeratio 

Nat.  Republican. 


Andrew  Jacksuu. 
John  Q.  Adams... 


Democratic Andrew  Jackon. 

Nat.  Republican Henry  Clay , 

Anti-Mason William  Wirt 

e John  Floyd , 


296 


317 


369 


Democratic . 
Whig 


Whig 

Democratic . 
Liberty 


Democratic . 

Whig 

Liberty 


Whig 

Democratic 
Free  Soil 


Democratic 
Whi; 


fc 


Free  Democi  acy., 


Democratic. 
Republican.. 
American.... 


Republican 

Democratic 

Democratic 

"Const.  Union' 


Republican.- 
Democratic 


Repnblican.. 
Democratic 


Republican 

Dem.'and  Lib.  Rep. 

Democratic 

Temperance , 


Republican... 
Democratic .. 
"Greenback' 
"Prohibition 


Republican 

Democratic 

•"Greenback"., 


401 


Vacancies. 


Martin  Van  Buren. 
Wm.  H.  Harrison... 

Hugh  L.  White 

Daniel  Webster 

W.  P.  Mangum 


Wm  H.  Harrison... 
.Martin  Van  Buren. 
James  G.  Birney.... 


James  K.  Polk...., 

Henry  Clay 

.fames  G.  Birney. 


Zlachary  Taylor 

Lewis  Cass 

Martin  Van  Buren. 


Franklin  Pierce. 
Winfield  Scott.... 
John  P.  Hale 


.Tames  Buchanan., 
John  C.  Fremont., 
Millard  Fillmore.., 


Abraham  Lincoln... 
J.  C.  Breckinridge. 

S.  A.  Douglas 

John  Bell 


Abraham  Lincoln. 

Geo.  B.  MeClellan.. 

Vacancies* 


Ulysses  S.  Grant-.. 

Horatio  Seymour. 

Vacanciesf 


Ulysses  S.  Grant., 
Horace  Greeley..., 

Ohas.  O'Conor 

James  Biack 

T.  A.  Hendricks.., 
B.  Gratz  Brown..., 
Chas.  J.  Jenkins... 
David  Daris 


Not  counted  {. 


R.  B.  Haves 

S.  J.  Tilden 

Peter  Cooper 

Green  C.  Smith. 


.fames  A.  Garfield., 

W.  8.  Hancock, 

.lames  B.  Weaver., 

Scattering 

Grover  Cleveland., 
James  G.  Blaine.. 


Democratic 

Republican..,. 

Prohibition Ijohn  P.  St.  John. 

Greenback |beiij.  K.  Butler .\. 

Scattering 


647,231 
509,097 


687,502 

630,189 

33,108 


761,549 
736,656 


1,275,017 

1,128,702 

7,069 


1,337,243 

1,299,068 
62,300 

1.. ■560,101 

1,220,'=  44 

291,203 

1  601,474 

1.386,578 

156,149 

1,838,169 

1,341.264 

874,534 

1,866,352 
845,76.? 

.1,375,157 
589,581 

?,216,0«7 

1,808,725 


3,015,071 
2,709,013 


3,-'i97,070 

2.834.079 

29,408- 

5,608 


4.a^3,950 

4,284.885 
81.740 
9,522 


John  C.  Calhonn. 

Richard  Rush 

William  Smith.... 


219  M.  Van  Buren 

49  John  Sergeant 

7  Amos  Ellmaker... 

Ill  Henry  Lee 

William  Wilkins.. 
2 


170  R.  M.  Johnson 

73' Francis  Granger. 

26  John  Tvlcr 

14  William'  Smith.... 
11 


John  Tyler , 

R.  M.  Johnson., 


I'.  W.  Tazewell.. 
James  K.  Polk. 


Geo.  M.  Dallas 

T.  Frelingliuysen.. 


Millard  Fillmore., 

Wm.  O.  Butler 

Chas.  F.  Adams... 


Wm.  R.  King 

Wm.  A.  Graham.. 
Geo.  W.Julian.... 


J.  C.  Breckinridge.. 

Wm.  L.  Dayton 

A.*J.  Donelson 


Hannibal  Hamlin. 

Joseph  Lane 

H.  V.  Johnson 

Edward  Everett... 


212  Andrew  Johnson... 
21IGeo  H.  Pendleton., 
81 


214'Schuvler  Colfax. 

8o!F.  P.'Blair.  Jr 

23 


2861  Henry  Wilson 

|B.  Gratz  Brown... 

John  Q.  Adams... 

A.  H.  Colquite 

42'lohn  M.  Palmer.. 

18lGeo.  W.  Julian.... 


T.  E.  Bramlette.... 
W.  8.  Groesbeck.. 
Willis  B.  Machen. 
N.  P.  Banks 


Wm.  A.  Wheeler.. 
T.  A.  Hendricks.. 

8.  F.Cary 

R.  T.  Stewart 


214  Chester  A.  Arthur.. 
16.5!  Wm.  H.  English..,. 
B.  J.  Chamt)ers 


401  Republican Benjamin  Harrison. 

Democratic Grover  Cleveland.... 

Prohibition Clinton  B.  Fisk 

Labor R.  H.  Cowdrey 


4,442,950 

4,442,035 

31)6,867 

12.576 

4,911,017|  219iT.  A.  Hendricks. 
4,«48,3:}4    182!John  A.  Logan... 

151,8091 \Villiam  Daniel.. 

133,8-25 A.  M.  West 

ll,362l 


6,438.1571  233'Levi  P.  Morton 233 

6,535,626   168' Allan  G.  Thurman 168 

2.50.157 IJohn  A.  Brooks 

150,6'24| |W.  Wakefield »^J 


*  Not  voting— Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Texas,  and  Virginia.  t  Kot  voting— Mississippi,  Texas,  and  Virginia. 

X  Seventeen  votes  rejected,  viz. :  8  fixjm  Georgia  for  Horace  Greeley  (dead),  and  8  from  Louisiana,  and 
6  from  Arkansas  for  U.  8.  Grant. 


BOOK  V.       TABULATED  HISTORY— CABINET  OFFICERS. 


13 


CABINET   OFFICERS  OF  THE  ADSIIHriSTRATIOirS. 


6eobob  Washinoton,  President. 

I.  and  II. ;  1789-1797. 

Secretary  of  State,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Virginia, 
September  26th,  1789  ;  Edmund  Randolph,  Virginia, 
January  2d,  1794;  Timothy  Pickering,  Pennsylvania, 
December  10th,  1795.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Alex- 
ander Hamilton,  New  York,  September  11th,  1789; 
Oliver  Wolcott,  Connecticut,  February  2d,  1795. 
Secretary  of  War,  Henry  Knox,  Massachusetts, 
S-'ptember  12th,  1789;  Timothy  Pickering,  Penn- 
pylvania,  January  2d,  1795  ;  James  McHenry,  Mary- 
land, January  27th,  1796.  Attornev  Oeneral,  Edmund 
Randolph,  Virginia,  September  20th,  1789 ;  William 
Bradford,  Pennsylvania,  January  27th,  1791;  Charles 
Lee,  Virginia,  December  10th,  1795.  Postmaster' 
General,*  Samuel  Osgood,  Massachusetts,  Septem- 
ber 26th,  1789;  Timothy  Pickering,  Pennsylvania, 
August  12th,  1791;  Joseph  Habersham,  Georgia, 
February  23th,  1795. 

John  Adams,  President. 

III.;  1797-1801. 

Secretary  of  State,  Timothy  Pickering,  contlnved; 
John  Marshall,  Virginia,  May  13th,  1800.  Secretary 
^  Treasury,  Oliver  Wolcott.  continued;  Samuel 
Dexter,  Massachusetts.  January  1st,  1801.  Secretary 
of  War,  James  McHenry,  continued;  Samuel  Dex- 
ter, Massachusetts,  May  13th,  1800;  Roger  Griswold, 
Connecticut,  February  3d,  1801.  Secretary  of  Iiavy,f 
George  Cabot,  Massachusetts,  May  3d,  1798;  Benja- 
min Stoddert,  Maryland,  May  2lst,  1798.  Attoniei/- 
Oeneral,  Charles  Lee,  continued;  Theophilus  Par- 
Bons,  Massachusetts,  February  20th,  1801.  Post- 
master-General,  Joseph  Habersham,  continued. 

Thomas  Jeffeesos,  President. 
IV.  and  v.;  1801-1809. 

Secretary  of  State,  James  Madison,  Virginia,  March 
6th,  1801.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Samuel  Dexter, 
continued;  Albert  Gallatin,  Pennsylvania,  May  llth, 
1801.  Secretary  of  War,  Henry  Dearborn,  Massachu- 
setts, March  5th,  1801.  Secretary  of  Navy,  Benjamin 
Stoddart,  continued;  Robert  Smith,  Maryland,  July 
15th,  1801 ;  Jacob  Crown  inshield,  Massachusetts,  May, 
3d,  1805.  Attorney-Oeneral.  Levi  Lincoln,  Massa- 
chuaetts,  March  5th,  1801;  Robert  Smith,  Maryland, 
March  3d,  1805;  John  Breckinridge,  Kentucky, 
AU'irust7th,  1805;  Csesar  A.  Rodney,  Pennsylvania 
January  20th,  1807.  Postmaster-Oeneral,  Joseph 
Habersham,  continued ;  Gideon  Granger,  Connecti- 
cut, November  2Sth.  1801. 

James  Madison,  President. 

VL  and  VIL;  1809-1817. 

Secretary  of  State,  Robert  Smith,  Maryland,  March 
6th,  1809;  James  Monroe,  Virginia,  April  2d,  1811. 
Secretary  of  Tretisury,  Albert  Gallatin,  continued; 
George  W\  Campbell,  Tennessee,  February  9th, 
1814;  A.  J.  Dallas,  Ptnn.iylvania,  October  6th,  1814; 
William  H.  Crawford,  Georgia,  October  22d,  1816. 
Si'crctary  of  War,  William  Eustis,  Massachusetts, 
March  7th,  1809;  John  Armstrong,  New  York,  Janu- 
ary 13th,  1813;  James  Monroe,  Virginia,  September 
27th,  1814;  William  H.  Crawford,  Georgia,  August 
1st,  1815.  Secretary  of  N'lvy,  Paul  Hamilton,  South 
Carolina,  March  7ih,  1809;  William  Jones,  Pennsyl- 
vania, January  12th,  1813;  B.  W.  Cro-rninshield, 
Massachusetts,  December  19th,  1814.  Attomey-Oenr- 
eral,  C.  A.  Rodney,  continued:  William  Pincknev, 
Maryland,  December  11th,  1811;  Richard  Rush, 
Pennsylvania,  February  10th,  lau.  Postmaster-Oen- 
eral. Gideon  Granger,  continued ;  Return  J.  Meigs, 
Ohio,  March  17th,  1814. 


•Not  a  Cabinet  officer,  hiit  a  subordVUate  of  the 
Treasury  Department  until  18:^9. 

t  Nival  affairs  were  nnder  the  control  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  until  a  separate  Navy  Doparfnent  was 
•rganized  by  Act  of  April  .30th,  1798.  The  Acts 
organizing  the  other  Departments  were  of  th«  fol- 
lowing dates:  State,  September  15th,  1789;  Treasuni, 
September  2d,  1789;  War,  August  7th,  1789.  The 
Attorney-General's  dntips  were  reeulated  by  the 
Judiciary  Act  of  September  24th.  1789. 


James  Monboe,  President. 
VIILandlX.;  1817-1825. 
Secretary  of  State,  John  Quincy  AdnmK,  Mas'achn- 
setts,  March  5th,  1817.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Wil- 
liam U.  Crawford,  continued.  Sej^etary  of  War, 
George  Graham,  Virginia,  April  7th,  1817;  John  C. 
Calhoun,  South  Carolina,  October  8th,  1817.  Secretan/ 
of  Navy,  B.  W.  Crowninshield,  continued;  Smith 
Thompson,  New  York,  November  9  h,  1818;  John 
Rogers,  Massachusetts,  September  1st,  182:$;  Samuel 
L.  Southard,  New  Jersey,  September  HHh,  182:J. 
Attomeu-Oeneral,  iiichard  Rush, continued;  William 
Wirt,  Virginia,  November  13tli.  1817.  Postmaster- 
Oeneral,  K.  J.  Meigs,  continued;  John  McLean, 
Ohio,  June  2Gth,  1823. 

John  Qui  not  Adaks,  President 
X.;  1825-1829. 

Secretary  of  State,  Henry  Clay,  Kentucky,  March 
7th,  1825.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Richard  Rui<h, 
Pennsylvania,  March  7th,  1825.  Secretary  of  War, 
James  Barbour,  Virginia,  March  7th,  1825;  Peter  B. 
Porter,  New  York,  May  26th  1828.  Secretary  of  Navy, 
S.L.  Southard,  continued.  Att-nrney-Ocncral,  William 
Wirt,  continued.  Postmaster- General,  John  McLean, 
continued. 

Andrew  Jackson,  President. 
XI.  and  XII. ;  1829-1837. 

Secretary  of  State,  Martin  Van  Bnren,  New  York, 
March  6th,  1829;  Edward  Livingston,  Louisiana, 
May  24th,  1831 ;  Louis  McLane,  Delaware,  May  29th, 
1833;  John  Forsyth,  Georgia,  June  27ih,1834.  Secre- 
tary of  Treasury,  Samuel  I).  Ingham,  Pennsylvania, 
March  6th,  I829j  Louis  McLane,  Delaware,  August 
8th,  1831;  William  J.  Duane,  Pennsylvania,  May 
29th,  1833;  Roger  B.  Taney,  Maryland,  September 
23d,  1833;  Levi  Woodbury,  New  Hampshire,  June 
27th,  1834.  Secretary  of  War,  John  H.  Eaton,  Ten- 
nessee, March  9th,  1829;  Lewis  Cass,  Michigan, 
August  1st,  18.S1 ;  Benjamin  F  Butler,  New  York, 
March  3d,  1837.  Secretaru  of  Navy,  John  Branch, 
North  Carolina,  March  9th,  1829 ;  Levi  Woodbury, 
New  Hampshire,  May  23d,  1831;  Mahlon  Dickerson, 
New  Jersey,  June  30th,  1834.  Attorney-General,  John 
M.  Berrien,  Georgia,  March  9th.  1829;  Roger  B 
Taney,  Maryland,  July  20th,  1831;  Benjamin  F. 
Butler,  New  York,  November  15th,  18.33.  Postmaster- 
Oeneral,  William  T.  Barry,  Kentucky,  March  9tl», 
1829 ;  Amos  Kendall,  Kentucky,  May  1st,  1835. 

Mabtin  Van  Bcbbn,  President. 
XIIL;  1837-184L 
Secretary  of  State,  John  Forsyth,  continued.  Secre- 
tary of  Treasury.  Levi  Woodbury,  continued.  Secre- 
tary of  IFar,  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  South  Carolina,  March 
7th,  1837.  Secretary  of  Navy,  Mahlon  Dickerson, 
continued;  James  K.  Paulding,  New  York.  June 
25th,  1838.  Attorney-Oeneral,  Benjamin  F.  Butler; 
Felix  Grundy,  Tennessee,  July  ,6th,  1838 ;  Henry  D. 
Gilpin,  Pennsylvania.  January  11th,  1810.  Post- 
master-Oeneral, Amon  Kendall,  continued;  John  M. 
Niles,  Connecticut,  May  19th,  1840. 

Wm.  H.  Habbison  and  John  Tyleb,  Presidor.ts. 
XIV. ;  1841-1845. 

Secretan/  of  State.  Daniel  Webster,  Massachnsetts, 
March  6th.  1841 ;  Hugh  S.  Legare,  South  Carolina, 
May  9th,  1843;  A.  P  Upshur,  Virginia,  July  24th, 
1843;  John  C.  Calhoun.  South  Carolina,  March  6th, 
1844.  Secretary  of  TVewurj/,  Thomas  Ewing.  Ohio^ 
March  6th,  18*1;  Waller  Forward,  Pennsylvania, 
September  1.3th,  1841 ;  John  C.  Spencer,  New  York, 
March  3d,  1813;  George  M.  Bibb,  Kentucky,  June 
15th,  1844.  Secretary  of  War,  John  Bell,  Tennessee, 
March  6th,  1841;  John  McLean,  Ohio,  September 
13th,  1841;  John  C.  Spencer,  New  York.  October 
12th,  1841;  James  M.  Porter,  Penn.sylvania,  March 
8th,  1843;  William  Wilkins,  Pennsylvania,  Feb- 
ruary  15th,  1844.  Secretary  of  Navy,  G.  K.  Badper, 
North  Carolina,  Mar<«h  6lh,  IStl  ;  A.  P  Upshur,  Vir- 
ginia, September  13th,  1841 :  I>Rvid  Henshaw,  Mas- 
sachusetts,  July  24th,  1843;  T.  W.  Gilmer,  V  rKiii  a. 
February  15th,  1814;  John  Y.  Mason,  VimmK 
March  1 1th,  1844.  Att/rrney-Oeneral,  John  J.  Critten- 
den, Kentucky,  March  «th.  isil ;  Hugh  8.  Legare, 
South  Carolina,  September  13th,  1841;  John  Nelson, 
Maryland,  July  Ist,  1843.  PoHtmaster-Omeml,  Fran- 
cis Granger.  New  York,  March  flth.  1841 ;  Charles  A. 
WickliiTe,  Kentucky,  September  13th,  IMl. 


u 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK.  V. 


Jakes  R.  Polk,  Pbesisint. 

XV. ;  1845-1849. 
Seeretarxi  of  State,^3 a,mes  Buchanan,  Pennsylvania, 
March  6th,  184'>.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Robert  .1. 
Walker,  Mississippi,  March  6th,  1845.  Secretary  of 
War,  William  L.  >Iarcy,  New  York.  March  6th,  1845. 
Secretary  of  Nam/,  George  Bancroft.  Massachusetts, 
March  ioth,  1845;  John  Y.  Ma^^on,  September  9th, 
1846.  Attorneii-Qeneral,  John  Y  Mason,  Virginia, 
March  6th,  1846;  Nathan  Clifford,  Maine,  OctoV)cr 
17th,  1846.  Postmaster- Ocneral,  Cave  Johnson,  Ten- 
nedsee,  March  6th,  1845. 

Zachabt  Tatlok  and  Millard  Fillmorb,  Presidents. 
XVI. ;  1849-1853. 
Secretary  of  State,  John  M.  Cla5rton,  Delaware, 
March  7th,  1840;  Daniel  Webster,  Massachusetts, 
,July  22d,  1850;  Edward  Everett,  Massachusetts, 
December  6th,  1852.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  W.  M. 
Meredith,  Pennsylvania,  March  8th,  1849 ;  Thomas 
Corwin,  Ohio,  July  23d,  1850.  Secretary  of  War, 
George  W.  Cfrawford,  Georgia,  March  8th,  1849; 
Winfield  Scott  {ad  in/cri/n),  July  23d,  1850;  Charles 
M.  Conrad,  Louisiana,  August  15th,  1850.  Secretary 
of  Navy,  William  B.  Preston,  Virginia,  March  8th, 
1849;  William  A.  Graham,  North  Ca^olins^  July  22d, 
1850;  J.  P.  Kennedy,  Maryland.  July  22d.  1852.  Sec- 
retary of  Interior  ,Thom&»  H.  Ewing,  Ohio,  March 
8th,  1849  ;  A.  H.  H.  Stuart,  Virginia,  September  12th, 
1850.  Attomei/- General,  Keverdy  Johnson,  Mary- 
land, March  8th,  1849 ;  John  J.  Crittenden,  Kentucky, 
July  22d,  1850.  Postmaster-Oeneral,  Jacob  Collamer, 
Vermont,  March  8th,  1849;  Nathan  K.  Hall,  New 
York.  July  23d,  1850;  S.  D  Hubbard,  Connecticut, 
August  31st,  1862. 

Franklin  Pierce,  President. 
XVII.;  1853-1857. 
Secretary  of  State,  William  L.  Marcy,  New  York, 
March  7t"h,  1853.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  James 
Guthrie,  Kemucky,  March  7th,  1853.  Secretary 
of  War,  Jefferson  Davi.s,  Mississippi,  March  7th, 
1853.  Secretary  of  ifavy,  James  C.  Dobbin, 
North  Carolina,  March  7th,  1853.  Srrretary  of 
Interior,  Robert  McClelland,  Michigan,  March  7th, 
1853;  Jacob  Thcrhpson,  Mi^^<issippi,  March  6th,  1856. 
Attorney-Oenerat,  Caleb  Cushing,  Massachusetts, 
March  7th,  18.53.  Pn.itnasterOeneral,  Jamea  Camp- 
bell, Pennsylvania,  March  7th,  1853. 

Javes  ^iocHANAN,  President 
•SVIII.;  1857  1861. 
Seeretnnj  of  State,  Lewis  Cass,  Michigan,  March 
6th,  1857;"J.  S.  black,  Pennsylvania,  December  17th, 
1860.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Howell  Cobb,  Georgia, 
Match  6th,  1857 ;  Philip  F.  Thomas,  Maryland, 
December  12th,  1860;  John  A.  Dix,  New  York,  Janu- 
ary 11th.  1861.  Secretary  of  War,  John  B.  Floyd,  Vir- 
finia,  March  6th,  1857;  Joseph  Holt.  Kentucky, 
an oary  18th,  1861.  Secretary  or  A'at'v,  Isaac  Toucey, 
Connecticut,  March  6th,  1857.  Secretary  of  Interior 
Jacob  Thompson,  continued.  Attorney-Oeneral.S . S. 
Black,  Pennsylvania,  March  6th,  1857;  E.  M.  Stan- 
ton, Pennsylvania,  December  20th,  I860.  Postmaster- 
Oeneral,  Aaron  V.  Brown,  Tenn  ssee,  March  6th, 
1857;  Joseph  Holt,  Kentucky,  March  I4th,  1869; 
Horatio  King,  Maine,  February  12th,  1861. 

Abraham  Lincotn  and  Andrew  JonNSON,  Presidents. 
XIX.  and  XX.:  1801-1869. 

Secretary  of  State,  William  H.  Seward,  New  York. 
March  5th,  1861.  Serrttary  of  Treasury,  8.  P.Chase, 
Ohio,  March  5th,  18;i;  W.  P.  Fessenden,  Maine, 
July  1st,  1864;  Hugh  McCnlloch,  Indiana,  March 
7th,  1865.  Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cameron,  Penn- 
sylvania, March  5th,  1861 ;  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Penn- 
sjifTania,  .Tanuary  15th,  lf"!2 ;  U.  S  Grant  {ml  interim), 
August  12tli,  1867;  Eiivvin  M.  Stanton  (reinstated), 
January  14th,  1868;  J.  M.  Schotield  ;  Illinois,  May 
28th,  1868.  Secretary  of  Navy,  (iideon  Welles,  Con- 
necticut, March  5th.  Is6l.  Secretary  of  Interior, 
Caleb  P.  Smith,  March  5th,  1861 ;  John  P.  Usher.  In- 
diana, January  8tti,  1863;  James  Harlan,  Iowa,  May 
15th,  1865;  U.  H.  Brownini:.  Illinois  July  27 tb -1866. 
Attorney-Oeneral,  Edward  Bates,  Missouri,  March 
6th,  IStil;  Titian  J.  Cotfee,  June  22d,  18f>3;  James 
Speed,  Kentucky,  December  2d.  1864 ;  Henry  Stan- 
bery,  Ohio,  July  23d,  1806;  William  M.  Evarts,  New 
York,  July  15th,  186«.  Postmaiiter-Oe  ■eral,  Mont- 
gomery Blair,  Maryland,  March  6th,  1861 ;  Williarn 
Dennison,  Ohio,  September  24th,  1804;  Alexander 
W.  Randall,  Wisconsin,  July  25th.  1836. 


Ultssks  S.  Grant,  President. 

XXI.  and  XXII.;  1869-1877. 
Secretary  of  State,  E.  B.  Washburne,  Illinois, 
March  5th,  1869  ;  Hamilton  Fisu.  New  York,  Marca 
11th,  1869.  Secretary  of  TreaS'i.ni,  George  S.  Boutwell, 
Massachusetts,  March  lith,  1869;  William  A.  Rich» 
ardson,  Massachusetts,  March  17th.  1873;  Benjamin 
H.  Bristow,  Kentucky,  June  2d,  1*<74;  Lot  M.  Mor- 
rill, Maine,  June  21st,  1876.  Secretary  of  War,  John 
A.  Rawlins,  Illinois.  March  11th,  1869;  William  T. 
Sherman,  Ohio,  September  9tli,  1869;  William  W. 
Belknap,  Iowa,  October  25th,  18C9  ;  Alphonso  Taft, 
Ohio,  March  8th,  1876;  J.  D.Cameron, Pennsylvania, 
May  22d,  1876.  Secretary  of  Navy,  Adolph  E.  Borie, 
Pennsylvania.  March  6th,  1869;  George  M.  Robeson, 
New  Jersey,  June  25th,  1869.  Secretary  of  Interior, 
Jacob  D.  Cox,  Ohio,  March  6th,  1869;  Columbus 
Delano.  Ohio,  November  1st,  1870 ;  Zachariah  Chan- 
dler, Michigan,October  19th,  1875.  Attorney-Oeneral, 
E.  R.  Hoar,  Massachusetts,  March  6th,  1869;  Amos 
T.  Akerman,  Georgia,  June  23d,  1870;  George  H. 
Williams,  Oregon,  December,  14th,  1871;  Edwards 
Pierrepont,  New  York,  April  20ih,  1875;  Alphonso 
Taft,  Ohio,  May  22d,  1876.  Postmanter-Oeneral,  J.  A, 
J.  Creswell,  Maryland,  March  5th,  1869;  Mar  hall 
Jewell,  Connecticut,  August  24th,  1874;  James  M. 
Tyner,  Indiana,  July  12in,  1876. 

RtTTHEBFORD  B.  Hates,  President. 
XXIIL;  1877-1881. 

Secretary  of  State,  William  M.  Evarts,  New  York, 
March  1:2th, 1877.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  John  Sher- 
man, Ohio,  March  Sth,  1877.  Secretary  of  War,  George 
W.  McCrary,  Iowa,  March  12th,  1877;  Alexander 
Ramsey,  Minnesota.  December  12th,  1879.  Secretary 
of  Navy,  Richard  W.  Thompson,  Indiana,  March 
12th,  1877;  Nathan  Goff,  Jr.,  West  Virginia,  January 
6th,  1881.  Secretary  of  Interior,  Carl  Schurz,  Mis- 
souri, March  12th,  1877.  Attorney-Oeneral,  Charles 
Devens,  Ma«sachusetts,  March  12th,  1877.  Post- 
master-Oena-al,  David  M.  Key,  Tennessee,  March 
12th,  1877;  Horace  Maynard,  Tennessee,  August 
25th,  1880. 

Jaius  a.  Garfi'lc  and  Chester  A.  Axisvu. 

Presidents. 

XXIV.;  1881-1885. 

Secretary  of  State,  James  G.  Itlaiiie,  Maine,  March 
5th,  1881 ;  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  New  Jersey, 
December  12th,  1881.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  William  H. 
Windom,  MinnesotaJMarch  5th,  1881;  Charles  J.  Folger, 
New  York,  October  27th,  1881;  Walter  Q.  Gresliam, 
Indiana,  Septemlier  24th,  1884 ;  Hugh  McCulloch,  Indiana, 
October  28th,  1884  Secretary  of  War,  Robert  T.  Lincoln, 
Illinois,  March  5th,  1881.  Secretary  of  N,<ry,  W.  H. 
Hunt,  Louisiana,  March  5th,  1881  ;  William  E.  (handler. 
New  Hampshire,  Ajiril  1st,  1882.  Secretary  of  Interior.  S. 
J.  Kirkwoofl,  Iowa,  March  5th,  1881  ;  Henry  M  Teller, 
Colorada.  AHomey- General,  Wayne  McVeagh,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Miirch  5th,  1881 :  Bcnjuinin  H.  Brewster,  Pennsyl- 
vania, December  16th.  1881  VoMmnnler- General,  Thoniai 
L.  James,  New  York,  March  5th,  1881  ;  Timothy  0.  Howe, 
Wisconsin,  Decemlier  20th,  1881  ;  Walter  Q.  Gresham, 
Indiana,  April  3d,  1883;  Frank  Hatton,  Wisconsin, 
October  14th,  1884. 

Groveb  Cleveland,  President. 
XXV.  ;  1885-1889. 
Secretary  nf  Slate,  James  A.  Bayard,  Delaware,  March 
Sth,  1885.  Secretnn/  of  Treasury,  Daniel  J.  Manning, 
New  York,  March  Sth,  188.5.  Secretary  of  War,  W.  C. 
Endicott,  Massachusetts,  March  5th,  1885  Secreta}-y  o) 
Navy,  William  C  Whitney,  New  York,  March  ."ith,  188.5. 
Pottmnfter- General,  William  H.  Vilas,  WiKonsin,  March 
6th,  1885.  Secretnrii  nf  Interior,  Lucius  Q  0  Lamar, 
Mi^issippi  Mnrrli  5th, 1885.  A Itomei/- General,  AuguatOI 
H.  Garland,  Arkansas,  March  5th,  1885. 

Ebnjamin  Harrison,  President. 
XXVI.;  1889-1893. 
Secretary  'f  Slate,  James  G.  Blaine,  Maine,  March  6th, 
1889.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  William  Windom,  Minne- 
sota, March  Sth,  1889.  SeertUiry  of  War,  Redfield 
Proctor,  Vermont,  March  Sth,  1889.  Secretary  of  A'ary, 
Benjamin  Tracy,  New  York,  March  5th,  1889.  /'o««- 
maiUer-Gentrtil,  John  Wanamaker,  Pennsylvania,  March 
Mb,  1889.  beiretary  of  Interior,  John  W.  Noble,  Missouri, 
March  Sth,  1889.  Altnmey- General,  W.  H.  H.  Miller, 
Indiana,  March  6th,  1889  Setrelary  of  Agriculture,  Jere- 
miah Rusk,  Wisconsiu,  March  Sth,  1889. 

•  Secretary  Windom  died  Jan.  29, 1891,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Charles  Foster,  Ohio. 


BOOK  V. 


TABULATED  HISTORY— PATENT  FEES. 


15 


SIGITESIS  OP  THE  DECIiARATlON  OF  INDEPENDENCE:.    IN  CONGRESS  ASSEM- 

BliED  JUIiY  4111,  1776. 

The  following  list  of  members  of  the  Continental  Congress,  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independent 
(although  the  names  are  included  in  the  general  list  of  that  Congress,  from  1774  to  1778),  is  given  separately 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  places  and  dates  of  their  birth,  and  the  times  of  their  respective  deaths,  for 
coDTenient  reference : 


Names  or  the  Sionebs. 


BOBN  AT 


Delegated  From 


Died. 


Adams,  John Braintree,  Mass.,  19  Oct.  1735 Massachusetts 4  July,  182*. 

Adams.  Samuel Boston,  Mass.,  27  Sept.  1722 1  Massachusetts 2  Oct.  1803. 

Bartleft,  Josiah Amesbury,  Mass.,  in  Nov.  1729 iNew  Hampshire 19  May  1795. 

Braxton,  Carter Newington,  Va,  10  Sept.  1730 Virginia |lo  Oct.  I797 

Carroll,  Chas  of  Carrollton..  Annapolis,  Md.,  20  Sept  1737 jMaryland „ 14  November   1832. 

Chase,  Samuel jSomerset  Co.,  Md.,  17  Apr.  l741....|Maryland *19  June,  1»11.' 

Clark,  Abraham Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  16  Feb.  1726  New  Jersey |—  .September  1794. 

Clymer,  George Philadelphia.  Pa.,  in  1739 j  Pennsylvania. 23  Jan.  1813.   ' 


Ellery,  William...... 'Newport,  R.  I.,  22  Dee.  1727 

Floyd,  William ISuffolk  Co.,  N.Y.,  17  Dec.  1734 , 


Franklin,  Benjamin 

Gerry,  Elbridge 

Gwinnet,  Button 

Hall,  Lyman , 

Hancock,  John 

Harrison,  Benjamin, 

Hart,  John 

Heyward,  Thomas,  Jr. 


Boston,  Mass.,  17  Jan.  1706 

Marblehead,  Mass.,  1  July  1744.. 

England,  in  1732  

Connecticut,  in  1731 

Braintree,  Mass.,  in  1737 

Berkley,  Va., 


Hopewell,  N.  J.,  in  1715 

St.  Luke's,  8,  C,  in  1746 

Hewes,  Joseph IKingston,  N.  J.,  in  1730 

Hooper,  William  [Boston,  Alass.,  17  June,  1742... 

Hopkins,  Stephen jScituate,  Mass.,  7  Mar.,  1707.... 

Huntington,  Samuel ]  Windham,  Conn.,  3  July  1732  . 

Hopkinson,  Francis Philadelphia,  Ph.,  in  1737 

Jefferson,  Thomas Shadwell,  Va.,  13  Apr.  1731 

Lee,  Richard  Henry Stratford,  Va..  20  Jan.  1732 

Stratford,  Va.,  14  Oct.  1734 

Landaflt,  Wales,  in  Mar.  1713... 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  15  Jan.  1716 

St.  George's,  S.  C,  5  Aug.  1749. 

Chester  Co.,  Pa.,  19  Mar  1734  . 

Mlddleton  Place,  8.C.,  in  1743. 

Morrissianna,  N.  Y.,  in  1726.... 

Lancashire,  Eng.,  Jan.  1733-4., 

Ridley,  Pa.,  lu  1724 

York,  Va.,  26  Dec.  1738 , 

Wye-Hill,  Md.,  31  Oct.  1740  .... 

Boston,  Mass^  in  1731 

Caroline  Co.,  Va.,  17  May  1741.. 

Cecil  Co.,  Md.,  in  1734 

Dover,  Del.,  in  1730 , 

New  Castle,  Del.  in  1730 , 

Byberry,  Pa.,  24  Dec.  1745 

Charleston,  S.C,  in  Nov.  1749.. 

Newton,  Mass.,  19  Apr.  1721 

,  Ireland,  ■ 


Lee,  Francis  Lightfoot 

Lewis,  Francis  F , 

Livingston,  Philip 

Lynch,  Thomas,  Jr 

McKe^n,  Thomas , 

Middleton,  Arthur 

Morris,  Lewis 

Morris,  Robert 

Morton,  John 

Nelson,  Thomas,  Jr _... 

Paca,  Wm 

Paine,  Robert  Treat 

Penn, John 

Read,  George 

Rodney,  Caesar 

Ross,  George 

Rush,  Benjamin,  M.D 

Rutledge,  Edward 

Sherman,  Roger 

Smith,  James 

Stockton,  Richard 

Btone,  Thomas 

Taylor,  Greorge 

Thornton,  Matthew 

Walton,  George 

Whipple,  Wm 

Williams,  Wm 

Wilson,  James 

Witherspoon,  John 

Wolcott,  Oliver 

Wythe,  George 


Princeton,  N.  J.,  1  Oct.  1730 

Charles  Co..  Md.,  in  1742 

— ,  Ireland,  in  1716 , 

— ,  Ireland,  in  1714 , 

Frederick  Co.,  Va.,  in  1740 

Kittery,  Maine,  in  1730 , 

Lebanon,  Conn.,  8  Apr.  1731 , 

Scotland,  about  1742 , 

Yester,  Scotland,  5  Feb.  1722 

Windsor,  Conn.,  26  Nov.  1726 

Elizabeth  City  Co.,  Va.,  in  1726., 


R.  L  &  Prov.  PI . 

New  York  

Pennsylvania.,., 
Massachusetts., 

Georgia 

Georgia 

Massachusetts., 
Virginia. 


New  Jersey 1880. 


15  Feb.  1820. 
4  Aug  1821. 
17  April,  1790. 
■£i  N.:)vember,  181^ 
27  May,  1777. 

—  Feb.  1790. 
8  Oct.  1798. 

—  April,  179L 


South  Carolina., 
North  Carolina . 
North  Carolina... 
R.  L  ft  Prov.  PI.. 

Connecticut 

New  Jersey 

Virginia 

Virginia 

Virginia 

New  York  

New  York , 

South  Carolina..., 

Delaware 

South  Carolina.... 

New  York , 

Pennsylvania ..... 

Pennsylvania 

Virginia 

Maryland 

Massachusetts..., 
North  Carolina..., 

Delaware 

Delaware 

Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania 

South  Carolina.... 

Connecticut 

Penn.oylvania 

New  Jersey 

Maryland 

Pennsylvania 

New  Hampshire . 

Georgia 

New  Hampshire., 

Connecticut., 

Pennsylvania. 

New  Jersey. 

Connecticut., 

Virginia., 


—  March,  180ft 

10  Oct.  1779. 

—  Oct.  179a 
13  July,  1785. 

5  Jan.  1798. 
9  May,  1790. 
4  July.  1826. 

19  June,  1794. 

—  April,  1797. 
,30  Dec.  1803. 
12  June,  1778. 
Lost  at  sea,  1771 
24  June,  1817. 

1  Jan.  1787. 

22  Jan.  1798. 
8  May,  1806. 

—  April,  1777. 
4  Jan.  1789. 

,  1799. 

U  May,  1804. 
26  Oct.  1809. 

,  1798. 

,  1783. 

—  July,  1779. 
19  April.  1813. 
•23  Jan.  1800. 

23  July,  1793. 

11  July,  1806. 
28  Feb.  1781. 

6  Oct.  1787. 

23  Feb.  1781. 

24  June,  1803. 

2  Feb.  1804 
28  Nov.  1785. 

2  Aug.  1811. 
28  Aug.  1798. 
1,5  Nov.  1794. 

1  Dec.  1797. 

8  June,  1806. 


ANTE-IVAR  DEBTS  OF  THE  SEVERAL.  STATES. 

TABtE  showing  the  Debts  of  the  several  States  before  the  war  (1800-01). 


Maine 

New  Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts.... 

Rhode  Island , 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania , 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Michigan 

Illinois , 

Wisconsin , 

Minnesota , 


In  1860-61. 


$609,500 
31,069 

none. 
7.132,627 

none, 

none. 
34,182,976 

104,000 
37.964,602 

none. 


14.2.'>0,173 
7,770,233 
2,.388,843 
10,277,101 
1IK),(IOO 
250,000 


Iowa 

Missouri 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

California 

Oregon 

Virginia 

North  Carolina., 
Bouth  Carolina., 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama , 

Mississippi...... 

Louiniana 

Texas 

Arkansas' 

Tennessee 


In  1860^1. 


200.0/» 

24,7.14.000 

150,009 

4,729,234 


ft.^..■^7a 
33,24X14) 
9,lJ",.'Ml5 
3,i;'.il.S74 
2,ii7ii.7.'«) 

SN;iO(X) 

5,l>48,000 

none. 

10,023,908 


'  3,0»2,fi2a 
16,013,006 


16 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


BOOK  V. 


CAKDIDATSS  FOR  PRKSIDENT  AND  VICE  PRBSIDBITT, 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  March  1st,  1789. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  those  who 
Wcr*  candidates  for  each  office,  since  the  organization  of  the  Government :   {vide  pp.  21-25,  62.) 


1789 — George  Washington*  and  John  Adams,  two 
terms,  no  opposition. 

1797 — John  .\dam.s  opposed  by  Thomas  Jefferson,* 
who,  having  the  next  highest  electoral  vote,  became 
Vice  President. 

1801— Thomas  Jefferson* and  Aaron  Burr;  beating 
John  Adams  and  Charles  C.  Pinckney.* 

1805 — Thomas  Jefferson*  and  George  Clinton  ; 
beating  Charles  C.  Pinckney*  and  Rufus  King 

18(»9— James  Madison*  and  George  Clinion ;  beat- 
insc  Charles  C.  Pinckney.* 

i8i!J — James  Madison*  and  Eldridge  Gerry ;  beat- 
ing DeWitt  Clinton. 

1817 — James  Monroe*  and  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  ; 
beating  Rufus  King. 

1821 — James  Monroe*  and  Daniel  D.Tompkins; 
beating  John  Quincy  Adams. 

1825 — John  Quincy  Adams  and  John  0.  Calhoun  ;* 
beating  Andrew  Jackson,*  Henry  Clay,*  and  Wil- 
liam H.  Crawford  ;*  there  being  four  candidates  for 
President,  and  Albert  Gallatin  for  Vice  President. 

1829 — Andrew  Jackson*  and  John  C.  Calhoun*; 
beating  John  Quincy  Adams  and  Richard  Rush. 

1833— Andrew  Jackson*  and  Martin  Van  Buren  ; 
b°ating  Henry  Clay,*  John  Floyd,*and  William  Wirt 
for  President;  and  William  Wilkins,  John  Sergeant, 
and  Henry  Lee*  for  Vice  President. 

1837 — Martin  Van  Buren  and  Richard  M.  John- 
eon*;  beating  William  H.  Harrison,  Hugh  L.White, 
and  Daniel  Webster  for  President,  and  John  Tyler* 
for  Vice  President. 

1841— William  H.  Harrison  and  John  Tyler* ;  beat- 
ing Alartiu  Van  Buren  and  Littleton  W.  Tazewell.* 
Harrison  die<l  one  mouth  after  his  inauguration, 
and  John  Xyler*  became  President  for  the  rest  of 
the  term. 

*  Candidates  from  Southern  States. 


1845— James  K.  Polk*  and  George  M.  Dallas ;  beat- 
ing Henry  Clay*  and  Theodore  Frelinghuyen. 

1849— Zachary  Taylor* and  Millard  Fillmore;  beat- 
ing Lewis  Ca.s8  and  Martin  Van  Buren  for  President, 
and  William  O.  Butler*  and  C.  F.  Adams,  for  Vice 
Presdent. 

18.53— Franklin  Pierce  and  William  R.  King*; 
beating  Winfield  Scott  and  William  A.  Graham.* 

1857— James  Buchanan  and  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge*; beating  John  C.  Fremont  and  Millard  Fill- 
more for  President,  and  William  L.  Dayton  and  A. 
J.  Donaldson*  for  Vice  President. 

1861— Abraham  Lincoln  and  Hannibal  Hamlin; 
heating  John  Bell,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  J.  C. 
Breckinridgf-*  for  President. 

1865 — Abraham  Lincoln  and  i  ndrew  Johnson,* 
Union  candidates;  beating  G.  B.  McClellan  and  G. 
H.  Pendleton. 

1869— Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  Schuyler  Colfax;  beat- 
ing Horatio  Seymour  and  Frank  P.  Blair,  jr. 

1873— Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  Henry  Wil.son  ;  beating 
Horace  Greeley  and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  for  President 
and  Vice  President. 

1877— Rutherford  B.  Hayes  and  Wm.  A.  Wheeler ; 
beating  Samuel  Tilden  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks. 

1881— James  A.  Garfield  and  Chester  A.  Arthur; 
beating  General  W.  8.  Hancock  and  W.  H.  English. 
-Arthur  succeeded  Garfield,  after  his  death  from  a» 
sassination,  Sept.  19, 1881,  and  David  Davis  is  now 
Acting  Vice  President. 

1885 — Grovcr  Cleveland  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks, 
who  defeated  James  G.  Blaine  and  John  A.  Logan. 

1889-Benjamin  Harrison  and  I.evi  P.Morton, who 
defeated  Grover  Cleveland  and  Allen  G.  Thurman. 


NUMBER  OF  ELECTORAIi  TOTES  TO  'WHICH  EACH  STATE  HAS  BEEN  ENTI- 
TliED,  AT  EACH  EliECTION,  1789-1880. 


States. 

0 
m 

rH 

i 

IH 

1 

00 

1 

rH 

00 

1 

i 

00 

00 

1 

g 
oc 

1 

00 

2 

5 

1 

1 



...» 

..._ 

-••• 



3 

6 

6 

7 

7 
3 

7 
3 

9 
3 

9 
3 

9 
4 
4 

9 

4 
4 

9 
4 

4 

8 
6 
6 

8 
6 
6 

10 

6 

10 

1" 

7 

„.. 



„... 

.... 





el   6 

8 

3 
6 
3 
4 
11 
21 
15 
11 
6 
12 
8 
7 
8 
13 
11 
6 
8 

15 

3 

3 

6 

9 

36 

10 

22 

3 

29 

4 

7 

12 

8 

6 

11 

6 

in 

<1 

7 
3 

9 
3 

9 
3 

9 
3 

9 
3 

9 
3 

9!    0 

9 
4 

8 
3 

8 
3 

8 
3 

8 
S 

8 
3 

6 
3 

6 
3 
3 

10 

6 
3 

.'0 

6 
3 
3 
10 
11 
13 
4 

C 
3 
3 
10 
11 
13 
4 

6 
3 
3 
9 

16 

13 
8 
3 

11 
7 
7 
7 

12 
8 
4 
7 

11 

6 
3 
3 
9 

16 

13 
8 
3 

11 
7 
7 
7 

12 
8 
4 
7 

11 
3 
3 
6 
7 

6 

3 

4 

11 

21 

16 

11 

6 

12 

8 

7 

8 

13 

11 

6 

8 

16 

3 

3 

6 

0 

6 

4 

4 

S 

4 

6 

4 

4 

4 

6 

6 

8 

8 
"3 

8 
3 
3 

g 
3 

6 

9 
3 
6 

11 
6 
9 

11 
5 
9 

11 
6 
9 

in 
9 
12 

T> 

Illinois « 

9I  ii 

9<? 

12 

4 

13 
4 

1") 

n 

9 

4 

4 

4 

8 

8 

12 
3 

"ii 

22 

12 
3 

"ii 

22 

12 
3 
9 
11 
15 

14 

6 

9 

11 

16 

14 
6 
9 
11 
16 

16 
6 
10 
10 
14 

16 
6 

10 
10 

15 
6 
10 
10 

12 
6 
9 
8 

12 
6 

12 
6 
9 
8 

12 
6 

12 
6 
8 
8 

13 
6 

12 
6 
8 
8 

13 
6 

12 
6 
8 
8 

13 
6 
4 
7 
9 

n 

R 

"i'i 

19 

"i'i 

19 

6 

8 
10 

K 
16 

10 
16 

10 
16 

R 

14    14 

14 

3 

3 

13 

7 





...„ 

-... 



3 
3 

3 
3 

3 

4 
4 

4 
4 

4 

4 

6 

7 

6 

7 

7 
9 

7 
9 

q 

16 

5 

""(5 
6 
8 
7 

""e 

7 
12 
12 

""(B 
7 

12 
12 

7 
12 
12 

-7 

8 
19 
14 

3 

"20 
4 

10 
6 

,..„ 

24 

.... 

8 
19 
14 

3 

"20 
4 

10 
6 

6 

"  s 

8 
29 
15 

8 

""s 

8 
29 
16 

8 

8 
8 
29 
15 
8 

""s 

8 
86 
15 
16 

""s 

8 
36 
15 
16 

—7 
8 
42 
16 
21 

...„ 

8 
42 
16 
21 

8 
42 
15 
21 

7 

36 

11 

23 

""e 

7 

36 
11 
23 

7 
36 
10 
23 

...„ 

7 
35 
10 
23 

"5 
7 

35 

10 

23 
3 

27 
4 
8 

12 
4 
5 

15 

5 

3 
6 
7 

33 
9 

21 
3 

26 
4 

n 
10 

6 
6 
10 

3 

New  Hampshire 

4 

9 

New  York 

33   M 

3ft 

North  Carolina 

Ohio  « 

9 
21 
3 

26 
4 
6 

10 
6 

1^ 

10 

22 
3 

29 
4 
7 

12 
8 
6 

11 
6 

10 

11 

"15 

8 
3 

""4 

21 

3 

10 
3 
7 

"12 

91 
13 

15 
4 
8 

"4 
21 

135 
15 

15 
4 
8 
3 

"4 
21 

138 
16 

25 
4 

11 
8 

8 

25 
4 

11 
8 

25 
4 

11 
8 

28 
4 
11 
11 

28    30 

30 

4 
11 
16 

30 

4 

11 

15 

26 
4 
9 

13 

26 
4 
9 

13 
4 
6 

17 

■4 
290 
80 

27 
4 
8 

12 
4 
6 

15 
...„ 

296 
31 

27 
4 
8 

12 

9* 

6 

15 

...„ 

296 
31 

30 

Rhode  Island 

4 
11 
11 

4 
11 
16 

4 

South  Carolina. 

9 

n 

8 
26 

221 
19 

8 
26 

235 
24 

7 
24 

261 
24 

7 
24 

%1 

7 
23 

288 

7 
23 

7 
23 

6 
17 

4 

24    25 

n 

West  VirKinia. 

Wisconsin 

Total « 

176 

218 

5     6 

fi       8 

6 

n 

188  176 

294  294 

276 
26 

303  314  317 

366  369 

401 

Number  of  States.... 

16 

17 

17 

18 

24 

24 

H 

26 

33 

36 

37 

37 

38 

38 

BOOK  V. 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


17 


SirPREME   COURT   OP   THB   VNITKD   6TATE8. 


Chief  Justices. 


1  John  Jay*. 


2  John  Rutledgef. 
3 


Oliver  Ellsworth*.. 
John  Marshall 


Roger  B.  Taney.. 


Salmon  P.  Chase  . 


Morrison  R.  Waite. 


8! Melville  W.  Fuller., 


John  Uutledge* 

William  Gushing 

James  Wilson 

John  Blair* 

Robert  H.  Harrison*.. 

Jame.4  Iredell 

Thomas  Johnson* 

William  Patterson 


Associate  Justices. 


Samuel  Chase.. 


Bushr'd  Washington. 
Alfred  Moore* 


William  John.son 

Brockh't  Livingston.. 

Thomas  Todd 

Joseph  Story 

Gabriel  Duval* 

Smith  Thomp.son 

Robert  Trimble 

John  McLean 

Henry  Baldwin 

James  M.  WayneJ 


Philip  P.  Barbour 

John  Catron 

John  McKinley 

Peter  V.  Daniel 

Samuel  Nelson* 

Levi  Woodbury 

Roberto.  Grier* 

Benjamin  R.  Curtis*.. 
John  A.  Campbell*... 

Nathan  Clifford 

Noah  H.  Swayne* 

.Samue!  F.  Miller 

David  Davis* 

Stephen  J.  Field 


William  Strong* 

Joseph  P.  Bradley.. 
Ward  Hunt* 


John  M.  Harlan 

William  B.  Woods.. 

Horace  Gray 

Roscoe  Conkling*... 
Samuel  Blatchford. 


Lucius  Q.  C.  Lamar. 
David  J.  Brewer 


State  Whence 
Appointed. 


Term  of 
Service,   o  5 


New  Yorlc 1789-1795 

South  Carolina 1789-1791 

Massachusetts 1789-1810 

Pennsylvania 1789-1798 

Virginia 1789-1790 

Maryland 1789-1790 

North  Carolina 1790-1799 

Maryland 1791-1793 

New  Jersey ,179:J-1«06 

"       '    ~       ■■  1795-1795 

1796-1811 
1790-1801 
1798-1829 
1799-1804 
1801-1836 
1804-1834 


South  Carolina., 

Maryland , 

Connecticut 

Virginia 

North  Carolina  , 

Virginia 

South  Carolina.. 


New  York 1 1800-1823 


Kentucky.. 

Massachusetts.. 

Maryland. 


1807-1826 

1811-1845 

1811-1830 

iNew'  York 1823-1845 


Kentucky 1826-1828 

Ohio 1829-1801 

Pennsylvania 1830-1840 

Georgia „.  1835-1807 

Maryland 1836-1804 

Virginia 1830-1841 

Tennessee 1837-1865 

Alah)ama. 1837-1852 

Virginia 1841-1860 

New  York l!846-1872 

New  Hampshire 1845-1851 

Pennsylvania !  1^40-1809 


Massachusetts, 

Alabama 

Maine... 

Ohio 

Iowa 

Illinois 

California 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania 
New  Jersey..; 

New  York 

Ohio 

Kentucky 

Georgia 11880- 

Massachusetts 1881- 

New  York |1S82- 

New  York ^1882- 


lUinois., 
Mississippi . 
Kansas 


1887-., 
1887-., 
1890-., 


1746 
1739 
1733 
1742 
1732 


1829 
1800 
1810 
1708 
1800 


17461790 
1751  1799 
17321819 
1745  1806 


1739 
1741 
1746 
1762 
1755 
1766 
1771 
1767 
1766 
1779 


1800 
1811 
1807 
1829 
1810 
1836 
1834 
1823 
1826 
1846 


17521844 
1767  1845 
177711828 
1786  1801 


16 


1851-1857 
185;i-1861 

1858- 

1801- 

1802- 

1802-1877 

1860- I 

1864-1873   9 
1870-1880  10 

1870- 

1872- I 

1874-1887 
1877- 


13 


1779 
1790 
1777 
1783 
1778 
1780 
1786 
1792 
1789 
1794 
1809 
1811 
1803  1881 


1846 
1867 
1864 
1841 
1866 
1862 
1860 
1873 
1861 
1870 
1874 


1805 
1816 
1815 
1816 
1808 
1808 
1813 
1811 
1816 
1833 
1826 


1881 


1873 


1887 


*  Resigned. 

t  Presided  one  term  of  the  court;  appointment  not  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 

J  The  Supreme  Court,  at  its  first  session  in  1790,  consisted  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  five  Associates.  The 
number  of  As.sociate  Justices  was  increased  to  six  in  1807  by  the  appointment  of  Thomas  Todd ;  increased 
to  eight  in  18-37  by  the  appointment  s  of  John  Catron  and  John  McKinley ;  increased  to  nine  in  1863  by  the 
appointment  of  Stephen  J.  Field  ;  decreased  to  eight  on  the  death  of  John  Catron  in  1805;  decreased  to 
^even  on  the  death  of  James  M.  Wayne  in  1867;  and  again  increased  to  eight  in  1870,  with  a  view  to  get 
the  legal  tender  decision— a  policy  for  such  precedents  are  found  In  the  governments  of  England  aai 
ifrance. 


TOTAIi  BTUBIBER  OF  TROOPS  CAI.I.ED  INTO  SERVICE  DURING 
THE  REBEIililON.* 

The  various  calls  of  the  President  for  men  were  as  follows: 

1801—3  months'  men JS'SS 

1801—3  years'  men S^J'SnA 

1802-3  years' men SS'nS 

1862—9  months'  men frtncM 

1864—3  years'  men,  February 2nn'«5i 

1804—3  years'  men,  March ~ - -•  rJJ'JJJ: 

1804—3  years'  men,  July ^uSn 

1864—3  years'  men,  December ~ »m,vw 

Total 2,676,000 

•  These  do  not  include  the  militia  that  were  brought  Into  serrioe  during  the  varloos  invaslonfl  of  Le^t 
Wmiea  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania. 


18 


TABULATED  HISTORY— CIVIL  OFFICERS. 


BOOK  V. 


IiKNGTH  OF  SKSSIONS  OF  CONCiRESS,  1789-1S91. 


No.  of  No.  of 
Con-      Ses- 
gress.   sion. 

fist. ..March 
Ist  <  2d  ...January 

(.3d  ...December 
-J  fist...  October 
^*  "j.  2d  ...November 
_j  fl8t...December 
*^  1 2d  ...November 
•it,  flat. ..December 
"^  1 2d  ...December 

fl8t...May 
6th  ■<  2d  ...November 
(.3d  ...December 
iu-h  f  l8t...December 
""*  t2d ...November 
•fOt   f  l8t... December 
""^  1 2d  ....December 
oi\,   f  l8t...0ctober 
"•^  1 2d  ...November 
J  l8t...December 
•"  1 2d  ...December 
in+v.    fist. ..October 
^"tn  \  2d  ...November 

fist. ..May 

11th  -<  2d  ...November 

(.3d  ...December 

iiMi.   fl.''t...  November 

^^'^  1 2d  ...November 

pst...May 
13th  ■<  2d  ...December 
(.3d  ...September 
tAt-h  f  l8t...December 
^"°  1 2d  ...December 
iKtv.  f  l8t...December 
"*'*  1 2d  ...November 
icfi,  f  l8t...Dec6mber 
ibtn  -j^ 2d  ...November 


Time  of  Session. 


17th 


{1st...  December 
2d  ...December 


latu   fist.. .December 
""^  1 2d  ...December 

{lat... December 
2d  ...December 


19th 


nnn,  f lst...December 

^'^  1 2d  ...December 

„,-i.  fist. ..December 

^"'  1 2d  ...December 

™,j  f  lst...December 

^^  1 2d  ...December 

2«j  f  l8t...Deeember 
1 2d  ...December 

oAtVi  fist  ..December 
'**^'*  i 2d  ...December 

(Ist. ..September 
25th  -^  2d  ...December 

(.3d  ...December 

aaty,  fist. ..December 
*"*  1 2d  ...December 

(1st...  May 
27th  ■{  2d  ...December 

(,3d  .r.. December 


4,  1789— September  29,  1789 

4,  1790— August  12,  1790 

6,  17U0— March  3,  1791 
24,  1791— May  8,  1792 

5,  1792— March  2,  1793 

2,  17D3— June  9,  1794 

3,  1794— March  3,  1795 

7,  1795-^une  1,  1796 

5,  1796— March  3,  1797 

15,  1797- July  10,  1797 
13,  1797— July  16,  1798 

3,  1798— March  3,  1799 

2,  1799— May  14,  1800 

17,  1880— March  3,  1801 

7,  181)1— May  3,  1802 

6,  1802— March  3,  1803 
17,  1803— March  27,  1804 

5,  1804— March  3,  1805 

2,  1805— April  21,  1806 

1,  180&— March  3,  1807 

26,  1807— April  25.  1808 

7,  1808— March  3,  1809 
22,  1809— June  28,  1809 

27,  1809— May  1,  1810 

3,  1810— March  3,  1811 

4,  1811— July  6,  1812 

2,  1812— March  3,  1813 
24,  1813— August  2,  1813 

6,  1813— April       '     18,  1814 
19,  1814— March  3,  1815 

4,  1815— April  30,  1816 

2,  1816— M!arch  3,  1817 

1,  1817— April  20,  1818 

16,  1818— March  3,  1819 
6,  1819— May  15,  1820 

13,  1820— March  3,  1821 

3,  1821— May  8,  1822 

2,  1822— March  3,  1823 
1,  1823— May  27,  1824 

6,  1824— March  3,  1826 

5,  1825 — May  22,  1826 

4,  1826— March  3,  1827 

3,  1827— May  26,  1828 

1,  1828— March  3,  1829 

7,  1829— May  31,  1830 

6,  18J0— March  3,  1831 

5,  18,31— July  16,  1832 

3,  1832— March  3,  1833 

2,  18.'a— June  30,  1834 

1,  1834— March  3,  1835 

7,  18.Ti — Inly  4,  1836 

5,  18;i0^March  3,  1837 

4,  18.37— October  IG,  1837 

4,  18:J7— July  9,  18.38 

3,  1838— March  3,  1839 

2,  1839— July  21,  1840 
7,  1840— March  3,  1841 

31,  1841— September  13,  1841 

6,  isa -August  31,  1842 

5,  1842— March  8,  1843 


No.  of  No.  of 
Con-     Ses- 
gress.   sion. 
oa^k    fist. ..December 
'^^  1 2d  ...December 


Time  of  Session. 


39th 


{Ist. ..December 
2d  ....December 


•ntv,  fist... December 
^^^  1 2d  ...December 
oi_f  fist... December 
^^"  \2d ...December 

ooj     fist...  December 

"•■"^    1 2d  ...December 

oqj    J  1st... December 

'"'^    1 2d  ...December 

(Ist...  December 

34th  •<  2d  ...August 

(3d  ...December 

fist.. .December 

|2d...Deceniber 

f  lst...December 

'(2d  ...December 

(l8t...July 

37th  <  2d  ...December 

(.3d  ...December 

oQth   fist... December 

^"'^  1 2d  ...December 


35th 


36th 


1843— June 
1844— March 
1845-August 
1846— March 
1847— August 
1848— March 
1849— September 
1850— March 
18.51— August 
1852— March 
18.53— August 
1854— March 
1855— August 
1856— August 
1856— March 
1857— June 
1858— March 
1859— June 
1860...March 
1861— August 
1861— July 
1862— March 
186.3— July 
1864— March 


OQ.      flst...December    4,  1865— July 
*""  \  2d  ...December    3,  1866— March 


17,  18U 
3,  1846 

10,  1848 
3,  1847 

14,  184S 
3,  1849 

30, 1850 
3,  1851 

31,  1852 
3,  1853 
7,  1854 
3,  1855 

18,  1856 
30,  1856 

3,  1867 
14,  1858 

3,  1859 
25,  1860 

4,  1861 
6,  1861 

17,  1862 
4,  1863 
4,  1864 
4,  1866 

28,  1866 
4,  1867 


40th  • 

2d. 
.3d. 

(1st.. 

4l8t  ^2d.. 

(.3d.. 

(1st.. 

42d    -(2d.. 

(.3d.. 

^  {It: 
«th  {It: 

(1st.. 

45rti  ■<2d- 

(.3d.. 

(1st.. 

46th  i  2d .. 

(.3d.. 

«t»>}2d:: 

48th  {^^:; 
49th  {^^■; 
60th  {i^t;; 


..March  .  4,  1867— March  30,  1867 

..July  3,  1867— July  20,  1867 

.November  21,  1867— December    2,  1867 

.December  2,  1867— July  27,  1868 

.December  7,  1868— March  4,  1869 

..March  4,  1869— April  23,  1869 

.December  6,  1869— July  16,  1870 

.December  6,  1870— March  4,  1871 

March  4,  1871— April  20,  1871 

.December  4,  1871— June  10,  1872 

.December  2,  1872— March  4,  1873 

.December  1,  1873— June  23,  1874 

.December  7,  1874— March  4,  1875 

.December  6,  1875 — August  15,  1876 

.December  4,  1876— March  4,  1877 

.October  15,  1877— December  3,  1877 

-December  3,  1877— June  20,  1878 

.December  2,  1878— March  4,  1879 


March  18,  1879— July 

December     1,  1879— June 
December     6,  1880— March 


.December 

December 
December 
Dpcember 
December 
December 
.December 
December 
December 


6,  1881— August 

4,  1882— March 
8,  1883— July 

1,  1884— March 

7,  188.')— August 
6,  1886— March 

5.  1887— October 
3,  1888— March 

2,  1889— October, 
1,  1890— March  4, 


1,  1879 
16,  1880 
4,  1881 

8, 1882 

4,1883 

7,  1884 

4,  1885 

6,  1886 

4,  1887 

20,  1888 

4,  1889 

1890 

1891 


CIVIL   OFFICERS   OF  THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Numb«r  Employed  in  the  several  Departmonto  of  tlie  Government,  Jnljr  1st,  1883. 


ExecotiTe  Office 7 

Congreas 280 

SUte  Department.  .   ........        419 

Treasury  Department 12,180 

War  Department »  .  •     1,861 

Pegt-Office  D«partmeat 62,672 


Navy  Department 128 

Interior  Department 2,818 

Department  of  Justice 2,876 

Department  of  Agriculture. 77 

Government  Printing  Office 1,168 

Total 74.481 


ju^oK  T.        TABULATED  HISTORY— STATES  AND  TERRITORIES. 


19 


THB   STATES  AND  TERRITOIUES— when  Admitted  or  Orf^aiUMd— wltb  Area 

Population. 


STATES. 

[First  thirteen  admitted  on  ratifying  Consti- 

titutioa— all  others  admitted  by  Acts 

of  Congress.] 


Area  in 
Date  when  Admitted.  |«iu*re  miles 
at  time  of 
admisgion. 


Population  nearent 

cen.«u9  to  date  of 

admission. 


Population,  i      Year. 


Delaware 

Pennsylvania 

New  Jersey 

Georgia 

Connecticut „..., 

Massachusetts 

Maryland  

South  Carolina 

New  Hampshire 

Virginia 

New  York 

North  Carolina 

Rhode  Island 

Vermont 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Ohio 

Louisiana 

Indiana „.... 

Mississippi 

Illinois 

Alabama 

Maine „. 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Michigan 

Florida 

Iowa 

Texas 

Wisconsin 

California 

Minnesota » , 

Oregon ■... 

Kansas 

West  Virginia 

Nevada. 

Nebraska 

Colorado 

District  of  Columbia.. 

iNorih  Dakota. 

South  Dakota 

Montana 

Washington 

Idaho 

Wyoming 


TEERITORIES. 


9,  1788 

6,  1788 

28,  1788 

23,  1788 

21,  1788 

25,  1788 

26,  1788 


December  7,  1787 
December  12,  1787 
December  18,  1787 
January  2,  1788 
January 
February 
April 
May 
June 
June 
July 

November  21,  1789 
May  29,  1790 

March  4,  1791 

June  1,  1792 

June  1,  1796 

NoTember  29,  1802 
April  30,  1812 

December  11,  1816 
December  10,  1817 
December  3,  1818 
December  14,  1819 
March  15,  1820 
August        19, 1821 


June 
January 
March  3, 


15,  1836 
26,  1837 
1845 


December  28,  1846 
December  29,  1845 
May  29,  1848 

September  9,  1850 
May  11,  1858 

February  14,  1859 
January      29,  1861 


June 

October 

March 

August 

March 

July 

July 

July 

July 


19,  1863 
31,  1864 
1,  1867 
1,  1876 
8,  1791 
4,  1889 
4,  1889 
4,  1889 
4.  1889 


2,050 
45,215 

7,815 
69,476 

4,990 

8,315 
12,210 
30,570 

9,306 
42,450 
49,170 
52,250 

1,250 

9,565 
40,400 
42,050 
41,060 
48,720 
36,350 
46,810 
56,650 
52,250 
33,040 
69,415 
53.850 
68,915 
58,680 
56,025 
265,780 
66,040 
158,360 
83^65 
96,030 
82,080 
24,780 
110,700 
76,855 
103,926 
60 

[  149,100 

146,080 
69,180 
84,800 
97,890 


59.096 

434,373 

184,139 

82,648 

237,496 

378,787 

319,728 

249,033 

141,885 

747,610 

340,120 

393,751 

68,825 

86,339 

73,077 

77,202 

41,915 

76,556 

63,805 

76,512 

34,620 

127,901 

298,269 

66,586 

52,240 

212.267 

54,477 

81,920 

212,692 

805,391 

92,597 

172,023 

62,466 

107,206 

442,014 

40,000 

60,000 

150,000 

1 135,177 

39,159 
75.116 
S2,610 
20,789 


Dates  of  organization 


Present 

area,  square 

miles. 


Population. 


1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1790 
1791 
1892 
1796 
1802 
1812 
1816 
1817 
1818 
1820 
1820 
1821 
1836 
1840 
1845 
1846 
1850 
1850 
1850 
1860 
1859 
1860 
1870 
1864 
18«T 
187« 

1880 
1880 

1880 
1880 


Censoaof 


Utah 

New  Mexico 

Arizona 

Indian 

Alaska 


September  9, 1860 
September  9,1860 
February    21, 1863 


82,090 

122.580 

113,020 

&i,690 

Unsurveyed 


143,963 
119,565 
40,440 


1880 
1880 
1880 


20  TABULATED   HISTORY— THE  U.  S.  ARMY.  book  v. 

SPEAKERS    OF    THK    HOUSE   OF   REPRESEHTTATIVES. 


Name. 


Congress. 


Term  of  Service. 


P.  A   Muhlenberg 

Jonathan  Trumbull. 

F.  A.  Muhlenberg 

Jonathan  Dayton 


Theodore  Sedgwick « 
Nathaniel  Macon 


Joseph  B.  Varnum.. 
Henry  Clay 


Langdon  Cheves.^ 
Henry  Clay 


John  W.  Taylor , 

Philip  P.  Barbour ...., 

Henry  Clay 

John  W.  Taylor , 

Andrew  Stephenson.. 


John  Bell 

James  K.  Polk., 


Robert  M.  T.  Hunter.. 

John  White 

John  W.  Jones 

John  W.  Davis 

Robert  C.  Winthrop... 

Howell  Cobb 

Linn  Boyd 


Nathaniel  P.  Banks  . 

Jimes  L.  Orr 

William  Pennington. 

Galusha  A.  Orow 

Schuyler  Colfax 


James  6.  Blaine. 


Michael  C.  Kerr.... 
Samuel  J.  Randall. 


Warren  B.  Keifer , 
John  U.  Carlisle.... 


Pennsylvania 1st  Congress, 

Connecticut j  id  '• 

Pennsylvania \  3d  " 

New  Jersey i  4tn         " 

•'         I  5th 

Ma-ssachusetts I  (ith  " 

North  Carolina. 7th  " 

"  8th  " 

"  I  9th  " 

Massachusetts lioth  " 

llth  » 

Kentucky I2ta  " 

"        13th  " 

S  C,  2d  Sess Il3th  " 

Kentucky '14th  " 

i].5th  " 

"        Iieth  " 

New  York,  2d  Sess.  16th  " 

Virginia 17th  " 

Kentucky Il8th  " 

New  York 19ih  " 

Virginia ^Oth  " 

21st  " 

22d  " 

23d  " 

23d  " 

24th  « 

2,5th  " 

Virginia 2f.th  " 

ICentucky l27th  " 


Tennessee,  2d  Sess. 


Thomas  B.  Reed.. 


Virginia. 

Indiana 

Massachusetts.. 

Georgia , 

Kentucky 


Ma-ssachusetts.. 
South  Carolina.., 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania  ... 
Indiana 


28th 
29th 
snth 
31st 
32d 
33d 
34th 
3,5th 
3fith 
37th 
.38th 
.39th 
40th 

Maine i4lst 

"    42d 

"     43d 

Indiana 44th 

Penna.,  2d  Sess ■44th 

"  "       4,5th 

"  "       46th 

Ohio ;47th 

4«th 
49th 
.50th 
51st 


Kentucky. 


Maine.. 


April 

Oct. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

May 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Oct. 

Dec. 

Oct. 

May 

Nov. 

May 

Jan. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

June 

Dec. 

Sept, 

Dec. 

May 

Dec. 

Dec, 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Feb. 

Dec. 

Feb. 

July 

Dec. 

Deo. 

IMavoh 

March 

March 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Oct. 

March 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 

Dec. 


1, 1789, 
24,  1701, 
2, 1793, 
7, 1795, 
1,5,  1797, 
2,  1799, 
7,  1801, 

17,  1803, 

2,  1805, 
20,  1807, 
22,  1809, 

4,  1811, 
24,  181,3, 
19,  1814, 
4  1815, 
i;  1817, 
C,  1819. 

15,  1820, 

4,  1821, 

1,  1823, 

5,  1825, 

3,  1827, 
7,  182!t, 
5,  1831, 

2,  18.33, 
2,1834, 
7,  1835, 

5,  1837, 

16,  18.39, 
31,  1841, 

4,  184.3, 
1,  1845, 

6,  1847, 
22,  1849, 

1,  1851, 
5, 18.5.3, 
2, 1856, 
7,^18.57, 
1. 1800, 
4,  1861, 

7,  1803, 
4  1S6,5, 
4,  1867, 

4,  1809, 
4, 1871, 
1,1873, 
6,  187,5, 
4, 1876, 

15,  1H77, 

18,  1879, 

5,  1881, 

3,  1883, 
7,  188,5, 
5,  1889, 
2, 1889, 


to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  Jan. 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  May 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  June 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  Aug. 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
to  March 
,  to  March 
to  March 
to  March 


4, 1791 
4, 1793 
4,  1795 
4, 1797 

3,  1799 

4,  1801 
4,1803 
4, 1805 
4, 1807 
4,  1809 
4,  1811 
4,  1813 

19,  1814 
4,  1815 
4,  1817 
4,  1819 

15,  1820 
4, 1821 
4,  1823 
4,1825 
4,1827 
4,1829 
4,  1831 
4,1833 
2,  i834 
4, 18a5 
4, 1837 
4,  18  59 
4, 1841 
4,  1843 
4,  1845 
4,  1847 
4,  1849 
4, 1851 
4, 1853 
4, 1855 
4.  1857 
4.1859 
4,  1861 
4, 1803 
4,1865 
4,  1867 
4,  1869 
4, 1871 
4, 1873 
4, 1875 

20,  1876 
4, 1877 
4, 1879 
4, 1881 
4,  1^83 

4,  1885 
4,  1887 
4,  1889 
4,  1891 


TaUe,  exlilbltluf;,   lay  Stiites,  the  Aggregate  Troopa  called   for  by  the    President,   and 
furnished  to  the  Union  Arm>-,  fk-oin  April  15th,  1861,  to  close  of  AVar  of  Rebellion^ 


States  and  Territories. 


Maine 

New  Hampshire  . .  . 

Vermont 

Massachusetts..  .  . 
Rhode  Island  .   .   .  . 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania  .  .  .  . 

Delaware 

Mar>'land 

West  Virginia  . ,  .  . 
District  of  Columbia 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wi-eonsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kentuckv  


Aggregate. 

Aggregate 
reduced  to 

Quota. 

Men  fur- 
nished. 

Paid  com- 
mutation. 

Total. 

a  3  ye^irs' 
standard. 

73,.587 

70,107 

2,007 

72,114 

66,776 

35,897 

33,937 

692 

34,029 

30,849 

32,074 

.^3,288 

1,074 

35,262 

29,008 

1.39,095 

140,730 

6,318 

152,048 

124,104 

18,898 

23,236 

403 

23,609 

17,866 

44,797 

65,864 

1,516 

67,379 

50,623 

607,148 

448,850 

18,197 

407,047 

392,270 

92,820 

76,814 

4,196 

81,010 

67,908 

885,309 

337,936 

28,171 

C06,107 

265,,5]7 

13,935 

12,284 

1,386 

13,670 

10,322 

70,966 

46,638 

3,678 

50,316 

41,275 

34,463 

32,068 

32.008 

27,714 

13,973 

16,534 

338 

16,872 

11, ,506 

806,322 

31.3,180 

6,479 

319,059 

240,514 

199,788 

196,363 

784 

197,147 

153,676 

244,490 

2.59,092 

55 

25't,147 

214,133 

05.007 

87,364 

2,008 

89,372 

80,111 

109,080 

91,327 

6,097 

96,424 

79,260 

26,326 

24,020 

1,0.32 

25,052 

10,093 

79,521 

76,242 

67 

76,309 

68,630 

122,496 

109  111 

109,111 

86,530 

100,782 

75,760 

3.265 

79,0'.>5 

70,838 

BOOK  V. 


AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


21 


TaM«  exhibiting  the  Aggregate  Troops  called  tor  by  the  Pretldent.— Cbn«7i»*l 


States  and  Territories. 


Kansas 

Tenne-isee 

Arkansas 

JS'orth  Carolina 

California.  ....... 

Nevada  

Oregon 

Washington 

Nebraska  Territory .  . 
Colorado  Territory  .  . 

Dakota 

New  Mexico  Territory. 
Alabama.  ........ 

Florida. 

Louisiana , 


Mississippi.  .  .  , 

Texas  

Indian  Nation  . 
Colored  Troops 


Total 2,763,670     I     2,772,408 


Aggregate. 


Quota. 


12,931 

1,560 

780 

1,500 


Men  fur- 
nished. 


20,149 

31,093 
8,289 
3,156 

15,725 

1,080 

1,810 

9G4 

3,167 

4,903 

206 

6,561 

2,576 

1,290 

6,224 

545 

1,965 

3.530 

9.3,441 


Paid  Com- 
mutation. 


Total. 


20,161 

31,092 
8,289 
3,156 

15,726 

1,080 

1,810 

964 

3,167 

4,903 

206 

6,561 

2,576 

1,290 

6,824 

545 

1,965 

3,630 

93,441 


86,724 


2,859,132 


Aggregate 
re<luced  to 
a  3  years' 
standard. 


18,706 

26,394 
7,83« 
3,156 

15,725 

1,080 

1,773 

964 

2.175 

8,«97 

206 

4,432 

1,611 

1,290 

4,634 

545 

1.6.32 

3,530 

91,789 


2,320,272 


*  Colored  Troops  organized  at  various  stations  in  the  States  in  rebellion,  embracing  all  not  specifically 
credited  to  States,  and  which  cannot  be  assigned.— Adjutant  General's  OrriCE,  Wathington,  November  9, 1880. 


STATEMENT    SHOWING    THE    EXPENDITURES, 

As  far  as  ascertained,  necessarily  growing  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  from  July  1,  1861,  to  Jum  30, 

1870,  inclusive. 


APPROPRIATION. 


Expenses  of  national  loans  and  currency 

Premiums 

Interest  on  public  debt 

Expenses  oi  collecting  revenue  from  customs 

Judgment  of  Court  of  Claims 

Payments  of  judgments  Court  of  Alabama  Claims 

Salaries  and  expenses  of  Southern  Claims  Commission 

Salaries  and  expenses  of  American  and   British  Claims 

Commission 

Award  to  British  claimants 

Tribunal  of  arbitration  at  Geneva 

Salaries  and  expenses  of  Alabama  Claims  Commission 

Salaries  and  contingent  expenses  of  Pension  Office 

Salaries  and  contingent  expenses  of  War  Department 

Salaries  and  contingent  expenses  of  Executive  Departm'nt 

(exclusive  of  Pension  office  and  War  Department) 

Expenses  of  assessing  and  collecting  internal  revenue 

Miscellaneous  accounts „ 

Subsistence  of  the  Army - 

Quartermaster's  Department 

Incidental  expenses  of  Quartermaster's  Department 

Transportation  of  the  Army 

Transportation  of  officers  and  their  baggaga 

Clothing  of  the  Army 

Purchase  of  horses  for  cavalry  and  artillery 

Barracks,  quarters,  etc 

Heating  and  cooking  stoves 

Pay,  mileage,  general  expenses,  etc.,  of  the  Army 

Pay  of  two  and  three  years'  volunteers 

Pay  of  three  months'  volunteers 

Pay,  etc.,  of  one  hundred  days' volunteers 

Pay  of  militia  and  volunteers - 

Ptiy,  etc..  to  officers  and  men  in  the  Department  of  the 

Missouri 

Pay  and  supplies  of  one  hundred  days'  volunteers 

Bounty  to  volunteers  and  regulars  on  enlistment..... 

Bounty  to  volunteers  and  their  widows  and  legal  heirs 

Additional  bounty  act  of  July  28, 1866 


I  Expenditure  I    Expenditure 
Expenditure.   «>ther  than  for'growing  out  of 
^  the  war.  the  war. 


$51,522,730  77 

59,738,167  73 

1,809,301,485  19 

99,090,808  31 

5,516,260  75 

9,315,7.53  19 

371,321  82 

295,878  54 

1,929,819  00 

244,815  40 

253,231  12 

7,095,968  05 

16,381,956  58 


33,944,017 

112,803,841 

2,r,&l,199 

420,041,037 

.357,518,966 

101,528,573 

407,463,324 

4,626,219 

356,651,466 

130,99<1,762 

49,872,609 

487,881 

184,473,721 

1,041,1(J2,702 

886,305 

14,386,778 

6,126,952 


844,160  65 

4,824,877  08 

38,622,016  20 

31,760,345  95 

69,998,786  71 


$45,04.5,286  74 

o7,151,i50  44 

551,626  07 


1,870,180  00 
2,712,693  79 

10,110,743  70 


456. 

38,623, 

58,ai7, 

16,185, 

70,669, 

1,601, 

11,107, 

4,318, 

18,801. 

39, 

106,388, 


,714  21 
,489  17 
,(H8  95 
,839  74 
,439  25 
,000  00 
,586  11 
,.339  61 
,822  89 
,\M  00 
,991  79 


$51,522,730  77 

59,738,167  73 

1,764,256,198  46 

42,539,2,57  87 

4,964,634  68 

9,315,753  19 

371,321  82 

295.878  54 

1,929,819  00 

244,816  40 

2.53,231  12 

5,225,78.S  05 

12,619,262  79 

23,833,271  97 

112,803,841  31 

2,207,485  61 

381,417,648  68 

299,481,917  63 

85,342,7*1  63 

336,793,885  56 

3,025,219  66 

34.5,543,880  20 

126,672.423  24 

31,070,846  69 

448,731  46 

78,084,7-29  47 

1,041,1(12,702  68 

886,306  41 

14,386,778  29 

6,126,962  65 

844,150  M 

4,824,877  68 

38,522,046  2(! 

31, 760,-346  M 

69,998,786  U 


22  TABULATED  HISTORY— WAR  EXPENDITURES,     book  v. 

STATEMENT  SHOWING  THE  EXPENDITITRES.— [Continued.] 


APPROPRIATION. 


Colleot'n  and  payment  of  bounty,  etc.,to  color'd  soldiers.etc 

Reimbursing  States  for  naoneys  expended  for  payment  of 
military  service  of  the  United  States.' 

Defraying  expenses  of'  minute-men  and  voluntoers  in 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Kentucky... 

Refunding  to  States"  expenses  incurred  on  account  of 
volunteers 

Reimbursements  to  Baltimore  for  aid  in  construction  of 
defensive  works  in  1863 

Payment  to  members  of  certain  military  organizations  in 
Kansas 

Expenses  of  recruiting 

Draft  and  subfititute  fund 

Medical  and  Hospital  Department 

Medical  and  Surgical  History  and  Statistics 

Medical  Museum  and  Library ..., 

Providing  for  comfort  of  i^ick,  wounded  and  discharged 
soldiers  

Freedmen's  Hospital  and  Asylum 

Artificial  limbs  and  appliances 

Ordnance  service 

Ordnance,  ordnance  stores  and  supplies 

Armament  of  fortificati  'Us 

National  armories,  arsenals,  Ac 

Purchase  of  arms  for  volunteers  and  regulars 

Traveling  expenses  First  Michigan  Cavalry  and  California 
and  Nevada  Volunteers . 

Payment  of  expenses  under  reconstruction  acts 

Secret  Service 

Books  of  tactics t. ~ 

Medals  of  Honor 

Support  of  National  Home  for  disabled  volunteer  soldiers 

Publication  of  official  records  of  war  of  the  rebellion.... 

Contingencies  of  the  Army  and  Adjutant  General's  Depart- 
ment  

Payments  under  special  acts  of  relief. 

Copying  official  reports 

Expanses  of  court  of  inquiry  in  1858  and  1869 

United  States  police  for  Baltimore 

Preparing  register  of  volunteers 

Army  pensions 

Telegraph  for  military  purposes 

Maintenance  of  gunboat  fleet  proper 

Keeping,  transporting,  and  supplying  prisoners  of  war 

Permanent  forts  and  fortifications;  surveys  for  military 
defenses  ;  contingencies  of  fortifications  ;  'platform  for 
cannon  of  large  calibre,  Ac,  from  1802  to  1868 

Construction  and  maintenance  of  steam  rams 

Signal  service 

Gunboats  on  the  Western  rivers 

Supplying,  tran-sportiniy,  and  delivering  arms  and  muni 
tions  of  war  to  loyal  citizens  in  States  in  rebellion  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States , 

Collecting,  organizing,  and  drilling  volunteers 

Bridge-trains  and  equipage , 

Tool  and  siege  trains 

Completing  the  defennes  of  Washington 

Commutation  of  rations  to  prisoners  of  war  in  rebel  States 

National  cemeteries , 

Purcha.se  of  Ford's  Theatre 

Temporary  relief  to  destitute  people  in  District  of  Colum- 


bU. 


Headstones,  erection  of  headstones,  pay  of  superintend- 
ents, and  removing  the  renwins  of  officers  to  national 
cemeteries 

Sta'e  of  Tennessee  for  keeping  and  maintaining  United 
States  military  prisoners 

Capture  of  Jetf.  Davis 

Removing  wreck  of  gunboat  Oregon  in  Chefunct  River, 
Louisiana ~. 

Support  of  Bureau  of  Refugees  and  Freedmen 

Claims  for  quartermaster's  stores  and  oommissarj'  supplies 

Miscellaneous  claims  audited  by  Third  AuHitor 

Claims  of  loyal  citizens  for  supplies  furnished  daring  the 
rebellion 

Payment  for  use  of  Corcoran  Ar^Jallery 

ELcpenses  of  sales  of  stores  and  material .^ 

Transportation  of  insane  volunteer  soldiers ~ 

Horses  and  other  property  lost  in  military  service 

Purchase  of  cemetery  grounds  near  Columbus,  Ohio 

Fortifications  on  the  Northern  Frontier — .,„ 

Pay  of  the  Navv 

Provisions  of  tne  Navy « 

Clothing  of  the  Navy ~ 

CoQf  truction  and  repair ». 


Gross 
Expenditure. 


1268,158  11 

9,635,512  85 

697,178  30 

31,297,242  60 

96,152  00 

296,097  28 

2,568,639  91 

9,713,873  13 

46,954,146  83 

196,048  32 

66,000  00 

2,2.32,785  12 

123,487  49 

509,28;^  21 

6,114,533  38 

69,798,079  70 

12,3;JC,710  88 

29,730,717  63 

76,378,935  13 

84.131  50 
3,128,905  94 
681,687  42 
172,568  15 
29,890  00 
8546,184  76 
170,998  98 

3,291,835  14 

1,088,406  83 

5,000  00 

6,000  00 

100,000  00 

1,016  46 

437,744,192  80 

2,500,085  80 

5,244,684  32 

7,669,411  60 

20,887,756  96 

1,370,730  42 

222,269  79 

8,239,314  18 


1,649,5G6  57 

29,091,066  57 

1,413,701  75 

702,260  00 

912,283  01 

320.a36  62 

4,162,848  39 

88,000  00 


67,000  00 


1,080,186  64 

22,749  49 
97,031  62 

6,500  00 

11,464,237  .30 

850,220  91 

94,223  11 

4,170,304  64 

125,000  00 

6,842  43 

1,000  00 

4,281,724  91 

500  00 

683,748  12 

144,.549,073  96 

32,771,931  16 

2,709,491  98 

170,007,781  26 


Expenditure 

other  than  for 

the  war. 


1,270,673  56 


1,845,376  47 


1,561,001  67 
3,834,146  87 
2,118,238  79 
$6,127,228  21 


565,136  39 


30.315,000  00 


7,483,766  87 


78,472  23 


47,112  11 


70,086,769  62 

lr,,4a3,307  34 

1,114,701  00 

.35,829,684  80 


Expenditure 

growing  out  of 

the  war. 


f  268,158  11 

9,6.35,512  85 

697,178  30 

31.297,242  60 

96,162  00 

296  097  2« 

1,207,966  35 

9,713,873  13 

45,108,770  36 

196,048  32 

66,000  00 

2,232,786  12 
12:5,487  49 
609,283  21 
4,.553„531  71 
65,9.3.3,932  83 
10,218.472  09 
23.003,489  32 
76,378,935  13 

84,131  .50 

3,128,905  9t 

681,587  42 

172,.568  15 

29,890  0 ) 

8,646,184  76 

170,998  98 

2,720,698  76 

1,088,406  83 

5,000  00 

5,000  00 

100,00  I  00 

1,015  45 

407,429,192  80 

2,600,' >85  80 

6,244,684  32 

7,669,411  60 


13;403,991  09 

1,370,730  42 

14.3,797  56 

3,239,314  18 


1,649,596  57 

29,0:n,660  57 

1,413.701  75 

702,2.50  00 

912,283  01 

3-20,636  62 

4,162,818  39 

88,000  00 

57,000  00 


1,080,185  64 

22,749  49 
97,031  02 

.^.WO  00 

11,464,2.37  .30 

85'>,22n  91 

47,111  00 

4,170,304  54 

12.5,000  00 

6,842  43 

1.000  no 

4,281,724  91 

.500  00 

68,3,748  12 

74,462,304  .34 

16,368,023  82 

1,694,790  98 

134,178,096  6S 


Booir.  AMERICAN  POLITICS.  28 

RTATEMEKT  SHOAVING  THE  EXPEKmTURES.-tContinoeA] 


APPROPRIATION. 


Equipment  of  vessels 

Ordnance ...».., 

Burgeons'  necessaries 

Yards  and  docks „ 

Fuel  for  the  Navy » 

Hemp  for  the  Nayy » 

Steam  machinery 

Navigation 

Naval  hospitals 

Magazines 

Marine  corps,  pay,  clothing,  Ac 

Naval  Academy 

Naval  Asylum,  Philadelphia 

Temporary  increase  of  the  Navy 

Miscellaneous  appropriations „ 

Naval  pensions 

Bounties  to  seamen , 

Bounty  for  destruction  of  enemy's  vessels., 
Indemnity  for  lost  clothing 


Total  expenditures S6,844,571,431  03   €654,641,522  45  $6,189,929,908  58 


GroBs 
Expenditure. 


$25,174,614 

38,063,357 

2,178,769 

33,638,156 

19,952,754 

2,836,916 

49,297,318 

2,626,247 

875,462 

753,822 

16,726,906 

2,640,440 

6.52,049 

8,123,766 

2,614,044 

7,540,043 

2,821,530 

271,309 

389,025 


Expenditure 

other  than  for 

the  war. 


$6,641,263  30 

241  ,(r^  68 

3,337,854  62 

8,612,521  68 

1,938,664  42 


376,789  40 

349,290  48 

8,969,290  82 

778,308  86 

65,394  00 


950,000  00 


Expenditure 

growing  out  of 

the  war. 


125,174,614  6S 

31,422,094  87 

1,937,744  08 

30,300,302  07 

ll>t0.232  68 

898,252  Z7 

49,297,318  67 

2,626,247  00 

499,662  04 

404,631  65 

7,767,616  18 

1,862,132  01 

686,666  89 

8,123,766  21 

2,614,044  77 

6,690,043  00 

2,821.630  10 

271,309  28 

389,026  33 


NoTX.— Only  the  appropriations  from  which  war  expenditures  were  made  are  included  in  the  abore. 


NATlONAIi  DEBTS,  EXPENDITDRE  AND  COMMERCE,  PER  CAPITA. 


Country. 


Argentine  Republic 

Austria-Hungary 

Austria  proper 

Hungary  proper 

Belgium ~ 

Bolivia 

Brazil 

Canada ~ 

Chili 

Colombia 

Denmark 

Ecuador 

Egypt ~ 

France 

Oerman-Empire 

Prussia. 

Great  Brittain  and  Ireland- 
Greece  

India,  British 

Italy 

Mexico 

Netherlands  « 

Norway 

Paraguay 

Peru 

Portugal 

Ronmaaia 

Russia. 

Servia ^ 

Spain  

Sweden. 

Switserland 

Turkey 

United  States 

Uruguay 

y<»De»uela 


Debt  per 
head. 


$39.07 

5.73 
65.26 
17.68 
48.08 
10.04 
3643 
31.16 
24.49 

6.22 

27.19 

20.20 

85.82 

127  23 

.70 

10.56 

114.62 

27.50 

3.01 
71.94 
42.63 
101.21 

7.48 
64.72 
79.82 
96.84 
11.82 
26.83 

3.61 
142,71 

886 

2.26 
31.70 
62.60 
9800 
86.11 


Annual 

expenditure 

per  head. 


$12.04 
1.63 
9.29 
7.53 

10.13 
2.58 
6  70 
669 

10  60 

.94 

6.83 

24.36 

10.42 

14.07 
3.15 
6.33 

12.35 
5.35 
142 

10.12 
2.68 

1137 
5.91 
3.39 

12.62 
6.70 
3.85 
4.83 
1.43 
7.83 
4.93 
3.08 
4.38 
6.11 

15.28 
2.04 


Annual 
imports 
per  head. 


$20.31 
7.19 


63.41 
3.30 
871 
25.87 
18.21 
2.36 
26.31 
8.77 
5.52 
24.17 
21.64 


59.11 

16.49 

.93 

9.67 

3.13 

71.27 

28.77 

265 

3.19 
4.22 
4.68 
3.96 
19.39 


12.64 

40.26 

6.73 


Annual 
exports 
per  head. 


$25.66 
6.70 


46.06 

2.08 

10.31 

24.94 

17.96 

3.38 

17.96 

4.51 

12.94 

26.06 

14.21 

40.59 

10.30 

1.48 

8.86 

3.41 

67.70 

18.7T 

2.74 

14.09 

6.9T 

6.60 

8.23 

4.06 

448 

14.11 

*"i'.89 
16.40 
38.09 
9.62 


24  TABULATED  HISTO  RY— PRICES  OF   GOLD  book  v. 

STATEMENT 

Average  Values  of  Oold  in  United  States  Paper  CStrreney  in  the  New  York  Market  from  the  S'm»- 

pension  to  the  Resumption  of  Specie  Payments,  during  the  period  of  Seventeen  Years, 

from  1862  to  1878,  both  inclusive — Prepared  for  the  U.  S. 

Treasury  Department  by  E.  B.  Elliott. 


Currency  Value  of  Gold. 


Table  showing  the  Average  Value  in  Currency  of  One  Hundred  Dollars  in  Gold  in  the  New  York 
'     Market,  by  Months,  Quarter-years,  Half-years,  Calendar  Years,  and  Fiscal  Years, 
from  January  1,  1862,  ^o  December  31,  1878,  both  inclusive. 


PEBIODe. 

1862. 

1863. 

18G4. 

f 
1865. 

1866. 

1867. 

1868. 

1869. 

102.5 
103.6 
101.8 
101.5 
103.3 
106.5 
115.5 
114.5 
118.5 
128-6 
131.1 
132.3 

102.6 
103.8 
116.2 
130.6 

103  2 
123.4 

113,3 

145.1 

160.5 

154.5 

151.5 

148.9 

144.5 

130.6 

125.8 

134.2 

147.7 

148. 

151.1 

153.4 
148.3 
130.2 
148.9 

150.8 
139.6 

145.2 
137.1 

155.5 
158.6 
162.9 
172.7 
176.3 
210.7 
2.58.1 
254.1 
2-22.5 
207.2 
2.S3.5 
227.5 

169. 
186.6 
!^44.9 
222.7 

172.8 
233.8 

203.3 
156.2 

216.2 

205.5 

173.8 

148.5 

13,1.6 

140.1 

142.1 

143.5 

143.9 

145.5 

147. 

146.2 

198.5 
141.4 
143.2 
146.2 

109.9 
144.7 

157.3 
201.9 

140.1 
138.4 
130.5 
127.3 
131.8 
148.7 
15.1.6 
148.7 
145.5 
148.3 
14.S.8 
136.7 

13C.3 
135.9 
148.6 
142.9 

136.1 
145.8 

140.9 
140.4 

134.6 

137.4 

135. 

135.6 

137. 

137.5 

1.39.4 

109.8 

143.4 

143.5 

1396 

134.8 

1.35.7 
136.7 
141.2 
139.3 

136.2 
140.3 

138.2 
141. 

138.5 
141.4 
139.5 
138.7 
139.6 
140.1 
142.7 
14.5.5 
143  6 
1.37.1 
134.4 
135.2 

139.8 
1.39.5 
1439 
136.6 

139.6 
139.8 

139.7 
139.9 

135  6 

134.4 

131  3 

April 

May 

132.9 
139.2 

138  1 

July 

136.1 

134.2 

136  8 

130  2 

126  8 

December 

121  5 

133  8 

Second  quarter-year 

Third  quarter-year 

Fourth  quarter-year 

First  half-year 

136.7 
135.7 
126. 

1353 

Second  half-year 

Calendar  year 

First  year  ended  June  30  .  .  . 

130.8 

133. 
137.5 

January  

February  

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

NoTember 

December 

First  auarter-year  . .  . 
Second  quarter-year . . 
Third  quarter-year  .  . 
Fourth  quarter-year . . 


First  half-year .... 
Second  half-year  .  . 

Calendar  year  .  .  . 
Fiscal  year>eDded  Junn  30 


1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

1873. 

1874. 

1875. 

1876. 

1877. 

121.3 

110.7 

109.1 

112.7 

111.4 

112.5 

112.8 

106.3 

119.5 

111.5 

110.3 

114.1 

112.3 

1145 

113.4 

105.4 

112.6 

111. 

110.1 

115.5 

112.1 

116.5 

114.3 

104.8 

113.1 

110.6 

111.1 

117.8 

113.4 

114.8 

113. 

106.2 

114.7 

111.5 

113.7 

117.7 

112.4 

11.5.8 

112.6 

106.9 

112.9 

112.4 

113.9 

116.5 

111.3 

117. 

112.5 

105.4 

116.8 

112.4 

114.3 

115.7 

110. 

114.8 

1119 

105.4 

117.9 

112.4 

114.4 

115.4 

109.7 

11.3.5 

111.2 

105. 

114.8 

114.5 

113.5 

112.7 

109.7 

115.8 

110. 

103.3 

112.8 

113.2 

113.2 

108.9 

110. 

116.4 

100.7 

102.8 

111.4 

111.2 

112.9 

108.6 

110.9 

114.7 

109.1 

102.8 

110.7 

11-9.3 

112.2 

110. 

111.7 

113.9 

109.8 

102.8 

117.8 

111.1 

109.8 

114.1 

111.9 

114.2 

113.5 

105.5 

113.6 

111.5 

11-2.9 

117.3 

112.4 

115.9 

112.7 

106.2 

116.6 

11.3.1 

114.1 

114.6 

109.8 

114.7 

111. 

104.6 

111.6 

111.2 

112.8 

109.2 

110.9 

115. 

108.9 

102.8 

115.7 

111.3 

111.4 

116.7 

112.2 

115.1 

113.1 

105.9 

114. 

121.1 

113.4 

111.9 

110.3 

114.8 

109.9 

103.7 

114.9 

1117 

112.4 

113.8 

111.2 

114.9 

111.5 

104.8 

123.3 

112.7 

111.8 

114.6 

112. 

112.7 

113.9 

107.9 

1878. 


102.1 

102. 

101.2 

100.6 

100.7 

100.8 

100.5 

100.6 

100.4 

100.6 

100.2 

100.1 

101.7 
100.7 
101.5 
101.3 

101.3 
100.4 

100.8 
102J 


BOOK  V. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  POLITICS. 


25 


CHROISrOLOGIOAL  POLITICS. 


1765. — March  8. — Parliament  passes  the 
Stamp  Act.  Oct.  7. — Colonial  Congress  met  at 
New  York. 

1766. — Stamp  Act  repealed,  Mar.  18. 

1767.— June  29.— Bill  passed  taxing  tea, 
glass,  paper,  etc.,  in  the  American  colonies. 

1768. — Masachusetts  assembly  petition  the 
King  against  the  late  tax. 

1773. — The  inhabitants  of  Boston  throw 
342  chests  of  the  taxed  tea  into  the  sea. 

1774.— Mar.  31.— The  Boston  Port  Bill 
passed  by  Parliament.  Sept.  5. — The  first 
Continental  Congress  meets  at  Philadelphia. 

1775. — April  19. — The  war  for  American 
Independence  commences  with  the  Battle  of 
Lexington. 

1776. — July  4. — America  is  declared  "  Free, 
sovereign,  and  independent" — a  declaration 
which  is  signed  by  the  following  States  :  New' 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Georgia. 

1777. — Dec.  16. — France  acknowledges  the 
independence  of  the  United  States. 

1778. — Feb.  6. — Treaties  of  Amity  and 
Commerce  adopted  between  the  United  States 
and  France. 

1781. — Feb. — Articles  of  Confederation  rati- 
fied by  the  States. 

1782. — Oct.  8.— Independence  of  United 
States  acknowledged  by  Holland.  Nov.  3. — 
Temporary  Treaty  of  Peace  signed  at  Paris. 

1783.  —Sept.  3.— Treaty  of  Peace  signed  at 
Paris.  Nov.  3. — American  army  disbanded. 
Nov,  25. — New  York  evacuated  by  the  British. 
Dec.  19. — Charleston  evacuated  by  British. 
Dec.  23. — Washington  assigns  his  commission 
to  Congress. 

1785. — June  1. — John  Adams,  first  minister 
from  U.  S.  to  London. 

1786. — Nov. — Shay's  insurrection  broke  out 
in  Massachusetts. 

1787.— Sept.  17— Constitution  of  the  United 
States  adopted  by  all  the  States,  except  Rhode 
Island. 

1788. — Cotton  Planted  in  Georgia. 

1789. — First  Congress.  Ten  Amendments 
to  the  Constitution  passed.  Departments  of 
Government  organized.  Washington  appoints 
a  National  Thanksgiving.  April  14. — George 
Washington  declared  the  first  President  of  the 
United  States.  Ratio  of  R^resentatives,  30,- 
000 ;  Members  of  Congress  05. 

1789. — Many  Treaties  with  the  Indians. 
Hamilton  recommends  the  first  Tariff;  passed 
and  approved. 

1790. — The  territory  south  of  the  Ohio 
river  ceded  to  the  United  States.  Naturaliza- 
tion Law  passed.  Treason  defined  and  penalty 
determined.  First  Census,  3,929,326.  System 
of  Finance  adopted ;  Government  assumes 
State  Debts;  Public  Debt  funded;  Seat  of 
government  removed  from  New  York  to  Phila- 
delphia. 


1791.— First  United  States  bank  established 
at  Philadelphia;  Capital,  $10,000,000.  First 
Tax  on  Distilled  Spirits. 

1792.— U.  S.  Mint  established.  Appor- 
tionment  Bill  passed,  fixing  ratio  of  Repre- 
sentation at,  33,000;  103  members  in  Con- 
gress. Uniform  system  of  Militia  established. 
Post  OflUce  department  organized  anew. 

1793. — ^^l8hington  again  inaugurated  Pre- 
sident. Neutrality  declared  in  regard  to  France. 
First  Fugitive  Slave  Law  passed.  French 
Minister  Gernet  recalled  by  request  of  Gov- 
ernment ;  returns  to  organize  Democratic  or 
Jacobin  Societies. 

1794.— Commercial  Treaty  concluded  with 
Great  Britain.  The  Wl.>iskey  Insurrection  in 
Pennsylvania.  Regulation  of  Slave  Trade  by 
law.  A  sixty  days  Embargo  as  a  retaliation 
on  British  "Order  in  Council." 

1795. — Second  Naturalization  Law  passed. 
Jay's  Commercial  Treaty  with  Great  Britain. 
Treaty  of  Madrid.  Disagreement  of  the 
United  States  with  Algeria. 

1796. — Washington's  Farewell  Address. 
Contest  between  the  Presidept  and  House  over 
the  British  Treaty.  John  Adams  elected  Pre- 
sident. 

1797. — Congress  declares  the  treaties  with 
France  annulled.  Privateering  against  friendly 
nations  forbidden. 

1798. — Congress  passes  an  Act  for  raising 
a  regular  army.  Washington  appointed  Lieu- 
tenant-General  and  Commander-in-Chief.  Con- 
gress authorizes  Naval  Warfare  with  France ; 
Commercial  Intercourse  with  France  sus- 
pended ;  Navy  Department  organized. 

1799. — Congress  votes  to  raise  an  army  of 
40,000  men.  American  Navy  consista  of  42 
vessels  with  950  guns.  Pennsylvania  seat  of 
government  removed  to  Lancaster.  Washing- 
ton dies  at  Mount  Vernon,  Va. 

1800. — Treaty  of  Peace  with  France.  Gen- 
eral Law  of  Bankruptcy  approved.  Second  offi- 
cial census — population  5,308,483.  Removal 
of  the  Capitol  from  Philadelphia  to  Washington. 
Election  of  Thomas  Jefferson  President. 

1801. — War  against  Tripoli  declared.  The 
Republican  party  under  Thomas  Jefi"erson, 
comes  into  power  with  Jefferson  President. 

1802. — Louisiana  ceded  to  France  by  Spain. 
Naturalization  Laws  made  more  liberal.  Re- 
presentatives, 141. 

1803. — Louisiana  purchased  of  France  for 
$16,000,000.  Congress  gives  the  President  ex- 
traordinary authority  to  maintain  Free  Naviga- 
tion of  the  Mississippi.  A  brief  war  with  the 
the  Barbary  States. 

1804. — Re-election  of  Jefferson  as  a  Repub- 
lican.   Treaty  of  Peace  concluded  with  Tripoli. 

1805.— Troubles  witli  Great  Britain  begin. 

1806. — Congress  provides  the  importation 
of  certain  goods.  Disputes  with  England  and 
France  respecting  Neutral  Rights.  Kngland 
plainly  claims  the  right  to  search  American  ves- 
sels for  deserting  seamen ;  Jeflferson  disputes  it. 


26 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  v. 


1807. — Congress  laya  an  embargo.  United 
States  Coast  Survey  authorized.  Conspiracy  of 
Aaron  Burr  to  divide  the  Union.  English 
ships  of  war  ordered  to  leave  American  waters. 
The  first  boat  goes  by  steam. 

1808.— The  Slave  Trade  abolished  by  act  of 
Congress.  Madison  elected  President  as  a  Re- 
publican. 

1809. — Proclamation  forbidding  all  inter- 
course with  Great  Britain  and  France.  Em- 
bargo repealed.     Madison  inaugurated. 

1810. — Third  official  census. 

1811.— Population  of  United  States  7,239,- 
903.  Ratio  of  Representation  fix^  at  $35,000. 
Continued  troubles  with  EnglanoT  War  with 
Tecumseh. 

1812. — Congress  lays  an  embargo  on  Ameri- 
can shipping.  General  Land  Office  established. 
More  than  6,000  cases  of  impressment  recorded. 
AVar  declared  on  the  18th  of  June  against  Great 
Britain.  Madison  re-elected  President,  as  a 
Republican. 

1813. — Congress  authorizes  an  issue  of 
55,000,000  and  a  loan  of  $16,000,000.  Entire 
American  coast  blockaded  by  British  ships. 
Several  battles  on  land  and  sea. 

I814. — Treaty  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  England  signed  at  Ghent.  A  loan 
of  $25,000,000  authorized. 

1815.— A  loan  of  18,400,000  and  an  issue 
of  $25,000,000  authorized.  Government  rati- 
fies Treaty  of  Ghent,  and  President  proclaims 
peace  18th  Feb.  Government  eeases  to  pay 
tribute  to  Algiers.  Battle  of  New  Orleans. 
Peace  followed,  though  treaty  of  peace  pre- 
ceded the  battle. 

1816. — First  high  Protective  Tariff  enacted. 
Second  United  States  Bank  chartered  for 
twenty  years ;  CapiUl,  $35,000,000.  Monroe 
elected  President  as  Republican  or  Democrat. 

1817. — Internal  Taxes  abolished.  DeWitt 
Clinton  causes  the  Erie  canal  to  be  commenced. 
The  Era  of  Peace.  United  States  Bank  opened 
at  Philadelphia.  Commencement  of  the  Semi- 
nole  war. 

1818. — Pension  Law  enacted.  National 
Flag  re-arranged,  so  that  the  Stripes  represent 
the  Original  Thirteen  Colonies  and  the  Stars 
the  present  number  of  States.  Treaty  of  Com- 
merce and  Boundary  with  England.  Seminole 
war  in  Florida  and  Georgia. 

1819. — Congress  ratifies  the  Treaty  for  the 
Cession  of  Florida.  Beginning  of  the  discus- 
sion between  the  North  and  South  in  regard  to 
the  Slavery  Question.  The  "Savannah" — 
the  first  steamer  from  New  York  to  Liverpool. 

1820. — Missouri  Compromise  passed.  Navi- 
gation Act  restricting  importation  to  United 
States  Tessels.  Country  agitated  over  the 
Slavery  question.  Fourth  official  census,  9,- 
633,822. 

1822. — Florida  made  a  territory.  Ratio  of 
Representation  fixed  at  40,000;  Members,  213. 
Commercial  treaty  with  France.  Federal 
party  disbands.  Clintonian  Democratic  party 
organized  in  New  York. 

1823. — Independence  of  South  American 
Republics  acknowledged.  Treaty  with  Great 
Britain  for  mutual  suppression  of  the  Slave 
Traffic.  The  "Monroe  Doctrine"  advanced. 
Pftrty  politics  quiet. 


1824. — John  Quincy  Adams,  Whig,  elected 
by  the  House.     Second  high  Protective  Tariff. 

1825. — Panama  Mission  discussed.  John 
Quincy  Adams  inaugurated. 

1826. — Extensive  Internal  Improvements 
under  the  leadership  of  Clay.  The  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  American  Independence. 
Death  of  Adams  and  Jefferson.  Webster  de- 
livers his  celebrated  eulogy  on  them. 

1827. — Experimenting  on  the  construction 
of  a  railroad. 

1828. — Tariff  amended  and  Duties  in- 
creased.    Jackson  elected  President. 

1829. — Webster's  great  speech  against  Nul- 
lification. Treaty  of  Amity  and  Commerce 
with  Brazil.  Jackson  inaugurated.  "  To  the 
victor  belongs  the  spoils." 

1830. — Treaty  with  Turkey,  securing  for 
the  United  States  freedom  of  the  Black  Sea. 
Treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Ottoman 
Porte.  Fifth  official  census :  population  12,- 
866,020. 

1831. — Building  railroads  actively. 

1832. — Treaty  of  Commerce  with  Russia. 
Treaty  of  Commerce  and  Boundary  with 
Mexico.  Bill  for  re-chartering  United  States 
Bank  vetoed  by  President  Jackson.  His 
proclamation  against  Nullifiers.  Resigna- 
tion of  John  C.  Calhoun.  Black  Hawk 
War  commences.  South  Carolina  declares  the 
doctrine  of  nullification.  Representatives 
240. 

1833. — Andrew  Jackson  commences  his 
second  administration.  Gen.  Santa  Anna 
elected  President  of  Mexico.  Public  deposits 
removed  from  the  United  States  Bank  by 
the  President,  and  distributed  among  certain 
State  banks.  Secretary  of  Treasury,  W.  P. 
Duane,  refusing  to  carry  out  the  policy,  is 
removed.  Lucifer,  or  Locofoco  matches  in- 
troduced, and  the  Democrats  called  "  Loco- 
focos." 

1834- — President  Jackson  censured  by  Con- 
gress for  removing  Government  deposits. — 
France  and  Portugal,  slow  in  paying  for  in- 
juries done  United  States  commerce,  are 
brought  to  terms  by  the  President. 

1835. — War  with  Seminoles. 

1836. — Office  of  Commissioner  of  Patents 
created.  Treaty  of  Friendship  and  Commerc* 
with  Venezuela.  Charter  for  United  States 
Bank  expires.  Not  renewed.  Financial  trouble 
brewing.  Martin  VanBuren,  Democrat,  elected 
President. 

1837. — The  Independence  of  Texas  acknow- 
ledged. Issue  of  $10,000,000  Treasury  notes 
authorized.  President  refuses  to  remit  the 
regulation  regarding  the  "  Specie  Circular." 
Financial  panic  follows,  banks  suspend  Specie 
Payments  in  March,  and  resume  in  July.  Van- 
Buren inaugurated. 

1838. — National  debt  paid — surplus  reve- 
nue divided  among  the  States.  President  en- 
joins neutrality  during  Canadian  Rebellion. 

1839. — United  States  Bank  suspends  pay- 
ment. Disturbances  on  the  North-eastern 
boundaries  of  Maine. 

1840. — Sub-Treasury  bill  passed.  Sixth 
official  census  ;  population  17,069,453.  Gen'I 
Harrison,  Whig,  elected  President.  "Tipp»« 
canoe  and  Tyler  too  "  campaign. 


BOOK  V. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   POLITICS. 


'St 


1841. — Congress  meets  in  extra  session. 
Imprisonment  for  debts  due  the  United  States 
abolished.  Central  Bankrupt  Law  passed.  A 
loan  of  $12,000,000  authorized.  Sub-Treasury 
Act  repealed.  Revenues  received  from  public 
lands  ordered  to  be  distributed  among  the 
States.  Two  bills  for  re-chartering  the  United 
States  Bank  vetoed.  All  members  of  the  Cabi- 
net, except  Mr.  Webster,  resign.  Failure  of 
United  States  Bank  under  Pennsylvania  char- 
ter.    Harrison  dies  ;  Tyler  succeeds  him. 

1842. — The  Dover  Insurrection  in  Rhode 
Island.  The  Seminole  war  terminated.  Treaty 
with  England  settling  North-Eastern  boundary 
question.  Senate  ratifies  the  Ashburton- 
Webster  Treaty.  Ratio  of  representation 
fixed  at  70,680 ;  Representatives  223.  United 
States  fiscal  year  ordered  to  begin  with 
July  1st. 

1843. — $30,000  appropriated  tor  the  con- 
•itruction  of  Morse's  Electric  Telegraph  be- 
tween Washington  and  Baltimore. 

1844. — First  message  by  the  electric  tele- 
graph. James  K.  Polk,  Democrat,  elected 
President. 

1845. — Anti-rent  riots  in  New  York,  The 
first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  Novem- 
ber on  which  to  hold  Presidential  elections. 
Treaty  made  with  China.  Speech  of  Mr.  Cass 
on  North-AVestern  boundary  of  Oregon.  An- 
nexation of  Texas,  and  war  with  Mexico. 

1846. — Hostilities  commence  with  Mexico. 
New  Mexico  annexed  to  the  United  States, 
10,000,000  voted ;  and  50,000  men  called  out, 
to  carry  on  the  war.  The  Wilmot  Proviso, 
Tariff  on  Imports  reduced.  Treaty  settling 
Northwestern  boundary.  Congress  declared 
the  war  "  existed  by  act  of  Mexico." 

1847. — The  city  of  Mexico  taken  by  Ameri- 
cans under  General  Scott.  War  rages  with 
Mexico. 

1848. — Congress  ratifies  Treaty  of  Guada- 
loupe  Hidalgo.  Postal  Treaty  with  England 
negotiated ;  concluded  in  1849.  Peace  with 
Mexico  declared,  July  4th.  Zachary  Taylor, 
Whig,  elected  President  Upper  California 
ceded  to  United  States.  First  deposit  of  Cali- 
fornia gold  in  the  mint, 

1849. — The  French  Embassador  dismissed 
from  Washington.  Taylor  inaugurated,  dies ; 
Fillmore  succeeds  him. 

1850.— The  Fugitive  Slave  Act  passed. 
Texas  boundary  settled  by  payment  of  $10, 
000,000  to  Texas.  New  Mexico  and  Utah  ad- 
mitted as  territories.  Slave  trade  abolished 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Webster's  great 
speech  on  the  Union  delivered  in  reply  to 
Hayne.  Treaty  of  Amity  and  Commerce  with 
Switzerland.  Treaty  with  England  securing 
a  transit  over  Panama.  Seventh  census ;  popu- 
lation 23,191,876. 

1851. — Southern  Rights  Convention  at  South 
Carolina.  A  Cheap  Postage  Law  enacted. 
Kossuth  visits  United  States. 

1862. — Ratio  of  Representation  fixed  at 
93,423  ;  members,  237.  Dispute  with  England 
in  regard  to  fisheries.  Henry  Clay  and  Daniel 
Webster  died  this  year.  Franklin  Pierce, 
Democrat,  elected  President. 

1853. — Pierce  inaugurated.  A  partisan  in- 
•ngural  address. 


I      1854.— Congrca3  passes  the  Kansas  Nebraska 

!  bill.     United  States  Neutral  on  the  Eastern 

j  Question. 

I      1854. — Treaty  of  Reciprocity  with  England. 

I  Commercial    Treaty    with    Japan    concluded 

I  through  Commodore  Perry.     American  party 

j  formed. 

I      1855.-— The   Court   of   Gaims  established. 

I  Election  troubles  in  Kansas.  U.  S.  steamer 
"Waterwitch"  fired  on,  on  the  Paraguay. 
Passmore    Williamson     released    from    three 

'  months  imprisonment  in  the  Wheeler  Slave 
Case. 

1856. — Quebec  made  the  seat  of  Canadian 
government,  P.  W.  Geary  confirmed  as  Gov- 
ernor of  Kansas.  Extra  session  of  Congress 
adjourns.  133  ballots  required  to  elect  Na- 
thaniel P.  Banks  Speaker  of  the  House.  Mr, 
Brooks  of  S.  C,  assaults  Senator  Summer  in 
the  Senate  Chamber.  British  envoy  ordered 
to  leave  Washington.  Great  excitement  in 
Congress  on  the  Slavery  question  and  over  the 
admission  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Repub- 
lican party  formed.  James  Buchanan,  Demo- 
crat, elected  President. 

1857. — A  great  Financial  Panie;  5,128 
Commercial  Failures.  Buchanan  inaugurated ; 
pays  8  and  10  per  cent,  for  loans.  The  Dred 
Scott  Decision  delivered  by  Chief  Justice 
Taney.  R.  J.  Walker  appointed  Governor  of 
Kansas. 

1858. — Congress  passes  the  English  Kan- 
sas Bill  but  State  refuses  to  accept.  Treaty 
of  amity  with  China. 

1858. — First  Atlantic  Cable  laid ;  second  in 
1866.  U.  S.  Army  defeats  the  Mormons  in 
Utah.  Minnesota  State  Government  organized. 
Nicaragua  seeks  the  protection  of  the  United 
States. 

1859. — John  Brown's  raid  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  Va.,  his  capture  and  execution. 

1860. — Ratio  of  Representation  fixed  at 
127,000.  Crittenden  Compromise  introduced 
and  defeated.  Prince  of  Wales  visits  tlie  United 
States.  Senators  and  Federal  Officers  from 
the  South  favoring  disunion,  resign.  Presi- 
dent Buchanan  denies  the  right  of  a  State  to 
secede,  and  declines  to  receive  the  South 
Carolina  Commission.  Eighth  census  ;  popula- 
tion 31,443,821.  Abraham  Lincoln,  Republi- 
can, elected  President.  The  "  Palmetto  Flag" 
hoisted  in  Charleston  harbor.  Georgia  ap- 
propriates $1 ,000,000  to  another  state.  M^. 
Anderson  takes  posession  of  Fort  Sumter. 

1861. — Congress  meets  in  Special  Session. 
The  President  calls  the  volunteers  and  $400,- 
000,000  to  put  down  the  Rebellion.  Jacob 
Thompson,  Secretary  of  Interior,  resigns. 
Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Lou- 
isiana, and  Texas  passed  secession  ordinances. 
John  A.  Dix  appointed  Secretary  of  Treasury, 
vice  Thomas,  resigned.  Jeff  Davis  resigns  bis 
seat  in  the  U.  S.  Senate. 

Southern  Confederacy  formed  at  Mont- 
gomery, Ala.  Peace  Congress  meets  at  Wash- 
ington. Jeff  Davis  elected  President  of  South- 
ern Confederacy.  Gen.  Twiggs  expelled  from 
the  army  for  treason.  Peace  Congress  ad- 
journed after  a  stormy  session— accomplished 
nothing.  Beauregard  takes  command  at 
Charleston,  S  C. ;  and  stops  intercourse  b*» 


28 


AMERICAN  POLITICS. 


[book  v. 


tween  Fort  Sumter  and  Charleston,  President 
Lincoln  calls  for  75,000  volunteers,  Jeff  Davis 
offers  letters  of  marque  to  privateers.  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  declares  the  Southern  ports  in  a 
state  of  blockade.  Virginia  proclaimed  a 
member  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  Mc- 
Clellan  placed  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  Ohio.  Arkansas  secedes.  England  acknow- 
ledges the  insurgent  States  as  belligerents. 
North  Carolina  secedes ;  Kentucky  declares 
neutrality.  Tennessee  secedes.  Federal  troops 
cross  the  Potomac.  All  postal  services  in  the 
seceded  States  suspended.  Gen.  McClellan 
assumes  command  in  West  Virginia.  The 
Wheeling  Government,  Virginia,  acknowledged 
by  the  President.  July  4,  Congress  meets  in 
extra  session.  Fremont  appointed  to  com- 
mand of  Western  Department.  Nine  South- 
*    em  members  expelled  from  U,  S,  Senate. 

Confiscation  bill  passed.  Congress  adjourns. 
President  suspends  all  commerce  with  seceded 
States.  President  Lincoln  orders  Gen.  Fre- 
mont to  modify  his  emancipation  proclama- 
tion. Secession  members  of  Maryland  Legis- 
lature sent  to  Fort  McHenry.  Gen.  Scott  re- 
signs as  Commander-in-Chief;  Gen.  McClellan 
succeeds  him.  C.  S,  Congress  convened  at 
Richmond,  Va,  Breckinridge  expelled  from 
U.  S.  Senate  for  treason.  New  York  and  Bos- 
ton banks  suspend  specie  payment. 

1862. — Slavery  prohibited  in  the  Territo- 
ries. Internal  Revenue  Bill  passed.  Polygamy 
forbidden  in  United  Stales.  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  chartered.  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture organized.  A  draft  of  300,000  men  to 
serve  for  nine  months,  ordered  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  war  ;  600,000  volunteers  called.  Ma- 
son and  Slidell  delivered  to  the  British  Min- 
ister, E.  M,  Stanton  appointed  Secretary  of 
war,  vice  Cameron,  resigned,  Cameron  nomi- 
nated Minister  to  Russia,  vice  Clay,  resigned, 
Jesse  D.  Bright  expelled  from  U,  S.  Senate. 
Jefferson  Davis  inaugurated  President  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  Brigham  Young  elect- 
ed Governor  of  Deseret,  Utah.  National  Tax 
Bill  passed  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives. 
Gen.  Halleck  (July  11)  appointed  commander 
of  all  land  forces.  Martial  law  declared  in 
Cincinnati.  McClellan,  Sept.  7,  takes  com- 
mand in  person  of  Potomac  Army.  Sept.  22, 
President  Lincoln  issues  his  Emancipation 
Proclamation.  Habeas  Corpus  suspended  by 
U.  S.  Government.  Nov.  5,  Gen.  Burnside 
succeeds  McClellan.  All  political  prisoners 
released,  Nov.  22,  West  Virginia  admitted  as 
a  state. 

1863. — Jan.  1. — Lincoln  declares  all  the 
slaves  free.  Bureau  of  Currency  and  National 
Banks  established.  Death  of  "Stonewall" 
Jackson.  First  colored  regiment  from  the 
north  leaves  Boston.  A  loan  of  $900,000,000 
ten-forties  authorized.  Proclamation  issued. 
Gen.  Grant  takes  command  of  the  West, 
Slavery  abolished  by  Proclamation. 

1864, — Fugitive  Slave  Law  repealed.  A 
draft  of  500,000  men  ordered,  and  700,000 
men  called  for,  85,000  men  accepted  from 
Governors  of  Western  States,  Lincoln  re- 
elected President.  Gen.  Grant  appointed  to 
command  U.  S.  Armies. 


1865.— The  134h  Amendment 
Amnesty  Proclamation  issued.  Blockade  of 
Southern  ports  ended.  $98,000,000  subscribed 
to  the  7:30  loan  during  the  week  ending  May 
13.  A  day  of  fastkig  on  account  of  the  death 
of  President  Lincoln.  All  the  nation  in 
mourning.  Lee  surrenders  to  Grant.  Johnson 
succeeds  Lincoln. 

1866. — Freedman's  Bureau  Bill  aqd  Civil 
Rights  Bill  passed.  14th  Amendment  passed. 
Proclamation  of  Peace.  Colorado  bill  vetoed. 
Suffrage  given  to  colored  men  in  District  of 
Columbia. 

1867. — Southern  States  organized  into 
Military  Districts.  Military  Government  Bill 
and  Tenure-of-Office  Bill  passed.  Treaty  with 
Russia  for  purchase  of  Alaska  concluded, 
price  §7,200,000,  Nebraska  admitted  sts  a  State. 
Reconstruction  bill  passed  over  President 
Johnson's  veto.  Russian  American  Treaty 
approved  by  the  Senate.  Jeff  Davis  released 
on  bail.  Congress  meets  in  extra  session.  Sup- 
plimentary  Reconstruction  Bill  passed,  over 
veto. 

1868. — Impeachment  trial  of  President 
Johnson  ends  in  acquittal.  Fourteenth  Amend- 
ment declared  part  of  the  Constitution.  Proc- 
lamation of  Political  Amnesty  issued.  Grant, 
Republican,  elected  President,  Congress 
meets.  Senate  bill  passed  for  the  reduction  of 
the  army.  Bill  passed  to  abolish  tax  on  manu- 
factures. The  Chinese  Embassy  received  by 
the  President.  Bill  passed  Senate  for  admis- 
sion of  S.  States.  Commencement  of  difficul- 
ties between  U.  S.  Ambassador  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  Paraguay,  The  Senate  ratifies  the 
Chinese  Treaty.  Freedman's  Bureau  Bill 
passed  over  Johnson's  veto.  Laws  of  United 
States  extended  over  Alaska,  Failure  of  the 
Atlantic  Cable  of  1806.  President  Johnson 
issues  a  universal  amnesty  proclamation, 

1869. — Central  Pacific  and  Union  Pacific 
railroads  completed. — 1,913  miles  in  length. 
United  States  Supreme  Court  decides  Internal 
Revenue  laws  constitutional.  The  Copper 
Tariff  Bill  passed  over  the  veto.  Passage  of 
the  Reconstruction  Bill,  Indiana  Supreme 
Court  decide  National  Bank  currency  taxable. 
Female  Suffrage  Bill  passed  by  Wyoming  Legis- 
lature. E.  M.  Stanton  confirmed  as  Judge  of 
United  States  Supreme  Court. 
.  1870. — Fifteenth  Amendment  passed.  Re- 
call of  the  Russian  Minister,  Catacazy,  re- 
quested. Proclamation  against  Fenian  raids 
into  Canada  issued.  Ninth  census,  population 
38,555,883,  Bill  passed  for  the  re-admission 
of  Virginia.  Legal  Tender  Act  declared  un- 
constitutional. The  Saint  Thomas  treaty  ex- 
pires by  limitation.  The  North  Pacific  R.  R, 
Bill  becomes  a  law.  Bill  to  abolish  Franking 
privilege  defeated.  The  San  Domingo  Treaty 
rejected  by  the  Senate,  The  new  Constitution 
of  Illinois  adopted. 

1871.— Congress  passes  Bill  against  Ku-Klux, 
also  Enforcement  Bill.  The  United  States 
Senate  passes  the  San  Domingo  Commi>sion 
Bill.  The  .*300.000,  on  Five  Per  Cent.  Re- 
funding Bill  passed  by  the  House.  Congress 
admits  the  Georgia  Senators.  Deadlock  in 
Indiana  Legislature  ;  thirty-four  Republicans 


BOOK  vn.] 


CflHONOLOGICAL  POLITICS. 


29 


resign.  The  Forty-first  Congress  expires; 
Forty-second  organized.  Alabama  Claims 
$12,830,384.  Expenses  of  the  United  States 
census  reported  at  $3,287,600.  The  Appor- 
tionment Bill  passed  by  Congress. 

1872— Tax  and  Tariff  Bill  passed  dimin- 
ishing Revenue.  Ratio  of  Representation 
fixed  at  131,426;  Representatives  limited  to 
293.  General  Amnesty  Bill  signed.  $15,500,- 
000  awarded  the  United  States  by  Geneva 
Tribunal.  Emperor  William  of  Germany 
decides  the  San  Juan  Question  in  favor  of 
the  United  States.  Salary  Retroactive  Act 
passed.  First  repeal  of  the  Franking  priv- 
ilege. Federal  officers  are  forbidden  to  hold 
State  Offices.  Suspension  of  the  Bank  of 
Jay  Cook  &  Co.,  causes  a  financial  panic. 
Modoc  War. 

1874 — Political  excitement  in  Louisiana. 
Grant  vetoes  the  Finance  Bill.  United  States 
Senate  passes  Civil  Rights  Bill.  Currency 
Bill  vetoed.     Fillmore  and  Sumner  die. 

1875— Senate  ratifies  the  Treaty  with 
Hawaii.  Civil  Rights  Bill  passed.  New 
Treaty  with  Belgium  concluded.  Financial 
trouble  continued.  Louisiana  Legislative  hall 
taken  possession  of  by  United  States  troops. 
Colorado  admitted  as  a  State. 

1876 — Centennial  Bill  appropriating 
$15,000,000  passed.  Secretary  Belknap  im- 
peached by  the  House,  acquitted  by  the 
Senate.  Postal  Treaty  with  Japan.  Termi- 
nation of  the  English  Extradition  Treaty 
announced. 

1877 — Electoral  Commission  decided  in 
favor  of  Hays.  Spanish  Extradition  Treaty 
announced.  Federal  troops  recalled  from 
the  South.     Nez  Perces  War. 

1878— Silver  Bill.  Halifax  Fishing 
Award ;   Ben  Butler  opposes  it. 

1870 — Specie  payment.  Negro  exodus 
begins.     Ute  War. 

1880— Election  of  Garfield  as  President, 
the  October  election  in  Ohio  and  Indiana 
virtually  deciding  the  issue  in  advance. 

1881 — Assassination  of  President  Gar- 
field by  Charles  J.  Guiteau  ;  Vice-President 
Arthur  succeeds  him.  Resignation  of  Sena- 
tors Conkling  and  Piatt,  of  New  York. 

1882 — Extended  trial  and  final  convic- 
tion of  Guiteau,  who  set  up  the  plea  that  his 
assassination  of  President  Garfield  was  due 
to  an  irristible  pressure  from  Deity.  Nom- 
ination of  Roscoe  Conkling  to  the  Supreme 
Court.  Blaine's  eulogy  on  Garfield.  The 
Mormon  issue  revived  by  Edmunds'  Bill  ; 
Chinese  issue  revived  by  bill  to  prevent  their 
immigration  for  twenty  years.  California 
and  Nevada  make  a  holiday  of  Saturday, 
March  4,  and  devote  it  to  mass  meetings, 
which  said  "  the  Chinese  must  go."  March 
1,  Senator  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  makes  a 
great  speech  against  Chinese  Bill;  Senator 
Miller,  of  California,  replies. 

1883 — Jefferson  Davis  replies  to  ex- Judge 
Jeremiah  S.  Black's  article  on  "  Secession 
Secrets."  Death  of  ex- Attorney-General 
Black. 


1884 — Nomination  of  James  G.  Blaine, 
and  John  A.  Logan,  at  Chicago,  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  who  were  defeated 
by  Grover  Cleveland  and  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks. Death  of  Hon.  Charles  J.  Folger, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

1885 — General  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  ex- 
President  of  the  United  States,  died  at  Mt. 
McGregor,  July  22d,  after  a  lingering  and 
most  painful  illness  of  many  months.  Death 
of  Vice-President  Thomas  A.  Hendricks, 
and  election  of  Hon.  John  Sherman  as  Acting 
Vice-President  of  the  United  Stales. 

1886 — Marriage  of  Grover  Cleveland 
and  Miss  Frances  Folsom  at  the  Executive 
Mansion;  and  death  of  General  George  B. 
McClellan, General  Winfield  Scott  Hancock, 
ex-Governor  Samuel  J.  Tilden — all  three  of 
whom  had  been  nominated  for  President  of 
the  United  Slates ;  McClellan  in  1864,  Tilden 
in  1876,  and  Hancock  in  1880. 

1887 — High  License  Campaign  in  Penn- 
sylvania ;  liquor  men  resisted  and  formed 
Personal  Liberty  Leagues ;  Republicans 
contended  for  High  License  and  Sunday 
Laws,  and  won  by  46,000  majority.  Death 
of  General  Philip  Sheridan.  In  December, 
at  opening  of  Congress,  President  Cleveland 
sent  in  an  Annual  Message  devoted  alone  to 
Revenue  Reform ;  Mr.  Blaine  wired  an 
answer  from  Paris  in  favor  of  Protection, 
and  in  this  way  the  issue  was  opened. 

1888  —  Re-nomination  of  President 
Cleveland"  on  Tariff  for  Revenue  platform ; 
the  Republicans  nominated  General  Benjamin 
Harrison  on  a  Protective  platform.  A  bril- 
liant campaign  followed  and  resulted  in  a 
Republican  victory.  Warner  Miller  led  a 
High  License  battle  for  Governor  of  New 
York  ;  beaten  by  Governor  Hill  by  18,000 
majority.  Delaware  elected  Anthony  Hig- 
gins,  a  Republican,  for  United  States  Senator, 

1889 — Admission  by  Congress  as  States 
of  North  and  South  Dakota,  Montana  and 
Washington,  making  42  in  all.  The  Pan- 
American  Congress  assembled  in  Washing- 
ton. Representatives  of  nearly  all  the  Cen- 
tral and  South  American  governments  at- 
tended. International  Marine  Conference 
also  assembled.  Race  troubles  in  the  South- 
ern States.     Death  of  Jefferson  Davis. 

1890— Death  of  Hon.  William  D.  Kelly, 
known  as  "  The  Father  of  the  House,"  after 
a  service  of  thirty  years  in  Congress. 

The  McKinley  Tariff  Bill  and  the  Anti- 
Lottery  Bill  become  laws.  Democratic 
"tidal  wave"  in  the  fall  elections,^  over- 
turning the  Republican  majority  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  the  State 
governments  in  many  heretofore  reliable 
Republican  States. 

1892. — Re-nomination  of  President 
Harrison  and  nomination  of  Whitelaw 
Reid  at  Minneapolis,  for  President  and 
Vice-President.  Re-nomination  of  ex- 
Presldent  Cleveland  and  nomination  of 
Adlai  Stevenson  at  Chicago,  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President. 


INDEX. 


BOOK  I. 

HISTOEY   OF   POLITICAL   PARTIES. 

Pi 

AboliMon  of  Indian  foctory  system 3( 

Abolition  Party,  rise  and  progress  of. 68 

Act  to  elect  President  and  Vice  President  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people 27 

Act  to  prohibit  African  slave  trade 17 

Act  to  provide  for  collection,  disbursement  and  safe  keeping  of  public  money 87 

Acquisition  of  Florida 26 

Adams,  John,  inaugurated 10 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  elected 26 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  policy 27 

Admission  of  Florida  and   Iowa 47 

Admission  of  Mississippi  and  Illinois 23 

Admission  of  Missouri,  to  the  Union,  with  an  attempt  to  restrict  slavery  in  its  limit .   .  24 

Alabama  claims 197 

Alien  law  and  (sedition) 11 

Amendment  to  Constitution  (Sept.  25th,  1804) 12 

Amendment  of  Morton 222 

Amendment  18th,   passed 167 

Amendment  14th,  votes  on 147 

Amendment,  15th,  to  enforce  same 197 

American  party .* 67 

American  ritual 67 

American  Convention Q7 

American  nomination-  of  1856 • 69 

American  system  for  protection  of  home  industry 26 

American  system  lost 82 

Amnesty , 199 

Anti-Federal  Party 6 

Annexation  of  Texas 46 

Approval  of  act  declaring  war,  June  18,  1812 19 

Apportionment  bill,  first 8 

Arkansas  admitted 170 

Arthur 261 

Arms,  transferred  South,  1859,  "60 109 

Armbd  neutrality,  first 10 

Attempt  to  amend  bill  for  admission  of  California  by  extension  of  Missouri  Compromise 

to  the  Pacific 62 

Attempt  to  pass  Tenure  of  OflSce  bill 28 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  expiration  of  charter * 80 

Bank  and  State,  separation  of. '7 

841 


842  INDEX. 

Paok. 

Belknap,  impeachment  of. •  .  .  223 

Benton's  speech •  •  ■  .  84 

Bill  for  appropriating  one  year's  Salary  to  the  widow  of  Gen.  Harrison  ,  ...•*..  89 

Bill  to  distribute  public  land  money  among  the  States 86 

Bill  for  distribution  of  public  land  revenue 89 

Bill  for  establishment  of  system  of  bankruptcy 89 

Bill  for  equalizing  value  of  gold  and  silver 84 

Bill  of  Rights 8 

Border  States,  appeal  of  President  to 137 

"Boss  Rule" 261 

Broad   Constructionists.  - 7 

Buchanan's  nomination 69 

Buchanan's  views 99 

Calhoun  on  causes  of  difference  between  himself  and  the  President 82 

Calhoun,  death  of 62 

Calhoun,  extends  constitution  to  the  territories 60 

Campaign  of  1880 242 

Caucus 256 

Charleston  Convention 81 

Chesapeake,  search  of  the 17 

Chinese  question 281 

Chinese  question — Senator  Miller's  speech 281 

Chinese  question — Senator  Hoar's  reply 285 

Circuit  Courts,  law  for  establishment  of  repealed 15 

Civil  Rights  Bill,  supplementary 221 

Civil  Service  Order  of  President  Hayes 198 

Civil  Service  Question,  first 12 

Clay's  compromise  bill 83 

Clay's  compromise  resolutions 61 

Clay's  compromise  bill  rejected 62 

Clay,  resignation   of. 44 

Clay,  Speaker  of  the  House 18 

Clintonian  Platform 19 

Close  Constructionists • 7 

Colonial    Parties 8 

Color  in  War  Politics 159 

Columbia  river,  settlement  of  territory,  of 25 

Confederate  Constitution 97 

Confederate  Debt 152 

Confederate   States k 98 

Confederate  Taxes 153 

Continental  Congress,  first  and  second 4 

Congress,  origin  of 4 

Congress,  first  under  Federal  constitution 7 

Congress,  26th , 87 

Congress,  37th,  2d  session 145 

Congress,  87th,  8d  session 147 

Congress,   38th,  Ist  session 147 

Constitution   ratified 6 

Constitution,  revision  of  articles  of  confederation 6 

Credit  Mobilier 200 

Crittenden  Compromise 104 

Cumberland  road  act 25 

Declaration  of  Independence 4 


INDEX.  843 

Paqi. 

Democratic  Party I7 

Democratic  nomination,  1866 89 

Despatches,  Cipher 284 

Disunion  Conventions 53 

Disbandment  of  provisional  army I5 

Douglas'    amendment 80 

Electoral  Commission,  members  of 282 

Electoral  Count  (Hayes  and  Wheeler) 229 

Emancipation  a  war  necessity 141 

Embargo  Act 16 

Enforcement  Acts 198 

Enforcement  Acts,  amendatory 197 

England,  rejection  of  treaty  with 17 

Era  of  Good   Feeling 21 

Factions,   Republican 268 

Federal   Party 17 

Federal  Party,  downfall  of '. 12 

Fillmore,  Millard,  succession  of 62 

Financial  crisis 86 

Financial  distress 24 

Financial  Legislation,  internal  taxes 149 

Force  Bill 197 

Free  Soilers 50 

French  agitation  by  B«publicans 9 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  first 11 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  repeal  of , 146 

Funding  Bill,  3  per  cent • 244 

Garfield 258 

"      — assassinated • 260 

Ghent,  treaty  of 20 

Governors,  loyal,  address  to  President • 144 

Grangers 218 

Grant 191 

Greenback  Party 194 

Hardships  endured  by  the  New  England  States  in  war  of  1812 20 

Harrison,  nomination  of 88 

"          inauguration  of 39 

Hartford  Convention 20 

Hartford  Convention,  delegates 20 

Hayes,  administration  of 237 

Hayes,  closing  hours  of  his  administration 240 

Hayes  and  Wheeler,  election  of 228 

Hayes'  title  to  the  Presidency 288 

Hour  Rule  in  the  House 39 

Impeachment  trial,  first ^® 

Independent  treasury  act  repealed 39 

Interior  Department,  creation  of  .    •■ W 

Jackson,  Andrew,  death  of 36 

"               election  of ^ 

Jay's  treaty  with  England ' 

Jay's  instructions  demanded *9 


844  INDEX. 

Paox. 

Jefferson,  election  of 12 

Jefferson,  inauguration  of 12 

Johnson,  Andrew ^ 178 

"              impeachment  of 179 

"             policy  of • 178 

Kansas  admitted 66 

Kansas-Nebraska  Bill 55 

Kansas  struggle 71 

Know-Nothing  Party 66 

Land  distribution : 45 

League,  White 228 

Lecompton  constitution 79 

Legal  Tender  Decision 194 

Liberal    Republicans 199 

Lincoln,  1st  administration  of •  .    • 120 

"      2d             "               " 177 

Lincoln  and  Douglas  debate 78 

Log-Roiling,  first  exhibition  of 8 

Louisiana,  purchase  of 16 

"          fears  of  the  people  for  the  result 16 

"           price  paid 16 

Louisiana's  Representatives  admitted • 168 

Madison,  James,  election  of 18 

Marine,    Merchant 296 

McClellan's  political  letters 175 

Mexico,   treaty  with 49 

Mileage 214 

Missouri  Compromise 24 

Monroe,    inauguration  of 21 

Monroe  Doctrine 28 

Monroe's    re-election 24 

Mormonism,  suppression  of 264 

National  Bank  scheme,  old  issue  against  revived 18 

"        "          "        passage  of  bill  to  establish .  21 

National  Bank  of  the  United  States,  Bill 41 

"        «'        ««                 «*            bill  for  renewal  of  charter  vetoed 81 

«»        '«        •«                 "            conduct  of  the 81 

«•        "        "                 "            downfall    of 82 

•«        "        "                 ««            Second   Bill 43 

««         ««        "                 "            vetoed 42 

"        *'        "                "           war  of  the 81 

National  Loans,  history  of 246 

National  Republicans,  convention  of 81 

Native  American  Party 64 

Naturalization    law 11 

•*             uniform   system  of ., 16 

Naval  Department  proposition  to  abolish  defeated     16 

Navy • 46 

Negro  Exodus 240 

Neutrality,  armed,  the  first 10 

Neutrality,  proclamation  of 9 


INDEX.  845 

New  Jersey  elections  contested 87 

Non-intercourse  act,  revival  of 18 

Nullification,  origin  of  doctrine  of 28 

"           doctrine  of  discussed 29 

Ordinance  of  State  of  South  Carolina 82 

Oregon  treaty 47 

Pairing-off 87 

Particularista 6 

Peace  Convention 106 

Peace  Parties  .  .• 19 

Peirce,  Franklin,  election  of 64 

Pensions,  naval 40 

Politics,  current 298 

Polk,  James  K.,  nomination  of 46 

Pre-emption  system 87 

Prohibitory  Party 196 

Protective  tariff 21 

Protective  Tariff  discussions 28 

Proclamation,  Lincoln 169 

"           Emancipation,  Sept.  22,  1862 141 

"                    •'              January  1, 1863 148 

B«adju8ter8 268 

Rebellion,  Congress  on  the  eve  of 118 

Recall  of  American  Minister  and  declaration  of  war  of  1812 18 

Reconstruction 169 

'«           act  39th  Congress 171 

"           act  supplemental  40th  Congress 172 

'<            measures,  text  of 171 

Reform  in  Civil  Service 200 

Republican  Association  of  Washington 70 

"      Convention,  Chicago 86 

'<      and   Federal  Parties 8 

"      Party 69 

"      Liberal 199 

Returning  Boards 217 

Salary  Grab .  214 

San  Domingo,  annexation  of 196 

Scott,   Dred,  suit 56 

Secession  Message,  Mayor  Wood's 112 

"        Preparing  for 87 

Sedition  law 11 

Seizure  of  American  vessels 9 

Seward  as  Secretary  of  State 1^9 

Seward's  proposal 51 

Sinking  Fund  for  redemption  of  public  debt 15 

Slave  Trade,  first  law  in  relation  to  passed 15 

Slavery  question,  inception  of 85 

Slavery  in  the  territories '49 

South  American  States,  question  of  recogniiing  the  independence  of 28 

Southern  Congress,  proceedings  of 97 

South  American   question 269 

Star  Route  scandal 277 


846  INDEX. 

Paok. 

Strong  Grovemment  Whiga 6 

States,  the  coming -, 278 

"     rebellious,  readmission  of .  .       - 198 

TariflF 44 

Taxes,  Confederate 168 

Taxes,  Internal 151 

Taylor,  Zach.,  nomination  of 60 

Topeka  Constitution 79 

Tory  Party  . 3 

Treasury,  deficit .-  .   .    .  45 

Twenty-first  rule *   .   .  68 

Tyler,  John,  succession  of '.   i 39 

Van  Buren,  election  of » 86 

«'             resignation  from  Cabinet 82 

Virginia's  political  power,  jealousy  of 18 

Virginia  Convention,  proceedings  of 91 

Washington,  Farewell  Address „   ,  10 

"          re-election  of  ■ 9 

War  of  1812,  primary  cause  of 17 

West  Virginia  admitted 158 

Whig  Party 3 

"          appears  for  the  last  time 64 

Whiskey  Rebellion 8 

Whiskey  Ring 222 

Wilmot  Proviso 48 


ADDITIONS  TO  REVISED  EDITION.     BOOK  I. 


Civil  Service  Reform  Bill  in  Congreai^ 313 

Cleveland's  Administration •   •  *  820 

Discontent  of  1882 807 

"  Groundswells  " 304 

Independent-Republican  Revolt  in  Pennsylvania 307 

Political  Changes  in  1882 804 

Prohibitory  Amendments 806 

Republican  Differences — Efforts  to  Harmonize 307-818 

Revenue  Taxes,  Attempt  to  Repeal 805 

Tariff,  Attempt  to  Reduce 805 

Tariff  Commission >. 805 

"Tidal-waves" 304 

Political  Changes  in  1883 314 

State  Elections  of  1882  and  1883  compared  with  the  Presidential  Election  of  1880  .   .  315 

Political  Changes  in  1884 316 

The  Vote  in  Detail 317 

The  Campaign  of  1884 "18 

Contests  of  1886-7 822 

The  Campaign  of  1888 826 

President  Harrison's  Message  on  the  Chilean  Troubles 339 

Nadonal  Conventions  of  1892 347 


INDEX.  847 


BOOK  II. 

POLITICAL    PLATFORMS. 
Datb.  Paoi. 

1798  Virpnia  Resolutions 8 

1799  Answers  of  the  Several  State  Legislatures 6 

1798-99  Resolutions  of  1798  and  1799 10 

1796  Washington's  Farewell  Address  to  the  People 14 

1800  Republican  Platform,  Philadelphia 21 

1812  aintonian  Platform 22 

1815  Resolutions  passed  by  Hartford  Convention 28 

1830  Anti-masonic  resolution 24 

1832  National  Democratic  Platform 24 

1836  Locofoco  Platform 24 

1836  Whig  Resolutions 24 

1839  Abolition  Resolution 25 

1840-48  Abolition  Platform 26 

1840  Democratic  Platform |. 26 

1843  Liberty  Platform 26 

1844  Whig  Platform 27 

1844  Democratic  Platform 28 

1848  Democratic  Platform 28 

1848  Whig  Principles  adopted  at  a  Republican  meeting 80 

1848  Buffalo  Platform 80 

1852  Democratic  Platform 82 

1852  Whig  Platform 88 

1852  Free-Soil  Platform 84 

1856  American  Platform. 85 

1856  Democratic  Platform  . 86 

1856  Republican  Platform 89 

1856  Whig  Platform 40 

1860  Constitutional  Union  Platform 41 

1860  Republican  Platform 41 

1860  Democratic  (Douglas)  "Platform, 48 

1860  Democratic  (Breckenridge)  Platform  .   .    .  • 48 

1864  Radical  Platform 44 

1864  Republican  Platform 44 

1864  Democratic  Platform 46 

186^8  Republican  Platform 48 

186*8  Democratic  Platform 47 

1872  Labor  Reform  Platform 49 

1872  Prohibition  Platform 60 

1872  Liberal  Republican  Platform 60 

1872  Democratic  Platform 61 

1872  Republican  Platform 61 

1872  Democratic  (Straight-out)  Platform 61 

1875  American  National  Platform 68 

1876  Prohibition  Reform  Platform M 

1876  Independent  (Greenback)  Platform M 

1876  Republican  Platform W 

1876  Democratic  Platform 67 

1878  National  J'latform 69 


848  INDEX. 

Dats.  Faos. 

1879  National  Liberal  Platform 60 

1880  Independent  Republican  Principles 60 

1880        Republican  Platform 61 

1880        National  (Greenback)  Platform 63 

1880        Prohibition  Reform  Platform 64 

1880        Democratic  Platform 66 

1880        Virginia  Republican 67 

1880        Virginia  Readjuster 67 

1880        Virginia  Democratic 68 

1884        Democratic  Platform 69 

.884        Republican  Platform 78 

1888        Democratic  Platform 75 

1888        Republican  Platform 76 

1892        Democratic  Platform 

1892        Republican  Platform 

COMPAJilSOX  OF  PLATF0B2£  PLANKS  ON  GREAT  POLITICAL  QUESTIONS. 

General  Party  Doctrines 79 

TheRebelUon 80 

Home  Rule 80 

Internal  Improvements 82 

National  Debt  and  Interest,  the  Public  Credit,  Repudiation,  etc 82 

■  Resumption 83 

Capital  and  Labor 84 

Tariflf 85 

Education 86 

Duty  to  Union  Soldiers  and  Sailors 86 

Naturalization  and  Allegiance 87 

Chinese 88 

Civil  Service 89 

The  Tariflf  Issue  of  1884 90 

The  TariflT  and  Revenue,  1888 91 

Civil  Service  Reform,  1888 92 

Pensions,  etc.,  1888 93 

Pauper  Labor.  1888 98 

Foreign  Policy,  1888 .98 

Comparison  of  Platform-Planks..  1892  .    .   .   ^ 95 

BOOK  III. 

GREAT  SPEECHES  ON  GREAT  ISSUES. 

Paob. 

Adams,  John 8 

Beiyamin,  Judah  P '119 

Benton,  Thomas  H 237 

Blaine,  James  G 171-240 

Broomall,  John  M 186 

Buchanan,  James 95 

Calhoun,  John  C 24-80 

Cass,  Lewis 96 

Cameron,  J.  D 283 

Cameron,  Simon 162 

Carey,  Henry 169 

Qay,  Henry 23-86 

Conkling,  Roscoe 176-202 

Davis,  Henry  Winter 116 

Davis,  Jefferson 147 

Dougherty,  Daniel 205 

Douglas,  Stephen  A 126 

Eldridge,  Charles  A 189 

Everett,  Edward 18 

Frye,  Wm.  P 206 

Garfield.  James  A 20< 


INDEX.                                         •  849 

Paob. 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd 120 

Giddings,  Joshua  B Ug 

Gray,  George 206 

Greeley,  Horace 99 

Grow,  GaluBha  A. 123 

Hayne,  Robt.  Y 21-25 

Henry,  Patrick 7-10 

Hill,  Benjamin  H 207 

Ingalla,  John  J 262 

IngersoU,  Robert  G 201 

Knott,  J.  Proctor      164 

Lincoln,  Abraham 126 

Logan,  John  A 166 

Mahone,  William 217 

McClure,  A.  K. 191 

McKinley,  W.  J.,  Jr 277 

Morrill,  Justin  S 223 

Morton,  Oliver  P 161 

Parker,  Theodore 121 

Pendleton,  G.  H 251 

Randall.  S.  J 274 

Randolph,  John 13-20 

Raynor,  Kenneth 112 

Seward,  William  H 122 

Sumner,  Charles 128 

Toombs,  Robert 117 

Vallandigham,  Clement  L 97 

Webster,  Daniel 19-48 

Wilson,  James 3 

Wilson,  Henry 149 

Wise,  Henry  A. 109 


▲SDmOHS  TO  SZYISED  EDITIOK.     BOOK  m. 

Depew,  Chaoncey  M. 288 

Abbett,  Leon 286 


850  INDEX. 


BOOK  IT. 

PARLIAMENTARY   PRACTICE,   CONSTITUTION,   DECLARATION   AND 

ARTICLES   OF  CONFEDERATION. 

Paqs. 

contidkbation,  aeticles  of 8 

Declabation  of  Independkncs 8 

Jiffkbson's  Makvai. 

Absence,    Sec.   8 26 

Adjournment,  Sec.  60 62 

Address,  Sec.   10 27 

Amendment,  Sec.  36 41 

Amendment  between  the  Houses,  Sec.  46 48 

Arrangement  of  business.  Sec.  14 29 

Assent,  Sec.  48 60 

Bills,   Sec.   22 33 

Bills,    commitment,  Sec.    26 84 

Bills,  first  reading.  Sec.   24 83 

Bills,  second  reading,  Sec.  26 38 

Bills,  third  reading,  Sec.  40 44 

Bills,  second  reading  in  the  House,  Sec.  31 87 

Bills,  leave  to  bring  in.  Sec.  23 33 

Bills,  recommitment.  Sec.  28 36 

Bills,  Report  taken  up.  Sec.  29 36 

Bills  sent  to  the  other  House,  Sec.  44 48 

Call  of  the  House,  Sec.   7 26 

Co-existing  Questions,  Sec.  37 48 

Committees,  Sec.  11 27 

Committee  of  the  Whole,  Sec.  12 27 

Conferences,   Sec.  46 49 

Division  of  the  House,  Sec.  41 46 

Division  of  the  Question,  Sec.  36 43 

Elections,  Sec.  4 26 

Equivalent   Questions,  Sec.  38 44 

Examination  of  Witnesses,  Sec.  13 28 

Impeachment,  Sec.  53 64 

Importance  of  adhering  to  rules.  Sec.  1 22 

Journals,  Sec.  49 •    .   .  61 

Legislature,   Sec.  2 22 

Messages,  Sec.  47 .    *   ' 60 

Motions,  Sec.  20 88 

Order,  Sec.  15 29 

Order,  in  debate,  Sec.   17 80 

Order,  respecting  papers.  Sec.  16 80 

Orders  of  the  House,  Sec.  18 82 

Petition,  Sec.    19 82 

Previous  Questions,  Sec.  34 40 

Privilege,  Sec.   3 28 

Privileged   Questions,  Seo.  33 88 

Qualification,   Seo.   6 26 

Quasi-Committee,   Seo.  80 86 

Question,  the,  Seo.  89 44 


INDEX.  861 

Pao«. 

Quorum,   Sec.  6 ,  .  .  26 

Reading  Papers,  Sec.  32 07 

Reconsideration,   Sec.    43 a^ 

Report  of  Committee,  Sec.  27 86 

Resolutions,  Sec.  21 00 

Session,  a.  Sec.  51 g2 

Speaker,   Sec.    9 26 

Titles,  Sec.   42 47 

Treaties,   Sec.  52 g2 

Ordinance  of  1787 jq 

Ratification  of  Constitution 20 

Ratification  of  amendment  to  Constitution (  .  .   .   .      26 

INDEX  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

A«T.    Sio.    Paoi. 

Artt  and  tciencei,  to  be  promoted 1  g           jg 

AcU,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  each  State  entitled  to  faith  and 

credit  in  other  States 4  \           -yj 

Amendmentt  to  the  Constitution,  how  made .....6  1            18 

made , ,            I9 

Appointments  to  be  made  by  the  President 2  2            16 

^j9j»orft'onOTen<  of  representatiyes 1  2            13 

Appropriations  by  law 1  9            15 

Appropriation  for  army  not  to  exceed  two  years 1  8            16 

Annies,  Congress  to  raise  and  support 1  8            16 

Amu,  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear , .           19 

Assemble,  people  may . .            19 

Attainder,  bill  of,  prohibited  to   Congress 1  9            15 

prohibited  to  the  States 1  10            16 

of  treason  shall  not  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture, 

except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted     .3  3           17 

Sail,  excessire,  not  required . .           19 

Bankruptcy  laws  to  be  uniform 1  8            15 

BiUs  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House  of  Representatives  .1  7           14 
before  they  become  laws,  shall  be  passed  by  both  houses  and 
approved  by  the  President ;  or,  if  disapproved,  shall  be  passed 

by  two-thirds  of  each  house 1  7           14 

not  returned  in   ten  days,  unless   an  adjournment  intervene, 

shall  be  laws 1  7           15 

Sorrow  money.  Congress  may 1  8            16 

Capitation  tax,  apportionment  of 1  9           15 

Census,  or  enumeration,  to  be  made  every  ten  years 1  2           13 

Citizens  of  the    Uuited  States,  who  are,  (14th  amendment) 1            20^ 

privileges  or  immunities  of,  not  to  be 
abridged  by  any  State  (14th   amend* 

ment) 1           20 

Citizen*  of  United  JSlates,  not  to  b«  abridged  on  account  of  color,  race,  or 

previous  condition  of  servi- 
tude,   (15th   amendment)  ...  20 

OUiuni  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled   to  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 

citizeas  in  the  several  States 4  S           17 


852 


INDEX. 


Abt. 

Claims,  no  prejudice  to  certain 4 

of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  several  States,  not  to  be 
prejudiced  by  any  construction  of  the  Constitution  ...    4 

Cooiting  trade,  regulations  respecting 1 

Coin,  C!ongres8  fix  value  of  foreign 1 

Commerce,  Congress  to  regulate 1 

regulations  respecting,  to  be  equal  and  uniform  .•....! 

Commissions  to  be  granted  by  the  President 2 

Common  law  recognized  and  established,  (7th  amendment) 

Congress  vested  with  power 1 

may  alter  the  regulations  of  State  legislatures  concerning  elec- 
tions of  senators  and  representatives,  except  as  to  place  of 
choosing    senators 1 

shall  assemble  once  every  year 1 

oflBcers  of  government  cannot  be  members  of 1 

may  provide  for  cases  of  removal,  death,  &c.,  of  President  and 
Vice-President 2 

may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  electors  of  President  and 
Vice-President 2 

may  invest  the  appointment  of  inferior  officers  in  the  President 
alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  the  heads  of  departments  ...    2 

may  establish  courts  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court 3 

may  declare  the  punishment  of  treason 8 

may  prescribe  the  manner  of  proving  the  acts  and  records  of 
each   State 4 

to  assent  to  the  formation  of  new  States 4 

may  propose  amendments  to  Constitution  or  call  a  convention  .    6 

to  lay  and  collect  duties 

to  borrow  money 

to    regulate  commerce • 

to  establish  uniform  laws  of  bankruptcy  and  naturalization  ,   . 

to  coin  money,  to  regulate  the  value  of  coin,  and  fix  a  standard 
of  weights  and  measures 

to  punish   counterfeiting 

to  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court 

to  define  and  punish  piracies,  felonies  on  the  high  seas,  and  of- 
fenses against  the  laws  of  nations 

to  establish  post  offices  and  post  roads 

to  authorize  patents  to  authors  and  inventors 

to  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque,  and  make  rules  concern- 
ing captures ;   . 

to  raise  and  support  armies 

to  provide  and  maintain  a  navy 

to  make  rules  for  the  government  of  the  army  and  navy  .... 

to  call  out  the  militia  in  certain  cases 

to  organize,  arm,  and   discipline  militia  . 

to  exercise  exclusive  legislation  over  seat  of  government  .    .    .    . 

to  pass  laws  necessary  to  carry  the  enumerated  powers  into 
effect 

to  dispose  of  and  make  rules  concerning  the  territory  or  other 
property  of  the  United   States 

President  may  convene  and  adjourn  in  certain  cases  ....    2 

may  enforce  prohibition  of  slavery  by  appropriate  legislation, 
(amendment) 18 


Sec. 

Page. 

3 

17 

8 

18 

9 

15 

8 

15 

8 

15 

9 

16 

8 

17 

, , 

19 

1 

13 

4 

14 

4 

14 

6 

14 

16 


16 


2 

16 

1 

17 

3 

17 

1 

17 

3 

18 

1 

18 

8 

15 

8 

15 

8 

16 

8 

16 

8 

15 

8 

15 

8 

15 

8 

15 

8 

16 

8 

15 

8 

15 

8 

15 

8 

15 

8 

16 

8 

15 

8 

16 

8 

15 

16 

18 
17 


2 

20 

2 

20 

1 

18 

1 

18 

1 

18 

10 

16 

1 

18 

8 

16 

2 

17 

8 

15 

1 

17 

2 

17 

2 

17 

., 

19 

INDEX.  808 

AftT.      Sso.    Paqi. 

Congresi  may,  by  a  two-third's  vote,  remove  disability  of  persons  who  en- 
gaged in  rebellion,  (14th  amendment) 14  8  20 

shall  have  power,  by  appropriate  legislation,  to  enforce  the  pro- 
visions of  Article  XIV,  (14th  amendment) 14  6  20 

shall  have  power  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  Article  XV,  (15th 

amendment) 15 

representation  in,  how  apportioned,  (14th  amendment)  .... 

Oomtitution,  how  amended 6 

laws  and  treaties  declared  to  be  the  supreme  law 6 

rendered  operative  by  the  ratification  of  nine  States 7 

ContracU,  no  law  impairing 1 

Conventions  for  proposing  amendments  to  the  Constitution 6 

Counterfeiting,  Congress  to  provide  for  punishment  of 1 

Court,  Supreme,  its  original  and  appellate  jurisdiction 8 

Courta  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court  may  be  ordained  by  Congress  .  •.   .    1 

Ditto Ditto 8 

Crimes,  persons  accused  of,  fleeing  from  justice,  may  be  demanded  ...    4 

how  to  be  tried 8 

Criminal  prosecutions,  proceedings  in  cases  of 

Debts  against  the  confederation  to  be  valid 6  1  18 

Debt,  public,  authorized  by  law,  shall  not  be  questioned,  (14th  amend- 
ment)   ,. 4  20 

incurred   in  aid  of  rebellion  not  to  be  assumed  or  paid,  (14th 

amendment) '. 

i)i«a6e7!<y  of  persons  who  engaged  in  rebellion  (14th  amendment) 

Duties  to  be  laid  by  Congress,  and  to  be  uniform 1 

further  provision  respecting  • 1 

cannot  be  laid  by  the  States •    • 1 

on  exports  prohibited 1 

on  imports  and  exports  imposed  by  States  shall  inure  to  the  treasu- 
ry of  the  United  States 1  10  16 

flections  of  Senators  and  representative    shall  be  prescribed  by  the 

States' 1  4  14 

qualifications  and  returns  of  members  of  Congress  to  be  de- 
termined by  each  house 1 

Electors  of  President  and  Vice-President,  how  chosen,  and  their  duties  .  .    2 

altered  (see  12th  amendment) 

to  vote  the  same  day  throughout  the  United  States 2 

no  senator  or  representative,  or  public  officer,  shall  serve  as   .   .    2 

£fe«7Rerafton  every  ten  years • 1 

Executive  power  vested  in  in  the  President,  (see  President) 2 

Exports  not  to  be  taxed 1 

and  imports,  States  prohibited  from  laying  duties  on 1 

Expost  facto  law,  noneiBhaWhQ  passed 1 

prohibited  to  States 1 

fines,  excessive  prohibited 

Fugitives  from  justice  to  be  delivered  up 4 

from  service  may  be  reclaimed 4 

Habeas  corpus,   writ  of,  can  be  suspended  in  oases  of  rebellion  or  in- 
vasion     1  9  16 

ffotue  of  Representatives.      (See  Representatives.) 

Impeachment  to  be  brought  by  House  of  Eepresentatives 1  2  13 

tried  by  the  Senate • 1  8  14 


4 

20 

a 

20 

8 

16 

9 

15 

10 

16 

9 

16 

6 

14 

1 

16 

,, 

19 

1 

16 

1 

16 

2 

18 

1 

16 

9 

15 

10 

16 

9 

15 

10 

16 

„ 

19 

2 

17 

2 

17 

854 


INDEX 


Abt. 

Tmpeaekment,  judgment   on 1 

all  civil  officers  liable  to 2 

Importation  of  slave*,  not  prohibited  mi  1808 1 

Judge*  shall  hold  their  office  during  good  behavior 3 

their  compensation 3 

Judiciary — tribunals  inferior  to  Supreme  Court  may  be  created  ....    1 

Judicial  power  vested  in  a  Supreme  Court  and  courts  inferior 3 

powers   of  the  judiciary 8 

restriction  as  to  suits  against  a  State 

Judicial  proceedings  of  each  State  are  entitled  to  faith  and  credit  in  every 

State 4 

Jury  trial  secured,  and  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  crime  shall 

have  been  committed 3 

further  regulated,  (6th  amendment) 

secured  in  suits  at  common  law  where  the  value  of  controver- 
sy shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  (7th  amendment) 

Law,  what  is  declared  the  supreme 6 

common,   recognized  and  established,  (7th  amendment) 

Laws,  President  to  see  them  faithfully  executed 2 

Legislative  powers  vested  in  Congress.     (See  Congress.) 

Loans,   authority   to   make 1 


Sbc. 

VXQU. 

3 

14 

4 

17 

9 

15 

1 

17 

1 

17 

8 

15 

1 

17 

2 

17 

•• 

19 

1 

17 

2 

17 

, , 

19 

19 
1  18 

8  17 

8  15 


Marque  and  reprisal,  letters  of 1 

Militia  to  be  called  out 1 

to  be  officered  by  the  States 1 

to  be  commanded  by  the  President ,2 

their  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms  secured,  (2d  amendment)  .... 
Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  only  by  appropriation  laws     . 

Congress  to  coin  and   regulate   value  of 

States  cannot    make 


Naturalization,  uniform  rules  of 

Navy,  Congress  to  provide  and  govern 

Nobility,  titles  of,  shall  not  be  granted  by  the  United   States 
nor   by  the  States 


Oath  of  the  President 2 

of  the  public  officers 6 

Ofice,  who  prohibited  from  holding,  (14th  amendment) 

Officers  of  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  chosen  by  the  House  .  1 

Officers  of  the  Senate  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Senate 1 

civil,  may  be  removed  by  impeachment 2 

Order  of  one  house  requiring  the  concurrence  of  the  other 1 

Pardons,  President  may  grant 2 

Patents  to  be  granted  to  inventors 1 

Petition,  right  of 

Persons  held  to  service  or  labor,  their  importation  or  migration  into  the 

United  States  may  be  prohibited  after  1808 I 

escaping  from  one  StatQ  to  another  shall  be  delivered  up  to  those 

entitled   to    service 4 

Piracy,  Congress  to  prescribe  punishment  for 1 

Pott  offices  and  post  roads,  establishment  of I 


8 
8 
8 
2 

9 

8 

10 

8 

8 

9 

10 

1 
1 
8 
2 
8 
4 
7 

2 
6 


15 
15 

15 
19 
19 
15 
15 
16 

15 
16 
15 
12 

16 
18 
20 
13 
14 
17 
14 

16 
15 
19 

15 


i 

17 

8 

15 

8 

15 

INDEX. 


865 


Axt. 

Fower$  not  delegated  to  Congress  nor  prohibited  to  the  States  are  re- 
served, (10th  amendment)  

legislative.  (See  Congress.) 
executive.  (See  President.) 
judicial.     (See  Judicial. ) 

Presents  from  foreign  powers  to  public  officers  prohibited 1 

Press,  freedom  of 

President  of  the  U.  S.  vested  with  the  executive  power 2 

shall  be  chosen  for  four  years 2 

how  elected 2 

same,  (12th  amendment) 

qualifications   for 2 

who  shall  act  in  case  of  vacancy 2 

compensation  of 2 

shall  take  an  oath  of  office 2 

may  be  removed  by  impeachment 2 

President,  commander  of  army,  navy,  and  militia      2 

may  require  the  written  opinion  of  the  heads  of  departments  .    2 

may  reprieve   and  pardon 2 

may  make  treaties  with  consent  of  the  Senate 2 

may  appoint  to  office  with  consent  of  the  Senate 2 

shall  fill  up  vacancies  happening  duriug  the  recess  of  the  Senate.  2 
shall  give  information  to  Congress  and  recommend  measures  .    2 

may  convene  both  houses  or  either  house 2 

may  adjourn  them  in  case  of  disagreement 2 

shall  receive  ambassadors  and  public  ministers 2 

shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed 2  ' 

shall  commission  all  officers 2 

Privileges  and  immunities  of  members  of  Congress 1 

of  citizens.  (See  Citizens,  also  Rights.) 

Property,  Congress  to  provide  for  care  of  public 4 

shall  not  be  taken  for  public  use  without  just  compensation,  (5th 

amendment) 

Punishments,  cruel  and  unusual,  prohibited 


Sic.  Paoi. 
19 

9    15 


16 
16 
16 
19 
16 
16 
16 
16 
17 
16 
16 
16 
16 
16 
16 
17 
17 
17 
17 
17 
71 
14 


18 


Quorum  for  business,  what  shall  be  a 1 

of  States  in  choosing  a  President  by  the  House  of  Representatives  2 
Quartered,  no  soldier  to  be  quartered  on  a  citizen 


Rebellion,  debt  incurred  in  aid  of,  not  to  be  assumed  or  paid,  (14th  amend- 
ment)     

disability  of  persons  who  have  engaged  in  (14th  amendment)    .    .. 

ReeeipU  and  expenditures,  accounts  of,  to  be  published 1 

Records,  how  to  be  authenticated 4 

Religion — no  law  to  be  made — free  exercise  of 

religious  test  not  required 6 

Reprieves  granted  by  the  President 2 

M^esentatives,  Home  of,  composed  of  members  chosen  every  second  year  1 

qualifications  of  voters 1 

qualifications  of  members 1 

apportionment  of 1 

vacancies,  how  supplied 1 

shall  choose  their  officers 1 

shall  have  the  power  of  impeachment 1 


6 

14 

1 

16 

■• 

19 

4 

20 

8 

20 

9 

15 

1 

17 

19 

, , 

18 

2 

2 

18 

2 

18 

2 

18 

2 

18 

2 

18 

2 

18 

2 

18 

856 


INDEX 


Akt. 
R^etmuaion  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  election  and  qualifications  of 

its  members 1 

what  shall  be  a  quorum 1 

any  number  may  adjourn  and  compel  the  attendance  of 

absentees 1 

may  determine  the  rules  of  proceeding 1 

may  punish  or  expel  a  member 1 

shall  keep  a  journal  and  publish  the  same 1 

shall  not  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days  nor  to  any 
other  place,  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate  ....    1 

one-fifth  may  require  the  yeas  and  nays 1 

shall  originate  bills  for  raising  revenue 1 

compensation  to  be  ascertained  by  law 1 

privileged  from  arrest,  except  in  certain  cases 1 

E«prtitnt<Uivea  shall  not  be  questioned  for  speech  or  debate  in  the  House  1 

shall  not  be  appointed  to  office 1 

shall  not  serve  as  electors  of  President 2 

and  direct  taxes  apportioned  according  to  numbers    ...    1 
how  apportioned  among  the  several  States,  {14th  amend- 
ment)   

who  prohibited  from  being,  (14th  amendment) 

of  a  State,  vacancies  in,  supplied  until  a  new  election  by 

executive  authority 1 

Resolution,  order,  or  vote,  requiring  the  concurrence  of  both  houses,  to 

undergo  the  formalities  of  bills 1 

Revenue  biUt  to  originate  in  the  House  of  Representatives 1 

Rightt  of  the  citizen  declared  to  be — 

privileges  of  citizens  of  the  several  States 4 

liberty  of  conscience  in  matters  of  religion 

freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press 

to  assemble  and  petition 

to  keep  and  bear  arms 

to  be  exempt  from  the  quartering  of  soldiers 

to  be  secure  from  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures 

to  be  free  from  answering  for  a  crime,  unless  on  presentment 

or  indictment  of  a  jury 

not  to  be  twice  jeoparded  for  the  same  offence 

not  to  be  compelled  to  be  a  witness  against  himself 

not  to  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due 

course  of  law 

private  property  not  to  be  taken  for  public  use 

in  criminal  prosecutions,  shall  enjoy  the  right  of  a  speedy 

trial  by  jury,  with  all  the  means  necessary  for  his  defence  •     .  . 
in  civil  cases  trial  to  be  by  jury,  and  shall  only  be  re-examined 

according  to  common  law 

excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  excessive  fines  imposed, 

no  cruel  nor  unusual  punishment  inflicted 

enumeration  of  certain  rights  shall  not  operate  against  re- 
tained righta .    . . 

Rulet,  each  house  shall  determine  its  own 1 

£^ea<  o/^ovemm«n^,  exclusive  legislation 1 

Searehet  and  teizuret,  security  against 

Senate,  composed  of  two  senators  from  each  State 1 

how  choeen,  classed,  and  terms  of  service  .  .  •       1 


Skc. 

Paqx. 

6 

14 

5 

14 

5 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

7 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

1 

16 

2 

13 

2 

20 

3 

20 

13 


7 

14 

7 

14 

2 

17 

19 

19 

19 

19 

19 

19 

19 

19 

19 

. 

19 

» 

19 

19 


• 

19 

• 

19 

. 

19 

6 

14 

8 

15 

. 

19 

8 

14 

8 

14 

INDEX. 


857 


Abt. 


Jknate,  qualifications  of  senators 

Vice-President  to  be  President  of  the 

shall  choose  their  oflBcers 

shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections  and  qualifications  of  ita  members 

what  number  shall  be  a  quorum 

any  number  may  adjourn,  and  compel  attendance  of  absentees  .   . 

may  determine  its   rules 

may  punish  or  expel  a  member 

ehall  keep  a  journal,  and  publish  the  same,  except  parts  requiring 

secrecy  

shall  not  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place, 

without  the  consent  of  the  other  house 

one-fifth  may  require  the  yeas  and  nays . 

may  propose  amendments  to  bills  for  raising  revenue 

shall  try  impeachments 

effect  of  their  judgment  on  impeachment 

compensation  to  be  ascertained  by  law 

privileged   from  arrest 

not  questioned  for  any  speech  or  debate 

shall  not  be  appointed  to  office 

Senator,  shall  not  be  elector 

who  prohibited   from  being,  (14th  amendment) 

Senators  and  representatives,  elections  of,  how  prescribed 

Slaves,  their   importation  may  be  prohibited  after  1808 

escaping  from  one  State  to  another  may  be  reclaimed  ....    •  .    4 
claims  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of,  to  be  held  illegal  and  void, 
(14th  amendment) •  .    .   . , 

iSZare/y,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  prohibited,  amendment  .    .    .    .  13 
Congress   authorized  to   enforce  the    prohibition    of,    (amend- 
ment)   13 

Soldiers  not  quartered   on  citizens 

Speaker,  how  chosen 1 

Speech,  freedom  of 

States  prohibited   from — 

entering  into  treaty,  alliance,  or  confederation 1 

granting  letters  of  marque 1 

coining    money °  .    .    1 

emittiHg  bills  of  credit 1 

making  anything  a  tender  but  gold  and  silver  coin 1 

prohibited   from — 

passing  bills  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  laws,  or  laws  impairing 

contracts 1 

granting  titles  of  nobility 1 

laying  duties  on  imports  and  exports 1 

laying  duties  on  tonnage 1 

keeping  troops  or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace 1 

entering  into   any  agreement  or  contract  with   another  State  or 

foreign  power 1 

engaging  in  war 1 

abridging  right  of  United  States  citizens  of,  to  vote  on  account  of 
race  or  color,  (15th  amendment) 

States,  new,  may  be  admitted  into  the  Union 4 

may  be  admitted  within  the  jurisdiction  of  others,  or  by  the  junc- 
tion of  two  or  more,  with  the  consent  of  Congress  and  the  legisla- 
tores  ooncemed 4 


Sic. 

Paob, 

8 

14 

8 

14 

3 

14 

6 

14 

5 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

14 


5 

14 

6 

14 

7 

14 

8 

14 

3 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

6 

14 

1 

16 

3 

20 

4 

14 

9 

15 

2 

17 

4 

20 

1 

20 

2 

20 

, , 

19 

2 

13 

•• 

19 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

10 

16 

1 

20 

8 

18 

18 


858  INDEX. 

Aet.    Sec.    Paqb. 
State  judge*  bound  to  consider  treaties,  the  Constitution,  and  the  laws  un- 
der it,  as  supreme 6  . .  18 

State,  every,  guarantied  a  republican  form  of  government,  protected  by 

United  States 4  4  18 

Supreme  Court.     (See  Court  and  Judiciary.) 

Suits  at  common  law,  proceedings  in . .  19 

Tax,  direct,  according  to  representation 1 

shall  be  laid  only  in  proportion  to  census 1 

Tax  on  exports  prohibited 1 

Tender,  what  shall  be  a  legal 1 

Territory  or  public  property.  Congress  may  make  rules  concerning  ...  4 

Text,  religious,  shall  not  be  required 6 

Titles.     (See  Nobility') 

Title  from  foreign  state  prohibited 1 

Treason,  defined •••....  3 

two  witnesses,  or  confession,  necessary  for  conviction 3 

punishment  of,  may  be  prescribed  by  Congress 3 

Treasury,  money  drawn  from,  only  by  appropriation 1 

Treaties,  how  made 2 

the  supreme  law 6 

States  cannot  make •    •    •    .   .  1 

Vacancies  happening  during  the  recess  may  be  filled  temporarily  by  the 

President 2 

in  representation  in  Congress,  how  filled 1 

Veto  of  the  President,  eflFect  of,  and  proceedings  on 1 

Vice-President  of  the  U.  S.  to  be  President  of  the  Senate 1 

how  elected 2 

amendment 

shall,  in  certain  cases,  discharge  the  duties  of 

President 2 

may  be  removed  by  impeachment ......    2 

Vote  of  one  house  requiring  the  concurrence  of  the  other 1 

right  of  citizens  to,  not  to  be  abridged  on  account  of  race  or  color, 
(15th  sunendment) 

War,  Congress  to  declare 1 

Warrants  for  searches  and  seizures,  when  and  how  they  shall  issue  (14th 

amendment) 

Witness,  in  criminal  cases,  no  one  compelled  to  be  against  himself  (5th 

amendment) 

Weights  and  Measures,  standard  of 1 

Teat  and  nays  entered  on  journal 1  6  14 


2 

IS 

9 

15 

9 

15 

10 

16 

3 

18 

•• 

18 

9 

15 

3 

17 

3 

17 

3 

17 

9 

15 

2 

16 

18 

10 

16 

2. 

16 

2 

13 

7 

14 

8 

14 

1 

16 

•• 

19 

1 

16 

4 

17 

7 

14 

1 

20 

8 

15 

•• 

19 

19 

8 

16 

INDEX. 


859 


BOOK  V. 

TABULATED  HISTORY  OF  POLITICS. 

Aggregate  Issues  of  Paper  Money  in  War  Times     .   .   .   ; 4 

Ante-war  Debts 16 

Cabinet  Officers  of  the  Administrations 13 

Chronological  Politics,  1765-1892 25 

Civil  Officers 18 

Customs  Tariff  of  Great  Britain 10 

Electoral  Votes  for  President  and  Vice-President 5 

Electoral  Votes ;  Number  to  which  each  State  has  been  Entitled,  1789-1892    ....  16 

Gold  ;  Highest  and  Lowest  Prices  of 24 

Interest  Laws  of  all  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States 4 

Length  of  Sessions  of  Congress,  1779-1881 18 

National  Commerce,  per  capita 23 

National  Debt,  per  capita 23 

National  Expenditures,  per  capita 28 

Popular  and  Electoral  Votes  in  Presidential  Elections,  1789-1889 11 

Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents, 10 

President  and  Vice-President,  Candidates  for    . 16 

Bebellion,  Expenditures  caused  by  . 21 

Signers  of  Declaration  of  Independence 16 

Speakers  of  House  of  Representatives 20 

States,  when  admitted 19 

Supreme  Courts 17 

Territories,  when  Organized 19 

Troops  furnished  by  each  State,  1861-65 20 

Troops,  number  of  called  into  service  during  the  Bebellion 17 

Value  of  United  States  Money  in  Foreign  Gold  and  Silver  Coin 8 


c^77/ 


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